Chaos, the Cleansing Mechanism
He read on, word by word, his expression gradually turning grim.
From initial solemnity, to shock, and then to disbelief.
"Senior? What does it say?" Fang Hexuan couldn't help but ask.
Zhenyangzi did not answer immediately, but looked at it twice more before taking a deep breath and turning around.
His voice had a hint of dryness that was hard to hide.
"It says above that the Primordial Dao Fruit is not a gift from heaven."
"It is the cycle of reincarnation and cleansing mechanism of the Dao Realm."
After those words were spoken, the stone chamber fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone was stunned.
Reincarnation and cleanup mechanism?
What's the meaning?
Zhenyangzi's gaze swept over the shocked faces of the crowd, and she slowly began to interpret the text on the mural, word by word.
"The Dao Realm has its limits, like a container with a fixed capacity. As cultivators cultivate, they absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to solidify their own Dao foundation. The stronger the cultivator, the heavier the burden on the Dao Realm."
"Every 100,000 years, when the number of powerful beings in the Dao Realm exceeds its carrying capacity, and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi becomes insufficient, the Dao Realm will bestow Primordial Dao Fruit, triggering a conflict between the righteous and the demonic."
"In the midst of a great battle, the souls, origins, and cultivation of the powerful who die in battle will be absorbed by the Dao Fruit, nourishing the Dao Realm."
"Those who ultimately obtain the Dao Fruit may seem to gain immense fortune, ensuring the prosperity of their faction for millennia, but in reality, they themselves will be slowly assimilated by the Dao Fruit, completely transformed into primordial nourishment, and merged into the Dao Fruit, their soul and spirit annihilated, and they will not enter the cycle of reincarnation."
"In the next hundred thousand years, the Dao Fruit will descend again, and the cycle will repeat itself endlessly."
"It is for... the purification of the cycle of reincarnation."
Zhenyangzi's voice echoed in the quiet stone chamber.
Every word struck like a heavy hammer blow to everyone's hearts.
Dead silence.
A deathly silence.
Everyone froze in place, their expressions shifting from shock to disbelief, and finally to deathly pale.
"No... no way!" A Rogue Cultivator's voice trembled. "Isn't the Dao Fruit a once-in-a-hundred-thousand-years fortuitous opportunity? How could it be... the so-called cleansing mechanism? This is simply... unthinkable!"
"Those who seize the Dao Fruit will be assimilated? Their souls and spirits will be annihilated?" Another Rogue Cultivator's face turned deathly pale. "Then aren't we risking our lives to seize the Dao Fruit just rushing to our deaths? How is that possible!"
"This is insane! Absolutely insane!"
"Could it be that this mural was forged, deliberately leaving behind such alarmist words to discourage others from the competition for Dao Fruit, while he reaps the benefits?"
"What do you mean by that? Do you suspect that our ancestor harbored ill intentions?!"
"Who said you were the first ancestor?"
"Wasn't what you just said implying doubt about our clan's ancestor?"
The crowd stirred, and a Rogue Cultivator and a warrior from Biyuan got into a verbal argument, which almost escalated into a physical fight.
Zhi Qianshu and another Rogue Cultivator spoke kindly to them, which finally calmed them down.
But after the two quieted down, a dark cloud hung over everyone present.
What brought them to this secret realm?
It's all about fortuitous opportunity, luck, and a chance to rise to the top in one step.
But now someone is telling them that the Dao Fruit isn't some kind of fortuitous opportunity at all, but rather a tool for purging the Dao Realm? Whoever gets it will die?
This is completely mind-blowing!
This is simply unimaginable.
If that's true, then there's no point in them coming here to steal the Dao Fruit.
The most important thing is to live your own life!
"Senior, could you be mistaken?" Han Cang asked in a gruff voice, "How come there's no record of such a significant event in High Antiquity texts?"
Zhenyangzi gave a bitter smile, "Because those who Daozhen are either dead or assimilated by the Dao Fruit. Even if there are survivors, their memories will be erased by the Dao Realm and cannot be passed down."
He pointed to a line of small characters next to the mural. "Look here, the person who left these murals said that he was a survivor of the great war, who accidentally discovered the truth but was powerless to change it, so he could only carve the secret in a secret room for future generations."
Li Yunjing's gaze fell on the line of small characters, and he asked in a deep voice, "Who left behind the mural?"
"The signature is, Biyuan Shi, Black Bird," Zhenyangzi read aloud.
"The Black Bird?" Zhi Qianshu looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with shock. "It's the First Ancestor! Our Biyuan Ancestor's name is Black Bird!"
The crowd gasped in disbelief.
These are murals left by the Biyuan!
It was he who discovered the truth about the Dao Fruit!
"No wonder the First Ancestor built this Burial Ground and used a grand formation to conceal the secrets of heaven..." Zhi Qianshu murmured to himself, "So... so the First Ancestor wanted to hide the Dao Fruit, to prevent others from finding it and to stop more people from dying."
He always believed that the First Ancestor left a prophecy for resurrection, to lead the Biyuan People to rebuild their glory.
But now it seems that's not the case at all.
The First Ancestor left this Burial Ground not for resurrection, but to seal the Dao Fruit, cover up the truth, and prevent another war between good and evil, and another massacre of living beings.
"The resurrection of the First Ancestor..." Zhi Qianshu's voice was hoarse.
"There was no resurrection." Zhenyangzi sighed, looking at the last mural. "Look here."
Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.
In the last mural, a man wearing armor with Black Bird totem sits cross-legged in a coffin, his face serene.
His body was slowly turning into specks of light, merging into the surrounding array.
He sacrificed his entire soul and body to support the great Burial Ground array that concealed the secrets of heaven.
The so-called resurrection of the First Ancestor is nothing more than a beautiful vision of later generations, or a misconception passed down from generation to generation.
The true progenitor has long since perished, forming an array that remains here forever.
Zhi Qianshu was struck dumb, staggering back two steps, his face deathly pale.
"No... no way..." he murmured to himself, "How could the First Ancestor... how could he..."
The twenty warriors from Biyuan were also stunned, their faces filled with bewilderment and grief.
The faith they upheld for generations, the prophecies they firmly believed in, were wrong from the very beginning.
The First Ancestor will not be resurrected.
The Child of Prophecy did not come to resurrect the First Ancestor.
It was all just a misunderstanding that lasted for tens of thousands of years.
The atmosphere inside the stone chamber was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
The Rogue Cultivator filled with unease and whispered among themselves.
Some said it was fake, a scam; some turned pale and said they would leave the secret realm immediately and never touch the Dao Fruit again; others had shifty eyes, lost in thought.
Li Yunjing remained silent throughout.
He looked at the first picture from the first to the last, and then looked back at the first picture from the last.
A series of images strung together in his mind.
Ten thousand years ago, during the great war between the righteous and the demonic forces, countless powerful warriors perished and were absorbed by the Dao Fruit. Yuanchu, as the Origin Dao Physique, led the Dao Fruit into the hands of the righteous path, but was ultimately assimilated by the Dao Fruit, leaving only a wisp of his remnant soul.
Biyuan's ancestor Black Bird, personally experienced that war and discovered the truth, but was powerless to change the overall situation. He could only retrieve the remnant soul of the Dao Embryo after the war, build this Burial Ground, and use his own life to set up a great formation to seal the Dao Fruit and the Dao Embryo together, hoping to escape the next cycle of reincarnation.
Twenty thousand years ago, the Taiyi Immortal Sect sacrificed its entire members to protect the Dao Embryo, Zhenyangzi has remained alone for twenty thousand years.
Now, the Dao Fruit has matured once again, and the righteous and demonic paths are once again at odds. Countless people flock to it, unaware that what they are fighting for is actually a destined tragedy.
"So... all this fighting and arguing is just pawns of the Dao Realm?" a Rogue Cultivator's voice trembled. "So many people died, and in the end, they all became nourishment for the Dao Fruit?"