"Heaven and Earth have Ruo Mu, day and night eroding life's longevity."
"Life and death without Reincarnation, only Longevity remains..."
Li Ping was not frightened by the sudden appearance of Ruo Mu; instead, he recited slowly, without haste. He turned around and gazed directly at the oldest tree between the Xuan Huang heaven and earth.
Ruo Mu was sizing up the Faceless Saint Emperor, a flicker of confusion passing through its ancient eyes.
However, Li Ping's subsequent words deeply furrowed the lines on Ruo Mu's face.
"The Creation you possess was a gift from heaven and earth. Without the favor of the Xuan Huang Heaven Path, the so-called 'Yue Heng Wang' would be nothing more than an ordinary tree."
"Heavenly Dao faces peril, yet you did not rise to the challenge, living in this world without dignity..."
"It was you who betrayed the Xuan Huang Heaven Path first, not heaven and earth abandoning you," Li Ping said with no hint of sympathy, outright mocking.
Ruo Mu's expression seemed to freeze on his face, immobilized.
Meanwhile, the actual ancient wood body not far away rustled ever so slightly. Countless Cultivators, fruits hanging from its branches, also shook continuously.
"Rise to the challenge? When the Heaven Path of Xuan Huang is suppressed, what can I do? On the contrary, you, with the body of a Cultivator, devour the Heavenly Dao in your Cultivation. Speaking such words, don't you find it laughable?" Ruo Mu stared at Li Ping for a long time, unable to discern his depth.
But Cultivators in the world are more or less the same.
Adding that the faint scent originally belonging to the Xuan Huang Heaven Path on Li Ping's body made Ruo Mu still judge and retort.
Just trading verbal jabs, but not taking direct action.
These Asian Actresses Are Driving the Whole World Crazy!Open
It wasn't that Ruo Mu's temperament has suddenly changed for the better, but...
he simply couldn't win.
Although it wasn't overtly displayed, Ruo Mu's spiritual sense was frantically warning him. Being the oldest Spirit between heaven and earth, Ruo Mu's intuition had nearly reached the mystical level where he could foresee the possibilities of the future.
Ruo Mu was certain that if he were to fight this uninvited guest, the one to perish would definitely be himself.
And the pressure stronger than any Immortal Cultivator he had seen before on the opponent made Ruo Mu even more sure of his judgment.
Indeed. Ruo Mu was now seriously deteriorated, but after all, still alive.
Certainly not seeking his own death.
"What is wrong with taking back what is mine?" Li Ping no longer suppressed the aura of the devoured evil thoughts of Xuan Huang.
"This is?!" Ruo Mu immediately felt a great shock in his soul.
He naturally could distinguish between the scattered laws absorbed by Cultivators and the complete Heaven Path of Xuan Huang.
But how could this be?
"Great Supreme Lord Xuan Huang?" The thought flashed through Ruo Mu's mind, but he dismissed it quickly.
Even though he had lost most of his powers, the deep connection with the Xuan Huang Heaven Path was still there. If there were a new Great Heavenly Sovereign, he wouldn't be unaware.
"Taking back what is his, could it be the Heavenly Dao itself?" Ruo Mu thought incredulously.
This guess was hard to believe, but it matched the present situation best.
It was not yet certain, but this did not hinder Ruo Mu's attitude changing abruptly.
"What brings you here?"
Li Ping naturally stated his intention to reclaim Ruo Mu's power.
Without waiting for Ruo Mu to respond, Li Ping changed the subject: "At the time of the Heavenly Dao's crisis, the XuanHuang Ancient Objects stood by, doing nothing. Thus, it was only natural that Heavenly Dao would reclaim your powers."
"Although external forces have helped the Heavenly Dao to revive, this reclaiming process has not stopped. Every drink and every peck is predestined. You have no reason to harbor resentment."
"I am here to put an end to it all."
Li Ping looked again at the towering, decaying ancient wood.
And the countless Golden Core Cultivators lost within it.
"However, it seems now that you have not done nothing. Even if your efforts were scant, you did indeed exert some force."
From Li Ping, a vast and gold power suddenly burst forth.
A giant gold hand appeared in an instant near the Ruo Mu itself, gently plucking one of the Cultivator fruits from the treetop.
With a light squeeze, the body of the Cultivator turned to dust, leaving only a damaged Gold Core suspended in the air.
Li Ping's action of picking his own fruit did not cause the slightest ripple in Ruo Mu's emotions.
Only in his eyes did an instinctive sense of relief flicker.
"Do you think the Cultivators of the Xuanhuang World are mistaken?"
The Baking Lifespan Space fell quiet for a moment, then Li Ping suddenly asked.
"More than just mistaken? I wish I could turn all these ungrateful beings into fruits and torture them for all eternity," Ruo Mu responded through gritted teeth.
"The Cultivators between Heaven and Earth have their faults, indeed. But their conflict with the Principle of Heaven and Earth is the root cause," Li Ping said very calmly.
"Why do Cultivators devour Heaven and Earth? It's just because this is the only path they can take. The root of all this comes from the Celestial Dharma Bearer."
Li Ping's voice echoed unceasingly, prompting Ruo Mu to fall silent.
This truth was clear to everyone.
But what could be done about it?
Contrary to the Logic of Heaven and Earth, the Law Transmission was too strong, even the Xuan Huang Heaven Path itself couldn't resist. Let alone the Living Beings within the Xuan Huang World.
"I wish to rectify this Chaos, execute Law Transmission, and return to the heavens."
"Will you aid me?"
Li Ping's indifferent voice reached Ruo Mu's ears.
Had anyone else said this to Ruo Mu, he would have laughed, turned them into a fruit, and hung them at the very top of the tree, ridiculing them night and day.
However, the one now setting down such grand declarations was the subtly possible Incarnation of Xuan Huang Heavenly Dao...
This made Ruo Mu momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
Ruo Mu knew that if he chose to refuse, an inevitable great battle would ensue between the two.
Setting aside the question of who was stronger or weaker, this was his own true body's location; a great battle here meant retaliation.
Even if he could win, he would undoubtedly be gravely injured again, edging closer to complete ruin.
But to be subdued by a single utterance, Ruo Mu felt all kinds of reluctance in his heart.
"Your decline, aside from your own injuries, also relates to the severance from Heavenly Dao."
"If you yield to me..."
Li Ping stepped forward, his form suddenly shattered. Under the enhancement of the golden light enveloping him, his roughly ten-foot stature instantly expanded tens of thousands of times, nearly becoming as large as Ruo Mu's true form.
One hand was placed on the trunk of Ruo Mu.
"Boom!"
In the space of Ruo Mu, the dim and dead silent sky suddenly revealed a vortex.
The reflection of Xuanhuang World appeared within the vortex.
Greenish vapors were drawn out from the vortex, slowly drifting towards the aged Ruo Mu.
Up To and Including Death: Get These Plants Out of the HouseOpen
"This..."
Ruo Mu excitedly straightened his formerly stooped back, his eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.
He felt that the favor of Heavenly Dao, which had gradually drifted away over thousands of years, was for the first time returning to him!
Li Ping was right, all his creation came from the celestial favor of Xuanhuang.
Without the nourishment of Heavenly Dao, he was like a tree without roots, water without a source, slowly drying up and succumbing to a slow death.
But, in that moment, the Xuan Huang Heavenly Dao unexpectedly restored some of its power back to him.
Even if it wasn't the familiar power of life and death, it still excited him enough to revive his vitality.
The yellowed body of Ruo Mu, from top to bottom, trembled greatly.
Numerous cultivator fruits, because of this, fell from above, shattering to pieces; leaving only the cracked, differently glowing Gold Cores lying quietly on the ground.
Strands of green began to emerge from Ruo Mu's body.
On the branches, several sprouts of tender green suddenly appeared, altering the aura of the ancient tree entirely.
Just as Ruo Mu was intoxicated, savoring the vigorous vitality he hadn't felt in a long time...
The golden giant that Li Ping had transformed into suddenly withdrew his palm from the trunk.
The vortex above Ruo Mu abruptly vanished.
The descending vitality also simultaneously dissipated like bubbles, turning into specks of green light, scattering with the wind to various places but not falling on Ruo Mu.
"No!"
In Ruo Mu's wailing, those freshly sprouted shoots also instantly withered and fell.
Drifting slowly from the top of the tree.
"I still want it!"
"Give it to me quickly!"
Ruo Mu's older incarnation erupted with a terrifying fierceness.
He glared fiercely at Li Ping.
Then, seeing the opponent's empty face and the extremely cold aura, Ruo Mu quickly calmed down.
His fierce expression frozen on his face, he dared not make any further movements.
Li Ping merely continued to gaze quietly at him.
The scene was momentarily silent, eerily so.
Until the withered leaves, precisely falling above Li Ping, were gently caught by his hand.
Li Ping broke the silence.
He spoke, resuming the words he had not yet completed, "Just as you have seen and personally experienced."
"If you realize your error and stand with me again, you could perhaps return to the pinnacle of ancient times."
Ruo Mu's expression visibly wavered.
Having struggled desperately and suffered for thousands of years, now having just tasted a moment of youth, to ask him to give up again...
How could he possibly do so?
"I know that in ancient times you were heavily injured, your core power mostly stolen by cultivators."
"But the Xuan Huang Heavenly Dao of today is also unlike the past."
"If you could fully regain your authority, you would certainly be stronger than before."
Li Ping continued speaking.
"I have given a month's time to think it over."
"After that, I will come again."
Li Ping did not excessively pressure Ruo Mu to make an instant decision.
With these words, he disappeared in an elegant whirl of his robes.
This was a space controlled by Ruo Mu, yet Ruo Mu hadn't even noticed how the other party had left.
Without the outsider, the place reverted to the same dead silence that had persisted for thousands of years.
Ruo Mu squinted his eyes, constantly savoring the taste of the life force he had just experienced.
When compared to the current situation, a sense of wistful loss inevitably emerged in his heart.
Sacred Dynasty Daqi.
Within the Saint Emperor Seat.
Upon his return, Li Ping immediately issued a sacred decree.
He reassigned some members of the You Clan People to attend to the functions towards the Ocean of Darkness, to pacify the Xuanhuang Heaven Path.
"Given the current situation, forcefully imbuing Ruo Mu with power from Xuanhuang Heaven Path still has some impact," Li Ping remarked.
"Even if it is just a slight one..."
"Besides the gap created previously by the absorption of Xuanhuang malice, it also has something to do with Ruo Mu's identity."
"After all, in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, these Xuanhuang ancient objects are no different from traitors."
Li Ping pondered slowly.
This action, albeit not without merit,
Ruo Mu, once having tasted the marrow, would certainly not reject Li Ping's request.
He just needed some time to decide.
As for why he did not choose to act forcefully, like how he dealt with the Xuanhuang malice by directly absorbing it…
Li Ping had his concerns.
"Unlike the Xuanhuang malice which had been segregated and sealed for a long time, Ruo Mu, despite being in ruins, is an ancient object that has existed since the beginning of Xuanhuang."
"Xuanhuang Heaven Path created it, and it has become a permanent part of the Xuanhuang World. If it naturally declines and perishes under the Heavenly Dao's withdrawal of favor, it might avoid turmoil."
"But if I rashly absorb it, firstly, it might alert the other Longevity strongmen in this realm."
"Secondly, the anomalies in the Xuanhuang World might be detected by the Celestial Dharma Bearer far across the Star Sea."
Li Ping disregarded the Five Elders Organization's five Heavenly Sovereigns.
But he had to consider the presence of Law Transmission and Celestial Doctor.
"Now is not the time to truly confront them."
"Just wait a bit longer."
Li Ping was very patient.
He believed that within a month, Ruo Mu would initiate contact with him.
Before that, he still needed to mend some of the relations with Xuanhuang Heaven Path.
Images of beings detested by Xuanhuang Heaven Path surfaced in Li Ping's eyes.
Jiushan Province.
At the border between the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals and the Five Elders Organization.
Sun Erlang easily crossed the defensive line of the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals and entered the territory of the Five Elders Organization.
"The treasure passed down by Master really is mystical, breaking through the Array Technique of the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals almost instantly."
Sun Erlang carefully surveyed his surroundings.
"It doesn't seem much different from the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals area."
"But Master said that here the power of the Heavenly Sovereigns acting contrary to reason envelops the entire region; it's better to keep a low profile."
A simplified map emerged in Sun Erlang's Spirit Consciousness, and after slightly discerning the directions, he concealed his form and darted away.
Following the Faceless Saint Emperor's directions straight towards the Kingdom of Reality.
"I wonder how I will manage to meet this 'Real Celestial Sovereign'."
As Sun Erlang fled, he pondered.
With the Array Technique and Secret Techniques to Conceal Breath passed down by Li Ping, nobody could detect him along the way.
As he was very close to the Kingdom of Reality, local strange phenomena caught Sun Erlang's attention, causing him to slow down.
A giant Flying Boat, bearing an unreal feel, abruptly appeared in the sky.
From the Flying Boat, more than ten cultivators wrapped in armor flew out simultaneously.
They were wielding bizarre Magic Tools, shouting loudly.