Chapter 229 – Where is the Truth
The forearm was missing, but the upper arm was in good condition. Although it was only half a thumb long, its weight was as heavy as Mount Tai in Xiao Chen’s heart.
Without any fluctuation nor the least bit of divine power, the broken arm wordlessly immersed into Xiao Chen’s body. It produced a “tink” sound as it merged with the stone statue in Xiao Chen’s body like magnets colliding with one another.
Although they were shattered, a hazy radiance connected the stone legs and stone arms. The missing parts were all filled by ripple-like radiance. The stone statue was sitting upright in Xiao Chen’s body.
The butterfly fluttered in the sky and spilled gentle rays of light below. Zhuang Zhou left the battlefield and descended from the sky. He lightly flicked his wings and arrived in front of Xiao Chen.
It was like in a dream, Xiao Chen was standing face-to-face with this legendary saint that was said to possess enough power to look down at the whole world. It was a bit unrealistic, he was actually so close to Zhuangzi.
As the ripples spread out, Xiao Chen found that the ruins in his surroundings disappeared. The vast prairie was also gone. He was actually standing in a void sky, with only the butterfly and himself.
“What’s your Truth?”
An emotionless voice reverberated in Xiao Chen’s ears.
Xiao Chen didn’t know why he raised a question to him, but he answered honestly without pondering over it too much, “Nameless, the beginning of Heaven and earth.”
The butterfly lightly flapped its wings, its cold voice clearly resounded in the void sky, “Is that right?”
“Speaking of Truth. It is formless, thus it cannot be named. The beginning of Truth stems from nothingness.”
“Do you truly understand the essence of Truth? Is that your Truth?”
Facing this question, Xiao Chen was left speechless. Only after a moment of silence did he open his mouth to speak, “This…”
“Oneness with Heaven and Earth, Oneness with All Living Things. What about you?” Zhuangzi was very indifferent.
Zhuangzi was the person with spiritual power closest to the deities. It seemed like he was intentionally giving advice. Xiao Chen quickly calmed down and thought about it in silence.
However, Zhuangzi’s level was too high, Xiao Chen was unable to grasp it. And just at this time, an indifferent voice resounded again, “Where’s the Truth?”
It was as if Xiao Chen had fallen deep deep under the ground, a world of complete darkness, unable to grasp onto any light. He had a very absent-minded expression.
At the highest point of the sky; Skybound Quadswords, Selvagem Tree, Allah’s giant hand, and Martial Saint Sun Tzu were already encased within a blurry dimension. The energy waves released from that place was incomparable to anything anyone had ever felt before. Just a little bit of those formless power was enough to kill groups of practitioners.
However, the four exceptional warriors did not have the intention to create a bloodbath, so they sealed that space in a different dimension. The world devastating power was all confined within that space.
And right below them, in order to fight over the dozens of exotic treasures, the practitioners were also conducting an intense war. Although their might was not comparable to Skybound and the rest, their intensity was not inferior in any respect.
Yazi, the legendary dragon child, with an appearance similar to a ravenous wolf. The black scales all over its body flashed and a bloody mist lingered atop its scales. It stormed towards the left and charged in between a few Fallen Angels.
Fallen Angel, they possessed immense inborn strength. So long as they reached adulthood, they would have power no less than demigod level. They were revered as deities by some of the weak races. The moment they spread out their black wings, an endless black fog rolled over and over. The sky became pitch black.
“Roar!!!” The loud roar possessed enough power to shake the heaven and earth. Contrary to its huge body, Yazi’s speed became faster and faster. In the end, it even transformed into a streak of bloody light.
The beast’s hundred feet body was like a blade as it swept past a few Fallen Angels in an instant. With a “pfff,” the blood splashed everywhere. The killing maniac Yazi actually cut down two Fallen Angels at once. The black feathers swirled in the air as the blood sprinkle down. The sky was dyed by the color of blood.
On the other side, the Quintet Light illuminated the sky. Sengen had yet to show his main body. He killed groups of practitioner even while hiding in the divine light. He was even scarier when compared to Yazi. The Quintet Light was just like a grinding machine. Everywhere it swept past, countless practitioners were ground into meat paste. Nobody could stop him.
As if he was giving vent to the discontent in his heart, that he was unable to contest over the ancestor god’s most valuable assets, he didn’t hold back in the slightest. With a swish, Sengen appeared right beside a ten-meter long Winged Dragon. Green, yellow, red, black, and white light moved simultaneously as a blood-curdling screech rang in the sky.
Pieces of scales scattered all over the sky. Blood splattered everywhere and dyed the vast sky red. The huge body of the Winged Dragon was disintegrated in an instant. The dragon head was filled with an unwilling expression as it fell from the sky.
A powerful Winged Dragon was beheaded in an instant.
Towards such a Sengen, everyone constantly dodged out of the way. Nobody else dared to approach him.
The sword-qi was raging left and right in the sky. Blood flowed nonstop. The exotic treasures of the ancestor god caused many practitioners to fight with no thoughts of personal safety. The murderous aura in the sky was going through the roof.
Even the people on the surface were becoming restless. Countless thousands of people watched the battle in the sky. How could they hope to compare to them with their meager abilities? It was simply impossible for them to join the fray. In the end, many practitioners began to search through the ruins that fell from the sky, hoping they could come across some treasures.
In the distant sky, the extraordinarily handsome Skybound Tongtian stood atop a mysterious island as he heaved a helpless sigh. Facing the Selvagem Tree and One True God Allah at the same time, even someone as strong as him couldn’t possibly obstruct them. And now, even Martial Saint Sun Tzu joined the fray. He considered using the magic formation of the Skybound Quadswords, but anticipating that there might still be someone eyeing the treasures covetously in the dark, he decided to withdraw. To be able to obtain one out of two of the treasures was already enough.
Above the ruins, Ranga and Cinnte swords shook fiercely. They actually flung the stone dagger they were protecting and no longer paid any attention to it. Martial Saint let out a roar as he broke through the void space. He mounted the divine horse and chased after the stone dagger. Selvagem Tree and Allah’s giant hand was unwilling to lag behind, they also advanced at the same time.
Ranga, Cinnte, Matar, and Gaiste swords surrounded the stone sphere. The formless sword-qi shattered the space and opened a tunnel that led towards the outside. The four swords instantly distanced themselves from the battlefield and disappeared.
The Selvagem Tree wanted to block their path, but ultimately decided to give up on the notion. Skybound Tongtian was not a man that could be easily provoked. If they forced him to leave behind both of the treasures, he would definitely go crazy.
The three of them continued to fight over the stone dagger in the formless space, the battle became all the more intense.
In a nameless space, Xiao Chen was still standing there like a wood.
“Where is your Truth?” The voice was ice-cold and contained no emotion as it resounded once more in the void sky.
“My Truth… is far away, I still need to find it.” Xiao Chen was thinking about it hard. Apparently, the Yellow River’s Ancient Monolith and the Dragon Island’s Ancient Monolith had once recorded about the Imprint of Truth. The elders in the Pure Land had also elaborated about the various “Truths” to him. However, they all seemed very blur, seemingly at a distant location. It was very hard to seize them.
The butterfly danced lightly, its pair of almost transparent wings created ripples as they were flapped. It was as if the void had been shattered as the divine light pierced the fog in the darkness.
Xiao Chen seemed to sober up a little and said, “The Truth is ahead, I only need to go forward.”
Zhuangzi heaved a sigh. This made Xiao Chen a little perplexed as he said, “The Truth is behind, it’s only at a distance of turning around.” He recalled those feelings when he was caught up in the ethereal state. Those kind of feeling when he became one with the heaven and earth was a mystery within a mystery. It was hard to put into words. If he could turn around and see clearly, it seemed like he would be able to grasp the essence of Truth.
“Just where is your Truth?” Zhuangzi still asked the same question.
This time, it seemed like Xiao Chen had really sobered up, he sunk into silence for a long time before he finally said, “The Truth is right under my foot, the road I had once traversed is my Truth.”
His tone was very firm, as if he had broken through the dense fog in his heart. He knew just how should he proceed from now on.
“Very good, anything else?”
Xiao Chen’s gaze became all the more resolute and said, “The Truth is inside everyone, my encounter with everyone paved the path of my Truth.”
Zhuangzi’s laughter transmitted outwards, he did not stand against Xiao Chen’s “Truth”. “The Saint is immortal, the thief increase exponentially.” He had also once said this kind of universally shocking words and established a standard for the world. It turned into an example for mankind and ended up as some kind of forbidden power. “The Saint set an example for the world.” Only by getting rid of worldly desires would one be able to break through.
The butterfly danced and lightly flapped its wings. The space was shattered and any traces of Zhuangzi disappeared.
And Xiao Chen found that he was standing on top of the ruins once more. He firmly gazed towards a distant location and had a flash of realization in an instant. It made him feel out of the ordinary. He had become aware of his future path.
He became motionless and appeared to have merged with this part of the world. The fighting sound in the sky seemed to have turned mute, the many thousand people on the surface also seemed to have disappeared. It was as if only he was the only one left in this world.
His consciousness seemed to have drifted towards the sky. It felt as if he was already standing high up and looking down at the world of mortals. A roaring river with boundless yellow water, flowing swiftly for thousand of miles. An Ancient Monolith was faintly discernible in the river water, sinking and emerging from time to time.
An isolated island, standing alone in the middle of the ocean. The dragon roars shook the air periodically, a ghost town was faintly discernible, and an Ancient Monolith slowly surfaced from the city.
The Ancient Monolith’s Divine Formation appeared in Xiao Chen’s mind as they activated automatically. He came to a mysterious realization within his sea of consciousness. At the same time, the sixteen divinized acupoints lit up and drove the life essence towards his every limb and vein.
The divinized acupoints were connected by many glaring light beams. The divine arteries were condensing. It felt like a spring of life was watering Xiao Chen’s almost dried up body.
As he received the baptism of life, Xiao Chen’s internal organs, muscles, and bones were restored by the life energy.
It was like a long river flowing past a desolate desert, moisturizing the dried up sand as much as they like.
At this very moment, his power which had stagnated for two years was just like an overflowing flood which just breached the dam.
Break! Break! Break!
He broke through again and again. The life energy in his body became extremely vigorous. The hollows from losing two hundred years of lifespan were completely filled by the life energy in the divinized acupoints.
At this moment, Xiao Chen could clearly hear something in his body breaking apart. It was like some kind of barrier had been broken through. In an instant, he broke through three levels from Historia’s Third Celestial Layer and directly rose to Historia’s Sixth Celestial Layer.