Yuanbao, who had been silent all this while, spoke softly, "A hundred thousand years ago, there was a cultivator in Yunzhong named Fuyaozi. He spent his life seeking the truth of this world, and through various clues and traces, he found many records from the time of the Ancient Cataclysm. After attaining God Transformation, he discovered a personal journal of an ancient Mahayana-stage cultivator within an immortal palace, and only then did he learn what truly happened during the Ancient Cataclysm."
"...Although the Primordial Era was destroyed, that was a normal reconstruction. The destruction of the Ancient Era, however, was the gods abandoning this world."
"Abandoning?" Mo Tiange felt somewhat bewildered.
Yuanbao nodded gently. "Yes, abandoning. At that time, they wanted to completely annihilate this world, but the result was that it wasn't thoroughly destroyed. This world flourished once again. However, the destructive power of that last event was too immense, damaging the world's origin. That's why our world has become so sparse in spiritual energy and rare in spiritual materials."
Mo Tiange drew a deep breath, never having imagined she would hear such a truth.
"This is a forsaken world," Zhong Muling said with a cold gaze. "No matter how much we cultivate, there is no way to ascend. God Transformation is our final destination. That's why you can still see the Five Spirits' sacrificial temples exist, why you can still obtain the Five Spirits' inheritance. Because for us God Transformation cultivators, these things hold no meaning whatsoever. It's better to leave them for later generations, to see if a Person of Destiny might emerge, obtain the inheritance, and change such a fate."
"But..." Mo Tiange felt she could hardly breathe. "Since it has already been abandoned by the gods, how could there be a Person of Destiny?"
"..."
Neither Zhong Muling nor Yuanbao answered. It was a question even they could not answer.
Destiny—for a forsaken world, where did destiny lie?
Even though they knew it was laughable, deep in their hearts, they still hoped such a destiny existed.
"...Even so, have you tried? The Five Spirits' inheritance, the Origin Demon Great Art—can they truly not lead to the heavens?" Mo Tiange refused to give up.
It was Yuanbao who answered. "Why do you think we chose to take rotating duty at the Qilin Sacrificial Temple? Because the first one discovered was the Qilin Sacrificial Temple. Both the Qilin and the Origin Demon Great Art within it were inherited by someone. Those who discovered this were precisely them."
"Them... who are they?"
Zhong Muling said, "You two should have heard of these two individuals. The one who obtained the Origin Demon Great Art was Yunzhong's number one demonic cultivator, Demon Lord Tianyao. The one who obtained the Qilin inheritance was Fuyaozi." He looked at Mo Tiange. "That is, your master."
Mo Tiange let out an "Ah!" sound. Just now, hearing Yuanbao's words, she already knew Fuyaozi had attained God Transformation, but she hadn't expected Zhong Muling to know this as well.
Zhong Muling knew what she was thinking. "Don't be suspicious. We haven't been monitoring you. It's just that you entered the Azure Dragon Sacrificial Temple and later, by a twist of fate, entered the Vermilion Bird Sacrificial Temple. That's why we paid special attention to you."
With God Transformation cultivators paying special attention, one's life experiences naturally could not be hidden.
Mo Tiange didn't dwell on this matter. "Even if I've entered two sacrificial temples, so what? You God Transformation seniors have presumably entered them all. Would a Person of Destiny be something so simple..."
Zhong Muling gave a bitter smile. "How could we not know this principle? It's just..." Just that they were unwilling, unwilling to be abandoned in this world with no path to ascension.
"...Back then, Fuyaozi and Demon Lord Tianyao searched this entire world and found the Qilin Sacrificial Temple. Each obtained a different opportunity within. Fuyaozi obtained the Qilin inheritance, and Demon Lord Tianyao obtained the Origin Demon Stone Tablet. They quickly discovered that these two things contained immense power. If properly cultivated, they surpassed all other techniques existing in this world. This discovery soon became known to the various God Transformation cultivators. After they advanced to God Transformation, they found their cultivation progress extremely difficult, with almost no possibility of further advancement. For this reason, they began searching for clues about the Five Spirits."
"You should know that God Transformation cultivators are very few. Each continent might only produce one or two over several thousand years. Especially in their era, the world had only flourished again for a few tens of thousands of years. The number of God Transformation cultivators existing in the world did not exceed ten. Competition wasn't too fierce. Moreover, even after obtaining the divine beast inheritance and the Origin Demon Great Art, the path to the heavens remained elusive. So they simply formed an alliance, agreeing to find the five sacrificial temples first, then distribute them."
At this point, Zhong Muling stopped and sighed. There was no need to say more. Mo Tiange and Qin Xi already understood. With God Transformation cultivators forming an alliance, they naturally found them smoothly. Unfortunately, after finding them, they immediately realized these things held no meaning for them at all. Therefore, apart from the Qilin, the other Five Spirits remained perfectly preserved.
"...Over tens of thousands of years, people continuously attained God Transformation, continuously learned the truth, yet could change nothing. We have never been able to contact the outside world. It seems that at the God Transformation realm, it's fundamentally impossible to break through that intangible barrier. Yet in this world, we cannot advance any further. This cycle repeats, becoming an unsolvable dilemma."
"...Then, will our world still be destroyed?" Mo Tiange asked after a long silence.
"I don't know," Zhong Muling replied in a flat tone. "Perhaps it will, perhaps it won't."
Mo Tiange almost wanted to ask: if it is destroyed, would that mean it regains the gods' attention, allowing one to see the path to the heavens? But she did not ask again, because it was unnecessary and she would get no answer.
The four of them spoke no more. Yuanbao drank his wine, sip by sip. Zhong Muling sat silently. Mo Tiange and Qin Xi had nothing to say to each other, only their tightly clasped hands were ice-cold.
So their long-standing pursuit, the pursuit of countless cultivators under heaven, was all a dream? An unreachable dream?
"Do you still wish to attain God Transformation?" Zhong Muling asked after a long while. "Or, do you still wish to cultivate?"
"..."
Seeing them remain silent, unable to answer, Zhong Muling said no more. "I'll send you back. The day you attain God Transformation, we might meet again. There's no need to pay attention to the Qilin Sacrificial Temple anymore either. It was merely a game us old folks played out of extreme boredom, to see if anyone could really find their way here. Since you've found it, it will be abandoned."
Zhong Muling raised his hand, about to create a spatial teleportation gate, when he heard Mo Tiange cry out, "Great-Great-Grandfather, wait!"
He paused temporarily. "What else do you have to say?"
Mo Tiange asked, "There are still things I don't understand. Why is it only after the Great Upheaval and the Continental Shift that the positions match where the Five Spirits Sacrificial Temples should be? Why did the Continental Shift happen? Is it related to me? And also..."
Hearing her questions, Zhong Muling's face stiffened slightly, showing a strange expression. Finally, he said, "These are what you want to ask?" This wasn't the main point, was it?
Mo Tiange felt somewhat embarrassed. "What Great-Great-Grandfather said is indeed shocking, but this matter can no longer be changed. These few matters have puzzled me for a long time, with no one to ask..."
"Alright then," Zhong Muling showed a helpless expression. "Actually, this world's original appearance is how it is now. It's just that the destruction during the Ancient Era was too thorough, which caused it to become the way it was before. As for why it changed back... we cannot answer this question in detail either. We can only say it is related to you. You activated the modified Mysterious Void Cloud-Piercing Array in the Vermilion Bird Sacrificial Temple, affecting the balance of space, causing spatial collapse. And the Five Spirits Sacrificial Temples have countless intricate connections with this world. In the end, this caused the Continental Shift, restoring it to its original appearance..."
"So that's how it is," Mo Tiange nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Great-Great-Grandfather, may I ask how long the lifespan of a God Transformation cultivator is? Why can even cultivators from a hundred thousand years ago survive to this day?"
"..." Zhong Muling was silent for a moment before answering. "Since the world has changed, the rules have changed as well. God Transformation cultivators in this broken world possess abilities too high, so correspondingly, they cannot casually interfere in mortal affairs. As for lifespan... even we don't know how long a God Transformation cultivator can live. Perhaps it's immortality."
"...Any other questions?" After explaining in detail, Zhong Muling asked.
Mo Tiange shook her head. "Nothing else. I only wish to ask Great-Great-Grandfather about one person."
"Is it that master of yours you got for free?" Yuanbao interjected from the side.
Mo Tiange nodded. "Yes. Just now, I heard Senior Yuanbao say that my master Fuyaozi attained God Transformation?"
"Indeed. He was one of the earliest in this world to attain God Transformation!" Yuanbao said with a somewhat sour tone. Speaking of which, both he and Zhong Muling had lived for several thousand years, but compared to Fuyaozi from a hundred thousand years ago, they were juniors who came far too late, inexplicably lowering their seniority.
"Then can I see him?"
Looking at her hopeful expression, Zhong Muling said, "...I will tell him. If he wishes to see you, he will seek you out."
Mo Tiange revealed a joyful smile. "Thank you, Great-Great-Grandfather!"
Her expression made Zhong Muling feel a bit sour too. "You respect him quite a lot. You haven't been like this with me, your great-great-grandfather..."
"Great-Great-Grandfather, I..." Mo Tiange wanted to explain, but Zhong Muling waved his hand, indicating she needn't. "Go back. Even though you now know the truth, you are not yet a God Transformation cultivator. If you wish to worry about these matters, you still have a long road ahead."
With a point of his fingertip, a spatial teleportation gate appeared before them. "Whether we still have kinship, whether we can meet again, depends entirely on your own choices."
After Mo Tiange and Qin Xi's figures disappeared, Zhong Muling and Yuanbao remained silent for a long time. They had long known this truth, but having been carefree for too long, they had somewhat forgotten how cruel this truth was for cultivators who spent their lives pursuing the Great Dao.
"...A-Ling, have you noticed something?"
"What?"
Yuanbao stood up and poured a cup of wine from the clouds into the sea, as if offering a libation to the heroic spirits who had perished in pursuit of the Great Dao.
"This girl's appearance has changed many things. Two of the five sacrificial temples were destroyed. Heaven and earth returned to their former positions. She even found a Qilin senior imprisoned in this realm, one that even we had not discovered."
Zhong Muling was silent for a long moment. "These were not accomplished by her alone. Take that Qilin senior, for example—it was the result of the efforts of the Qilin clan from the Xumi Sea."
"But they're still connected to her, aren't they?" Yuanbao said. "A Person of Destiny does not change the world through their own power alone, but rather, they catalyze the world's change."
Zhong Muling's heart stirred slightly. "You're saying she might be the Person of Destiny."
"I didn't say that," Yuanbao said with a calm expression. "Regardless, this game has concluded. Perhaps it will truly bring us a Person of Destiny. Perhaps it will bring nothing at all. But it doesn't matter. The days of a God Transformation cultivator are truly boring..."