Chapter 144: Master Sheng's Purpose

Wang Li was startled by Lord Sheng’s words.

What kind of joke was this?

They couldn't even leave the Tianxuan World, yet he was talking about creating a prime world out of nothing? Wasn't this utter nonsense?

He hadn't forgotten his current condition; he was still essentially a living corpse!
Until he fully recovered, talking about anything else was a waste of breath.

Besides, ambitious as he might have once been, he was already over five thousand years old. Where would he still find such passionate, fiery enthusiasm?
The older people got, the more timid they became—there was a lot of truth to that saying.

Now he could finally understand why Lord Sheng had become so timid; he had simply been scared out of his wits over the years!
Having known Lord Sheng for so many years, he had only ever known him as a coward, completely forgetting that Lord Sheng had once been an untamed wild spirit—so wild that he had managed to lose his very status as a Saint.

He had no idea what was giving Lord Sheng the courage these days to dream of forging a brand new prime world. Calling him delusional would be an understatement.

Sensing Wang Li’s silent contempt, Lord Sheng snapped angrily, "Can you show a little ambition, kid? Creating a world isn't all that difficult. As long as the method is right, it will be achieved sooner or later."

Wang Li replied indifferently, "Whatever makes you happy, old man."

He was just being perfunctory, having no desire to chase after unreliable pipe dreams.
Wasn't it wonderful just lying here honestly to recover his state of being?

"Ah... You're even more like a salted fish now than Lord Sheng myself."

Lord Sheng sighed and said, "Things have come to this, so I won't hide it from you anymore. If you want to shake me off, the only way is to help me forge a new world so that I can re-attain my Saint status within it. Give me a straight answer: are you going to do this or not?"

Wang Li thought to himself: *Can I say no?*

Lord Sheng declared, "Of course not! Otherwise, why would I have chosen a good-for-nothing like you?"

"Master, can you please stop eavesdropping on my inner thoughts?"

"No! Want me to stop peeking at your thoughts? Then honestly follow my arrangements. That's that, I'm going to sleep."

Lord Sheng sounded calm, but Wang Li could sense that he was actually quite angry.

Still, it was easy to understand his feelings.
For a dignified Hunyuan Wuji Saint to be reduced to his current plight, it was absolutely impossible for him not to yearn for a return to his peak. Having bottled it up for thousands of years, to finally voice it today only to be rejected flatly—he would have to be a saint indeed not to feel aggrieved.

Yet Wang Li still didn't believe Lord Sheng's idea had any possibility of realization. They couldn't even solve the basic problem of entering and exiting the Tianxuan World, yet he was already plotting to build a macro-world.

It was the same logic as expecting a toddler who couldn't even write characters to compose a classical poem.

***

Wasn't this forcing a man to do the impossible?

This next sleep turned out to be a real slumber, lasting a full seventy or eighty years without a single word spoken.

The basic architecture of Wang Li's divine soul had largely revived; all it lacked was sufficient accumulation to make the soul whole again.

At this moment, Lord Sheng popped up out of nowhere once more.

"Kid, let me tell you something, and you can make your own choice."

"What is it? It's been ages since I last heard a peep from you, old man."

"It's true that I've been quiet, but Lord Sheng was afraid you'd be lonely. Can't I come out and have a chat with you?"

"I'm not lonely at all. Jiang Yue is about to reshape her physical body, and the two of us have plenty to talk about."

"Are you going to listen or not?"

"Listen, listen, listen. They say having an elder at home is like having a priceless treasure; of course I'll listen to what you have to say."

Lord Sheng fell silent for a moment before saying, "Actually, there is an opportunity for you right now to complete your fragmented divine soul. Even if I leave in the future, you will still be a complete human being, and you won't have to worry about dropping dead at any moment."

Wang Li hesitated for a while and asked, "After my divine soul is completed, where will you go, old man? What will happen to you?"

"Oh? You actually can't bear to part with me? Don't worry, I will continue to reside within your divine soul until I recover ten percent of my strength."

Lord Sheng added, "The good news is that from now on, I won't be able to casually pry into your inner thoughts."

"Really?"
Wang Li asked skeptically.

He didn't quite believe Lord Sheng's words. Lord Sheng had committed the unscrupulous act of eavesdropping on his thoughts far too many times.
Besides, with Lord Sheng's supreme realm, wasn't prying into his thoughts just a matter of a single passing notion?

He would just take those words with a grain of salt.

"And what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that I won't be able to mask your karmic trajectory for you anymore. Not only can I no longer shield you, but I will also make you actively provoke the World Will, until one day you can replace it."

"I knew I wouldn't escape your arrangements, old man. But I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"What's the benefit for me after I replace the World Will?"

"True immortality. Is that enough? Is that enough to move your heart?"

***

"Then why don't you go replace the World Will yourself, old man? Isn't the Dao you practice the path of playing it safe? Becoming the World Will grants eternal life—doesn't that suit you perfectly?"

"Kid, now you're just talking nonsense. If Lord Sheng wanted to become the World Will, I would have done it long ago. Would I have waited until now?"

"You still have to give me a reason! After all, this is an undertaking with such massive risks."

"First, the paths we must walk are different. You can become the World Will, but I cannot. The things I need to do cannot be accomplished by the World Will. Second, not just anyone can become the World Will. To become the World Will, one must possess Chaos Qi, and you naturally possess the conditions to become it. Are these two reasons enough?"

Wang Li fell silent.

Having spent so many years together, he believed that Lord Sheng would not harm him, but he found it hard to understand Lord Sheng's ultimate purpose in doing this.

Making himself become the World Will would undoubtedly be extremely difficult, yet Lord Sheng had chosen him as a candidate and given him the chance to choose. He didn't know whether this was a blessing or a curse for him.

In the end, he could only choose to trust Lord Sheng.
Even if it was just to help Lord Sheng recover.

The two of them thus reached a tacit understanding and began embarking on a difficult and seemingly impossible task.

Another decade passed, and Jiang Yue was the first to awaken.

Upon waking up, Jiang Yue did not leave the tomb chamber, choosing instead to stand guard by Wang Li's side.

Having spent many years without speaking, Jiang Yue had grown somewhat talkative. She kept chattering away softly by Wang Li's ear for an entire month before finally leaving the tomb chamber.

Wang Li was once again left alone, lying quietly inside his coffin to await his own revival.

With Jiang Yue's return, the entire Pure Yang Sect celebrated joyfully over having gained yet another Heavenly Immortal realm expert, further cementing the Pure Yang Sect's authority within the cultivation world.

Several more decades passed, and the appointed time between Wang Li and True Immortal Nirvana arrived.

On this day, a sturdy young man walked out from the tomb chamber beneath the Heaven-Proud Monument.

Before the nearby cultivators could even react, a massive heavenly tribulation descended from the sky, striking the young man directly.

Feeling the changes in his body under the baptism of the tribulation lightning, the young man casually swept his hand and moved the cultivators who had been inadvertently caught in the tribulation out of its range.

Then the second tribulation lightning fell, followed by bolt after bolt of thunder.

The powerful tribulation alarmed countless cultivators. True Immortal Nirvana and Jiang Yue rushed to Yaoxue Peak at the very first moment; they were here to witness the return of a person.

After a full eighty-one tribulation lightning bolts, the young man strolled out from beneath the tribulation clouds as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard.

He came to the edge of the cliff, channeled the power within his body, and let out a roar that shook the heavens: "I, Wang Li, have returned!"