Chapter 896 - 347: For a Future That Continues Forward
Ever since the Terminal Daoist system collapsed, the White Jade Capital lost its greatest support.
The news of "Heaven’s Fall" was like a death sentence pronounced upon the White Jade Capital.
Many people felt that perhaps, from the moment the Supreme Dharma Orbiting Device was lost, the present fate of the White Jade Capital had already been sealed.
As the ruling faction, Zizai Heaven suffered grievous losses. It lost two Little Freedom Officials in succession, Celestial Venerable Shangli and Hou Long; that newly appointed Fu Manman, who hadn’t even been given a title yet, had long since vanished without a trace, and moreover, she was Fan Wubing’s Dao companion, so it was hard to imagine she would stand on the side of the White Jade Capital.
Now, in Zizai Heaven, only Celestial Venerable Baiyu remained, bitterly holding on alone.
To prevent even greater chaos from spreading, on the very day Fan Wubing opened the Heaven Opening Gate, he temporarily shut down all external contact with the White Jade Capital.
However, this was never going to be a real solution.
Because, judging by the timeline, it was about time to convene the Human Dao Assembly.
The importance of the Human Dao Assembly to the White Jade Capital was no less than that of the Great Prosperity Festival to the Farm School, or the Grand Academy Assembly to Wenxin Heaven.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Human Dao Assembly is the White Jade Capital’s last breath; if even this cannot be held on schedule, then it can only mean that the White Jade Capital is utterly finished.
Yet the situation now... is exceptionally dire.
Zizai Heaven.
Celestial Venerable Baiyu sat in his own Daoist Palace, facing inquiry letters from all directions regarding the Human Dao Assembly, his brows knotted like the gnarled swellings of tree roots. Daoists went in and out constantly, bringing all kinds of news—almost all of it bad.
In the great purge earlier, far too many of the Daoist School had been forcibly stripped by Fan Wubing of their Terminal Daoist qualifications and cast into reincarnation. Most of them were important personages holding key posts in the White Jade Capital and the Twelve Towers, Five Cities. With this portion of people gone, the Daoist School’s forces everywhere fell into varying degrees of turmoil, urgently awaiting relief from the White Jade Capital.
But the White Jade Capital itself was a complete mess.
Under such circumstances, how could the Human Dao Assembly possibly be held properly?
Celestial Venerable Baiyu’s thoughts raced, struggling to weigh the consequences that each possible decision might bring.
If worst came to worst, they could postpone it. But he knew, more or less, that once something like this was mishandled, the situation would only take a sharp turn for the worse.
Just when he was beginning to feel disheartened, a voice sounded in his heart,
"You’ve worked hard."
Celestial Venerable Baiyu looked forward in surprise and joy.
The figure of the Great Freedom Official, Celestial Venerable Zizai, emerged from the void. She was still tall, still boundless in form. Her silver-white long hair was gathered casually into a Daoist bun by a single redwood hairpin, her loose, simple Daoist Robe fluttering in the wind. A face perfectly in accord with Daoist intent appeared amidst the radiance with a sense of unreality.
"Ancestor!"
Celestial Venerable Zizai wasted not a word,
"The Human Dao Assembly must absolutely be held on schedule."
Celestial Venerable Baiyu looked troubled. "But given the situation now... Besides, does the world as it is today really still need a Human Dao Assembly?"
For the past ten thousand years, the Human Dao Assembly had always been the greatest grand gathering under Heaven. Almost all Tribulation Immortals and Mahayana Cultivators had their formal titles established at the Human Dao Assembly.
One could say that although the Human Dao Assembly is hosted by the White Jade Capital, it stands as the representative of the entire Cultivation Realm and even the whole Human Race.
And now—do they still have such qualifications?
Celestial Venerable Zizai said expressionlessly,
"What needs the Human Dao Assembly now is not the world, but the White Jade Capital."
Celestial Venerable Baiyu’s body trembled; he lowered his head with a helpless, bitter smile.
Yes, the world no longer needs the Human Dao Assembly. But the White Jade Capital, having already lost the Terminal Daoist system, if it were to lose the qualification to host the Human Dao Assembly as well, then the White Jade Capital would become the next Yin Yang School.
After Celestial Venerable Zizai gave her instructions, she turned to leave.
Looking at her back, Celestial Venerable Baiyu suddenly felt a surge of indescribably complex emotion. He called out to her, his whole body trembling,
"Ancestor!"
Celestial Venerable Zizai merely stopped in place, without turning around.
Celestial Venerable Baiyu had grown much thinner of late, his spirit extremely haggard; he was no longer the rosy-lipped, white-toothed young Daoist. He clenched his teeth, stiffening his neck, forcing himself to suppress his emotions,
"Please, Ancestor, tell me—did you... did you all know from the very beginning what the problem with Heaven was?"
Only then did Celestial Venerable Zizai turn her head. Some shadow lay across her pale pupils,
"Yes."
This answer could no longer wound Celestial Venerable Baiyu. He asked again,
"So everything we’ve done has in truth been nothing more than weaving a false lie. Is that right?"
Celestial Venerable Zizai said,
"For the world, it was indeed a lie."
"Celestial Venerable Shangli always believed he was working for the sake of the world, for the maintenance of order... He once carried out a session of Heaven–Human Induction, and upon learning the truth, his Dao heart collapsed; he chose to end his life by suicide. Before he killed himself, he always hoped to see Ancestor, to hear the truth from your own lips. He would rather believe that you too were kept in the dark than accept that you had deceived the common world. But Ancestor, you always appeared as you did in the past—no one knew when you would show up, and no one knew when you would disappear.
"So, Shangli’s final journey was to see Fan Wubing—that existence whom we had regarded as an enemy."
Celestial Venerable Baiyu let out a self-mocking laugh,
"In the end, it was the enemy who fulfilled Shangli. Ancestor, you have nothing you wish to say about this?"
Celestial Venerable Zizai looked at him silently for a moment, then said,
"Faced with Heaven and the essence it represents, we are utterly powerless. We either submit, or we are destroyed. From Heaven’s standpoint, what it needs is a stable world. As for who rules this world, that is of no importance. It could be the Daoist School, it could be the Confucian School, it could be the Farm School, it could be the Mo Family... it might even not be the Human Race at all, but some Demon Race whose name you perhaps couldn’t even pronounce."