Chapter 630: Dao Market |
The First God had chosen to self-destruct to stay true to himself. In the end, he had chosen not to become like the people he despised.
The red-robed lady was silent for a while before she shook her head and muttered, "What a shame."
With that, she turned around and drifted away.
Meanwhile, the old man couldn't stop crying as he sat on the ground next to the First God. After a while, he bent down and carried the First God on his back. His voice was trembling as he said, "Young Master, let this old servant bring you home."
The old man took to the sky and disappeared into the depths of the starry sky with the First God on his back.
The scene abruptly came to a halt.
The Divine Lord looked at Sifan Jing and said, "Clan Leader Jing, there shouldn't be such a deep enmity between you and Young Lord Ye. How come it seems like you're getting ready to take that final step to go head-to-head with him?"
Sifan Jing asked, "Do you not understand? It's simple. It's just a conflict between our ideologies."
Ye Guan was walking on the First God's path to establish order, while Sifan Jing was trying to establish a world without order. In other words, they'd inevitably fight each other.
"I remember Master once contemplating over that," the Divine Lord said, "The lifespan of the living beings throughout the vast expanse increases in a seemingly limitless manner the stronger they become. To that, Master once offered his opinion, saying that the Human Dao and the Heavenly Dao are incompatible by nature. And cultivation itself going against the natural order…"
Sifan Jing asked, "Are you going to stand on Ye Guan's side?"
"I just hope that Clan Leader Jing will give him a chance. Let him try, at the very least," said the Divine Lord.
Sifan Jing shook her head and said, "He's not good enough to establish any order. He's too young. He's just a hot-blooded youth with a naive mindset…"
"Who knows?" The Divine Lord said, "Perhaps Master had chosen him because of his hot-bloodedness and naivety…"
Sifan Jing frowned.
The Divine Lord chuckled softly and said, "We tend to be a little self-righteous because we can see into the future. We deny Ye Guan because we've seen a world with an order before, but the order ended up in a catastrophic failure. Moreover, the backlash was severe. When the guardians of the universe were freed from their restraints, they became the greatest enemies of the vast expanse and its myriad of living beings. I also believe that Young Lord Ye can't possibly do a better job than Master. How could he possibly do that when he's so young? However..."
The Divine Lord stared deeply at Sifan Jing and asked, "What right do we have to assume that he can't do better than Master?"
Sifan Jing remained silent.
"Clan Leader Jing, why don't we give him a chance to try? If he fails, then it doesn't matter. He can't force his will on the myriad of living beings. The Universe Tribulation will still come. Of course, she can choose to annihilate all living beings, but isn't that kind of going against our goals, too?"
"Why are you speaking up for him?" Sifan Jing asked.
The Divine Lord grinned and extended a finger. She tapped the space in front of them, and a scene appeared before them.
Ye Guan walked out of a stone house and found himself aimlessly wandering the streets of a small town. He was clearly in a dilemma, debating whether to save Lin Daimei's grandmother or not.
Saving Lin Daimei's grandmother meant attracting Ah Nan's attention, which would put him in danger, but if he didn't save her, then she would certainly...
The two ladies watched as Ye Guan returned to the stone house and kicked open its door.
The white-robed Sifan Jing turned to look at the Divine Lord. The little girl behind the door, Lin Daimei, looked exactly like her.
Sifan Jing asked, "Were you testing him?"
"No," the Divine Lord replied, shaking her head.
Sifan Jing's brows knitted together.
The Divine Lord smiled and said, "Let me keep you guessing for now."
Sifan Jing closed her eyes slowly and frowned. "How is this possible…"
"Clan Leader Jing, the Universe Tribulation will erupt in less than ten years. By then, he'll have to overcome the biggest hurdle of his life. It'd be great if he manages to deal with the Universe Tribulation. If he fails to handle it, then the Evil Dao will return, and the vast expanse will be restarted. The world will no longer have order. Ten years, all I'm asking is ten years for this new Master of mine. Is that okay for you?"
"The vast expanse is better off without any order."
"Master once said that the vast expanse is just a desolate wasteland without its myriad beings."
After a moment of silence, Sifan Jing turned around to leave, but she turned to the Divine Lord upon recalling something and asked, "Why are you not stopping those so-called Gods from targeting him?"
The Divine Lord calmly replied, "Because it's a futile endeavor, as they are too greedy to see clearly. It all started with that internal strife in the Divine Temple."
Once pure and honest, they were now driven by greed. She was the Divine Lord, but she couldn't control those Gods—or rather, pseudo-Gods.
Sifan Jing nodded slightly and disappeared into the distant end of the starry sky.
Ten years? She didn't mind waiting for another ten years.
Left all alone, the Divine Lord stood quietly with a contemplative look for a long time. Eventually, she looked up to stare into the depths of the starry sky. Her gaze seemed to ignore the concept of distance itself as it reached a certain door.
After a while, the Divine Lord turned around and left.
***
Ye Guan was in the middle of his journey to the Yin-Yang World under Mu Yuan's lead. He had decided to use Sword Travel to traverse the starry sky.
Swoosh!
Two streaks of sword light appeared on his flank, and they were Lin Daimei and Guo Dan. The two had become proficient and strong enough to traverse the starry skies using Sword Travel.
They were no longer satisfied with staying in the world inside the tiny pagoda, but they knew that there was nowhere else for them to go, so they compromised with going out to chat with Ye Guan during idle times.
"Master, how's the speed of my Sword Travel?" Lin Daimei asked with a smile. She gestured with her fingers, and she transformed into a streak of sword light that took to the sky. The air shrieked beneath the power of her movement, and there were even fissures in space itself.
Ye Guan smiled upon seeing how good Lin Daimei had become at using Sword Travel.
"You truly are a talent."
"I can do it, too!" Guo Dan chimed in and soared to the sky on his sword.
The two kids started competing whose Sword Travel was quicker, and they streaked across the sky like two shooting stars…
Once they were starting to become exhausted, they returned to Ye Guan's side with delighted faces.
Lin Daimei cast a look of anticipation at Ye Guan as she asked, "How was it?"
Ye Guan gave her a thumbs up and said, "You're better than me when I was your age."
Lin Daimei's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Ye Guan nodded. "Yes."
Lin Daimei immediately turned to Guo Dan with a taunting look.
Guo Dan shrugged. At first, he wanted to retort, but he realized the futility of it. After all, he couldn't really beat her.
Lin Daimei suddenly asked, "Master, where are we going?"
Ye Guan replied, "We're going to the Yin-Yang World."
"What kind of place is it?"
"I don't know."
Lin Daimei was about to ask more questions when Ye Guan sensed something and turned to stare into the depths of the starry sky.
A strange black cloud was up above, and it was blocking their path.
Ye Guan released his divine sense, but it was repelled the moment it made contact with the black cloud.
Ye Guan was surprised, and he watched as a cloud ship emerged from the black cloud.
An old lady dressed in a cloth skirt stood at the bow of the cloud ship with a lantern in hand.
The dim light from the lantern cast eerie shadows on her face, making her look rather frightening.
Lin Daimei and Guo Dan's faces turned pale at the sight. They were already cultivators, but they were still afraid of ghosts and monsters. It couldn't be helped as they had grown up in a small town of mortals.
The old lady's gaze swept across Guo Dan and Lin Daimei before settling on Ye Guan.
"Why have you decided to trespass on the Dao Market?"
Ye Guan was a little puzzled. "The Dao Market?"
"You don't know what the Dao Market is?"
"We were just passing by; we didn't mean to trespass," Ye Guan replied, and then he asked, "Senior, do you know anything about this so-called Dao Market?"
Mu Yuan replied, "I've never heard of it."
The old lady stared at Ye Guan for a few moments before asking, "Would you like to come in and take a look?"
Ye Guan glanced at the dark sea of clouds and asked, "Sure, I'd love to learn more about it."
The old lady nodded and said, "Shall we talk on the ship?"
Ye Guan tapped on Lin Daimei and Guo Dan's shoulders, and the two instantly understood him, promptly returning to the world inside the tiny pagoda.
Meanwhile, Ye Guan transformed into a streak of sword light and landed on the cloud ship.
"Have a seat," the old lady said. A wooden stool appeared out of thin air behind Ye Guan.
Ye Guan sat down, and the old lady poured him a cup of spirit tea. The teacup flew to Ye Guan with a gentle push from the old lady.
Ye Guan stared patiently at the old lady, waiting for her to talk about the Dao Market.
The old lady glanced at Ye Guan's storage ring and said, "I can tell that you're not an ordinary person."
Ye Guan remained calm as he asked, "Can you please tell me more about this Dao Market?"
"Simply put, The Dao Market is a mobile market. You can find and buy almost everything there. Of course, you need to be able to afford it."
"What currency is being used inside?"
"Any currency will do as long as the seller wants it. However, the Gods of this First God Universe of yours use Ancestral Origin as their currency…"
"'First God Universe of yours'? Are you not from here?"
"The Dao Market has come here to do business with the Gods here. You can enter the market, as you clearly have fate with the Dao Market by coming across it out of luck. There is an entry fee, though. It's not expensive, just ten strands of Ancestral Origin."
Ye Guan opened his palm, and ten strands of Ancestral Origin floated over to the old lady. The old lady smiled as she accepted the strands gracefully.
Ye Guan took out five strands of Ancestral Origin and sent them toward the old lady. However, the old lady cast a questioning look at Ye Guan instead of accepting the strands.
"Can I ask you a few questions in exchange for these strands of Ancestral Origin?" Ye Guan asked.
"I can't give you the answers that you need, as there are rules that I have to follow. Of course, I can answer you if you're the First God…" the old lady replied.
Ye Guan frowned. "What does that even mean?"
"Only the ruler of this universe can know about my origins," the old lady explained.
Ye Guan went silent. She didn't expect the old lady to act in such an ambiguous and mysterious manner.
"The First God is no longer around," Ye Guan said.
The old lady's eyes lit up as she replied, "So the First God Universe has lost its ruler?"
Ye Guan was about to say something when the old lady realized something and beat him to the chase, muttering, "No wonder those Gods have been talking nonstop about the First God. It turns out that it's all because he's no longer around. In that case, the agreement I had made with him back then is no longer valid…"