Chapter 270 3 (1/2)
Mortal Severance and Divine Transformation (Part 1)
The Dao Asking Cliff was an extensively enormous peak which was approximately seven million zhang* tall.
When Meng Xuanzi flicked his sleeve, heaven and earth trembled and the air around them rippled. In a flash, they had already traversed countless distance, appearing at the summit of the Dao Asking Cliff.
It really was Ning Fan’s first time witnessing such incredible speed.
He’s way too much faster than the Old Devil…
Ning Fan could imagine that the Old Devil who was behaving in an arrogant and domineering manner in the mortal world might not necessarily have a high post in the immortal world… At least, compared to an Immortal Emperor, he was pretty much insignificant.
At the peak of the seven million zhang* tall mountain, the strength of the wind alone was enough to blow any cultivators below the Divine Transformation Realm off from the mountain.
However, Ning Fan’s steps were firm and steady despite the wind pounding harshly on him. Well, he did not attain the Second Level of the Jade Life Body Refining Realm for nothing. With the toughness of his physical body, how could it be possible for him to be unable to withstand the blowing wind?
The summit of the mountain was nearly ten thousand zhang* broad. Aside from that, the surrounding area was wreathed in clouds of purple mist.
Outside the vicinity of ten thousand zhang* which was shrouded with purple mist, Meng Xuanzi stopped at the edge of a cliff and impatiently said, “This is the Dao Asking Cliff. It was constructed by the Immortal Sovereign. This place is where you will go through the Third Step of Mortal Severance. Alright. Little brat, jump down from here and kill yourself. Then, you will complete your Divine Transformation!”
“Jump down…”
Ning Fan gently clenched his fists, walked closer to the edge and looked down from it.
From the height of seven million zhang*, nothing could be seen clearly below. However, he could vaguely see multitudes of corpses and skeletons lying all over the ground like a field of flax, except they were all in blood-red color. Apparently, they were the cultivators who made a leap from this cliff in the past and left their mortal selves below in order to complete the Divine Transformation.
Jump from the cliff and leave one’s mortal self. If it was in the past, Ning Fan might agree with this kind of practice. But after crossing the Ten Steps Bridge and sounding the Bell of Samsara, Ning Fan had a feeling that the third step would not be as simple as just jumping down from the cliff.
Since it’s called the Dao Asking Cliff, it shouldn’t be as easy as just making a jump from here. Otherwise, why isn’t it called “Mortal Severance Cliff” or just simply “Falling Bone Cliff”?
The reason why the Immortal Sovereign established the Three Steps of Mortal Severance might seem to allow the cultivators to sever their mortal coil. But from another perspective, he seemed to have left a strand of opportunity within the stages of mortal severance. In actuality, it seemed like only those who chose not to go through the mortal severance would be able to grasp that opportunity.
Ten steps and an illusion. Mister must never look back… But Ning Fan had actually done the opposite which in turn brought a huge improvement to his state of mind.
As soon as the Bell of Samsara rang, mister’s Dao became empty… But Ning Fan’s Dao did not disappear under the sound of the bell. In stark contrast, he saw samsara and got a better understanding of worldly affairs and existence, strengthening his Dao Heart. Moreover, his luck as well as his aura force improved too.
An opportunity lied within each of the steps of the Mortal Severance. Those opportunities seemed to be a kind of reward from the Immortal Sovereign to cultivators who dared to remain true to their worldly hearts.
The Immortal Sovereign should also be concerned with worldly affairs… It’s because of those affairs that one would have struggles within their hearts. It’s because of those things that he would become so powerful and strong.
At the end of the day, in the path of cultivation, what the cultivators were truly after was a strong heart. It was the insight that Ning Fan gained from the Ten Steps Bridge.
Jumping down from the cliff and commit suicide surely needed absolute courage. Anyone who was cowardly and timid would never be daring enough to make the leap from the cliff after seeing such a terrifying height.
But whatever the reason might be, committing suicide was equivalent to an act of avoidance. Cultivators who chose to kill themselves were actually trying to avoid from their feeble and inferior mortal selves…
Being weak was not shameful, being lowly was not a disgrace, being fragile was not an embarrassment… Those elements were the basic traits of a mortal! Those elements were what mortals were born with!
Even if one had become an immortal, the word “mortal” composed most of the word “immortal”!
In the past when Ning Fan was at the Sinister Sparrow Sect, the ugly man, Yun Lie had asked Ning Fan a question: What is an immortal?
At that time, Ning Fan answered him relying on the comprehension of the Dao from the Ancient Chaos’ memories.
He said, “An immortal is a person who stands on top of the mountain!”
As for now, Ning Fan was standing on a mountain, right on the summit of the Dao Asking Cliff. Within his heart, he suddenly had an unprecedented insight towards that particular sentence.
One who stands above the mountain is an immortal.
After descending from the mountain, he or she is just a mortal.
This is the cultivation path that was recognized by the Immortal Sovereign.
He heaved a deep breath but he did not show signs of leaping down from the cliff. The impatient look on Meng Xuanzi’s face had turned into a trace of praise.
Actually, his impatience was just a façade. He was just trying to test Ning Fan to see whether he was able to see through the true meaning behind the Dao Asking Cliff…
“Why haven’t you jumped yet?! Why don’t you go and kill your mortal self?!” Meng Xuanzi deliberately asked in a loud tone.