Chapter 831 - 323: Only the Path of Death (3)
Fan Wubing said,
"But I’ve never considered myself a Demon Cultivator, nor a person who disrupts the stability of the world. Of the charges you’ve fabricated against me, I only accept one, which is being a Celestial Slayer defying the Heavenly Dao. I can clearly tell you, I am indeed defying the Heavenly Dao."
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao showed no emotional fluctuation,
"I do not care about that."
Fan Wubing laughed and said,
"Indeed. There’s no need to escalate it, nor is it necessary to entangle our grievances with some conflict between protector of the Dao and defier. To you, I am a villain who stole the trajectory device. And to me, you are an obstacle on my path."
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao looked at him and said,
"In this regard, I truly admire you. You always manage to simplify complex issues. You’ve always known what you wanted, so you’re never shaken. So, anyone’s criticism against you seems like child’s play. And I really want to know, why you are powerful, why you are unwavering."
The "powerful" that Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao spoke of was not referring to Fan Wubing’s strength, and the "unwavering" was not referring to his Daoist heart.
This should be described as a quality.
A quality that only Fan Wubing possesses, one that no one else can imitate or replicate.
"Always at your service," Fan Wubing laughed and said.
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao’s voice resonated like a muffled drum,
"Space is about to lose control."
As soon as the words fell, everything around them suddenly vanished.
All matters and things fell toward a tiny black point.
Light, sound, energy, the Dao... all ceased to exist.
This space, as if the celestial bodies were scattering some high-energy substance, constantly displayed irregular wave patterns, making it impossible to discern whether space existed because of objects or objects existed because of space.
Everything about Fan Wubing, or rather, the "existent" represented by Fan Wubing, was also torn into countless distorted, elongated shapes, difficult to measure by conventional means, due to the complete loss of control over space.
His enormous life force, of which he was proud, was utterly useless under the complete loss of control of space.
Because, he could not exist independently of space.
He had to rely on space to present himself as life, as a human.
He was torn apart by the completely out-of-control space, constantly cast into the void.
The chaotic currents of the void incessantly obliterated him into immateriality.
And it was Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao, who created all this, who sat unfazed in front, unmoving.
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao silently observed him, said in a calm tone,
"This is the Cosmic Dao."
Fan Wubing, in his current state, could not make a sound. But within this uncontrolled space, resonated the sound of his will,
"If you had chosen to kill me the first time you saw me, then you might have had a ten-thousandth of a chance of success. But now, there’s absolutely no chance."
His voice abruptly stopped.
A fleeting sense of unease swiped through the heart of the otherwise unperturbed Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao.
This Great Leisurely Official of the Three Elders Pavilion, in over ten thousand years, had never felt such an emotion. His entire life has been dedicated to pursuing the ultimate Dao, knowing heavenly principles, understanding fate, carefree in the world, without selfish desires.
His cultivation was not that of the rumored Sixth-Tier Tribulation Immortal but of a Seven-Tiered Tribulation Immortal who had passed the seventh heavenly tribulation.
If one day, the Immortal Path resurfaces, and he has the chance to ascend, even if he reached the legendary Upper Immortal Realm, he would be one of the top Immortals among them.
But now, at this moment.
Faced with the immeasurable energy not under his control, he felt the cultivation he gained by surpassing the seventh tribulation was as insignificant as a speck of dust in the universe.
How advanced is Fan Wubing’s cultivation after all?
It had surpassed the heights he could perceive and touch.
To face Fan Wubing, his only hope was the Cosmic Dao.
Because this supreme Innate Dao disregards cultivation, being a part of the Heaven and Earth Laws, the natural order.
However,
The Cosmic Dao was broken.
Fan Wubing reformed his true body, standing motionless in this completely uncontrolled space.
Reflecting the spectacle of the starry river in his eyes.
The Eyes of Eternity bestowed by sight allowed him to glimpse the endpoint of the Cosmic Dao.
He looked at Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao,
"Thank you for allowing me to personally experience what the Cosmic Dao is."
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao also looked at him, but as if observing a monster, a being completely beyond comprehension.
The Great Leisurely Official shook his head. He didn’t believe, couldn’t believe, why such a person exists in this world. Just less than a quarter of an hour ago, the man in front of him had no semblance of the Cosmic Dao, and now, he had completely mastered it, reaching the extreme.
"I must be in some illusion... this is the Destiny Dao testing me..."
Fan Wubing asked,
"Why not say this is the Heavenly Dao testing you?"
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao raised his head,
"The Heavenly Dao... ha, is just a part of this nightmare."
"Nightmare?"
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao’s gaze turned somewhat hazy,
"Celestial Venerable Shangli, that child, wasn’t he just having a nightmare? But he couldn’t wake up from the nightmare."
The Great Leisurely Official closed his eyes, waiting for the final execution.
Fan Wubing, however, laughed and said,
"I won’t kill you."
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao’s eyes snapped open, "Why!"
Fan Wubing said,
"If I kill you, you’ll truly become carefree in this world. Living is the real execution for you."
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao trembled,
"You even saw through that?"
"Carefree Intent... Your Dao intent, it’s called Carefree Intent, right," Fan Wubing said, "The secular world is a prison, but the eagerly pursued Dao, Immortal Path, to you, is just another prison. You’ve cultivated Carefree Intent, making yourself a part of the prison, pretending you’re not locked inside. If I killed you after you’ve gone all out, you’d instantly achieve Carefree Intent’s perfection, invincible in the world, eternally immortal, eternally indestructible."
Celestial Venerable Yu Chen attempted to learn from him but failed to grasp the true essence.
Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao was utterly defeated. In every regard, he completely lost to Fan Wubing.
He turned around, walking toward the darkness, the Carefree Intent enveloping him crumbling bit by bit.
From this moment on, he could never again approach such closeness to the perfection of Carefree Intent, transcendence, immortality, and indestructibility.
Yet he accepted it, willingly saying,
"Fan Wubing, you win! If this is the path you choose to walk, then... go, go witness the nightmare that belongs to you."