Chapter 344

Chapter 344: Severing Heaven from Earth

Beneath the scars of the heavens.

Mad Daoist approached slowly in his white robes, sitting directly across from the aged human ancestor.

"Old fool." Mad Daoist chuckled darkly, a flicker of smugness crossing his face. "I’ve found the path to transcendence before you did."

He waved the Ziwei Spirit Root grasped in his hand like a trophy.

"Congratulations."

The human ancestor lowered his eyelids, expressionless.

That Mad Daoist had seized the Ziwei Spirit Root was perfectly clear to him. Yet, as Mad Daoist stated, saving Nangong Zhandao’s life and taking the Spirit Root fulfilled a karmic debt.

The human ancestor knew Mad Daoist all too well. Were it not for his own standing, Nangong Zhandao, even possessing the Epoch Golden Book and the Gate of Origin, would have been slain by Mad Daoist.

"You truly are an idiot."

Gone was Mad Daoist’s brief mirth; he slowly shook his head. "All beings across the myriad realms are born of fortune and perish by it. None escape this cycle. Can you save them temporarily, and shield them eternally?"

"Why not follow my path? Freedom, detachment, eternal transcendence?"

"The two of us," the human ancestor replied calmly, a faint smile touching his lips, "were the first crafted by the Mother Goddess herself. You, the madman; I, the fool. A perfect match, wouldn’t you say?"

"As the first man, my duty is to watch over all living beings. That includes you, old madman."

"You simply don’t comprehend."

The human ancestor lifted his gaze towards the sky. "This is my burden."

His eyes settled once more on Mad Daoist, filled with a serene acceptance, as if entrusting his legacy. "If I truly fall during this great calamity, then carry my hope forward. Attain transcendence yourself."

"When you succeed… remember to send word. Hahaha."

"That day will come."

Mad Daoist laughed heartily. "Before your final breath, I shall gift you something grand. But… your assistance is required."

With a flip of his palm, a fragment of the World Flower materialized.

"The World Flower?" The human ancestor’s expression shifted minutely. "You mean to open the Haotian Realm?"

The Talented Individuals and Rare Treasures List only recorded basic knowledge. Yet both he and Mad Daoist stood at the very peak of the cosmos, privy to infinite secrets.

Among the Nine Great Spirit Roots of Heaven and Earth, the World Flower was one.

But when Nuwa undertook the task of Repairing the Heavens, the World Flower became pivotal. Shattered during the process, its fragments scattered across all realms.

After the Repair, Nuwa gathered many World Flower fragments. Utilizing supreme divine power, she sought to reforge it. Ultimately, fusing it with the power of merit, she instead forged the Xuantian Merit Dao Embryo.

The location of this Dao Embryo lay within the Haotian Realm.

Madness danced in Mad Daoist’s eyes. "Across this world, only you and I know the World Flower perished to become the Xuantian Merit Dao Embryo."

"Opening the Haotian Realm demands a drop of our primal heart’s blood each."

"Your time dwindles. If we don’t open it now, it will remain sealed forever after your death. While you still draw breath—heed me—open the Haotian Realm with me!"

“……"

Such was Mad Daoist’s tone, relentlessly foretelling his demise, that even the human ancestor’s renowned patience frayed, a torrent of curses rising silently within him.

Human Ancestor took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, did not immediately agree to Mad Daoist’s request, and only asked, "Is your method of transcendence from Heaven’s Secret Pavilion?"

"How do you know?" Mad Daoist said the words and suddenly realized, "I had forgotten that you also went to Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. You know that man’s abilities well."

"Under the heavens, I’m afraid he is the only one who has mastered the method of transcendence," Mad Daoist said indignantly again.

"That bastard master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion is even more of a bastard than I am. He demands an absurdly high price, actually wanting one hundred trillion Star Yuan."

"You know I am not interested in money."

"To come up with such a huge amount of money all at once, we must think of another way. By coincidence, Haotian Realm is what the Mother Goddess left behind, and it has plenty of treasures. Since you and I are both her sons, we might just split the inheritance equally."

Human Ancestor’s face turned as black as charcoal. "Mother Goddess is not dead yet."

He already knew from Li Ruoyu that Nuwa had ascended to practice cultivation in the Hongmeng Dao Realm.

"Phew… phew…" Mad Daoist muttered resentfully.

For Nuwa, the Mother Goddess who created him, Mad Daoist still held a bit of respect in his heart.

"Opening the Haotian Realm is indeed possible."

After thinking it through and considering everything carefully, Human Ancestor nodded and agreed.

He had to confront a great catastrophe in a year, which was extremely hard. The more treasures he had, the higher the success rate and the greater the chance of survival.

Although he cared about all living beings and would charge forward despite countless others, he was not a true fool.

Who would willingly die if they could live?

"It’s settled," Mad Daoist urged. "Then we start right away."

Human Ancestor slowly shook his head and said, "If I enter Haotian Realm with you, no one will guard the scars of the heavens. Those beings above will definitely get restless. If you want my help, you must also do me a favor."

Mad Daoist stared at Human Ancestor.

"The Xuantian Great Luo Dao Array only has one part left before it’s fully complete. Working alone, I might take a while, but if you help me, it will be done in at most ten days," Human Ancestor solemnly said.

The Xuantian Great Luo Dao Array was a divine spatial array comprehended by Human Ancestor over his entire lifetime, using the Jianmu divine tree as the power source to cover all realms, serving as his strongest tool against the collapse of the Immortal Realm.

His mastery of the Great Dao of Space was unmatched throughout his life.

The Jianmu divine tree contained the ultimate origin of the Great Dao of Space.

Complementing each other, Human Ancestor was nearly unbeatable.

"Good," Mad Daoist said without hesitation and immediately agreed to Human Ancestor’s request.

While the two were arranging the spatial array, Human Ancestor recalled, "From the start of the Primordial Era to now, we haven’t teamed up for tens of millions of years, have we?"

Mad Daoist nodded.

"That period was truly the most passionate time in my life."

"Unfortunately, flowers can bloom again, but people cannot be young again," Mad Daoist said, his gaze sparking for just a brief instant before calming again.

At this very moment, he only sought transcendence.

"Hmph…"

Human ancestor gave a disdainful glance at him and sneered coldly, "Don’t be in a hurry; I never once thought to pin my hopes on you."

"Even in death, I would never let you help."

"That’s best then." Mad Daoist laughed heartily with relief.

The two old rivals, both foes and friends, roamed across all realms while trading barbs.

Beneath the scars of the heavens, spatial divine patterns emerged one after another and faded back into the heavens and earth.

The speed of the two accelerated sharply.

"Old Bai, in your lifetime, regarding space cultivation, I bet no one in this entire universe could surpass you." Mad Daoist clicked his tongue in admiration and said.

His learning was vast and jumbled, mastering all things.

However, in matters of space cultivation, Mad Daoist himself had to admire human ancestor.

"Of course." Human ancestor’s eyes flashed with a trace of pride but darkened instantly, "It’s just a pity that my judgment of people was so poor."

Mad Daoist sneered coldly and said no more.

Ten days later.

The Xuantian Great Luo Dao Array, enveloping all realms, was fully completed.

No one noticed that beneath the scars of the heavens, what seemed like a net was slowly spreading out.

This was all achieved in utter silence.

Only one eye silently observed the deeds of these two.

"That’s that guy." Mad Daoist glanced lightly at that eye and remarked softly.

The owner of that eye could only be the Heavenly Son.

"He’s fuming too." Human ancestor scoffed with disdain, "But Emperor Yang deserved what he got."

"To crave controlling the Heavenly Dao, how could he avoid paying the price?"

"Now, he is no longer himself."

Mad Daoist smiled without replying, his eyes turning fierce, "If I could get my hands on Emperor Yang’s brain, the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao would hold no more secrets."

"It’s done." Human ancestor laughed exuberantly.

"Old madman, although you ordinarily do no human deeds, commit evils, and killed countless, this time you finally did a decent act. On behalf of all living beings in the world, I thank you."

Human ancestor straightened his robes and bowed deeply to the old madman.

"Why do I feel like you’re insulting me?" Mad Daoist frowned and said.

Whoosh!

Accompanied by a gentle hum, a Dao fruit flew out from the Purple Palace of human ancestor and entered the Xuantian Great Luo Dao Array.

The void of all realms became interconnected in an instant.

Every movement between heaven and earth could escape the notice of human ancestor.

Once the Dao array was formed one percent, human ancestor permanently sealed the pathway between heaven and earth.

On that day, heaven and earth were severed.