Chapter 2551: Isolation of Heaven and Earth

Others are fanning this conflict too?

The Lord of Slaughter and Salamay exchanged looks.

It sounds like others are playing on this chessboard as well, and master appears to be wary of them. To think there are other beings as terrifying as master! This world is a scary place!

Salamay’s eyes darted around in contemplation. She approached the black-robed man and coyly asked, “Master, master! Who are the others hiding in the shadows?”

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

After saying those words, she couldn’t help but shiver. This was her first time speaking like that. She had never thought that a day would come when she would have to resort to a honey trap.

The black-robed man harrumphed as he shoved her aside. “That’s not a question you should be asking. Also, don’t even think about seducing me. Would you be interested in your pets?”

He was already being considerate by not calling them ‘livestock’.

Salamay’s face reddened in anger. She had never been humiliated in such a manner before. However, she quickly reined herself in and hid her displeasure under a beaming smile. “Yes, master is right to reprimand me. I will reflect on my mistake.”

The black-robed man turned his attention back to Zhong Mountain. Over there, more and more shaman powerhouses were abandoning their posts in the Celestial Court. The situation was spiraling out of control.

Even the Celestial Emperor couldn’t help but frown. “Calm down; it’s meaningless to act in a fit of rage. We agreed that the fiends and the shamans would govern their own jurisdictions. If you abruptly abandon your posts, the world will be plunged into chaos.”

Gonggong sneered, “The agreement was for the Fiend races to govern heaven while the Shaman races governed the earth, but you overstepped your boundary to kill our people on our turf. Since our agreement means nothing to you, there’s no reason for us to continue wearing these shackles.”

The other shamans cheered in agreement. Shamans had unbridled personalities, and the grudge between both races was simply too deep. At this point, they weren’t rioting just over Gu’s execution anymore.

A shaman powerhouse roared, “A few years back, someone proposed the isolation of heaven and earth. Why is there suddenly no further word on that? We don’t want to see you celestials descending to earth as and when you like to wreak havoc!”

“That’s right! This is the only way to resolve our conflicts!”

...

With someone taking the lead, a huge uproar broke out. It looked as if a huge battle would break out if the Celestial Emperor didn’t agree to the isolation of heaven and earth.

Zu An clicked his tongue.

There are several troublemakers among the shaman powerhouses. Each time the matter is finally about to be put to rest, someone jumps out to further muddy the waters. It feels like someone is intentionally stoking this conflict.

They're brave to dare scheme against the Celestial Emperor and the Ancestral Shamans.

While the Celestial Emperor’s avatar at Zhong Mountain was placating the shamans, his main body was at the Celestial Court, discussing this matter with the other celestials.

It was chaos in the Celestial Court. The Celestial Emperor had conjured a huge screen above the hall to project the situation at Zhong Mountain. The celestials felt indignant, as they thought that the Shaman races were going too far.

To them, Gu was at fault, and it was the Celestial Emperor’s prerogative to punish him. And yet, the Shaman races made it sound as if the Celestial Court was in the wrong. It was out of goodwill that the Celestial Court had offered the Shaman races positions, yet the Shaman races made it sound like a malicious attempt to tie them down. Some of the hardliner celestials were so infuriated that they cursed the shamans.

It didn’t take long for hawkish propagandists to claim the upper hand in the discussions.

In the first place, the conflicts between the fiends and the shamans hadn't ceased for many years now. If the Celestial Court bowed to the shamans despite having the moral high ground, they would become a joke to the whole world. No one would submit to the Celestial Court anymore!

There were also celestials who pushed for peace, but their voices were drowned out by the hawkish faction’s saliva. After so many years of conflict, which celestial didn’t have a personal vendetta against the shamans? Under such circumstances, it was difficult for the celestials to think rationally.

In truth, Celestial Emperor Zhuanxu had publicly executed Gu for more than just his vile deed. He'd intended to use this opportunity to punish the shamans and vent the suppressed emotions of the Fiend races’ hawkish faction as well. Otherwise, the situation could spiral out of control if feelings of discontentment continued seething. Despite being the Celestial Emperor, he couldn’t act as he pleased and neglect the interests of his subordinate celestials.

Zhuanxu looked at Dijun, who stood at the forefront of the other celestials. Most people recognized him as the next Celestial Emperor, so many celestials were gathered by his side. Dijun’s harsh stance against the Shaman races was welcomed by most celestials. He hadn't said a word thus far, but his aides had already spoken up on his behalf, relaying whatever he wanted to say.

No one knew what would happen if a war truly broke out.

Just then, Fire Celestial Zhongli stepped forward and said, “War is not the only way to resolve this problem. There’s another option.”

Zhuanxu’s heart sank. Zhongli was his grandson; he could already guess what the other party was going to say. However, that was too heavy of a price to pay.

“May I know what Fire Celestial’s solution is?” a celestial asked.

“The separation of heaven and earth!” Zhongli replied with a calm but firm gaze.

The noisy hall fell silent.

Dijun, who had been silent all this while, finally spoke up. “Fire Celestial, do you know the price we’d have to pay for separating heaven and earth? Is there a need to sacrifice our Fiend races’ great celestials for mere shamans? Who is willing to put their lives on the line?”

Celestials averted their eyes wherever Dijun looked. The separation of heaven and earth was simple in theory; it involved pushing up heaven and pushing down earth, thus severing the link between both places. That would allow the independent governance of heaven and earth. Once interactions between the shamans and the fiends stopped, their intense conflicts would naturally be resolved.

But that was easier said than done.

Even the great Pangu, to stop heaven and earth from converging back together after severing them apart, had to hold up the sky while stepping on the earth. He'd continued this grueling feat for countless years before finally taking his last breath. His body had turned into mountains, rivers, forests, and other such terrain. There were rumors that the towering Kunlun Mountain was a bone that Pangu had left behind.

Thanks to Pangu’s sacrifice, a new equilibrium between heaven and earth had formed. Building on Pangu’s foundation, the difficulty of completely separating heaven and earth was much lower than what Pangu had done back then, but it would still require the strongest Fiend races deities to put their lives on the line to achieve the feat.

Very few fiends could cultivate to that level, so who would be willing to sacrifice themselves to save a bunch of shaman barbarians?

“I’ll do it if no one else is willing to!” Zhongli declared.

A horrified Zhuanxu quickly stopped him. “Zhongli, you mustn’t be reckless...”

But Zhongli interjected, “Grandfather, you taught me that all cultivators must find their path. I had no idea where my path was for the longest time, but now I know it’s to prevent this world from being destroyed.”

Right after he finished speaking, his body pulsated in enlightenment. This was a sign that he had been recognized by the heavenly dao.

Dijun bowed deeply to Zhongli. “I am in awe of Zhongli’s grand wish.”

The others in the hall, regardless of factions, also bowed to Zhongli. They were also in awe of his selflessness.

Zhuanxu sighed. To a cultivator, their dao was more important than their life. He couldn’t stop Zhongli, even for the latter’s good; otherwise, Zhongli’s dao heart could unravel, causing him to descend into despair. That would make him no different from a cripple.

“It would be best if this could resolve the war between the fiends and the shamans. It would bring tremendous karma to Zhongli.” Zhuanxu tried to console himself, but he was still disheartened.

He had many offspring, but not many of them had achieved anything great. The same went for his descendants, too. Zhongli was the only one who had displayed outstanding talent. He'd intended to nurture Zhongli as the next Celestial Emperor, or the one after that, or even the one after that, but it looked as if his hope was going to be dashed.

On Zhong Mountain, another golden avatar slowly manifested and declared, “To prevent the further escalation of conflict between the shamans and the fiends, Fire Celestial Zhongli shall completely separate heaven and earth under the Celestial Emperor’s order!”

The golden avatar morphed into a giant that was as tall as the sky. With a roar, he stomped his foot on the ground and propped up the sky with his hand. The surrounding ki was immediately plunged into chaos. The earth quaked and mountains collapsed. The ground undulated nonstop, as if it had been liquefied. Everyone struggled to maintain their footing.

Zu An quickly grabbed the Mermaid Queen and Yumen Beiqing. Much to his shock, he realized that the earth was sinking downward while the sky was being propped higher and higher up.

Even powerhouses like Xingtian and Kuafu were caught off guard and fell on their butts.

In contrast, the Goddess of Wu Mountain firmly stood her ground as if there was a stake beneath her body, keeping her in position no matter how the ground moved.

Feeling the rampaging spatial ki around him, Zu An looked at the golden avatar in utter shock. Pangu severing the sky had always been a legend to him; he'd never thought he would see something similar in his lifetime.

How powerful did that golden avatar have to be to pull off such a feat?

Yumen Beiqing’s hands and feet turned ice-cold.

In the end, things still ended up like this!