"You're curious about the forged cause and effect I carry on my back."
Chen Yan gave his second answer.
Bai Chen wasn't the least bit angered by Chen Yan addressing him as "you." He simply continued to look toward Chen Yan with a slight smile.
"So, are you going to tell me about your origins yourself, or should I take a look on my own?"
Chen Yan was silent for a moment.
He knew all too well that the Uncarved Simplicity Realm cultivator before him was fully capable of prying into the cause and effect he bore.
After all, this Sage could even wield the power of cause and effect to bring the dead back to life.
Not to mention that Chen Yan, with all his meridians shattered, was nothing but a mortal now—even if he were still at the peak of the Unity Realm, wielding the Hidden Immortal Art, the Great Derivation Art, and the Emptiness Annihilation Art—extremely profound techniques—he would still be nothing more than an ant before this Sage of Imperial Void.
Yet Chen Yan still wanted to extract more information from this Sage.
"It's a long story,"
Chen Yan said slowly.
"But before that, I have a few questions I'd like to ask the Sage."
"Go ahead,"
the Sage of Imperial Void replied.
"Are there really only forty-nine Great Daos in heaven and earth?"
Chen Yan asked.
"This realm of heaven and earth truly only has forty-nine Great Daos—that is an undeniable fact. But heaven and earth are far more vast than you imagine... merely repetitive, that's all,"
the Sage of Imperial Void said.
"Since this realm is only a corner of the vast heavens, why does it have no name?"
"Of course it has a name. It's just that the cultivators living in this realm call it 'heaven and earth.' As for the true name of this realm, it was once Yuxu Continent, and now it's Tianji Continent. As for its future name... who knows?"
Yuxu Continent, Tianji Continent.
Chen Yan could glean the information he needed from the names of this realm.
Once, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void had been the master of this realm, and at that time, it was called Yuxu Continent.
After the Sage of Imperial Void left this realm, the Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity, Zuo He, took over and ruled it, thus it was called Tianji Continent.
If that was the case...
"Does the Sage know of a realm in this world called Chenping Continent?"
Chen Yan continued.
"Chenping Continent?"
Hearing this, Bai Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Never heard of it."
Then, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void clearly began to grow impatient with Chen Yan's tiresome questions.
"I've returned to this Tianji Continent this time to reduce everything to chaos, to evolve again, and start everything anew,"
the Sage of Imperial Void declared.
"But you don't belong to this realm, so your destination should be..."
The Sage in his white daoist robes slowly raised his head, casting his gaze toward the pitch-black rift torn open in the sky.
Spatial rifts.
That was what Chen Yan called the black crevices between the chaotic flow of time and the greater world.
At present, Chen Yan was nothing but a mortal, unable to wield any of his power.
If he were thrown into a spatial rift like this, only one outcome awaited him—drifting forever through the timeless spatial rifts, cast out into the void beyond the world.
That would be equivalent to a dead-end save file, unless the sword intent capable of cutting through anything appeared once more.
But Chen Yan knew all too well that sword intent was a one-time thing.
Chen Yan certainly didn't want to face that kind of ending, but the Sage of Imperial Void wouldn't be willing to let him die here either. With a better solution at hand, Bai Chen had no reason to create unnecessary trouble for himself.
"That's true enough."
The Sage of Imperial Void's eyes drooped slightly, and he shook his head.
"Being thrown into a spatial rift is no different from dying. That means every word you say is your last testament. Under such circumstances, making you tell me about the cause and effect you carry would be a bit too cruel."
Chen Yan remained silent. His life was entirely at the mercy of the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void.
"In that case, I'll just take a look myself."
As he spoke, the Sage of Imperial Void raised his hand and began to make some calculations.
Chen Yan had seen the same motion before—on Mr. You, and on those Ascending to Immortality Realm cultivators who were skilled in divining heavenly secrets and cause and effect.
The Sage of Imperial Void's fingers moved rapidly, then suddenly stopped. A flash of shock unmistakably flickered in the eyes of this Uncarved Simplicity Realm Ultimate Sage, who was said to have at least millions of years of experience.
That flicker of shock was also caught by Chen Yan.
"Heh..."
Then, the Sage of Imperial Void suddenly laughed.
"How interesting. Truly interesting. So this was all fated to happen from the very beginning."
"What?"
Chen Yan asked.
"Something you cannot know,"
Bai Chen shook his head.
"But I've changed my mind. As long as you complete one task for me, I won't throw you into those messy cracks in the sky."
"What task?"
Chen Yan didn't ask for any reasons. He cut straight to the point.
The Sage of Imperial Void lifted his head, his gaze passing over Chen Yan, over the countless cultivator corpses lying behind Chen Yan, and all the way to the Qingxuan Mountain behind him—once a majestic peak covered in vegetation, now utterly barren, with most of its buildings reduced to ruins.
"This mountain is the highest peak in this realm. I will place an object at its very top. Your task is to climb to the summit and find that object."
The top of Qingxuan Mountain was where Cangji Hall stood.
"You want me to climb this mountain?"
Chen Yan slowly turned around, casting his gaze toward Qingxuan Mountain.
Qingxuan Mountain stood nearly nine thousand zhang tall. With all his meridians shattered and reduced to a mere mortal, climbing this nearly nine-thousand-zhang towering peak was nearly as hard as reaching the heavens.
"That's right. Climb to the top and find the object at the summit. That's the task I'm giving you."
As he spoke, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void looked toward Chen Yan.
"Don't worry. In this realm right now, as long as I don't allow you to die, you won't die. Climbing this mountain with an immortal body—though it may be difficult—is not impossible."
Chen Yan said nothing more. He simply looked up ahead at Qingxuan Mountain's faint, cloud-piercing outline.
Nine thousand zhang. To Chen Yan at this moment, it was as insurmountable as a heavenly moat.
But he had no other choice.