Chapter 948 - 367: Magnificent Great Thousand, Eternal Sword

What is the Everlasting Mountain?

In the Great Thousand Worlds, those who have heard of the Everlasting Mountain are extremely rare; typically, only True Immortals in the Upper Three Realms have heard of it, and among them, those who can truly understand "what the Everlasting Mountain is" are even fewer; even a Hongmeng Immortal finds it difficult to grasp this concept.

The answer they are likely to give is:

The Everlasting Mountain is the place where the Destiny Dao resides.

Controlling the changes of all existence in the world and casting down fate is the Destiny Dao.

The Destiny Dao is not a god, nor an immortal, nor an entity like time or space. Nobody can accurately define the Destiny Dao, not a Hongmeng Immortal, nor a True Monarch who has touched the Destiny Dao. No matter how much they delve, they are always under the control of the Destiny Dao, akin to creatures at the bottom of a well, unable to see the entirety of the sky.

Rather than defining the Destiny Dao, it’s better to simply express subjective feelings.

The propagation of life, the rotation of the celestial cycle, the surging of energy, the eruption of thought... all things that exist are part of destiny.

The Path of Eternity is not truly a "path" but a kind of gateway. The so-called Everlasting Mountain is not a "mountain" but the sum of all things. In the words of Baiyang True Monarch,

The Door of All Wonders, mysterious beyond measure.

The reason it is called the Path of Eternity is that everyone who exists in the world is seeking to understand the gateway to things; this quest often spans eternity.

It is called the Everlasting Mountain because, from the moment the Great Thousand Worlds was born, the sum of all things has been constant. All things are like the green mountain, eternal and unchanging.

To walk the Path of Eternity and ascend the Everlasting Mountain... this is the ultimate secret of cultivation in the Great Thousand Worlds.

The Destiny Dao constructed by eternity exists on this mountain that represents the sum of all things.

Fan Wubing once again walked the Path of Eternity, standing at the foot of the Everlasting Mountain. He closed his eyes, feeling the sum of all things. Infinite mysteries churned in his mind. From the opening of Chaos to the boundary of reality and illusion, from the boundary of reality and illusion to the Great Thousand and Small Thousand.

His soul seemed to possess infinite capacity, able to freely contain the sum of all things.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, looking up at the Everlasting Mountain.

The Everlasting Mountain has no path; anyone attempting to climb it must find their own way. If one tries to fly up, the Destiny Dao will only show them what a true chasm is. Without feeling all things or the ability to touch destiny, even a Hongmeng Immortal who burns everything cannot glimpse the slightest grandeur of the Everlasting Mountain.

But when Fan Wubing lifted his foot and stepped forward, the path proactively formed beneath him.

With each step he took, a staircase appeared. Wherever he walked, a staircase emerged.

But just as he had taken the forty-ninth step, a figure appeared ahead.

"Forty-nine..." Fan Wubing looked at the approaching figure and said flatly, "It’s you who made those Star Lords, travelers, Fate, and True Monarchs bring the grand ideology of the Eternal Sea to stop me. So-called... the heavenly cycle forty-nine."

"If I am that forty-nine, are you the one that escapes?" The newcomer emerged from the fog, revealing his true form.

His appearance was average, his stature was average... all of the qualities and senses he exhibited were like the average of the sum of all things.

The Daoist robe he wore revealed his identity—

From the Great Wilderness World, Daoist School White Jade Capital, the foremost member of the Three Elders Pavilion, Ancestor Qing’s Celestial Venerable Qing, originally named Qing Ke.

Fan Wubing did not answer, instead asked, "Did you not receive certain enlightenment from your master?"

Qing Ke’s eyes seemed oblivious, with no emotional overflow, no emotional reflection,

"I admire my master and feel regret for his choice. He stopped at the last step of passing through the Door of All Wonders and was unable to touch the pinnacle of the Dao. He chose as he did because he could not transcend the secular, shed the mortal body. This is the enlightenment I received from him."

Fan Wubing watched him calmly,

"In that world, when White Jade Capital was in crisis, everyone believed that as long as you returned, everything would be fine. But in the end, you did not return, nor even looked at them."

"And this is the secular that needs to be transcended, the mortal flesh that needs to be shed." Qing Ke seemed to be stating a fact.

His tone was like the natural laws that propel all things to operate, filled with undeniable certainty.

No one can refute him.

Fan Wubing could not refute it either, and at the moment he spoke those words, he unconsciously regarded them as truth. But, in a blink, another will from Earth awakened him. He immediately realized that Qing Ke before him could no longer be described with "Ancestor Qing."

Chaos opens, the heavenly cycle forty-nine.

This Qing Ke is that forty-nine. He not only touched the Destiny Dao but has gone far beyond other True Monarchs, to the extent that it is unclear whether he has integrated with the Destiny Dao or the Destiny Dao has integrated with him.

That powerful control and dominance over all things continuously suppress Fan Wubing’s will.

Whether it’s the will of Seven Luminaries or the will of Wu Wang.

However, only the will from the Infinite Sea, from Earth, is not subjected.

Because this will is not within destiny!

Fan Wubing drove his true self, approaching Qing Ke,

"Do you think you transcend the secular, shed the mortal flesh? No, you haven’t. You’ve merely obliterated the self, completely handing over your will to destiny. You certainly cannot be defined by me or others, but you also cannot define yourself. Because what you have, feel, think, and the future you can reach, all are gifted by destiny."