This Is a Good Thing

The Central Earth Grotto-Heaven ascended steadily, drawing closer to Immortal Heaven. The immortals above exchanged glances, caught in indecision over whether they ought to stop it. Houtu had descended over two years ago and knew the celestials like the back of her hand. Given the explosive temper of a great being reborn from the Yuangu era, anyone who dared obstruct her ascension would be met with relentless, unscrupulous harassment to the death. Her lack of a moral bottom line was second only to Wei Yuan's. Furthermore, the real dilemma was how this ascension should even be counted. Houtu already possessed the status of an Immortal Lord, so why did she need to ascend to immortality a second time? Once this grotto-heaven rose into Immortal Heaven, would it belong to Houtu or to Wei Yuan? If it belonged to Wei Yuan, what was the meaning of ascending only a single grotto-heaven? Did that count as becoming an immortal, or was he merely a partial immortal? These convoluted questions left the immortals twisted in agony, only now realizing the vital importance of mathematics. Yet immortals were geniuses who had stood out from among billions of cultivators, and decisive resolve was the last thing they lacked. Duke Yansheng brought out the Saint's minor legacy treasure, and watchful gazes descended from both the Wu domain and the Liao domain. Just as the immortals were poised to act, a middle-aged Daoist suddenly emerged behind the grotto-heaven. His visage was upright and solemn, his figure towering tall enough to span heaven and earth, appearing even larger than the celestial body of the grotto-heaven itself. Clutched in his hand was a small apricot-yellow banner. With a gentle wave, the Central Earth Grotto-Heaven resonated in response, and specks of light drifted to the surface. The mirage demons, who had previously been jostling and cramming together, now began vibrating in unison. They stirred up rolling waves across the surface of the planetoid, and a faint radiance surfaced across their bodies. The celestials were shaken. That was the light of karmic luck! Mere mirage demons could generate karmic luck on their own?! In theory, mirage demons were sentient beings with awakened intelligence, so producing karmic luck was not entirely unheard of. Yet throughout their lives, the vast majority did nothing but eat, sleep, and reproduce; even fending off foreign invaders could not halt their breeding. Aside from the exceedingly rare mirage demons who managed to cultivate a dharma idol, even those at the Dao Foundation stage had never been known to produce karmic luck on their own. At the end of the day, it was because the individual mirage demon was simply too weak. However, if ordinary mirage demons could spontaneously generate karmic luck, that became a massive problem. Just how many mirage demons were on that planetoid? Definitely more than a billion, and ten billion might not even be the ceiling. Even though the relentless rounds of heavenly tribulation had just blasted the majority to cinders, there were still well over a billion left. Certain immortals shuddered at the thought of unleashing a catastrophic immortal art, only to see it detonate endless bursts of karmic luck. The gazes from the Wu domain and the Liao domain were silently withdrawn. The human immortals restored their serene and balanced composure. Duke Yansheng unfurled his folding fan, revealing the Saint's calligraphy, and gently fanned himself. Though no wind blew in Immortal Heaven, an agitated heat simmered in his heart. This Central Earth Grotto-Heaven was one-third grotto-heaven, one-third mirage demons, and one-third Houtu. Even setting aside whether an all-out attack could get past Houtu, the immortals could never get past the mirage demons. What could they gain from slaughtering mirage demons? Nothing at all, except a mountain of karmic debt! Attacking the grotto-heaven had thus become an endeavor with zero reward, immense risk, and a staggering price—unless an immortal had a death wish. Even if one truly wished to die, no one would choose to perish over something like this. It was akin to someone seeking to end their own life: leaping into a river or drowning in a lake made sense, but no one had ever jumped into a cesspool to make a point. One immortal complained under his breath, "Does that Wei Yuan have nothing better to do? Creating so much karmic luck out of mortals at least corresponds to an established Dao path. But making mirage demons generate their own karmic luck—what sense does that make?" A friend beside him looked pensive and asked, "How are the mirage demons producing karmic luck?" "Could it be... they've grown stronger?" Deep within the endless throng of mirage demons, those whose bodies resembled multicolored crystals continuously vibrated, emitting deep, low-frequency ripples. Every mirage demon vibrated in sync with the waves, their internal structures undergoing subtle metamorphoses. Robust mirage demons clambered upward with all their might to reach the surface, swapping places with their weaker kin so the smaller ones could draw closer to the crystal-bodied demons. In this manner, hundreds of millions of mirage demons churned continuously, reinforcing themselves tier by tier and shifting positions layer by layer. The stronger individuals held the surface to shield their kin and weather the thunder tribulations. Deep underground in Qingming, Yu Zhizhuo walked through a vast and empty mine shaft, sighing as he looked at the countless holes across the rock face. A cultivator beside him said, "My lord, there is no need for sorrow. Little Huang and the others are ascending to Immortal Heaven—this is a good thing!" Yu Zhizhuo forced a bitter smile and sighed. "I know it's a good thing. It's just that once they ascend, immortals and mortals will be separated, and who knows when we'll ever see them again." "My lord, I heard the path to immortal ascension is fraught with peril. They wouldn't..." Yu Zhizhuo said, "Fraught with peril doesn't begin to describe it. Even for us, crossing the Immortal Ascension Tribulation is a narrow escape from death nine times out of ten, let alone for Little Huang and the rest. I estimate that in the end, perhaps not even one in ten thousand will make it into Immortal Heaven." The cultivators fell silent. Just then, a small mirage demon poked its head out of a burrow, clutching a sparkling chunk of crystal ore in its mouth. Staring at the empty mine shaft, it froze in disbelief. The crystal ore tumbled to the ground as it spoke in human tongue: "I just took a little nap because I was so tired... Where did all my lady wives go?!" According to later tallies, on the day the Central Earth Grotto-Heaven ascended, Qingming's ore output plummeted by half. Braving round after round of thunder tribulations, the enormous planetoid finally breached the eye of the tribulation clouds, and the flickering light of karmic luck was swallowed by the storm. Immortal Heaven shook as a celestial star leapt out from the void, rotating slowly and beginning to inhale and exhale primal chaos. The dense swarm of mirage demons on the planetoid also began breathing in the primal chaos. Moments later, the back of one mirage demon split open, and a pair of wings unfurled. With a flap of its wings, it soared into Immortal Heaven, gliding leisurely around the grotto-heaven. One after another, wings sprouted from the mirage demons. Like countless fireflies, they illuminated that stretch of Immortal Heaven. A sudden premonition gripped the immortals. They realized the gazes of these mirage demons possessed near-tangible weight, resembling beams of invisible light systematically scanning the void. A chill ran through the celestials—they understood that these mirage demons were searching for something! The gazes of countless mirage demons intertwined into sweeping beams that scoured Immortal Heaven. They issued continuous cries, layer upon layer of sound rippling outward in concentric waves, probing wherever they went and echoing back whenever they met an obstacle. Several immortals found the gaze of these demons deeply unsettling, feeling their flesh crawl when swept by it. Cui Wantong felt the gaze was hauntingly familiar. Suddenly dawning upon the truth, she whispered, "Wei Yuan!" Her words jolted the immortals to attention. Behind the countless mirage demons stood Wei Yuan, scanning Immortal Heaven through their eyes. What he was looking for went without saying. Staring at the web-like lattice of searching gazes and listening to the layered calls, the immortals felt their scalps tingle. The only way to evade such detection was to retreat far from this domain of heaven. At that moment, Houtu's voice resonated across Immortal Heaven: "Venerable Master, listen up! That fellow named Wei Yuan told me to pass you a message: Now that you're no longer an Immortal Lord, you'd better hide yourself well and not let me find you."