"The mindset of the strong, in the end, cannot help but turn melancholy." Jiang Chen gazed at the pile of withered bones, and could fully imagine that perhaps countless years ago, this person had also been a powerhouse who dominated the Divine Abyss Continent — at the very least, within the Myriad Phenomena Nirvana Domain, he had been a figure of considerable renown in his time.
It was just that, without the Heavenly Dao's acknowledgment, even if one claimed the title of emperor or sovereign, one's lifespan remained finite. No matter how many years of life you possessed, without the Heavenly Dao's recognition, you were still mortal.
And mortals had an end to their lives.
Jiang Chen collected the Mingtuo Sarira and spoke with genuine sincerity: "Senior, calling you 'senior' is no injustice to you. I have taken your Mingtuo Sarira and also laid your dharma body to rest. I hope you have already entered the cycle of reincarnation and been reborn into a new life."
Jiang Chen pushed the soil back down and buried the skeleton.
With this little detour, a fair amount of time had passed once again.
Jiang Chen walked out of the nirvana ground and continued on his way. This brief interlude, though it had yielded some gains, did not put him in a cheerful mood.
Perhaps the sight of those withered bones had suddenly given him a pang of shared grief — the sorrow of a fox at the death of a rabbit.
The powerful memories of his previous life, the million years he had lived before — at this moment, they only deepened the stark contrast that Jiang Chen felt.
Only then did he realize that he had been incapable of cultivation, yet his father, the Heavenly Emperor of his past life, had still kept him alive for a million years. What an utterly heaven-defying act that must have been.
"Father kept me alive in this broken body for a million years — he must have provoked the Heavenly Dao, and that's what triggered the Calamity of the Myriad Heavens, wasn't it?"
Only now, at this very moment, did Jiang Chen finally think to ask himself such a question.
In his previous life, he had been nothing more than an ordinary mortal. And yet, he had lived for a million years as a mortal. What had that depended on?
It had depended on his father stealing the heavens and exchanging the sun, seizing the creative power of heaven and earth to forcibly extend his lifespan.
Though his father was the Heavenly Emperor, ruler of an entire stretch of the myriad heavens, the momentum of the Heavenly Dao's natural course was a force so immense that even a Heavenly Emperor could not easily reverse it.
And yet his father had reversed it — for a full million years.
In that instant, Jiang Chen's heart was flooded with regret and an aching sense of sorrow.
He did not know the exact origin of the Calamity of the Myriad Heavens, but there was no doubt whatsoever that those million years of his had brought misfortune upon his father.
He had never once considered this question before. But now, at this very moment, upon seeing these desiccated bones, a sudden clarity washed over him.
Yes, a mortal body has limited lifespan.
This skeleton certainly belonged to an Emperor realm expert, possibly even a Titled Emperor. But still, it was mortal.
The final destination for mortals was always a pile of white bones.
Seeing this heap of bones, Jiang Chen thought of his previous life. He should have become a pile of bones long ago, yet he had lived for a million years.
"Father..." A mix of emotions welled up in Jiang Chen, an inexplicable feeling flooding his heart.
In all the heavens and earth, only a father could be so great, so selfless. For the sake of his son, he would defy the Heavenly Dao, reverse the Heavenly Dao, willingly bear the Calamity of the Myriad Heavens...
For a moment, Jiang Chen felt a pain in his heart that was beyond words.
He walked for an entire day before his mood eased slightly. He also reached the second level of the Pinnacle of Myriad Aspects. That day, however, he discovered other people.
It was a disciple from the Carefree Sect, but Jiang Chen did not reveal himself. Instead, he avoided them and continued forward, having little intention of lingering in this outer Pinnacle.
Setting aside those emotions, Jiang Chen increased his pace. After several hours, following the directional guidance, he arrived at the third level of the Pinnacle of Myriad Aspects.
The third level of the Pinnacle of Myriad Aspects wasn't much different from the first two. The only difference was that places of nirvana inheritance appeared far more frequently here.
Along the way, Jiang Chen encountered two such locations.
However, both had clearly been excavated already. Nothing of value remained, and the transmission stone steles left behind had been destroyed by whoever had found them.
"Sigh, human nature is ultimately selfish. Once someone obtains something, they're unwilling to let others share it. Of the three martial dao transmission steles along the way, not a single one still holds its inheritance. They were all destroyed by those who claimed them."
Jiang Chen let out a soft sigh, understanding that this was human nature — the norm of the martial dao world.
The fewer people a martial dao inheritance reached, the more precious it became. The more people received it, the less it was worth. Once you had obtained something, why should you leave it for others? Keeping it as your own private inheritance, an exclusive secret, was obviously far better than sharing it with everyone.
Even if the person who obtained it had only average talent and might never fully develop the inheritance, letting it rot in your own hands was still better than letting it fall into someone else's.
Jiang Chen was annoyed by this phenomenon, but there was nothing he could do about it.
It was a stain on human nature, and a manifestation of its baseness.
However, Jiang Chen had no real interest in these martial dao transmissions. He hadn't come here to find martial dao inheritances.
He had plenty of martial dao secret manuals in his head, along with powerful techniques and Divine Abilities.
He never chose martial arts blindly, because he understood that the path of cultivation ultimately required him to decide what techniques to train based on his current stage of development.
If he blindly trained powerful techniques, not only would he fail to master them, but he would also waste precious time.