Chapter 39

For some time, the humans of the Hunsaili world had discovered various ways to break free from the human shell.

The Dao, the Buddha, the Devil, the Martial, the Law, and so on.

Among them, the greatest human was Bodhidharma.

He was the first human to transcend the human shell.

Becoming a cosmic being, Bodhidharma suddenly bid farewell to the Chan School of Central Plains and set out for a new world, and at that moment, three seekers who were not Hunsaili disciples but had transcended the human realm followed him.

Yitian Zunzi.

Hunsaima.

Wutian Daoren.

Apart from Bodhidharma, these three seekers had achieved the most secluded realm in the Hunsaili world and revered him greatly.

To them, Bodhidharma seemed like a true god, and they were filled with the belief that by following him, they too could achieve the same realm as Bodhidharma.

However, they soon realized how futile their belief was.

Bodhidharma no longer had any humanity.

His "humanity," which had preached the Dharma to save foolish sentient beings, had vanished without a trace, and in its place, endless emptiness and playfulness had taken hold in his heart.

The Dharma Jade.

It was the first spirit jade created by Bodhidharma using his own powers.

He had thrown such a Dharma Jade into the Hunsaili world as if it were a joke.

The Dharma Jade was a kind of plaything to experiment with the greed and desires of humans.

He gave humans superhuman abilities through the Dharma Jade, causing their souls to corrupt, and then absorbed them with his own powers.

The Dharma Jade gave birth to countless kings, ministers, scholars, and warriors in the world.

As the Dharma Jade accumulated boundless karma and tribulations, Bodhidharma converted all that power into his own and one day vanished.

The three seekers who followed Bodhidharma were shocked when they discovered the traces left by his powers.

It was the last play of Bodhidharma himself, the "reincarnation" spoken of in Buddhism.

Bodhidharma had discarded all the powers and enlightenment he had accumulated throughout his life like a piece of trash, erased all his memories, and initiated the tribulation of reincarnation.

Cao Cao, who had heard the explanation, swallowed a groan.

"Then, could our Yitian Blood Jade also be...?"

"Yes. The three disciples who received Bodhidharma's teachings also created spirit jades using their own powers. However, their spirit jades were imperfect as they did not reach Bodhidharma's realm."

The Sword Deity interjected.

"In what way were they imperfect?"

"Originally, a human's soul, or spiritual energy, is entirely their own. It is a law of this world that one person's spiritual energy cannot be taken by another. However, the Dharma Jade was a Dharma treasure that broke even this law."

"..."

The words of Tianyouzi became very cautious.

"However, the three seekers, who were Bodhidharma's disciples, knew the secret technique of corrupting humans through greed and binding their souls, but they did not know the secret technique of converting the accumulated spiritual energy into their own powers. This is because Bodhidharma did not teach them this principle."

"Ah...!"

"Ugh...!"

Only then did the ancestors of the Cao family understand, swallowing a deep groan.

They knew that when souls accumulated in the spirit jade, it would cause the tribulation of reincarnation.

This was the reason the Cao family took the Yitian Blood Jade, driven by their burning desire for revenge against the Sima family.

"From what I can guess, the three seekers could not reincarnate."

Tianyouzi's long explanation continued.

When the souls in the spirit jade accumulated to a certain level, the accumulated spiritual energy would be converted into infinite power, and a reincarnated being would be born with a certain probability.

And no one knew what that probability was.

"Instead, they left a strong wish to the first ones who took the spirit jade. I, too, possess the self of Hunsaima."

Cao Cao was startled.

"Then, are you that 'Hunsaima'?"

"No. The essence of this Dao is Tianyouzi. I have only received his memories and will."

Tianyouzi's next words left all the venerables of the Cao family in shock.

"The essence of the Yitian Blood Jade and the Hunsai Celestial Jade is to prevent the 'reincarnation' of 'Bodhidharma.' The true background of the birth of the three spirit jades is to assist the reincarnated being and thereby eliminate the very existence of Bodhidharma through the combined experiences and abilities of the venerables."

The Sword Deity expressed his curiosity.

"That's strange. Didn't you say that Bodhidharma reincarnated, erasing all his memories? If so, wouldn't it mean that his essence, which harms the world, has disappeared?"

Suddenly, Tianyouzi burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Did you think Bodhidharma's essence was simply to harm the world?"

Tianyouzi's eyes emitted a fierce light.

"To him, the Hunsaili world is his vast experimental ground! He distorts and destroys the laws that sustain the world while observing the wills of some entities from the distant heavens!"

"..."

"What do you think the distortion and destruction of such pure laws by him will have on this Hunsaili world? Why don't you tell me?"

The Sword Deity's face turned pale.

"Surely...!"

"Yes. The Hunsaili world itself could disappear due to the transcendent entities. Bodhidharma is that terrifying. He is a mad being who experiments with the lives of countless people to satisfy his intellectual curiosity and playful heart."

"Phew...!"

"Moreover, the three seekers knew better than anyone the infinite powers of Bodhidharma. How can they confidently claim that he will never remember his essence? He could gain enlightenment and break the human shell at any time."

His words left all the venerables of the spirit realm with cold, rigid faces. It was truly a terrifying statement.

After witnessing all this, Cao Hui finally spoke. His expression was unusually serious.

"Could... that be me? Are you telling me to prevent the reincarnation of Bodhidharma?"

Tianyouzi gazed intently at Cao Hui.

"Even I do not know. As a human, how can I calculate the boundless probability? However, among those I have experienced, you are the only one born from a spirit jade."

Cao Hui thought deeply and then spoke again.

When all of Tianyouzi's words were considered, the most suspicious candidate for Bodhidharma's 'reincarnation' was clearly the 'Shenzuo.'

"Could this Shenzuo...?"

The Martial Deity nodded confidently.

"Definitely! The power to stop the flow of time in living souls and bodies, the Sealing Technique of Life, is an unfathomable power that even the great Tianyouzi, the ancestor of the Dao, could not block! It must be a secret technique of Bodhidharma!"

The secret technique the Martial Deity had encountered, used by the followers of Shenzuo, the 'Jintian Sect'!

Since it involved time, the technique was undoubtedly beyond the human realm.

Tianyouzi spoke again.

"At that time, when he died and came to the spirit realm, he threw a tantrum, asking me to delegate the authority of the spirit jade. The power of the spirit jade is to use some of the venerables' spiritual energy to attract the remaining spirit jades with the force of causality. With the Hunsai Celestial Jade sealed, we had no choice."

"Wow, so that's why I had to go to Shaolin Temple?"

"Yes."

From Cao Hui's perspective, the abilities of the three seekers were just as crazy as Bodhidharma's.

That is, the injury on Zhang Yilong's hand was also the result of the Hunsai Celestial Jade's ability to manipulate causality.

Isn't that ridiculous?

If so, does it mean that even his own feelings of concern for Zhang Yilong were manipulated by causality?

While Cao Hui was feeling absurd, the spirit realm suddenly began to shake.

Rumble.

A massive tremor, as if the world itself was shaking.

"What, what is this tremor?"

Tianyouzi's exasperated gaze fell on the extremely flustered Cao Hui.

"Ultimately, it has come to this. It was a foreseen event the moment I revealed Bodhidharma's secrets."

"Huh? What do you mean by that... Huh!"

A part of the vast sky of the spirit realm was literally tearing apart.

Soon, an immense golden light flowed out from the crack.

The Martial Deity's face turned pale.

"Surely not!"

It was a vast and boundless aura that was all too familiar to him.

It was the presence of a transcendent being that had driven him to death!

In the distant past, a massive evil spirit that had nearly destroyed Shaolin Temple was entering the spirit realm by tearing it apart.

"That, the Jintian Sect!"

A golden light more intense than sunlight.

The overwhelming presence of Putianhuang, as if crushing his entire body.

It was exactly the same divine presence of the Jintian Sect from long ago.

The Martial Deity could not understand at all.

It was seven hundred years ago.

How could a human, clearly wearing a black robe, maintain life for such a long time?

As the spirit realm continued to crack and tremble, it gradually subsided, and finally, the figure of 'one old man and two children' appeared in the spirit realm.

An old man draped in a dazzling golden light and two children laughing innocently.

Suddenly, the Sword Deity let out a deep groan.

"Ugh... those are the children of Shenzuo."

The children he had been on par with in the past.

These children did not seem to be the same ones he had met back then.

However, the bizarre and mischievous expressions, as if mocking the world, were clearly the unique characteristics of the 'children.'

The Sword Deity's reminiscence did not last long.

The one he was looking at, who even made the Martial Deity, who was almost at the same level as him, sweat with tension.

Rumble.

The 'Jintian Sect,' emitting golden light from his entire body, had no trace of humanity on his face.

Even a completely expressionless face would reveal some emotion if it were human, but he was like a wax figure.

It was as if he were looking at an inanimate object.

The Jintian Sect gazed at Tianyouzi with an insensate face.

It was not a human voice but a wave of spiritual energy, a spirit word.

Cao Hui looked at the Jintian Sect with a strange expression.

The presence was definitely inhuman, unlike the aura emitted by a human.

However, unlike the venerables who were frozen in shock, he did not feel such overwhelming fear.

It was somewhat... unrealistic?

He thought it was unlikely that his perception could be so shallow, but it felt as if he were watching it on a screen.

For example, in the movie 'Avengers,' Thanos, who can make half the universe disappear, is a god-like being, but no audience fears him because they know he is a 'fictional' character in the movie. Cao Hui felt the same way about the Jintian Sect.

Yeah, from now on, you're 'Goldnos.'

"Goldnos! Haha!"

Cao Hui's playful and cheerful imagination burst out of his mouth.

The expressionless face of the Jintian Sect, which seemed to remain unfeeling even if the world collapsed, began to show some emotion.

"Me?"

Cao Hui smirked.

The Martial Deity looked at Cao Hui, who had lost his composure, as if he were a madman.

The Jintian Sect standing before them was a being whose power could not be matched even by the combined abilities of all the venerables present.

Having reached the ultimate realm, the Jintian Sect's overwhelming presence must have been deeply felt, yet Cao Hui's absurd calmness was incomprehensible!

The children beside the Jintian Sect wore even more mischievous expressions.

Cao Hui looked bewildered.

What? Are they going to eat me? These brats!

"Are you saying you're cannibals? These kids have no filter in front of adults."

The Sword Deity sternly reprimanded Cao Hui.

"They are the children of Shenzuo that the former Zuo spoke of! Don't act rashly!"

"Wait, these kids?"

These brats are on par with the Sword Deity, a master of martial arts who has reached the natural realm?

Cao Hui couldn't understand easily.

While he didn't know much about the Jintian Sect, he couldn't feel anything particularly great from these children.

After examining the children for a long time with his White Eye, Cao Hui spoke with a bewildered expression.

"No, they really seem like nothing special."

The Sword Deity, who knew Cao Hui's Sword Heaven Omnipotent Body better than anyone, was flabbergasted.

Not feeling the great power of the children who had reached the natural realm?

How could he not feel the immense presence with the senses of someone who had reached the ultimate realm of absolute perfection?

Cao Hui also looked bewildered.

The depth of martial arts passed down through the Sword Heaven Omnipotent Body is the natural realm.

Yet, they felt like characters in a movie or a cartoon, just like the Jintian Sect.

Like Son Goku in Dragon Ball, who can destroy the universe and is a god-like being, but he's not scary because people know he's a fictional character.

"That's strange."

The Sword Deity, who was beside Cao Hui, asked.

"What's strange?"

"Why are they so afraid? To me, they just feel like fictional characters."

"Fictional characters?"

Suddenly, the expressionless face of the Jintian Sect began to waver with numerous emotions.

The Jintian Sect made a decision.

He must cut down this person before he realizes the futility of their existence.

The Jintian Sect raised a massive golden sword and slashed horizontally at Cao Hui.

The Sword Deity and the Martial Deity were shocked and stood against the Jintian Sect's golden sword.

The Absolute Sword Wall of the World!

The Demon Ring Flame Sky Wall!

Despite the appearance of two of the most powerful defensive sword techniques in martial history, they crumbled miserably upon contact with the Jintian Sect's golden sword.

Clang!

Whoosh!

However, Cao Hui did not counter with martial arts but observed the golden sword persistently, raising only his Sword Heaven Omnipotent Body.

The immense power was undeniable.

But...

'What is this?'

The mathematical principle transmitted within Cao Hui's perception range was 'virtual displacement.'

To counter the enormous physical value of the golden sword, a parallel force always existed, causing virtual displacement, which meant the value was always 0.

Cao Hui was bewildered because, if virtual displacement (infinitesimal) occurs, it is impossible for a force to act, i.e., how can a vector value of 0 exert force in the natural world?

At the moment Cao Hui had this doubt, the aura of the golden sword suddenly disappeared.

The Jintian Sect, who had stopped mid-swing, was frozen in place.

The extremely flustered Jintian Sect.

He could not win against someone who recognized the futility of their existence.

And the only one who could recognize their power as 'nothingness' was Shenzuo.

The figures of the children slowly disappeared from head to toe, like a scene from a CG animation.

The Jintian Sect, losing his existence power due to Cao Hui, was also slowly erasing himself.

The venerables of the spirit realm were frozen in shock.

Their purpose was clearly to punish Tianyouzi for revealing their secrets.

But to invade the spirit realm and then flee without achieving their goal!

"...How did you do it?"

In response to the Sword Deity's question, Cao Hui answered with a serious face.

"Let's just say... I recognized that their power was 'fictional.'"

The faces of the Sword Deity and the Martial Deity were simultaneously filled with bewilderment.

Unlike modern times, the word 'fictional' was not commonly used in the Central Plains.

"Hehe, do you mean 'fictional' as in a false form that appears real?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Hehe."

"What nonsense!"

Then, what about the golden sword that shattered the Absolute Sword Wall and the Demon Ring Flame Sky Wall, the most powerful defensive sword techniques of the two gods who had reached the natural realm?

It couldn't be fictional.

Tianyouzi, with a