508: The Earth Pit and the Heaven Pit! The Rift Between Two Realms! The Mustard Seed Realm Explodes
"No!!--"
A long, drawn-out scream, seemingly coming from some distant, unknown realm, or perhaps just a hallucination, suddenly jolted Chen Dengming, who was cultivating within the Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm, awake.
"Um?"
Chen Dengming's expression changed slightly, his ears twitched, and his Divine Sense and will rapidly spread in all directions. The Human Heart Hall also appeared in his eyes, but after a thorough investigation, he found nothing.
However, the scream just now could not have been unfounded. Chen Dengming's expression turned solemn, and the image of the Dharma form that had undergone a dramatic change after being released into the New Realm resurfaced in his mind.
"Could it be that this Dharma form caused some trouble in the New Realm? This Dharma form was created by my own hands, and its Karma entanglement with me is the deepest. Secondly, it has the deepest connection with the Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm, the Ancient Realm, and the Heavenly Dao..."
Chen Dengming's eyes gleamed with contemplation. "If something were to happen to the Dharma Image, I might indeed be able to sense it..."
With his current strength Dao Integration Dao Master, his mental power is already extraordinarily strong. Just like when he was guessing the identity of the Buddha Guai, he was in danger of being sensed and locked onto by the Buddha Guai from a distance.
Now, if anything is connected to him, his powerful intuition will detect it.
In the Buddhist Sect, this is called Alaya-vijnana; among cultivators of immortality, it is called the consciousness of heaven and earth.
Sensing that the Dharma Image might cause trouble in the New Realm, Chen Dengming immediately followed this connection and quickly performed divination.
Suddenly, a variety of possible deductions flashed through my mind.
These possible scenarios unfolded like a series of images.
In the scene, a tens of thousands of feet tall Dharma image is surrounded by calamity energy, which stirs up a great calamity and slaughter on multiple Cultivation Star, creating more and more powerful calamity energy, which in turn enhances its own power and makes it increasingly formidable.
In another scene, a colossal Dharma form traverses the void, battling Dao Integration Great Power cultivator from the New Realm who has achieved Dao Integration Great Power. Ultimately, it devours the New Realm's Dao Integration cultivator with its immense Ancient Tribulation Qi Karma, the New Realm's Dao Integration Great Power suffers unbearable pain and is unable to escape, becoming Bandit Cultivator enslaved by Karma.
In the final scene, the New Realm Dao Venerable makes his move, battling the Dharma Image and shattering the numerous calamity energies, revealing the blurred face of the Dharma Image beneath the calamity energy.
The face gradually became clearer, and it was strikingly similar to his own appearance by about 80%, except that it appeared even more ruthless, violent, and insane.
Chen Dengming's expression grew increasingly grave, and beads of sweat gradually appeared on his forehead.
Suddenly, with a sharp "snap," his fingers, which had been calculating, snapped open, and two streams of blood flowed from his eyes; Mental Strength exhausted.
He couldn't help but look up at the sky.
But the sky was deep and dark, as if the secrets of heaven and the future were unfathomable. Even the slightest possibility of obtaining a result from it had already Mental Strength him.
"I am the Lord of the Dao, how can this celestial canopy obscure my vision!"
Chen Dengming rallied his spirits, regained his fighting spirit, and coldly snorted, "Disperse!"
Boom!--
In an instant, the dense crimson clouds covering the Heavenly Immortal Realm dispersed, revealing a bright and sunny sky.
Now, half a year has passed, and the entire Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm has been taken over by Chen Dengming.
As the Dao Lord, he has gradually manipulated the Life and Death Qi within the entire Dao Inner Domain to form a cycle, causing the Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm to stop collapsing and disintegrating frequently, and instead gradually stabilize.
With the power of the Dao Domain, he can now be said to be able to Summon Wind and Rain, control the sky with one hand, and be omnipotent. Even his lifespan has reached an astonishing 20,000 years.
Within the Dao Inner Domain, the boundless Life Energy has rapidly given rise to numerous rare and precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures that had once disappeared. The birth of these heavenly materials and earthly treasures seems to purify the Spiritual Qi, making the Immortal Spiritual Energy within the Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm even more abundant.
As the Dao Lord, Chen Dengming's fate was intertwined with that of the Dao Domain; its prosperity and decline were intertwined. After the Dao Domain regained its Life Force, he also benefited greatly, his Dao power improved rapidly, and his realm had long been firmly established at the early stage of the Dao Integration Realm.
At this moment, Chen Dengming rose into the air, his eyes shimmering with azure Cyan Light. His Eye of the Heavens rapidly surveyed all directions, even faintly observing the situation in the lower realms.
After becoming the Dao Integration Dao Master, his power was nearly ten times stronger than when he was at the peak of the Spirit Transformation Realm.
Only then did he realize that the Buddha Guai of yesteryear was probably in a worse state than he is now, likely because the Buddha Guai's Three Souls were incomplete, resulting in a relatively weak strength.
The Living Buddha Venerable might be even stronger than he is now, but he has not yet reached the mid-stage of the Dao Integration Realm. This is likely due to the scarcity of resources, making it difficult for him to break through.
Because Chen Dengming has refined and controlled the entire vast Dao Domain of the Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm, he possesses a profound foundation and is confident that he will cultivate to the mid-stage of the Dao Integration Realm in the future.
However, after the mid-game, a lot of resources are needed to move into the late game.
However, now threatened by the Eternal Great Tribulation, it is questionable whether he can successfully cultivate to the mid-stage of the Dao Integration Realm, let alone the late stage.
At this moment, Chen Dengming surveyed the heavens and earth and saw that the calamity energy between heaven and earth had not increased much, and the Yin Spring of the Ghost Realm had not collapsed. He breathed a sigh of relief, but then his brows furrowed deeply, and he vaguely felt that something was wrong.
Whether it was the Unseen connection that arose from the birth of Qiankun consciousness just now, or the scenes he foresaw during the divination, both indicated that the Dharma Image might have already stirred up a calamity outside the New Realm Ancient Realm?
Although it was a calamity that originated outside the New Realm, it is impossible for it to be completely unrelated to the Ancient Realm.
Strictly speaking, the Ancient Realm is also within the New Realm's universe; they are all in the same boat.
If a calamity occurs, it is like a rope being lit by fire. At most, the fire will burn at one end of the rope and not yet reach this end, but the smoke and heat emitted after the fire starts to burn will inevitably reach this end of the rope.
"Could it be that something happened recently that hasn't yet affected the Ancient Realm, thus preventing an increase in the aura of calamity?"
While Chen Dengming was puzzled, his eyes suddenly shone with Cyan Light. He mobilized the power of his Dao Domain, and his gaze immediately transcended the limitations of time and space, penetrating deep into the Ghost Realm and observing the situation in the thirty-six Cave Heaven and seventy-two blessed lands surrounding the Ancient Realm.
With Dongfang Huayuan and Qu Shenzong overseeing things, the Human World is quite stable now, and nothing major is likely to happen.
But problems can still occur in places unnoticed by the Human World.
As Chen Dengming used his magic to investigate one by one, it was as if he were surveying a thousand rivers in the distance.
The ten-odd days passed quickly.
Chen Dengming's gaze suddenly sharpened, and a scene quickly appeared in his eyes with Cyan Light.
In the scene, an underground cavern deep within the River Styx, a realm of ghosts, appears.
The cave was so deep that it seemed to lead straight to the underworld. The Nether River Water was flowing into the cave, and thick, Death Qi rose from the bottom of the cave.
Because the entrance to the cave is not very large, and the Water of the Underworld River is vast and boundless, it is difficult to notice the decrease in the river's water level in a short period of time, even though the river is flowing in continuously.
However, after observing for more than ten days, Chen Dengming keenly noticed this subtle situation.
His gaze pierced directly through the cavern, reaching its depths, where he saw a ruptured membrane of light and a Mustard Seed Realm filled with Death Qi.
"The Eighteen Layers of Hell!?"
Chen Dengming immediately recognized that the Mustard Seed Realm beneath the cave was the ancient Buddha Guai domain, the Eighteen Layers of Hell.
This domain has clearly been gradually disintegrating and collapsing with the fall of the Buddha Guai, and even the curtain connecting it to the Ghost Realm has collapsed, causing the Mustard Seed Realm to be exposed and the Water of the Underworld River to flow back inward.
It is very likely that the collapse of this Mustard Seed Realm did not take too long, so the loss of the Nether River Water was not too great, which is why Chen Dengming did not notice anything amiss at the first moment.
"If the River Styx were to flow away, Eighteen Layers of Hell, as Mustard Seed Realm, were to collapse, it would also lead to the generation of immense calamity energy. These are all calamities that must be stopped immediately..."
Chen Dengming had a sudden inspiration and thought of a way to turn misfortune into good fortune that he might be able to try.
The Eighteen Layers of Hell are filled with Death Qi and the Water of the Underworld River. Perhaps it could be moved from the realm of ghosts to the Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm as a reservoir for Death Qi.
In the future, the Death Qi within the Shattered Heavenly Immortal Realm will naturally be attracted by the Water of the Underworld River and the vast Death Qi, flowing into the Eighteen Layers of Hell.
If the Death Qi within the Eighteen Layers of Hell overflows, it will transform into Life Energy within the Dao Domain's rules of life and death, promoting the growth and reproduction of Spirit Plant and plants in the Dao Domain, achieving a perfect Life and Death Cycle, and a balance of Yin and Yang.
"If this method succeeds, the Dao of Life and Death in the Dao Domain will no longer be a floating, baseless entity relying on the Death Qi, but will evolve into a real domain upon which it is based."
Chen Dengming's intense Cyan Light subsided as he flew out of the floating Heavenly Longevity Hall and quickly flew out of the Heavenly Immortal Realm towards the Outer Heaven.
In the past, the Ghost Immortal created the Ghost Realm, and the Ghost Emperor aspired to establish the Underworld, with its six realms of reincarnation and Eighteen Layers of Hell.
Those Eighteen Layers of Hell were built by combining eighteen Cave Heaven that the Ghost Emperor once captured.
Therefore, the thirty-six Cave Heaven and seventy-two blessed lands scattered throughout the Ancient Realm are no longer complete.
These Cave Heaven are mostly in the form of the Mustard Seed Realm, like small bubbles attached to large bubbles, attached to the Human World or the ghost realm, or scattered in the Outer Heaven.
Among them, some of the Cave Heaven attached to the Human World still possess some Spiritual Qi Life Force, and offer fortuitous opportunity, such as the Immortal Way where the immortals fell into the Northern Spirit Sea Heavenly River Lan Ke Mountain.
Those that attach themselves to the ghost realm mostly transform into the Underworld Continent, a desolate wasteland.
Scattered throughout the Outer Heaven, these places have become either relics of the Earthly Immortals or perilous locations. Those who are not destined to follow the Earthly Immortals will find it difficult to enter their path and will encounter suppression from those Non-Self path.
The Ghost Emperor of yesteryear was able to refine eighteen earthly Cave Heaven into Eighteen Layers of Hell, connecting them with the Divine Ability Realm. This demonstrated his great talent and extraordinary abilities, and it must have significantly enhanced his cultivation.
Now, Chen Dengming thought to himself that if he could bring the Eighteen Layers of Hell to the Heavenly Immortal Realm and refine them into the Realm of Death, then the Heavenly Immortal Realm would also be the Realm of Life, and the Heavenly Human Life and Death Realm would be completely perfected, and the Heavenly Immortal Realm would no longer be in a broken state.
He may soon enter the mid-stage of the Dao Integration Realm, and this will likely be a strong foundation for him to enter the late-stage of the Dao Integration Realm in the future.
Soon, Chen Dengming flew into the Outer Heaven. After casting the hand seals and using the Divine Ability Fortune Shines Brightly Shining Brightly, he began to discreetly explore the area of the ghost realm within the Outer Heaven, avoiding encountering the mad Divine Void.
Unlike most Human World's understanding of heaven and earth, heaven actually encompasses the earth from all directions.
However, the Human World and the ghost realm are not a complete circle, but an irregular semicircle split into two parts. The Human World is larger in volume than the ghost realm, but their diameters and areas are roughly the same.
If we also include the Heavenly Immortal Realm, which is located above the Human World and is roughly one-eighth the size of the Human World, then the three realms of Celestial Person, and Ghost are in a state of being one body, consisting of the upper, middle, and lower realms.
Many scattered Cave Heaven and Mustard Seed Realm are located in the gap between these three realms, not exceeding the boundaries of the three realms, and are always attracted to and attached to the Human World and the ghost realm, which have the largest volume and mass.
The Outer Heaven was once the outer space of the Ancient Realm, but now, due to the influence of the power of the Heavenly Dao and the Divine Void, coupled with the mysterious incense and fortune of the shattered Heavenly Court, it has been formed into the Outer Heaven.
The entire Outer Heaven encompasses the Three Realms and numerous Mustard Seed Realm, forming Ancient Realm completely isolated from the New Realm World.
At this moment, Chen Dengming was speeding through the Outer Heaven, resisting the attraction from the Human World, and rapidly flying towards the ghost Human World.
When they flew to the Outer Heaven, where the two realms were almost connected, this place was already the edge of the Hundred Thousand Mountains in the Western Regions, and at the end was a bottomless abyss.
In reality, the bottom here is the bottom of the Human World, and the bottom is still connected to the Outer Heaven.
An immense repulsive force formed fierce storms that swept upwards from the abyss; these were none other than the Spiritual Qi Wind Layer that were blocked by the continent.
Even Nascent Soul Cultivator find it difficult to venture deep into this abyss, as the Spiritual Qi diminishes the deeper they go, making their ultimate fate uncertain.
Most Spirit Transformation cultivators were aware that this was another passage to the Ghost Realm besides the Yin Spring. There were many similarly strange and perilous places throughout the Four Seas Four Regions, which could not be explored by anyone other than Spirit Transmutation Dao Lord.
Even Spirit Transmutation Dao Lord wouldn't be so foolish as to try and enter the Ghost Realm, a world of the dead that Non-Self their own.
You might not find many treasures, but you'll definitely encounter many dangers.
Chen Dengming once held up half the sky in the Outer Heaven below and cultivated for half Jiazi.
Now, returning is a familiar routine. Outer Dao energy flows to form a sturdy protective shield, which even the fiercest repulsive forces and gales cannot shake.
He quickly ventured deep into the abyss, heading straight for the narrow crevice at the edge of the ghost realm, without actually entering it.
The closer one is to these two realms, the more one can feel the mutual attraction between them and the repulsive force that exists within the gap.
It's a state of contradictory forces attracting and pushing each other, so oppressive that it feels like you're about to vomit blood.
Caught between the two realms, Chen Dengming used the Eye of the Heavens and quickly caught sight of some phantom images from the Mustard Seed Realm.
These Mustard Seed Realm are like bubbles of varying sizes. Most of them are the thirty-six Cave Heaven and seventy-two blessed lands that were scattered after the collapse of the ancient earthly immortal realm. A few are Mustard Seed Realm like Nanxun that were differentiated after the ancient human immortals fell.
Some of these Mustard Seed Realm have a dull gray luster, while others emit a faint glow.
Others are in a state of gradual destruction, with calamity energy surging within them.
"Bang--"
Chen Dengming had only been flying for a short while when a Mustard Seed Realm in the distance suddenly burst open like a punctured balloon. The large light membrane shattered, and a vast amount of matter was ejected, forming a spectacular yet terrifying torrent. Calamity energy was immediately and rapidly generated, spreading everywhere.
"The situation here has become so serious."
Chen Dengming's expression was extremely serious. He quickly flew forward, simultaneously forming hand seals to unleash a series of Heavenly Net, rapidly capturing the calamity energy and the exploding torrent of the Mustard Seed Realm, preventing the calamity energy from spreading rapidly.
When he arrived, he realized that the situation had become very serious.
Even within the Heavenly Immortal Realm, using the Eye of the Heavens, he would find it difficult to perceive this Outer Heaven, especially the Mustard Seed Realm within the gap between the two realms. Even the situation in the Ghost Realm is not as clear and intuitive to observe as it is in the mortal Human World.
Now that he was truly caught between these two realms, he realized that the situation was already very bad; the Mustard Seed Realm had collapsed and exploded before the Eighteen Layers of Hell.
Moreover, judging from the appearance, it should be due to the effects of the rampant calamity energy.
Pick the softest persimmons to squeeze, and break the thinnest part of the rope only when it's broken.
It is feared that the effects of the Dharma Image that stirred up trouble in the New Realm have not been absent, but rather have begun first in this desolate and more vulnerable Mustard Seed Realm.
Currently, a great deal of calamity energy has accumulated in many Mustard Seed Realm.
Chen Dengming had only cleared away the calamity energy from the ghost realm, the Human World, and the Heavenly Immortal Realm a few times, but he overlooked the fact that calamity energy might also be generated within these Mustard Seed Realm.
Now, these Mustard Seed Realm have become malignant tumors, time bombs, accumulating enough calamity energy. Once they all explode, chaos will surely ensue.
Boom!--
Chen Dengming's multi-layered Heavenly Net quickly captured the torrent and calamity energy that had spilled out after the explosion of a Mustard Seed Realm.
This immense impact was so great that even with his current strength, he found it difficult to withstand. He had no choice but to quickly mobilize the power of his Dao Domain and borrow the immense power of the Heavenly Immortal Realm to withstand the impact of the explosion of this Mustard Seed Realm.
A dozen breaths later, several layers of Heavenly Net, heavily enveloping a layer of turbid and powerful material flow and calamity energy, formed a huge circle thousands of feet long, floating in front of Chen Dengming. Within it, firelight and smoke filled the air, and Life Force was extinguished.
Chen Dengming held up the entire mass of matter that had collapsed from the Mustard Seed Realm with one hand. As he clenched his fist, a vast phantom of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Domain appeared in his palm.
The cycle of birth and death is governed by the power of fate!
Under the terrifying pressure of the Heavenly Immortal Dao Domain, the multiple layers of Heavenly Net were rapidly compressed and collapsed.
The dust and matter collided and collapsed wildly, producing a deafening roar, gradually forming a vortex, and quickly collapsing into a stone tablet filled with calamity energy, only about a hundred feet in size.
"What should we do with this stone tablet?"
Chen Dengming had a headache, frowning as he stared at the stone tablet sealed in the Heavenly Net.
Before the Faxiang incident, he would have simply thrown the stone tablet into the New Realm as trash.
But now, he feels somewhat depressed and conflicted.
If this stone tablet, brimming with calamity energy, were thrown into the New Realm, it would likely end up in the hands of a celestial being, further amplifying the calamity energy and Karma.
If it's not thrown away and left within the Ancient Realm, it will also cause serious pollution.
Chen Dengming suddenly found it somewhat amusing, and couldn't help but recall a story he had once read—a deep pit appeared on the ground, someone shouted "Hey!" and found that the pit echoed loudly, its bottom unseen, so they threw all their trash into the pit.
Suddenly one day, a sinkhole appeared in the sky. From the bottom of the sinkhole came a voice saying "Hey!" and then a rain of garbage began to fall from the sky.
This seems to be a case of cause and effect, or retribution.
He has now become the one who throws away the trash.
He threw the Dharma Image out, and after it stirred up trouble in the New Realm, it accelerated the formation of the calamity energy and detonated the Mustard Seed Realm.
Such cause and effect, Karma entanglement, Eternal Great Tribulation may seem to have never happened, but in fact, it seems to have already begun.
Chen Dengming looked into the distance, his eyes gradually hardening.
He carried the Tribulation Stele and continued on his way.
No matter what lies ahead, some choices, even if wrong, should not be regretted. The only thing to do is cherish the present, keep moving forward, and even if there seems to be no way, forge a path.
This was the path he had been walking ever since he Venerable Immortal, a path he had followed without hesitation, a path of fierce competition for immortality.