Chapter 414: Cultivators Are Thieves of Heaven and Earth!

Cultivators were thieves of heaven and earth!

At this moment, only this single thought remained in Lü Yang’s mind. He stared blankly at the sky, as if seeing an entirely new world.

‘Holes. All of them are holes.’

‘Even the Fruit Positions were like this, and yet they were the thirty greatest ones… But weren’t Fruit Positions supposed to be a part of this heaven and earth?’

‘Or could it be…’

Lü Yang’s thoughts twisted and turned. Suddenly, he seemed to realize something. He sharply turned his divine sense upon himself, his expression turning strange.

Unlike those holes, his 【Xuandu Blessed Land】 at this moment was not a hole at all. Rather, it seemed to be something that had appeared out of thin air. And now, when he used 【Same as the World】 to link with heaven and earth, an intense feeling arose within him—a sensation as if he were being scrutinized.

‘Heaven and earth… are observing me?’

A subtle expression slowly spread across Lü Yang’s face: ‘That’s right. The 【Xuandu Blessed Land】 was not a hole, because it did not point toward the Fruit Positions.’

Thus, heaven and earth observed.

If he chose to walk the path of Empty Verification like the Innate True Persons, then he would be nourishing heaven and earth. In that case, their attitude toward him would surely improve greatly.

But if he ultimately decided to continue down the road of Fruit Position cultivation…

Then he would become the greatest enemy of heaven and earth.

‘So that’s how it is—this is the essence of cultivation!’

‘Seizing the fortune of heaven and earth to forge Fruit Positions… it appeared to originate from heaven and earth, yet in truth, it made one a parasite gnawing at them. Could it be that every Fruit Position under heaven was designed by the Dao Lords themselves?’

How powerful were Nascent Soul Dao Lords truly?

If cultivators were thieves of heaven and earth, then the four Nascent Soul Dao Lords must be the greatest of all thieves. Saints not perishing, great thieves not ceasing—they could be called Saint Thieves!

‘This world’s cultivation system… was almost entirely centered upon the four Dao Lords. They had carved out the thirty greatest holes from this heaven and earth, transforming them into thirty Fruit Positions. Then the other True Lords and True Persons used these holes to continue prying away at the foundations of heaven and earth.’ 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

This was the very essence of cultivation!

And the so-called Blessed Lands were tools for prying at the walls of heaven and earth. No wonder such things did not exist in other worlds—what difference was there between this and suicide for heaven and earth?

“No wonder cultivators suffer the Three Disasters and the Five Declines of Heaven and Man.”

The four Dao Lords were deeply bound with heaven and earth, to the point where the very foundations of this world’s cultivation system contained self-contradictions.

The Three Disasters and the Five Declines were both tribulations and opportunities.

On one hand, heaven and earth truly slaughtered cultivators through them. On the other hand, Blessed Lands could only be forged through the tempering of such tribulations.

“…”

Lü Yang was silent for a long time. At last, he withdrew his 【Xuandu Blessed Land】. He no longer gazed at the heavens, burying his doubts and speculations deep within his heart.

From ancient times until now, countless True Persons who had reached Foundation Establishment completion and refined their Blessed Lands had likely done the same. For no other reason—they were too weak. They had no power, merely frogs at the bottom of a well, catching glimpses of the heavens. What did it matter whether they guessed right or wrong? In the end, nothing would change.

‘For now… Golden Core takes priority!’

Lü Yang stirred his thoughts, and within his sea of consciousness emerged the contents of the third-grade true cultivation art he had obtained in the Dragon Palace treasury—『Dragon Chapter of Heavenly Speech and Radiant Flame』.

‘No wonder the path of Empty Verification was so much harder than orthodox cultivation.’

‘After all, one path restored, the other destroyed. Naturally, destruction was easier than restoration… It’s already remarkable this heaven and earth lasted this long!’

‘No… wait.’

The Dao-Seizing Battle!

Lü Yang’s mind suddenly flashed with a long-forgotten name. Every so often, the True Lords would pluck realms from beyond the heavens, then merge them into this world.

‘Back then, I thought nothing of it. But looking now, wasn’t that patching heaven and earth? The True Lords swallowed the bulk, dividing among themselves the realms containing Fruit Positions or their embryonic forms, feeding them into their own Cave Heavens. Then they only left scraps—realms without even Fruit Positions—to fill heaven and earth, like tossing scraps to beggars.’

‘Beasts!’ Lü Yang cursed inwardly.

In this way, they prevented heaven and earth from growing too powerful, yet also avoided its collapse from excessive holes—achieving sustainable exploitation!

In this instant, Lü Yang comprehended much.

This was not an increase in power, but in knowledge and perspective—his Dao progress. He had gained a deeper understanding of heaven and earth.

“…Suo Huan, Daoist Friend.”

The next second, Lü Yang turned and looked toward Suo Huan. “You just saw me refining my Blessed Land. I wonder, Daoist Friend, did you have any insights?”

“…”

At those words, Suo Huan—already deep in thought—furrowed his brows tightly. He appeared utterly vexed, pondering yet unable to seize the crucial point.

Lü Yang sighed inwardly.

‘The 【Obstruction of Knowledge and View】 was too fierce.’

With that, he stopped circling around and directly asked, “Daoist Friend, how do you think your 【Lingxu Blessed Land】 came into being?”

“Boom!”

Before the words even finished, Suo Huan’s expression changed drastically.

In an instant, his face turned deathly pale.

Lü Yang’s words were like a great axe, cleaving through the heavy fog clouding his spirit platform, revealing places he had never noticed before.

Yet at this moment, Suo Huan almost wished he had not seen. Even so, countless thoughts welled up within him. Indeed, his 【Lingxu Blessed Land】 had not undergone tempering by the Three Disasters and Five Declines of Heaven and Man. So how could it have been refined out of nothing?

【Huanxu Realm】 had given it?

Impossible! True Blessed Lands were unique to this broken land. The 【Huanxu Realm】 did not even have complete Fruit Positions—how could it forge a genuine Blessed Land?

Unless…

‘…Someone?’

Suo Huan’s teeth clenched hard, his body trembling despite himself. ‘Yes, someone! Unless someone had secretly intervened to help me refine the 【Lingxu Blessed Land】…’

But in this ruined place, who would act out of kindness?

‘A scheme! I’ve been used?’

‘Who!? Why can’t I remember anything…’

In that instant, Suo Huan felt as if plunged into an icy abyss. But he was no stranger to storms. Though his heart was chilled, his face remained calm.

He even had the presence of mind to glance at Lü Yang.

‘This man—he absolutely isn’t a rootless, orthodox wandering cultivator like me. Eight or nine out of ten, he’s a True Person of one of the Four Great Powers, who reincarnated outside and has now returned!’

Otherwise, how could he know so much?

Back then, how many years had Suo Huan spent just to blend into this broken land?

And yet Lü Yang? Forget integration—just watching him loot the Dragon Palace with such practiced ease, he clearly moved through this broken land like a fish in water!

‘…Could he be from the Saint Sect?’

At the same time, far away, another had reached the same suspicion as Suo Huan.

In Jiangbei, at the Sky-Reaching Sea of Clouds.

Inside the Sacred Fire Cliff, Hong Ju sat cross-legged in his cave dwelling. His sea of consciousness still replayed and simulated the battle where Lü Yang slew the Heavenly Jiao.

‘Truly alike…’

The more he replayed, the more astonished Hong Ju became.

For in his eyes, Lü Yang’s final strike against the Heavenly Jiao—manipulating causality and toying with fate—was strikingly similar to his own master, Lord Hong Yun!

‘Come to think of it, ever since Lord Hong Yun met me over ten years ago, he mysteriously vanished. Then, some time ago, Buddhist Son Guang Ming stirred up great upheaval in Jiangnan, enough to draw even True Person Dang Mo to act personally. I thought Lord Hong Yun had failed and gone to reincarnate once more…’

But now it seemed… not so?

As Hong Ju pondered, suddenly the cave doors swung open. An old Daoist in black robes, with kind brows and a benevolent look, walked inside.

“【Xiang Ye】?”

Hong Ju raised a brow. “Shouldn’t you be preparing for Seeking the Golden Core? Why come to me?”

Xiang Ye wasted no words, going straight to the point. “That wandering cultivator from beyond, the one who slew the Heavenly Jiao overseas—what does Daoist Friend think of him?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I think… he must be a True Person of the Saint Sect!”

Xiang Ye stroked his beard with a faint smile. “If he weren’t a True Person of the Saint Sect, how could he refine such insidious and sinister divine abilities? I think… perhaps there’s a chance to draw him to Jiangbei.”

Hong Ju frowned. “You think he would agree?”

“He will have no choice!”

Xiang Ye chuckled lightly. “Have you forgotten? That Heavenly Jiao bore a trace of Buddhist Fate. Though the dragon died, the Buddhist Fate would not vanish.”

At this, Xiang Ye’s face revealed a flicker of resentment.

“That one from Jiangxi… the fellow who liked mingling with us lower cultivators… By now, he’s likely already headed overseas.”