The dawn of hope only illuminated for an instant before being swallowed by darkness, as Senior Immortal Xiaoyao re-sealed the gap in the passage with his tyrannical and irreversible power.
The voice from the Nine Regions turned silent as the light disappeared.
In the two-worlds passage, besides Wang Lu and Wang Wu, there was a devilishly handsome young man.
“I have been wanting to meet you for a long time, but I didn’t think it would be this way. Wang Lu… Or is it Ouyang Shang?”
Wang Lu looked at the man in front of him and frowned slightly, “You really know a lot, are you my fan?”
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao smiled and said, “In a sense, I really admire your willpower. You traveled to many worlds in the form of a remnant soul and then returned back to this dead place. If it was me, I would forget to return in the middle of the journey. During your long journey, you have really experienced several wonderful places, in which you can be as comfortable like a fish in water, and your accomplishments were in no way inferior to your achievements in Nine Regions. Moreover, there’s no crisis of extinction there. No matter how long our hands are in the Immortal World, we can’t reach a world that is too far away… So, why did you come back? For the women around you? For this land, or a sense of mission?”
Wang Lu did not answer but looked at the person in front of him more solemnly.
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao knew too much… Regarding his experience in the period after Ouyang Shang’s death and before Wang Lu’s birth, no one in the entire Nine Regions knew about him. Even he himself had many vague memories. However, Senior Immortal Xiaoyao seemed to know it like the back of his hand, which was really unreasonable.
“No need to doubt too much, I have read the fragment of the Gate of All Realms and got the coordinates of innumerable worlds. I didn’t accompany you to complete that off-world journey, let alone see your privacy.”
“Wait a minute, you have read the fragment of the Gate of All Realms?” Wang Lu immediately caught the flaw in this sentence. The Gate of All Realms was brought by Mr. Feng Yue from the Immortal World to Nine Regions. Then, after Ouyang Shang’s self explosion, it accompanied his remnant soul to travel the worlds, and then back to Nine Regions… Then, Wang Lu used it as a hidden weapon to plot against the Immortal King Xia Yu. Through all these, there didn’t seem to be any room for Senior Immortal Xiaoyao to intervene.
“There are some details that you don’t have to worry about, otherwise you won’t even be surprised and the conversation will not continue… By the way, Fellow Daoist over there, there’s no need to be so wary of me, I’m just a divided consciousness of Senior Immortal Xiaoyao. Let alone fighting against the two most powerful cultivators in Nine Regions, I’m afraid even a Jindan Stage cultivator can wipe me out.”
With that, Senior Immortal Xiaoyao’s gaze shifted to meet that of Wang Wu’s, who was hiding in the shadow.
Wang Wu remained indifferent and still insisted that her disguise had not been seen through. The sword in her hand was hidden, ready to explode at any time.
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao shook his head indifferently and said to Wang Lu, “I’m here to see you, but also to talk to you about a few things.”
Wang Lu curiously asked, “A few things? Are there things that we can both say?”
“Of course there are… Well, seeing this, I’m even more relieved, since presumably, you’ve already guessed a lot of things.” Senior Immortal Xiaoyao happened to see the remnant corpse of Yanluo on the ground. With a bit of pity, he walked forward and said, “Can I take back her body with me for safekeeping?”
Wang Lu was silent for a moment and then asked, “Can she still be resurrected?”
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao said, “Strictly speaking, since her entire head has been destroyed, she will no longer be her after the resurrection, but rather the backup made at my place before she went out to war.”
“Backup?”
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao did not explain. He continued, “A resurrection out of nothing could also be done. However, Yanluo is my beloved general and has made great contributions. I can’t allow her to expose her body here.”
Wang Lu said, “Yanluo… is an artificial life?”
Considering Yanluo’s previous resurrection from death and her mechanical puppet-like body structure, Wang Lu really didn’t think that she could be considered a person.
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao said, “Yanluo is of course a human being, a living person. Artificial life… has never been successfully created in the true sense. Many people think that Immortals can do anything, but this is obviously impossible. If Immortals really can do everything, why can’t they even protect their home and have to absorb the power of Nine Regions? Some laws are the principles of heaven and earth, that even Immortals can’t go against them, such as the creation of life. We can create vivid puppets that can run for thousands of years without diminishing power and have countless magical abilities, but they are not human beings.”
“However, you have also found that there is a big difference between Yanluo and a real person… Actually, most people in the Immortal World are already like her. Although they are human beings, they are quite different from real human beings. Can you guess what’s the difference?”
“They can be possessed by the Immortal King?”
At this moment, Senior Immortal Xiaoyao showed a very sincere smile.
“Sure enough, you’re indeed the person I’m most optimistic about. Now that you have discovered it, it is convenient to say about things—you should understand that there are many things that even I can’t say.”
When Wang Lu heard this, he suddenly felt that the fog in his mind had begun to dissipate, revealing a bit of hideous truth.
“In this case, how about a dialogue in the form of mutual questions?”
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao’s smile grew even more intense, “Very good. You go first.”
Wang Lu pondered for a while and carefully raised the first question: “Previously, Senior Immortal Poxu once said that in order to prolong his life, the Immortal King Xia Yu occupied the flesh of his own blood descendants, such as Xia Xiaohe. But Yanluo is obviously not his daughter, why was she able to be possessed by him? How much does Yanluo’s special life form have to do with the Immortal King’s body possession?”
Since it was about the Immortal King, Senior Immortal Xiaoyao could not answer it directly, thus he answered it with another question, “Just now, I said there are laws that are the principles of heaven and earth, and no one can go against it. So do you think that even in the Immortal World, can anyone break the supreme law and achieve true immortality? What are the consequences of forcibly trying to break through the supreme law?”
When he heard these questions, Wang Lu immediately understood.
No one could live forever, even the Immortal King cannot break the restraint of this supreme law. His struggle was just futile, but it has caused various side effects. For example, Yanluo’s inhuman life form might be one of the side effects. At the same time, Senior Immortal Poxu thought that Xia Yu just possessed his own blood descendant. However, Yanluo’s experience proved that the scope of the Immortal King’s attack had been expanded for a long time, so…
“Is there no objection? How could the Xia Family never speak out about it? Was Yanluo willing to be used as a vessel for the Immortal King?”
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao then asked another question, “Why do you think I have to split my consciousness to come here? Why do you think I can read the information on the fragment of the Gate of All Realms?”
In Wang Lu’s mind, another mist was dispelled.
He split his consciousness because he wanted to do this in secret. He forcibly closed the two-worlds passage by using the power from his real body for others to see, while secretly he split his consciousness. And why could he read the fragment of the Gate of All Realms… Of course, it was because the Gate of All Realms passed through the hands of Senior Immortal Xiaoyao after it was transported back to the Immortal World by Xia Yu.
Since Senior Immortal Xiaoyao could read the information on it, of course, he ought to be able to detect what Wang Lu did to it. If he could remind the Immortal King in time… no, it should be said that since even he could detect the abnormality on the fragment, Xia Yu should be able to also. But in the end, Xia Yu was still severely damaged by the self explosion of the fragment of the Gate of All Realms. So, what did this mean? Has Senior Immortal Xiaoyao done something in it?
The answer seemed to be self-evident.
Wang Lu’s heart rate began to accelerate slightly.
The news brought by Senior Immortal Xiaoyao was too unexpected. If it was true, this almost desperate war would finally usher in the greatest dawn.
However, the matter was so important that it was impossible to easily trust it.
Wang Lu asked, “Why do you want to tell me this? You are a Senior Immortal, so I think you shouldn’t have to worry about being possessed, right?”
This was also inferred from previous experience. Previously, among the several Immortals that had come before, Canglan had been studied for fifteen years, so the mystery of a Senior Immortal could also be seen at a glance. However, Wang Lu never found that his body composition was similar to that of Yanluo. In addition, there was no sign of being possessed until his death. Only Xia Xiaohe and Yanluo, the two Immortals under the rank of Senior Immortal, had been possessed by Xia Yu.
Senior Immortal Xiaoyao smiled when he heard those words and raised an almost irrelevant question: “In your imagination, what should the Immortal World look like?”
Wang Lu said, “For most cultivators, it’s a place where countless ideals converge.”
“In fact, the Immortal World was once brilliant.” Senior Immortal Xiaoyao’s tone was flat and light, but it continued to reveal sadness, “The Immortal World in its heyday was second to none in the world. Even the gods of the Western Continent had to bow down to the Immortal World. But now, there are no more than a hundred Immortals, and the Immortal World has nearly fallen. They even have to place their hope in the lower realm. What do you think is the cause of this big gap?”
When he heard this, Wang Lu almost gasped.
There was only one answer to Senior Immortal Xiaoyao’s question: the Immortal King needed to take responsibility for all this!
If it was carefully considered, everything seemed to be reasonable. An Immortal King who was old and delusional about immortality. A ghost father who used all means, by hook or by crook, to extend his life that he didn’t even let go of his own daughter. Under the leadership of such a person, how could the Immortal World not be in decline?
The supreme law of heaven and earth could not be violated. The longer a person lived, the higher the price for prolonging the life when it was about to die. If the Immortal King had already reached the end of his life, then the price of maintaining his life would be…
And thus, the purpose of Senior Immortal Xiaoyao’s trip was clearly revealed!
“Do you want to use me to get rid of the Immortal King, this greatest evil? That’s a good intention. And I’m very interested. Then…”
“Then now, please do your best.” Senior Immortal Xiaoyao said and then stretched his hand back. At the same time, a gap appeared once again in the two-worlds passage.
“I am an Immortal, a loyal minister of the Immortal King, I will not cooperate with you in anything.” Senior Immortal Xiaoyao seriously said, “If you have any unreasonable expectations, it will only waste what little hope you have left.”
Wang Lu said, “There’s no need for you to remind me of this. I don’t believe any of you, and I will not let go of any of you. I will end you all and you can die in peace.”
“Heh, your tone is not small. Then, I’ll wait and see.”
With that, Xiaoyao lifted up Yanluo’s remaining body and then flashed through the gap in the space barrier.
The next moment, the voice from Spirit Sword Mountain sounded again.
“Wang Lu, when will you be back? We almost can’t hold it!”