Revelation of the Way of Heaven

Read the full text of Chapter 464, "The Wise Monk's Choice," for free at: [link].

"Amitabha, is this the power of the ancient water god Gonggong? It is indeed beyond the power of mortals to resist." Just as Zhao Changyu was filled with thoughts, the monk Hui, who was standing next to him, suddenly put his hands together and sighed.

"The situation is extremely precarious. I wonder if the master has any good ideas?" Zhao Changyu asked the monk Hui in a symbolic manner. He knew that no one could stop Gonggong, so he had no hope at all.

"I have stayed here alone for so many years, hoping to find an opportunity that can change the fate of mankind," the wise monk said slowly, as if he had not heard Zhao Changyu's question. "The moment I saw the Udumbara flower bloom, I knew that the opportunity was today, in that temple, on that Jianmu tree."

"Now that Jianmu is about to be revived, it has encountered such a crisis. It must be the will of Heaven. At such a moment, a small choice may bring about a different fate. Isn't this the dividing line of fate that I have been looking for?" the monk Hui muttered to himself.

During the more than forty days they waited together outside the temple, the monk Hui had also spoken to everyone about the concept of "the dividing line of fate." He compared fate to a runaway train, saying that to change its course, one must change the train's tracks at crucial points in its journey, so that the final destination would be far from the original destination—this was the butterfly effect. However, Zhao Changyu didn't understand what the monk Hui meant by these words, so he couldn't help but ask, "What does the master mean?"

The wise monk calmly said, "I will hold Gonggong back, preventing him from launching any attacks for ten hours. The rest will be handled by the Taoist priest." As he spoke, to Zhao Changyu's astonishment, he sat cross-legged, holding prayer beads. His hands then rapidly formed a mudra, and a gigantic, golden bell suddenly appeared above Gonggong, descending upon him.

At first, Gonggong did not take the golden bell seriously, but when he was trapped by it, he found that no matter what magic he used, he could not break it. Meanwhile, the monk Huiseng sat on the ground with his eyes closed, chanting scriptures, and blood slowly oozed from the corner of his mouth.

"Could this be the Nirvana Sutra?" Zhao Changyu instantly understood what the monk Hui was doing. He was risking his own life to buy everyone the last ten hours.

"Start the formation!" Zhao Changyu dared not delay for a moment, otherwise he would be letting down the sacrifice of the monk Hui. After he gave the order, seven other disciples immediately replaced Wei Feng and the others to re-enact the Big Dipper Formation. Zhao Changyu himself also brandished his long sword and charged into the monster horde. The melee began again.

Qin Xiaochuan slowly opened his eyes. The Taiji Yin-Yang Array shone with clear light. In the array light, he saw that the originally ancient Heavenly Stele had now turned into a tree stump full of life. The tree stump was surrounded by a layer of rich golden light. A green branch grew from above it, and the leaves shimmered with faint starlight. Below the tree stump, pure golden roots had already coiled like a giant dragon, penetrating the soil and spreading throughout the entire snow mountain.

"Did we succeed?" Guo Shiyi opened her eyes and looked at the tree stump uncertainly. The two of them had been in this temple for forty-nine days. Although the Heavenly Stele had turned into a tree stump full of life, it was still far from the legendary Jianmu.

"No, it's still a little short," Qin Xiaochuan said. "The Jianmu tree is a passage connecting heaven and earth. Heaven's energy is yang, clear and rising, while earth's energy is yin, turbid and sinking. To allow the Jianmu tree to connect with the energy of heaven and earth, the yin and yang energies of heaven and earth must resonate with each other. Only in this way can we achieve harmony between heaven and earth, mutual generation of yin and yang, nurturing all things, and reviving spiritual energy. Now the Jianmu tree has fully absorbed the energy of the earth's veins. Next, we only need to draw the energy of heaven into the Jianmu tree, and it will grow rapidly, growing all the way to the heavens." Qin Xiaochuan's bright eyes could not hide his excitement and anticipation.

"So what should we do next?" Guo Shiyi asked curiously.

"Just follow my instructions from now on." Qin Xiaochuan looked at Guo Shiyi and asked solemnly, "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Guo Shiyi nodded heavily.

So Qin Xiaochuan formed a few hand seals to clear his mind of distractions, and slowly chanted: "The Way of Heaven is vast and boundless, the Earth's terrain is primordial and chaotic, Heaven and Earth unite in harmony, and all things coexist."

"Boom!" A huge explosion jolted everyone awake from their numb fighting. Everyone couldn't help but look into the temple. A golden light pierced through the roof and shot straight into the sky. The golden light was so thick that it could fill the entire temple. It contained a powerful life force and was full of auspicious omens.

"They finally succeeded." The moment they saw the golden light, even the tough middle-aged Guo Tianming couldn't help but shed tears. The group had fought a grueling battle against the demonic beast, suffering over half their men dead, and now their mission was finally accomplished. How could they not be excited? Not only him, but everyone who saw that golden light had burning eyes and surging hearts.

"Boom!" A bolt of lightning split the sky. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, yet thunder rumbled. Countless thin, bright, and winding bolts of lightning, like dragons and snakes, flashed continuously in the air. As golden light shot into the sky, a series of strange phenomena appeared in succession: purple aura rose in the east, the sun and moon shone brightly in the sky at the same time, winds and clouds surged in the snow-capped mountains, and hundreds of birds flew towards the azure sky.

Just as everyone was mesmerized, a white light suddenly fell from the sky within the golden pillar of light. It was extremely fast, like a falling meteor. At first, it was only the size of a star, but in the blink of an eye, it became as bright as the sun.

Just as everyone watched the white light with anticipation, about to pour into the Jianmu tree, a figure suddenly rushed into the golden light. The person hovered below the white light, arms outstretched, and a disc-shaped magical artifact radiating clear light appeared above his head. The artifact displayed characters such as the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and continuously evolved into the imagery of Qimen Dunjia. As the Three Wonders and Six Instruments changed continuously, the originally supreme Heavenly Dao fortune was drawn into the Eight Gates Formation. Immediately afterwards, the Gate of Life closed and the Gate of Blockage opened wide, and the Heavenly Dao fortune, guided by the disc-shaped magical artifact, poured into the body of the figure in the air.

The golden light of the Jianmu tree dimmed rapidly at a visible speed, and a mournful cry seemed to emanate from the void. The entire harmonious phenomenon of heaven and earth began to fluctuate violently and collapse; the radiant light shattered, the purple aura dissipated, and the world fell into darkness.

The moment the figure appeared in the air, Qin Xiaochuan realized something was wrong. He leaped into the air at incredible speed, but before he could reach it, a golden light suddenly slashed down at him. He dared not be careless, and activated the Qilin Armor within his body. A blue Qilin phantom appeared, blocking the golden light. However, the golden light contained boundless power, which not only shattered the Qilin phantom instantly but also blasted Qin Xiaochuan back. When Qin Xiaochuan took to the air again, the figure in the sky had already completed the ritual of stealing the Heavenly Dao's fortune.