Chapter 1452 20.16 First Black Star - Questions
The introduction of Warden Yun Ming to the human emperor left everyone in the throne hall speechless. All of them had heard the words of Ye Yan and Hei Suya just now, and they knew that this man who used the identity of Official Xu Ming was not a mortal but most likely a god from the Upper Realm like the couple.
Moreover, his identity is much higher than that of Hei Suya and Ye Yan, whom he treated as escaped prisoners instead.
The human emperor said, "Warden from the Upper Realm. So these two gods are prisoners who escaped from the Upper Realm? No wonder they are a lot weaker than I expected."
"Yes. Most of their divinity had been taken away, and they were locked up for so long that their bodies weakened a lot. The punishment for those who broke the divine laws was never merciful for prisoners like them," responded Warden Yun Ming.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
The human emperor asked, "What is their sin?"
"Killing relatives. They killed his brother's wife," answered Yun Ming. "They actually wanted to kill his brother, but his wife protected him, leading to such a result. His brother was one of my bosses, and they were both imprisoned to the deepest layer of hell but escaped. That's why we are here for them."
Everyone looked at the couple who were considered as fake god with disdain. Who would looked with good eyes at murderers...
"We? You there are indeed more and not just you are. Is the other one the great general?" asked the human emperor teasingly.
At this question, Warden Yun Ming looked up, surprised by his look. Seeing the playful smile on the human emperor's face, Yun Ming feels that this man in front of him feels more like the Lord Hei he first knew. The Lord Hei, who continued to live his life without meaning, was only there to exist. He looked bored all his life, and the depths of his silver eyes were lifeless.
There's extreme loneliness hidden within them.
The human emperor averts his eyes, closes them lightly as if he is tired, and says the reason why he chose the great general as the other person whose soul was replaced.
"The reason as to why Zhen noticed is simple. Even though he tried to keep up the act, his emotionless face broke a bit when he saw one of your eyes missing. That sarcastic tone and indifference. The original great general might hate Zhen, but he would never lose decorum towards Zhen. After all, I am still his master's ex-wife and his former superior."
"Your general thought was that he acted well. The hatred that flashed within his eyes was one that can kill. In short, he never saw me as anything but a stranger. He was willing to kill if I truly dared to harm you. That's why I realized that he is different from you," the human emperor explained.
The two who were shouting in pain were shocked to the point that they looked at the two in the throne area with eyes of disbelief. After all, there is only one person who would be overprotective of this former God of Fate, and that is the Chief Warden, whose strength is only second to that of the God of Void in the Nether Prison.
He is also whom they fear in hell, as he is merciless towards all prisoners that have fallen into his hands.
Ye Yan looked terrified when he heard that even the Chief Warden was in this world. They know that the Chief Warden rarely leaves the side of his master. By his master, it means that his cousin brother is here in this world.
"N-No… K-Kill…us… just kill… us…"
"I-I-I don't… don't w-want… to… re-turn… in that… h-h-hell…"
The two prisoners plead to be killed, and Yun Ming even stops them from trying to implode themselves and uses Nether Prison to restrict their qi completely. Seeing that sudden restriction of qi in these two prisoners, the human emperor took back the darkness corroding from within. With the loss of Qi to support themselves, Ye Yan and Hei Suya actually fainted.
Warden Yun Ming spoke, "Pardon my actions, but these two have to come with me. In exchange, I shall fulfill one of your wishes, one for each faction. As long as it is a wish that would allow me to get involved with whatever is going on between the two factions, then I will do my best to give you what you want."
He then looked at Diviner Sang, who was still kneeling and seemed to be revering him. This reaction of his shows that Yun Ming is indeed a God from the Upper realm, and he had no thoughts of going against his will.
"Diviner, I seem to have broken a path of yours. Take this Longevity Pill as compensation. It would extend your life for another 50 years. Search for another ending you wanted. The heavens wouldn't get angry, I assure you," said Warden Yun Ming as he flicked the pill directly to Diviner Sang, who was about to speak up.
Under everyone's gaze, his pure white hair slowly regained a bit of blackness as his vitality was replenished. Normally, eating any kind of pill, including longevity pills, would have no effect on a person. But this longevity pill was something made of high-grade materials and even had some laws of time and space in it.
It can bend the laws of the heavens of a lower-tier world, so it was effective on him.
Everyone was so shocked by the result that even Sect. Master Cheng was stunned. On the other hand, the human emperor remained composed, as if even though the world was ending before his eyes, his calmness would remain the same.
Sect Master Ceng exclaimed, "Diviner Sang, your hair! Your lifespan is replenished!?"
"Yes. 50 years. Haha~ I can still look for another path. This is good. I can still live for a bit longer," Diviner Sang said.
Yun Ming turned around and looked at the human emperor and then at Sect Master Ceng. "Do tell me your wishes. As long as it isn't something that will involve the power of the two factions, I am willing to listen."
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Unexpectedly, the one who spoke first was Sect. Master Ceng. He was too excited about the opportunity and couldn't wait any longer. "Is it possible for me to ask about the upper realm?"
"Three questions. No more than that. Actually, you can just reach Peak Tribulation Stage and ascend to Godhood to receive basic information about the upper realm. We are actually restricted in spreading information about the upper realm to mortals. Three questions is the limit," said Warden Yun Ming. Then he looked at the human emperor as if asking about his wish.
The human emperor nonchalantly said, "Attend to him first. Once he is gone, you can give me what I wanted."
Yun Ming nodded his head and returned his gaze to Sect Master Ceng, who had fallen into deep thoughts as if thinking of three important questions he would ask in his life. They waited for a while until Sect. Master Ceng turned his head to look at the warden.
Sect Master Ceng Fengju asked, "My first question is: I want to know how to enter the Upper Realm."
"There are two ways to enter the upper realm. The first is 'Ascension to Godhood', which you already know, and the second is for you to reach the deity stage and have the domain lord of your world bring you over. Deities are able to enter the upper realm, and this is the lower limit.
But for one to be able to stay in the upper realm, you need to be a full god in soul and body," replied Warden Yun Ming. "Unfortunately, the domain lord of this world is missing, which is always why we descend to help find or replace him."
The existence of the Domain Lord was something the aborigines of this world didn't know. This information shocked the cultivators in the area, as they knew about the existence of this being. He is considered the gatekeeper of heaven's path that leads to the upper realm.
Diviner Sang frowns and mumbles, "So, that's why there are countless failures to ascend the tribulation. With the Domain Lord gone, the path to the heavens is close."
"No. If the Heaven's Path is close, no one would be able to ascend or descend. For I and these two prisoners to come over your world meant that the path isn't close. But instead, no one from this world had successfully survived their tribulation and died. They can only enter reincarnation in this world after that or either their soul perishes forever.
This is what it means to be a God, to go against the world and the heaven and stand above the heavenly laws of this world," said Warden Yun Ming.
Sect Master Ceng Fengju asked, "My second question is: Why do we keep failing to ascend?"
Warden Yun Ming expected this mortal to ask this question, and he had secretly checked the composition of the bodies of each cultivator in the hall. He immediately understood why they couldn't ascend to godhood.
Warden Yun Ming responds, "Foundation lacking. Your qi wasn't refined properly due to those incomplete cultivation techniques. Also, with the domain lord missing, the laws of this world prevent you from leaving, as it would mean that with you guys gone, this world wouldn't survive either."
Sect Master Ceng didn't expect to hear about this answer. How many of his sect ancestors died after failing to complete their ascension? Now he learned that it was because this world itself was preventing him from leaving that he forced his ancestors to fail their tribulations and return to their mortal selves.
Diviner Sang was shocked himself. He had always revered the heavens, but they were being locked in here. "I-Impossible! Why would the world do that?"
"Without a domain lord, your world is no different from an ownerless world. There are countless cultivators that can travel through space. If they took interest in your world, you might end up being enslaved. The world prevents you from reaching the upper realm and exposing the location of this world.
After all, once a god takes interest in your world, there is no one in this world capable of stopping that god. Even if the human emperor can fight against them with a mortal body he wouldn't be able to completely defeat them without getting injured.
Even if you kill or force the invader to leave your world, there are some persistent gods who wouldn't give up as long as they got what they wanted," explained Yun Ming.
Warden Yun Ming asked, "What is your last question?"
Sect Master Ceng Fengju asked, "How will we be able to allow the world to let us ascend?"
"Save your world. Find the domain lord or replace him then the world will no longer hold you back to this world," said Yun Ming. "I have answered three of your questions. You can now take your leave." With a wave of his hand, a huge force threw out the people from the Sects.
With the cultivators gone, only the mortal and the captured prisoners as well as one warden remain inside. Yun Ming finally turned his head and looked at the human emperor seated on his golden throne. His eyes were downcast as if it would close anytime.
"Is it my turn now?" asked the human emperor.
Yun Ming said, "You may ask me anything and I will give you all the answers."