Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant Chapter 2313: 171: Testing (Bonus Chapter 1, Part 3)
Previously on Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant...
He regarded Wang Ba's humble origins not as a flaw in his mind, but as something that deepened his admiration all the more.
From a minor world, reaching the heights he has now demands picturing the endless hardships and perils he's endured. The dangers he's overcome are beyond what most can grasp, far too many to count. Luck helped, yet the key lies in the cultivator's own qualities.
Lacking enough talent, resolve, and skill, even vast resources couldn't forge the Taiyi True Man of today, who dominates everything in his path, unmatched by the Supreme True Buddha's Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Besides, for someone at Taiyi True Man's stage, background matters little. A being with vast promise for Mahayana and rising to the Second Realm Sea gets judged purely on their worth, regardless of origins, ignoring petty birth details.
Truth be told, such lowly starts lend an epic, mythic charm.
He wasn't drawn to the man just through ties to Heavenly Monarch Chao, but chiefly for the skills and promise the fellow displayed.
Thinking this, the purple-robed youth gave a faint shake of his head and remarked:
“Jade must be shaped to form a tool. Friend Daoist, had your path been easy and you'd soared right into the Cloud Sky Realm, you likely wouldn't hold your current feats. That's how fortune and calamity intertwine.”
Wang Ba, hearing those words, thought back to old times and gave a nod.
“Your words ring true, Brother Daoist.”
Though he hated to concede it, without roaming the Little Cang World and facing trial after trial in the Immortal Forbidden Land and Sea of Chaos, he couldn't have gained so much in this brief span.
The purple-robed youth turned his eyes elsewhere, a smile playing on his lips:
“Still, by opening up about your background to me, Friend Daoist, you must have more on your mind to share.”
A guilty expression crossed Wang Ba's face as he lifted his hand a bit:
“I kept it hidden earlier, so I hope Brother Daoist can pardon me.”
“It's fine.”
The purple-robed youth dismissed it with a wave. As Heavenly Monarch Chao's direct disciple, that couldn't be invented. Their groups were on good terms, having traded treasures in the past, so this minor thing didn't bother him at all. Curiosity sparked, he inquired:
“At your level of cultivation, everyday issues shouldn't faze you, but I'm curious what exact concern has you acting so wary and uneasy.”
Wang Ba inclined his head and replied:
“Yes, it's a weighty issue... by luck, I skipped the Ascension Tribulation and roamed the Realm Sea instead, stumbling into a certain spot. They say it was once an immortal battlefield that wiped out myriad domains, sparing just a handful...”
“The Sea of Chaos?”
The purple-robed youth paused in surprise and blurted out on reflex.
Wang Ba blinked in shock, gazing at the purple-robed youth:
“Does Brother Daoist know the Sea of Chaos too?”
He then caught on: “Did Master Chao inform you?”
The Supreme True Buddha had seized the sole way out from the Sea of Chaos long ago, reshaping those cultivators with Six Paths Pond Water, so it appeared no one else held this secret besides him and Heavenly Monarch Chao, who'd heard it from his lips.
The purple-robed youth hesitated briefly, nodding at Wang Ba's guess, then countered unexpectedly:
“You made it into the Sea of Chaos, Friend Daoist—so how exactly did you get out?”
Wang Ba summed up his run-in with the Supreme True Buddha in the Sea of Chaos, how he'd tagged along to escape, and caught sight of the Reclining Buddha.
Straightening up, he declared gravely:
“Those cultivators pulled from the Sea of Chaos by the Supreme True Buddha's followers get bound by various controls and bent to their will, explaining why the Supreme True Buddha's Bodhisattvas and Arhats never run dry. The Cloud Sky Realm might hold them off temporarily, but not eternally; the Sea of Chaos hides who-knows-how-many Unification cultivators, and outside its odd conditions, they can readily hit Crossing Tribulation with minimal effort...”
“Unless we cut the tie between the Supreme True Buddha and the Sea of Chaos, I'm worried...”
He skipped any mention of the Little Cang World and held back on proposing a direct fix, keeping his view neutral and free of personal stakes to avoid swaying others' views.
This tweak came from weighing Master Chao's prior response.
After Wang Ba's tale, the purple-robed youth's face grew markedly graver, as if he knew of the Sea of Chaos but not the full details.
His brows knit:
“That Sea of Chaos is a massive headache!”
“Yet breaking the Supreme True Buddha's hold on the Sea of Chaos...”
Wang Ba interjected at the right moment:
“The Supreme True Buddha didn't tightly seal the Realm Sea vortex's exit, but since I slipped away, they might tighten up now; smashing that exit in the vortex could prove tough.”
“Yet separating the Sea of Chaos from the real Realm Sea stands a barrier they name the ‘Immortal Pass,’ though from outside, it's called ‘Duanhai Cliff’...”
“Duanhai Cliff...”
The purple-robed youth echoed the term softly, then shook his head right away, tone resolute:
“No way to shatter Duanhai Cliff—that approach won't work.”
“Can't break it?”
Wang Ba frowned in confusion:
“Not even Mahayana experts like True Man Gai and the rest?”
“That plan won't fly!”
The purple-robed youth stressed again, his voice leaving no room for debate.
Wang Ba went quiet at that, though doubts swirled inside him.
The reaction felt off, echoing Heavenly Monarch Chao's earlier guarded manner, both wrapped in heavy mystery.
Realizing this, he held his tongue and simply added:
“So our only choice is checking the Realm Sea vortex site for any possible solution.”
The youth's features softened, as if he sensed his slip, and he nodded:
“Your intel means a lot, Friend Daoist. I'll pass it on to True Man Gai and the others soon...”
Mid-sentence, a piercing cry echoed sharply all around!
That noise shattered the budding calm in the Taoist Field in an instant, sending countless cultivators leaping up and dashing to their assigned defense spots.
The purple-robed youth's countenance turned grim as he peered toward the domain's edge, eyes slitting:
“The Supreme True Buddha's forces strike once more!”