Chapter 158: The Mist Mutates. The Heavenly Dao Is Also Wish Power?

Lu Chen looked at Nantian Yijian, pondered for a while, yet still couldn't figure out the reason. He could only try to comfort him, "Isn't it a good thing you didn't face a tribulation to break through? At least your life wasn't at risk. Besides... Did you forget that novel we read last time? As long as one stands out from ordinary cultivators, there's always the chance to become the main character."

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Lu Chen raised his voice, "That's right, it must be so. You're the main character! Breaking through without facing tribulation... This is your plot armor as the main character."

At this moment, Jun Laoye also tried to console Nantian Yijian, "Exactly! That must be your plot armor. If only I were like you, then when I step into the Core Breakthrough Realm to transcend into immortality, I'd pass it with ease. This is a rare fortune that countless people could only dream of."

"Yes, Brother Yijian, this is definitely your good fortune," added Nantian Wan'er.

"

Ugh...

Boss, Little Jun, Wan'er... are you all just trying to console me?" Nantian Yijian forced a faint smile. "I appreciate your kindness, but really... there's no such thing."

"No, no, Little Lu might be right. It could really be your plot armor," Wind Dragon insisted.

"Senior Wind Dragon, what do you mean by that?" Nantian Yijian lifted his head toward Wind Dragon. "Do you actually know why I didn't face tribulation?"

"Do you know how a tribulation is formed?" Wind Dragon asked.

"Isn't it heaven and earth testing cultivators? Could there be another explanation?"

Lu Chen and the others raised their heads, staring at Wind Dragon, eager for his answer.

"It is indeed Heaven and Earth's way of testing cultivators. But Lord Green Emperor once said the true force behind a tribulation is the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao may have long vanished, yet the mechanism it left behind still functions, so tribulations continue to descend."

Wind Dragon hurled the Hunyuan Greatsword from above his head toward the floating memories. "I've said it before: the Heavenly Dao grows stronger along with the cultivators. In a sense, it can also be seen as Wish Power. Think about it. How could a power of the same origin turn against its own kind?"

He watched the blessing of heaven and earth pour into Nantian Yijian in great streams, laughing heartily. "Boy, now tell me, is this your fortune? Are you the protagonist of this world?"

Nantian Yijian grinned, tilting his chin proudly as if he already controlled the Heavenly Dao itself. "Really? Then the Wish Power inside me... could it also be called the Heavenly Dao?"

Wind Dragon flicked his tail and knocked him hard on the head.

!@#@#￥￥!

"You're overthinking it. You? A master of the Heavenly Dao? The Wish Power in you is, at best, just a mutated spirit qi."

Nantian Yijian rubbed the back of his head, muttering as he watched the blessings of Heaven and Earth begin to thin away. "Just wait and see. For now, I'm the only one who can cultivate Wish Power. Maybe mine will become the next Heavenly Dao."

Lu Chen and the others couldn't help but roll their eyes. They had expected Nantian Yijian to brood over this for a long time, but they had clearly underestimated his carefree heart. They had only given him the slightest excuse, and he'd seen himself climbing to the heavens.

With Nantian Yijian's doubts temporarily settled, the group threw themselves into absorbing the blessings of heaven and earth, rapidly improving their cultivation. At the same time, the memories of their respective obsessions twined and slowly fused into their bodies.

***

Outside the Scripture Hall, the mist beneath the cliff seemed to sense the flow of heaven and earth's blessings. It surged and churned violently, and in an instant, countless black-robed figures appeared along the cliff's edge, watching the changes below.

One black-robed man, holding twin blades, slashed into the mist with sword qi. "Why is the mist suddenly raging? Could it be that the eruption has come early this time?"

The sword qi tore through space itself, slicing the mist apart. Wind and lightning intertwined, forming a storm of gales and sparks that shredded layer after layer of fog.

Seizing the opening, the black-robed men edged closer to the cliff. Their eyes, glowing with spirit qi of varying colors, scanned downward. The storm pressed on with relentless force, drilling almost three thousand meters into the mist in the blink of an eye.

Beneath the swirling haze lay countless corpses, strewn across the ground alongside treasures beyond counting.

Most were withered and decayed. Some still clutched longswords, while others gripped blades. Every corpse bore the same posture, faces frozen in terror as if a monstrous presence had chased them relentlessly.

Among the dry bones were also fresh corpses, their features intact, dressed in garments from various cultivation eras. Many wore the robes of the Heavenly Mandate Hall.

The oppressive aura radiating from these corpses made it clear that they had been high-level cultivators in life. Drawn by rumors of treasures hidden beneath the mist, they had rushed here and perished before uncovering the truth of what lay below.

The storm of wind and lightning tore through the mist, clearing the haze and lifting the treasures that lay beside the corpses. Once the storm passed, the dead bodies dissolved into the air, leaving behind only bare skeletons.

The black-robed figure wielding twin blades kept one eye on the storm and the other on the lightning, guiding them to spin left and right. Through the raging chaos, he could see clearly into the depths below.

Weaving a spell with both hands, he projected the scene beneath the mist onto the cliff above, allowing those without the ability to peer into the depths to witness what lay hidden.

In just a few breaths, the storm carved out a space nearly ten thousand meters wide, revealing countless treasures.

"There are more treasures than all the previous times combined," a black-robed man with chains exclaimed, pointing toward the cliff's edge. "Is that the Heaven and Earth Spirit Body we saw before?"

The cultivators quickly turned their gaze toward the cliff's edge.

"That really is a Spirit Body of Heaven and Earth," an elderly black-robed man said, summoning a long spear and laughing loudly. "

Hahaha!

Heaven shows mercy, indeed! With this Spirit Body, my Rebirth Art will succeed, and I will live another life in this world."

"Old man, do you really think you can take that Spirit Body for yourself?" Another black-robed figure pulled back his hood, revealing a face covered in scars. He sneered, "Daoist Hua Sheng, your sect has already fallen. Why would you still dream of living another life?"

"Hua Xin, you traitor!" Daoist Hua Sheng glared, fury in his eyes. "If I had known you would betray the Rebirth Sect, I would never have taken you in back then."

Hua Xin mocked him in response. "

Heh...

the Rebirth Sect is already gone. Isn't it a little late that you only realize it now?"

Before he could continue, the person with twin-blades staggered back several steps, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"What happened?" the black-robed crowd exclaimed in alarm. "You never touched the mist, so why are you injured?"

"The mist has mutated," the twin-blade wielder said hoarsely. "Even before it erupts, it carries a devouring force. It latched onto my spirit qi and divine sense, sending a backlash into my dantian and sea of qi."

The crowd murmured anxiously. "How could this be? In past years, it only devoured spirit qi at the moment it erupted!"

From the rear, several weaker cultivators hurried forward, sending streams of spirit qi to aid him. "Grand Patriarch, are you alright? Will this affect you?"

He quickly swallowed two pills, planted his blades at his sides, and sat cross-legged to heal. "It's nothing serious. The moment the backlash struck, I severed the flow of my spirit qi."

Seeing him enter recovery, the other black-robed figures lost interest and returned to the cliff's edge to watch the mist below.

The storm of lightning and wind, now uncontrolled, still raged in place.

Suddenly, a column of mist erupted upward like a fountain from beneath the cliff. The corpses below released torrents of mist, swiftly filling the air. The new surge dyed the previously gray-white haze black.

"In all the thousands of years we've guarded this place, the mist has never changed. Why has it turned black now? Could this be tied to the great upheaval in the Nantian Region?"

"It seems the prophecy from ten thousand years ago is about to be fulfilled. The Heavenly Dao is reviving, the passage to the Outside will reopen, and our clan's chance has come again.

"For the next few days, we'll keep our watch here. This eruption will last no more than ten days, but it will be the greatest in all these millennia."

At that moment, the quietest figure among them lifted his head. Beneath the wide brim of his hat, his eyes flared with a dark red light. "And this should be the last eruption of the mist. I have kept watch here for ten thousand years. It is time for me to leave."

"Daoist Tian Ji from the Celestial Oracle Sect[1]? To think he has shown up as well... The world truly is on the verge of change," The black-robed Daoist who had once crossed paths with Lu Chen glanced at the roiling black mist, then cast a look toward the Scripture Hall. "And that boy... Keeping him here was the right choice. Ever since his arrival, the cliff mist has changed drastically."

He chuckled and turned back to the cliff. The mist below had become nearly still, its center now fully dyed black. With this eruption, the haze had risen almost a thousand meters higher.

The black-robed crowd watched the rising mist, their eyes filled with both awe and unease. In the end, all heeded Daoist Tian Ji's advice. They sat cross-legged along the cliff's edge, steadying their minds and preparing themselves.

1. Tian Ji translates directly as Celestial Oracle in English, which conveys the idea of heaven’s secrets or divine mysteries. ☜