Chapter 411: The Divine Vault Sovereign
Jiang Li truly never expected the Heavenly Dao gaining sentience would stem from such an absurdly comical reason. When people suffered injustice, they instinctively cried, “Heavenly Grandfather, open your eyes!” And indeed, the Heavenly Grandfather had opened its eyes.
“People also often shout ‘Heavenly Grandfather, strike this bastard dead with lightning!’ Could that be the origin of heavenly tribulations?” Bai Hongtu’s thought process diverged from normal people’s.
Jiang Li and Yu Yin subtly shifted their positions, putting more distance between themselves and Bai Hongtu. If Old Bai wanted to admit being a bastard, that was his business—no need to drag them into it.
Understanding the Heavenly Dao’s sentience explained many things. For instance, the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal could trace the karma of everyone across the Nine Provinces—even locating the Dao Ancestor who had unified his three corpses—yet couldn’t detect other seniors who had ascended to the immortal realm. Those ascended seniors either perished in the immortal realm’s turmoil or submitted to the Heavenly Dao, altering their karma.
Thus, it wasn’t that the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal’s karma-tracing abilities were lacking, but that it encountered extraordinarily bizarre circumstances. Poor Yin-Yang Heaven Seal, constantly worrying about its uselessness, had been diligently researching cultivation methods for spiritual treasures.
“By the way, Immortal Elder,” Jiang Li asked, “have you heard of certain statues being indestructible? Say, because the person was so powerful in life that their image cannot be defiled or destroyed?”
“No such legends come to mind.”
“What about statues of the Dao Ancestor or Buddha? Do they possess any protective power making them hard to destroy?”
Immortal Elder Changcun looked strangely at Jiang Li, puzzled by such odd questions. “How could that be? A statue is just a statue—its hardness depends solely on its material, not the image it represents. If statues were indestructible, wouldn’t I have long used my master’s statue to smash Outer Realm Demons? Wouldn’t that be more effective than immortal artifacts?”
Bai Hongtu reminded his overly-immersed ancestor: “Not Outer Realm Demons—fallen immortals.”
Immortal Elder Changcun glared at Bai Hongtu—this disrespectful disciple always undermining him.
Jiang Li grew more perplexed. “Since you fabricated the Outer Realm Demons, then what exactly is the Divine Vault Sovereign?”
Immortal Elder Changcun looked even more confused. “What Divine Vault Sovereign?”
Only then did Jiang Li remember—to prevent Immortal Elder Changcun from gaining merit through killing, he hadn’t mentioned the Divine Vault Sovereign’s name. Jiang Li casually molded a small statue of the Divine Vault Sovereign and handed it over.
“Try smashing this statue.”
“I previously told you that killing earns merit, provided one worships a certain deity.”
“You said this deity was worshipped by Outer Realm Demons, responsible for distributing merit. I assumed there were other Outer Realm Demon gods—perhaps governing war, fertility, etc. I’d prepared to battle various Outer Realm Demon deities.”
Jiang Li had formulated numerous theories and countermeasures based on Immortal Elder Changcun’s descriptions of Outer Realm Demons. Now, all those preparations seemed wasted.
“An unfamiliar visage,” Immortal Elder Changcun muttered, casually striking the statue. What happened next shocked him.
Though merely a clay figurine, the statue refused to break. Even without employing immortal energy, his Earthly Immortal physique should’ve been impervious to destruction. How could an Earthly Immortal’s strength fail against a tiny statue?
Growing serious, Immortal Elder Changcun mustered full power—his strike caused earthquakes throughout the Dao Sect, yet the statue remained unharmed.
Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin, intrigued, attempted destroying it too, discovering even Tribulation Transcendence Stage spells couldn’t damage the Divine Vault Sovereign’s effigy.
“What exactly is this thing?”
Jiang Li explained everything—the Divine Vault Sovereign, the Shenzang Cult, the sacrificial offerings at Tianyuan Imperial City, and Venerable Sumeru Buddha being the mastermind.
Yu Yin finally learned about the Shenzang Cult behind Tianyuan Imperial City and that Venerable Sumeru Buddha had deployed the Spirit-Severing Array there. Bai Hongtu also understood why Jiang Li killed Venerable Sumeru—having previously avoided questioning Jiang Li’s grief.
Yu Yin speculated, “Gaining merit through killing is bizarre. Could the Divine Vault Sovereign be an immortal realm figure comparable to the Dao Ancestor?”
Immortal Elder Changcun shook his head. “Don’t underestimate merit. Just as the dead rely on hidden virtue, merit is vital for the living—this is the Heavenly Dao’s authority. No immortal could gain the power to distribute merit.”
“In my view, the Divine Vault Sovereign isn’t a person or deity. I suspect it’s a manifestation of the Heavenly Dao itself.”
He looked at Jiang Li. “Didn’t you say obtaining merit requires viewing the Divine Vault Sovereign as everything—that all existence revolves around its will?”
“This sounds less like a god and more like the omnipresent Heavenly Dao.”
Bai Hongtu had an epiphany. “No wonder Jiang Li performs countless meritorious deeds yet receives no merit! I thought the severed Celestial Ladder prevented merit’s descent.”
“In truth, the method for obtaining merit has changed.”
“The Heavenly Dao wants killings, while Jiang Li keeps saving people.”
Immortal Elder Changcun stated, “Worshipping the Divine Vault Sovereign means acknowledging a new Heavenly Dao. Or rather, becoming aware of its birth.”
“Anyone who learns of this new Heavenly Dao’s existence and kills will gain merit.”
“Meaning henceforth, any killing—by anyone—will yield merit!”
Yu Yin asked curiously, “Elder speaks so confidently—did you already know this?”
Immortal Elder Changcun’s expression turned grave. “This leads to what I must reveal next.”
“You know the Outer Realm Demons’ overwhelming strength—sometimes even the Human Sovereign’s death couldn’t take them down. That’s when I intervened. History witnessed this scenario several times.”
“Every battle against them exhausted my immortal energy.”
“Logically, I should’ve depleted my spiritual energy long ago. Yet I haven’t. Know why?”
Never one for theatrics, he answered immediately.
“Before the Celestial Ladder vanished, I knew the Heavenly Dao had gained sentience.”
“When the first fallen immortal descended upon the Nine Provinces, killing it granted me this.”
He opened his palm, revealing a golden luminous sphere—radiant and soothing. Everyone recognized this substance—identical to the Merit Gold Bricks from Mengjiang Dynasty.
“Merit power?!” Bai Hongtu exclaimed. Jiang Li and Yu Yin also tensed.
“Indeed. Killing fallen immortals also yields merit. Though the converted immortal energy couldn’t offset combat expenditures, something was better than nothing.”
“This merit-converted energy sustained me till now. Currently, all my immortal energy comes from merit conversion.”