Chapter 1499: Gods Have Their Gods, Ghosts Have Their Ghosts

Chaos perished.Perished within the river of time and space,vanishing alongside the iridescent streams of light.

Zhujiuyin died, nailed upon the Central Mountain.His ruined form dissolved, the white pagoda crumbled.Countless skulls of strange beasts tumbled down,rolling bone-like.Those upon the mountain path took flight, dodging.The Central Mountain remained only half-standing,the end of the path severed there.None would ever know what scene lay beyond the path's endfor one holding the Jade Bi.

Yet, the divine light barrier remained, a mockery.Streaks of divine light flew back to the divine abodes and strange beasts,severing the threads of life's connection.

Corpse Phoenix Jia Xuan and Sky Phoenix Kong Yuanstill stood in confrontation.But the existence that controlled them was dead,they remained fixed, silent as two sculptures.

The torrential rain fell upon them,half flowing into the night, half steaming into clouds.All the resentment, all the hateful souls,all the unresolved emotions of this world,all fell with the rain.Tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap.Striking the divine light barrier,splashing out countless tiny, dense black water flowers.

"It's blossoming," Zuo Guangshu murmured,watching this scene upon the divine light barrier.There was a certain ineffable, cruel romance.

Rumble-rumble-rumble, the mountain continued to collapse.This world still wept.All rules were collapsing, the Mountain and Sea Realmwas finally, irrecoverably, heading for destruction.

"What now?" Fang Heling asked, trembling.He feared death, feared dying before Zhang Linchuan.

Wang Changji did not speak, merely reached out and seized a Nine Chapters Jade Bifrom behind the stone tablet at the foot of the mountain.Rubbing it gently with both hands, he formed a fishing line,wound it twice, and wrapped it around his index finger.This was his entire preparation.

And Yue Tiannu pressed his palms together,Buddhist light manifested, his face held compassion.The power of the Pure Land flowed through him,it was time to cross the bitter sea in a solitary boat.

Jiang Wang simply said, "Guangshu, follow me."Dou Zhao's body burst with golden radiance, dazzling.No matter when, where, or for what reason, if he was present,he would strive for first place...

At this very moment, that sky-blue phoenix turned its head!The rain stopped.Kong Yuan's backward glance was a posture of extreme elegance.Its sky-blue eyes watched the collapsing Central Mountain,透ing iridescent flowing light.The countless tumbling, pale skullsstopped then and there.And the process of the mountain's collapse was fixed.The Central Mountain ceased its shaking,the divine light barrier silently receded.The river that existed between reality and illusion vanished.The other world on the river's far bank, of course, did not exist.

The ancient stone tablet at the foot of the mountain,the eight Jade Bis still embedded behind it,automatically detached from their grooves,flying back into the hands of everyone who had previously pressed them in.Jiang Wang held two Jade Bis in his hand,Wang Changji had taken his, the rest had one each.At this moment, everyone looked into Kong Yuan's eyes,their figures imprinted within that sky-blue world.

Kong Yuan's gaze was not the rigid, uncontrolled lookpeople had imagined.Or perhaps, initially it was empty,but at this moment it was incredibly灵動.This made one realize that it too possessed its own life,that a free will and unique soul had been born within it.

The sky no longer snowed, after the black rain had fallen,the sky cleared.The collapsing sky slowly rose,everything that was falling no longer fell,the raging lightning hid within the clouds...

And Kong Yuan looked upon the participants in the Mountain and Sea Realm trial,its gaze held neither joy nor sorrow,no closeness, nor厌憎.

With this glance.Sky-blue divine light flowed around them,everyone holding a Jade Bi vanished.Vanished into the Central Mountain.

Jiang Wang felt only a bright, yet temperatureless, power,like a small boat carrying him across the sea.In his left hand, he held the She Jiang Jade Bi,in his right, the Si Mei Ren Jade Bi.

In his left ear, he heard a song:"I have loved this strange attire since youth,and grow not weary though old.Wearing a long sword that gleams,crowned with a high and towering cloud-cutter..."

In his right ear, another long song resonated:"...Solely solitary and journeying south,remembering the old ways of Peng Xian!"

The radiance of the Jade Bi lightly enveloped him,allowing him to see the Mountain and Sea Realm a few last timesamidst the myriad swirling lights.In the ethereal singing, the Voice of Immortalitycaptured another phoenix cry.Its sound spread through the mountains and seas.

Jiang Wang vaguely saw—Before the Central Mountain,witnessed by numerous strange beasts.The black phoenix flapped its wings,as if draped in a layer of night,yet it left the Central Mountain, flying towards the ocean.Kong Yuan remained on the Central Mountain,and then flew towards the high dome.Jia Xuan left the Central Mountain,and then flew towards the great sea.

Kong Yuan cleansed the sky,making the boundless expanse clear.And Jia Xuan took away the night,like a dream that had already vanished.

Beautiful black wings traced a graceful arc,roaring hurricanes were gently dispersed,violent tsunamis slowly receded.Jia Xuan's beautiful figure gradually faded into the distance...Wherever it went, the sea waves were calm.

A phrase suddenly flashed through Jiang Wang's mind—"Reside in this abode forever, Divinely Bestowed Name."

Zhujiuyin stole the world's power from the Mountain and Sea Realm,creating Kong Yuan, but was Kong Yuan truly created by it?Chaos accumulated centuries of malice,struggled power from endless pain,and used Jia Xuan as its ultimate weapon.But where did the legend of the nine types of phoenixesultimately originate?

For this world, what was the differencebetween Zhujiuyin, Chaos, and Kong Yuan, Jia Xuan?

Zhujiuyin and Chaos were dead.Kong Yuan and Jia Xuan were naturally reborn.

A realization dawned within Jiang Wang's heart—Kong Yuan and Jia Xuan had stabilized the world's order.Kong Yuan, now in charge of the Central Mountain,was precisely sending them away.Next should be the time for harvest.Because providing fairness to the trial participantswas one of the fundamental rules of the Mountain and Sea Realm world.And this precisely reflected the stability of this world...

That shattering, that collapse,seemed to be merely an illusion.It was nothing more than the history of the fallen skyreplaying itself once more.Whether the story was spectacular or less so,there was no essential difference.

But... was it just over?Within the sky-blue divine light,within the rapidly changing, iridescent streams.Jiang Wang felt a sense of melancholy loss.Not just because of San Cha.

But this feeling did not last long.Enveloped in the sky-blue divine light,a complex stream of information quickly surged into his mind.He was, after all, familiar with this sensation,having experienced it once before at Mount Zhang'e—He was receiving some kind of inheritance.

"Wait!" A sudden hope arose within Jiang Wang:"I don't want this, I don't want any inheritance!Give me back San Cha! That King Beast of Misfortunekilled by Chaos!"But the inheritance did not stop.Rules themselves have no temperature.Just as sunlight falling upon youdoesn't care if you need warmth.

Jiang Wang opened his right hand and shouted again,"I can return the essence blood, erase the seal method memories,use this Jade Bi, in exchange for one San Cha!It can have no power at all!It's all making the unreal real, Kong Yuan,you can save the Mountain and Sea Realm even more power!"

The sky-blue divine light had no reaction.Jiang Wang's gaze lowered slightly:"Then, I request that the power of this Jade Bibe given to Zuo Guangshu, to help him obtain the Nine Phoenix Chapter."

Perhaps some rule was triggered.The sky-blue divine light flashed,and the Si Mei Ren Jade Bi had already disappeared.Secret techniques, diagrams, dense annotations...flooded in instantaneously,giving Jiang Wang a sensation of his headswelling infinitely larger.

It was already over.The sky-blue divine light had begun to flicker.Jiang Wang knew not where he found the courage,but suddenly pressed a finger out,a flicker of Samadhi True Fireon the tip of his index finger,pierced through the sky-blue phoenix divine light.

He felt a power of destruction.But the Nine Chapters Jade Bi upon him protected him.The sky-blue divine light flashed violently,everything within the range of his five senses vanished.

In the final moments of leaving the Mountain and Sea Realm,Jiang Wang captured a tiny piece of information—Kong Yuan and Jia Xuan had jointly stabilized the Mountain and Sea Realm's order,and had already completed the distribution of authority.Kong Yuan took over the sky and the floating mountains.Jia Xuan controlled the Fallen South Abyss and the great sea.Kong Yuan governed the day.Jia Xuan governed the night.They each fulfilled their duties, each guarding their divine names.The Mountain Gods were led by Kong Yuan,the Sea Gods paid allegiance to Jia Xuan.In a completely new order.The Mountain and Sea Realm was reborn.

But he did not see San Cha.He didn't even find... the body that had been crushed into a meat patty.

"The gods have their gods, the ghosts have their ghosts.""To comprehend anew is sought, yet to attain clarity is hard.""Life here is as the mountains and seas, death there is as sand."

Jiang Wang remembered the words he had seenon the Mount Zhang'e Mountain God wall...The last line was "Nine Chapters fully revealed, this seal method is imparted."But when the Nine Chapters were fully revealed... was it merely a seal method that was imparted?The so-called "The gods have their gods, the ghosts have their ghosts."Was it not a manifestation of order?Everything has its order, everything develops according to its order.The vast and boundless Mountain and Sea Realm.It did not exist for Chaos.It did not perish for Zhujiuyin.It did not care about a San Cha.Thus it continued for centuries, for millennia, until...That great existence who created all thisreturned from fantasy.

Of course, there were sparks of revolution.Of course, there was the power of defiance.But these, too, were part of reality.This is what made it more real.The meaning of life lies in defiance,the reality of the world lies in resistance.

Chaos's rebellion and Zhujiuyin's ambition,their confrontation and arrangements stretching over nine hundred years...these were all their contributions to the world'smovement towards reality.

Huang Weizhen had truly died,leaving no puppets, no remnant consciousness,interfering in no way with the Mountain and Sea Realmnine hundred years later.Everything that happened within the Mountain and Sea Realmwas the choice of free will.Yet, after such a world-shaking turmoil,the Mountain and Sea Realm had only progressed a step further.No one could truly stop it, no one could truly influence it.Huang Weizhen no longer existed,yet he was everywhere.The legend left behind over nine hundred years agocontinued over nine hundred years later.Everything, no matter how it evolved—this was his world.This was the great existence who stood at the end of the extraordinary,taking that crucial step towards the ultimate peak...

Peering at such a mighty figure,who could not feel their own insignificance?

Jiang Wang remembered what Wang Changji had said—"I am just a small thief passing by,taking a ladle of water while the master is away."At that time, he thought it was Wang Changji's humility,now he knew he had simply recognized the truth early on.

At the end of its life burning, before crossing with its body,Chaos shouted Huang Weizhen.Perhaps it saw something.But perhaps... its final cry at the end of its lifewas merely accumulating resourcesfor the next evolution of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Despite his lingering hatred for Chaos,remembering these things, he couldn't help but feel despair for Chaos.But from this, he could even more deeplyunderstand Chaos's cry for freedom.It absolutely refused to live its entire life under some kind of control,though until the end, it never crossed that palm...

Zhujiuyin, and even the newly born Kong Yuan and Jia Xuan...How could they be exceptions?

Jiang Wang opened his eyes,finding himself still in Zuo Guangshu's room.They sat facing each other, their postures unchangedfrom before they left.The two Jade Bis in his hands had disappeared.Only one, named Ju Song, floated between him and Zuo Guangshu.And Zuo Guangshu happened to open his eyes at that moment.

On his handsome face, a brilliant smile shone,sharing his joy with Jiang Wang immediately:"Elder Brother! I have obtained the Nine Phoenix Chapter!"

Jiang Wang naturally felt happy along with him.But after the initial joy, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.The final information transmitted into his mindfrom the Mountain and Sea Realm was the secret of Huang Weizhen's Divine Presence.There were secret methods for condensing spiritual consciousness,and various insights into Huang Weizhen'sachievement of Divine Presence...One could not say it was not abundant.His gains, Zuo Guangshu's gains, were both so remarkable.One could imagine that the gains of Wang Changji, Dou Zhao, and the otherswould not be far behind.

The reason the Mountain and Sea Realm was so "generous"was naturally because it had received sufficient returns.He did not envy Huang Weizhen's achievements,and found it difficult to harbor any emotions towards Huang Weizhen,who had died years ago.This journey to the Mountain and Sea Realm,from two drops of strange beast essence blood, two seal methods,to the secret of Divine Presence,he could be said to have earned a full pot.

But...Some losses are forever lost.Some existences, once erased, can never return.For thousands of years, for tens of thousands of years,and even longer, only one Huang Weizhenhad the opportunity to return from fantasy.What was the leader of the Misfortune Hounds on the Volcano Islandof the Mountain and Sea Realm?It was casually swatted to death by Chaos.And Chaos itself, too, merely struggled powerlessly.That world had a new order, a new beginning.New Misfortune Hound King Beasts would appear on the Volcano Island,but it would never be San Cha again.

Holding the Misfortune Hound essence blood in his hand,Jiang Wang felt it was even hotter, even more ferventthan the Bi Fang essence blood.When he was at the Arctic Tian Gui Mountain,Chaos had secretly planted a chess piece in his Immortal Palace,using his Cloud Top Immortal Palace as one of its retreats.He had kept completely silent about this,and after San Cha's death, he was even prepared to battleChaos's remnant soul.If Chaos's struggle failed and it attempted to use its fallback.He would certainly let Chaos know how heavy his anger was.But in the end... Chaos gouged its own seven apertures,opening the five senses for the beings of the Mountain and Sea Realm,allowing them a glimpse of the present world,but it did not activate this hidden move.His plan for revenge for San Cha thus fell through.

The most devastating emptiness is not when things are irreversible,not when one cannot turn back.It is when, after things are irreversible and one cannot turn back,he can no longer do anything for San Cha.

"Elder Brother Jiang?" Zuo Guangshu's smile faded,looking at him with some worry:"Are you unhappy?"

"How could I be!" Jiang Wang smiled warmly:"Hurry and cultivate the Nine Phoenix Chapter,let me see what kind of divine ability it is!"He was already accustomed to composing himselfin front of Jiang An'an, facing the storms alone.Towards Zuo Guangshu, he had similar feelings.

Zuo Guangshu was half-believing:"You seem to have something on your mind..."

Jiang Wang forced a very deliberate,very smug laugh:"I'm just thinking, so many geniuses,struggling to cross the Mountain and Sea Realm.There are a total of nine Jade Bis,and the two of us got three!What do you call standing out!What do you call suppressing all heroes?Hahahahaha, I really don't knowwhat mood those who were eliminated must be in!"

"Ah!" Zuo Guangshu suddenly let out a strange cry,his face changing.Without a word, he shot out of the room,turned twice, and was gone.Leaving his Elder Brother Jiang,who had just led him to sweep through the Mountain and Sea Realm,alone in the room...In a daze."Huh?"