Chapter 1865 - 187: Martial Saint Passes Away, Jiang Ning Returns

The next day.

Celestial Palace City, the side courtyard of Zhenbei Prince Mansion.

Creak—

The door was pushed open, and a figure in loose clothing stepped over the threshold, walking out of the room.

Bathed in the spill of golden dawn light and the fresh air of morning above, Jiang Ning’s face showed a contented smile.

After sleeping through the night, he felt better than he had ever felt before.

These days, he had not taken any rest at all, practicing and cultivating day and night.

He did not dare delay even for a single day.

Because he had long since seen the crisis pressing in step by step.

Without sufficient strength to rely on, he would not be able to weather the crises to come.

But the high pressure and heavy load of cultivation had long since left him in a state of extreme tautness, with a newly born exhaustion.

Only yesterday, after taking the first step in breaking his shackles, and with his Source Points nearly depleted, did he finally go and have a proper night’s rest.

Crackling—

As he stretched his muscles and bones, his whole body gave off popping sounds.

"Comfortable—" he let out a long sigh.

Then he clenched his fists; after a night, his body had returned to calm.

But his strength was no longer what it had been.

He could feel that his body at this moment was incomparably relaxed, the sense of power filling every part of him.

Especially his right arm, which gave him an indescribably mysterious feeling.

It faintly felt out of harmony with heaven and earth, giving him a sense of standing apart from the world, with a flavor of transcendence.

He spread his five fingers, then clenched them again.

In the unseen center of his palm, a scene of shattered void appeared.

"Space itself actually feels as if it’s become tangible in my grasp!" A flicker of astonishment rose in his heart.

Though he sensed the changes in his body, he still could not fully comprehend his own state.

"No wonder that from ancient times to now, only the Martial Saint alone has ever walked this far!" he murmured inwardly. "I truly don’t know how he managed to do it! I only reached this step because I had this fortune. He went from nothing to something, opening a precedent since the Ancient Era—utterly inconceivable!!"

Jiang Ning’s emotions surged.

The further he went, the more he understood, and the more unbelievable it all seemed to him.

Having reached this step, he knew how hard it truly was.

Ordinary people cannot see the goal, cannot see the road ahead; crossing such a chasm is a thing that is almost impossible.

And the changes over the past few hundred years were enough to prove this.

Even with a Martial Saint having opened this path, in the eight hundred-plus years since, not a single other person had taken this step, reaching a realm to stand shoulder to shoulder with that Martial Saint.

His thoughts rose and fell in his heart.

Suddenly.

A faint trace of surprise flashed in Jiang Ning’s eyes.

Then, a streak of golden light flashed in his hand.

It was the Heavenly Mechanism Talisman, the Heavenly Mechanism Talisman he had not used for a long time.

This thing had the function of transmitting messages.

Even if separated by tens of millions of miles, with this item, one could still send and receive information.

At this moment, the Heavenly Mechanism Talisman that had lain dormant for who knows how long was trembling in his hand.

Looking at the item in his palm, Jiang Ning’s Heart Spirit stirred.

In an instant, a strand of his mind split off and flowed into the Heavenly Mechanism Talisman.

And he received the message within.

The message was sent by Xiao Wuque.

Then his body jolted sharply, and a towering storm suddenly surged in his heart.

Because the message transmitted through the Heavenly Mechanism Talisman, though only four characters long, was something he had never expected.

The Martial Saint has passed.

Those four words, for all of Great Xia, for this entire world, were no less than a bolt from the blue.

One must know, the more than eight hundred years of peace in this world were all due to the Martial Saint alone.

One man had suppressed the world for more than eight hundred years, pressing the realm’s strongmen so hard they could not breathe, pressing the aristocratic clans and sects so hard none dared raise their heads, pressing the Immortals in those Cave Heaven Blessed Lands into silence one after another.

And now, the sky that had hung over the heads of all living beings had collapsed.

With this collapse, no one knew how great a storm would be unleashed.

This world would find it hard to know peace again.

The same was true for him personally.

The strongmen in the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, and those Immortals, had never dared step out of their own heavens and earth because the Martial Saint was still alive.

No one was willing to face the dying counterattack of this invincible-like existence.

From the few probes before, the world had already seen clearly that this once-invincible existence, though now aged, was still just as invincible as ever.

Now, Jiang Ning knew that with the Martial Saint’s passing, many crises would have to be faced by him.

"Now things are truly going to be troublesome!" he murmured inwardly.

He clenched his fist; the surging power within him could no longer bring him a sense of reassurance.

Because he understood how great the powerhouses of the Ancient Immortal Dao era had been.

Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, Heavenly Venerate (Taoist Ancestor).

The Immortal Dao Four Realms—the first two realms were still within the bounds of normalcy.

The latter two realms were levels beyond understanding, beyond conjecture.

The Cave Heaven Blessed Lands were remnants of the Ancient Era; as for exactly which strongmen were there, he did not know, nor was he clear.

But he knew that the people of this world did not wish to see another Martial Arts Strongman capable of matching the Martial Saint walk out.

And in these eight hundred-plus years, looking across the current age, he was the most likely to reach the Martial Saint’s level.

And now, he truly had taken that step.

So long as he was given a certain amount of time and proceeded step by step, he would be able to reach that realm.

"But... time will not wait for anyone now!" His heart tightened, growing somewhat heavy.

With the Martial Saint’s passing, the Royal Capital and the entire realm would inevitably see winds and clouds surging, with no peace anymore.

Because the largest tree—the one that had shielded the people from wind and rain—had fallen.

Having held on until today, it had suddenly toppled.

Thinking of this, he still found it hard to believe.

How could such a figure pass so suddenly, so abruptly, slipping away without a sound?

This gave him a strange sense of absurdity.

He pondered for a moment.

"I have to go back once; I can’t stay here for now!" he muttered under his breath.