A rumbling sea and river, turbulent waves, dense mist. A torrential downpour crashed from the clouds onto the sea's surface, creating a crackling sound.
Two people sat facing each other.
The immortal sat on the shore, occupying the high ground. Whether it was the torrential downpour or the roaring sea, both were caused by him, intended to drown the opponent before him.
He had already half-succeeded.
On the other side of the coast, the scholar wearing a tall crown and square shoes was sitting in the sea. Half his body was submerged in the seawater, and the torrential downpour made him look extremely wretched.
"Fellow Daoist, you truly do not regret this."
The immortal spoke, his ethereal Dao resonance faint.
"I do not necessarily have to suppress you. If you join [Paramita], I can grant you a fragment and a position. It will bring you a hundred benefits and no harm."
This wasn't a lie.
Toward the scholar before him, he would conceal things, scheme, and even kill, but he would not lie. This was because this was the only Fellow Daoist he acknowledged.
"Naturally, I do not regret it."
The scholar raised his head and smiled faintly. "Fellow Daoist need not say more. My heart is as iron. If I truly wavered, this [Dao Heart] would have been attained in vain."
"I just don't understand."
"Since you have already transcended, it means you have cast aside all karma, which shows you can actually let go. So why won't you let go?"
"Even taking a step back—"
The immortal's tone remained unchanged as he continued, "Your disciples and friends, they hold meaning for you. I can understand that. But how many are there?"
"Even if you preach the Dao in the Light Sea, with disciples everywhere, and millions upon millions of cultivators have received your grace; even if you have feelings for them, compared to the trillions of sentient beings in the Light Sea, they are but a drop in the ocean. I can promise you, the millions of sentient beings you care about can all be separated and given exclusively to you. I will not interfere."
"How about it?"
The immortal's tone was very sincere. At the same time, the torrential downpour that enveloped the entire sea surface also stopped, as if waiting for the scholar's answer.
At this moment, the sea surface had already reached the scholar's neck.
This was a silent threat. Without a doubt, his next answer would determine his final outcome, and that outcome probably wouldn't be very good.
The scholar smiled.
"I see."
He seemed to have figured something out, smiling even more happily, even with a bit of a teasing tone. "Primordial Saint, the one who doesn't understand human nature is actually you."
"You don't understand me, you actually don't understand me!"
"Hahaha."
The scholar's laughter echoed across the sea surface. Riding the sea breeze, it drifted toward the infinitely distant Paramita. Above his head, thunder gradually rolled in the dark clouds.
"Yes, I don't understand you."
The immortal's tone was heavy as he voiced his final doubt. "Then can you answer me? Why must you act willfully for the sake of an illusion?"
"Why..."
Speaking up to this point, a somewhat wicked smile suddenly appeared on the scholar's face. He thought for a moment and answered, "Very simple, Primordial Saint. The answer is love."
The Primordial Saint: "???"
Why is it love here?
Rumble!
The sea surface, the torrential downpour, myriad things were pierced by the thunder and dazzling lightning at this moment, like a sheet of white paper being cut open.
That was obviously nonsense just now.
What a joke. You are no longer my disciple, so why should I answer whatever you ask? Figure out the answer yourself.
Though there was actually nothing special about it: The reason I care about the sentient beings of the Light Sea is not because I am so noble, nor is it out of some exceptionally lofty reason. It is simply due to a basic sense of morality... because I can do it, so I did it.
Seeing an elderly person fall on the street, help them up in passing.
Encountering a beggar pleading on the roadside, give them some loose change in passing.
It won't endanger my life, and it causes no harm, or causes slight harm to myself. Since that's the case, why not do it in passing?
Opening his eyes, Sisui actively gave up his battle with the Primordial Saint. Even forcefully enduring his successive heavy blows, he stretched his hand toward the direction of the Light Sea.
Opposite him, seeing this, the majestic figure completely condensed from the [Ring] did not hesitate. Staring coldly at Sisui, he decisively chose to press the attack, continuously peeling away Sisui's flesh and wonders. As a result, in the end, only bones remained of his outstretched hand.
However, even so, Sisui succeeded.
The hand that stood above Golden Core Perfection, surpassed time, ignored space, and encompassed everything, gently took the entire Light Sea into its palm.
Then, a light appeared.
Within the Light Sea, Lu Yang focused his gaze. Astonishingly, it was a scripture! The very [Heavenly Scripture] initially used by the Primordial Saint to create the false history, and later to seal Sisui!
Next, he saw a person.
It was Sisui, but only half of his body remained. Except for his intact face, all the flesh below his neck was gone, his crystal-clear bones engraved with billions of characters.
The Dao Lord's true body!
It was just that, unlike the Nascent Soul Dao Body above [Paramita], Sisui's true body had already transcended, so it wouldn't cause any negative effects on lower-level cultivators.
However, looking at such a miserable state, Lu Yang couldn't help but whisper:
"Senior, you..."
"Don't worry, I won't die."
Sisui smiled slightly. "A Dao Lord won't die, let alone someone like me who attained the Dao stature through self-cultivation. It's impossible for the Primordial Saint to truly kill me."
He will only use you guys to threaten me.
Using the Light Sea as a hostage to force me to actively let go, causing me to be heavily injured in order to save the Light Sea, and then striking to suppress me... quite a good calculation.
Isn't he afraid that I might give up the Light Sea?
Even 129,600 years ago, the reason he didn't give up was not because of anything else, but simply because his life wasn't in danger.
Sisui thought to himself:
If it really endangered himself, he estimated he would choose to give up. After all, he was transcended, and being able to transcend meant he could actually choose to give up.
However—
"Our luck isn't bad."
Looking at the unsealed, reusable [Heavenly Scripture], Sisui revealed a heartfelt smile. With a beckon of his hand, the book fell into his grasp.
Their luck was good; he didn't need to give up this time either.
With this [Heavenly Scripture], although he still had to pay a certain price, he could afford it. It wasn't life-threatening, so he could still do it.
"Come."
With a single thought, the vast, boundless, mighty power belonging to the second transcender of the Light Sea, comparable to the entire Light Sea itself, instantly poured out like a burst dam!
Thus, the [Heavenly Scripture] responded.
Flutter, flutter!
The densely packed pages flipped, finally stopping at the title page of the scripture, which was also the core part of the [Heavenly Scripture]— the page missing from the [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes].
On it, a line of large characters was written:
[I abhor heaven and earth for their unkindness, and the Great Dao for its unfairness. Today, I shall equalize them for you all!]
The next second, on that scripture, under the influence of Sisui's mighty power, a vast, boundless, brand-new world instantly expanded, covering the original Light Sea.
This was different from the changing of karma that previously caused the false and true histories to alternate.
This time, with Sisui's unreserved empowerment, the [Heavenly Scripture] no longer created an illusory false history, but a definite and unmistakable [Reality].
Therefore, it wasn't a changing of karma.
It was—a complete reshaping of heaven and earth!
"Didn't you want the Light Sea?"
"You can have it."
"But after today, the Light Sea will no longer have the Great Daos, nor will it have sentient beings. Go and pursue your upper-realm Deity Transformation with this empty shell!"