For his journey to Wilderness Heaven had ostensibly been to invite Buddha Fate down upon Mysterious Wasteland Heaven, using it to counterbalance the Nine Abysses.
But in truth, he and his master, Lü Daoxuan, were placing a piece so that Shangqing could shoulder the Great Void Calamity together in the future.
According to Lü Daoxuan, without this move, the difficulty of Shangqing resisting the Great Void Calamity would increase dozens of times over.
Should he sacrifice the True Martial Heaven before him to secure a chance of survival for the entire Shangqing Realm against the Great Void Calamity?
Or should he disregard the Great Void Calamity three hundred years hence, which would be powerful enough to annihilate the entire Shangqing Realm, and preserve True Martial Heaven?
This heavy choice rested on Xu Taiping's shoulders alone.
And just as Xu Taiping was caught in this agonizing choice, the Lotus Eye's voice suddenly rang out in his mind-
"Xu Taiping, even if this bright moon crashes onto the lands of True Martial Heaven, at least its immortal sects, led by the Nine Prefectures, will not be completely destroyed because of it."
"And because your Azure Profound Sect activated its mountain-sealing Grand Formation long ago, it will be even safer than the other sects."
"Of course, from this point onward, the decline of True Martial Heaven's fortune will become a foregone conclusion."
"But even so, I still advise you to preserve True Martial Heaven."
Xu Taiping furrowed his brow and asked:
"Why?"
The Lotus Eye replied:
"The people of this world are all shortsighted. They will not thank you for that chance of survival in the Great Void Calamity several hundred years from now. They will only remember that one decision you made today buried billions of living beings in True Martial Heaven."