Chapter 2229: The Struggle for the Heavenly Dao

"Yes, just as you think, this is the struggle for the Heavenly Dao!"

Seeming to read his thoughts, Master Kong sighed. "It cannot be avoided, nor can it be evaded. The general trend under heaven is that long division must lead to union, and long union must lead to division. This is inevitable; no one can escape it, nor can anyone evade it. If I win, I will become the new controller of the Heavenly Dao; if I lose, my soul will scatter, and everything will vanish completely!"

"The struggle for the Heavenly Dao..." Zhang Xuan's face turned pale. "Then what about her and me..."

If what he said was true, wouldn't Luo Ruoxin eventually have to fight him as well?

Also contending for the Heavenly Mandate?

No wonder when he fell in love with her, she was unwilling and even made various excuses. He had thought she had some formidable background and was hindered by her family. Now it seemed that was not the case at all.

The struggle for the Heavenly Dao was a fight to the death!

Back on the Master Teacher Continent, he had repeatedly asked about her true identity but never received a definite answer. It wasn't that she was unwilling to tell... but as part of the same Heavenly Dao, once she spoke, it would inevitably trigger a backlash from the Heavenly Dao.

If things went wrong, they might have to settle life and death prematurely.

"If I win... then it will be a struggle between you and me; if I lose, it will be between you and her. This is fate, impossible to resist." Master Kong looked at him calmly.

Speaking of his own life and death as if it were someone else's, his face showed no ripple.

"The Heavenly Dao you speak of—is it the Heavenly Dao of the God Realm?" Zhang Xuan couldn't believe it. "Is there really no way to avoid it?"

"There is no way to avoid it!" Master Kong shook his head.

"But... the God Realm seems normal. People can still cultivate, and countless powerful beings are born. If the Heavenly Dao were truly divided among us, it shouldn't be like this..." Zhang Xuan quickly said.

Since the Heavenly Dao was split among the three of them and required contending for the Heavenly Mandate, the Heavenly Dao of the God Realm should be chaotic. Why was it still stable?

"Normal?" Master Kong smiled bitterly. "It hasn't been normal for over forty years. Spiritual energy has declined, countless species have gone extinct, deities have been forced to move into cities, and without divine energy, breakthroughs are impossible... Resources for cultivation are scarce. It can hold for a few decades, but in a hundred or a thousand years, it will become completely barren, and life may cease to exist..."

"This..." Zhang Xuan wanted to speak but stopped, unable to say a word.

What the other said was true.

Spiritual energy had been declining for just over forty years. In uninhabited places, barrenness had already appeared. Countless deities and lives had died as a result. Countless cultivators, limited by resources, could no longer improve their strength...

The God Realm had deep foundations, so in the short term, nothing much was apparent. But what about a hundred years, five hundred years, or even a thousand years later?

Over forty years ago, when the lifespan of Heavenly Gods came to an end, how many new Heavenly Gods had been born?

If the number of Heavenly Gods was negligible, let alone God Kings and Title-God Kings!

If this continued, how many lives would remain in the God Realm?

He dared not even think about it!

Could this... be the result of the missing Heavenly Dao?

"Isn't there the spiritual tide? I heard that each time the tide comes, it brings abundant resources..." Zhang Xuan couldn't help but say.

The spiritual tide was actually a surge of spiritual energy, occurring once every ten years. Each time it came, it brought countless resources, allowing plants in the wilderness that were on the verge of death to survive once more.

Because of this, although Spiritual Mechanism Mountain had seen no spiritual energy for many years, there were still many plants tenaciously clinging to life.

"If we compare the God Realm to this building, the Heavenly Dao is the pillar supporting the roof. Now that two pillars are with you and me, the roof will eventually be unable to bear the weight and collapse with a crash."

Master Kong said, "The spiritual tide is like a makeshift stick. Although it can temporarily slow the collapse, it is actually fragile and cannot last long. Moreover... each tide triggers upheaval in the God Realm. Countless lives, in order to obtain resources, resort to any means... It seems to maintain the stability of the God Realm, but in fact, it accelerates death. Do you know... how many deities, Heavenly Gods, and God Kings die in the God Realm during each spiritual tide?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Such matters were secrets of the God Realm, never recorded in the books he had read.

"The numbers of deities and Heavenly Gods are countless and impossible to count. Let me tell you the numbers of God Kings and Title-God Kings before the spiritual tide, and you'll understand!"

Master Kong said, "At that time, there were over three hundred Title-God Kings in the Nine Heavens, and over a thousand God Kings!"

"Three hundred? A thousand?" Zhang Xuan's body trembled.

Now, the God Realm had only about thirty Title-God Kings and a little over a hundred God Kings...

That meant... the entire God Realm had lost nine-tenths of its peak experts?

If so many peak experts were lost, how many Heavenly Gods had died?

"The Heavenly Dao of the God Realm cannot continue to be missing. If it remains scattered among us, this tragedy will continue, the world will keep shaking, and deities will have no good days ahead..."

Master Kong's eyes showed compassion for the world.

This was not a scene he wished to see.

"But... to save the people, must one of you be sacrificed? Can't you... jointly maintain the operation of the Heavenly Dao?" Zhang Xuan gritted his teeth.

Was there really no compromise?

Since the Heavenly Dao could be split, couldn't it be managed separately?

"Of course not! The Heavenly Dao is perfectly round like a Taiji; only when united and interwoven can it stabilize heaven and earth without change. How can it be controlled if split?"

Master Kong looked at him. "Like a wooden barrel... if the planks are not joined together but hold water separately, how much can they hold?"

Zhang Xuan recalled something and looked at him in confusion. "Since that's the case, why didn't Luo Ruoxin kill me back on the Master Teacher Continent when she knew I controlled part of the Heavenly Dao? And you, Master Kong... if you killed me now and took my part of the Heavenly Dao, wouldn't your chances of winning be greater?"

Though saying this hurt feelings, it was the truth.

If it was really as Master Kong said—that the struggle between them was for the Heavenly Dao and to save the beings of the God Realm—why hadn't they killed him earlier?

When they first met, in the eyes of an emperor like Luo Ruoxin, he was merely an ant from the lower realm. There was no affection between them. Killing him would grant greater power and save more people. Surely she would have done it!

Not to mention her, but in the current situation, if Master Kong obtained the Library of Heaven's Path from him, wouldn't he become even stronger, eventually surpassing Luo Ruoxin and winning this contest?

To control the complete Heavenly Dao... to become a true Mandate of Heaven—this was a huge temptation for anyone, hard to refuse.

Moreover, this was not about his own life or death, but about countless lives in the God Realm.

"Kill you?"

Master Kong looked at him, his eyes flickering, and sighed. "If killing you could save the people, I would be willing to bear any sin, endure any pain. But unfortunately... it won't work. At least, not yet!"