Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 724: The Fall of Humanity

'The state of these people...'

Chu Tai looked at and felt the changes in the cause and effect in the dark, and his expression became a little strange.

If it’s not for their own selfish desires or the interests of their families, how did these people get to sit in those positions?

Chu Tai couldn't understand it, but all of this was real. He could only find one of them to sense and explore, but the result was...

"Because it's fun? No, if it's because of fun, it should be considered selfish, so you don't care and can't understand it?"

'It doesn't seem likely. They seem to think they are very clear-headed, but in fact they just want to vent their dissatisfaction? Or maybe they are not even dissatisfied, but simply have nothing to do, so they do this?'

Chu Tai had a strange expression on his face. He tried to analyze those people's thoughts, but in the end, something was still not right.

In the end, Chu Tai could only admit that some things in this world are simply illogical, and it is unrealistic to try to deduce some people's thoughts and ideas.

But when Chu Tai was exploring these people's thoughts, he unexpectedly discovered that there was a trace of Jun Mo Dao's aura on these people.

'Wait, what if the changes in these people are also the power of Jun Mo Dao?'

Thinking of this, Chu Tai's heart trembled. Junmo's Dao Fruit is called Jie and Zhou's Legal Dao Fruit. Most people understand that it symbolizes the dark nature of mankind and the concrete product of plunder and oppression in human nature. All evil thoughts, malice and evil deeds that rely on the dark side of human nature are manifestations of its power. Slavery, exploitation and tyranny are one of its most common images to the outside world.

But after Chu Tai mastered the power of [Supreme Man], [Inverted] and [Taibai], Chu Tai gradually understood that Jun Mo's Jie and Zhou's legal principles and fruits were actually closer to the product of human order than the dark side of human nature. It was a highly condensed crystallization of order. To put it simply, it was self-centered and constructed a mechanized supply order that abandoned all humanity, morality and ethics.

Under this system, all existence serves the supreme monarch.

Apart from that, morality, law, and ethics are not important. As long as they can be supplied upwards, there will be no problem.

Therefore, it will stimulate the dark side of human nature to the greatest extent, making it the highest fruit of the Tao that symbolizes the dark nature of mankind.

It is also because of this characteristic that under the Junmo Dao system, high-level cultivators are both the food for Junmo and the slave masters who exploit them. Most of them must ensure that they can create value that is higher than being devoured, such as expanding Junmo's influence, expanding the coverage of its Dao fruits, and enhancing their independence. Otherwise, it is easy for them to become Junmo's side and be completely assimilated by it.

'If so, then the number of Monarch Demon Dao monks who intervened in this Humane Dynasty will double. In addition to wealth, there are probably two or three more who have fallen into human nature. Among them, there may even be a third-grade Monarch Demon Dao monk who was assimilated by the Monarch Demon as a side?'

"So the disaster that corresponds to the distracting thoughts in people's minds is actually the confrontation between the Sovereign Demonic Path and the Saint King Path?"

Thinking of this, Chu Tai's pupils shrank slightly, and he further connected the rest of the information together.

'The Sovereign Demon Dao separated from the Holy King Avenue and established a corresponding human order in other continents, but the orthodox human order has always been in the Central Plains, and the two have never been on good terms. In the past when the human dynasty changed, the Sovereign Demon Dao also intervened to some extent. The only question is how much intervention it will make this time. Will it think of using the changes brought about by the two-day collision to completely subvert the existing human order and swallow up the remaining power of the Holy King Avenue? '

'At the same time, Haha, the ancestor, should have seen part of it, so he wanted to intervene and take this opportunity to annex some of the human forces, break through the limitations of the Saint King Avenue, reshape some of the divine ways, and revitalize the witch way.'

'According to this calculation, even for this disaster, we still need to think about how many people from the Junmo Dao were involved in this matter, how many third-grade cultivators there were, and whether there were any second-grade cultivators involved? '

Chu Tai, who realized this, became a little anxious.

At the same time, inside the Humane Dynasty, in a small cave.

Pride, greed, hunger, lust, jealousy, laziness, irritability, madness, so many clear things gather inside this small cave. So much distortion, pain, sorrow, and wailing echo in the cave, like the whispers of endless wronged souls, bringing endless corruption, degeneration, and madness.

"I can't stand it!"

As a mournful cry sounded, a man in a Confucian robe pressed his head frantically, and then his body began to twist and gradually turned into a roll of human skin book.

"Oh? Another one has gone crazy? This way, our influence has expanded a little bit. Unfortunately, he went crazy a little too late. Now the world is in chaos. The influence of his work has faded, and the number of people he can influence has decreased a lot."

A black shadow appeared at the edge of the human skin book and opened it. The pages with human skin texture were flipped one by one. Countless scarlet words twisted and changed in the eyes of the black shadow, as if they were the curses of countless living beings.

"Sure enough, the number of people that can be influenced is less than one-fifth of that at its peak."

A shadow emerged beside the black shadow, looked at the human skin book and said coldly: "After all, he is a person who understands the literary mind and condenses the literary energy. If his influence had not weakened, his power would not have been suppressed by these evil thoughts and then degenerated. In comparison, I am more curious, Qingli, you can actually hold on for such a long time, it is really surprising."

As he spoke, Shadow looked towards Qingli Caixian who was surrounded by countless mirrors.

The mirror reflects the joys and sorrows, happiness and anger, sorrow and happiness that are caused by wealth in all parts of the world, as well as the greed, hatred and filth that are derived from wealth.

The depraved thoughts, indulged desires, and corrupted souls of tens of thousands of living beings are all interfering with the Qingli Caixian through the mirror.

Many immortal texts, divine scrolls, and witch spells were flying on the Immortal of Wealth's body. He was struggling to resist the interference from all sides, while constantly emitting a faint light of compassion.

However, as soon as this bright light appeared, it was contaminated by the evil spirit of the mortal world. The wealth, blessings, and auspiciousness condensed in it were instantly swallowed up by the curse, and affected Qingli Caixian, making his body more and more withered, like rotten wood.

His voice was hoarse, like two pieces of dead wood rubbing against each other.

"Although you made me experience many hardships, I know the fruits of my Tao. I can feel that some people have benefited from my choices. My path is not wrong, I was just used by you."

"correct?"

The shadow sneered, descended, stood beside Qingli Caixian, and sneered: "Do you know what you are talking about? You rely on the right and wrong of others to achieve your own Dao fruit. Don't you know that the so-called human nature and morality are nothing but illusions? If you can't see through the mystery of human nature, your achievements will be just like this."

“If you want to cultivate the way of immortality, you must first cultivate the way of humanity. If you haven’t cultivated the way of humanity, how can you become an immortal? We should not be restricted by etiquette and laws, but we cannot despise them, especially when etiquette and laws maintain the safety of most people. It is our bottom line, not... cough cough cough..."

Before Qingli Caixian could finish his words, he was hit in the chest by a palm from a black shadow. Strands of black air seeped into his body, making him feel excruciating pain.

"Etiquette? Ethics? Morals? It takes hundreds or even thousands of years to establish these things. But it only takes one night, or even less, for them to collapse! Moreover, these things are too easy to deceive. Look, aren't you suffering from them now? If you couldn't let go, how could we seize the opportunity and end up like this?"

"Besides, you have good intentions, so what? You are the source of all the evils now. Don't you see that all the curses are still gathering on you? People's hearts are fickle and can be deceived. You are self-righteous and put yourself above all others, hoping to help and guide them. How do you know that they don't want to pull you down and watch you sink in the muddy swamp without being able to turn over?"

Qingli Caixian was silent for a long time, breathing heavily, until his chest recovered, then he slowly whispered: "Someone has to do it. Besides, what you did prove my value, didn't it? I guess something happened outside recently that you couldn't stand, so you thought of looking for me at this time to make me give up?"

"You are very smart and perceptive. Someone must have discovered our actions and wants to interfere with the subsequent changes. Although it is not a big deal, it is not a good sign. So we want to speed up and refine all of you. There may be some losses in this process, and some power is not pure enough, but some things arranged by Wu Zang can fill this gap, so..."

As the shadow spoke, he stretched out his hand and pressed on the top of Qingli Caixian's head. In an instant, the black gas swallowed it up, and then the entire cave began to collapse.

The dark shadow looked at the shadow and said, "Just giving up like that? I thought you would hold on for a while longer."

"We have had enough time to prepare. But the monk who discovered that something was wrong with us made his plans too late. He wanted to take his time without alarming us. Why should we follow his ideas? We can just detonate all the problems directly and then push them all away at once. After all, our goal is to take this one step further, and it would be best if we could attract that person's attention. As for the rest, it is not something we can interfere with..."

As he spoke, the shadow threw down a piece of Dao Fruit fragment that condensed powerful traces of foreign lands and gave people a feeling of despair, incomprehension, emptiness and nothingness.

The black shadow seemed surprised when he saw this scene, and cursed: "You actually carried this with you, aren't you afraid of being torn to pieces?"

"Don't worry. Although this thing looks like it's of the third rank, it's not complete. I used the power of the Incomprehensible Alien, the Lord of Chaos, and the Yellow Springs to combine it. It's enough to make the people of this land suffer a little. It can also erase our traces, making it easier for subsequent layouts. Moreover, some people in the Humane Dynasty are eager for me to do this. When I first proposed a similar idea, they helped me find many of the Dao Fruit fragments from the alien realm."

After hearing Shadow's answer, the black shadow was silent for a while, and then said, "Although I have seen this several times, every time I see something similar, I still find it a little strange. How did these people defeat the Taoist Master (Jun Mo) back then?"

“Perhaps, the Taoist master was not like this back then?”

A lazy voice sounded, and the shadow and the black figure were all shocked. After looking back at the person who came, they breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "It turned out to be you. Speaking of which, you have been in the third rank for a long time, senior, do you know some secrets that we don't know?"

"Nothing. In his early years, the Taoist master actually believed that people could be good, and he and several friends established the Glorious Nation, completed the sublimation of a large number of people, and achieved the level of a world of great harmony in his own cave. But unfortunately, this cave was destroyed in the end. As for the reason, you should be able to guess it. It only takes a disaster that is terrible enough to drag down all the people and foundations of the Glorious Nation."

"Then, those so-called heirs of the Saint King Avenue can share the glorious legacy... Ah... I'm a little sleepy... Forget about the things that come next... Let's just stop here. The cave you prepared has been destroyed, so according to our agreement, I will stay in it... Ensure the stability of this place, and your plan can proceed steadily... As for me, I'll take a rest first..."

After saying a few incoherent words, the person slowly walked into the collapsed cave.

The black shadow frowned as he watched it leave and asked, "How did this person cultivate to the third level under the command of the Taoist master?"

Shadow sneered, "I don't know how he cultivated to the third level, but his current state is probably the only way for him to survive. Completely giving up the laziness and indifference of self-pursuit is not a good thing for the pursuit of the Taoist master. Moreover, if he is not like this, do you have the courage to let him stay here? Well, things are almost done, let's go, this collapsed cave, with the power of our predecessor, can already affect us. Wait, the power of this thing seems to be a little bit wrong..."

As he spoke, the shadow flew outward, and so did the black shadow. He looked at the collapsed cave below, felt the roiling black liquid in it, and cursed: "Damn it, they actually threw this thing out, what do they want to do?"

Shadow sneered, "It's obvious that they have also plotted against us. However, this matter is just a scapegoat for us. As long as we can destroy this dynasty and attract the attention of the Taoist master, it will be fine. If we succeed, all their plots will be in vain. If we fail, we can take away the Dao Fruit of Destroying the Dynasty and improve our Dao Fruit from this destruction, so it's not a loss."

After saying that, the shadow left first, and the black shadow cursed twice before disappearing.

Not long after the two left, drops of black water began to flow out of the collapsed cavity. The moment it flowed into the earth veins, many cultivators in the Central Plains were startled, and then more and more people sensed that something was wrong quickly.

But before they could react, a black shadow had already spread out from some cities in the Central Plains. The black shadow was only a tiny spot at first, but it soon encompassed the entire Central Plains in an incredible way.

Wherever these dark shadows passed, barely visible ripples spread out in the void.

Time, space, energy, matter and even the void itself were absurdly distorted and shifted under these ripples, and the spiritual consciousness of all living beings living in them was hit by waves.

At the same time, the negative emotions that had been suppressed, repressed, divided, and dealt with in many towns were also absorbed by the ripples, becoming the basis for their further spread.

Taoist Zhengyang, who was sitting outside the Baishi Spiritual Realm, felt that the bluestone slabs under his feet were suddenly covered with countless gloomy and damp filth.

"This thing is..."

Taoist Mu Jing came to his side and took a look in a low voice. It seemed as if the thing was made of countless evil intentions turned into living creatures. After noticing the gazes of the two, it immediately sent out countless wet tentacles and tried to climb onto their bodies.

At the same time, residents in the surrounding towns also went crazy. The better ones just quarreled with each other, while the worse ones directly fought each other. There was no sign of the peace of the past.

The anger and quarrels among the crowd also made the filth around them even thicker, and there were signs that it was affecting Taoist Zhengyang and Taoist Mujing.

On the other side, Changpu, Mohong and Cangxuan, who were on their way, felt that countless distorted and strange drum sounds suddenly rang out in the void. Every vibration was trying to distort their minds, making everything they saw and heard decay and stench, as if everything was a conspiracy, everything was darkness, and everything was chaos.

If the three of them had not helped each other at the first moment, they would probably have been aroused by evil thoughts and started quarreling with each other.

Although the three did not fight, the cultivators here felt that they were an eyesore and used their magic weapons to attack them.

"It starts now?" Chu Tai in the Jinhua Cave Heaven sensed something was wrong and walked outside. He saw that countless black shadows had appeared above the earth at some point in time, and they kept overlapping the surrounding void and cosmic light, trying to distort and modify the minds of the living beings in it.

"Don't think about it!"

Chu Tai held high the Miro sky-covering umbrella, and the sun, moon, and stars appeared. The stars in the sky moved, with the Jinhua Cave Heaven as the core. Streams of pure air descended, protecting the minds of all living beings around.

But these shocks are often not caused by external pollution, but the repressed resentment of the past. At this moment, it is pulled and immediately erupts. Bits of filth appear on the Miro Umbrella, and the turbid breath obscures the light on the umbrella. Countless wriggling malice tries to cover up the power of the umbrella.

Chu Tai also noticed something a little bit wrong. This thing was definitely not just the evil thoughts accumulated by the Humane Dynasty of this era.

That huge sin that was dark, sticky, and contained endless malice was probably the malice accumulated over several, dozens, or even scores of dynasties.

Obviously, some inheritors of the Saint King Avenue, the current rulers of the dynasty, and the pioneers of the future dynasty, probably guessed some of the layout of Junmo Dao and some of the arrangements of Ancestor Haha.

But they don't care. They want to take advantage of the two-day collision and Jun Modao's calculations to detonate the evil thoughts accumulated in humanity in the past, sacrificing the current Central Plains in exchange for more benefits in the future.

"What a good plan!"

Chu Tai gritted his teeth. He thought more and guessed that the humanitarian cultivator who set up this trap might also intend to take this opportunity to clean up a wave of cultivators currently in various parts of the Central Plains, and even clean up the East, West, South Xinjiang and North Wilderness to facilitate the new dynasty to expand its territory.

"What do they think of all living beings? Do they really think that the True Lords will let them go?"

Even though he thought so, Chu Tai's men could not slow down. He mobilized the power of the Supreme Man to stabilize the surrounding atmosphere and use the Miro Sky-Breaking Umbrella to protect more monks.

Unlike Chu Tai, who can suppress the evil thoughts of human nature by relying on the Sky-Breaking Umbrella and the third-grade Dao Fruit fragment [Supreme Man].

The problems encountered by practitioners in various places are much more troublesome. Those who are below the fourth level and are in towns are basically contaminated by evil thoughts of humanity at the first moment and fall into extreme emotions.

Secondly, some monks in the temple, if their minds are unstable, will also be severely impacted in the first time.

For example, Taoist Wutai and Taoist Yunsi, both of them were already troubled by recent events, but when the black water spread into the earth veins, they were the first to be affected.

At the same time, a figure appeared beside each of them.

Taoist Wutai looked at Patriarch Mingzhi who appeared beside him and asked with some doubt: "What's the matter, fellow Taoist?"

"The ground veins seem to have changed, but Senior Brother didn't feel anything. I'm a little worried, so I came to ask you how you feel."

"Changes in the earth veins?"

Taoist Wutai sensed it carefully and nodded, saying, "Yes, there have been some changes, but I feel a little strange here. I wonder if you guys are..."

Halfway through his words, Taoist Wutai suddenly attacked, piercing through the chest of Patriarch Mingzhi, and then five-colored light rotated, breaking up his body.

"It's really you!"

Taoist Wutai looked ferocious as he looked at the face that remained unchanged above the five-colored light and roared, "Haha, Old Ancestor!"

"Oh my! Haven't you guessed these things a long time ago? Why are you so surprised? Could it be that you have some feelings for Mingzhi? If Yu Guifang knew about this, I wonder how sad she would be."

"You still have the guts to talk to me about your junior sister!"

The Taoist Wutai was furious. He raised his hand and released five-colored rays of light, stirring up the five elements.

"Why not? She is so useful. She easily ruined you, a genius who has reached the pinnacle of the fourth-grade heavenly realm and has mastered all three religions. This gave me a chance to seize your Dao fruit."

"Oh, by the way, you may not know this yet, but Yu Guifang was not cursed to death. She was sacrificed, and I sacrificed her alive to myself... Senior Brother... Can you come and keep me company..."

Five-colored rays of light emerged, and Mingzhi's Nuo mask changed, revealing the appearance of Yu Guifang. The exact same aura and power made the Wutai Taoist stunned for a moment.

Then violent explosions occurred on Mount Wutai. However, as Nuo masks flew out of the houses one by one, everything eventually returned to calm. Only the surging black water indicated the fact that there were no monks in this place.

On Mount Emei, similar to the stage, two sword lights flew out first, and then a violent roar resounded through the void, and then dozens of Nuo masks flew out and gathered into the appearance of Taoist Yun Si.

Taoist Yun Si looked in the direction where the sword light left, and whispered in his heart: "It's a pity that the guy from Jun Mo Dao suddenly sped up his movements for some reason, otherwise, I could swallow the two flying swords together and prevent the two little guys from escaping. However, swallowing the Dao fruit of Yun Si and Zi Hua can also be regarded as completing some of the immortal Dao system. I should go to Zhongyuan to meet up and complete the final ceremony as soon as possible..."

After saying this, Taoist Yun Si left Mount Emei, and this sacred place for immortals and Buddhas was quickly covered by black water.

In contrast, many disciples of Taiyi Immortal Sect found a glimmer of hope.

The Lingtai method and talisman method taught by Chu Tai could provide them with a certain self-protection ability when facing black water. It could effectively isolate the influence of black water and prevent evil thoughts from eroding consciousness.

And when they realized this, Chu Tai also felt it.

He immediately mobilized his abilities to pass on relevant information to all the cultivators of Taiyi Immortal Sect and all the cultivators who had some connection with him, hoping to save as many people as possible.

During this process, Chu Tai also saw many desperate scenes, some of which were caused by people who were sober and wanted to save others or save themselves.

"Father! Mother! Why? Why!"

In a large courtyard with high gates, big red lanterns were hung high, and countless Chinese characters for "Fu" filled the walls. The atmosphere of blessing, joy, and happiness filled the inside and outside, but at the same time, bright red blood covered every part of the house.

The old man went mad, and when the children were corrupted by evil thoughts and unable to move, he slaughtered them all and devoured their flesh and blood.

"Stay alive. If we eat you, we can survive..."

The two old men, who were completely affected by the evil thoughts, walked forward like puppets. Just when they were about to take action, Chu Tai sighed, snapped his fingers, vibrated the Donghuang Bell, awakened the old men, looked at them with tears and blood in their eyes, and treated everyone at the same time.

"Mom! It hurts! Stop hitting me, it hurts!"

In another house, a conscious little boy was crying loudly, while his mother was holding a long knife and trying to dismember him. During this time, she kept muttering in a low voice: "Why don't you listen, why do you steal things, why do you run away..."

Another bell rang, and the woman threw the long knife aside and looked at the child covered in scars and crying.

There was also a case where an apprentice attacked his master in a martial arts school, just wanting to learn the other person's unique skills.

The sober commander could only take a deep breath to kill the man. He turned around and saw his daughter throwing the sword on the ground and crying. He endured the pain and went forward to comfort her, but his daughter cried even more sadly.

There was also a scholar in the academy who attacked his companion because of a past remark; a musician in the music hall whose arm was cut off because of a piece of clothing...

Chu Tai managed to recover some of the despair he discovered in the process of delivering the message, but it was still a drop in the bucket for the entire Central Plains.

The sky above Zhongyuan gradually fell into terrible despair, just like the scene Chu Tai had seen in the past.

Even the Taiyi Immortal Sect, which gradually relied on the Lingtai method and the Fulu method, found it increasingly difficult to maintain and persist.

We must find a way to convey the message to everyone.

Chu Tai looked up, his mind moved, and the incarnation of Xiang Jun and Xiang Furen took out the golden lamp that had been condensed in the infinite cycle of illusory world, drew out the Buddha light inside, and then cast a spell to shine it on the incarnation of the mountain ghost.

Although there was some damage during this period, the mountain ghost relied on this little Buddha light, raised high the precious mirror with the five Buddhas' images imprinted on it, and pointed it towards the Central Plains.

"what?"

A cry of amazement came from the treasure mirror, and then the shadow of the Pure Light Goddess appeared. She looked at the mountain ghost and whispered, "I didn't expect that you could find a ray of Buddha's light of this quality, so that the little spiritual consciousness I left behind can be manifested. This is good, fellow Taoist, quickly throw down the treasure mirror, and I will help you find the source of the black water."

The mountain ghost heard this and, according to what Jingguang said, at the moment the magic mirror fell into the human world, many great Buddhists also felt it and took action one after another. They released their own Buddha light, merged it into the magic mirror, and let it illuminate an area. They found the source of the black liquid, the hole formed by the collapse of the cave.

Jingguang held up the precious mirror high, and the light of the mirror was cast into it, vaguely reflecting a few figures, and then a yawn was heard: "Such a bright light... I wonder... Is the old man sleeping..."

A soft and weak voice was heard from it, and the Goddess of Pure Light couldn't help feeling sleepy. Then the Buddha's light gradually dimmed. She quickly realized that something was wrong, and while informing everyone of the location of this place, she detonated the Buddha's light in the treasure mirror, trying to temporarily suppress subsequent changes.

At the same time, many Buddhist monks exerted their efforts at the same time.

Countless Buddha lights and Sanskrit characters slowly climbed up to the sky, forming a beautiful magic circle. The huge mandala flower slowly bloomed in the sky. The petals made up of Buddha lights and Sanskrit characters continued to extend in the void, dyeing the sky golden.

Then, above the layers of flowers and leaves, there appeared countless shadows of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Vajras, Heavenly Kings, Kālaans, Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis, and the sound of endless Sanskrit chanting echoed in the void.

And those Buddha lights and Sanskrit characters eventually gathered from all directions to the place where the last light left on the precious mirror was, trying to temporarily suppress the void.

The many immortal monks who noticed the Buddhist actions also cooperated at the first time. Most of them used themselves as the carrier to temporarily suppress the flooding black water around them, knocked out all living beings, and planned to temporarily take away the people around them.

Unexpectedly, the Mandragora flower, which gathered the power of many Buddhist and Taoist monks in the Central Plains, was carried by a point of Buddha's light before falling into the hole.

"Namo Future Maitreya Buddha! Good! Good! The mortal world is like purgatory. Now that all living beings are about to transcend, why should you, brothers, stop us?"

As a chuckle sounded, the shadow of a big-bellied Buddha rose from the Fanjing Mountain, with layers of Buddha's light interweaving, and white lotus, blue lotus and red lotus blooming one after another, interpreting the blue lotus' way of purifying the world, the white lotus' way of saving the world and the red lotus' way of burning the world.

Between the opening and closing of the lotus, there are four changes: creation, existence, destruction and emptiness.

"Strange? The celestial beings in Fanjing Mountain have this ability?"

Chu Tai was feeling somewhat puzzled when the shadow of Master Tianque appeared. He looked at the shadow of the Buddha and said angrily, "Buddha Demon, you are actually interfering in the affairs of the world?"

"Namo the future Maitreya Buddha! Well done! Well done! Although I have taken refuge in the Holy Buddha (Buddha Demon), the Holy Buddha is not me. Tianque, you are attached to appearances!"

Hearing this, Tian Que was furious and said, "Others don't know, but I don't know. You always use this method. So this disaster is not only Jun Modao's intention, but also your intention?"

(End of this chapter)