Chapter 148: Stripped of All Pretense

The Primordial World, the Central Wilderness, Mount Buzhou.

Mount Buzhou, the pillar supporting the heavens of the Primordial World, was formed from the spine of the Great God Pangu. Its power is supreme, overshadowing the entire Primordial realm. Even the high and mighty Sages and Immortals dare not act presumptuously upon Mount Buzhou, fearing they might be suppressed by the lingering Pangu will and suffer eternal damnation.

As the pillar of the world, Mount Buzhou draws spiritual energy from billions of earthly ley lines beneath it. The density of spiritual essence within its vast expanse is so great that it nearly condenses into liquid. Where spiritual energy abounds, the landscape is inevitably magnificent, and the environment is teeming with life. Mount Buzhou and its surrounding vast territory are filled with divine peaks and spiritual rivers, home to no fewer than one hundred thousand species of living beings.

A common saying circulates throughout the Primordial World: "Ten thousand years on Buzhou is worth a hundred thousand years of bitter cultivation." Consequently, the vast territory surrounding Mount Buzhou had long been carved up and occupied by various races and factions. However, as the four great Imperial Clans entered a state of Level-One combat readiness, mobilizing a total army of 1.1 billion, their vassal races followed suit. The four great clans were forced to withdraw, leaving behind only a handful of souls from the countless beings who once cultivated at the foot of the mountain. The vast, bustling expanse surrounding Mount Buzhou suddenly became empty and silent.

On Mount Buzhou, a subtle ripple in space suddenly appeared.

Boom!

A golden light shot out from the spatial tunnel and landed on the mountain, revealing the figure of Nan Luo.

"I, the Emperor, have finally returned to Mount Buzhou!"

As Nan Luo stepped onto the mountain, his golden eyes gazed toward the distant peaks, and a surge of overwhelming emotion welled up within him. As the pillar supporting the operation of the Primordial universe—the very spine of the Great God Pangu—Mount Buzhou holds a special place in the hearts of all living beings in the Primordial World. This sentiment is best captured by the phrase: "Those who have not climbed Buzhou are not truly strong." In a world where power is everything, no one who has not ascended Mount Buzhou can be considered a true powerhouse.

For Nan Luo, Mount Buzhou held an even deeper significance. Whether it was the fragmented Jade Slip of Creation, the foundation of his path to enlightenment, or the Palace of All Gods, the Innate Supreme Treasure that protects the fortune of the God Race, he had obtained them all here. It was precisely by relying on the Jade Slip of Creation and the Palace of All Gods that Nan Luo had been able to overcome countless obstacles, attain the status of a Semi-Sage Emperor, and avoid being killed or falling midway at the hands of Sages like Hongjun. It could be said that Mount Buzhou was the very birthplace of his path to enlightenment.

Nan Luo, who had been practicing the "Ruthless Way of Heaven and Earth" throughout his journey, maintaining a state of emotionless sanctity, found himself involuntarily ceasing his practice the moment he set foot on the mountain. Joy, anger, grief, sorrow, and various other emotions flooded his heart all at once. He began to recall the events that had transpired since he first possessed this body and descended into this world. From the joy of cultivation and the elation of becoming an Emperor to the death threats from Sages and the anxieties of his difficult path to enlightenment—even the sorrow of being manipulated by a hidden hand—the weight of these memories overwhelmed him.

Gazing at the distant, beautiful divine mountains and spiritual rivers, tears of purple-gold began to well up in Nan Luo's golden eyes. He remained oblivious to them, still lost in the torrent of human emotion. He stood on Mount Buzhou, weeping uncontrollably for three full days. The tears he shed transformed into a long river of purple-gold, flowing from the mountain toward the distant landscape, nourishing countless beings—a true and literal "River of the Sage."

Three days later, as his emotions gradually calmed, Nan Luo wiped the tear stains from his eyes with his divine power and couldn't help but remark, "To wash away the vanity of the world—so this is what it means."

After sighing, he ruthlessly criticized the experience: "But to wash away the 'ruthless' intent within me, you didn't have to make me weep so bitterly!"

Given Nan Luo's intelligence, how could he fail to see the deeper meaning behind this sudden, inexplicable outburst? Since attaining the status of a Semi-Sage Emperor, he had been plagued by the side effects of the "Ruthless Way of Heaven and Earth," which cast him into cycles of anxiety and mania, preventing him from remaining calm. In a Primordial world filled with lethal threats at every turn, a lack of a cool head meant certain death, even for a Semi-Sage Emperor.

The only way to resolve this would be a hundred thousand years of seclusion to let time wash the affliction away. But with the war of the four Emperors imminent and the struggle for the title of Holy Emperor at hand, he had no time for seclusion. Furthermore, there was the existential threat from the Sages; if he did not become a full Sage quickly, he would surely be shattered and his soul scattered by Hongjun and the others. There was only one other way to temporarily suppress this affliction: to continue practicing the "Ruthless Way of Heaven and Earth" and maintain that state of emotionless sanctity.

Perhaps this was the true intent of Destiny. Under the threat of the "Fate-Defying" burden carried by the Fierce Emperor, while Destiny had assisted Nan Luo in becoming a Semi-Sage, it had not done so without leaving a contingency. This was that contingency. When he lacked the time to eradicate the affliction, he was forced to choose the path of ruthlessness to suppress it. Yet, the Heavens are inherently ruthless. The more he practiced this path, the more ruthless he became, eventually risking his transformation into a mere puppet of the Will of Heaven.

This bout of weeping had not only cleansed his soul and elevated his spirit, but more importantly, it had washed away the "ruthless" intent, sparing him from the possibility of becoming a puppet. Although he understood the cause and effect, he felt a lingering embarrassment. As the Lord of the God Race and a Semi-Sage Emperor, he had wept for three days. If word of this got out, what face would he have left? This was the reason for his contradictory outburst of praise followed by criticism.

"Is it you again, lending me a hand? You, the black hand that covers the sky?!"

Nan Luo suddenly turned, looking up at the towering, ninety-thousand-mile-high Mount Buzhou. His golden eyes flickered with a strange light as he couldn't help but ask. Who in this world had the power to wash away the "ruthless" intent from a Semi-Sage Emperor? Perhaps the high and mighty Sages like Hongjun could do it. But Nan Luo was not only unfamiliar with them; he was their mortal enemy. Why would they help him cleanse his spirit? Moreover, this was Mount Buzhou, the pillar of the world. How would they dare enter, fearing suppression by the mountain itself? Even when Nan Luo obtained the Jade Slip of Creation, Hongjun had only dared to block him outside the mountain, not pursue him within.

After much thought, Nan Luo concluded that only the "black hand that covers the sky" had such power. After all, that entity could traverse endless space and time, throwing him from the Age of Dharma Decline into the Primordial Age. Cleansing his spirit and removing the "ruthless" intent would be a mere trifle for such a being. But was the black hand truly so powerful that it could ignore the Pangu will on Mount Buzhou? Or was it perhaps that the black hand was simply immune to being suppressed by it?