1118 The End (1/2)

”When the Ever Night approaches, the radiance of the sun will be concealed, the sky and Earth will soon fall into the darkness, men shall rejoice, for that is when men are truly living.” Before Ye Su became a saint, he said such a statement which was similar to a prophecy.

And countless years ago, the Buddha viewed the seven heavenly books, then he wrote a note on the Bright Volume of The Tomes of Arcane, and there was a similar record in his notebook, which wrote something like this.

”In the Ever Night Latter Days of Dharma, the moon appears, and nature restores. Such a way does not die out, the world has another alternative. In this case, thou shalt patiently wait for the arrival of the long night, why bother to forcefully act against the law of nature. Is the day also waiting for the arrival of the night? Or is it afraid of the coming of it? Does it fear the night itself, or the moon that comes with the night?”

What was happening currently testified Ye Su's prophecy, and it was the perfect answer to the questions left by the Buddha. There was a day waiting for the night's coming. There was a day afraid of the night's coming. It feared the night itself, and also the moon that came with the night, because the night also came with the moon.

The world was filled with darkness, the sun was being covered, the Divine Kingdom was hidden in the thick ink coloured darkness, bleak and extremely difficult to be seen. Abbey Dean who was roaming in front of the Chang'an looked unusually complicated.

There were rules, but how could one fight when one lost the source of power? The pillar of light that fell from the Divine Kingdom had long disappeared, and the warmth of the world had been replaced by coldness.

There was no longer any force that could prevent the talisman written by Ning Que.

The two abysses rapidly spread across the surface of the Earth. The Chinese character of ”people” grew larger and larger, and the ground surface really felt like a piece of paper being strained up, and then slowly lifted from the ground, making a thunderous sound.

This process was slow but it was unstoppable.

A few moments passed, the horizon appeared at the end of the sky, and only the tip of the sail could be seen from the sailboat at the sea. If one's footing was high enough, even the slightly curved arc could be seen in the distance.

”Is this the new world?” Sangsang asked.

Ning Que replied, ”Perhaps.”

The perfect bubble appeared again in front of her, and the two tiny cracks on it had become very deep that the bubble could burst at any time, which meant that her world was about to be destroyed.

Sangsang calmly observed the world, waiting for her own death. Ning Que held her gently, and waited with her.

Countless desire of willpower or strength, along with the two cracks on the ground surface that grew deeper with time from all sides of the world, into the streets of Chang'an and entered Sangsang's body through the God-Stunning Array.

Sangsang had certainly encountered this kind of willpower, she listened to the prayers of the believers in the Divine Kingdom for thousands of years, but this was the first time she came across such a genuine desire, which made her somewhat moved.

In an instant, she understood the Academy and the New Stream founded by Ye Su. It was not important whether the world loved or did not love her. It was also not important whether she loved or did not love the world. She and the human were one body, and she was not the objective rule of this cruel world, but the human understanding of the world's … RULES!

A beam of light flashed by. If the rule was the product of the human understanding of the world, then it could be changed naturally, she could grow naturally with the knowledge of mankind!

Sangsang quietly looked at Ning Que and said, ”I… seem to be alive.”

Ning Que's arm trembled slightly, looking into her eyes and said, ”Then live forever.”

Sangsang said, ”But I will serve you no more.”

Ning Que said, ”I will serve you”

Countless desires and willpower that came from all over the world, were turned into strength by the God-Stunning Array. Countless cracks appeared on the walls of Chang'an.

Sangsang looked up to the dark night sky, staring at the looming Divine Kingdom. She gently waved her hand. Silently, a beam of colourless light pillar shot from inside the Chang'an City up to the night sky. That beam of light pillar came from the God-Stunning Array, but passed through her hand. Therefore, it was a transparent light. She knew best how to break open her own world. The transparent light pillar passed through the body of Abbey Dean, and fell on the night sky.

Sangsang took off the sunglasses, and carefully let Ning Que to put them on. The moon was still in the night sky. The sun seemed to be closer to the ground, thus revealing a bright edges. The light had returned to the human world once more, but it was not as scorching and devastating as before. The pale sky became blue again, like the precious water-washed porcelain hidden secretly in her Yanming Lakeside house.

Three cracks appeared in the clear blue sky. They were far away from the three cracks in the ground. They were all ”people”. The transparent light pillar contained unimaginable power, it actually intended to directly tear up the sky! The light pillar was transparent, but the atmosphere inside it was not pure, but a complicated mixture. Billions of people have billions of wills, how could they be completely consistent, but they had lived their lives to the fullest.

Ning Que reminisced the steam from the steamed bun stall at the side of the street beside the lake, the footprints on the bluestone board. Sangsang reminisced the night at the side of the Snow Sea, that hot spring.

Nobody knew what was the Abbey Dean thinking. He looked at the transparent light pillar, felt the grandness and petiteness of it, and was moved by the beauty of the far superiority. He asked with a slight frown, ”What power is this? What aura is this?”

”This is the power of the human world,” Ning Que said.

The Abbey Dean was silent for a moment and said, ”Oh, I see.”

Deep in the blue sky, the looming Divine Kingdom, under the consequence of the power of the human world, decayed at an unimaginable speed, and then collapsed into the most subtle dust.

Soon to be collapse was the blue sky itself, as it turned into countless thin jade pieces that were as light as a goose feather, which swayed and sprinkled down the world. They could no longer blind the eyes of the people looking toward the outside world.

What lay above the sky? It used to be the Divine Kingdom, but now the Divine Kingdom was destroyed, so what on earth was there? It was a dark universe, it looked extremely cold, distinctively desolate, uninhabited, and it had a very unpleasant feeling, as if it was a real ghost.

The whole world was calm once again. Nobody was talking.

Was this the netherworld? the people thought.

Ning Que and Sangsang were very clear of what they would see, but they were not surprised. However, it did not mean that others would not be surprised.

In a mountain village in the Great River Kingdom, a child picked up an egg was previously soft-boiled by the sun, looking at the dark sky in a daze, and wondered why the sun had suddenly become so far away? Why were the stars getting further away too? The child was so frightened that he was about to cry. The egg in his hand fell to the ground and cracked with a snap. The wind blew at the shell of the egg, together with the soon to be condensed egg white, and the yolk. The bubble in front of Sangsang was also broken.

…

In the vast universe, there was a burning ball of fire. That was a star. From the color of the surface of the star, it was still very young. There were seven planets orbiting around the star. About 150 million kilometers away from the stars on the orbit, there was nothing. It was blank, as the system was stable, but somehow, there was always a feeling of something missing.

At some point, that space suddenly warped slightly. After a very long time, two distinct cracks appeared on the surface of the distorted space. Then another long period of time passed, the cracks were distorted and then disappeared.

A blue planet appeared there. The process was hard to describe, this planet seemed to have taken a long time to emerge from that crack in space, and also seemed to appear in this orbit all at once.

The reason why the planet was blue was that the oceans cover most of its surface. With the sudden appearance of the blue planet, an invisible gravitational force was dispersed to the surroundings. The galaxy that was formed around the star appeared to have signs of instability. Fortunately, the distance of the few massive planets in the galaxy were far enough from the blue planet. However, its appearance had caused an impact after all. The orbits of several planets had changed suddenly, or it would take a long time to re-stabilize itself again.

Worse still, in the space of about 300 million kilometers away from the star, there were full of countless asteroids, and the sudden appearance of the blue planet, was like a piece of delicious cake, attracting their course.

Countless asteroids, even small meteorites, left the space where they had originally settled and flew quietly toward the blue planet. Naturally, it was impossible to go in a straight line, but there would always be a moment of encounter.

The universe was dead quiet.

The extremely light-toned trailing tails of those asteroids and meteorites were like traces from the walking tracks left by the God of Death.

…

The sky was full of meteorites, drifting towards the ground in the dark night sky. In a moment, the world would be destroyed. Above the sky, was indeed the netherworld.

”You are the son of Invariant Yama,” said the Abbey Dean, looking at Ning Que.

The netherworld was a legend, a lie created by Haotian, which had been accepted.

But was it true? Many years ago, Wei Guangming met Ning Que at Chang'an City and thought that he was the son of Invariant Yama. Later, Sangsang was believed to be the daughter of Invariant Yama. Long Qing thought that he was the rightful son of Invariant Yama. Going round and round, an endless cycle. In the end, the title was given to Ning Que. He destroyed Haotian's world and welcomed the coming of the new world.

But this new world had not been around for very long before it was destroyed. The real universe, was so bleak and dangerous, and also cold, what's the difference between it and the netherworld? He did not lead the netherworld to the human world but instead brought the human world to the netherworld. He was, of course, the son of Invariant Yama.

”It shouldn't be like this.” Ning Que's voice sounded a little cold.

...

In the small town, Jun Mo waved his hand. He looked at the death messengers who were about to descend to the human world and said, ”Pick up your knife.”

The Butcher picked up the heavy knife, walked over to him, and looked up together with him.

Jun Mo raised the iron sword, and said, ”Would you like to fight?”

The Butcher answered, ”Very well.”

...

At the Divine Hall of West-Hill, the battle was long over. The believer of the New Stream was sitting in between the cliffs, on top of the mountain road while looking at this scene lost in thought, shocked beyond words.

Chen Pipi stood up, frowned slightly, and said, ”It shouldn't be like this.”

Tang Xiaotang held the iron bar and did not speak.

Ye Hongyu stood on the edge of the cliff, the blood-colored Gown of Judgement was blustering along with the night wind.

She looked at the night sky and said with a blank expression, ”The devil outside the realm of demons? It is only a matter of time before I slaughter you.”

...

People in this world did not know what those meteorites with the aura of death were. But the cultivators were able to sense another clear reality.

The sky was gone. Their bodies had become a lot lighter, as light as feathers. It seemed to be possible to leave the ground by just thinking of it.

The rules of Haotian's world that had suppressed the cultivators for countless years ceased to exist. The cultivators had gained true freedom. The cultivators who were not bewildered with the state, suddenly achieved the See-Through State.

The cultivators who were in the See-Through State looked at the real stars in the sky and knew the destiny. The Grand Cultivator who was in Knowing Destiny State easily crossed the path of the gateway. The human world was stronger than ever.

They did not expect that the moment when they were free, they would have to face the battle of life and death. However, no one was afraid because the feeling was so good, that it was worth fighting for. And they had the confidence to defeat all foreign enemies.

…

Countless cultivators were ready to fight. But they did not have the chance to strike. Even the iron sword of Jun Mo was never used.

The ocean was facing the star, and the land was facing the depths of the universe. From where the cultivators stood, they could see the sky full of stars, and also the true appearance of the moon that was being revealed.

With the vision of the cultivators, they could see clearly that it was a round sphere made of rocks. The surface was extremely smooth, reflecting the light from the back of the earth which was in total perfection.

Perhaps it shouldn't be called the moon but should be called planet moon. That bright moon had blocked all the meteorites.

The loud boom sound could not reach the ground, but the people on the ground felt it. Such a dense impact, such a terrifying force. Even the Knowing Destiny Zenith, or even the Grand Cultivator who crossed the five states, could hardly survive it.

That moon bore all the attacks for mankind, could it hold on? No one knew how long the time had passed. The terrifying crash finally stopped. The moon was no longer perfect. Craters were formed by the impact all over the surface, and magmas spurted everywhere, forming the high and low ground, some places were bright, and some were dull.

Such a moon was really not good-looking, ugly even, but still perfect in the eyes of the people. He had quietly protected the human world for thousands of years. In the future, will it still be protecting for millions and billions of years?

…

The night was over, and the dawn was cracking, as the morning sun rose slowly from the east. The sky reappeared, and it was still blue, but with more vague feelings than before. Yes, the sky was wider, and there was endless space behind it.

”This feeling… turns out to be really good.” The Abbey Dean looked at Ning Que and asked, ”But the people have changed and are no longer what they used to be, is the human world still the one that we care about?”

”The place where people live is the human world, isn't it?” Ning Que said, ”The Drunkard thinks that the cultivators, especially those who have reached a certain extent, are no longer human beings, but I do not think so. I think that the cultivators are supermen.”

The Abbey Dean asked, ”Superman?”

Ning Que said, ”Yes, just like the world needs to change, humans also need to evolve eventually, but I do not think that it is a bad thing, as I believe that the apes used to think the same.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a straight white line appeared in the sky. He could see clearly, that at the front end of the while line, was a cultivator. That cultivator was wearing a blue gown and was reddened by the sun.

The Abbey Dean said thoughtfully, ”That is a lost cultivator from the Liang Kingdom, whose state is very bad.”

Ning Que smiled as he watched the white lines fly out of the atmosphere, into outer space. Then, thousands of thin white lines were raised from the ground surface, flying out toward the atmosphere. The front end of each thin white line was a cultivator, and the scene was spectacular.

Mankind had begun a new journey of its own.

”Interesting,” the Abbey Dean said calmly and then turned into countless spots of light, dissipating in the first-morning breeze of the new world.

Ning Que knew that, when the transparent light pillar passed through his body, he was already dead. The conversation with him before was the residual consciousness that he had forcibly left in this world in a very high state. Because he was not at peace, as he wanted to see whether the new world could survive in the netherworld and whether human beings could live on.

In the end, he thought they might, and so he died. Seeing that the Abbey Dean had no name, he called the Abbey Dean Chen Mou.

The word ”Mou” in Chen Mou meant someone who could be seen everywhere in the human world. He represented a part of humanity.

Ning Que looked at the moon at the corner of the sky that was gradually covered by the morning light. The Headmaster of Academy represented another part of humanity. On the cliff bank of Peach Mountain, Chen Pipi was worshiping the land, looking calm. Tang Xiaotang bowed down together with him.

...

There was no Ever Night. The human world was getting colder and colder, which was the coldness invading from the outside world. From this point of view, whether there was a Headmaster of Academy or not, and whether there was an Academy or not, in the end, the world would not be left alone forever.

When the sun shone, the snow on Snow Mountain melted gradually, then it became a trickle, which then flowed south into a stream, or flooding the wilderness, but it also brought water needed for irrigation.

Yu Lian sat for many days on the cliff Eldest Brother in his arms. Many days later, the Eldest Brother's injury was healed. She put him down. The Eldest Brother had become an ordinary man, if he were to want to restore his previous state, it may take god-knows-how-long. Or perhaps, that day would never come. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click visiting.

The old ox left the West-Hill, dragging the carriage, and waited at the foot of the cliff. The Eldest Brother went up to the oxcart and opened the last pot of wine left by the teacher in this human world, carefully drank a sip, and then gave a sigh of satisfaction. He was so satisfied that he could not be any more satisfied than that. He even wanted to change his name to Satisfied Lee.

”Sister, goodbye,” he said softly, looking at Yu Lian.

Yu Lian pulled back the curtain and sat up.

The Eldest Brother looked slightly strange, pointing to a white line somewhere in the sky, and said, ”Don't you want to go out to have a look?”

In the present human world, a white line would appear at any time and anywhere, which meant that a cultivator had left the world.

Cultivation was not a gift from Haotian to humans, but it was humans' will. Cultivators wanted to know more, experience more.

Such a Grand Cultivator as Yu Lian was neither an exception, nor did they have any fear of the seemingly dangerous outer world.

Yu Lian was impatient, and said, ”There is no cover on the river, you can dive at any time if you want to commit suicide. Now that there is also no cover on the sky, you can fly out if you want to, what's the rush?”

The Eldest Brother thought about it and said, ”Makes sense.”

Yu Lian asked, ”Where do you want to go?”

The Eldest Brother said, ”I want to walk around the new world first, see if I can go back to the original place… teacher and Youngest Brother said so, but someone has to go through it to prove it.”

Yu Lian said, ”Then it would take a very long time.”

The Eldest Brother said, ”The old ox is old now, it is inevitable to be slower.”

The old ox looked back at the two, lazily ignoring them.

Yu Lian said, ”Very good.”

The Eldest Brother said, ”How is it good?”

Yu Lian didn't say anything.

”The time is long.” These four words were very good.

The oxcart was squeaking westward. One day, it was passing by a place called Letter Valley. The oxcart was stopped by an old Taoist man. The old Taoist man knelt in front of the cart, crying and shedding tears, talking about the wonderful Taoism followed by the death of the Abbey Dean, the chaos in the Divine Hall of West-Hill had disappearing completely, and the book in the cave of the Academy cliff was ruined in the dynasty previously, as he begged Mr. First to leave some Dharma for Taoism.

The principle that he was asking for, neither Chen Pipi, nor Ye Hongyu could provide, but could only be asked by Mr. First. The Eldest Brother was silent for a moment, ready to prepare the book at his request.

Yu Lian asked, ”How many volumes are you going to prepare?”

The Eldest Brother said earnestly, ”Three thousand Grand Tao, three thousand volumes is appropriate.”