Chapter 1293: Immortal, Devil?
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
The majestic atmosphere of the Island of Ten Thousand Devils was simply indescribable. Experts were as common as the clouds.
However, Qin Wentian didn't have time to appreciate the sights. He and the devil kings continued on their way, advancing towards the Devil Mountain.
They didn't stop until they arrived at the foot of the mountain.
Over there, countless figures could be seen, all of them staring at this legendary mountain.
Among these gathered figures, there were devil-foundation experts, devil kings and even devil emperors.
There was a path which led up to a stairway, leading to the top of the mountain. This stairway was extremely vast and was rumored to have been constructed by the Myriad Devil Sovereign's will. For those who desire to ascend the mountain, they first had to pass these boundless stairs. This was also what everyone assumed to be a test of the Myriad Devil Sovereign.
The misty and illusory-seeming Devil Mountain quietly stood there, attracting worship from all directions. Qin Wentian discovered that the countless devil cultivators here all had looks of reverence on their faces, despite the fact that they might have extremely tyrannical and arrogant personalities. This place, was the sacred grounds of the Myriad Devil Islands, a place of faith for all devils.
"The Myriad Devil Sovereign must surely be an extraordinary existence." Qin Wentian mused. Given how vast the devil islands are, the countless number of experts heading here, all of them had a heart filled with sincerity now despite the fact that they were usually a bunch of murderous and crazy people. Such faith was simply too terrifying. This wasn't a type of governance by the strong, but was like having complete faith in deities.
The devil kings beside Qin Wentian all had looks of respect on their faces as well as they bowed in the direction of the Devil Mountain.
There were even other experts in the surroundings who knelt and kowtowed to the mountain, prostrating themselves in worship.
"Naturally. The Myriad Devil Sovereign is a supreme existence whose light envelops the entire Myriad Devil Islands, allowing the Myriad Devil Islands to withstand invasion and continue standing alone, independent of the immortal realms." A devil king at the side spoke.
Qin Wentian's eyes flickered. The devil path was tyrannical and cold-blooded. Their attacks extremely violent but now, they actually said something like withstanding the invasion of the immortal realms?
"The immortal realms doesn't have a place of faith like this. If we are talking about invasion, it should be the Myriad Devil Islands invading the immortal realms instead." Nanfeng Ruoxuan coldly spoke. The Southern Phoenix Clan once warred against the powers of the Myriad Devil Islands. Hence, this made members of the Southern Phoenix Clan to view devil cultivators with more hatred than usual.
As the sound of her voice faded, countless gazes shot over her direction, exuding coldness. Tyrannical auras also swept past her body, looking at who was it who dared to say such words.
"Shut up." A devil king at the side berated. A look of unwillingness flashed through Nanfeng Ruoxuan's eyes but since this place was at the foot of the sacred Devil Mountain, she wouldn't say anything more.
"Devil arts are violent and tyrannical, it's possible for some devil cultivators to lose their sanity if they took a misstep in their cultivation. This caused the devil cultivator's personality to turn colder as they grew stronger. However, all these are certain. If you don't have respect in your heart, you best not ascend the Devil Mountain. There are too many experts who have already died." The devil king standing at the side spoke, causing Nanfeng Ruoxuan to frown.
She might be a peak-level genius from the Southern Phoenix Clan of the immortal realms. But with such an opportunity before her eyes, could she not attempt it?
"Since this is a place of faith for the Myriad Devil Islands, why would there be so many who died on their way up? Despite so, why is everyone still so devout?" Nanfeng Ruoxuan stated grimly.
"This is a path which can change your destiny, how can there be no price paid? If you want some benefits, you naturally have to endure great trials." The devil king spoke, causing Nanfeng Ruoxuan to be speechless.
Qin Wentian stared at the path ahead, this place was filled with countless devil cultivators. There were groups of people advancing towards the Devil Mountain at every moment, stepping up the stairway. Most probably, only a minority among them would be able to finish ascending the mountain.
"Let's go." Qin Wentian drew in a deep breath and continued forward.
Since they were already at the foot of the Devil Mountain, how could he miss such an opportunity.
The stairway formed by the Myriad Devil Sovereign's will, and this place of faith of the entire Myriad Devil Islands… Their hearts were all filled with an intense anticipation, wanting to ascend it and take a look at what sort of place it was exactly.
Nanfeng Ruoxuan, Duan Qianshan and the others slowly walked out. The devil kings stood there unmoving, they only heard Qin Wentian saying, "If I, Qin Wentian, am able to ascend the mountain without dying, I will definitely accomplish the things I promised senior devil emperor."
"Mhm." The devil kings behind nodded, sending Qin Wentian off with their gazes as he proceeded.
Qin Wentian stepped into the devil mist, coming to the stairway. He then continued forward, wanting to walk up.
The atmosphere around the stairway seemed exceptionally heavy. There seemed to be a formless pressure boring down on Qin Wentian. However, this wasn't able to obstruct him from proceeding on. He took a step after another step, his heart filled with determination. Every step he took travelled a great distance, and it seemed that this place was a world of its own. When he inclined his head, the Devil Mountain before him seemed so holy and sacred.
After he took many steps forward, he could no longer see the scenes below the mountain after he looked back. Similarly, he couldn't see anyone beside him either. Only the vast and majestic mountain remained in his vision.
Qin Wentian continued climbing upwards, the Devil Mountain seemed to always be in his sight, yet feeling like an unreachable point. He gradually needed to depend on the circulation of immortal energy within his body to resist against the pressure and continue onward. This surge of pressure was too terrifying.
Time slowly flowed by, things were extremely dull and uninteresting. This walk of Qin Wentian lasted several months. Sometimes, he wanted to stop and even wanted to give up. Everytime he inclined his head and saw the Devil Mountain right before him, he would feel a sense of despair. The Devil Mountain was still the same amount of distance away, it didn't seem that he has gotten closer to it.
If one wants to climb the Devil Mountain, that person must definitely have an iron will.
Qin Wentian continued climbing. He saw an empty space with a huge stone. On top of the stone, another stairway could actually be seen. Qin Wentian then hurried over and sat down on the huge stone.
He was preparing to continue after resting for a period of time, after his devil energy recovered.
However, when his body sat atop the stone, the scene before his eyes changed. The stairway disappeared and two incredibly clear scenes appeared before his eyes, branding into his mind.
One of the scenes showed a majestic immortal palace, like the headquarters of an imposing immortal sect. The purpose of the sect was to teach cultivation to disciples, nurturing them to be stronger and stronger. The sect master of the sect told them to temper themselves outside, to plunder resources to aid the sect, to contend against others as a method of training.
These disciples all roamed the world. There were some who grew stronger, some who died. The immortal sect grew more and more majestic, more and more prosperous and started to nurture the second batch of disciples.
The disciples of the first generation were still fighting, out there somewhere tempering themselves, sparing no expense to fight for the sect until one day, the last disciple from the first generation eventually died.
The sect master sighed, and continued to nurture the other disciples, generation after generation. Now, the second generation's disciples repeated the footsteps of the first, plundering and fighting against others for the sake of strengthening the immortal sect. More and more disciples died, but the reputation of the sect only grew stronger as it shot to fame, adored by millions.
For the other scene, it was a devil sect. There was a devil expert but he didn't recruit disciples, choosing to take in subordinates instead. He used his subordinates to war for him, and set a policy where the strong would ascend while the weak would perish, with a fair system of reward and punishment. Those who made mistakes were all killed by the devil sect leader, their energies all absorbed for his own cultivation. Gradually, all of his subordinates were filled with incomparable fear towards him and he became the king of devils of his generation, succeeding in establishing an extremely fearsome devil army.
Everyone feared his strength, feared his tyranny.
The one before was an immortal while the one who came later was a devil. The immortal received respect and reverence from everyone, while the devil received fear and dread.
Every scene was so clear. Qin Wentian watched on as a complex feeling rose in his heart.
Who was the true immortal? Who was the true devil?
What's the difference between immortals and devils?
From the base, was there any difference at all?
Two paths appeared before Qin Wentian. One led to the immortal way while the other led to the devil way. Qin Wentian had to choose for himself.
Qin Wentian stood in the void, somewhat in a daze. He was supposed to choose? How should he choose?
Qin Wentian didn't wish to choose. He didn't wish to walk either of those paths.
After a long time, the two paths were still before him. He had to choose one of them, there was no third path.
Qin Wentian drew in a deep breath and stepped out. He ultimately selected the immortal path.
Although there was no difference between immortals and devils, but his origins were from the immortal realms, and his heart was more inclined towards the immortal path. Hence, his choice was ultimately this.
Once he picked the path, everything went back to normal. Qin Wentian was still sitting on that huge rock, with the stairway before him.
"What if I chose the devil path?" Qin Wentian mused. The scene he experienced earlier gave him quite a huge rush of impact.
Closing his eyes, Qin Wentian quietly cultivated and restored his energy. After some time, he opened his eyes and began to step forward.
This time, Qin Wentian discovered that the pressure was even stronger. With every step he took, he needed to expend a huge amount of energy before he could proceed. His speed started to slow and when he raised his head, the Devil Mountain was still right before him, it was so vast that it felt he would never reach the end of it even if he spent all eternity.
As he slowly walked on, a powerful aura gushed over. Qin Wentian fell into another illusory scene where he met two young men, one an immortal and the other a devil, heading towards different pathways.
On the left path, was the immortal sect while on the right was the path of the devil sect.
The immortal young man seemed simple and guileless. He inclined his head and stared at the immortal sect, his heart filled with immense respect. After some time, he decided to join the immortal sect.
As for the young devil-cultivator, there was a hint of steel in his eyes. He said that he would definitely become the master of this devil mountain in the future. His talent was outstanding and he chose to join the devil sect.
The immortal young man also had outstanding talent and was heavily valued by his master, doted on and protected. His cultivation speed was very fast, but the devil young man wasn't any inferior to him. The devil young man was placed in many life-and-death situations, warring for the devil sect, and acquired many battle merits.
The two young men slowly grew up, coming of age, growing unceasingly stronger. The immortal young man garnered even higher recognition from his sect, and became the leader of the younger generation, exuding an extremely dazzling light. The devil young man also became a leading character of the younger generation, he was feared by his troops, until he finally ascended to the peak.
Everything continued until one day. The immortal young man who was respected by all, always clad in dazzling light, actually sneak attacked and killed his master when his master was cultivating in a secret realm. He took away all his master's treasures, the innate techniques and cultivation arts, returning to the immortal sect as he used all methods at his disposal to become the new sect master of the immortal sect.
As for the devil young man, he also became a titanic force in the devil sect. He challenged the devil sect master, their battle shaking the heavens and eventually defeated his opponent in a fair and just manner, replacing him openly as the sect leader. The old sect leader decided to leave, while the devil young man took on the sect master's position, causing everyone to fear him.
In this case, who was the immortal? Who was the devil?