Chapter Thirty-Six: Truth and Falsehood

A bright full moon hung high in the sky, its light bathing the earth in radiance. From some unknown corner, a shadow darted out swiftly. Its movements were strange, the figure flickering between light and darkness, blending into the moonlight, nearly invisible to the naked eye.

Stumbling, the shadow headed toward the World Tree. The elongated darkness it cast was swallowed by deeper shadows. Cautiously surveying his surroundings, he finally tapped lightly on the World Tree with his finger. Sword intent blossomed, sword energy poured in.

Gradually, the World Tree parted in the middle, and thick, swirling mists rolled forth.

“I didn’t expect there to be an entirely different paradise inside the World Tree!” Xu Zhong gazed at the yawning portal within the trunk, astonished.

The spiritual energy pouring out washed over him, making him feel as if he were floating, immersed once more in the womb, as if he could shed the constraints of acquired existence and embrace the innate.

The Yuanyang Sword transformed into a blue dragon.

The blue dragon perched on his shoulder, peering inside. It sensed exhaustion. “The innate energy here is far thinner than it was fifteen thousand years ago. In time, it may all be transformed into acquired energy.”

Now understanding what flowed here was pure innate energy, Xu Zhong breathed with effort, drawing it greedily.

They walked toward the World Tree. Mist swallowed him, pulling him into the Ninefold Heavens.

Indeed, within the World Tree, another world existed.

Streets crisscrossed, each with a drum tower at its entrance. Covered walkways spanned the open air, pedestrians bustled beneath ornate eaves and tinkling wind chimes, painted pavilions soared above. Among them walked mechanical giants, and monsters of half-human, half-demon form conversed in human speech.

A water demon, pure and translucent, stood before Xu Zhong as if waiting for him.

“You are Xu Zhong?”

Xu Zhong nodded.

“Come with me.”

Xu Zhong followed the water demon forward. The layout of the Ninefold Heavens’ streets seemed not so different from the outside world.

He noticed watchtowers beside every drum tower. Within those, mechanical sentries—eyes set with night-pearls glowing blue—swept the street below with their crossbows. The sentries in each of these countless towers coordinated seamlessly, able to unleash deadly bolts anywhere in the city, leaving no blind spots.

Following the water demon, Xu Zhong arrived before a drum tower.

The official inside, responsible for keeping time, glanced at the water demon and quickly rose.

“Please summon Elder Ling.”

The official nodded. After a while, a hunched old man with sharp eyes appeared before Xu Zhong.

“Take him to the Third Heaven. Lady Huhe wants to see him,” the water demon said.

“Lady Huhe hasn’t received visitors in ages. The wheel she left with me is nearly rusted,” mused Elder Ling.

He produced a golden wheel and gave it a gentle spin. The wall before Xu Zhong shifted, and a lift platform appeared from thin air, its jade surface glowing faintly with spatial power.

Two Yellow-Turban Warriors stood guard, one on each side.

“Take this celestial pass. Don’t lose it,” Elder Ling instructed, handing Xu Zhong a carefully inscribed token.

Xu Zhong nodded numbly.

He stepped onto the platform.

The platform began to rise.

Moments later, it had ascended three thousand yards—he took in the entirety of the First Heaven at a glance.

In the blink of an eye, he passed through the First Heaven.

The Second Heaven appeared before him, then quickly vanished.

Soon, the platform arrived at the Third Heaven.

The Third Heaven was an endless sea, with cities and towers built on suspended walkways.

The air rang with countless voices—the throng consisted entirely of monsters.

All manner of monsters.

All manner of water demons.

There were hardly any humans.

As soon as he stepped off the platform, someone came to guide him.

The water demons along the aerial corridors eyed Xu Zhong with curiosity.

Fortunately, before long, he reached his destination.

“Lady Huhe, I trust you have been well?” The blue dragon stood behind Xu Zhong, addressing the woman before them.

She was a woman—exceedingly beautiful.

“Yuanyang, it has been a long time.” The two seemed old acquaintances. Lady Huhe turned to Xu Zhong. “You are the heir of Zhou Jing?”

Her gaze was heavy. As it fell on his shoulder, a surge of magic poured into Xu Zhong’s body, only to be suppressed and devoured by the five-element thunder pool within him.

“You do indeed carry a sword path much like his,” Lady Huhe remarked, turning away.

At that moment, Xu Zhong realized he could not move, compelled by Lady Huhe to follow her step by step. The blue dragon remained silent, its intentions inscrutable.

The water demons along the corridor instinctively stepped aside, bowing low as Lady Huhe passed.

“Then you may be of some use.” Her words brimmed with murderous intent.

Lady Huhe stopped at the highest point of the Third Heaven.

A thatched cottage.

By the cottage, Xu Zhong saw the Ghost Mother.

At the stone table before the cottage, Lady Huhe took her seat and gestured for Xu Zhong to sit opposite her.

The Ghost Mother, like a maidservant, served tea, pouring two cups.

At the first whiff, the tea’s fragrance overwhelmed his senses. As he inhaled, the spiritual energy within him began, under its influence, to circulate through his meridians on its own.

“This is Snow Mountain Spirit Tea—a great aid to cultivators. It increases one’s innate energy. Though you are only at the Five Luminaries stage, you can refine this single cup.”

Without suspicion, Xu Zhong raised the cup and drank in one gulp. The tea became swirling spiritual energy, surging through the Five Luminaries within him, stirring the boundless vitality hidden in the wood aspect, permeating every corner of his being.

This single cup saved Xu Zhong months, even years of cultivation.

“Lady Huhe, what exactly do you want?” Xu Zhong set down the cup. “If you desire my sword path, take it. If you want my life, you may have it as well.”

Against overwhelming power, all resistance was futile. He might as well be forthright.

Lady Huhe swirled her tea, watching the ripples but not drinking.

The two stared at each other for a long time before Lady Huhe finally set down her cup. “It’s simple. I want your body.”

“???” Xu Zhong’s face was filled with disbelief.

“Not in the way you think.” She rose. “I mean to seize your body for myself.”

Seize—to take another’s body; relinquish—to abandon one’s own. This was possession.

“I don’t understand!” Xu Zhong was utterly perplexed. Why would Lady Huhe want such a thing? From any perspective, it seemed impossible.

“Perhaps you truly don’t understand.” Lady Huhe set down her cup. “But that’s perfectly normal.”

Xu Zhong felt lost.

“Do you know why the Dragon Capital Emperor chose to lead the whole ancient Yuet Kingdom through tribulation?” Lady Huhe asked.

Jiang Xuanyi had once told him the answer.

“For immortality?” Yet now, Xu Zhong felt uncertain about that answer.

“For immortality!” Lady Huhe scoffed. “Such a foolish answer!”

“You believe it only because you know nothing of the ancient Yuet Kingdom.” She patted Xu Zhong’s shoulder.

A wave of magic entered his eyes.

Before him, a vision unfolded.

The ancient Yuet Kingdom!

It was an age ruled by humans.

Deities were appointed by mortal kings.

All the gods—at their inception—were tasked with protecting humanity.

Mountain gods guarded temples, restraining monsters.

River gods dwelled in mighty rivers, dispensing rain and clouds.

Earth gods nurtured the land, ensuring bountiful harvests.

It was a golden age—an era where every person could cultivate, everyone was as a dragon.

There was no clear distinction between cultivators and mortals; the two interconverted freely.

“In the ancient Yuet Kingdom, all enjoyed the right to immortality, for each could achieve it through their own cultivation.”

The Ghost Mother, Zhou Jing—they were people of that era.

Xu Zhong looked at the Ghost Mother.

She nodded.

“So tell me, why would the Dragon Capital Emperor attempt to lift an entire nation already capable of attaining immortality through their own efforts into ascension?” Lady Huhe asked.

Xu Zhong shook his head, stupefied.

Perhaps, he thought, it was arrogance?

“He was not arrogant. He was more clear-sighted than any of us,” Lady Huhe said, gazing up at the illusory world. “He was the first among us to awaken.”

“He did it because he discovered a secret—a secret that left him no other choice.”

Xu Zhong straightened, listening intently.

“He discovered the entire world was a lie!”

Her words thundered in his ears, drowning out all other sounds. He heard nothing but that one sentence.

“Which world?” he asked.

“The world you came from,” Lady Huhe replied. “Like this Dragon Capital Heaven, it too is a false world, a projection from a cultivator’s inner landscape.”

“The Dragon Capital Emperor, upon learning this, sought to lead the entire nation through tribulation, to ascend to the real world.”

“But he failed!” Xu Zhong said in a daze.

“No. He succeeded,” Lady Huhe countered.

Xu Zhong’s eyes widened in shock, at a loss, but he knew Lady Huhe would continue.

“He succeeded; but at that very moment, a sword flew from beyond the heavens, pinning him—and the entire inner world—here forever.”