Chapter 500

"What?"

Is he an immortal?

"If she's not an immortal, she still has a sliver of hope. But if she were an immortal, even if she escaped to the ends of the earth, she would still die at her hands!"

A look of shock appeared on Xiao Minghuang's face.

The origin of the Investiture of the Immortal Sealing Scroll is actually like this!

"The Eight Mountains and Nine Seas have been destroyed. The Immortal Sealing Scroll records three thousand Immortal Kings who died at the hands of the Heavenly Emperor... no, it should be said that they died under the interference of the Great Dao, seventeen Immortal Venerables, Immortal Lords, True Immortals... the list goes on and on!"

"In the era of the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas, there were no other life-bearing worlds in the universe. All living beings in the universe existed only within the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas. At the same time, there were almost no beings below the Immortal Path... They only made up a very small portion, and even without any interference, they could naturally achieve the Immortal Path sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, a startling guess immediately came to Xiao Minghuang's mind.

"You mean... that in the end, after the Heavenly Emperor's slaughter, only thirty-three people remained in the entire universe?!"

"That's not entirely true. Although almost all living beings were concentrated in the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas at that time, there were still some who were not within the realm, or rather, who had other backgrounds and escaped the calamity."

"But judging from the current situation, the people who survived the era of the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas, not counting the Heavenly Emperor himself, should be thirty-two Heavenly Venerables, plus seventeen ancestors from super-large star fields, totaling forty-nine people."

"The celestial beings and immortals who are now high above all others were just mortals back then, some even still learning to speak and walk, which is why they were able to escape this calamity."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Minghuang felt a strange mix of emotions.

Is the Cosmic Great Dao interfering with the course of the universe in such a direct and brutal way?

To ensure its own survival, it unleashed a cataclysmic catastrophe!

The prevailing opinion in the universe today is that it was the Heavenly Venerables of all realms and the Ancestors of all star fields who provided the Heavenly Emperor with their full support that finally overthrew the tyrannical rule of the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas.

However, according to the Innate Osmanthus, the brutality of the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas was false, as was the powerful assistance from the Heavenly Venerables and Immortal Venerables of all realms.

But Xiao Minghuang wasn't stupid; of course, she could spot the flaws in this narrative.

"Why would the Heavenly Emperor authorize the Celestial Venerables and Immortal Venerables of all realms to manage the universe? Wouldn't it be better for him to hold all the power himself?"

Xiao Minghuang asked.

"When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits; when the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!"

Innate Osmanthus uttered four idioms in a row. "Since the Heavenly Emperor has become a pawn of the Great Dao, how can he so easily escape?"

"Um..."

Xiao Minghuang fell silent.

Let me ask you a question first.

"What's the problem?"

"You should know that both the Cosmic Great Dao and the Heavenly Dao of the various realms possess their own will, but they cannot express their will independently. They need a medium. For the various realms, this medium is the World Lord; for the Cosmic Great Dao, this medium is the Heavenly Emperor."

"So, what is the will that the Heavenly Dao of all realms and the Cosmic Great Dao seek to achieve?"

"That would be to expand one's own existence!"

Xiao Minghuang answered without hesitation.

"Wrong!"

The Innate Osmanthus shook its head. "The will of the Cosmic Great Dao is not to expand itself. If it were simply for the purpose of expanding itself, it would not have interfered with the expansion process of the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas."

"It should be said that all manifestations of the Great Dao Will are for the purpose of perpetuating its own existence."

"He enlightens all beings and guides all things in order to perpetuate himself, because without all beings and things, the Great Dao would have nothing to sustain it and would be annihilated into nothingness."

"He destroys all things and slaughters all living beings in order to prolong his own existence. If the flourishing of all things and the proliferation of living beings exceed the limits that the universe can bear, it will cause a great collapse, which will be the restart of the universe, and the Great Dao will cease to exist."

That makes sense.

Xiao Minghuang nodded and continued listening.

"So, after the destruction of the Eight Mountains and Nine Seas, the greatest destabilizing factor in the universe changed from a group of people to one person, and that person is the Heavenly Emperor."

"The state that the Great Dao Will most desires is not a flourishing of immortality, where everyone lives forever and enjoys a carefree life."

"Instead, everyone's lifespan is limited to a certain range, which cannot be broken no matter what, and the number of people must be so large that one immortal is equal to billions of mortals."

"For ordinary cultivators, no matter how many mortals there are, they are not as valuable as a single hair of an immortal. However, for the Great Dao Will's will, the amount of primal boost that a certain number of mortals can provide is actually the same."

"Therefore, the situation that the Great Dao Will wants to achieve is obvious."

Xiao Minghuang nodded slightly, as if she had understood something.

"An infinite number of mortals... Mortals have no cultivation, so they cannot expand the world they inhabit and cannot cause a great collapse. At the same time, mortals are born, age, get sick, and die very quickly, so they cannot accumulate enough power to bring about change. However, as long as there are enough of them, they can achieve the feedback effect desired by the will of the Great Dao Will."

"Therefore, the Heavenly Emperor became the greatest threat to the Great Dao Will at that time."

"He wants to eliminate the existence of the Heavenly Emperor!"

"But the Heavenly Emperor is too powerful. He is a pawn nurtured by the Great Dao Will, and he is difficult to destroy. He can only be worn down by time."

"In the long struggle, the Great Dao Will has supported a new pawn, which is now the Celestial Venerable of All Realms!"

"Among them, the Celestial Venerables of the Upper Three Heavens contributed greatly!"

Innate Osmanthus chuckled softly, "These people, they haven't even dealt with the enemy yet, and they're already fighting amongst themselves..."

"However, I'm not entirely clear on the ins and outs of this..."

At this point, Innate Osmanthus stopped her narration.

"What a wonderful story..." Xiao Minghuang murmured, looking at Innate Osmanthus as if she were looking at a stranger.

"So, what's your story?"

"Who are you?"

Xiao Minghuang's voice was calm, yet it possessed a strange penetrating quality, as if it could see right through her.

The eyes of the Innate Osmanthus shimmered incessantly.

After a moment, she looked at Xiao Minghuang solemnly and said, "If you hand over the Immortal Sealing Scroll to me, I will tell you the whole truth without hiding anything!"

"If this is important to you, then take it!"

Without much hesitation, Xiao Minghuang waved his hand, and a golden scroll appeared in his palm. He then pushed it in front of the Innate Osmanthus.

Seeing this scene.

Innate Osmanthus was also surprised. Her red lips parted slightly, and she said incredulously, "You... you just gave it to me like that?"

"The Immortal Sealing Scroll is of no use to me, but if my friend A Yue needs it, I can certainly give it to her."

Xiao Minghuang spoke calmly, as if she were giving away something extraordinary, a simple little gift rather than some extraordinary treasure.

Innate Osmanthus was shaken, but quickly suppressed her emotions.

She did not accept the Immortal Sealing Scroll, but instead pushed it back.

"Take it back. I feel safe with it."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Minghuang frowned, but before she could speak, she was interrupted by Innate Osmanthus.

"Don't worry, with our relationship, it's probably safer for you to keep it than for me to keep it myself."

Innate Osmanthus smiled slightly, a resolute look hidden deep in her eyes.

"Alright then."

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Minghuang retrieved the Immortal Sealing Scroll.

"However, if needed, please don't hesitate to lend a hand, Little Princess!"

Innate Osmanthus blinked and looked at Xiao Minghuang with a smile.

Xiao Minghuang nodded.

Next, the Innate Osmanthus will tell its true story in detail.

After hearing this, Xiao Minghuang's face was filled with complicated emotions.

It turns out that the origin of the Innate Osmanthus is incredibly ancient. It was Innate Being formed when the first Taiyin Qi was born between heaven and earth at the beginning of chaos and the laurel tree.

It should be said that the Innate Osmanthus did not deceive her.

However, at that time, A Yue herself did not know that her origins were actually so ancient.

So much so that even she herself had forgotten.

Many things only came back to mind after a recent change, and I finally remembered the stories of the past.

Long ago.

So long ago, the pattern of Eight Mountains and Nine Seas had not yet been formally formed, and even the boundaries of the void had not yet appeared.

At that time, the laurel had not yet developed sentience; it was merely a laurel tree rooted on a barren, Dead Star.

Although she possessed intelligence, she was oblivious to the world around her, relying solely on instinct to slowly absorb the life force from the outside world.

And so it went, year after year, day after day.

Until one day...

A sharp buzzing sound resounded throughout the universe.

After that day.

The world underwent a tremendous change.

The stars in the sky became clear.

The omnipresent chaos and nothingness were gradually repelled and banished to the endless distance.

The vitality in the void grew ever stronger.

One day, by chance.

A mysterious being roams the universe.

He treads upon the myriad paths of the heavens, with countless stars above his head; wherever his gaze falls, the void blossoms and all things revive.

In an instant.

Laurel felt that gentle, Buddha Mother gaze fall upon her.

Looking up, she could only see a pair of clear, pure eyes, so beautiful they were breathtaking, holy and flawless, containing infinite mystery and vastness, extraordinary eyes that made one wish to be forever captivated by them.

It was as if he were the very creator of all things!

The laurel tree, in that instant, burst forth with brilliant light, as if rejoicing and expressing its gratitude to the owner of those eyes.

But soon, those eyes moved away from her.

Those eyes gaze upon all living things, never lingering on any one creature for long.

Those eyes seemed to belong to a different world, as if they transcended all the heavens and the myriad paths, looking down upon all living beings, devoid of sorrow or joy.

After that day.

Her body began to transform; one osmanthus flower after another sprouted from the branches, one fruit after another grew from the buds, and bursts of life essence burst forth from her body.

Her vitality began to rise, skyrocketing.

Until the very end.

The Eight Mountains and Nine Seas gradually took shape, and she became the most renowned presence in the Second Mountain.

Therefore, she was called -- by her contemporaries

Taiji Innate Great Clear Light Immortal Venerable!

587. The Heavenly Emperor

For a long time.

Xiao Minghuang slowly closed her eyes, her mind calming down. This past was too astonishing; even with her current state of mind, she was still somewhat shocked after learning about it.

Turn out to be...

Her closest friend, whom she had always considered a true friend, turned out to be an ancient being from Eight Mountains and Nine Seas!