Nine Heavens ➡️ Land of the Nine Heavens
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Chapter 1439 Heaven Cannot Be Defied, All Fates Are Long Ordained
"Now that such great events have occurred in the Vast Expanse, Land of the Nine Heavens should also enter the world. I just wonder what changes will occur in the Vast Expanse's situation after the establishment of the Immortal Dao Alliance this time."
"Judging from the current situation, this Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance should not obstruct the founding of the Immortal Dao Alliance."
"But why do I always have a bad premonition..."
"During this period, you should have also noticed those cult members suddenly springing up around the Heaven-Slaying Alliance."
"The appearance of this Black Lotus Cult is quite timely. Moreover, the two of us cannot investigate any records or origins related to it. The Lord of the Black Lotus that those cultists worship is connected to the Dark Clans."
"Could it be related to the former Heaven's Proxy Organization? Appearing suddenly around the Heaven-Slaying Alliance—is there some causal connection?"
The scar-faced man and the black dog stood in the void, gazing at the vast, unfathomable, and eerily atmospheric scenes within the Heaven-Slaying Alliance. Both could not help but shake their heads, speculating.
The situation in the Vast Expanse had changed again and again. Even existences at the Dao Realms like them felt trapped in a prison, their future uncertain, anxious and uneasy.
Ordinary living beings were probably just like foam and illusions, shattering at a touch, not even qualified to be cannon fodder.
"Forget it. Even if we wanted to meddle in this matter, we are not qualified. We can only wait and see what happens."
"Our urgent task now is to first return to Land of the Nine Heavens and take refuge. I feel that if we continue to wander the Vast Expanse, who knows when we might lose our lives..."
The scar-faced man sighed, and then the man and the dog vanished from the spot.
After they left, Gu Changge within the Heaven-Slaying Alliance withdrew his gaze, a thoughtful expression on his face.
In truth, from the moment Yao Yao had used that life-saving item, "forcing" him to appear, he had known that someone was always watching Jiang Weiyang's movements. The causal link involved even had a considerable connection to Gu Xian'er.
Thus, he hadn't bothered much and let events take their course.
This man and dog came from the land of Land of the Nine Heavens. To the entire Vast Expanse, Land of the Nine Heavens held an otherworldly status, known as the birthplace of the Immortal Dao, the end of the heavens.
Over countless epochs, no shortage of mighty figures seeking immortality and the Dao had searched for Land of the Nine Heavens, wishing to go there.
Back before the Dao Prosperity True World had changed its name, a person of great fortune named QingFeng left the Shanhai True World, following clues left by predecessors of the Immortal Palace, to search for Land of the Nine Heavens. He wanted to seek reinforcements to prevent a great calamity in the Shanhai True World.
Gu Changge knew of this at the time and did not intervene in any way.
He understood Land of the Nine Heavens better than anyone. It was not actually the source of the Immortal Dao, but a graveyard of heaven.
Since ancient times, Cataclysmic Tribulations have descended. Many who overestimated their capabilities attempted to "slay heaven" to obstruct the tribulations. In those great battles, the Heavenly Dao's Wills within some true worlds and universes fell and shattered, transforming into Heavenly Dao qi or Heavenly Dao fragments, scattered across various battlefields.
Land of the Nine Heavens was a land formed from many ruined battlefields of "Heaven-slaying."
Buried there were many ancient "Heaven-slayers," and there were also many so-called heavenly graveyards. Due to its special aura and disordered laws, it was assimilated by the aura of the tribulations, turning the region into an "otherworldly" zone untouched by Cataclysmic Tribulations.
But to Gu Changge, this was merely a "loophole" in the Heavenly Dao's operation within the Vast Expanse.
Among all worlds, aside from those void spaces beyond space-time, there was no region that would not be baptized by Cataclysmic Tribulations.
Even those Supreme True Worlds that had survived nine tribulations were no exception. It was simply that as the number of survived tribulations increased, the great tree grew more prosperous and colossal, its function greater, and it would no longer easily suffer the invasion of minor tribulations.
Before the true Epochal Cataclysm that settles all accounts, all beings and worlds were equal, and Supreme True Worlds were no exception.
From ancient times to the present, worlds have been born and worlds have perished. No one knows how many tribulations have been experienced; they are countless.
If it were as the beings of the Vast Expanse believed—that after surviving nine tribulations, one would no longer be invaded by tribulations—then just how many Supreme True Worlds would there be in the entire Vast Expanse?
But for ordinary living beings, they themselves could never be aware of this. In the entirety of their fleeting lives, they would at most live within their own world, that one universe.
Even when that world withered and shattered, and their race perished according to its natural course, they would never know what a Cataclysmic Tribulation was.
The saying that it's cooler under a big tree applies the same principle.
The Newly Born True Worlds and Ancient True Worlds that depended on Supreme True Worlds, during the long ages from birth to natural extinction, would never experience tribulations. They would naturally assume that as long as they became a true world like the Supreme True Worlds, they need not worry about the day a tribulation descends.
In such endless stretches of time, the Epochal Cataclysm would arrive. Even Supreme True Worlds would wither and crumble, and every era would be renewed and start over.
Only a very small number of beings who understood the truth and were sufficiently powerful would survive in hiding within unknown space-times, silently lying low, hoping to outlast the next Epochal Cataclysm .
Under such circumstances, the "Heaven-slayers" naturally grew fewer and fewer. In the beginning, they dared to "slay heaven" out of ignorance and fearlessness. But once they truly understood what "Heaven" was, all that remained was deep reverence and terror.
Heaven cannot be defied.
This is a law that has remained eternal and unchanging since the birth of the Vast Expanse to this day.
And the land of Land of the Nine Heavens naturally became the place where those who had evaded Epochal Cataclysm s, the truly ancient, the sufficiently tenacious existences, lay dormant.
For example, the true ancestral land of the Gu Family from the Dao Prosperity True World was actually in Land of the Nine Heavens.
The Ancestor of the Gu Family in Land of the Nine Heavens could actually only be called the Ninth Ancestor. His body currently in the Dao Prosperity True World was merely a shell he had manifested.
He had stayed in the Dao Prosperity True World all along merely to search for the true spirit lost by the distant ancestor of the Gu Family.
But now, the Ancestor of the Gu Family might have already sensed something and would presumably return to the land of Land of the Nine Heavens.
Back then, after the Immortal Palace of the Shanhai True World was destroyed, the Ancestor of the Gu Family had guided some of the survivors of the Immortal Palace to flee to the land of Land of the Nine Heavens.
It was precisely because of this that the records connecting the Shanhai True World and Land of the Nine Heavens in later generations were actually left behind by the Ancestor of the Gu Family at that time.
However, even the Ancestor of the Gu Family did not know that the destruction of the Immortal Palace back then was merely a scheme between Gu Changge and Qingyi.
Gu Changge wanted to make the identity of the Demon Lord even more flawless, to make his own identity traversing the Vast Expanse fit that of an Anomaly.
Of course, the most important point was that after the Lord of Heaven's Proxy was sealed, he needed a new identity to temporarily take his place, one that would allow all logic to be consistent and self-justifying.
Even now, if his identity as the Lord of Heaven's Proxy were exposed, when it came to deductions involving many pasts and futures, all his actions and trajectories could still be logically consistent and flawless, without revealing any flaws.
After the Black Calamity Catastrophe ended, he, as the Lord of Heaven's Proxy, was sealed and fell into a deep slumber.
Countless years later, as the power of the seal weakened, he awoke along the course of events. A wisp of his power detached from the Land of the Dark Source and appeared in the Vast Expanse under the alias of the Demon Lord.
Coincidentally, at that time, the Ji Chan Clan of the Ancient Treasure Civilization, because the Epoch Mother Tree had absorbed too much fortune and origin from the Vast Expanse, incurred the wrath of the "Progenitor" in the Land of Truth. A palm descended from the void and snapped the Epoch Mother Tree in two, stripping away all its vitality.
The Ji Chan Clan thus became the sinners of the Ancient Treasure Civilization.
With the Epoch Mother Tree severed, the Ancient Treasure Civilization where the Ji Chan Clan resided nearly collapsed and was destroyed, heading towards desolation.
Thus, to appease the fury from the other side, the Grand Priest of Ancient Treasure barely managed to communicate with that side, learning that an offering needed to be sacrificed.
That was why the Ninth Princess of the Ji Chan Clan, Qingyi, later fled, taking the Immortal Dao Civilization Spark with her.
And that was also why, during the tribulation, Qingyi encountered danger and was saved by Gu Changge, who was then incarnated as the Demon Lord...
It seemed that every sip and every bite had its cause and effect, but in truth, all of this fate had been ordained from the very start.
Gu Changge had arranged everything long ago.
"Xian'er should also have returned to the land of Land of the Nine Heavens by now. Her existence should be noticed by the Gu Family there..." Gu Changge's gaze was deep and distant.
Though he was reluctant to admit it, Gu Xian'er had long been an extremely crucial part of his plan.
Now that Gu Xian'er had been chosen by the taboo power of "Heaven Restraint," was this not a backup move laid by that hidden existence to deal with this identity of his?
The other party believed they had seen his future, seen his fate, and thus blatantly acted upon his weakness.
For in this world-line he had chosen, Gu Xian'er indeed could be considered his soft spot and reverse scale. All this time, he had also acted as if this were the case.
But was the truth really so?
In fact, at this point, even Gu Changge could no longer say for certain. Perhaps there was a fair amount of warmth, or perhaps it was even more about calculations.
But the human heart is, after all, complex. During this period, he had always firmly believed in judging actions rather than intentions.
Good and evil, right and wrong, have never had a true boundary, let alone selfless love and kindness.
Besides, he was not truly a human in the strictest sense...
For this reason, he had also been doing his utmost to make it up to those around him, like Yue Mingkong and Jiang Chuchu, so that they could feel a sliver of that warmth.
At the same time, in a distant, vast, and boundless ancient land.
On a mist-shrouded, extremely open cliff,
the group from Crescent Moon Sect, including Gu Xian'er and the woman in white, stood there, either frowning, concentrating, or pondering, staring at the middle-aged man in white before them.
That middle-aged man in white sat quietly cross-legged, a chessboard laid out before him. His expression was otherworldly and calm, carrying the intent of one transcending the mundane.
An aura of mystery swirled around him, as if a billion stars were revolving, bobbing and setting, evolving boundless immortal intent.
He looked just like a true ancient immortal who had attained the Dao.
This was a grand mountain range, surging with essence, pervaded by chaos, accompanied by auspicious clouds. Even the soil was glowing. Immortal herbs swayed gently, their fragrance wafting into the nose.
The middle-aged man in white before them was addressed by Song Yu as "Senior Gravekeeper."
But ever since Gu Xian'er and the others had arrived, they discovered that he had been staring at the chessboard the entire time, as if he hadn't moved since the dawn of time, and didn't pay them any attention.
Song Yu had also been waiting respectfully to the side, not daring to disturb him.
"Finally, we've reached Land of the Nine Heavens..."
Among Gu Xian'er's group, a woman wearing a loose cyan robe, slender of build with a delicate, pretty face and her long hair bound by a wooden hairpin, was examining the surroundings, a strange light in her eyes.