Gradually, he seed to glimpse the truth between immortals and mortals, and within his body, the primordial energy surged forth, silently breaking through its constraints all at once.
Golden Core, eighth level—the nascent Dharma Form erges.
The breakthrough ca as naturally as water flowing to the sea.
There wasn’t even the faintest ripple in spiritual energy around Chen Xu; only inside his body, heaven and earth were overturned.
His divine consciousness heightened once more, piercing through the Twelve-Layered Tower, seeing the pitch-black darkness outside in this very mont.
Yet amid that boundless night, a mass of black cloud hovered over the direction of the royal palace—
Its darkness was unfathomably deep, bizarre and distorted, as though from within the abyss, legions of demons roared.
The black was so inky that it seed a lantern in the dark, only that lantern too was black—a sight so glaring it could not be ignored.
The instant Chen Xu’s mind brushed it, he instantly distinguished it from all else.
But the breakthrough within Chen Xu’s body was far from over.
He decisively invested a vast amount into his three primary attributes.
Ever since returning to Great Li, up to this very mont, Chen Xu had received ninety-seven thousand cultivation points of every kind from all directions.
Many of the likes he received before as well, but in the past, Chen Xu’s acceptance of likes was limited—so his total always grew slowly.
But after this return—especially as his divine powers strengthened—his capacity to receive likes grew drastically.
So now, his total number of likes had broken straight through two hundred thousand, exceeding two hundred seventy thousand, and nearly reaching three hundred thousand!
His free attribute points had cumulatively approached two thousand.
Chen Xu: Add points!
[ 100 100 100]
Vast energies surged within his body, yet nothing leaked outward.
On Chen Xu’s face, nothing was evident either.
Only his quickening pace, to so extent, revealed a hint of his present state.
Below, amid the surging crowd, soone asked: "Chen Champion, why do you laugh?"
Chen Xu replied, "I laugh because mortals cannot even comprehend a century’s rise and fall, and yet dare speak of immortal longevity.
Where in this world is an immortal realm? Even if one beca immortal, if still entangled in the struggle for gain and loss, how could one be called immortal?"
His retort made listeners’ hearts tremble.
Within the crowd, the long-silent Xie Mingyi suddenly responded:
"If so, then by casting aside all gain and loss, and caring nothing for profit or loss, does that make one immortal?"
Xie Mingyi, in white robes, sword at his side, stood among the throng—truly a crane among chickens.
Among a clamor all bickering over trifles, only he spoke of "casting aside all gain and loss."
His voice was clear as a bright sword slicing across autumn water.
The blade coldly glead, and pressed down all the din of the hall.
But Chen Xu’s voice rang out lofty and toneless, carrying an uncanny power:
"The ’Book of Supre Principles’ states: Heaven, Earth, Difficulty, Naivete, Need, Dispute, Army...
Once Heaven and Earth split, Qian and Kun took form; sentient beings arose, and their desires ca with them.
And what does this an?
It is that all life desires to survive, and must thus claim from all things.
Even grass and wood, which seem not to struggle, not to battle, are born of Heaven and nourished by Earth.
Yet if a great tree seeks luxuriance, it must grow upward, contending for sunlight and rain.
Low grass, wishing to live, must survive in the cracks, fighting for the soil’s nourishnt.
Since even the grass and trees must struggle so, how much more the birds and beasts!
Even harmless creatures like chickens and rabbits, must eat grass and dig roots, while wolves and tigers seize mountains and prey on flesh beyond count.
The mountain does not refuse dust, nor rivers shun fullness, and if over ten thousand years even mountains and rivers must vie, how much more so mankind?
Heaven gave birth to all things to feed mankind, but mankind gives nothing back in return!
If one would neither fight nor strive, Brother Xie—how could you survive today?
So it is for mortals; so too for immortals.
Mortals eat the five grains; immortals consu spirit energy and precious elixirs.
Unless you neither live nor grow, require nothing—only then is there no contention.
But as you still seek immortality, do you not see—that the pursuit of lifespan is none other than the Great Robbery!"
Xie Mingyi understood the aning in the phrase "Great Dao" and "Great Robbery."
He felt that every word, every sentence, every syllable uttered by Chen Xu, beat like a heavy drum upon his soul.
He heard his eardrums ache, his heart thunder like a storm.
His feet involuntarily stepped back, his back drenched in sweat.
anwhile, in the uproarious banquet hall, there were so who took in Chen Xu’s words with one ear and let them go out the other, even laughing aloud:
"By Chen Champion’s logic, shouldn’t all creatures just stop living altogether?
Who cares about seeking immortality—apparently, even living is a cri! What do you all think? Hahaha..."
The speaker chuckled as he glanced around, amused at his own wit.
And sure enough, the crowd joined in a round of laughter.
Chen Xu gazed silently on, unperturbed.
The faint smile on his face did not fade; he only said:
"This is sothing the sages have long since addressed. The Lüshi Chunqiu says: ’The wise give deep thought to the world; nothing is more precious than life.’
The desire to live is blaless; what I said monts ago only ans that immortal and mortal paths are, at heart, one and the sa.
So-called ascension is rely to see a wider world.
If you think becoming an immortal is detachnt, that is only self-deception.
You ask : what is the aning of the twelfth floor of the Twelve-Layered Tower? Here, I give you my answer.
Just as the gentleman loves wealth and takes it with righteousness, so too should cultivators pursue immortality in accordance with the Dao.
To seek life is not wrong; what is wrong is excess, boundlessness, abandoning human principle, forsaking humanity, descending into monstrosity—such that even Heaven and Earth cannot tolerate it!"
As Chen Xu’s words ceased, he suddenly took another step forward.
This single step—that just monts before left him only a few paces along the long spiral, not even crossing the threshold between the first and second floor—
Yet the instant his foot fell, Chen Xu abruptly vanished from sight before everyone’s eyes.
No—he had not truly vanished, but appeared directly atop the summit of the Twelve-Layered Tower.
One step—to the twelfth floor.
The hall’s guests were all inwardly shaken, raising their heads in unison.
Clearly, they stood on the first floor, and could not possibly see Chen Xu, now atop the pinnacle.
But for so reason, as they raised their heads, a strange new feeling welled up in them.
It was as though, simply by looking up, they could glimpse Chen Xu’s figure, indistinct, looming at the tower’s summit in their own vision.
They could not see his features, but felt only that he was infinitely tall, vast beyond asure.
He stood alone at the peak, and, as his words faded, suddenly reached up—and tore.
Rip—
The dense darkness was rent open with a single gash.
And then, a stream of odd light gushed forth—seeming both like fire and like blood.
Blazing and sanguine, the red glow washed through half the sky.
The mournful blackness of the "celestial dog devouring the sun" was, in that instant, blown away.
Outside the Twelve-Layered Tower, all who had panicked at the darkness could not help but lift their heads, eyes wide, gazing up in horror.
At the very sa ti, within the tower, the guests felt—but could not help—doing the sa.
Chen Xu, having torn open the darkness, allowed that light to shine, cast simultaneously upon the "sky" inside and outside the Twelve-Layered Tower alike.
And all beheld, within that blazing red, an eerie space in which stood a colossal alchemical furnace.
Beneath the furnace, flas raged, and at the very top—
The sight atop the furnace was so horrifying, that screams leapt forth before questions could be voiced.
"Aah! Aaaahhhh..."
Amid the rising cries of terror, soone shouted: "What is that?"
For atop that furnace, at what looked like the very vault of this space, hung countless great iron hooks, flickering with cold light.
Most of these iron hooks were not empty; rather, like a butcher hanging fish or at, hung row on row—so densely they could not be counted—human figures.
Those figures were people—living people!
Yes, most of those hung there were still alive.
Massive iron hooks pierced their shoulder blades, suspending them midair.
They hung their heads, blood dripping ceaselessly from their wounds in a spattering crimson rain.
They were not dead—they wailed and scread in agony.
Their cries, coming from that unknown, eerie dinsion, pierced walls and boundaries, falling into the ears of all who gazed up at the scene.
The spectators were so stunned with terror, so with keen eyesight suddenly trembled and cried out:
"Zhai Xingzi! That’s—the Sky Roll’s number two Zhai Xingzi!"
Zhai Xingzi was dressed as a Taoist priestess—her jade hairpiece dishevelled, her robes bloodstained, hung in the air, eyes vacant, face filled with sorrow.
She was suspended close to the furnace’s heart, yet not at its very center.
At that sa instant, Xie Mingyi gripped his sword, eyes bloodshot.
He looked up and uttered two words, "Master Wen!"
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