Yes, who else? Even before the voice could validate Heaven's doubts, she'd already determined its owner. Heaven knew that, unbeknown to all, Shenzhuo fudged the Nine-Jade Crown, yet didn't expect him to make an appearance at this precise moment.
Heaven...didn't have all the answers. And the one who now meddled with her plans was the primary cause of her weakened foresight.
Clouds of mist poured out of the Nine-Jade Crown, coalescing into a white-robed figure, with lustrous silver hair, impeccable skin and soul-crushing handsomeness.
"Heaven, as one of the Ancestral Origins of Life, how can you fall so low as to try to violate a boy by trillions of years your junior? And to even go as far as to use his mother's appearance...Heaven, I underestimated your shamelessness." Shenzhuo made his entrance, snatching the focus of Heaven and Xinzi alike.
"Shame? Though I understand the meaning of shame, I can't feel it. Shame is one of the privileges of inferior lifeforms. Why should it apply to me?" Heaven tilted her head, honestly surprised by Shenzhuo's question.
"Shenzhuo, you know better. And if anything, it is you and Yongye that ought to feel ashamed. I gave you my eyes, thereby losing a large chunk of my Omniscience and Omnipresence. But how did you reward me? Shenzhuo, Shenzhuo, you were always such a good boy. Why did you have to let Yongye lead you astray?
Was Yaochi not the perfect empress?
I gave you a treasure that all men would kill to possess, but you scorned her, shamed her...just to fall into Yongye's arms? I don't understand. What is it with you male Primevals that make you lose all brain cells when it comes to Yongye? It's fascinating, really, so just to be safe, I had to use an altered version of her appearance to guarantee maximum results." Heaven clapped back.
As the names implied, Shenzhuo's Glorious Eye of Heaven and Yongye's Dark Eye of Heaven both came from Heaven itself. These were gifts granted in times immemorial so that those two could lead the war against forgotten powers. There could only be one Glorious Eye of Heaven and one Dark Eye of Heaven, so by giving them to Shenzhuo and Yongye, Heaven lost critical parts of her attributes.
"Yongye could do what Yaochi could not: understand me. For as long as I can remember, only Yongye has managed to do so. And perhaps because she's the only person that I couldn't see through, I was doomed to fall for her.
But Heaven, you're getting your facts twisted. All that you gave me—us—you did so you could use us to implement your designs." Deep melancholy flashed through Shenzhuo's silver eyes, carrying memories that he'd rather forget.
"Heaven, you used me to destroy those that you considered threats, to shape the world as you saw fit. You exploited me, just like Yongye now tries to exploit her son. In the past, as the eldest of the Divines, I had to become the bridge between you and the Divine Spirits. I had to shoulder that responsibility, lest one day you try to exterminate us as you did with..." Shenzhuo bit his lips, and his words trailed off.
"I have never considered rebelling against your will, but having served you for eons, I owe you nothing. Since Yongye and you are both trying to ruin my son, I have no choice but to step in." His eyes burning with determination, Shenzhuo stretched his right hand out, summoning a silver greatsword that shone with resplendent light, coiling white lightning, and burning flames. Faced with this sword, Heaven's cheeks twitched.
"The Severing Dao Blade? Shenzhuo, do you understand the consequences of what you're about to do?" Heaven asked, and to say nothing of her, Xinzi too couldn't believe what he saw. And as he wondered why Shenzhuo would go that far for him, confusion twisted his face.
Also known as the Sword of Tiandi, the Severing Dao Blade was to the Celestial Paradise what the royal seal was to a mortal state: the manifestation of the sovereign's will. In Shenzhuo's hand, that sword possessed the unique ability to detach Heaven from the Celestial Paradise.
Yes, should Shenzhuo execute that supreme skill, Heaven would lose access to the Celestial Paradise—thereby suffering catastrophic losses. But to activate that skill...Shenzhuo had to die.
"To resist you, my son wants to enter the Bitter Sea. That...is the only thing I need to consider."
"So be it. I'd rather lose the Celestial Paradise than lose Hengye Zhen. Shenzhuo, go ahead and sever me. Eventually, I will still overwhelm your son and make him mine." Heaven spread her arms wide, and as she dared Shenzhuo to strike, her lips curled into a sinister smile.
'This is a terrible move.' Xinzi couldn't accept this turn of events. With Heaven gone and Shenzhuo dead, Yongye's dominion over the Celestial Paradise would become absolute. Yanglong's Heavenly Decree would lose at least two-thirds of its power, leaving him defenseless before Yongye's might.
With this one move, regardless of his original intentions, Shenzhuo would end up gifting the entirety of the Celestial Paradise to Yongye—all without eradicating the threat that Xinzi faced. He knew it, Xinzi knew it, Heaven knew it, and perhaps...so did Yongye.
Yes. Xinzi wouldn't be surprised if the ongoing events fell within his mother's calculations. If from the start, she noticed the little addition that Shenzhuo made to the Nine-Jade Crown, but turned a blind eye so she could profit from future conflicts. But even if Xinzi knew, what could he do?
How could he turn the tides?
Shenzhuo brought the answer.
"Heaven, you're correct. So Zhen'er, the next move will depend on you. Listen...and listen very carefully to what I'm about to say." Shenzhuo's lips curled into a gentle smile. That smile alerted Heaven's senses, making her face twist uncontrollably.
"Zhen'er, all practitioners across the multiverse want techniques, methods, skills that will enable them to reach the peak of the cultivation road. They believe that the stronger the technique, the greater their chances to reach the peak. But they're wrong. At its core, immortal cultivation...is just a breathing exercise," Shenzhuo said and cast Xinzi a sidelong glance.
"You don't need any technique, mnemonic, mantra, sutra or whatnot. It's all irrelevant, imperfect and corrupted even. The essence of cultivation is...to breathe. So Zhen'er...breathe."
"What did you just say?" Shenzhuo's words made a mess of Xinzi's mind. Not due to the outlandish take that'd make even senior experts roll their eyes, but because they reminded him of precepts that his master, Abbot Qingxin, once taught him.
'Xinzi, why do you want a cultivation method? To practice Qi, all you have to do is to breathe. Don't get swindled by all those fanciful techniques. I've yet to complete my research, but I'm convinced that the essence of cultivation is...to breathe.'
Yes...back then, Xinzi wondered if Qingxin hadn't been driven mad by exile. But now, even Shenzhuo said the same thing. And thanks to Heaven's grimacing face, Xinzi could tell that his father's words hid profound secrets.
"Don't hesitate. Just follow my lead. Breathe, carry the breath of the world through your meridians and unlock...your true Swallowing Skill. Heaven is right. You're different from us. You're like them. So I'm convinced that one day, you can master...The Breath." Shenzhuo smiled at Xinzi and put his left hand on his son's shoulder.
Soothing waves of warmth flooded Xinzi's body. Letting those waves carry him, he closed his eyes, joined his hands in a mudra, and pulled in a deep breath.
In that instant, it was as if all the Qi of heaven and earth, all the elements and particles scattered throughout the world, united in tidal waves and poured into Xinzi's mouth and nostrils.
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