Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant Chapter 2482: 230: Fish

“Within the Origin Realm Sea, it appears the traces of True Man Taiyi have been completely extinguished…”

Drifting in the vast void beyond the remnants of the Zhang ruins, the Master of Quiet Cave wore a countenance of profound sorrow. His handsome face was marred by a complex display of disappointment, and his voice held a mournful edge that he made no effort to conceal.

He had harbored a firm belief that the Innate Divine Demons were on the threshold of a monumental shift, dreaming that their kind might finally attain a state of absolute transcendence.

Yet, True Man Taiyi, the very figure upon whom he had pinned such immense expectations, had perished with such abrupt finality.

Though Taiyi had already illuminated the path forward for their kind, his sudden fall hung like a thick, suffocating shroud over the Master’s spirit. He felt a deep, gnawing anxiety regarding the destiny of the Innate Divine Demons.

“Tianshang Buddha Lord!”

Hearing the Master’s revelation and sensing the suffocating despair in his words, Heavenly Monarch Chao was seized by a tide of uncontrollable fury.

“He was the one who personally annihilated the Canlong Realm!”

“Now, he dares to target the final embers of the heritage I preserved in the Third Realm Sea?”

“His arrogance is intolerable!”

“Utterly intolerable!”

By nature, Chao was a man of serenity, his mind a tranquil pool untouched by the fleeting waves of sorrow or joy. When the Canlong Realm was razed, he had suffered agony and rage, but he had also felt a hollow apathy; had it not been for a burning need for vengeance, he might have retreated into total seclusion to await the moment of Cultivation Ascension.

That was until he found Taiyi. Recognizing the young man’s peerless talent in The Way of Beast Tamer and admiring his character, he had entrusted the most sacred legacy of his realm to him as a token of his gratitude.

He had even surrendered his own sanctuary and the realm’s ultimate artifact—the Silkworm Dragon Staff—into the young man's possession.

Taiyi’s swift cultivation progress had brought him immense pride. In a remarkably short window, the youth achieved feats that validated all of Chao's hopes. Their shared interactions with True Man Gai had only served to heighten his esteem for the boy.

A successor like Taiyi was unparalleled, even across the Four Great Realms. Entrusting his legacy to such a protégé offered some solace for the destruction of the Canlong Realm, bridging the gap to the generations that had come before.

He had envisioned a future where, once Tianshang Buddha Lord ascended, he would exact his revenge and bestow the newly formed Silkworm Dragon Realm upon Taiyi, before preparing for his own journey to the Second Realm Sea.

But those ambitions were shattered in an instant!

Consumed by visceral rage and paralyzing despair, this usually stoic Great Cultivator finally shattered his own restraint.

Without a moment’s pause, he summoned a communication Dao Treasure.

A silhouette soon coalesced from the light of the artifact, its voice echoing forth: “Taoist Friend Chao, are you in need of further spirit materials?”

The figure belonged to True Man Gai of the Cloud Sky Realm, a man with white hair and a flowing beard, wearing a faint, friendly smile. However, noting the rigid, icy expression of Heavenly Monarch Chao and the grim silence of the Master of Quiet Cave, he quickly picked up on the heavy atmosphere. His own demeanor darkened as he demanded, “What has occurred?”

Heavenly Monarch Chao, his eyes flickering with a cold, jagged regret, spoke in a measured tone: “Taiyi has fallen.”

Shock rippled across the face of True Man Gai: “That is impossible! Was he not safely stationed within your Canlong Realm…”

He cut himself off as he registered the vacant, hollow expressions of Chao and the Master of Quiet Cave as they stared into the void, alongside Wang Ba. A look of dawning comprehension crossed his features, his voice dropping to a somber register: “Tell me exactly what transpired.”

“With Little Friend Taiyi’s proficiency in combat, who among us—outside of a few select Mahayana Cultivators—could ever hope to threaten him?”

Heavenly Monarch Chao’s voice sounded as if it had risen from a frozen tomb as he enunciated, “It was Tianshang!”

True Man Gai grew gravely solemn, his thoughts clearly racing: “It seems Taoist Friend Xiahou was correct… Tianshang Buddha Lord is indeed making his final preparations for ascension!”

Heavenly Monarch Chao remained cold and silent.

True Man Gai continued, as if speaking to the air: “Ascension implies that, without his protection, the Supreme True Buddha will be left vulnerable to our reach. To secure the long-term dominance of the Supreme True Buddha, he must eliminate any potential threats… Taiyi’s death was clearly a strategic strike.”

Killing intent bled from Heavenly Monarch Chao’s gaze as he vowed: “I will relocate the Canlong Realm… I intend to ensure that before he ascends, he experiences the agony of having everything stripped away from him!”

True Man Gai looked on with a flash of genuine sympathy. He could scarcely fathom the madness that would overtake him if his own Cloud Sky Realm were to mirror the fate of the Canlong Realm.

“I grieve for the loss of Little Friend Taiyi,” Gai offered cautiously, “but Taoist Friend Chao, you must refrain from letting this fracture your Dao-heart. Still, your logic holds; when Tianshang departs, the Supreme True Buddha will be at its weakest. If we allow the future Buddha Lord to successfully integrate the incoming power, our opportunity will vanish forever.”

“On that day, you and I will unite, drag Xiahou Demon into the fold, and annihilate the Supreme True Buddha!”

Heavenly Monarch Chao cut him off, boring his eyes into True Man Gai.

True Man Gai wavered briefly before dipping his head in agreement: “Liaochan nears his final breakthrough. Once he succeeds, we secure an additional Mahayana Cultivator. Furthermore, Buddha Lord Kong Zen of the Glazed Buddha Realm is likely to finalize his assimilation of Tianyin’s heritage soon. With your divine beast, we would command six Mahayana powerhouses.”

“Six Mahayana… even if we cannot match Tianshang, we will possess the might to raze the Supreme True Buddha to the ground.”

Just as these words were spoken, the Master of Quiet Cave, who had remained silent throughout, abruptly pivoted and vanished into the distant void.