Chapter 0699: The Cycle of Life and Death

Reaching the 72nd floor of this tower, Ning Cheng finally gained more profound enlightenment in regards to the Returning-to-one Dao. All things in heaven and earth had an origin, and will eventually return to its source.

It was just like, “One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to everything else…..”

If one reversed that saying, everything would return to one. This was what ‘Returning-to-one’ meant.

It was as if an invisible shackle binding Ning Cheng had suddenly dissipated, and he immediately felt relaxed. Even the leg that broke under pressure naturally returned to its original state.

As Ning Cheng raised a hand, Dao Charms naturally formed around it, and the huge pressure surrounding him immediately disappeared without a trace. It seemed as if he and this floor had fused into one, creating a whole.

Bringing out the Nirvana Spear, the spear seemed to split the void and caused a sudden stagnation of space. This was not like when he cast Sunset’s Twilight; at this moment, he could feel that this stagnated space was now entirely under his control.

This feeling was just too good to be true. Perhaps, this was the real introduction to the Laws of Time. If one day he merged all laws into one according to Returning-to-one maybe that would be the day he would prove his Supreme Grand Dao.

Ning Cheng raised his hand once again after putting away the Nirvana Spear, and the surrounding space seemed to have solidified. It felt as if he now completely grasped the area within his hand.

This was not due to the Maximal Flame Spirit Technique, but a simulated space spirit technique that Ning Cheng had derived from the laws of the Maximal Flame Spirit Technique. From now on, when using the Maximal Flame Spirit Technique, he would not necessarily have to use the ‘Maximal Flame’ part; at the same time, he could also use other attacks with it. Eventually, this simulated space spirit technique would one day evolve into a real space spirit technique.

Ning Cheng didn’t immediately head to the 73rd floor; instead, he brought out a crystal ball. This contained Mo Clan’s spirit technique, None-to-depend-on. Now that he experienced such powerful enlightenment, it was the best time to understand this None-to-depend-on.

Ning Cheng didn’t touch the None-to-depend-on Wine from Zhu Zhengfeng’s storage ring; instead, he took out the barrel of best quality None-to-depend-on Wine. He didn’t use a jug, and instead, took off its cover before lifting the barrel up and taking in a mouthful. At the same time, his spiritual consciousness formed a link with the crystal ball.

“Boom….” Melancholic emotions poured into Ning Cheng, completely immersing him within it. He completely forgot about the barrel in his hand.

“Always separated abandoned heart; gazing at the distant stars, none to depend on…..”

Amid such sadness, the Dao Charm from the spirit technique started to overflow from the crystal ball, filling Ning Cheng’s mind with even more grief.

Down the worn path, the west wind blows, the bony horse groans…

The west wind brings yellow sands, wanting to fill the world with it, to drown the long ancient road outside the village. Leading the skinny horse, desiring to see the lover down the old path. But yellow sand obscures the gaze…

As the sun sets below the horizon, the yellow sand gradually drowned the ancient road. Everything in front of him slowly started to blur and fall into darkness.

“Kacha…..” The crystal ball shattered and Ning Cheng suddenly woke up. He looked up at the open space around him and immediately burst out in cold sweats.

Caught up in those melancholic emotions, if someone had suddenly tried to kill him, he would have definitely died.

Turns out that this None-to-depend-on was a spirit technique that directly affected one’s heart.

Once again bringing out the Nirvana Spear, the sorrowful despair-filled Dao Charm flowed into the Nirvana Spear before permeating into the world around him.

At this moment, this piece of heaven and earth transformed into an ancient road. At this moment, his opponent would have no choice but to stare blankly at the yellow sands creeping over the ancient road. Only sadness and despair filled this piece of the world, and he was the master. He was the one who dominated this entire world. As long as his Nirvana Spear swept out, everything in this world would face complete and thorough destruction.

Whether it was the ancient road, or the west wind, or the skinny horse, destruction and annihilation would follow regardless of the opponent’s strength.

Ning Cheng recalled the spear and everything around him returned to its original state. Even the sadness-filled aura disappeared without a trace. In front of the 72nd floor, there was no ancient road, no west wind, no skinny horse, and no yellow sand.

“So this is the original None-to-depend-on.” Ning Cheng muttered to himself, “What a powerful spirit technique.”

He felt sure that if someone had used this None-to-depend-on Spirit Technique on him, then he would have fallen for it with his temperament.

Whether a person was good or bad, whether it was a demon or a fairy, whether it was a god or a devil…

Within everyone’s hearts, there always exists a place deep inside, which no one else but that being can touch. As long as this place existed, None-to-depend-on would take advantage of it. This was the None-to-depend-on Spirit Technique.

Taking a deep breath, Ning Cheng ambled towards the 73rd floor. He obtained many gains on the 72nd floor.

Although the pressure from the ladder swept over, Ning Cheng now did not have to burn his celestial essence anymore. His entire body exuded a burst of aura filled with Dao Charm, which integrated his Celestial River Domain and the powerful forces surrounding it into one.

The pressure from the golden ladder quickly weakened, allowing Ning Cheng to comfortably climb the ladder and enter the 73rd floor.

Sure enough, one just had to find the origin of the power. Ning Cheng had already understood the source of this tower’s pressure. It was a kind of force generated through laws. As long as one could integrate with or understand this law, the pressure would quickly weaken. If one took full control of this law, climbing the ladder would be just like taking a stroll in the yard.

74th floor, 75th floor…

As Ning Cheng climbed all the way to the top, his understanding of Returning-to-one also grew more concise. This allowed him to gain a clearer understanding of the laws in this part of the world. Thus, he didn’t have to do anything as he went straight past the 79th floor and entered the 80th floor.

From the looks of it, this tower was the same as the Nine-by-Nine Celestial Scryer Tower he had entered previously and contained 81 floors. Ning Cheng did not hesitate at all, did not even take the time to understand the Dao Charm flowing in the 80th floor and directly climbed the ladder to the 81st floor.

The Returning-to-one Dao Charm merged with the Dao Charm of the tower’s law, creating a series of golden ripples around Ning Cheng as he climbed up the ladder. From afar, Ning Cheng looked like he was walking amongst the golden ripples, surrounded by a golden light.

As soon as Ning Cheng reached the 81st floor, the scene around him suddenly changed. It seemed as if he no longer was in the tower; instead, a vast starry sky surrounded him, and beyond this starry sky was an even broader expanse of void.

Ning Cheng felt himself standing in this endless starry sky, while his Dao Charm interwove itself with the infinite space. He sensed that the laws in this seemingly vast universe were broken and imperfect, which gave him an impulse to change these imperfect heaven and earth laws and even supplement it.

Just thinking about it caused a strand of his Dao Charm to float out in front of his eye and then merge into the starry sky. The endless starry sky universe immediately felt like it had gained some vibrancy, and its laws gradually improved.

The roar of the perfecting laws echoed in Ning Cheng’s spirit sense and consciousness. Hearing that, his eyes immediately lit up, seemingly replacing the stars in the sky. His gaze passed through layer after layer of spacial interfaces, looking at all the spiritual worlds as his gaze passed through each layer.

At this moment, he felt like a master who stood high above everyone else over a cloud, soaring high above even the highest peak.

Time slowly flowed by and Ning Cheng kept himself immersed in this beautiful feeling. He seemed to love this feeling of dominance; he appeared to have fallen in love with the pleasure of controlling everything. These laws of heaven and earth changed because of him, and the universe grew perfect because of his Dao Charm.

Not knowing for how long he remained immersed in this state, a wave of Mysterious Yellow Aura washed over and Ning Cheng suddenly woke up. He was just a tiny cultivator who hadn’t even reached the Life and Death Realm. How could he change the laws of heaven and earth and control the Dao Charm of the universe?

The moment he woke up, everything around him disappeared. The starry sky universe also turned into nothingness. His gaze could no longer pass through the layers of spacial interfaces. All he could see were the things in front of him on the tower’s floor.

This tower was the same one. In addition to the words in front that spelt the 81st floor, it contained nothing.

Ning Cheng took in a deep breath. He understood that what he experienced just now was an illusion. It was as if he had become the master of the universe, and could really perfect the laws of heaven and earth. Fortunately, the Mysterious Yellow Aura woke him up. Otherwise, he might have turned arrogant over the thought that he could change and perfect all the laws of the heaven and earth of that starry sky universe.

Sure enough, this tower only contained 81 floors. Ning Cheng thought as he panted slightly. Reaching this place, he no longer could feel or see the golden ladder leading to a higher floor. This clearly indicated that this tower had no more floors.

Wait, Ning Cheng suddenly remembered his purpose of entering the tower. He had to cross the tower to touch the Life and Death Realm, so that he could gain enlightenment regarding the Life and Death Realm. But now, he did not see any way out of the tower, even the path he took to get here had disappeared.

Currently, he wanted to advance to the Life and Death Realm. But if he can’t find a way out of the tower, how could he proceed? If he couldn’t get out of the tower, how could he advance to the Life and Death Realm?

Life and Death Realm, gaining awareness of Yin and Yang, comprehending life and death…

Life and Death paved the way for reincarnation. But only by experiencing reincarnation could one touch upon the Life and Death Realm. However, only the Life and Death Conception Pill[1] can help one simulate the cycle of life and death and reincarnation.

Since Ning Cheng was an Alchemy Master, he naturally knew about the Life and Death Conception Pill. But he did not have a Life and Death Conception Pill. Therefore, to advance to the Life and Death Realm, apart from coming out, he had to search for a Conception Pill to simulate the reincarnation cycle of life and death.

Thinking about the reincarnation cycle of life and death, did he really need that medicinal pill? He had already reincarnated once, experiencing life to death and from death to life. The Mysterious Yellow Bead was the witness, and the same Mysterious Yellow Bead had accompanied his reincarnation from death to life.

Ning Cheng felt like he had grasped onto a vague insight towards life and death. He understood that death and life had a samsaric cycle separating them and that he had already gone through this samsaric cycle once. Unlike others, he still had his memories from his past life in this reincarnation. This made his comprehension of the reincarnation cycle of life and death even more evident compared to others.

The moment Ning Cheng understood this, a golden gate suddenly appeared on the 81st floor, on the other end of the floor. Over the golden gate was a strand of life and death reincarnation cycle’s Dao Charm.

Ning Cheng felt truly surprised at this. This golden door gave him a vague feeling that he could directly skip to bombarding the cultivation barrier to the Life and Death Realm once he pushed it open.

Ning Cheng took a deep breath to calm down before walking over to the golden door and pushing it open with his hands.

……

“Boom….” Over at the Culmination Grand Public Square, a blinding pillar of golden light burst out from the Eternal Starry Sky Tower. At the same time, many of the lower levelled cultivators over the public square prostrated themselves onto the ground instinctively and even started to offer worship. Although just a heaven and earth phenomenon, everyone could feel that basking in this golden light seemed to deepen one’s perceptions by a bit.

People could no longer see the top floor of the Eternal Starry Sky Tower. While all the cultivators in the Culmination Public Square seemed to have unanimously gained this thought. The Eternal Starry Sky Tower seemed to have integrated into the starry sky itself, which made it impossible to count how many floors it now contained.

Some of the cultivators in the Heaven Seated and above realms looked at the changed Eternal Starry Sky Tower, and their eyes started to glow with enthusiasm. They could all feel that the laws within the Eternal Starry Sky Tower seemed utterly different from before. Perhaps, if they went into the Eternal Starry Sky Tower, they might gain more recognition from this vast universe and understand even more things.

[1] Previously called the ‘Life and Death Intent Field Pill’, the author changed it to ‘Life and Death Conception Pill’.