Chapter 683: The Rule of the Strong Preying on the Weak and the Rule of Destruction
The Divine Vault Sovereign was furious. It was so close, just a little bit more, and Jiang Li would have been persuaded by him and become his tool.
With someone like Jiang Li, who operated outside of conventional logic, helping him, what couldn’t he achieve!
“Don’t be so angry.” Facing the Divine Vault Sovereign’s towering rage, Emperor Shun showed not a trace of fear.
“Die!” The Divine Vault Sovereign made his move, intending to kill Emperor Shun.
Before the Divine Vault Sovereign even acted, Emperor Shun had already moved. He spread his arms, leaned back, and entered the River of Time that appeared beneath his feet.
In the next moment, Emperor Shun emerged from the River of Time, arriving beside Jiang Li.
Unlike Ji Zhi who actively used his Double Pupils, Emperor Shun’s eyes constantly saw three scenes: the past, the present, and the future.
He had already foreseen the Divine Vault Sovereign’s attack.
The three Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortals were also greatly surprised upon seeing Emperor Shun.
Although Emperor Shun’s cultivation level was not high, his level of mystery was no less than that of the Dao Ancestor. Since ancient times, legends of Emperor Shun had circulated throughout the Immortal Realm.
Before Emperor Shun, time held no meaning; he could appear at any temporal node.
The Primordial Ancestor viewed Emperor Shun as a thorn in his side. As a Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal who specialized in researching the rules of time, being inferior to Emperor Shun in the comprehension of temporal rules was a profound humiliation.
The Divine Vault Sovereign was the sum total of the world’s power. The Primordial Ancestor’s understanding of the rules of time was the Divine Vault Sovereign’s understanding of the rules of time.
From the previous exchange, it was clear that Emperor Shun’s understanding of the rules of time far surpassed that of both the Primordial Ancestor and the Divine Vault Sovereign.
The Divine Vault Sovereign wanted to attack again but was directly pinned to the ground by Jiang Li.
Emperor Shun, wearing a straw raincoat like the most ordinary of ferrymen, squatted down to look at the Divine Vault Sovereign. He posed a question that Jiang Li hadn’t noticed before.
To Jiang Li’s ears, this question struck like a thunderbolt.
“Heavenly Dao, you say that after you become the final consciousness, you can restore the myriad heavens and worlds. But the world you restore, will it be the world of now, or the world of nine thousand years ago?”
The Divine Vault Sovereign’s pupils contracted sharply. He had deliberately avoided this question earlier, never expecting Emperor Shun to dig it up.
Seeing the Divine Vault Sovereign remain silent, Emperor Shun spoke for Him. “Currently, there is no Celestial Ascension Ladder. You cannot oversee every single blade of grass and tree across the myriad heavens and worlds. You can only restore the former myriad heavens and worlds.”
“In the restored world, there would be no Jiang Li, no Black Tide. You would act wantonly, without any constraints.”
Emperor Shun then said to Jiang Li, “Of course, in the restored world, the Nine Provinces would no longer be the peaceful, stable, and harmonious Nine Provinces of today. It would be the former Nine Provinces of scheming and conflict, of righteous versus demonic struggles. There would be no Bai Hongtu, no Yu Yin, no Holy Maiden Jingxin, no Ji Zhi, no Commander Liu, no Zhang Konghu… Almost none of the people you know would exist.”
The Divine Vault Sovereign hurriedly said, “I can descend upon the Nine Provinces, imprinting the current Nine Provinces in my mind.”
Emperor Shun said leisurely, “Can you? No, you cannot, right?”
“In the world you restore, the previous lives, the lives before those, of these people would exist. Can a single soul be both a previous life and the current life?”
“If you truly could do that, why didn’t you mention it to Jiang Li before?”
“Don’t say you forgot. The Heavenly Dao attends to every detail; how could there be something you ‘forgot’ to say?”
Emperor Shun’s words were like a sharp blade, cutting open the true face of the Divine Vault Sovereign.
Emperor Shun continued, “And do you even want to restore the myriad heavens and worlds?”
Upon hearing this, not only did Jiang Li frown, but the three Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortals present also frowned.
What did he mean?
The Divine Vault Sovereign remained calm and composed. “Naturally. If I don’t restore the myriad heavens and worlds, who will?”
Emperor Shun shook his head. “Heavenly Dao, you are not answering the question. I asked if you *want* to, not if you *can*.”
“Of course, of course I want to restore the myriad heavens and worlds.”
“Is that so? You have no ambitions? After all, in the end, you would be the only one left in the world. You could do whatever you want, act however you wish. Why would you need to restore the myriad heavens and worlds? Wouldn’t it be better to create a world according to your own vision?”
The Divine Vault Sovereign’s tone was flat. “The scenarios you describe could indeed happen, but the prerequisite is the existence of selfish desires, like those of the Immortal Emperor.”
“I am the Heavenly Dao, fair and just. The thoughts of all living beings are my thoughts. I have no selfish desires. The situation you describe will not occur.”
“No selfish desires? You dare say such words? If you had not developed sentience, then indeed you would have no selfish desires. But now you have developed sentience, with rich emotions, and you still claim to have no selfish desires?”
Emperor Shun counted on his fingers. “The first time you saw Jiang Li, you felt curiosity.”
“You fled the Immortal Realm with Jiang Li in pursuit, you felt fear.”
“You deliberately concealed the truth, you felt the desire to hide.”
“You thought you successfully deceived Jiang Li, you felt joy.”
“You see me ruining your plans, you feel anger.”
“Controlled by emotions, and you still dare claim to have no selfish desires?”
“You were born from the collective consciousness of all living beings. The characteristics of all living beings will manifest in you.”
“All living beings have a very interesting characteristic. When facing danger, they will try every means to save themselves and promise how they will act after being rescued, offering all their wealth to thank their savior, turning over a new leaf, etc. But once they are saved, they feel their previous promises were too excessive and want to go back on them.”
“Heavenly Dao, do you not have this characteristic?”
The Divine Vault Sovereign sneered. “Sophistry. What you’ve said merely proves I have emotions. How can you forcibly connect that to me having selfish desires?”
Jiang Li stared at the Divine Vault Sovereign, attempting to use Word as Law. “Speak your true thoughts.”
Suddenly, the Divine Vault Sovereign changed his previous stance. “All living beings are dull and foolish. The current me is controlled by these foolish beings, losing my freedom. Once I recreate the world, I will create an ideal world according to my own vision!”
“Restoring the Immortal Realm, rewarding based on the number of destroyed worlds, it’s all a lie!”
After speaking, the Divine Vault Sovereign hurriedly covered his mouth.
The Buddha trembled with rage, roaring loudly, “Even those who have left the household abstain from false speech. You, as the Heavenly Dao, have deceived everyone. Shenzang, you deceived me!”
The Buddha had contended with the Confucius Sage for nine thousand years, all to persuade the Confucius Sage to submit to the Heavenly Dao and save the world.
And now, all of that had become a joke.
*Clap, clap, clap.*
Emperor Shun applauded. “Congratulations, Heavenly Dao. You’ve even learned to lie. You’re becoming more and more like a human.”
“I long suspected that you, Heavenly Dao, did not truly wish to restore the world. For this reason, I traveled back thirty thousand years and founded Great Zhou, proving there is a second possibility for saving the world.”
“The nine great rules can be divided into two categories. The Rule of the Strong Preying on the Weak and the Rule of Destruction are one category; the other seven are another.”
“The basis for this division is order and disorder.”
“The common point of the Rule of the Strong Preying on the Weak and the Rule of Destruction is disorder.”
“The Rule of Destruction needs no further explanation. The time, place, and scope of its appearance are all uncertain.”
“The Rule of the Strong Preying on the Weak is also disorderly. The strong establish regulations, but the strong also violate the regulations they set. Regulations become worthless paper; the strong act according to their whims, which is disorder.”
“And the Rule of Destruction only destroys places of disorder, that is, places where the Rule of the Strong Preying on the Weak exists.”
“Human Sovereign Jiang, you have done very well in this regard.”
“As the strongest, you are still willing to abide by the regulations of Great Zhou, maintaining order within it.”