Mysterious mirror hanging high

Inside the cave, Qi Dong's body gradually stiffened, but for some reason, there was still another Qi Dong lying beside Jing Yu. He was also unconscious and his life or death was unknown, but there was no wound on the back of his head, and his entire physical body seemed intact.

Xiao Shihua smiled, gathered his sleeves and said slowly:

"Why bother trying to save him, fellow Daoist? This kid's ambition is as high as the sky, but his life is as fragile as paper... He is destined to suffer this calamity."

Jing Yu ignored Xiao Shihua, but just supported his chin and looked carefully at the old man Xu who was at a loss in front of Qi Dong's corpse in the cave, without saying a word.

"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Shihua asked, "Are you wondering why this kid named Qi Dong has come to this point today?"

"That's not the case." Jing Yu's expression was indifferent. "From the moment I gave him the innate Dao body, his inner desires were magnified. Don't forget, I am proficient in divination and can easily predict the fate of a Qi cultivator..."

"Even if he doesn't die here, there's a high probability that he'll die in the future if his plot is exposed."

"I'm just a little curious about Old Xu's choice."

Jing Yu pondered, "They seem to have a good relationship... Old Xu isn't the type to kill or slay."

“When someone disrupts your life, you unleash potential you don’t even understand.”

Xiao Shihua smiled and said, "He is just defending his hard-earned peaceful life."

"Oh? You might say that to ordinary people."

Jing Yuyan said, "But he's an immortal cultivator... Is there anything worth defending about such a life? If an immortal cultivator doesn't seek the great path, why would he even bother practicing cultivation?"

Xiao Shihua said softly, "Not all cultivators in this world are as talented as you... They only feel that the world is so small, like a prison that confines them."

"For these people, the strict rules of Heaven are not a cage, but a thick cocoon that isolates them from external threats."

"Some people are born unable to properly plan their own lives. They need an omnipotent being to determine the direction of their destiny."

"For Old Xu, it's not that the Heavenly Emperor needs him, but rather that he needs a Heavenly Emperor who is high above and who can take care of everything."

"But he has no choice." Jing Yu said coldly: "He has no choice since he was born, right?"

“Sometimes, for mediocre people, too many choices are not a good thing.”

Xiao Shihua said calmly, "People only see the cultivators in the East China Sea becoming rich overnight, but they don't see many more cultivators losing everything."

"Tianxiang Xianzhou is full of monsters and beasts, making it a great place to hunt for treasures, but how many people have been eaten by monsters?"

"Qi Dong thought that by entering the Juechen Demonic Path, he would become a giant of the Demonic Path... But in reality, he would most likely just become nourishment for the Myriad Souls Banner in the hands of a certain Demonic Path cultivator."

"Yes, perhaps being born under the rule of Heaven, he would ultimately be forced to work as a miner for the rest of his life, but at least he would live in peace and security, and would be able to see his death."

Jing Yu had been counting on his fingers from the beginning until now. His eyelids moved slightly and he sighed softly.

In just a few breaths, he used the art of divination, supplemented by his understanding of the way of fate, to calculate the future destiny of Qi Dong, who was lying unconscious on the ground, a full 100,000 times.

These 100,000 hexagrams showed that if he stayed under the rule of Heaven and mined peacefully, he would most likely die of old age.

On the contrary, if one rebels against the Heaven and goes to places like the East China Sea, Juechen, and Tianxiang, most of them will end up dead.

Among them, through 6,328 divinations, Qi Dong was able to build a foundation for immortality.

One hundred and fifty-one destinies point to the Golden Core Realm.

Among 100,000 divinations, only once was Qi Dong's destiny fulfilled, and he formed his Nascent Soul and became a True Lord. However, he died directly during an exploration of a secret realm.

As for the Divine Transformation? Perhaps Jing Yu's cultivation level was not high enough, or perhaps it was because the 100,000 divinations were too few, so he had not considered this possibility at all.

At this moment, Jing Yu couldn't help but think, is it really worth giving up a stable life just for this one in a hundred thousand chance of conceiving a child?

If he were in her shoes, Jing Yu might really give up this illusory opportunity to have a baby in exchange for a stable life that is certain enough.

Seeing Jing Yu deep in thought, Xiao Shihua couldn't help but continue:

"The existence of the Heavenly Court may have destroyed the original possibilities of some cultivators, but it is not necessarily a bad thing for these cultivators."

Jing Yu asked, "What then? These cultivators gave up their pursuit of the Dao and became mere cattle and horses under the rule of the Heavenly Court. What hope is there in such a life?"

"Humans are animals that live in the future." Xiao Shihua said leisurely, "When they lose hope in their lives, they will naturally place their hope on the next generation."

"In Heaven, a couple can give birth to three children on average."

"Outside of Heaven, it takes an average of five couples to give birth to one child."

"Why? Because the higher their cultivation, the more selfish they become. They're single-minded in pursuing the Great Dao, believing cultivation to be the most blissful and beautiful enjoyment in the world... They also believe they have the potential to ascend to heaven and pursue the supreme path, so why would they place their hopes on their offspring?"

"Why is it that after so many years in the Immortal Continent, the number of cultivators is still so small... Is it really just because spiritual roots are rare?"

"But the reproduction and growth of all living things is the fundamental principle of heaven and earth... Only with enough cultivators can we produce enough geniuses who will ascend to the immortal realm in the future and return the favor to the heavenly way of the immortal continent."

"If a monk has a bright future, he will naturally not focus on raising offspring, but will tend to pursue his own path."

"If monks' lives are too difficult, they may be inclined to sterilize themselves."

"Only monks who have met their basic survival needs and have no hope of furthering their path would love to reproduce."

"The balance here is extremely delicate. The Heavenly Court has explored this issue for hundreds of years and has a good grasp of it."

Xiao Shihua said: "This is the meaning of the existence of Heaven."

Jing Yu was somewhat speechless: "You have been doing this for so many years, just to make the monks have more children?"

“People are the root of everything.”

Xiao Shihua said, "As long as the top-level Divine Transformation combat power can maintain a stable balance and maintain the existing territory... according to the growth rate of the Celestial Court's immortal cultivator population, in a few thousand years, the number of high-level cultivators in Celestial Court will exceed the total number of all the major sects in the Five Seas and Four Continents."

"By then, no one will be able to stop the Heavenly Court from unifying the Immortal Continent."

"Of course, it's a pity that the sudden appearance of people like you, Fellow Daoist Lu and Fellow Daoist Xuan Jing, has ruined this plan that was originally a sure win."

Xiao Shihua said regretfully, "But this method is definitely beneficial to the Immortal Continent... That's why I beg you not to completely destroy the Heavenly Court... At least leave me half of the continent."

Jing Yu pondered and said, "I understand... Perhaps the Heavenly Court does have some merits, but... if you want us to avoid destroying the Heavenly Court, I need you to agree to one condition."

"At least... there will no longer be any restrictions on the free flow of lower-level cultivators to various factions. As for whether your Heavenly Court can recruit cultivators from other factions to join you? That depends on your own abilities."