Dao Equaling the Heavens

Underworld, Netherworld.

The earth is desolate, everything in sight is shrouded in gray.

This scene doesn't match the records of the cultivation world, with eighteen layers of hell, the Wangchuan River, the Naihe Bridge, Fengdu City, the ten halls of Yama, the Judge of Good and Evil...

All records about the world after death are false, perhaps they were true once, but at least now the underworld is nothing but desolate.

Death is like this desolation, leaving nothing behind.

Above the sky dome, a towering figure appears, its mountain-like fingers plunge into the earth, transforming into a sapling.

A hint of greenery grows on the barren earth, followed by more and more shoots of green grass.

Rumble!

A giant tree bursts upward from the ground, swelling at a rate of hundreds of meters with each breath, its branches endlessly extending outward, seemingly to encompass heaven and earth.

Rumble!

Above the sky dome comes another strange sound, a crack suddenly appears, hands capable of grasping mountains tear open the sky and earth, and two figures slowly descend.

A man and a woman emerge from the void, the former flies towards the direction of Wuwang City, disappearing in a few steps, while the latter lands before the Jianmu.

Li Yunshang reaches out to stroke the bark, as if bidding farewell to an old friend: "I have fought with you for thousands of years, it's time to end it today."

On the bark, a blurred human face emerges, its mouth opens and closes, producing a voice devoid of emotion:

"Help me, I can achieve the Universal Unity you pursue. With the power of Grotto Heaven, it can provide countless humans with prosperity."

"The earth can independently produce inexhaustible food, springs can burst forth with fine wine, trees can bear meat-like fruit... the seasons harmless, all beings rejoice, living carefreely and dreamily..."

"Inexhaustible produce, enough for you to achieve the unity."

The tree crown gently sways, a youthful fruit appears, within which a small Grotto Heaven instantly forms.

Li Yunshang can feel its rich earth energy, full of bountiful life, capable of yielding ten thousand pounds of grain per acre without issue.

This is the power of Jianmu, which she could never reach, just as the opposition could never defeat her in fighting.

She shook her head and said, "At first, indeed, I thought so. As long as productivity is enough, then everything isn't a problem. Thus came the Five Spirits Valley, cultivating seeds through spiritual energy to ensure high yields of grain."

If the creator of Five Spirits Valley didn't falsify, it merely needed planting, even the desert could grow.

In these eight hundred years, the cultivation world has seen very little famine, and none on a large scale. Food output has been stable and abundant, but the people's lives still hover around the poverty line.

A prosperous era means not starving.

This has always been the consensus, but later someone spoke to Li Yunshang about unity, pointing out a feasible path.

Thus, she, known as Qingcang, naturally set foot upon it, walking for eight hundred years.

The failures on this path outnumber those in her earlier life, more than her fights with Jianmu, more than battles with the Devil Clan. At least in fighting Jianmu, she always emerged battered but victorious, while on the path to unity, she kept losing.

"And then, I failed, failed very thoroughly."

The human face on the bark said again: "I am willing to harmonize with you, treat each other as equals, become the third Saint of heaven and earth. Thus, saving the Heavenly Girl is easy for you, and you can protect that disciple of yours without worry."

This also resolves past grievances.

Jianmu has no emotions and desires, but understands desire the most. Other than desire, the strongest and longest-lasting notion is hatred.

It doesn't hate anyone, nor does it resent Qingcang, and at this moment, harbors no hatred towards the Earth Saint.

All these are merely the law of the jungle, merely weighing pros and cons.

Now choosing to cooperate with Li Yunshang is the same.

"This is indeed a good choice, also the safest."

Li Yunshang shakes her head, her aura suddenly erupts like a volcano, a faint smile emerging at her lips.

"But unfortunately, I never compromise."

Upon this note, a punch is thrown, like a collapsing mountain.

A massive wave surges across tens of thousands of miles, blowing through Gu Wen's hair.

He arrived outside Wuwang City, the hundred-zhang tall bronze gate tightly shut, a noticeable fist mark at the center.

That year, Master broke in from here.

'Wuwang City, once the abode of the Earth Official within the Netherworld. Master doesn't know the exact events happening during the harmonization of the Two Saints, but it's certain the Earth Official has lived until now, while the Heavenly Official has completely disappeared.'

"Any living thing wishes to exist forever, the two officials of heaven and earth helped them become Great Saints, naturally wishing to ascend along with their followers. As things stand now, the Heavenly Saint seems to be more ruthless, stronger."

Even Li Yunshang doesn't know much, since she's actually younger than ten thousand years, the youngest among the Immortals.

Some extraordinarily old Mahayana Realm might even be older than Li Yunshang.

"If Master could open it back then, I should be able to as well."

Gu Wen approaches step by step, standing before the bronze gate, Qingcang's Great Tao within rushing like a mighty river.

He forms a fist, forcefully swings forward, the fist seems slow yet isn't.

The surrounding space instantly shatters, landing on the bronze gate, countless cracks begin to appear, crisp shattering sounds constantly echo, thousands of laws fall like shards of glass.

The bronze gate slightly opens a bit, through the gap one can see the layered and bizarre scenes inside.

Buildings, landscapes, silhouettes, bustling markets... these images seem forcibly stitched together, kneaded into a bundle, indistinguishable in all directions.

Gu Wen's right hand, which swung the fist, blood seeps from the tiger's mouth, his skin stained with deathly energy.

The Earth Saint stops him, but only with partial strength, as for a Great Saint, no entity vessel can represent it.

'If given a thousand years, probably could do it unscathed. Currently forcing it, unavoidable heavy bleeding.'

This is Gu Wen's estimate.

Time allotted to him is too short, leading to having the title of Saint but not the actuality of a Saint.

The second punch swings again, knowing it would hurt, Gu Wen remains unswerving.

The palm's flesh and skin shaved away more than half, the bronze gate moves one inch, the Dao Fruit husks behind become clearer.

As he had judged, those Dao Fruits, which mortals of the cultivation world desperately seek, are like fleas abundantly growing on the Saint's body.

For the Earth Saint, actually not something extremely precious. Even if he ate thousands, it wouldn't hurt the other's core.

The third punch, Gu Wen breaks open a certain confinement, vaguely sensing inside.

A familiar aura urges his breath to become slightly rapid.

The fourth punch, his Divine Thought explores within.

Gu Wen saw one Dao Fruit shell after another forming a circle, surging towards the figure as pure as a bright moon.

The maddened Dao Fruit shells continued to swarm like tidal waves, with limbs entangled, desperately swinging their bodies to form a tsunami.

And the bright moon was closing in on him, as invincible as she was back then.

The fifth punch, the sixth punch, the seventh punch...

Until flesh burned, bones shattered, and the bronze gate opened half a step. Beside him appeared a one-zhang tall child with a red face and three eyes on a fat belly.

"If you keep fighting, the balance of Yin and Yang will be lost. In the future, ghosts and monsters will reappear, Yin and Yang will be indistinct. Who knows how many creatures will be ground by ghosts in life and become vengeful spirits in death."

Gu Wen glanced slightly and said: "Do you want to stop me?"

Behind him, the Immortal Sword slightly unsheathed, and above the sky dome, a virtual image of the Heavenly Sword spanned thousands of miles.

"I can stop you, but there's no need."

The three-eyed little chubby shook his head.

"I am the lord of Fengdu, granted the name of Little Saint by the grace of the Supreme Saint. Yet I am still inferior to you. Today I can stop you, but tomorrow you will come back stronger, better to fulfill you."

"Even though it will cause chaos in Yin and Yang, such is the whimsy a Saint should have. I hope the Lord understands that there is no eternal truth."

With that said, he retreated three steps, and the bronze gate shrunk by a third.

Gu Wen exhaled a mouthful of dull energy, clenched his fist, and struck. That simple and direct blow hit the bronze gate.

Knocking on life and death, reversing Yin and Yang.

The Law does not permit resurrection, true ghosts cannot exist.

The Earth Saint resolved the chaos of Yin and Yang by this.

To resurrect a dead person isn't as simple as opening a backdoor for them to leave; between life and death, there is no door, but an entire wall must be pushed down.

Rumble!

The bronze gate slowly opened a step, enough to accommodate a person to enter and exit.

In the next moment, a familiar fragrance wafted over, and the bright moon collided into his embrace.

The two embraced, both breathing calmly for a moment.

"Wen, you shouldn't have come."

Yu Hua held Gu Wen tightly, with such force that her whole body trembled, clearly contrasting with her words.

Gu Wen shouldn't have come, but among heaven and earth, only Gu Wen would come to rescue her.

Besides him, no one would risk everything to save her.

Gu Wen softly said: "Back at the Dragon Bridge, I said the same to you, but you still came. It's a debt you owe me, and one I owe you."

Without Yu Hua, he would most likely have died at the Dragon Bridge.

And today, without him, Yu Hua would most likely have died too.

"Leave the rest to me."

Gu Wen took out a green fruit, ignoring Yu Hua's refusal, a green light flashed, and the Divine Soul was captured within.

Through the translucent fruit peel, a vague silhouette could be seen flapping.

The green fruit escaped into the Little Heaven and Earth, landing in a greenhouse.

Chi Yu Zi stiffly held the green fruit and fed it to the sleeping beauty on the bed.

Thus, resurrection was achieved.

The bronze gate released endless yin qi, washing over the entire underworld, and even into the Cultivation World.

The land birthed Other Shore Flowers, the dry Wangchuan River flowed once more.

The first ghost appeared, staying by the Wangchuan River, gazing at the water, crying and refusing to accept death.

Gu Wen brandished the Immortal Sword, severed his right arm with one slash, and tossed it into Wangchuan as a bridge.

He would take on the merit and guilt of breaking the forbidden law of life and death.

Fengdu Emperor sighed: "How many years have passed, yet the Wangchuan River still hasn't stopped flowing, the Lord ultimately is mistaken."

If life and death were absolutely insurmountable, then the eternally dried-up Wangchuan River would not have revived at the moment the Law was broken.

Gu Wen intended to turn and leave, but his path was blocked.

Fengdu Emperor stood before him, holding a brush taller than a person, with 'Life Extension and Death Determination' written on the rod.

His three eyes were full of greed, anger, and obsession; his mind was not stable.

"I have lived for a thousand eras, today I seek only death."

The Heavenly Sword spanning across the sky fell down, shattering Wu Wang City into pieces.

Fengdu Emperor and Gu Wen fought into the void, all their Daoist Skills and Divine Skills were unleashed, ancient ghosts and saints of the present battled fiercely.

Above them, the Divine Tree clashed with the towering giant Qingcang.

The entire underworld became a battlefield, and the casually falling shockwaves vanquished lands over thousands of miles.

In the end, Gu Wen severely injured Fengdu Emperor, and turned to aid Li Yunshang against Jianmu, master and disciple burning blood and Divine Soul in an all-out attack.

The Divine Tree was sliced in half, collapsing onto barren ground.

In the Cultivation World, the Jianmu towering into the Void trembled, and Grotto Heavens began falling unpredictably.

They crashed onto the ground, the entire Grotto Heavens shattered, spatial rifts twisted billions of Devils to death.

Beyond the territory of the Human Race, barren lands began to sprout life.

Surviving Devils landed, took root, forming a new power.

In year twenty of the New Calendar, heaven and earth changed greatly, Human-Devil battles resumed.

In year twenty-five of the New Calendar, the Fox Clan established diplomatic relations with the Human Race, and the fox demon became the first alien race to freely enter the Human Race territory.

In year thirty of the New Calendar, Devils entering the Human Race territory reached dozens of kinds, conflicts between humans and devils persisted, but no major wars occurred.

People blamed previous grievances on Jianmu.

Without Jianmu, humans and devils did not need to fight to the death.

In year thirty-two of the New Calendar, a Human Race cultivator observed the celestial phenomena at night and discovered a Star Constellation never recorded before.