bookbashuk Chapter 149 31 The Road Ahead
Chapter 149 31 The Road Ahead
Chapter 149 The Road Ahead for Trinity
Hearing Xu Qing's words, Zuo Ruotong looked at the display shelves again, feeling that what he saw there was beyond his comprehension.
Among the items displayed on the shelves, there were enormous objects, like celestial bodies, quietly piled up.
It is clearly just a small space, yet it seems to be able to contain celestial bodies. This kind of supernatural power of "containing a mustard seed within Mount Sumeru" has reached an inconceivable level.
It's even more terrifying than the legendary gourd that immortals used to store mountains.
What a blessed land of immortals!
Zuo Ruotong stared in disbelief at all of this.
And those pills labeled as granting immortality and the power to destroy continents and shatter the world—besides the celestial elixirs in the heavens, he couldn't think of anywhere else that could grant such power.
His fingertips trembled slightly.
When he cultivated to the peak of the second level of reverse life, he was already a rare opponent in the world and was revered by the world as the "Great Abundance Immortal".
Now that I have stepped into the Triple Realm, I believe I have touched the ultimate in the mortal world.
But now, looking at the exhibits in the pavilion, I feel that my past "peaks" were nothing more than ants climbing a mound. What I see when I look up is a pillar supporting the sky, a truly ancient and majestic mountain that has stood for thousands of years.
That feeling of insignificance washed over his heart like a tide, making him, the sect leader who held the reins of the Trinity Sect and looked down upon all living beings, feel somewhat uneasy.
"Zhutian Pavilion—Zhutian—." Zuo Ruotong murmured.
In Zuo Ruotong's view, the so-called heavens simply refer to the six heavens of the Desire Realm, the eighteen heavens of the Form Realm, the four heavens of the Formless Realm, and the four Brahma heavens.
The Three Pure Ones Heaven, the Great Luo Heaven, or the celestial realm in folk beliefs where various deities reside.
But regardless of which one it is, it is a place of heaven that is isolated from the mortal world.
Taking a deep breath, Zuo Ruotong suppressed her turbulent emotions, bowed deeply to Xu Qing, and spoke in a humble tone like a novice disciple newly initiated into a sect: "May I ask, Immortal Master, is this the Celestial Realm? Or some other celestial abode?"
Xu Qing noticed that he had gone astray, lightly tapped the counter with her fingertips, and smiled gently: "Master Zuo, you already have the answer in your heart. Think about it carefully and you'll know."
Before Zuo Ruotong could think it through, a sudden storm surged in his mind.
Countless unfamiliar pieces of knowledge rushed in like a burst dam, and in an instant, he grasped the key, subconsciously murmuring, "The All-Heavens Pavilion transaction..." He suddenly looked up, his voice trembling as he asked, "So this isn't the Immortal Realm, is it?"
Xu Qing looked down at him, her smile unchanged: "This is not the heavenly realm you imagine."
Upon hearing this, the light in Zuo Ruotong's eyes dimmed. It turned out that he had not ascended to immortality, nor had he ever stepped into the celestial realm.
Seeing his dejected expression, Xu Qing continued, "Sect Leader Zuo, there's no need to be so fixated on your so-called Heavenly Realm. You've seen the pills on the shelf; after taking them and cultivating for a while, you can become an immortal. What's so difficult about that?"
Zuo Ruotong's heart skipped a beat, and her dim eyes instantly lit up.
That's right! How could I be so fixated on that ethereal and unattainable realm of the heavens? Doesn't the supernatural power of this person before me qualify him as an immortal?
Not to mention that the pills on the shelf were of the lowest grade, which were like immortal treasures compared to herbal pills, even compared to those refined by the San Yi Sect.
"But—Sect Master Xu," Zuo Ruotong's face showed difficulty, and her voice was hoarse, "I really don't have a single thing on me that's worthy of my attention, and I can't afford to exchange it for any of the treasures here."
Xu Qing raised his hand and stroked his chin, saying slowly, "If you hand over the Three Ones Sect's cultivation method to me, I will allow you to take a planetary relic."
A look of surprise and struggle flashed across Zuo Ruotong's face. Her lips moved, but she didn't say anything.
Seeing his expression, Xu Qing knew what he was thinking, but still asked gently, "You don't want to?"
Zuo Ruotong hurriedly shook her head, her voice tinged with urgency and confusion: "This disciple is naturally willing, but this—this is too absurd."
It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with the Three Ones Technique, nor that he wasn't tempted; rather, it was that the value of the planetary relic exceeded his wildest imagination.
The description states that its life force is so immense that it is immeasurable, capable of increasing the user's blood and qi by millions of pounds, cultivating both body and spirit, strengthening both mind and soul, and even extending lifespan by a thousand years.
Who in the world could resist such a miraculous elixir?
To exchange it for a cultivation technique from the Sanyi Sect, which even those at the Tongtian Realm cannot reach, is like exchanging a royal palace for a thatched hut—absurd and incomprehensible to him.
Zuo Ruotong's Adam's apple bobbed, and she finally couldn't help but ask, "But is it the Sect Master—the cultivation method of my Three Ones Sect,..."
It can't reach the heavens.
After he finished speaking, he relayed what Wugensheng had said to Xu Qing.
After saying that, he told Xu Qing everything Wugensheng had said.
Unexpectedly, Xu Qing burst into laughter after hearing this, his clear laughter carrying a hint of enlightenment: "Haha, Sect Leader Zuo, are you confused? Or have you been struck by the fact that even the Triple Reversal of Life cannot reverse one's innate constitution?"
His smile remained undiminished as he glanced at Zuo Ruotong: "What do you mean by 'A road with an end is not worthy of reaching heaven? Can you imagine a road to heaven ever ending?'"
"What is this titled 'The Road to Heaven Has More Than Three Steps, So Why Three Steps?'"
"And then what? Is that all?"
Xu Qing stopped laughing, her tone becoming somewhat teasing: "Isn't this a classic case of pretending to know what you don't? I could say that too."
"Take 'Journey to the West' as an example. A road with an end doesn't qualify as 'escaping the Three Realms and Six Paths.' Can you believe that the Three Realms and Six Paths will ever end?"
"Transcending the Three Realms and Six Paths involves far more than seventy-two transformations, so why bother with seventy-two transformations? After seventy-two transformations, what then? Is transcending the Three Realms and Six Paths the end?"
Upon hearing this, Zuo Ruotong was struck dumb, freezing on the spot.
In his mind, Wu Gensheng's words and Xu Qing's example collided violently.
Yes—why is the "Triple" level not worthy of reaching the heavens?
Just as the seventy-two transformations are only one way to escape the Three Realms and Six Paths, does the fact that the seventy-two transformations have an end mean that we should say "why bother with the seventy-two transformations" or even deny the existence of escaping the Three Realms and Six Paths itself?
Reversing the cycle of birth means transforming the entire body into a state of innate nothingness.
Once the goal of transforming the human body into a state of innate nothingness is achieved, the reverse life process will indeed end.
The fog that had previously trapped them with Wugensheng's words seemed to be suddenly dispelled by Xu Qing's words.
Zuo Ruotong felt a sudden clarity in her mind, and a look of shame appeared on her face.
How absurd is Wugensheng's logic?
As one of the world's most outstanding individuals, having cultivated for decades, I was actually misled by such seemingly plausible words.
Moreover, I actually said these words to Immortal Master Zuo Ruotong. He wanted to find a place to bury himself, but he took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and then bowed to Xu Qing, saying:
"Thank you for the reminder, Immortal Master. I was simply too caught up in the mountain to recognize its true appearance."
After saying that, he untied the form constructed by the three layers of reverse life. The next moment, countless reverse life elements dissipated, but Zuo Ruotong, who was originally like a banished immortal, instantly transformed into an old man with skin like a withered tree, who was about to die.
He looked at his own figure and shook his head:
"Although Wugensheng's logic is flawed, it is still a fact."
"Triple-layered—it cannot reach the heavens."