Chapter 1900: Sacrifice

The purpose of spending countless resources to enter the Kunxu Realm was to find the passage into the Upper Firmament, and thus seek traces of Luo Ruoxi.

The passage above the platform—could it be that since 'spirits' could pass through it and it contained the special spiritual energy of the Upper Firmament, it might be the staircase leading there?

“I don’t know.”

Yan Qing Ancient Sage shook his head.

“Then… how did Master Kong leave the Kunxu Realm and the Master Teacher Continent?”

“This…” Yan Qing Ancient Sage’s face flushed.

When Master Kong left back then, even his many direct disciples were not entirely clear, let alone this descendant of countless generations.

“The ancestor first reached the realm of shattering the void, then left this place. The specific route he took is not recorded in the family scrolls, but I have studied his life, and it should be related to this seal!”

Kong Shiyao, standing to the side, suddenly spoke.

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that to enter the Upper Firmament, ten to one, one had to go through the passage above the platform, but… to achieve this, one first needed the strength to shatter the void!

He was clearly not there yet!

“Master Zhang, the Kunxu Realm was personally sealed by Master Kong, making it impossible to enter or leave. Last time, we were able to leave this place and enter the Master Teacher Continent only because the Confucius Temple appeared and we borrowed its power. How… did you get in?”

After chatting for a while, Yan Qing Ancient Sage looked over with great confusion.

The others were also somewhat curious.

As beings of the Kunxu Realm, even they could not leave; last time, they succeeded only by borrowing the power of the Confucius Temple. How had this person before them managed to enter?

Seeing no reason to hide it, Zhang Xuan said, “I… discovered a seal guarded by the corpse of Ancient Sage Ran Qiu in the Tianxuan Kingdom, and then… broke it and arrived here.”

“Broke it? You broke that seal?”

Yan Qing Ancient Sage and the others’ expressions changed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s go take a look!”

Without bothering to explain, Yan Qing Ancient Sage slashed through the air and leaped in, the others following closely.

In a moment, they arrived at the place where Zhang Xuan and the others had entered.

The seal still stood before them. The crack they had previously drilled through now trembled incessantly, a mass of black fire burning continuously, as if a great force was constantly pressing down, threatening to give way at any moment and shatter completely.

Zhang Xuan was stunned. “What is this?”

He knew very well how powerful the seal was; it had taken the aid of an extraordinary thunder weapon tribulation to break a single crack. How had such powerful black fire suddenly appeared?

And it looked somewhat similar to heavenly fire?

Yan Qing Ancient Sage’s expression turned grave. “This is the backlash of the Heavenly Dao.”

“Heavenly Dao?”

“Although the Kunxu Realm is detached from the Master Teacher Continent, it is still part of it. Cultivating Qingya Wheat, allowing humans to reach the Grandmaster realm upon coming of age, disrupts the laws of life… Ancient Sage Ran Qiu’s corpse was left outside, ostensibly as a seal, but more to block the Heavenly Dao’s investigation… Now that you have broken it, the Heavenly Dao knows, and will naturally attack fiercely. I’m afraid it will… completely destroy the entire Kunxu Realm!”

Yan Qing Ancient Sage’s eyes were filled with deep worry.

Zhang Xuan’s body stiffened as he understood.

The Heavenly Dao has its own rules; whoever dares to break them must be punished.

Just as a cultivator冲击 a higher realm,冲击 the Ancient Sage realm, must face the Heavenly Dao’s punishment.

Not to mention this world, in his previous life, Wang Mang, as a time traveler, tried to change the world, and the Heavenly Dao sent the Son of the Plane, Liu Xiu, to easily overthrow him.

Rules cannot be broken, not even by Ancient Sages.

He had thought that the reason no one on the Master Teacher Continent could find the Kunxu Realm was because the Hundred Schools of Thought had transcended. Now it seemed it was to avoid the Heavenly Dao’s investigation.

Once it knew their location, with strong individuals coming every year, the Heavenly Dao would easily detect them. In the end, not to mention the Qingya Wheat, whether this world could even be preserved was uncertain.

“What do we do now?”

Knowing that he had brought this calamity, Zhang Xuan looked over. “Is there a formation diagram? I can repair the formation to block its investigation!”

“There is a formation diagram, but it’s useless now.”

Yan Qing Ancient Sage shook his head. “Not only has the seal been broken, but the illusion formation outside has also been shattered. Before, when the Heavenly Dao investigated, the coffin would manifest Master Kong’s image, making it believe Master Kong was dead and stop pursuing. Now that the barrier is cracked and the formation has lost its effect, it means the other side already knows everything… What use is there in repairing it?”

Zhang Xuan fell silent.

When he arrived, besides the stele, there were two stone coffins outside. The first contained the corpse of Ancient Sage Ran Qiu, used to maintain the illusion formation.

As for the second, when Zheng Yang saw it, it held Master Kong’s corpse, but when they saw it, it held Zheng Yang… He had to find a way to break it himself before discovering the barrier.

Now that both had been broken, the Heavenly Dao of the Master Teacher Continent had already “gazed” upon this place. Whether the seal was repaired or not was meaningless.

“So we can only watch as the seal is torn apart and the Kunxu Realm is destroyed?”

“There is indeed no good way, unless… just like in ancient times, we deceive the Heavenly Dao.”

“Deceive?”

“Yes. When Master Kong created this world, the leakage of power aroused the Heavenly Dao’s greed. Ancient Sage Ran Qiu voluntarily sacrificed himself to maintain the illusion formation, ultimately deceiving the Heavenly Dao.”

Yan Qing Ancient Sage’s expression was solemn. “Now, the only way to resolve the crisis is… to find a powerful being who has shattered the void, willing to be slain by the Heavenly Dao! Create the illusion that the entire world has been destroyed… Although the Heavenly Dao punishes those who break the rules, it does not possess true sentience. If the method is clever and the design reasonable, there is a chance of success!”

Zhang Xuan frowned.

Currently, there was not a single void-shattering expert in the entire Master Teacher Continent and Kunxu Realm. With his Dragon Bone Divine Spear, his combat strength was only close to that level; his true strength still fell far short. The Heavenly Dao should easily see through it!

“Let me do it. I don’t have long to live anyway! Even if I can’t completely fool it, every day I can buy is a day gained.”

Looking ahead, Yan Qing Ancient Sage’s gaze was resolute.

“You?”

“Yes. Although I haven’t reached the void-shattering realm, I am very close. By self-detonating my soul and body, I should be able to temporarily emit the power of void-shattering, perhaps temporarily fooling it.”

Yan Qing Ancient Sage nodded.

“Self-detonation?” Kong Shiyao hesitated. “Once the soul and body self-detonate, it will be utter destruction, with no chance of resurrection…”

Those who have reached the realm of rebirth from a drop of blood can be resurrected even if chopped into minced meat, but if the soul self-detonates, it truly means complete fall, the soul scattering and vanishing.

Even with abundant Ancient Sage power, there is no way to return.

“I know.” Yan Qing Ancient Sage nodded. “As long as it can preserve the Kunxu Realm… what does complete death matter?”

As a human Ancient Sage, he had long been prepared for sacrifice. If his death could bring life to more people, it was absolutely worth it.

“Don’t rush to sacrifice yourself. Let me first see if there is another way.”

Seeing that he was about to charge forward at any moment, Zhang Xuan frowned, walked to the black flames, and extended a finger toward them.