Chapter 336 - 312: All Beings (2)
At first, it was just wisps of an aura—faint, pale-white, and so subtle as to be almost imperceptible. Warm, yet tinged with a heavy bitterness, it rose from under the eaves of countless homes, from the soil of the fields, from the vibrant clamor of city streets, and from the lonely watchtowers of border garrisons... spiraling gently upward.
Presently, these subtle wisps of aura, like homing birds answering an unseen summons, began to converge upon the Array Discs in their respective regions.
The aura of a town gathered at its local Array Disc, the aura of a county condensed at its own, and the auras of prefectures and provinces surged upward, layer by layer. Like trickling streams flowing into great rivers, and the rivers rushing to the vast sea!
Above the Imperial City, the core of an inverted meteorite, concealed by layers of Arrays, had now become the final vortex, drawing in the All Living Beings’ Qi from the entire Great Cang Territory!
It was invisible to the naked eye, but if one perceived it with their Divine Soul, they could "see" a sight that would shake their very being—
Above the entirety of the Great Cang Territory, what seemed to be a boundless ocean of incandescent white fate had risen—thick, viscous, and slowly rotating.
Within this ocean, the phantoms and consciousness of countless tiny figures and faces ebbed and flowed: farming, fishing, weaving, trading, warring, living, aging, sickening, and dying... all giving rise to a silent yet deafening roar!
This was the existential imprint and the defiant outcry of countless souls across millennia, all settled upon this land!
This aura was at once the most impure and the most pure, the weakest and the strongest.
On ordinary days, it dispersed throughout Heaven and Earth, nourishing all living things, hidden and unseen.
Yet, once it was gathered, guided, and ignited...
Qi Yun stood at the center of the meteorite’s core, his hands held upward as if supporting the sky. The Daluo Heaven technique operated at full power, while his Mastering All Skills Divine Technique commanded the entire process.
"The All Living Beings’ Qi is gathered. The will to rebel has formed."
A chaotic golden light flared in Qi Yun’s eyes, and his voice rang out like the Celestial Constitution itself.
"Today, I take the will of all living beings as kindling, and the ambition of Heaven’s Fall as the flame—"
"Celestial-Defying Flame!"
"Rise!"
He thrust his hands upward with sudden force!
BOOM—!
At that very moment, the boundless, incandescent white All Living Beings’ Qi gathered above the Imperial City—as vast as a Star Sea, as heavy as the earth itself—was audaciously ignited!
The incandescent white ocean of popular will instantly transformed into a blazing, sky-high inferno of interwoven gold and white!
The flame was formless and without substance. It did not scorch physical matter, yet it seemed capable of igniting the very laws of existence, incinerating all shackles, and illuminating absolute truth!
Within the fire, countless phantoms of the people roared, struggled, and screamed. Their faint Heart Thoughts, suppressed for ages, were now infinitely amplified and converged, transforming into a raging Fierce Fire potent enough to burn through the Celestial Vault.
The golden-white Fire of All Living Beings surged toward the heavens!
Its momentum was so fierce, its intent so resolute, it seemed poised to burn a gaping hole clean through the cold, predetermined "Heaven" that had shrouded the Cangque Realm for eternity.
The pillar of fire connected Heaven and Earth, illuminating the night-shrouded Great Cang Territory. It also lit up the faces of countless people who gazed up at the sky, uncomprehending yet filled with a strange and sudden trepidation.
And then, under countless stunned gazes, at the very point where the golden-white flames burned most intensely and the rebellious will crested—
CRACK... CRACKLE...
High in the clear sky, the once formless and intangible, yet omnipresent, barrier of "Heaven’s Will"—the celestial curtain that maintained the world’s laws and suppressed all living creatures—began to crack. Like superheated glass, it emitted a sound of being pushed past its limits, a shattering noise that echoed clearly across the entire world!
A massive, hideous, black hole—its edges weeping molten golden light—had been torn open in the Celestial Vault!
The first step of Heaven’s Fall was complete: using the people as kindling to light a fire and shatter the Celestial Vault!
"It worked... It actually worked..."
On the high platform outside the Diligent Governance Hall, Zhao Xuanji tilted his head back. His eyes, which had witnessed the endless turn of ages, now reflected the sky-spanning golden-white flames. He stared, unblinking, at the massive, hideous black hole torn in the sky, its edges weeping light like molten gold.
Two streams of cloudy tears traced paths down his deeply lined, age-spotted cheeks. They gathered at his chin before finally dripping onto the cold White Jade railing, leaving two small, dark, damp stains.
He didn’t raise a hand to wipe them, as if completely unaware.
It was as if all the strength had been drained from his body; his slightly stooped frame trembled in the night wind.
The patient scheming of dozens of generations. The secret preparations made with the very lifeblood of countless ancestors. A desperate gamble spanning a thousand years. So many noble souls sacrificed and extinguished, silently and in darkness...
The cold records that existed only in the most secret archives of the Royal Family.
The final testaments and last wishes, passed down by word of mouth, each as heavy as a mountain.
The hope, nearly eroded to nothing by the long wait, and the despair, which had threatened to crush the very souls of men...
In this moment, with that cracking sound and the appearance of that hideous wound upon the "heavens," all of it transformed into searing, undeniable reality.
"O, honored ancestors above... my esteemed predecessors and comrades... Did you... did you see it?"
His lips trembled, releasing a breathy, near-inaudible whisper. It was tinged with the sound of weeping, yet also held the exhaustion and wild ecstasy of one who had just set down an immeasurable burden.
"The heavens... are broken!
We... we actually did it!"
The cold wind howled, whipping the bright yellow dragon banners on the high platform into a furious flapping and rustling his snow-white hair and beard.
The sky-spanning golden-white Fire of All Living Beings still blazed, turning the night sky to day and illuminating every deep wrinkle and unstoppable tearstain on his face.
At this moment, he was not a great and visionary emperor. He was just an old man who had shouldered too much for too long, and had finally, finally seen a glimmer of dawn.
A turbulent tide of emotion crashed against his chest, leaving him breathless, his vision even starting to blacken at the edges.
He had to grip the cold railing beside him to steady his swaying form.
After a long moment, he managed to calm the churning sea of his emotions. He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling upon a figure standing not far from his side.
There stood Qi Yun, still clad in his Deep Blue Daoist Robe. The hem of his garment whipped about wildly in the gale stirred by the rising Fire of All Living Beings, yet he remained utterly composed, not a fold out of place.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, head tilted slightly upward, calmly observing the hole burned through the Celestial Vault.
The golden-white firelight shone upon his still-youthful face, casting a sacred and majestic halo around him.
Zhao Xuanji watched this figure, his heart a roiling sea of indescribable, turbulent emotions.
’For Heaven’s Fall to have taken this most crucial and difficult first step today...’
’This man deserves the lion’s share of the credit!’
’If he hadn’t personally traveled to the Cloud Dream Marsh to retrieve the Heaven-Deceiving Array.’
’If he hadn’t used his astonishing skills to dismantle, modify, and miniaturize that vast and complex Ancient Strange Array, turning it into countless tiny Array Discs that could be secretly buried yet still link and resonate with one another, then Heaven’s Will would have discovered their plot long ago!’
"Truly... the heavens themselves are aiding our Great Cang..." Zhao Xuanji murmured to himself, his voice hoarse and thick with a storm of emotions.
He took a deep breath of the night air, which now tasted of scorched power and something indefinable. He forced his stooped back a little straighter, turned toward Qi Yun, and performed a deep, solemn bow with clasped hands.
However, what Zhao Xuanji did not know was that at the very moment his heart was swelling with gratitude to the point of tears...
...the eyes of Qi Master, the man he viewed as "Great Cang’s heaven-sent aid," were gradually growing grave.
Within the celestial rift burned open by the great fire of the masses...
...a corner of an unfamiliar yet majestic realm was gradually revealing itself.
Staring intently at that slowly solidifying world, Qi Yun narrowed his eyes and whispered:
"So that is... the Cultivation Realm of Cang Que?"
...