Chapter 964 - No Creation Without Destruction, Replacement
Chapter 964 - No Creation Without Destruction, Replacement
In the quiet Towering city, every single wall and surface had a style of their own, depicting the unique artwork of the many races.
As a result, the city did not seem like a place to live but a museum instead. The main hall of Towering city happened to be its essence.
However, the people in the hall were in no mood to admire this right now. Li Qingshan’s stunned voice echoed through the hall.
“Become the well!”
“Senior, are you trying to become a world, or merge with the World of the Nine Provinces?” Xiao An was in thought.
“Since I said I want to remain in this world forever, it’s obviously the latter, but it is not merging. I’ll be done for if I merge with it.” Then the Great Banyan Tree King looked at Li Qingshan. “If I use the Asura Field in your possession as a comparison, I’ll basically become the artifact spirit, turning my mind into the world’s mind. I’ll be replacing the consciousness of the world with my own consciousness.”
Only now did Li Qingshan understand why the Great Banyan Tree King had rapidly developed his cuttings without any regard. He was spreading like the moss on the walls of the well. Just how unbelievable of an aspiration was that?
“But how are you going to do that? Don’t tell me you plan on expanding until you cover the entire world?”
That was absolutely impossible. Even if humans did not get in his way, it would take him a tremendous amount of time. His lifespan definitely was not that long.
“Of course not.”
The Great Banyan Tree King waved his hand with a smile. He turned around and made his way into the depths of the hall until he arrived before a mental map of the nine provinces.
The Great Banyan Tree King said slowly, “A world has a world’s laws. If I want to replace the consciousness of the world, I need to comprehend the laws of the world first, but with how profound and complicated they are, it’s impossible to completely comprehend them through any so-called talent for comprehension. It requires tremendous amounts of calculations and simulations. Too many cuttings bring no benefit to cultivation, but they can speed up the calculations drastically.”
Li Qingshan’s expression was quite strange. The thousands of kilometers of forest he had travelled through merged into one in his mind. Every single banyan tree was both a gatherer of information and a calculator of information. Countless information was delivered through each root before all gathering here, cracking the code of the world…
It did not sound like something a daemon should have been doing. The Great Banyan Tree King before him seemed to only be a three-dimensional projection, while his true identity was a super-sized supercomputer!
“No wonder you’re renowned for your wisdom and knowledge. Though, how did deducing the laws of the world go?”
“It went quite well. At the very least, it’s very helpful for divination. Though, Qiongqi’s trap truly surpassed my abilities of divination. The difference in our status is far too great. You probably know already, but there might be a time trap in the bet.”
“I do.” Li Qingshan nodded.
“If I can succeed, I should be able to help you out,” said the Great Banyan Tree King. A single Daemon King was no different from an ant before Qiongqi, but if he could become a world, then even Qiongqi could not confront him directly.
“I hope you can succeed too, but what can I help you with? It’s not like I understand the laws of the world,” said Li Qingshan. Compared to something as troublesome as comprehending the laws of the world, he preferred using brute force to destroy the laws of the world.
“Just comprehending the laws of the world is useless. Although it allows me to better adjust to this world and utilise the laws in various aspects, it’s like how you can’t become the well even if you study and see through every single crack and mark in the wall of the well. Comprehension is only the first step, not to mention I haven’t even comprehended it completely with my current cultivation! I’m merely an ant trying to shake a tree!”
The Great Banyan Tree King sighed. Even though he tried various methods to make up for it, the third heavenly tribulation was still too low of a cultivation.
“Then isn’t it a dead end?” Li Qingshan asked.
“There’s always a way. Ants can shake trees. Even if it’s a dead end, there’s a way to resolve it. Do you know about Water God Seals?”
“I do. I even refined a few.” Li Qingshan understood something. From a certain perspective, Mountain God Seals and Water God Seals were condensed laws of the world.
“Then do you know about the nine cauldrons?”
“They’re the imperial treasures of Great Xia. Who doesn’t know about them? It’s said that they were forged from all the God Seals in the world, and they watch over the fortunes of the nine provinces, leaving the world godless.”
Li Qingshan came to a realisation. Grasping a God Seal was equivalent to grasping a river or a mountain. If he could grasp all the Mountain and Water God Seals in the world, could he grasp the nine provinces?
“Fellow, are you trying to refine the nine cauldrons and elevate yourself to godhood?”
“That’s roughly my train of thought, but I’m not that greedy. Right now, I plan on refining the Mist Province cauldron first, which will drastically lengthen my lifespan and ensure my survival. With that, I can further comprehend the laws of the world and use this as a breakthrough point until the day I succeed.”
“Fellow, are you asking me to steal the Mist Province cauldron from the King of Southern Yue’s estate?”
Li Qingshan frowned slightly. Even if the security of the king’s estate was not as tight as Towering city, that definitely was not a place he could simply come and go, let alone leave with their supreme treasure. It really was anything but simple, and regardless of whether he succeeded or not, he would directly fall out with the King of Southern Yue.
“Not that!” The Great Banyan Tree King swung his arm, and the surrounding landscape twisted and changed. They arrived in a huge tree hole in the centre of the banyan tree.
“The Mist Province cauldron!”
Li Qingshan’s eyes narrowed. A huge, three-legged, inky-green cauldron sat in the centre of the hole. The cauldron was engraved with countless mountains, rivers, and treasures, all according to the geography and cultures unique to the Mist province. With a deep glance, the flat engravings actually seemed to turn into countless mountains and rivers, hidden deep within the mist.
It was one of the nine cauldrons, the Mist Province cauldron!
The Mist Province cauldron was not particularly large, but it gave off an incomparable sense of weight and density. It was as if it was condensed from the fifty thousand kilometers of the Mist province. Even when it was entangled in countless aerial roots, they struggled to hide its profound glow.
“I obtained this cauldron five thousand years ago!” The Great Banyan Tree King touched the engravings of the cauldron gently, and the roots on the cauldron loosened slightly.
“Why have you never refined it then, fellow?” Li Qingshan was slightly surprised. Great Xia had only been founded five thousand years ago, so didn’t that mean the King of Southern Yue had handed it over to him soon after its forging?
“The times weren’t right. The nine cauldrons form one complete entity. They possess the might to divide the world. Let alone refining them, just shaking them is difficult. For all these years, I’ve only been studying its structure so that I can prepare for when I refine it.”
“Is now the time?”
“Look closely!” The Great Banyan Tree King pointed at the body of the cauldron, and only then did Li Qingshan see a few black specks on there that seemed like rust. He would have completely missed it if he did not look carefully.
“Those are the demon caverns!”
“That’s correct. These demon caverns are destroying and eating away the laws of this world, which present themselves on the Mist Province cauldron. They are also the weak points of the Mist Province cauldron.”
“What can I do for you then?”
“Shatter the Mist Province cauldron!”
Before he had seen the Mist Province cauldron, Li Qingshan was actually convinced he could shatter everything the world had to offer. Now, he was not that confident anymore. “It’s been forged after so much difficulty. Will it still work once it’s shattered?”
“There is no creation without destruction. I’ve already comprehended its structure. Only by destroying it completely can I refine it completely and replace it!”