Chapter 235: Sage of Eight Virtues (2/2)

Liu Li earnestly said, ”At the last moment before the Guardian’s life was cut off, I distinctly felt that it seemed to release two very different, but equally strong emotions, like feeling regretful, but also relieved. It’s like, it’s like…”

Liu Li awkwardly furrowed her brows. She wanted to describe them more vividly, but found that her ability to express them was rather limited.

w.a.n.g Lu was silent for a while, and then tried to explain, ”After thousands of years of slumber, it finally awoke, but before it could experience more life, it was sent into the abyss. This would certainly make it feel regret. As for feeling relieved… It has already died in the first place, it’s just that it’s not completely dead. Now that we let it thoroughly dead, perhaps it could enter the cycle of reincarnation, which was good, and that’s why it felt relieved.”

For this explanation, Liu Li found it somewhat difficult to understand, and more difficult to accept. However, she didn’t know how to question or even respond anything to that.

In the ensuing silence, Bai s.h.i.+xuan expressed her own opinion, ”Senior Brother, I think… it seems that we should not kill it.”

w.a.n.g Lu asked, ”Why?”

Bai s.h.i.+xuan replied, ”Because it didn’t do anything bad.”

”Hare and pheasant didn’t do any bad things, but they still end up in human’s belly. This is the natural law that could not be questioned… However, overall, do you think I did something wrong?”

Bai s.h.i.+xuan hesitated. ”It’s not that… It’s just that I always feel that this Guardian is really pitiful. Perhaps… it has the same reason as the mountain spirit. Sorry, I’m somewhat in a mess.”

w.a.n.g Lu reached out and touched her head. ”Don’t think too much. Although you were born smart, unlike the hopelessly stupid Liu Li, but thinking about this is too early for you.”

Liu Li protested, ”I am not stupid!”

w.a.n.g Lu cast Liu Li a glance. ”Is it? Then I’ll give you a question. If you can think of its answer, then you’re smart.”

”Sure!”

”Prove that any even numbers bigger than two can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers [1]. Well then, you can slowly think about it.”

”Okay!”

Then, he no longer paid heed to the pondering Liu Li as he also fell into thinking. This is the fourth level, yet the difficulty is already almost insurmountable… is there a problem here, or…?

However, just when w.a.n.g Lu was about to vaguely grasp something, suddenly, a burst of rumbling sound from a collapsing mountain was heard.

The strong quake that was transmitted under their feet stopped everyone from talking. One by one they, turned their gaze to the not far away mountain.

At the remains of the Guardian, lava erupted, which formed another mountain when dried later on. The tall mountain appeared dull and without l.u.s.ter. Initially, everyone thought that it would end there. However, unexpectedly, there was a change. The tall mountain suddenly trembled, which caused fierce earthquake within its five kilometers radius, and the initially superficial fissure that covered the whole mountain continued to expand by some unknown force.

Then, the earth suddenly jerked down as if there was a hole at the foot of the mountain. With astonis.h.i.+ng speed, the whole mountain collapsed into it, and even the volcanic ash that it just spewed out was also pulled back. In just a moment, in everyone’s eyes, there was only a vast empty plain on a sunny day. It was as if that lofty mountain has never existed.

Jianglu bewilderedly looked around, and then tried to guess, ”Does this mean the entrance to the next level is about to open?”

Zhou Mumu somewhat dispiritedly said, ”The big guy is useless, so… it died without a corpse?”

Zhan Ziye excitedly guessed, ”Is this the internal recycling mechanism of the sword tomb? Unexpectedly, cultivators from many years ago already have such advance concept. This is an important discovery, and it’s very necessary to amend the relevant record.”

While they were talking, suddenly, on the plain where the mountain disappeared, a circle of eight stone gates that led to eight paths appeared.

A quaint word engraved on each of the stone gates. Although there has been a lot of changes to the word after thousands of years, there was no lack of learned people on the scene. With a single glance, they immediately recognized them.

Filial Piety. Fraternal Duty. Loyalty. Trust. Rite. Justice. Honesty. Shame!

…

[1] [Goldbach's conjecture; an unsolved problem in maths]