The more Ding Ning thought about it, the more likely it seemed. His eyes burned with passion.
This was an existence that surpassed the Dao Master level. If it really was one of the origins of his bloodline, how could it not give him a greeting gift?
"No, no, it's not like that. It can't be like that. There must be something wrong here …"
Just as Ding Ning was about to "acknowledge his ancestors" and get some benefits, he heard a childish voice from beneath his feet.
He instinctively looked down, and was shocked to discover that the Mountain River Tortoise had crawled out from somewhere. Its chubby little legs were supporting its tortoiseshell, and it was standing in its human form. Its two front claws were placed behind its back, trying its best to assume the posture of a Daoist expert.
But because the tortoise shell was too big, no matter how hard it tried, its two chubby little claws could not be placed behind its back. It looked extremely comical.
Ding Ning could not help but laugh. He was about to tease it, but he saw an unprecedented seriousness in its human-like expression. He could not help but feel a chill in his heart. He asked subconsciously, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?"
It wasn't until he asked this question and Li Sining looked at him with a confused frown that he suddenly realized that she hadn't seen the Mountain River Tortoise, nor had she heard its words.
This shocked him. Although Li Sining's cultivation had fallen and she was no longer an Essence Dao master, she was still a Heavenly Master. How powerful was this Mountain River Tortoise? To think that even a Heavenly Venerable would not be able to detect its appearance.
"Uh, nothing."
Ding Ning gave a perfunctory reply absent-mindedly. His expression did not change, but his heart was in turmoil.
As far as he knew, Su Zhe had personally admitted that he was the Eternal Heavenly Master. He was just much more powerful than the average Eternal Heavenly Master.
This Mountain River Tortoise was Su Zhe's friend. He had thought that its strength was about the same as his. But now, it seemed that he had seriously underestimated the Mountain River Tortoise's strength. It could even make Li Sining, who was at the Eternal Heavenly Master level, unable to sense its existence.
"Kid, don't go out. Something's wrong here. Something's very wrong."
The Mountain River Tortoise's extremely grave voice interrupted his shock, causing him to reveal a confused expression. He asked in his mind, "What's wrong? What's wrong? "
"Everything's wrong. This isn't a real world."
The Mountain River Tortoise's reply shocked Ding Ning. If it wasn't for the fact that its human-like expression was too serious, he would have thought that the Mountain River Tortoise was joking. He subconsciously asked, "It's not the real world? Is it an illusion? "
"No, it's not an illusion either. If I'm not wrong, this is … a dream."
The Mountain River Tortoise's voice was unprecedentedly serious. Ding Ning could even faintly sense that its body was trembling slightly, as if it was afraid of something.
Before he could continue asking, the Mountain River Tortoise looked at Grandmaster Tongtian and the others with a complicated gaze, and continued in a low voice, "Do you know which era Grandmaster Tongtian and the others are from?"
Ding Ning did not answer, and chose to listen quietly. He knew that the Mountain River Tortoise was not asking him, but answering its own question. There was no need for him to answer at all.
As expected, in the next moment, the Mountain River Tortoise said to itself, "Skyreach and the others are actually my good friends. They are seven or eight people from the era before the Creation and Destruction."
"Life and death? What do you mean? "
This was the first time Ding Ning had heard of the term Creation and Destruction, and he asked subconsciously.
"The vast universe is like an endless ocean. Be it the Human Realm, the Three Realms, or even this Chaotic Universe, they are just inconspicuous little streams in this vast ocean. Even until the day they die, ordinary people live in the streams that gave birth to them. They are like frogs at the bottom of a well, believing that the place they live in is the entire world. Only those who defy the Heavens and cultivate, constantly pursuing higher realms, wanting to transcend the world, can faintly glimpse a higher world. They work hard in their cultivation, yearning to enter an even vaster world."
The Mountain River Tortoise seemed to be sighing emotionally, but the deeper meaning contained in its words resonated with Ding Ning's soul. Didn't Su Su also feel the same way back then?
In his opinion, the world was indeed like a cage of different sizes, with high and low levels. Only by advancing bravely, going against the heavens, and constantly breaking through one cage after another, could one see the scenery of the mountain at a higher place.
It was just like how people who lived at the bottom of society would never understand why those in the upper class wore clothes that were worth an astronomical figure that they would never be able to obtain even if they worked for a lifetime. On the surface, they pretended to be disdainful and scolded them for being a wastrel, but in reality, they were extremely envious, jealous, and hateful in their hearts. They would complain about the unfairness of the heavens and why they did not have such a good life. Then, they would continue to numbly "make do" with their simple lives.
Such people would never understand that no matter how much society progressed and how much emphasis was placed on democracy, the core nature of the world had never changed. It would still imperceptibly divide people into different classes.
Life was like rowing a boat against the current. If one did not advance, one would fall back.
Only through unremitting hard work and struggle could one completely change one's fate and life. One could rise from the bottom of society to the upper class, live a luxurious life of living in a mansion, driving a luxurious car, wearing branded clothes, and wearing expensive watches, and become the kind of rich people that they were most envious of.
Compared to the world, cultivators were like those successful people who were unwilling to live a numb and indifferent life. They worked hard and wanted to stand higher and see further.
It was just that in human society, wealth and social status were used to measure success, while cultivators used their own hard power. But the principle was the same.
The Mountain River Tortoise did not know that its casual words had caused Ding Ning to have so many comprehensions and emotions. With a nostalgic expression, it said faintly, "Although the world we live in is just a drop of water in a vast ocean, it is also like the life of a living creature. From birth to death, there is a cycle, but this cycle is many times longer than that of humans. This cycle, we call it 'life and death'."
Ding Ning's eyes widened in shock. Although he understood every word of the Mountain River Tortoise and understood all the meaning behind it, it was also because of this that his heart suffered an unprecedented shock and impact. His mouth was dry as he asked in disbelief, "Senior, do you mean that the world is the same as humans, and we all have a cycle of life?"
"That's right. The cycle from the birth of a chaotic universe to its destruction is called a cycle of life and death. Some people also like to call it an era," the Mountain River Tortoise said with a distant gaze.
The Mountain River Tortoise's gaze was distant as it spoke, but it caused Ding Ning's heart to beat wildly, and he felt his throat go dry. He had always thought that the era that Su Zhe mentioned was equivalent to the period from ancient times to ancient times. He never thought that it would be the entire life cycle of a chaotic universe. How long was that? One billion years, ten billion years, or even hundreds of billions of years?
If it was really as he said, didn't that mean that Su Zhe had already lived for an entire era? How was that possible? He was only an Immortal Heavenly Lord. His lifespan was at most tens of millions of years. How could he have lived for so long?
Also, the Mountain River Tortoise said that Grandmaster Tongtian and the others were his good friends. Were they seven or eight people from before the cycle of life and death? How long had this old tortoise with a childish voice lived for?
As if it could see through Ding Ning's doubts, the Mountain River Tortoise answered without waiting for him to ask, "Su Zhe is not an ordinary person. An era ago, he indeed only had the strength of an Immortal Heavenly Lord. However, an era has passed, and even I cannot see through his strength. He has the most mysterious star chart in the world. It might be a little exaggerated to say that he has the same lifespan as the world, but it should not be a problem for him to live for a few more cycles."
"Is he already a Dao Master?"
Ding Ning's eyes lit up. If he had a Dao Master ancestor as his support, he would be able to do whatever he wanted in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
"No, although a Dao Master's lifespan is very long, he can't live for more than one cycle. Su Zhe's situation is a little special. I can't tell what level his strength has reached. Maybe he is not a Dao Master yet, or maybe he has already surpassed a Dao Master. Only he knows this."
The Mountain River Tortoise gave Ding Ning an ambiguous answer. Its eyes were deep and distant.
Ding Ning felt his mouth and throat dry. He asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Senior, you said that you are friends with Grandmaster Tongtian and the others. Then your strength …"
The Mountain River Tortoise laughed and shook its head, "My situation is even more special. Although my lifespan is far longer than a Dao Master's, I don't have the combat strength of a Dao Master. I'm not even a Dao Master. Moreover, I'm in a deep sleep most of the time. When I wake up, a few cycles might have passed. So I can't be sure which cycle Grandmaster Tongtian and the others are from. However, after I was separated from them, I could remember five or six cycles of life and death when I was awake. So I can't be sure if seven or eight cycles have passed."
Ding Ning was a little depressed. He thought that it would be good to have Su Zhe, a powerful backer, as the Mountain River Tortoise, to cling to him when he went to the so-called higher plane. He didn't expect this old tortoise to have lived for so long in vain. He wasn't even a Dao Master.
But no matter how powerful he was, he was still an old monster who had lived for many cycles of life and death. Having an old man in the family was like having a treasure. Even if he couldn't defeat a Dao Master, having an immortal Heavenly Master as his backer was also a comfort.
So although Ding Ning secretly despised the Mountain River Tortoise, he didn't show it on his face. He asked respectfully, "You said that this is not an illusion, but a dream. What's going on? Did I accidentally travel to seven or eight cycles of time and space before the cycle of life and death? "
"No, you didn't travel through time and space. You entered a dream."
"Although I don't understand what's going on, I can be sure that everything that happened here is fake. It's not the real past, and this is not an illusion. Everything is so real, so there's only one possibility. You've been pulled into a dream by a super terrifying existence." The Mountain River Tortoise spoke with great certainty, and its tone became extremely solemn and stern. "Even though I don't understand what's going on, I can be sure that everything that happened here is fake.
"Why do you say that?"
Ding Ning could hear the solemnity and a trace of deeply hidden fear in the Mountain River Tortoise's tone. His heart suddenly became heavy. Someone who could be called a super terrifying existence by the Mountain River Tortoise must be very powerful. Even a Dao Master was not worthy of such a description.
This made him inexplicably think of the taboo existence that had once silently erased his memory. He felt increasingly uneasy.
Humans were afraid of the unknown, and he was no exception. He was experienced in traveling through time and space. He could even be said to be a little numb to it. But entering a dream, and being pulled into a dream by a terrifying existence at that, made his hair stand on end.
"Because when the Three Realms were destroyed, Grandmaster Tongtian and the others were traveling with me in other realms. When we received the news, it was already too late. Not long after, Grandmaster Tongtian and the others left without saying goodbye while I was asleep. Since then, there's no trace of them. I'm guessing that they must have gone to find" Annihilation "for revenge. If they didn't die together, then …"
The Mountain River Tortoise said with a sigh. Before he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something, and his expression changed drastically.
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