Pu, Ling Han instantly spat out his mouthful of wine.
If Fatty Ma said he wanted to form some kind of party to conquer the world, then Ling Han would not be the slightest bit surprised. There were countless people in the pages of history with such grand ambitions, so it would not be a surprise that Ma Duo Bao would join their ranks.
However, this Ma Duo Bao should not have such great power, right? Though Ling Han couldn't see through him, no matter how he thought about it, there was no way that the former's power had reached the Shattering Void Tier.
But to split open the skies?
The gods were everywhere; these gods would not punish evil, but if one were to upset the balance of the world, it would make the Eye of Heavenly Dao appear, and possibly even directly eliminate such a being.
Ling Han had said something similar previously, resulting in the appearance of the Eye of Heavenly Dao, which was then scared off by Hu Niu's shouting. Thus, he did not dare to speak carelessly now. There were some things that one only had to know in one's heart—before one had obtained enough power, it was best not to speak carelessly.
"Fatty, you really are ambitious," Ling Han said ruefully. "But please allow me to ask, what purpose would that have?"
Ma Duo Bao bared his teeth in a grin and said, "Shattering Void Tier shatters the empty void, which would allow only one person to become an immortal. My tanned brother, don't you think it would be better if we simply split apart this whole sky and allow everyone to enter the realm of immortals so everyone would be like dragons?"
Ling Han was struck dumb; this really was an astonishing ambition: to split apart the skies so that everyone would be able to enter into the realm of immortals?
"Is that possible?" he asked.
"Without trying, how do you know that it's impossible?" Ma Duo Bao asked calmly.
He had never thought that this damn fatty would actually have such a grand ambition and the domineering desire to benefit the whole world; he actually wanted to bring everyone with him into the realm of immortals. To be honest, Ling Han had never even thought of such a thing. Since the beginning of time, ascending to immortality had always been an individual matter—how could it be possible that relatives and friends of the individual would ascend along with him?
But thinking about it again, if it really was possible to split apart the skies and cleave the earth, one could really bring his companions with him to ascend to the realm of immortals.
As long as one was strong enough.
Ling Han mused silently. It seemed that it was a very difficult feat for immortals to decend to the lower realm; if that wasn't the case, wouldn't legends about immortals appearing in the lower realm spread all over the world? He had obtained the Memory Crystal of Zi Xue Xian, and had seen with his own eyes and heard with his own ears those immortals admit that they would be suppressed upon their descent into the lower realm, and then could be expelled from it.
It was obvious that crossing into another realm was a very difficult thing.
"Fatty, let me offer you a toast!" Ling Han raised his wine cup. Regardless of whether he was willing to join or not, merely the fact that Ma Duo Bao had such an aspiration was worthy of his admiration.
Ma Duo Bao gladly clinked his own cup against his, and they both emptied their cups.
"My tanned brother—"
"All right. My name is Ling Han. Just call me by name."
"All right, my tanned brother." Ma Duo Bao readily accepted his request, yet had completely no intention to change his form of address. "Have you ever thought why there was a lapse in history ten thousand years ago?"
Ling Han could not help but feel secretly shocked. He recalled Zi Xue Xian and his previous lifetime.
At the time, he had not had the slightest suspicion, but now that he thought about it, a lapse also appeared about nine thousand years ago in the history of his previous life. A great many martial arts inheritances were buried in history, including alchemical knowledge. It was even worse off for array arts as the knowledge had practically all gone extinct.
Through calculation, the great catastrophe which led to the destruction of that era he was in actually just so happened to be a thousand years later, which was precisely ten thousand years.
Once every ten thousand years, a great catastrophe would appear in this world?
Furthermore, Zi Xue Xian had left behind her last words, and said that all that had surpassed these ten thousand years were a gigantic deception; what had she meant? Did it have some kind of relation with the great catastrophe that took place every ten thousand years?
He pondered for a moment, then said, "Could it be that Brother Ma knows?"
"I do indeed know, but the walls have ears, so I still cannot announce it verbally," Ma Duo Bao said seriously.
Walls, where were the walls? And where would the ears be?
Ling Han did not understand, and merely continued to look at Ma Duo Bao.
Ma Duo Bao raised a single finger and pointed straight up at the skies.
"The Eye of Heavenly Dao?" Ling Han asked in shock.
Ma Duo Bao shook his head, and raised his finger higher.
Ling Han stared blankly for a moment before he instantly came to a realization. The Eye of Heavenly Dao was merely the guardian of this realm and was high above them; then what was even higher than that? The realm of immortals?
The realm of immortals was monitoring this realm? In addition, the enemies that Zi Xue Xian encountered were her clansmen from the realm of immortals. Those people had mentioned the subject of destruction of the human race, and seemed to be the culprits behind that great disaster ten thousand years ago.
What Ling Han did not understand was, wouldn't it be a very simple thing if the realm of immortals wanted to destroy the lower realm? Even if immortals would be suppressed and weakened upon their descent into the lower realm, wouldn't it be fine if a few more came? After all, there were only a few Shattering Void Tier cultivators in this world, but how many immortals were there in the realm of immortals?
"My tanned brother, ten thousand years is a cycle. After a hundred years, or perhaps there may only be a few dozen years left, another calamity will befall the world. If we don't think of something, then the tragedy that happened ten thousand years ago would repeat itself," Ma Duo Bao said.
"That can't be, right?" Zhu Xuan Er had been listening quietly from the side, but she finally gasped out in spite of herself. This topic was really too astonishing.
Helian Xun Xue and Hu Niu, on the other hand, were completely indifferent. One of them had lost her memories, whereas the other was a child, so they had completely no concept of world destruction.
Ling Han asked, "Does Brother Ma know the source of all this?"
"I can't say." Ma Duo Bao shook his head, his finger pointing straight up at the skies.
Ling Han was astonished, and asked, "Could it be that announcing it verbally would lead to a great disaster?"
"Hehe, if the whole world consisted of dumb commoners, they would naturally be easy to rule over," Ma Duo Bao said with a smile. "Thus, smart people would also have to pretend to be foolish. My tanned brother, your talent is shockingly high, and in the future, you will definitely become someone important, but you must remember: there are too many strong elites in this world. Before you have enough power to protect yourself, you must remember to conceal your strength and bide your time."
Ling Han nodded, and said, "Thanks for the advice."
"Then, my tanned brother, would you be interested to cooperate with me on this righteous undertaking?" Ma Duo Bao asked.
"Hehe, my current power is still too low. Let's see after I reach the Heaven Tier," Ling Han said in refusal. It was naturally not possible that just because Ma Duo Bao had sketched out a grand plan and outlined a grand ambition, Ling Han would simply join his banner without any care.
Ma Duo Bao made no more attempts at persuasion. He merely clapped Ling Han's shoulder and said, "My tanned brother, I trust that you will definitely make the right choice. That's right, it hasn't been too peaceful recently, so you had better stay inside the city. Also, take this Spirit Talisman. Use it at the most dangerous moment as it will be able to save your life."
He threw a Spirit Talisman at Ling Han. Then, without waiting for Ling Han to ask him further questions, he left swiftly.
Ling Han and Zhu Xuan Er, meanwhile, were still savoring his last words; what did he mean?
"Damn fatty, Niu's meat!" Yet Hu Niu released a pitiful cry. Ma Duo Bao had left, but he had actually stolen all the meat skewers that had been on the barbeque grill. How could she not feel heartache at that?
Ling Han comforted her, and drew out some more meat to barbeque.
He and Zhu Xuan Er exchanged a look. Both of them felt much worry; Ma Duo Bao's words had revealed a shocking piece of information, and it seemed that the catastrophe that had almost destroyed the world ten thousand years ago could possibly happen again.
"Also, that fatty said not to leave the city, as it is not very peaceful outside. What does that mean?" Ling Han rubbed his chin, and felt that that damn fatty was really independable. He had merely revealed half the information in all that he said, and wanted Ling Han to guess the rest.
Zhu Xuan Er was also baffled. Only Hu Niu and Helian Xun Xue were completely carefree, continuing to barbeque the meat at one side elatedly as they eyed the food greedily.