For the first time, the Master's expression shifted, as though those words had struck a nerve.
A solemn look crossed the old man's face. He said in a low voice:
"Immortal, aren't you being too arrogant?"
The Master lowered his eyes and spoke slowly. "I searched the ancient records and learned how this world came to be. Heaven and earth once suffered a great calamity, before the Warring States period six thousand years ago."
"Legend says that three thousand years further back, the world was full of true cultivators. They rode swords across great rivers and slew Flood Dragons with flying blades. Those who attained the Dao could enjoy four hundred springs in the mortal world. It was a glorious age when cultivation was possible."
"Immortal Masters stood high above all others, while mortals were treated like servants. With the fortune of immortal roots, one could become an immortal."
"Then the heavens collapsed, the earth split, and spiritual energy dispersed."
"Without the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, Immortal Masters were Immortal Masters no longer."
"They hid in the mountains but continued issuing orders to the world, trying to conceal this enormous secret."
"But such a secret could never be kept under wraps forever."
"Someone found out!"
"And so the bonds that held the world together snapped, rival clans rose, and heroes emerged in droves. They declared that virtue had deserted the mortal world, chaos had engulfed all under heaven, the tide of spiritual energy had receded, and the Dharma-Ending Era had arrived."
"Countless mortals took up axes to hew down mountains, destroy temples, and drive out immortals. They dragged those lofty Immortal Masters from the clouds and trampled them into the mud."
This was not the first time Yu Ke had learned of this. He had heard of it