Chapter 658: Unique True Realm (Grand Finale)

As Ji Hanzheng’s voice fell,

amidst the dim night,

a figure slowly appeared, with infinite power shaking the heavens and earth. He seemed both real and illusory, as if vanishing into the void, yet also newly arrived, walking during the creation of heaven and earth, standing at the edge of the world.

Not deliberately revealing any terrifying power, he just appeared in front of everyone like this.

However, the three ancient beings in the Immortal King Realm—Taoist Ancestor, Buddha, and Confucian Saint—trembled involuntarily with just a glance,

It was as if from a deep-seated fear within their bloodline,

just like ordinary animals facing the king of all beasts, the oppressive force from their bloodline compelled them to fear and submit.

Gu Zhan’s expression remained calm, showing no emotion, merely casting a faint glance at the few people before looking at Ji Hanzheng, and said slowly, “The last time I saw you, I felt you were different, yet couldn’t pinpoint what was strange. Now I know, you are the Celestial Dao.”

Ji Hanzheng clasped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, when I met you, I was quite conflicted. Today, upon seeing you again, I realize I was mistaken.”

“Conflicted about what?” Gu Zhan asked.

Ji Hanzheng explained, “At that time, I wasn’t aware of the Confucian Saint’s complete plan and thought he was selfless. I was trapped in the Human World for thousands of years and ultimately had to fight, but I was manipulated by the Confucian Saint, becoming incomplete, tainted by the Red Dust Intent of the Human World, and bearing Your Majesty’s grace, entangled in the karma of the Human World. Just these two aspects made it impossible for me to ascend, hence I lost. Therefore, I thought Your Majesty was the Confucian Saint’s contingency, after all, if I wanted to return to the heavens, I had to sever the Red Dust Intent and the karma of the Human World. Severing Red Dust Intent meant a battle with the Confucian Saint. With the Taoist Ancestor and Buddha’s support, I had the strength to fight, but cutting the karma of the Human World couldn’t be resolved by battle, hence the conflict.”

Gu Zhan asked slowly, “Now?”

“No longer conflicted,” Ji Hanzheng said, “Your Majesty is the Great Emperor, yet also the Emperor of the Human World. As a minister, this karma doesn’t need to be severed, just fulfilled by serving the sovereign normally until this life’s end, breaking the karma of the Human World. As for Red Dust Intent, the Confucian Saint has already lost.”

Gu Zhan shook his head slightly, “Although I don’t agree with the Confucian Saint’s scheme, there’s one thing he said that I do agree with.”

“Please instruct, Your Majesty,” Ji Hanzheng said.

“The Human World does not need Immortal Gods.”

Gu Zhan walked step by step towards Ji Hanzheng, saying, “Since I’m the Emperor of the Human World, then the rules of the Human World should be set by me. The Human World does not need Immortal Gods, nor does it need the Celestial Dao, or should I say, it doesn’t need a conscious Celestial Dao. The myriad worlds, vast and boundless, have their own destiny, what need is there for a Celestial Dao to dictate terms? The existence of the Celestial Dao is just a program, a program to maintain the normal operation of the myriad worlds. How could something not even worthy of being called a living being have the right to reign supreme, overlooking all life?”

As Gu Zhan approached, Ji Hanzheng’s body began to tremble, even showing signs of breaking apart and vanishing, yet he remained calm, “But, Your Majesty, how do you know the Celestial Dao’s current actions aren’t part of its inherent program?”

“What do you mean?” Gu Zhan asked.

“Ascension has never been a lie,” Ji Hanzheng said.

At that moment, Buddha, Taoist Ancestor, and Confucian Saint were shocked.

Their paths differed,

but all sought the Dao Fruit, all aimed to ascend,

The Taoist Ancestor and Buddha became minions of the Celestial Dao to obtain the Great Emperor’s Dao Fruit, and the Confucian Saint schemed for a hundred thousand years to steal the Dao Fruit of the world’s will.

The reason being, they believed the Great Emperor was the endpoint under the Celestial Dao, and the so-called ascension was a lie spread in the Human World for the sake of the Dao Fruit. Yet now, the Celestial Dao spoke of ascension not being a lie, creating a crack in their Dao Hearts.

“The Celestial Dao, as Your Majesty said, is but a program, its task being to maintain the operation of the myriad worlds. Yet its second task is the final gate of ascension.” Ji Hanzheng said, “The Great Cosmology of the myriad worlds, in endless ancient epochs, shatters and is birthed, births and shatters. Its existence’s purpose is ascension.”

“Ascension to where?” Gu Zhan asked.

“The Unique True Realm,” Ji Hanzheng said.

“Unique True Realm!”

Gu Zhan pondered this term, frowning, “So, are all the myriad worlds illusions?”

“Your servant doesn’t know, nor has seen the Unique True Realm.”

As Ji Hanzheng’s words fell,

Gu Zhan had already reached him,

In that instant, Ji Hanzheng’s body seemed to have aged through endless years, weathering away instantly.

However, Gu Zhan’s system did not ring with a notification,

Ji Hanzheng was, after all, just a fragment of a persona.

“Unique True Realm!”

The brief four words, though evoking no feeling in most, to Gu Zhan, bearing the Dao Fruit of the Great Emperor, sounded like the voice of the Great Dao.

“Unique True Realm, I seem to understand…”

Gu Zhan murmured, gazing at the three—Buddha, Taoist Ancestor, and Confucian Saint.

By now, the three no longer feared,

The Confucian Saint bowed deeply, “To hear the Dao at morning, to die at evening. Please Your Majesty, bestow the True Dao!”

“Please Your Majesty, have mercy, bestow the True Dao.” Buddha and Taoist Ancestor bowed profoundly.

Gu Zhan slowly raised his head, “All is illusory; all is false. The universe will reconstruct, you will all reappear, continuously reappearing then perishing, the myriad worlds form a closed loop. In infinite cycles, only those who truly attain the Dao can escape it, and that is true transcendence!”

“Do we have a chance to inquire of the Great Dao?” asked the Confucian Saint.

“That depends on which cycle you awaken in!”

With that said,

Gu Zhan raised his hand gently, and in that moment,

The Taoist Ancestor, Buddha, and Confucian Saint disappeared.

[Origin Value +100000]

[Origin Value +100000]

[Origin Value +100000]

The notification sound echoed in his mind,

However, this time, Gu Zhan was not overly concerned,

He simply took a step forward, hands behind his back, heading towards the heavens,

“All is illusion!”

All the heavens and worlds were in turmoil,

The river of time and space echoed with such a voice,

Gu Zhan flew towards the sky, higher and higher,

He didn’t know how long he had been flying, he leaped out of the human world, escaped the world, he saw all the heavens and worlds appearing like drops of water in an endless sea,

The human world was just a drop of water in the Realm Sea,

Now, he had leaped out,

He saw the so-called Celestial Dao,

It was just a stone statue, a statue standing above the Realm Sea,

The infinitely vast Celestial Dao,

The immensely grand multiverse of heavens and worlds was all before his eyes.

Gu Zhan walked step by step towards the stone statue of the Celestial Dao,

He walked on the Realm Sea, each step causing ripples, each step crushing countless worlds, each ripple triggering a world-ending crisis, yet he was indifferent,

With each step, his body grew larger,

As he neared the stone statue of the Celestial Dao, his physique grew as grand as the stone statue, he walked on the sea, stirring up a tumultuous ocean with towering waves.

In his mind,

The system continuously prompted,

[Cultivation Increase…]

[Cultivation Increase…]

[Cultivation Increased to — Supreme Realm!]

When Gu Zhan stood before the statue,

He punched the statue,

In that instant, the statue disintegrated,

The Realm Sea disappeared.

All illusions flashed before Gu Zhan’s eyes,

Once again becoming a program, beginning his predetermined fate.

The darkness vanished, and all the heavens and worlds disappeared,

The eternal endless universe initiated a new cycle, reverting to that unending cycle program.

They did not know, they could never know.

The universe operated, living beings continued with their normal lives, ordinary mortals would be born, age, get sick, and die, powerful cultivators continually pursued higher realms, they rejoiced over opportunities, worried over crises, exulted over breakthroughs, risked their lives over struggles for the Great Dao, and some chose seclusion.

It all seemed to be their own choices,

But, in reality,

To Gu Zhan, it was merely a program directive,

Everything was in an endless cycle.

Gu Zhan just watched,

He saw civilizations rise and fall, witnessed the cosmic destruction and reconstruction, and then those beings began their cycle anew, consistently building civilizations, achieving civilizations, destroying civilizations, repeating endlessly.

The Realm Sea ceased its turbulence, then gradually dissipated, even the heavens and all worlds were constantly dissipating, disappearing in that moment, as if they never existed or ever had existed.

“The bodhi of the Great Dao is not the ultimate fruit, today I finally know that I am myself!”

Gu Zhan murmured softly, stepping through endless hazy nascence and annihilation, moving forward step by step, until before him appeared a massive ancient bronze door, slowly opening, endless brilliance appeared, countless light rains, billions of droplets, scattered into emptiness, and then penetrated heaven and earth, delving into the river of time, situated in different spaces and times, different universes.

An instructive force prompted Gu Zhan to step into that bronze door, as Gu Zhan entered, the door instantly closed, slowly revealing a few words—

Congratulations player, restart endless!