Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 937 Severing the Root of Heaven and Earth

The Eastern Emperor Bell rose and fell upon the heavens.

In an instant, the entire heavens and the sky resounded with a crisp sound. Then, a terrifying scar appeared on the clear sky that stretched for thousands of miles.

The next instant, countless specks of light, resembling snowflakes, crystals, feathers, and jade dust, drifted slowly down from the wound.

If you were standing on the ground and looking up, the sky at this moment would look like a piece of broken glass, with a terrifying crack appearing on it, and this crack is still spreading, expanding and extending.

More and more specks of light fell, and as they fell, the sound of them shattering echoed continuously.

This move shocked Chu Tai. At the same time, the Three Pure Ones, who were suppressing the Heavenly Demon, also disintegrated and turned into three streams of pure energy that returned to him.

Taiyi Zhenjun's body also trembled, and countless streams of light flew out from his body, but he endured the pain and continued to suppress the Heavenly Demon together with Bodhi Patriarch and Tathagata Buddha.

'Your Majesty, have you shattered the heavens?'

The "heaven" that Chu Tai speaks of at this moment is not the embodiment of that person, but the concept of heaven rooted in the countless heavens and earths of the Three Pure Ones.

The concept of Heaven is one of the most important core elements in the construction of Heaven and Earth. Even a brief intervention can cause turmoil in countless laws and principles, and even collapse and reorganization.

This can be seen from the changes in the Three Pure Ones and the Taiyi True Lord. These beings, whose foundations are closely connected to Heaven, are also instantly affected when Heaven suffers a severe blow.

Chu Tai also sensed that the gods, with the heavens at their core, had now fallen into a deep slumber in countless realms.

They survived only because of the protection of the Heavenly Emperor; otherwise, they would have been buried with the shattered heavens under the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Of course, the Heavenly Emperor himself could not remain unaffected. Chu Tai could sense it even through the Eastern Emperor Bell. At the moment the Eastern Emperor Bell fell, the Heavenly Emperor's Dao Fruit also underwent a brief change.

At the same time, all the Dao Fruits related to Heaven within the Eastern Emperor Bell also underwent a momentary change.

Even so, the Heavenly Emperor still did not get the result he wanted.

He looked up at the sky and whispered, "Still not working?"

“It really doesn’t work!”

Awakened by the Heavenly Emperor's bell, Tian looked at his shattered body and felt the falling light. He looked back at the Heavenly Emperor and said, "Your power is still a little lacking. I originally thought that it would be better if I assimilated you and ascended to the Innate Realm together, but now it seems that it is not possible. The greater possibility is that you will be devoured by me."

Tian sighed, and then a faint radiance emanated from his body. The radiance was bright but not intense, pure and unmixed, pure heavenly light, containing only the simple meaning of heaven. The manifestation of the light was only because humans could not see the pure heaven.

As the light emanated from the sky, it instantly pierced through layers of heaven and earth, radiating out from the cracks in the sky. Then, the falling light points began to reverse, stitching together the shattered glass-like sky.

In an instant, all the principles and laws concerning Heaven returned to their original state.

At the same time, the heavens and earth trembled, and the Milky Way swayed.

Within the entire sphere of existence—the sky, the earth, mountains, rivers, plains, seas of clouds, towns, and wilderness—all living beings felt a sense of fear and anger, as if a great calamity was about to befall them.

The next moment, countless earth veins, gales, and polar magnetic fields in the world all started to operate, transforming into a vast heavenly tribulation according to the will of heaven, launching a backlash against the Heavenly Emperor.

The true fire of the earth's core beneath the crust, the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning above the sky, and the brilliance of the stars in the night sky—all these are gathered, purified, and sublimated under the power of heaven, and then launched an attack on the Heavenly Emperor in an unprecedentedly intense form.

This is the backlash from the shattering of countless heavens and earth in the past, and also the instinctive resistance of countless heavens and earth.

Nearly endless lightning appeared in the void, and all sorts of principles were constructed under the will of Heaven.

The Dao fruits such as [Heaven], [Earth], [Pure Yang], [Yin], [Stars], and [Time] all condense into lightning and fall.

They were trying to make the Heavenly Emperor, who had almost destroyed the world, aware of the consequences of his actions.

But the Heavenly Emperor simply raised the Eastern Emperor Bell in his hand and shook it gently. The sound of the bell echoed between heaven and earth, countless pieces of information were recombined, and all the calamities disappeared.

"I am also the one who governs heaven and earth. As long as all living beings have not suffered irreparable pain, all problems can be solved again."

The Heavenly Emperor looked up at the sky and shook the Eastern Emperor Bell once more. Countless ripples emerged, layer upon layer, and finally converged on the sky.

The power of these ripples constantly merges, converging into illusory portals.

It is called a portal, but it is just that the Dao fruits of other systems gathered in the Donghuang Bell and were re-manifested under the power of the Heavenly Emperor.

The Dao Fruit of the Great Fate System interacts with the [Gate], and under the power of the Heavenly Emperor, it gives rise to the Gate of Life and Death Reincarnation. The gate is ancient and solemn, containing countless principles of life, death, illusion and destruction. Above the gate are scenes of the birth and death of stars, the withering and flourishing of plants, the birth and death of animals, and the creation and destruction of objects.

From the fleeting life of a mustard seed or mayfly to the formation, existence, decay, and emptiness of the entire universe, everything is derived from the power of the Heavenly Emperor.

In this endless cycle of life and death, the illusion of impermanence and the emptiness of all things gradually unfolds.

Silently, a portal, seemingly real yet illusory, appeared beside the gate of life and death.

This portal is unlike the towering, earth-shattering cycle of life and death; instead, it hangs in the void, constantly shifting and changing like a dream. From afar, it appears as a mirage on the horizon, but up close, it becomes a real and tangible existence. The distinction between reality and illusion seems to exist only in one's own thoughts and perceptions; everything is merely a dream, an illusion, and not real.

This is the result of the interaction between the River God system and the Heavenly Emperor's Dao Fruit.

All futures that have not been reached are illusions; only the present is real. All changes will collapse inward as you move forward, becoming an unchanging past.

In the past, another gate emerged, existing in the past yet appearing in the present and even the endless future. This was the result of the interaction between the Xiangjun and Xiangfuren systems and the Heavenly Emperor's Dao Fruit.

The endless future also influences the fixed past; the fixed past, in turn, derives the predetermined future. The portal, seemingly spanning the past, present, and future, multiplies into countless points in time, yet in reality, there is only one, eternally unchanging. Between change and constancy, the radiance of spirituality and the breath of life emerge. The Dao fruits of the Shao Siming and Yun Zhongjun systems interact with the [Gate], giving birth to the portal, which stands above the heavens.

As a result, more than a dozen portals gradually emerged, and many magnificent archways appeared all around. The power of the Heavenly Emperor's Dao Fruit was integrated into them, manifesting myriad gods standing in the heavens, displaying boundless magnificent scenery, constructing a heavenly palace, and attempting to suppress the heavens within it in the name of offerings.

Heaven had no objection to this. He simply watched the Heavenly Emperor's actions silently and said in a low voice, "If you can't break my body, are you going to use this to anchor my will? If you make me the Heavenly Emperor, aren't you afraid that I will turn the tables on you?"

As the heavens mocked, layers of golden clouds rolled and purple mist spread out, permeating the universe and filling the cosmos with light. In the vast天地 (heaven and earth), the will of heaven began to occupy many celestial palaces.

The will of the Heavenly Emperor followed closely behind, colliding continuously in the void with the will of Heaven. The booming sound was incessant, as if hundreds of millions of war drums were being beaten, or as if hundreds of millions of bells and chimes were being played.

The melodious sounds echoed, causing the information of Dao fruits such as [music], [harmony], and [resonance] to naturally condense within the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Chu Tai fell silent. The clash between these two made Chu Tai realize for the first time how terrifying a battle between first-grade cultivators could be.

The two appear to be fighting in front of him, but in reality they are just using the power of the Eastern Emperor Bell to anchor all changes to the present.

Based on the changes that Chu Tai could perceive, millions of different possibilities, past and future, continued to emerge and perish in their battle.

Each time, the power of the two forces constantly dominates the corresponding possibility, yet they are forced to give up under the influence of the other.

Furthermore, because of the existence of the Eastern Emperor Bell, Chu Tai could sense that those possibilities would not have much impact on the present. Even if he suffered a temporary setback, the Heavenly Emperor could still maintain a dominant position.

The only problem is that neither Chu Tai nor the Heavenly Emperor can overcome the will of Heaven.

In Chu Tai's perception, Heaven has no self-will whatsoever, or rather, Heaven's will and the concept of Heaven are one and the same; there is no possibility of them being combined or separated.

If we must talk about separation, then it's about separating the so-called will from a concept.

Even the Heavenly Demon, who possessed the Dao Fruit of Separation, couldn't accomplish this without any resistance from Heaven, let alone Chu Tai and the Heavenly Emperor.

'Are we just supposed to watch this guy...'

A thought suddenly flashed through Chu Tai's mind. He looked at the River God's Dao Fruit system. After suppressing the Heavenly Demon, the second-grade Dao Fruit [Demon Suppression (Emperor Ruins)] of this system had been completely perfected. Now, after experiencing the struggle between the Heavenly Emperor and Heaven, it has continued to transform and manifested the first-grade Dao Fruit [Gouchen (Escape One)].

When this name of the Dao Fruit was revealed, Chu Tai didn't know whether it was influenced by the Heavenly Emperor or whether it was something that was originally possible.

Although the direction of the deduction suggests that [Zhenmo (Dixu)] has the potential to transform into [Gouchen (Dunyi)], the information contained within it greatly surprised Chu Tai.

【Gouchen】 and 【Dunyi】 are like the two extremes of the Hebo system.

【Gouchen】is clearly the counterpart to the legendary Emperor Gouchen. Its core concept is to control part of the movement of the three realms of heaven, earth and man, and to dominate the powers of 【war】【battle】【military】 and 【command】. It can influence the movement of stars and the changes in people's hearts to a certain extent, and also has secondary control over fate and the cosmos.

In comparison, [遁一] is closer to an absolute control over an unchanging future. In addition to [unchanging], it also has the authority of [cutting], [intercepting], and [splitting].

Its nature has already been manifested in the portal of the Heavenly Emperor's interpretation. No matter how many changes there are in the future, only the future that one walks is the real future. Other futures can be divided and parts can be taken to make one's own future more perfect, but they are never one's own future.

This control over the future also allowed [Dunyi] to grasp some secondary concepts derived from authority such as [war], [battle], [military], and [command].

Looking at this Dao Fruit, Chu Tai suddenly thought of a possibility.

He then looked at the Mountain Spirit system, which had achieved the second-grade Dao Fruit [Sheji] due to the Heavenly Emperor's Dao Fruit, and its corresponding first-grade Dao Fruit was called [Chengtian].

Its ability is very interesting; it derives its control over the sky and the void from the earth and matter.

Furthermore, Chu Tai could see that there was a very special concept within it, or rather, a special Heavenly Ritual that was trying to perfect it.

That is, through the construction of civilization, a conceptual heaven is created through sacrifice or inheritance. This heaven must be at least of the second rank, and then it is materialized as the heaven above the earth, thereby constructing its own heaven and earth civilization system.

Chu Tai made [Gouchen (Dunyi)] and [Chengtian] appear on the surface of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

'Fellow Daoist, what do you mean by this?'

The Heavenly Emperor inquired of Chu Tai, who did not conceal his thoughts and directly told the Heavenly Emperor his ideas: 'The concepts of Heaven and Heaven overlap too much; even the Heavenly Demon cannot do anything about it, and we naturally cannot completely separate them. Therefore, we might as well do the opposite, increase the compatibility between Heaven and its corresponding concepts, and cut off its ability to continue interfering with other things.'

'You mean, keep it high up so it can't affect those below?'

'Exactly. Even if this approach can't be sustained for long, we must teach him a lesson and let him know we have ways to make him suffer.'

After Chu Tai finished expressing his meaning, the Heavenly Emperor's eyes lit up. Looking at the Heavenly Emperor who was competing with him, the Eastern Emperor Bell in his hand shook faster and faster.

Endless ripples continued to emerge, and more and more portals appeared, blocking the heavens from influencing the rest of the world.

At the same time, countless pieces of information from the Heavenly Emperor's Dao Fruit flowed into [Gouchen (Dunyi)] and [Chengtian], perfecting the power of these two Dao Fruits, and then he suddenly smashed the Eastern Emperor Bell into the sky again.

The Heavenly Emperor, who thought he was trying to seal his heavens again, was completely unconcerned and instead sneered, "Do you want to destroy countless heavens and earths again?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he felt a jolt in his mind, and the flow of Yin and Yang in the universe seemed to break apart. Immediately afterward, the Three Pure Ones, the Buddha, the Bodhi Patriarch, and the Taiyi True Lord simultaneously chanted the sacred incantation, emphasizing the relationship between the concepts of Heaven and Heaven.

In an instant, Tian understood the sinister intentions of the other side and roared, wanting to leave. However, his connection with the concept of Heaven meant that he could not break free from his connection with Heaven. When the Heavenly Emperor and Chu Tai also began to chant the sacred edict, he was completely fixed in Heaven.

Finally, [Dunyi] further severed his ability to contact the outside world, and [Chengtian] enshrined him high above, but did not move.

Bodhi Patriarch, Taiyi Zhenjun, and the Three Pure Ones divide the will of all beings to worship Heaven, further severing their connection with the outside world. At the same time, these gods control wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, cutting off any possibility of them contacting the outside world through concepts related to "Heaven".

(End of this chapter)