Next One

A wind suddenly arose within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. It brushed across the entire realm, and an abrupt message surfaced in the consciousness of every sentient being: in seven days, they would clash with a world from beyond the heavens—a battle to the death. The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World fell silent for a heartbeat, then instantly boiled over! Every immortal plant awoke from its slumber, summoning its respective believers to deliberate. As for the countless mortals without faith, they spontaneously gathered in the central square of the city, swelling to hundreds of thousands in the blink of an eye. At this time, aside from humans, there were also over a hundred thousand members of the Liao Clan within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. In the black pool surrounding the Gate of the Many Realms, several hundred Flowers of the Other Shore had bloomed one after another. When Liao warriors fell in battle, some continuously reincarnated into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. On average, for every dozen or so fallen Liao, one would be reborn. These Liao were visibly distinct from humans, taller and more robust, yet everyone turned a blind eye to each other's differences, naturally feeling that the others were their own kin. With time of the essence, the impending war against the world beyond the heavens was immediately given top priority in the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. All the immortal plants, along with Yin and Yang, exerted their powers at once, arriving in an instant at a conclusion: having zero knowledge of the world beyond, their first order of business was to develop the war-waging functions of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. Subsequently, a cascade of measures emerged in response, growing in dense profusion and covering every aspect, taking into account nearly every person and corner. Culled together, these measures were named: General Mobilization. Enhancing combat power was divided into four domains: assembling troops, constructing defensive facilities, producing equipment, and developing large-scale Dao arts. For the first three domains, countless proposals emerged in an instant. Wei Yuan personally vetted them, reading 512 proposals simultaneously until his vision blurred and his head spun. Even so, he gritted his teeth and persevered, refusing to admit that his spirituality was rather mediocre. He strove to showcase his extraordinary capability of handling 512 tasks at once, upholding the baseline dignity befitting the Creation Immortal Venerable. Yet by this point, Zhang Sheng, Ji Liuli, and Feng Tingyu had long been able to steadily process 1,024 tasks, and Bao Yun could also manage 1,024 in short bursts, though she could not sustain it for long. If the tasks were all within the same domain, Bao Yun could handle a cluster of 512 plus another cluster of 256 without breaking a sweat. At this time, all the proposals awaiting review came with detailed evaluations provided by the immortal plants, graded with tiers and accompanied by clear recommendations for or against adoption. Wei Yuan carefully and thoroughly examined several thousand proposals. After ample deliberation, he adopted all ninety-odd proposals recommended by the immortal plants, and rejected every single proposal they did not recommend. Surprisingly, in such turbulent times—when Wei Yuan was seeking to arm every single person to the teeth—it should have been a heaven-sent opportunity for rebellion. Yet all the subversive elements had fallen completely silent, obediently preparing for war. No one composed satirical ballads anymore, no one secretly buried or dug things up, and even the speeches scheduled once every seven days in the taverns had ceased. What Wei Yuan did not know was that these people had not experienced a change of heart; rather, they had been terrified into shock by the Creation Immortal Venerable's sudden ability to plant a message directly into everyone's mind. From this, they realized that the Creation Immortal Venerable was not entirely a decorative vase or figurehead. The grand undertaking of overturning the heavens and changing the realm was still a long and arduous journey with heavy responsibilities ahead. As the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World underwent drastic shifts, the people in Qingming also learned that a great war was fast approaching. Thus, Zhang Sheng emerged from seclusion, asked Wei Yuan about the situation, left behind only the words, "Call me when the fighting starts," and returned to seclusion. Bao Yun appeared on the island, communing at length with the Jianmu seedling. Wei Yuan had originally intended to move her and the Jianmu sapling to Central City, but the sapling refused. Following its growth, this island in the sea had become the anchor for the entire Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World in the Void Heavens, impossible to move lightly. Just as Wei Yuan was overwhelmed with work, his consciousness suddenly felt light. He soared straight upward, flying out of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World and arriving at an infinite height in an instant, manifesting within a wondrous space. Here lay only a patch of land like flowers in a mirror or the moon reflected in water, bearing a courtyard identical to Immortal Monarch Yanshi's mortal residence. At this moment, Immortal Monarch Yanshi sat on the terrace, teacup in hand, gazing upon the endless void. In the void were countless stars of various hues. Most were green, ranging from pale green to deep emerald, while a small number were blue or azure, and a rare few were golden. In the far distance, two dazzling seven-colored stars illuminated half of the void. Seeing Wei Yuan arrive, Yanshi said, "Sit." Wei Yuan bowed in salute, sat properly at the table, picked up the teacup before him, and drained it in a single gulp. Instantly, an abundance of primal chaos qi surged into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, saving him another ten years of painstaking cultivation. When it came to Immortal Monarch Yanshi, Wei Yuan had always operated on the rule that whatever the Patriarch offered him to eat or drink, he would never refuse. These were extraordinary delicacies that could never be tasted in Sky Azure Hall—neither in the past nor in the future—so Wei Yuan was not the least bit polite. Yanshi pointed toward the sea of stars in the sky and said, "These are all the mindscape worlds of immortals. The courtyard where you and I are sitting right now is my true immortal realm." Wei Yuan was astonished. A mindscape world could be so small? It looked to be merely ten zhang across. One could ascend with just this? Yanshi said, "Everyone's Dao path is different, and the immortal road varies as well. Moreover, after ascending to the immortal heaven, everything changes again. When you reach this step in the future, you will naturally understand. As for now... your mathematical and computational capacity is deficient. Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand." Yanshi pointed ahead and said, "Those are my mindscape worlds, currently locked in battle against the two of them." Before Wei Yuan's eyes, a dozen or so golden stars tinged with crimson lit up. They were exceptionally colossal, and around each one were one or two golden stars accompanied by dozens of other stars of various colors. The color of a star represented the rank and grade of the world itself. White was the weakest, capped at the Dao Foundation level. Green came next, housing a number of dharma idols. Blue, azure, and violet each possessed Scenery Command cultivators, differing only in their stages of development, with Scenery Command cultivators ranging from one or two to several dozen. Gold denoted worlds capable of manifestation or already integrated with reality, representing the stage before reaching the immortal heaven. These worlds were already quite complete and self-contained, serving as stable grotto-heavens. As for the two great stars glowing with seven-colored immortal light in the distance, those were the true immortal realms of the Wise King of the Left and the Little State Preceptor. If the true immortal realms joined the fray directly, it would mean one was not far from falling. Compared to his opponents' nearly one thousand mindscape worlds, Immortal Monarch Yanshi possessed very few, yet their grade was rather peculiar—golden tinged with crimson, seemingly without any standard equivalent. At this moment, each of Immortal Monarch Yanshi's mindscape worlds had to fend off a siege from dozens or even a hundred of his opponents' minor worlds. The situation was indeed grim. Immortal Monarch Yanshi pointed again, and a new star appeared. He said, "This is your mindscape world. I have brought it up to the immortal heaven. Prepare yourself; the battle will begin shortly." Appearing in this immortal heaven was a uniquely white star, tiny and dim, wearing the timid guise of a newcomer. The only commendable aspect was the faint halo circling it, a halo fully a hundred times larger than its core. If one disregarded the white core, which was small as a grain of rice, the whole thing actually looked quite sizeable. Yet the more Wei Yuan looked at it, the more awkward he felt. This star was sustained entirely by its halo—like a long-haired cat that looked imposing and grand, but once shaved, revealed only a scrawny little thing inside. This was his mindscape world? Wei Yuan felt an urge to disown it. "I adjusted your world slightly so it wouldn't look too jarring, and gave you an extra layer of immortal power for protection. At a critical juncture, it can help you disengage from combat and flee back to our immortal heaven without damaging your foundation. Ah, these few are fairly suitable opponents. If you can hold off one, you will share a bit of my burden." Wei Yuan spotted a dozen or so drifting pale green stars, signifying the presence of dharma-idol-level beings within. Suddenly, one of the stars broke away from the cluster and flew toward Wei Yuan's tiny white star, the two worlds gradually locking together. At this very moment, within a realm ravaged by howling winds, flying sand, and hurtling stones, several hundred beings gripped their weapons and gazed up at the sky. Their fighting spirit blazed like fire as they awaited the hour of the decisive battle. Soon, the world shook. Mountains cracked, magma erupted from the earth, and a massive shadow appeared in the sky, spreading across nearly half the firmament in an instant! The creatures upon the peaks involuntarily displayed panic. In their past expeditions beyond the heavens, they had never seen such a colossal and terrifying realm gateway! In an instant, the sky shattered, and an indescribable deluge cascaded into this world as if the Heavenly River had burst! Hundreds upon thousands of beings had no time even to scream before being submerged beneath the deluge in the blink of an eye! In just a few moments, all signs of life were wiped out from this minor world several hundred li across. Upon the turbid floodwaters floated a book, within which was recorded a legend of a world-destroying deluge. In Central City, hundreds of thousands of mortals stood ready in tight formation, awaiting the descent of the world from beyond. They indeed felt the earth tremble for a moment, after which the sea level seemed to drop slightly, and then... the world was at peace. Wei Yuan stared at the minor world, which had already lost all its color, somewhat at a loss. He cautiously asked, "Should we... move on to the next one?" "Mm," Immortal Monarch Yanshi replied, expressionless.