The Word of Heaven

Chapter 232 Before Death, After Life, You and Me
Life is insignificant, and the sound of scriptures is endless.

Like mournful music, like mournful wailing.

The lake water at the top of Tianqiong Peak seemed to have a real spirit. After hearing the chanting, the surging force of the lake gradually subsided and weakened, and the fog slightly dissipated, revealing the sky again.

However, the sword stone in the center of the lake was shaking, as if it was suffering from some strong impact. Tiny gravel kept falling from it, forming a very sharp contrast with the increasingly calm lake water around it.

Before this, Bai Nanming's body had already floated up.

The aura that reached the sky and competed with the setting sun for brilliance did not weaken in the slightest, and the sound of chanting seemed to be deaf to the sound, like the chirping of cicadas in midsummer.

Even if she said nothing and remained silent, the whole world could feel her pride and disdain.

The next moment, this attitude truly came into the world.

In just a moment, the sounds of chanting on the mountain suddenly became chaotic.

The grave keepers standing in front of the mountain of graves were swaying and almost falling down at this moment, with blood flowing out from their dry lips. It was obvious that their minds had suffered an extremely strong shock.

At the same time, the lake water, which had been tending to calm down, began to boil again, emitting countless mists.

The mist became thicker with Bai Nanming's remaining will, and continued to spread outwards until it submerged the entire top of Tianqiong Peak.

A voice sounded in the fog.

“This is their only chance.”

Yu Sheng looked at Gu Zhuo and said softly, "Don't let all your efforts go to waste."

Gu Zhuo understood the meaning of the words.

The reason why Bai Nanming stayed here was to suppress the residual souls of the Bai family's ancestors.

Well, today, when her remains are about to turn to ashes, is undoubtedly the best opportunity for the remaining soul to break free from the cage.

Maybe this is the last chance.

The moment the words fell, Gu Zhuo's soul suffered a strong shock.

Using the fingers placed on Bai Nanming's brow as a bridge, countless sounds of chanting poured into his sea of ​​consciousness, echoing repeatedly, buzzing and making endless noise, but the meaning of the scriptures was to teach people to be calm.

This extreme contradiction and conflict brings an extremely heavy burden. Even practitioners who have entered the realm of purity cannot bear it for a long time. Otherwise, their souls will be torn apart by the sound of chanting, leading to death or becoming a puppet.

Just like the grave keepers who are chanting scriptures on the mountain now.

Gu Zhuo is not in the Pure Land realm, but he is not an ordinary practitioner either.

The sounds of scripture chanting, which should have been extremely terrifying, did not become violent storms in his sea of ​​consciousness. They were just the chirping of cicadas in the woods outside the window in midsummer, which sounded a bit noisy when he was upset, and that was all.

His spirit had not lost itself, so he could see things clearly.

As the fog in the lake grew thicker, the layer of mountains and water covering Bai Nanming's face continued to fade, as if blown away by the wind, revealing a corner of the truth.

How could Gu Zhuo not understand when he saw this scene?

Why is it that the Tianqiong Peak is protected by countless formations, but there is no trace of restrictions at the most important place, the top of the peak, and the aura is so ordinary that it makes people feel that something is unusual?

It was because Bai Nanming shouldered this heavy burden on his own, causing waves to rise in his soul and heart, without leaking a single bit to the world.

When Gu Zhuo and Bai Nanming meet today, all the hardships she had experienced reappear in his world.

We live in the same world, sharing the baptism of wind, rain, frost and snow, and can hold up the same umbrella.

When Gu Zhuo walked under the umbrella, the scenery that he could not see in the past was now visible to him.

The girl standing under the umbrella had an indifferent expression but gentle eyes.

Her eyes are filled with the first rays of spring morning light, lively and lustrous. It is a sincere love for life that has never aged with the passage of time and remains the same.

A hundred years have not brought any hardships to her. She is still the girl who sat on the branch of the strange pine tree many years ago, fishing for birds with her fishing rod high in the sky, looking down on everyone in the world.

There is no trace of frustration or fatigue in her eyes, even though she is about to give up everything she has and go through thousands of hardships again, wondering if she can see the current scenery again.

Gu Zhuo remained silent.

Suddenly the wind came, and then a wisp of mountains and water faded away.

The girl seemed to be moved by the wind. She turned her head to look at Gu Zhuo, with the corners of her lips slightly raised.

There was no excitement or emotion after a long separation. She just said a simple word to Gu Zhuo in a gentle voice.

——You are here.

……

……

Gu Zhuo lowered his eyes slightly.

He knew that those four words were most likely just his illusion, because all this was unknown today.

No one could have seen this day coming.

At this moment, only the sound of chanting lingering in his sea of ​​consciousness was the most real - that was the sound of the residual souls of the emperors of the Bai family trying their best to break free from suppression and return to the human world.

He became more and more annoyed as he listened, and his sea of ​​consciousness was gradually overwhelmed by the waves caused by these sounds, and was no longer as calm as before.

Then, without warning, all the movement disappeared.

The old times reappeared in Gu Zhuo's eyes.

……

……

Can the laws of our ancestors be changed?
Many years ago, Bai Nanming came to this lake and began to think about this problem.

Soon, she came up with an answer, which was of course yes.

When traveling around the world with that person, the two of them actually discussed similar issues several times, but not too often, not because of conflicting opinions, but because they both admired and liked each other's choices.

It was that journey that made her always confident in her choice and never waver.

Even if I had to kill him with my own hands.

So Bai Nanming walked forward, stepped on the still water of the lake, and put the entire Baidi Mountain under his feet.

Including the ancestors and emperors of the Bai family who were sleeping in peace in the mountains.

From that day on, she used this body alone to suppress the vicissitudes of hundreds of years.

……

……

Yu Sheng’s appearance was not an accident.

According to Bai Nanming's calculations, as long as she maintains the status quo for another two hundred years, the problem left by the Bai family's ancestors will be completely solved.

The risks that come with it are obvious, that is, after a long period of time has passed, will her state of mind remain unchanged? Will her mind be invaded by the thoughts of the residual soul of her ancestors in some gap, so that this body is used by the residual soul?
Apart from facing that person, she had almost unlimited confidence in herself and certainly would not take these two problems seriously.

In fact, this was not a problem for her.

The real problem here is that two hundred years is too long, enough for countless accidents to occur.

After thinking about this, she came up with a more perfect method after several years, which could achieve the goal in one fell swoop - it was not her who suppressed Baidi Mountain, but her realm.

Then, could she leave this celestial realm here, making it an unconscious existence, relying on its remains to truly exist, unaffected by the noisy noises, deep into the formation of Baidi Mountain, and last for hundreds of years like a stubborn stone?

Bai Nanming believes this is feasible.

If it’s feasible, then do it.

Even if the price was to burn her hundred years of practice and face life and death.

……

……

The scene that fell into Gu Zhuo's eyes was very clear.

In the next few years, Bai Nanming began to prepare for reincarnation.

With her proud temperament, she simply looked down upon other people's bodies, and naturally would not make such a boring choice as possessing another's body.

Just as Yu Sheng had said to Gu Zhuo when they were climbing the mountain, the attempts that the barbarians are making now were already being made by the Bai family at the beginning of the founding of the Qin Dynasty. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, they were never completed, but they were still useful.

However, the remaining soul of the former emperor still lives on Baidi Mountain, and the two are entangled to the point of being inseparable, bringing about a great disaster for the Bai family. Naturally, this method will not be adopted by Bai Nanming.

Therefore, her real choice is all living beings.

It is not sentient beings, but the iron spear called sentient beings.

From that day on, all living beings were re-refined, and it was no longer the iron spear that killed people in the world.

Countless precious materials were secretly sent to Baidi Mountain through the most secret channels under the personal arrangement of the eunuch leader, and presented to Bai Nanming for his use to create a new life.

Eventually she succeeded.

……

……

It was a sunny day, with no wind or rain.

The spring scenery is beautiful on Tianqiong Peak.

Bai Nanming sat on the stone in the middle of the lake, looked up at the sun, and was in a very good mood.

But her expression remained as indifferent as before, and only the spring light reflected in her eyes could reveal her true thoughts.

As she was about to die, she naturally recalled her life, the beauty and happiness she had experienced, as well as the regrets.

“I was just passing by this time.”

She looked away, looked at her reflection in the lake, and said with emotion: "You no longer exist in this world."

After saying this, Bai Nanming raised his head slightly and looked at the sun again.

The clouds in the sky came to a standstill, and the sunlight covering Baidi Mountain suddenly turned cold, as if winter had arrived.

The whole world seemed to die at this moment.

I really don’t know if it’s mourning or something else.

It was not until the girl standing in the lake opened her eyes that the sunlight became warm and the lake water was no longer like a mirror and began to flow.

She felt her body in a somewhat unfamiliar way, and felt that something was wrong. She thought that it would take many years to get used to this strange feeling.

She looked at Bai Nanming who had never closed his eyes, and thought of a problem that she had deliberately ignored before, and felt a headache.

The question is...what should I call myself?
She thought about it for a long time, until the moment the sun set, she finally found an answer that satisfied her.

"Yu Sheng."

She whispered to Bai Nanming, "He sang a few lines when he was drunk. One of them was 'The fireworks will fade and the music will stop.' I chose the word 'sheng' because I still like the next line very much."

This makes the ending of the story even more touching.

……

……

Memories dissipated in the wind and were drowned by the twilight.

What has never bid farewell to the old times is the true meaning of all things in the frosty sky.

The vast insights gained from a hundred years of practice, which were only one step away from becoming an immortal, were seen by Gu Zhuo.

All of this was revealed in his eyes without omission, and it became an experience that he seemed to have really experienced, without any difference.

This is undoubtedly one of the most precious opportunities in the world.

During the practice last year, Yu Sheng once pointed out that there was a huge hidden danger in Gu Zhuo's practice - that is, the balance between heaven and earth had long been out of balance.

The imbalance lies in the fact that Gu Zhuo himself has too deep an understanding of the Yuanshi Taoist Canon, while he is not familiar with the Star Frost Tribulation, which is the other side of the balance between heaven and earth. The weight of the two on the scale is very different.

This defect is almost impossible to make up for. The only solution is for him to spend a long time to make the Yuanshi Daodian and Xingshuang Jie be on the same level, without bias.

How difficult is it?

Yu Sheng was puzzled at the time and could not understand why he insisted on embarking on such a path of cultivation. It was not until later when he knew that he would not live long that he realized that this was a radical attempt to prolong his life.

Today, this shortcoming has been remedied.

In the most perfect way.

——Over the past thousand years, there are only a handful of people who are qualified to be compared with Bai Nanming in the frost catastrophe of all things.

……

……

The sun gradually sets and the sky and the earth become dark.

The aura rising from the top of Tianqiong Peak has not weakened, and it still unscrupulously declares its power to the world, because things are not completely over.

According to Bai Nanming's calculations, this scene should not appear so soon. It should appear on the day when Yu Sheng returns to the Pure Land.

The most obvious change brought about by the difference in time is that it gives the remaining soul of the Bai family's ancestor a chance to struggle.

This is why the sound of chanting scriptures can be heard all over the mountain.

Until this moment, the gravekeeper still hasn't raised his head.

Even though their clothes had long been stained with blood, they still followed the obsession that had permeated their souls, and kept repeating the same scriptures, trying to awaken the remaining souls of their ancestors and allow them to return.

Bailangxing has not yet descended the mountain.

The moment the sound of scriptures enveloped the entire Baidi Mountain, he woke up from his practice and tried to figure out what was going on.

No gravekeeper paid any attention to him. He was at a loss in this absurd world. His mind was gradually influenced by the sound of scriptures and he was about to lose himself.

At this moment, a gravekeeper suddenly raised his head, stared at Bai Langxing with wide eyes, and uttered a hoarse voice.

Those are three very short words.

"kill me."

……

……

The relationship between the remnant soul and Baidi Mountain is as inseparable as that of a sacrificial altar, so the method adopted by the ancestors of the Bai family is to consume it, relying on the solemn and icy meaning of the frost and sky catastrophe that affects all things, to make it lose its mind through the passage of a long period of time.

In order to speed up this process, the monarch of the Bai family even asked the Bai family members to live on the mountain for a long time to guard the tombs, using the natural closeness brought by blood to absorb the thoughts emitted by the remaining souls.

This is also the fundamental reason why the gravekeepers are not allowed to leave Baidi Mountain.

No matter from which perspective, this is a form of imprisonment, a cruel method that is so cold-blooded that it uses human beings as consumables.

However, all the grave keepers here today are volunteers.

Because they all came from the era when the Qin Dynasty was about to collapse more than a hundred years ago.

In that turbulent era, apart from their seemingly noble bloodline, they had neither realm nor strength. After personally experiencing the cruel blood cleansing, they naturally developed an idea that could not be extinguished.

--revenge.

So they became grave keepers, doing what they could for the Bai family, willingly becoming consumables so that Emperor Bai would not have to worry so much. This was their greatest contribution.

……

……

The top of Tianqiong Peak.

The dusk soaked the spring water in the lake, and the fog was like blood.

Gu Zhuo opened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

Yu Sheng's voice then rang out.

"I have given you the best."

Her voice was full of weariness: "Don't forget your responsibilities."

Gu Zhuo was silent for a moment and asked, "Do you want to sleep for a while?"

Yu Sheng looked at Bai Nanming, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he said self-deprecatingly: "After death, you will sleep forever, why should you sleep for a long time when you are alive."

Gu Zhuo said: "That's right."

After saying these two words, he put down his hand and his fingertips left Bai Nanming's brow.

Not touching each other anymore does not mean separation.

The will of the remnant soul of the Bai family's ancestor was still in his sea of ​​consciousness, never stopping for a moment, constantly changing its mind, trying to make him a new gravekeeper, chanting scriptures and guarding the tomb for him.

Yu Sheng walked beside him and stretched out his left hand.

Gu Zhuo gave his right hand.

Close.

hold.

There is no need to hold hands tightly, the breaths can still blend together.

The next moment, the scenery in front of the two people suddenly changed, and they were above the clouds, level with the setting sun.

The entire Baidi Mountain was in full view, without any omissions.

It's not only the scenery, but also the flow trend of the vital energy of heaven and earth, the countless formations engraved on the mountain, and the residual souls of the ancestors of the Bai family that have almost merged with Baidi Mountain.

The relationship between the remnant soul and Baidi Mountain is like a heel and a sacrificial altar, which cannot be separated at all. Therefore, the method adopted by the ancestors of the Bai family is to consume it. Relying on the killing power of the frost catastrophe of all things, they make it lose its sanity through the long period of time.

At this moment when Gu Zhuo and Yu Sheng held hands, this relationship was no longer close enough for symbiosis, and there was a visible gap.

The world is so vast that only if they join forces can they achieve this level.

Then.

What happens next is simple.

Amid the sound of sutra chanting all over the mountain, the clear and lonely breath that reached the sky was no longer ethereal but had a real shape.

In the eyes of all living beings, it is an incomparable white light.

With Baidi Mountain as the center, the sky within a radius of a thousand miles was illuminated again, as if it were daytime again.

The next moment, the white light fell from the sky like a waterfall and sank into Baidi Mountain.

That ray of white light was the sharpest sword in the world, and also the most invincible iron spear. It sank into the gaps between mountains like flowing water, moving forward continuously following the flow of the vital energy of heaven and earth, cutting off those invisible and intangible ties.

As the ties broke, tombs on Tianqiong Peak collapsed silently, with smoke and dust rising.

Unable to cross the iron threshold of a thousand years, even the earthen buns for shelter are no longer there.

This is certainly not whipping the corpses, because their corpses have long since disappeared.

The sword-shaped iron spear transformed from the Frost Tribulation of All Things continued to slash towards the deepest part of Baidi Mountain, following the clues seen by Gu Zhuo and Yu Sheng, leaving no room for any chance.

The remaining soul of the Bai family's ancestor became more and more panicked, angry and uneasy, and tried his best to release his breath, making the chanting of the gravekeepers louder, making the lake as calm as possible and no longer boiling, and making the clouds and fog dissipate.

But it all means nothing now.

It's all pointless struggle.

The rest is just a matter of time.

Dozens of voices rang out in Gu Zhuo and Yu Sheng’s sea of ​​consciousness, roaring like thunder.

That is the intense fear that comes when life is about to come to an end.

Neither of them listened.

The waterfall of light falling from the sky seeps into every corner of Baidi Mountain, leaving no empty space.

All the tombs on Tianqiong Peak collapsed, and the rising smoke and dust were like the wails before death, drowned in the endless white light, unable to flow out at all.

I don’t know how long it took, but the breath that reached the sky finally dissipated.

The white light between the sky and the earth gradually dissipated until it ceased to exist.

The world is pitch black.

It turned out that the sun had already set.

(End of this chapter)