Am I the only one who didn't ascend?

Chapter 545 Forward
The fierce battle between Chi Cheng and Qing Yuan lasted for a full half day. The two fought from noon to late at night, until the palace where Qing Yuan lived was reduced to ruins and the hill where the palace was located was collapsed and cracked, only then was the winner finally decided.

This was a tragic victory for the sincere.

However, when Chi Cheng, covered in blood, finally saw Qing Yuan fall down and never get up again... the expression on his face was no different from that of a defeated warrior.

Back then, he had not yet officially set foot on the immortal path. He could easily defeat Qing Yuan, who was in the growth stage, had been favored by Jinmu for a long time, and ate the flesh and blood of spiritual beasts on a daily basis just by instinct. After that, Chi Cheng left his hometown for more than ten years, and experienced many adventures, and his strength continued to grow by leaps and bounds. As for achieving the golden elixir, Chi Cheng was even more confident that he had found the right way... Logically speaking, the gap between his strength and Qing Yuan should have widened dramatically. But after half a day of fierce fighting, Chi Cheng narrowly escaped death several times. Even the jade sword that he sharpened by himself, which symbolized his own heart of Taoism, was broken in the battle.

What is the difference between such a tragic victory and a defeat?

Looking at Qing Yuan, who was no longer in human form on the ground, Chi Cheng felt a little regretful.

"Brother Qingyuan, if you don't go astray..."

At this point, he couldn't help but shut up.

If Qing Yuan had not "gone astray", perhaps when the aliens invaded more than ten years ago, the entire tribe, including himself, would have become slaves of others. On this issue, as someone who has been away from home for many years, I really have no right to look down on others and criticize them.

However, the resentment in his heart was like a thorn, making it difficult for him to give up.

"Brother Qingyuan, please look around."

As he spoke, Chi Cheng forcibly executed a sword gesture, forcing out a cold light from the broken jade sword, illuminating the surroundings… Around the ruins of the wooden palace, countless pairs of blood-red and greedy eyes were flashing, like hungry beasts whose minds were almost broken.

Chi Cheng whispered: "Even the tribesmen who were protected and fed by you, no one stood up to help you. Instead, they couldn't wait to share the flesh and blood of the losers. Otherwise, the victory or defeat between you and me would be just a matter of a hair's breadth..."

"Heh, cough cough!"

On the other side, Qing Yuan couldn't help but started coughing with laughter. He was obviously seriously injured and dying, but he seemed not to care at all.

Chi Cheng heard the laughter and couldn't help but frowned and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"You've been away from home for decades and have completely lost your way. They don't help me because the difference between you and me is only a hair's breadth. This way, we will both suffer. Only if we both suffer will they have a chance to eat our flesh and blood... If you help me win, I won't share this precious spoils with anyone."

Chi Cheng was stunned when he heard that, and from the corner of his eye he saw the bloodshot eyes around him becoming more and more eager to try.

Qing Yuan added, "Besides, I laugh at those idiots for misjudging you. They just think that people like you who don't eat humans are weak and can be bullied no matter how powerful they are... just like the surrounding tribes that we have eaten over the years. Unfortunately, they forgot that you are also from this tribe, and you are as ruthless as I am. If you survive, they will have no way out. You will not let a group of cannibals live."

Chi Cheng said in a deep voice: "This kind of evil and crooked way will cause endless harm. I will never let it spread."

"Hehe, hehehehahaha!"

As if it was a last gasp, Qing Yuan suddenly burst into a thunderous laugh, which frightened the tribesmen around him who had almost completed the hunt and made them retreat. After a long time, driven by greed, they gradually turned back.

"Evil ways bring endless harm... Chicheng, the world is so big, and there are so many evil ways! Although you can kill me today, you can only kill me. The man-eating fish at the bottom of the lake in the north of the mountain, and its roe and offspring, eat no less people than I do. The strange mountain bird that forced the tribe to migrate here a hundred years ago can blow away half of the mountain with one flap of its feathers, blowing away the flesh and blood of more than a dozen living people from the tribe, leaving only bones. Aren't they also evil ways? What can you do?"

Chi Cheng said in a deep voice: "I am no match for them now, but the road to immortality is long, and I will be able to slay the demons one day."

Qing Yuan was silent for a while, then said, "By that time, will there be any other Tao in the world?"

Chi Cheng said: "No need, the myriad ways of the Nine Provinces are not as good as my immortal way."

boom!
With this decisive declaration, the whole world suddenly became brilliant at this moment. From behind the dark night sky, a white-gold light seeped out, illuminating the mountains and enveloping everything.

Such a strange sight brought Wang Luo back to his senses.

History did not end at this moment, but it undoubtedly opened a new chapter at this moment...For the protagonist in the dream, the dream only became truly meaningful at this moment.

Beside him, the Lord of Heaven said, "How is it, after watching this story of the Immortal Ancestor's Aspiration, what do you think?"

Wang Luo thought about it for a while and said, "So in essence, the Immortal Ancestor is a man who was madly instigated by his best friend from his hometown?"

"Everyone who has achieved enlightenment and ascended to heaven has some level of insanity. Master, just to keep his beard shiny and flawless, was able to stay in the mortal world for decades. Isn't that insanity? As for Senior Sister, insanity is not a good word to describe her. And how could the Immortal Ancestor, who created the era of insanity, not be insanity? However, it was thanks to his insanity that the subsequent dreams were easier to weave."

As he spoke, the scenery on both sides of the long river began to pass by at an accelerated speed. Some less important history obviously did not need to be looked at in detail, not to mention that the history of tens of thousands of years since the Immortal Ancestor attained enlightenment was condensed into a few days along the long river, and it was impossible to appreciate every scene carefully. As a bystander, it was enough to just see a few important nodes.

"Since then, Chi Cheng has devoted his entire life to the exploration of the immortal path. For hundreds of years, he has hardly slacked off, and all external temptations and disturbances could not shake him. In the past ten thousand years of the old immortal calendar, there have been only a handful of people as focused as him. In addition, he is indeed favored by the heavens, so it is only natural that he will eventually achieve ascension."

Wang Luo nodded silently.

The Lord of Heaven sighed again, "For him, there is no other way to go except to move forward. He lost his father when he was young, and his mother returned to Jinmu early, leaving him with almost no attachment. His only amiable brother Qingyuan was killed by his own hands, and even the entire tribe of his hometown was wiped out by him after that night. He is a person who has completely lost his hometown, and even recalling the past will touch his wounds, so he can only move forward bravely... to create his hometown with his own hands."

Wang Luo couldn't help but ask: "So, when he was the Lord of Heaven, even though he knew that Heaven was fundamentally unsustainable, he still... persisted in his delusion?"

"Yes, he destroyed his hometown with his own hands, so how could he bear to destroy another one? Moreover, deep in his heart, he has always been resentful of Qing Yuan's death, so he can't deal with many things in a quick and dirty way like Qing Yuan. You see, for Qing Yuan, what should he do when he encounters an alien invasion and his tribe is not strong enough to fight back? Eat people. What should he do when his tribe members criticize him and people's hearts are scattered? Then everyone can eat together. In fact, if we evaluate objectively, in that primitive era, Qing Yuan, as the leader of the tribe, made many cruel judgments, but they can also be called rational. Many times, reality is not perfect."

Wang Luo couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "Are you trying to excuse yourself?"

The Lord of Heaven said, "Yes, many times when I have to make decisions helplessly, I have to tell myself that this is the best solution, and there is no idealized perfect ending. Even someone as strong as Immortal Ancestor Chicheng and as outrageous as Senior Sister Lu Zhiyao have to make countless compromises. And the price of being stubborn is likely to be unusually tragic... Compared to Immortal Ancestor Chicheng who never turns back, I would rather be Qing Yuan."

"So, have you ever eaten anyone?"

"Yes, and if necessary, I can eat again at any time." The Lord of Heaven didn't mind at all. "The Immortal and Wilderness have been in confrontation for a thousand years. I have killed countless people, whether they are members of the Immortal Alliance, or the True Immortals and Immortal Servants of Heaven. It's a bit childish to ask me if I eat people. However, it's appropriate for you to ask this question, because your hands have not been dirty, and some things need someone who has never dirty his hands to do it."

Wang Luo couldn't help but feel moved when he heard this: "What you call inheritance transfer, isn't it..."

"Oh, don't worry, you will know when the time comes. Okay, you can take this part of history a little more seriously. This is the scene when Shi Suying broke through the heavenly tribulation and forcibly ascended to heaven. At that time, he killed the true immortal with mortal means and replaced him. The shock to the immortals in the heavenly court was indescribable. Even if we don't say that everyone was in danger, at least they were panicked..."

Wang Luo couldn't help but frown when he heard this. When he saw with his own eyes the frightened and mean faces of the immortals in this long history, his brows furrowed even tighter: "These people are panic-stricken, it's really a bit..."

"It does sound a bit guilty, doesn't it? The man who was burned to death was a local who was born in the fairyland and naturally achieved enlightenment... But in fact, not every local can be called an immortal. Before truly shaping the immortal path, even locals are essentially no different from servants of the immortal palace. And shaping the immortal path requires sufficient solid accumulation and almost insane persistence. But that true immortal took a shortcut to achieve enlightenment because of his parents' indulgence. And the result was that he was burned to death by the stone fire in the mortal world."

At this point, the Lord of Heaven suddenly raised his hand, pausing the time on both sides of the long river, then turned his head, looked directly into Wang Luo's eyes, and asked: "Okay, if you are the Lord of Heaven now, what would you do?"

Wang Luo said: "The worst option is to severely punish Shi Suying and strictly control the mortal world to prevent the emergence of the next Shi Suying... Even if the people of Heaven are not righteous, they are still Heaven's own people. As the Lord of Heaven, you should at least unite your own people."

"Haha, that's right. Although it's a bad plan, it's a feasible plan. So what about the middle plan?"

"The middle strategy is to ignore it. Prodigies like Shi Suying are rare in the world. Even if people in later generations are inspired by his ascension experience, it does not mean that they can replicate his success. Moreover, after the Heavenly Immortals experienced it once, they will definitely be on guard against the fire of the mortal world. They will definitely not be burned by mortals for thirteen consecutive heavenly tribulations and eventually die from the backlash. Therefore, this kind of thing is an isolated case, and there is no need to make a fuss. Since Shi Suying is here, let him settle down here. The rest of the people are terrified, but how long can they be terrified? Don't they want to practice themselves? As for the problem of not getting the Tao correctly, when the situation becomes serious, we will specially assign people to rectify it. There is no need to make a fuss about it at this sensitive time."

The Lord of Heaven couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "You are so slick! You have only lived in the Immortal Alliance for a few years, but you are as slick as an old bureaucrat in the Immortal Alliance. But I have to say that this middle strategy is indeed feasible. I would probably do the same thing, and I have done it many times over the years... So, what is the best strategy in the end?"

Wang Luo said: "The best strategy is to tell everyone not to panic. The fairyland is vast and can accommodate as many people as possible. Then, we should go all out to develop the Xinghai Tianyu and make sure that everyone has a happy ending."

"Hahahaha." The Lord of Heaven laughed so hard upon hearing this, "The skill of being weird is worthy of being taught by Senior Sister. But you are right, Immortal Ancestor Chicheng chose this best strategy. After the incident, he comforted everyone with his beautiful ideals - including himself, of course. After Shi Suying ascended, Chicheng had no prejudice against him, but rather valued him even more. And behind this, he doubled down on his exploration of the Star Sea Realm."

When Wang Luo heard this, he couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is the so-called Xinghai Tianyu?"

"Nothing." The Lord of Heaven replied, "It is a blank space that can only be defined by you stepping on it yourself. To mortals, the sea of ​​stars above their heads seems to have been born from time immemorial, but in fact, each star is just a wish of the mortals. To the immortals in the upper realms, the sea of ​​stars above their heads was decorated one by one by the immortal ancestor Chi Cheng. And to Chi Cheng himself, the so-called sea of ​​stars is his footprints and his back."

“……”This shocking fact left Wang Luo speechless for a moment.

The Lord of Heaven also sighed: "So I said that he has been trying to replicate his success in the mortal world in Heaven, because he has only done this one thing. If there is something not good enough in the world, then he will go and create a better world himself. It was like this when he was alive, and it is still like this now that he has been resurrected from the dead."

Wang Luo asked: "But this road will not work in the end. Now you have trapped him with a dream that is a copy of historical facts. But when the dream comes to the heavenly calamity, what should we do?"

The Lord of Heaven smiled and said, "In fact, the timeline in the dream has long passed that moment. Now the end of this long river is about 2,000 years in the New Immortal Calendar."

“Two thousand years!?” Wang Luo was extremely surprised, and then he suddenly realized, “So, the part after that was the real dream?!”

"Yes, a dream where no matter how he explores, he will gain something, and the fairyland will not be destroyed."

(End of this chapter)