Although Chen Kuang's plan sounded good in theory...
Even on Earth, where there were no wars or armies, killing hundreds of ordinary people in one go was not something easily accomplished.
Originally, with the remnants of his strength, it might've been possible.
But now he had only one day left and tomorrow, he would experience Divine Decay.
By then, his divine sense would completely vanish. He would become no different from an ordinary person.
After that, to talk of killing all the "Heavenly Demons" in one sweep would be nothing short of delusional.
Shen Xiengzhu asked solemnly,
"According to you, you'll be dead in four days. By that point, how could we possibly wipe them all out?"
Chen Kuang wouldn't really die, this was a lie he told Shen Xiengzhu to mentally prepare her for the worst and gain her trust.
But by that point, he might as well be dead.
So Shen Xiengzhu's question was perfectly justified.
Chen Kuang exhaled, placed his hand against the window glass, and looked at the dazzling lights of the city at night.
"...Then let's force them... to move up the plan!"
Chen Kuang said with certainty:
"Force them to launch it tomorrow!"
Shen Xiengzhu frowned.
"They've already finalized their plan, why would they suddenly change it, and by three whole days, no less?"
Then, seeing Chen Kuang fall silent, a guess flashed in her mind, so startling her heartbeat skipped a beat.
To make the "Heavenly Demons" advance their plan by three days, there had to be a massive enough disruption.
And now, there was only one disruption, Chen Kuang himself.
Yes, he was the variable.
Even Shen Xiengzhu, with her calm nature, was shaken. She stepped forward and said seriously:
"You intend to use yourself... as bait."
Chen Kuang turned to her and smiled.
"Fairy Shen is still as sharp as ever."
Shen Xiengzhu inhaled deeply to steady her inexplicably agitated emotions.
"How are you going to do it?"
Chen Kuang suddenly chuckled.
"I suddenly remembered something, you lied to me, didn't you?"
Before Shen Xiengzhu could answer, he continued,
"The moment you entered Earth, you already proved your Dao."
"'The Emotionless regards the world as straw dogs, and preserves the Dao even at the cost of their own death.'"
"Right now, you've already reached the Daoist Shore Realm."
Shen Xiengzhu fell silent.
Chen Kuang continued:
"You were deliberately pretending to be weak, trying to see if I really was a 'Heavenly Demon'. Fairy Shen, you're very clever."
"That's why Loutuo Luo called you 'a fine vessel of nourishment'."
It had been Loutuo Luo, the "Barbarian God" summoned by four Night Barbarian priests, who had sent Shen Xiengzhu into the Realm of Desire.
Shen Xiengzhu hadn't hidden this from Chen Kuang.
Or rather, she couldn't, Chen Kuang could tell truth from lies. She'd experienced this the first time they met.
Back then, Loutuo Luo had told her many cryptic things.
Chen Kuang sighed and said, "He said you would undergo metamorphosis."
"Looking back now, it was quite simple."
He looked her straight in the eye and said clearly:
"Because you are already in the Daoist Shore Realm. If you die, you won't enter the reincarnation cycle of the two realms."
"They want you to die here on Earth!"
"Once that happens, your soul will be trapped here, and you will become a new 'Heavenly Demon'!"
Shen Xiengzhu's pupils contracted sharply.
She frowned.
"But what does that have to do with your plan?"
Chen Kuang replied:
"Everything. They won't allow you to return to Cangyuan. As long as you provide a reason to convince them you're about to die, they'll trust you."
"Because you're destined to become a 'Heavenly Demon'. One of them."
"Whereas me..."
He gave a mysterious smile:
"I suspect they've only ever wanted to trap me on Earth as a variable."
Shen Xiengzhu was stunned.
"They... knew all along that you weren't one of them?"
Chen Kuang nodded, his expression solemn.
He knew with certainty: he could not possibly be a Heavenly Demon.
The fundamental laws of the world would never lie.
Even if superficial rules could be obscured or manipulated, the marker of the Daoist Shore Realm, to transcend the Sea of Bitterness and escape the cycle of reincarnation, was absolute.
If he were a native of Earth, and had simply possessed the original Chen Kuang's body in Cangyuan, then from the moment of transmigration, he should have been a Saint already.
But he wasn't.
Therefore, Chen Kuang suspected that he might not be from Earth at all.
Which meant... he may have transmigrated twice, the first time without knowing it.
He sorted through his thoughts, his gaze deep and calm.
"In other words, you're their 'own'. If you leak my plan to them, they'll definitely act early."
He added:
"They'll trust you. First, because I'll 'voluntarily' expose myself. Second, because your 'Heartless Dao' is too convincing."
The Emotionless Heartless Dao was a powerful weapon, anyone would believe that Shen Xiengzhu's betrayal was only natural.
Couple that with how "humiliated" she had been by Chen Kuang...
Shen Xiengzhu was quiet for a while, then nodded:
"Understood."
"But... when they act early, they'll come for you first."
Chen Kuang shrugged.
"I'm dying anyway, what does it matter?"
He gave her a look, half smiling:
"What's wrong, Fairy Shen? Feeling sorry for me?"
Shen Xiengzhu looked at him, then lifted her hand to her chest, as if trying to feel something.
After a long pause, she shook her head.
"It's Meinan, she's the one feeling sad."
Chen Kuang froze.
Then sighed.
That's right. By now, XieuXien should have delivered the news.
Shen Meinán would already know the peril that the Pure Land was facing. With war raging in Cangyuan, and the Pure Land cut off and isolated, of course she'd be worried for Chen Kuang's safety.
But now, the only one who could truly make a difference, was Chen Kuang.
If he faltered, Cangyuan would be doomed.
He could only whisper gently:
"She'll understand."
...
Chen Kuang watched as Shen Xiengzhu left.
Then he sought out a taller building, climbed to the top, and sat there, gazing out over the city lights.
He pondered, if he wasn't truly from Earth... then who was he?
After a while, he drew the Three-Foot Killing Sword.
On the sword's hilt, a single character was carved:
"Shuo."
He had once dared to harbor a wild guess, that he himself was the fallen Ancient Human Emperor Shuo, the one who launched the War to Hunt the Heavens, and whose death scattered the Mandate of Heaven across the mortal world...
Within the river of time, cause and effect had already formed a closed loop.
The origin of the Song of Weed-Cutting should indeed stem from Chen Kuang himself, but engraved upon the Three-Foot Sword that carried this song was the character: "Shuo."
Only this explanation could make the cause and effect self-consistent.
Perhaps this could also explain why the Human Emperor, whose strength should have far surpassed that of Saints, had fallen without a trace.
He had indeed reincarnated..
But he had reincarnated into the Earth dimension, for reasons unknown losing all his memories, unable to break through the veil of the womb.
Chen Kuang's expression suddenly stiffened.
If the Human Emperor could reincarnate into Earth...
Then, what of those Celestial Vastness Realm cultivators who had vanished en masse at certain points in history?
Chen Kuang abruptly stood up.
"The 'Heavenly Demons'...! They didn't seek to open the channel between realms because they craved power but because they wanted... to go back!"
"You finally understand."
A sudden voice rang out.
Chen Kuang's gaze sharpened as he turned his head, at the end of the staircase, a middle-aged man with an unfamiliar face slowly walked out.
He looked at Chen Kuang and gave a faint smile.
Chen Kuang frowned, then froze, as if struck by lightning.
A long silence passed before he opened his mouth and called the name aloud:
"Xie. Meng. Quan."
The middle-aged man nodded.
"It's been a long time."
Chen Kuang said gravely:
"You're a 'Heavenly Demon'."
Xie Mengquan looked down at himself, tugged at the white shirt he wore, scratched his head, and said:
"Do I not look the part?"
He then self-answered:
"...Yeah, guess I don't, huh?"
Xie Mengquan walked up to Chen Kuang and said:
"Back in the day, many people mistakenly believed this place was the Upper Realm, and the price of ascension was to abandon one's 'Dao', for this world could not contain it."
"So they let go of their Daos, allowing themselves to blend in, never imagining that this was no celestial realm, but the true hell. Once they came here, they were eternally trapped, endlessly reincarnating as ordinary mortals."
"But in truth, it was just this world rejecting the broken trash from Cangyuan."
"Only unstable rejects can be grasped by the lowly ants..."
"But I was more careful."
Xie Mengquan gave a warm smile.
"Since you carry my legacy, you ought to know, 'Musical theory is heavenly principle.'"
"I can mimic every single one of their Daos. So long as the original bearer eXiests, I can only borrow. But once they've abandoned their Dao, I can take it fully for myself."
"Long before that, I had studied the Night Barbarians and discovered flaws in the barrier between the realms. I didn't relinquish my Dao, but instead had my Dao Domain gradually integrate with all of Cangyuan, remaining faintly tethered."
"Because of this, I am different from other 'Heavenly Demons'. The bodies I possess don't quickly deteriorate. I can even live out their entire lifespans, as them."
Chen Kuang's pupils contracted.
From his tone... he hadn't lived just three thousand years, he'd been alive since the Ancient Era!
From then until now, he'd possessed body after body, never ceasing.
Like lightning splitting darkness, countless unanswered questions suddenly found clarity.
"You altered Cangyuan's Heavenly Dao!"
Why was the process of proving one's Dao in Cangyuan so rigid?
Why must one first act in accordance with a Dao to be considered enlightened?
Because it wasn't a natural law, it was a fabricated rule, imposed by someone!
Because Xie Mengquan couldn't see into everyone's inner mind, he needed observable behavior to determine which Dao someone was trying to prove.
Because... Xie Mengquan may have already taken the place of Cangyuan's Heavenly Dao.
Xie Mengquan's expression grew complicated and he sighed:
"If cultivators reached the Celestial Vastness Realm, only to discover the world they were headed to was an endless hell... that would be far too cruel."
"So instead, let them live out their lives in Cangyuan, in a comforting lie."
He reached out and lightly patted Chen Kuang on the shoulder.
Chen Kuang remained silent.
He was a transmigrator, he had lived both Earth's and Cangyuan's lives.
If he had to choose, he would definitely stay in Cangyuan.
To be forced to become a mortal again, subject to aging, illness, and death, he wasn't willing.
...He didn't even need to imagine it; he was already experiencing it now, enduring the Celestial Five Decays. That feeling of unwillingness... he knew it well.
Xie Mengquan had misled everyone onto a false path, causing Cangyuan to go thousands of years without producing a single Celestial Vastness Realm.
But as Xie Mengquan said, it was hard to say whether that was truly good or bad.
Chen Kuang lifted his head, looking at this unfamiliar Xie Mengquan.
"But you're not doing this out of pure benevolence."
Xie Mengquan smiled.
"Of course not."
"If I have the chance to control the Heavenly Dao, how could I not take it?"
"Once the two realms merge, and everything becomes one, the world will be reborn anew."
Chen Kuang's expression didn't change, but his heart grew heavier.
If Xie Mengquan was telling the truth... then his earlier guesses were still too conservative.
These "Heavenly Demons" weren't just Saints, they were True Saints.
263 True Saints.
Every Celestial Vastness Realm cultivator who had vanished over the past ten thousand years.
If they all returned to Cangyuan, its entire power structure would be rewritten.
And if Spiritual Energy were introduced to Earth, what would happen then?
Chen Kuang had a bad feeling, it wouldn't be anything good.
In Cangyuan, the difference between mortals and cultivators was like two separate species.
If Earth reached the same point... rivers of blood would flow.
Xie Mengquan didn't say what his ultimate goal was, but Chen Kuang could already guess, to become the Heavenly Dao itself.
That would mean absolute authority.
Chen Kuang had spent four years with Xie Mengquan.
Sometimes he posed as a musical sage, sometimes he guided him as a master.
But now, Chen Kuang realized, none of it was real.
Xie Mengquan was just one mask worn by this being.
His personality, his history, they were all fabrications.
Three thousand years was but a sliver of his eXiestence.
Chen Kuang took a deep breath and said:
"So what are you here for now?"
Xie Mengquan shrugged:
"Don't be so tense. After all, you're the one disciple I truly acknowledged."
"Long ago, you were my friend, then my enemy. But now, you're simply... my disciple."
"I know you want to stop the gateway from opening. But that's because you don't yet understand the truth. I came to help you see it."
"You shouldn't oppose me."
Chen Kuang was silent for a moment.
"And Shen Xiengzhu?"
Xie Mengquan replied:
"She'll be fine."
Which was to say...
If Chen Kuang didn't back down, she wouldn't be fine.
Chen Kuang frowned inwardly.
Xie Mengquan added:
"What's your decision?"
Chen Kuang drew the pistol he'd already been holding behind his back and aimed it at Xie Mengquan, his eyes ice-cold.
"What should I call you now?"
Xie Mengquan simply laughed:
"You may call me... Māra."
"Killing me here won't help you. My consciousness eXiests in both worlds, I can switch bodies anytime."
Chen Kuang knew, shooting him was pointless.
If he dared appear here, then the plan was already exposed.
The "Heavenly Demons" knew Chen Kuang wanted to force them into early action, gathering in one place.
Now, all they had to do was stall for one more day and Chen Kuang would be powerless.
This was a checkmate.
Chen Kuang's frown deepened.
"So what do you want me to do?"
Xie Mengquan shook his head:
"You don't need to do anything, just don't interfere."
Chen Kuang stared at him for a long moment,
then suddenly broke into a grin.
"You want me to die here."
"I haven't forgotten, Su Yu is still within the national fate, fused with the EliXier of Immortality, waiting to claim my everything once I die."
"You orchestrated everything, had Xieuzhu, who's long since been fully possessed by a Heavenly Demon, lure me back here and suppress my strength."
Chen Kuang took out the Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp, shaking it slightly.
"This thing isn't a container at all. It's a marvelous Spiritual Treasure meant to unseal the hidden strands of Heavenly Fate one by one."
"You went to all this trouble.."
"Because you didn't want me to seal away the most important Nine Great Daos again.
You didn't want to end up with a fragmentary Heavenly Dao!"
A fine crack finally appeared on Xie Mengquan's flawless smile.
"You..."
Chen Kuang chuckled and shook his head:
"Seems I really paid quite the price back then to divide and seal those Daos."