Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

“Pffft!!”

Inside his own courtyard, Gu Suihan had been calmly watching the carp swim merrily in their pond when his face suddenly turned bright red, and he sprayed a mouthful of blood out. Blood and some wine he hadn’t swallowed yet carried a little fragrance as it sprayed all over the stone table.

The bloodstains looked terrifying against the green jade tabletop.

“It’s getting more and more severe.” Gu Suihan coughed a few times as he sat quietly in the empty little pavilion. His thin frame, seated all alone in the large, silent space, made him look rather…lonely.

After he had noticed the change in his physical body, Gu Suihan also realized that the demonic script on his bones seemed to be sentient as they continued to invade his body and transform his body from within. They had done this very stealthily in the beginning, but now they were diving right in without a care in the world. And they were doing it more and more quickly.

“I’m not left with much time.”

Gu Suihan could sense that keenly. The time he was left with was getting lesser and lesser.

“It’s a pity that this game of Go…”

He wiped away the blood on his lips gently and looked down at the board on the table that only had a few stones on it. He sighed heavily and turned the board to dust.

Since he didn’t have much time left, he couldn’t take his time to make plans anymore. He had to make full use of whatever time he had left.

He got up and said quietly, “Moling, come with me to kill some people.”

A feminine and meek voice responded to him. A delicate woman with eyes as pretty as a picture appeared silently in a light white dress behind Gu Suihan with his saber in hand.

Moling was the woman that that Gold Striped Black Killer Snake had morphed into.

The two of them immediately disappeared from the courtyard.

After that, the huge estate started rotting like it had been abandoned for hundreds of years and turned into dust as the wind blew. Every living creature within a few hundred miles was also turned to dry bones in that instant.

“I’m canceling the plan,” said Gu Suihan as he looked at the god, who was staring at him in disbelief. He also retrieved the godly crystal that belonged to this god.

Five years. That was the conclusion Gu Suihan came to after scanning his body thoroughly. He only had five more years. Or perhaps, even less.

“You’re not from the Dongfang family.”

A group of gods stared at Gu Suihan grimly. They held all sorts of divine weapons in their hands and didn’t hide the divine energy emanating from their bodies, but they stuck closely to one another and didn’t dare to even take half a step closer to Gu Suihan.

“The Dongfang family? Ha…” said Gu Suihan with a sigh. Moling knew what he wanted to do, so she took a step forward and held up the saber.

The saber returned to its sheath, leaving behind more than ten godly crystals floating in the air that gave off a strong aura of divine energy.

Outside the temple, the ordinary people burning incense in worship as well as the hundred priests on duty didn’t even get the chance to scream as they were turned straight into a red sphere the size of a fingernail in Gu Suihan’s hands.

“Formation…rise!”

Gu Suihan crushed a jade slip and stomped his foot lightly on the ground. Dust flew aside and the air rippled as runes swirled rapidly and qi blew violently. A majestic air mixed with the strong stench of blood suddenly arose from beneath the ground.

The formation spanned thousands of miles. All factions, families, cultivators and ordinary folk alike howled and shrieked as they fell into a bottomless hell. The extremely saturated blood red beam gathered to become a huge river, gushing violently as it carried a terrifying amount of fiendish qi straight into Gu Suihan’s body.

Nascent Change?

No!

The battered and cracked heart-soul above the dantian suddenly gave off a brilliant crimson light. The countless cracks were repaired and the faded broken up runes slowly joined up again. A dark and complicated energy kept going round his body as a domineering and malicious fiendish qi began to rise from inside him.

Woong! The saber lying quietly in Moling’s hands suddenly let out a loud sound. A shocking amount of fiendish qi gathered to become a terrifying beast that roared and howled as it rushed into Gu Suihan’s body.

“I…am…an Immortal!”

Gu Suihan could feel that his heart-soul had recuperated. An indescribable pressure appeared from nowhere, crashing down from above and smiting thousands of creatures.

“There…is an Immortal!”

Hunming zun’s cloudy eyes instantly shone with absolute shock.

That…that was a true Immortal.

“But time is not going to wait for me…”

Right now, Gu Suihan had given up all his plans. He had given up his deal with Murong Yun, given up his deal with the Dongfang family. He gobbled up millions of living creatures and gathered the bodies of thousands of demons, carried the weight of a karma that was impossible to calculate – all for the sake of returning to his peak.

Once he had that thought in mind, everything in the world changed.

The cities filled with countless cultivators and other living creatures within a 5,000-kilometer range instantly let out bloodcurdling cries.

Tons of blood souls and an endless amount of fiendish qi were like the ocean, like an abyss, as they gushed into Gu Suihan’s body as he slowly ascended into the sky.

“Something changed?”

Inside the palace within Xianyang, Ying Zheng watched the Go board in front of him crumble apart slowly and looked up with a start. He stared into the distance and murmured, “Exactly…what changed?”

Kill…

Kill…

Kill…

Everything that Gu Suihan laid his eyes on died. Dried bones were strewn everywhere. Not a single soul was missed out. Not even the animals were spared.

The sheer amount of fiendish qi that had gathered was so thick, it looked like a gigantic cloak that covered the sky, surrounding and swirling around Gu Suihan. It was accompanied by the wails of souls that had died a wrongful death, the curses of angry ghosts. Within the 39^th domain, only a few dozen at Divine Soul remained alive. That included Hunming zun, as well as some from the Equal Order Spirit who had just arrived. Those made up fewer than ten at Immortal.

“How very bold. The way you’ve made all this happen…I’m truly in admiration of you.”

The elder from the Dongfang family who had been fighting in the high skies gnashed his teeth as he glared at Gu Suihan. From the corner of his eye, he could see the rubble that was once the estate belonging to the Dongfang family. He felt like his heart was bleeding when he saw the destruction.

“Anyone who blocks my way…shall die.”

Gu Suihan raised his saber and flew into the sky. With one thought, the dozens of Divine Soul cultivators turned into nourishment for his body.

Before Hunming zun and the rest could react, he suddenly used his saber to slice a hole in the void and tore through the barrier. He stepped into the hole, bringing with him that fiendish qi that was sufficient to cover almost the entire world.

“The 39^th domain…had millions of people.”

Hunming zun stared calmly at the city that now sat in ruins. Admiration rose inside his heart.

If he were in this situation, or anybody else, for that matter, he wouldn’t have dared to wipe out the population like that. Nobody would dare to. The amount of karma created as a result was too great. It was so great that even someone at Immortal would not be able to carry.

“You’re here.”

“I’m here.”

“Why?”

“I…don’t have much time left.”

“On what basis do you say that?”

“The drama…that has happened to me.”

“You’re going to die!”

“And so what?”

“I, the emperor…will be lonely!”

“Fighting with heaven is the most fun thing to do in the world!” Gu Suihan stared quietly at the middle-aged man in front of him dressed in his imperial robes. He then took the paper on the table that had some very small words printed on it.

“When heaven separated from the earth, there were millions of devils, gods and the like. It helped Pangu, the creator of the world, to gobble up the other creatures. The two sides became severely injured as a result and it had no choice but to take a back seat,” said Gu Suihan calmly. He waved his arm and two meters of paper appeared from nowhere.

Ying Zheng stared at him as he started to quietly grind more ink for him.

Gu Suihan’s face was getting paler by the minute, but the glint in his eyes was growing more and more brilliant. They were like the moon in the night sky, flickering with a brightness that made it impossible for one to look into his eyes. He grabbed the air and his saber turned into a 10 centimeter calligraphy brush. Fiendish qi was like ink as it gathered on top of the inkstone.

“After that, the void filled the land and the world changed. Pangu died and immortals and demons appeared,” said Gu Suihan as he drew with his deep, black ink, moving his brush like a sharp knife, which emanated an unfeeling air. In that instant, the images of 3,000 devils in chaos appeared on the paper, and in the next instant, the ink dried up and more paper appeared. A giant tall enough to reach the sky appeared. It faced a whirlpool that seemed to contain many strange mysteries and looked like an eye.

“The immortals stayed in heaven. The demons took over the earth.”

Gu Suihan drew on the blank sheet of paper. The skin on his face began to look a little translucent. One could even see his faint, greenish veins clearly.

“Then, the Devil Abyss appeared. They wreaked havoc on heaven and earth.”

Gu Suihan drew a line across the paper, which was the void across heaven and earth.

“The immortals and demons worked together to seal off heaven and earth and cover the Devil Abyss. They left someone to stand guard and the formation is…the six paths of reincarnation. The seal has 18 layers, which form the 18 levels of hell. The person standing guard was later known as…Yama, the king of hell!”

The dark ink faded. Heaven and earth changed.

“After that, came the race descended from Pangu…the Wiccans. They were a race as supremely powerful as the immortals and demons. They searched heaven and earth and attempted to create the Way. They combined the strength of every major power. The body of a demon, the shape of a Wiccan, the root of an immortal, and the soul of a devil, thereby creating humans. The human race was formed.”

Gu Suihan’s hand continued to move his brush deftly, quickly drawing yet another large picture.

“What they didn’t realize was that while humans had nothing particularly outstanding about themselves, they carried the strengths of every living creature. The immortals could get qi and luck from them, their emotions and desires made the devils flourish, their ability to reproduce enabled the wiccans to keep their line going, and their flesh and blood made it unnecessary for the demons to kill each other. Unfortunately… “It” continued to watch from behind the scene. To the point where…a second resistance happened. Later on, people called this godhood!”

He got another piece of paper. Blood had started dribbling from his lips without him realizing it. He started coughing a little, and a pool of blood had gathered at his feet. Yet, Gu Suihan seemed to have noticed none of this and continued drawing. “After that, the void shattered. The two sides suffered great losses. The immortal heaven ceased to exist, the demons went into hiding. The Wiccans retreated, and the Devil Abyss was sealed off. The humans were able to flourish as a result.”

“Am I right so far?”

Gu Suihan suddenly raised his head and looked out at the gigantic whirlwind outside that seemed able to move the universe.

“What…else?”

An ethereal voice came from deep inside the whirlwind. It made one’s soul shake, and gave one the urge to fall down on their knees in worship.

“After that, there was a divide between Buddhists and Daoists. High-level practitioners emerged. They were even more intelligent, more careful. But…they went down the same road their seniors went, which was to merge their bodies with the Way they had chosen! Each and every step…was within your plan. Creating the Way, godhood, all of it was. This was the third time. Some unexpected things occurred, but you were still able to suppress its effects.”

“You sealed off history, you covered up the truth. But you didn’t expect some traces to be left behind. The fourth time…he succeeded,” said Gu Suihan as he turned to look at the silent Ying Zheng. “He broke the chains, tore through the barrier, forcing you to have no choice but to shrink back.”

“But…you were indignant about it. And that’s how…I happened.”

Gu Suihan smiled sadly as fresh blood continued to flow unceasingly out from every orifice. Even so, he did not stop. “A person with no heart. Every living creature has a heart. Why am I the only one without one?”

“Do I…have one?” murmured Ying Zheng to himself. He felt the heart beating steadily inside his body. “So…I actually have one. I just haven’t bothered about it for way too long.”

“Each step of the way was planned. Even though many unforeseen mishaps happened, you…succeeded. No living thing can escape your schemes.” Gu Suihan’s skin was almost transparent now. It was so pale, it was as though he didn’t have any blood left.

“I…I’ll give you a chance.”

Gu Suihan suddenly spun around and pushed Ying Zheng aside. He smiled calmly. “I’ll give you…the chance to break free.”

“Cause and effect. Karma. What a joke. How tragic.”

Gu Suihan let out a long howl and his saber shattered. The endless fiendish qi turned into a boiling black fog that covered the whole world. As the fiendish spirit that was released shrieked excitedly, it swallowed him up, turning into a layer that blotted out the sun completely, then pounced toward the whirlwind in the sky that was rotating slowly.

“All citizens of the empire! Come alongside your emperor to fight the enemy!”

A heroic feeling rose in Ying Zheng’s heart, a feeling he had never felt before. He flew into the air and drew his sword boldly, pointing it at the whirlwind that was hidden from sight by that layer that blocked the sun.

“All hail the emperor! We will fight even if it costs us our life!”

Countless living creatures screamed and roared as they looked toward the palace in Xianyang that had slowly detached itself from the ground and was making its way upward.

“Is this…the fifth time?” murmured Gu Suihan as he continued without a care…pouncing straight for the giant eye in the sky.

-The End-