"Normal?" Jiang Ming was a little puzzled, and then he suddenly remembered the destroyed world he had seen in the previous battle.
"The ground hasn't caved in yet. The sky had not yet burned. The world hasn't started to collapse yet," the mysterious old man said in a soft voice.
"No, everything is fine in the world I'm in!" Jiang Ming shook his head.
"Come on. I'll show you."
The mysterious old man waved his hand and walked forward.
Jiang Ming quickly followed. The scene in front of them suddenly changed. The starlit path under their feet disappeared. The old man was wearing straw shoes and tattered clothes. The black sword in his hand had turned into a hoe. It was not stained with golden blood anymore, but with mud.
Jiang Ming also turned into a thin young man in ragged clothes. He followed the old man and chopped some firewood on the mountain. He carried the bundle on his back with great effort and walked through the field to the village.
Roosters crowed and dogs barked. It was a regular, bustling scene of a farming village.
Jiang Ming followed the old man and slowly walked past everyone. It all felt extremely real. Every figure seemed to be alive.
"Isn't this an illusion?" Jiang Ming was at a loss.
The two of them walked into a courtyard. Jiang Ming put the firewood in the corner of the courtyard and was led by the old man to sit at a table in the courtyard.
"Wait for me!" The old man chuckled, as if he had really become an old farmer. He returned to the house and made a pot full of strong tea. He carried the teapot and some cups and walked to the courtyard.
Jiang Ming looked at the old man. The figure walking on the starlit path seemed to be gradually dimming at this time.
He felt strange. Previously, he thought that the old man on the starlit path was real. However, at this time, he suddenly felt apprehensive.
The old man sat opposite Jiang Ming with a smile. He poured them some tea and asked with a smile, "Are you confused?"
"Yes!" Jiang Ming nodded and cupped his hands. "Please enlighten me!"
"Have some tea first!"
Jiang Ming lowered his head and picked up the cup of tea. Just as he was about to drink it, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
A scene appeared within the tea.
It was a vast and endless world. However, everything was collapsing and being destroyed. The land caved in, the sky was broken, and terrifying black fire fell from the stars, burning everything around.
A blinding light rose. It was as if many powerful creatures were trying to resist its power. However, they soon disappeared.
"This is what the world I'm in looks like." At the old man's gesture, Jiang Ming drank the strong tea in one gulp, and many vivid scenes suddenly played out in his mind.
When the world was born, it was barren. Primitive tribes rose from the wilderness. Humans comprehended extraordinary powers and walked the path of cultivation step by step. The world had just been formed, and everything was thriving.
All living beings coexisted. The sparks of different civilizations collided and intertwined to create a prosperous civilization. The strongest among them tried to pass the heavenly tribulation to transcend.
However, generation after generation of peerless powerhouses had fallen in the heavenly tribulation. No one could break through the shackles of this world. The spiritual energy was dissipating, and the great cultivation was shattering. The entire world seemed to be getting old, decaying, and dying.
The last powerhouse died, and the world returned to silence. There were not many living beings left, and only a few mortals were left in scattered areas of the world, struggling to survive. However, this was still not the end. When everything finally crumbled, the entire world would be reduced to nothingness. No living beings would exist anymore, and only emptiness and darkness would remain.
After a while, a stream of light streaked across the darkness, sprinkling down a rain of light, bringing vitality to this world once again. New life was born from the emptiness.
"This is the cycle of success, failure, destruction, and emptiness. No one can escape their final fate!"
The old man's faint voice woke Jiang Ming up from his shock.
After a long time, Jiang Ming calmed down and looked at the old man, "Is your world already in the 'emptiness' stage?"
He finally understood why the mysterious old man was so excited about the remnant light of the heavenly tribulation that Jiang Ming had told him about. It was because breaking through this world was the only thing he could do.
To be able to maintain such a powerful cultivation in the "emptiness' stage meant that this mysterious old man was definitely the most powerful existence in his era.
However, the old man shook his head and said, "The world I was born in might have already completed this cycle. I'm just a remnant of the old era."
Jiang Ming was puzzled.
"In the past, we tried to break through the shackles that the heavens imposed on us. However, later on, we realized that nothing we did would ever be effective!" The old farmer continued softly, "Later on, we found a new path and refined all external forces into our own bodies! The original body was the most powerful weapon in this world. If we walk to the end of this path, we might really be able to break through those shackles! Unfortunately, even though we found an invincible technique, our weak bodies can't bear it!"
Jiang Ming thought of his first opponent, the burly figure who fought the heavenly tribulation with his bare hands. He then thought of the path of martial arts.
