Chapter 2154: Three Legs of a Tripod (III)

“Spirit will certainly fade away in times of unrest, there are no rules then!” Su Yu nodded, confirming what Skyward was saying. “When the universe is united and all hearts strive for the same goal, that means that collective intelligence will grow stronger.

“When everyone cultivates, perfects, breaks through, and excavates more of cultivation, that naturally fortifies spirit! It means that dao rules are continuously growing stronger!”

Skyward nodded, having obtained the answers he wanted.

“Therefore, the reason for ninth ranks causing the continual loss of spirit lies in the disorganized nature of the rules and the collapse of order. The Order master was on the right path when he sought to build his dynasty of order...”

“We weren’t the ones to kill him,” snorted Calamity. “If this is the case, why did you kill him?”

“It wasn’t that I wanted to kill him, but that he sought death!” Skyward shook his head. “Calamity, do you think that forceful suppression of the darkness beneath order and ignoring it afterward will lead to a real order?

“I can only say that the Order master was in too much of a hurry. He didn’t really corral the unordered. He was just pretending everything was going well, which meant that it all would’ve fallen to pieces sooner or later!

“The unrest in the chaos should not have been suppressed this way. There needed to be a cleansing and reform. It would’ve worked if he had the ability to kill us all and rebuild order. Chaos Sky’s path was also good, but he lacked the strength to back himself up!”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the response. Calamity seemed to understand as well. The look in the other ninth ranks’ eyes shifted too.

“So you mean... that what you consider ordered dao is achieved through killing anyone causing unrest, then rebuilding the order of the chaos?” intoned Calamity. “You wish to return the chaos to order? And the Order master’s enterprise... would eventually collapse, just like the western region, because he wasn’t strong or ruthless enough.”

“You can put it that way,” Skyward nodded. “Of course, we didn’t necessarily need to rely on killing. Education or domestication would’ve worked just as well. See how nice and biddable Disorder is now?”

He pointed at the Martial Emperor with a laugh.

“Look at how meek he is! I wasn’t a fan of bloodshed from the start and never supported using it as a tool to resolve our problems. Hence, I usually stayed on the sidelines.

“However, the way of the chaos is that there is always someone reluctant to accept the status quo or wishes to rail against it.” Skyward didn’t mind voicing what was on his mind. “Therefore, it’s just as War said. This chaos needs an executioner to emerge and cut down all upheaval.

“Chaos Sky placed his hopes in the Nine Layer Guard and tasked them to be the executioners in the shadows. He thought too highly of them!”

Skyward shook his head. The guard was strong, but only relatively speaking. They weren’t able to do anything against real powerhouses.

“You guys come from the world of Yin Yang, or the world of time!” Skyward looked at Fang Ping and the rest. “Some of War’s legacy and fruits of labor were instrumental in your rise. He was also selecting an executioner!

“He was not suited for it, or he didn’t want that role. Since you guys dared blow up time, I think you have the right to take on that mantle, Su Yu! Fang Ping is also qualified since he set aside time and was not affected by it. And when it comes down to it, so is Li Hao qualified!

“The three of you fulfill War’s conditions.” Skyward sighed with emotion. “To think that what we spoke of that year is all coming to fruition! War once said that great talents emerge in every age of disorder to suppress the unrest. Those who can remain unswayed by time are, without exception, heroes of the chaos!

“The three of you simply pursue freedom, fairness, and peace...” Skyward said slowly. “All of that requires a cleansing of the chaos. You simply need to turn disorder into order and the unordered into ordered dao. That will nurture spirit. When there is sufficient spirit, we will not need to fear the demise of the chaos! When we focus on educating the masses, we do not need to worry about a gradual decline of talented geniuses into mediocrity!

“Unification will result in the proper direction for all factions and concentrate our efforts for the right future. There will be no fear of internal conflict then!

“When the great dao is complete, all daos will naturally gather. There is no concern of upheaval when the administrator of dao is moral and benevolent.

“The key to stabilizing the chaos lies in united hearts. All of us are from different worlds and have once conquered our own world. Hence, we should understand that it is impossible for the world to be united as one when there are two kinds of voices in the world.

“The more voices and differing opinions there are, the harder unification is. Authority is not the be all and end all. Will, direction, and goals are the foundation to strength!”

Calamity looked silently at him, finally understanding what Skyward had in mind. He frowned and intoned, “So you mean... that our existence... actually fulfills the role of pests in the chaos? We are the origin of the unrest that you wanted to purify from the very beginning?”

“That’s not it,” Skyward shook his head. “I told you before that I never wanted to kill you guys. I just hoped... to complete the conversion of order in the chaos through a natural process.

“Everyone has actually been proceeding to the end of their natural life over these one million years. I thought that everyone would’ve let things go after such an endless period of time. It seems that I’ve overestimated human nature.”

These people still clung tooth and nail to their original fixations, despite a million years passing.

Calamity laughed!

“Have you let things go? If you had, you should go to your death one step ahead of us. I would believe you then. Don’t you find it ludicrous that you ask something from us when you can’t do it yourself?”

“It’s not ludicrous.” Skyward shook his head. “Sacrifices always have to be made and there needs to be someone to make them! I am not War. War was unwilling to make those sacrifices and didn’t want to undertake them. I, at least, am willing to do certain things.

“But unfortunately, it’s just like I said, my strength does not permit me to do everything that I want. There are too many ninth ranks around, but everyone has gotten much weaker after a million years. That means this is the perfect timing!”

“So Senior Skyward is actually on the side of justice?” cackled Fang Ping. “I see... the senior thinks that we are all executioners in the shadows. That doesn’t sound that bad!”

“Executioners? We’re not worthy of being that!” Su Yu chuckled. “This senior is the executioner, we are his blade!”

He turned to look at Li Hao. “Time!” he called out. “I mean... Senior Mister Li! Do you think you’re worthy of being the executioner, or are you the blade too?”

......

Li Hao ignored them. The three ninth ranks were listening to Skyward and not paying much attention to him. They didn’t want to pay any attention to him either. They just wanted to stop him from entering chaos dao.

The young man wasn’t interested in what Skyward had to say. Whatever it was, it was all bullshit to him. There might be truth in it, but none of it was worthy of being taken seriously in Li Hao’s eyes.

Was there truly anyone good-hearted in the chaos?

Who could represent justice?

I can’t, much less Skyward.

All this talk of being the executioner is just that, talk. Skyward’s goal is to purge the ninth ranks and... probably something else.

The Human King borrowed whatever War left behind to nurture his own dark side. Two daos coexist in the world of Yin and Yang. Two worlds coexist as one!

Will it be the same for chaos dao?

It might not be two sides of the same coin. Perhaps another side is hidden beneath the surface? Does spirit count as another side?

It’s a similar case with there being the corporeal and immaterial daos in Silver Moon. The corporeal dao is in the physical and tangible, the immaterial is in the mind. Or perhaps it’s the combination of a certain aura and a certain spirit.

Is this what Skyward pursues?

I'm strengthening myself with spirit and mental strength. Is Skyward doing the same thing?

If he is... then that’s a possible explanation for why spirit hasn’t recovered in the chaos over the past one million years.

That will make him a very difficult opponent!

Li Hao’s head was starting to hurt. He had only started to fortify himself in this manner, but could already sense the massive benefits from this course of action. If Skyward had been doing this for one million years...

Could he and the rest seriously beat the guy??

The young man suddenly felt much less confident in himself.

The appearance of War and bringing time to Skyward might have helped the man comprehend something. The spirit within time was the key to this path. Had Skyward been gathering spirit all these years?

Apart from the tangible chaos dao, could there be a corresponding illusory dao, such as one of spirit?

If so, where was it? Why had no one stumbled upon it before?

Even Li Hao was yet to sense the existence of such a dao. The young man sank into deep thought.

In the distance.

Skyward looked at Su Yu and the others when he finished describing his thoughts. “No matter what, Calamity and his ilk have been rendered obsolete. It’s also likely impossible to have them give up ninth rank dao and reform their great dao. Since things have progressed to this stage and they have so many ninth ranks with them...

“Let’s kill them first!” Skyward smiled. “We might be able to have a further discussion after that! I have been observing you guys from start to finish and have not harmed you.”

“Are you a plus-sized Chaos Sky?” sneered the Human King. “Do you think we’re your Nine Layer Guard? If that’s what you’re plotting after all this talk, then you’re really not worth much, Skyward!”

“No matter what, it’s the truth that Calamity’s side is stronger,” Skyward laughed. “There’s no need to struggle over whether I spoke the truth or not. Whether it’s better for two weak sides to team up or for you guys to join him... I think you know which is the better choice!”

Fang Ping didn’t immediately fire back with a response. At present, Skyward looked weakest out of the three sides due to him being alone. Calamity had so many ninth ranks with him.

However, Skyward just felt more dangerous!

Fang Ping actually wanted to ally with Calamity to kill Skyward!

But since Skyward had said all this, chances were high that he had some contingency plans in mind. And did all these ninth ranks really take orders from Calamity?

Would Skyward not have a single trump card after all these years?

Fang Ping didn’t know what to do!

He never bothered with considering things like these over the past one thousand years. Instead, he turned to Supreme Zhang.

The supreme had been recovering from his injuries all this time and shook his head slightly. There was no rush to do anything. Although the situation seemed clear at present, it was anything but.

“Li Hao!” hollered Fang Ping. “You’ve got the most thoughts rattling around in that brain of yours. What do you think we should do now?”

“I don’t know,” Li Hao laughed heartily. “I represent myself and no one else!”

“Stuff it!” yelled Fang Ping. “Whether it’s New Martial or Myriad Realms, we’ve all been dragged down with you! Would there be so much crap if it wasn’t for you?! Su Yu would still be sleeping in Myriad Realms if not for you. You got him here, are you going to ignore him after that?”

Li Hao once more took stock of chaos dao and assessed the level of chaos strength around him.

“Senior Skyward, since it is a matter of justice...” he suddenly said. “We are also champions of justice and naturally will ally with justice. We will expel evil! Calamity obviously sounds evil...”

Calamity scowled. Li Hao!