novelsky Chapter 867: How to Choose
Chapter 867: How to Choose
...[Warning! Player detected in an extremely dangerous environment! Three processing options are now provided!]
[Option One: Spend 999 top-grade spirit jade! Host's True Body temporarily escapes into the Cangyun Realm!]
[Option Two: Spend 9999 top-grade spirit jade to accelerate the merging speed of the Cangyun Realm and Earth Star, and temporarily lift the Heaven and Earth suppression.]
[Option Three: Abandon the True Body and merge with the Cangyun Realm avatar! Free!]
[Warning! Player only has three breaths of time to think!]
...
In reality, the time left for Chen Huaian to think was far less than three breaths.
Within Taishang Laojun's Great Formation.
The speed of the heavens and earth merging was extremely fast.
There was almost no time to think—the moment they merged, he would be crushed into a pulp by the limitlessly compressed power of heaven and earth. At that point, his Divine Soul would be extinguished, not even a pinch of ash would remain.
Looking at the three options, for a brief moment, many thoughts surged through his mind.
Escape back to the Cangyun Realm? Then what about Earth Star?
What about the responsibility of being the Dragon Soul inheritor?
What about Muscle Tyrant?
What about the people in the Exorcist Division who are connected to him?
He could just dust off his hands and leave, but would the Immortals of the Nine Heavens let those people go?
No.
They would die horribly because of his retreat.
All his previous efforts would come to nothing.
"This Venerable One cannot leave."
Chen Huaian raised his eyes.
Merge with the Cangyun Realm avatar?
But an avatar is just an avatar. If he abandons his True Body, would he still be himself?
Free things are usually the most expensive.
He had never fully trusted the Electronic Girlfriend Game system.
So...
"Accelerate the merger! Lift the Heaven and Earth restrictions, even if it only gives This Venerable One... a tiny bit of time!"
His will solidified.
9999 top-grade spirit jade vanished instantly from his cave dwelling in the Cangyun Realm.
A sigh seemed to sound beside Chen Huaian.
It also seemed to sound on every inch of land in the Cangyun Realm.
Cangyun Realm, Moon Shadow Sect's back mountain.
This place had now become a forbidden area of the Moon Shadow Sect. It was not only the place where the ancestor and the Sect Master had their rendezvous, but also where a super Spirit Vein, composed of a full nine premium Celestial Jade Marrows, was buried.
Spiritual mist perpetually shrouded this place.
On ordinary days, only the rustling sound of the breeze through the pine forest could be heard.
But at this moment.
*Thump!*
A tremendous roar came from deep within the earth.
Like a dull heartbeat, or the beating of a drum.
The cultivators currently undergoing their "trial" on the Ascension Platform felt the ground beneath their feet lurch violently.
Before they could even react, a terrifying, suffocating spiritual pressure erupted without warning from the forbidden area of the Moon Shadow Sect's back mountain.
*BOOM——!!!*
The earth split open.
A dazzling pillar of Spiritual Energy, a thousand zhang in diameter, like an awakened white jade azure dragon, roared as it broke through the mountain, broke through the clouds, and stabbed straight into the heavens!
"That... that is..."
"A Spirit Vein riot?!"
The various Sect Masters stared dumbfounded at the pillar of Spiritual Energy connecting heaven and earth.
Why would such a terrifying heaven and earth anomaly suddenly appear?
Where there is abnormality, there is a demon.
This Spiritual Energy was too violent, too pure, utterly impossible for human power to control.
But this was only the beginning.
After that white jade azure dragon charged into the clouds, it did not dissipate—it transformed into a surging, unending river of Spiritual Energy, flowing upstream, rushing towards that Upper Realm which was so unreachable for the Cangyun Realm cultivators.
...
Cangyun Realm, Upper Realm.
Where the clouds are deep, the place unknown.
Under a peach blossom tree, White Sword and Tu Shan Yue sat facing each other.
White Sword had just picked up a white Go stone and was about to place it, to end this game.
Suddenly.
*Hum——*
The entire pavilion, terrace, and tower complex trembled violently.
They saw the clouds at the horizon churning, a vast, mighty surge of Spiritual Energy, like a bursting dam, pouring upwards from the Lower Realm, instantly dispersing the layers of clouds swirling around them.
That Spiritual Energy was too urgent, too fierce.
White Sword's finger trembled violently.
*Clatter.*
That Go stone slipped from his grasp, fell onto the board, scattering the carefully laid-out game.
But he had no time to care about the game. He stood up abruptly.
For the first time, a trace of astonishment appeared on that face perpetually covered in frost and indifference.
"This is..."
He saw that river of Spiritual Energy that had surged up from the Lower Realm. It did not scatter and overflow, but rather, as if guided by some precise force, poured en masse into the most core area of the Upper Realm—the [Origin Core].
That was the anchor point for the fusion of the two worlds.
Originally, this process required meticulous, slow work, needing several years...
But now.
The Origin Core was boiling, expanding.
As more and more Spiritual Energy was absorbed.
It was spinning, devouring, fusing at a frenzied pace.
*Crack! Crack!*
The sound of the Boundary Wall shattering echoed throughout the entire Cangyun Realm.
"White Sword brother, what's wrong?"
Tu Shan Yue curiously stood up, moved to White Sword's side, and then also saw that river of Spiritual Energy. She couldn't help but clap her hands, looking at White Sword with an expression full of admiration:
"As expected of White Sword brother, you actually managed to draw all the Spiritual Energy from the Cangyun Realm's Lower Realm so easily! So amazing!"
White Sword: "..."
He narrowed his eyes.
Although he wanted the two worlds to merge quickly, as it would facilitate his subsequent plans... he wanted to be the one giving the push.
Not some existence beyond his control.
...
Lower Realm, Ascension Platform.
Another change occurred.
As the Boundary Wall gradually dissolved, the sky no longer seemed like the familiar sky.
"The sky... the sky is splitting open!!"
A cultivator pointed towards the edge of the sky and let out a startled cry.
Everyone followed his gaze.
They saw that the place which was originally the edge of the clouds had now become transparent, revealing a series of bizarre, kaleidoscopic scenes they had never seen before.
It was a... steel forest.
Countless "glass giant towers," steeper and smoother than many mountains in the Cangyun Realm, stabbed into the clouds.
They shimmered with multicolored light under the sun, glaringly bright even in broad daylight.
And between those giant towers were crisscrossing black rivers.
Upon those rivers, countless "iron boxes" with four wheels were streaming past in an endless flow.
No Spiritual Energy fluctuations could be sensed.
Only a sense of dissonance brought by the fundamental difference in civilizations.
"That... is that the Immortal Realm?!"
"The Heavenly Palace! Could it be the Heavenly Palace descending?!"
"Look at those iron boxes! They can travel a thousand li in a day without Spiritual Energy driving them, they must be Immortal treasures!"
The inexperienced Cangyun Realm cultivators were in an uproar.
They knelt on the ground, kowtowing and worshipping that mirage, thinking it was the legendary Immortal fate.
Among the crowd.
Only a few people had strange, even somewhat nostalgic expressions on their faces.
Su Qinian slapped the washing-machine artifact to stop it, so the distant anomaly could be seen more clearly. Looking at the familiar CBD buildings in the sky, the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably: "Holy cow! This... isn't this the ancestor's side?"
Lin Fan also held his sword, looking at the neon signs flashing in the scene, a trace of daze flickering in his eyes: "This place... I think I've been there? That barbecue place was pretty good."
"Earth Star's architecture appearing in the Cangyun Realm, does it mean something big has happened on the ancestor's side?" Zhang Mengchu frowned, unable to help feeling worried, "Come to think of it, the ancestor really hasn't summoned us over for quite some time now."
Given the current situation, it was clearly abnormal.
...
Upper Realm, Cloud Pavilion.
White Sword took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart.
Regardless of the reason.
The general trend had already formed; once the arrow is fired, it cannot be taken back.
Since the fusion was accelerating, his plans also needed to speed up accordingly.
"Jade Compassion."
White Sword's voice regained its coldness, though it was a bit more hurried than usual.
"Yeah, what's up?"
A petite figure materialized in the void.
"You personally descend to the Lower Realm."
White Sword pointed at the Ascension Platform below.
"You will preside over the assembly in the capacity of a 'Welcoming Immortal'."
"These cultivators... must be forced to mature quickly. Since the fusion has accelerated, we must also prepare in advance; we can no longer slowly screen for suitable candidates."
"Yes—!" Real Person Jade Compassion cupped her hands in salute, deliberately drawing out the word.
This is so annoying.
Back then, it was White Sword who slaughtered the Immortal Realm clean.
Now, it's also White Sword who wants Immortals to be everywhere.
Hmph, men are indeed fickle.
After arranging all this.
White Sword sat back down in front of the Go board.
But he no longer had the heart to play.
His gaze turned to the golden Thunder Eye beside him, which had been trembling slightly all along.
"Something's not right."
White Sword's brow furrowed tightly, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the Go board.
"Such a huge commotion is definitely not a natural evolution."
"There must be a variable..."
He thought of that lower corpse, Chen Huaian, who was currently "on vacation" on Earth Star.
"Is it him?"
"No... impossible." White Sword shook his head with self-mockery, "A waste who is wallowing in a gentle nest, devoid of any drive, how could he stir up such a heaven and earth momentum?"
But he was inherently suspicious.
Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand possibility, he had to confirm it.
"Heavenly Dao."
White Sword extended a finger, pressing it onto the Thunder Eye, his tone icy.
"Switch the view back."
"I want to see..."
"What exactly is happening on that Earth Star?!"
...