Chapter 184
What Tianming said made all the cultivators present, except for those from the Tianyuan Sect, very unhappy.
They stopped their leisurely tea-sipping.
“How interesting. So only your successful Divine Transformation is a proper one, Venerable Tianming, while ours was achieved through heretical methods? Don't you find your own words ridiculous?”
“I think he's just gotten arrogant because he thought he was the only Divine Transformation cultivator in this small world. Now that he sees we've all reached Divine Transformation, he can't accept it.”
“What right does he have to not accept it? We cultivated painstakingly. Does his inability to accept it even matter? Who does he think he is?”
The Divine Transformation cultivators rebuked Tianming one after another, and his expression turned extremely ugly.
“Didn't you say you found a way to ascend to the upper realm? Then tell me, what is the method?”
As he spoke, Tianming glanced at Tao Zhiyuan. Although he found Tao Zhiyuan very displeasing now, he had to admit the man was still useful.
After successfully reaching Divine Transformation, he had performed a divination and determined that for the cultivators of this small world to ascend, the key to breaking the barrier had to be someone from another world.
Now that Tao Zhiyuan was in his hands, what use was it for them to know the method?
Tianming had a fine plan, but reality was far too cruel.
Zheng Ping's words completely shattered his smugness.
“A seal. To ascend to the upper realm, we need to break the seal between our small world and the upper realm. The fact that we can't even find this seal is proof enough that only a specific person can locate it.”
“We have now found this specific person. She said she can help us break the seal, but she has a condition.”
“Of course, Fellow Daoist Tianming is sure to have questions. For instance, why can only she find and break the seal? Can no one else do it? Or perhaps, what is her cultivation level, and what is her condition?”
Zheng Ping wanted to continue speaking at a leisurely pace, but the other Divine Transformation cultivators couldn't hold back. “Why are you telling him so much? Does it matter whether he believes it or not? After all, he's been at the Divine Transformation stage for so long and still hasn't solved the problem of this world's inability to ascend, has he?”
“Exactly. If you ask me, we should just state that fellow daoist's condition directly. It's not some particularly outrageous demand. Sacrificing one person to benefit all the cultivators in the entire small world—I believe everyone would be more than willing.”
At these words, it wasn't just Tao Zhiyuan who had an ominous premonition; Tianming felt one as well.
Zhuang Ye casually piped up from the side, “Venerables, you've all said so much, but no one has actually stated what that senior's condition is. If it's not too outrageous, shouldn't we just agree? After all, this is about something as major as ascension.”
After Zhuang Ye finished speaking, Tianming shot him a cold glance.
Zhuang Ye looked innocent.
Tao Zhiyuan, on the other hand, was lost in thought, his mind wandering.
The current situation seemed to be targeting Tianming, but for some reason, the ominous premonition in Tao Zhiyuan's heart not only failed to dissipate but grew even stronger.
Just as he was wondering if he was imagining things, Zheng Ping spoke again. “This young friend makes a good point. It was our oversight just now; we forgot to state the fellow daoist's condition.”
“Actually, that fellow daoist's condition is very simple. She and a certain cultivator were husband and wife in the mortal realm. After entering the world of cultivation, she pursued the Ruthless Dao. As everyone knows, the Ruthless Dao requires one to sever all sentiment and love, so she must naturally cast aside the person with whom she has an emotional connection.”
“Therefore, she is preparing to kill her husband to prove her Dao.”
Zhuang Ye spat out a mouthful of tea.
The unease in Tao Zhiyuan's heart grew even stronger.
Tianming felt there was something strange about this “kill husband to prove Dao.” He looked at the dazed Tao Zhiyuan and frowned slightly. “Are you sure that's the only condition? Who is this husband of hers?”
“There is only one condition. In fact, you should be more familiar with that person than we are, because he is your Tianyuan Sect's very own Tao Zhiyuan.”
As these words fell, the unease that had been plaguing Tao Zhiyuan's heart finally found an outlet. Paradoxically, he felt a sense of relief.
Seeing all eyes focused on him, he spoke up. “Is her name Ge Yanling? If it is, then she's definitely deceiving you. She's just a cultivator who only recently formed her Golden Core. How could she possibly have the ability to break the seal?”
After a pause, he added, “If she can break the seal, then I'm even more capable of doing so, because we come from the same place.”
Tianming also spoke up. “He's right. My divination after reaching Divine Transformation did indeed indicate that only someone from another world could break the stalemate. If the person you speak of truly only has a Golden Core cultivation, then you might as well believe Tao Zhiyuan instead of her.”
As he said this, Tao Zhiyuan conveniently forgot that the credit for their successful breakthroughs to Divine Transformation belonged to Qiu Chi.
And Tianming, having arrived later, didn't know the reason.
But the others knew.
Tao Zhiyuan could ignore it, but someone else was there to bring it up.
For instance, Zhuang Ye said, “That's not right. Didn't Venerable Zheng Ping just say that their breakthroughs were all thanks to that fellow daoist? If she really only has a Golden Core cultivation, how did she help Venerable Zheng Ping and the others reach Divine Transformation?”
Right now, Tao Zhiyuan wished he could poison Zhuang Ye mute.
He desperately wanted to shout “Shut up!” at Zhuang Ye, but under everyone's watchful eyes, shouting would be an admission of guilt. He could only grit his teeth and remain silent.
Fortunately, Tianming didn't want the other sects to gain the upper hand, so he stepped forward. “If it's Tao Zhiyuan's wife, she must have had some great fortuitous encounter. She possesses an immortal artifact capable of injuring even a Divine Transformation cultivator.”
The logic was sound, but it all depended on whether the other Divine Transformation cultivators would believe it.
“By your own logic, Venerable Tianming, if that fellow daoist has had such a great fortuitous encounter, doesn't that just prove she is the one chosen by destiny?”
“So what if you're both from another world? She knew about the seal at the Golden Core stage. Did you? By rights, you've already reached the Nascent Soul stage—do you know where the seal is? If you can answer that, we'll believe you without another word. But if you can't, what's the use of all your eloquent but empty talk?”
Tao Zhiyuan couldn't answer. He had only managed to form his Nascent Soul by consuming an entire bottle of Nascent Soul Pills to force the breakthrough. If he hadn't been lucky, he might not have even been able to preserve his Golden Core cultivation.
Now, facing the questions from these Divine Transformation cultivators, he had no idea how to respond.
Fabricating lies would be completely useless under the spiritual pressure of these Divine Transformation cultivators.
“See? You can't answer, can you? If you ask me, let's not waste any more time. Your Tianyuan Sect should hurry up and expel him. In any case, that fellow daoist said she wants to kill the man herself. All we have to do is stay out of her way.”
“This is a major affair that concerns the entire cultivation world. To be frank, we already began making preparations before we came here. If all has gone according to plan, the entire cultivation world knows about this by now.”
Now, it was useless for the Tianyuan Sect to try and evade the matter.
Tao Zhiyuan's face turned deathly pale.
Post a Comment