Immortal Mortal

Mo Wuji asked, "Why are there 8 Sages in the universe? Can this number be increased or reduced?"

Meng Ye answered, "This is a long story. I will briefly go through it. When the universe was first formed, the Laws of Heaven Earth were at their clearest. Cultivating at this time was also the easiest. It’s like... the restoration of God World. The cultivation environment was similar to when the universe first formed. Thus, at that time, the cultivation speed of the cultivators were all extremely fast. Of course, the restoration of the God World is still far inferior to when the universe first formed. Thus, most experts were born then."

"Dao Friend Meng, you’re saying that the 8 Sages were experts born when the universe was formed? Are you also one of such experts?" Mo Wuji asked.

Meng Ye shook his head, "The birth of the universe did give rise to Sages. However, those Sages have already turned to dust in the long passages of time. I’m definitely not one of the experts born during that time. The current 8 Sages were all late-comers. They all found their own fortunes and became experts."

"Why are there only 8 of them?"

"This is because of the limits of the Dao Laws of the Universe. The 8 Sages already push the Dao Laws to the limit. If a 9th Sage appears, the Laws of Heaven and Earth would come down and crush everything.

Hearing Meng Ye’s explanation, Mo Wuji’s heart pounded. This was the restriction from the Heavenly Dao? This meant that regardless of how strong his Mortal Dao becomes, he would never be able to advance to the Sage Stage. If he advanced to the Sage Stage, then would he face the pressure from the Heavenly Dao and be crushed?

Soon, Mo Wuji threw this idea aside. He cultivated the Mortal Dao, so he wasn’t subjected to the pressures of the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao could suppress Sages and Gods but it couldn’t suppress a mortal like him.

Even if Meng Ye was any more experienced, he could not tell what Mo Wuji was thinking at this moment. He continued, "Among the 8 Sages, the Red Lotus was only there to fill the number..."

"Who’s the Red Lotus?" Mo Wuji wanted to ask this previously.

Meng Ye lifted his hand and drew a green-robed woman standing on top of a red lotus, "She is Red Lotus. Because of the way that the fate of the universe was being split, a spiritual plant ought to have a God Throne. With the methods of the other Sages, the red lotus became the 8th Sage. She is called the Sage Nun. She isn’t adept at schemes and she understands her inferiority. Thus, she rarely interacts with the other Sages and stays alone in her Sage Nun Pool."

So the true body of that Sage Nun was a red lotus. Mo Wuji nodded, he finally understood why he could escape from under her eyelids.

"If one wants to break through the Quasi-Sage Stage and enter the Sage Stage, must he wait for one of the 8 Sages to fall?" Although Mo Wuji believed that he would not face the pressure of the Laws of the Heaven and Earth if he stepped into the Sage Stage, he still asked this question.

Meng Ye nodded, "That’s right. When a Sage falls, all Quasi-Sages would feel it."

"Then did you sense that Huan Ti had fallen?" Mo Wuji didn’t quite believe Meng Ye’s words.

Meng Ye blushed, "Because I also almost perished. My cultivation fell greatly, so I didn’t have any ways to sense whether any Sages have fallen."

"That means that you’re not even in the Quasi-Sage Stage now?" Mo Wuji’s heart turned cold. If Meng Ye was not in the Quasi-Sage Stage and was also in the Unity God Stage like him, yet he possessed such combat power, then how powerful was a Sage?

"This clone of mine had just stepped into the Quasi-Sage Stage. If I’m unable to obtain the Phecda Clay, I could only remain in the early Quasi-Sage Stage. Now that the World-Ending Cataclysm is coming, the universe has become extremely hazy. Thus, there are many things that I cannot sense."

Mo Wuji reluctantly accepted Meng Ye’s words, "Then I have a small question that I wish to ask you."

"Dao Friend Mo, feel free to ask. We are friends that are cooperating with one another. Your matter is my matter." Meng Ye slapped his chest and spoke in a high-spirited tone.

Mo Wuji did not believe Meng Ye’s words, "Dao Friend Meng, I want to ask, how does one become a Sage? Does one obtain a God Throne after entering the Sage Stage? Or does one have to obtain a God Throne before he can even enter the Sage Stage?"

When Meng Ye heard Mo Wuji’s question, he laughed bitterly, "Dao Friend Mo, this question is not simple. I’m not willing to tell this to any person. Even if that person was my disciple, I will not easily share it..."

Mo Wuji waved his hand, "Dao Friend Meng, if you think that it’s difficult, then there’s no need to talk about it. It doesn’t really matter much to me."

Meng Ye hurriedly said, "It’s okay. I won’t tell this to others but there’s nothing I wouldn’t tell Dao Friend Mo. The God Throne comes second and the Sage comes first. The difference between the Unity God Stage and the Quasi-Sage Stage is like a heavenly gully. First, you would need to perfect your Dao Laws and your world. For a Quasi-Sage to validate his Sage Dao, there are millions of ways but the ones that work merely number a few."

"What does that mean?" Mo Wuji frowned and asked.

Meng Ye explained, ’According to the Laws of the Heavenly Dao, any Dao can allow one to step into the Sage Stage. However, only a few Daos actually succeed."

Mo Wuji came to an understanding. One was theory while the other was reality. He wondered who actually came up with the theory. It was probably nothing more than a guess.

Meng Ye was incredibly astute. He only glanced at Mo Wuji’s expression before he started chuckling, "Dao Friend Mo, you’re definitely thinking that the idea that any Dao in the universe can enter the Sage Stage is a hypothesis or a guess, right?"

"Isn’t that the case?"

"No, because in the primordial universe, the Laws of Heaven and Earth were extremely clear. All beings could pursue the Dao, and during that time, their cultivation speeds were extremely fast. At that time, there were countless experts that validated their Sage Dao. However, because of the limits of the Dao Laws of the Universe, they needed to destroy their competition. That was the first primordial Cataclysm. Countless experts engaged in war and countless fell. Even the death of Sages was extremely normal..." Meng Ye explained.

Mo Wuji nodded and didn’t ask anything further.

Meng Ye explained, "Validating your Sage Dao now naturally isn’t as easy as when the universe first formed. The most famous way to do so is to sever your Three Corpses. [1]"

"Dao Friend Meng has probably tried severing your Three Corpses, right?" Mo Wuji sized up Meng Ye’s clone. He guessed that Meng Ye’s clone is probably one of the Corpses that Meng Ye severed.

Meng Ye shook his head self-deprecatingly, "No, if I could severe my Three Corpses, then I wouldn’t be sitting here."

He did not continue explaining about himself. He continued, "Another way is to have a supreme treasure of fortune. That Huan Ti is one such Sage. Thus, the day he loses his Gods Tower is the day he is no longer a Sage. This is also why I dare to work with you to deal with Huan Ti."

"You mean that if Huan Ti had truly become a Sage, you wouldn’t dare to deal with him?" Mo Wuji looked at Meng Ye and asked.

Meng Ye laughed coldly, "Dao Friend Mo, your talent is exceptional and your abilities are astounding. However, even if you are any stronger, you would be courting death if you tried to deal with a Sage before you reach the Sage Stage."

"You mean that only Sages can deal with Sages? Otherwise, you would undoubtedly die?" Mo Wuji did not really accept this. He believed that if he could step into the intermediate or late Quasi-Sage Stage, he would be strong enough to fight Sages.

Meng Ye went silent. After some time, he said, "It’s not that you will die undoubtedly. It’s just that the chances of success are extremely slim. There was indeed a past example. A fella that was only in the early Unity God Stage was able to successfully deal with Sage Tong Ming."

"Tell me about the other methods to validate the Sage Dao." Mo Wuji knew that if they continued talking about this, it might make Meng Ye afraid of working with him to deal with Huan Ti.

Meng Ye also didn’t continue to talk about dealing with Sages, "There’s also using one’s world to validate the Dao, using one’s Dao Laws and even fully understanding the Dao. There are actually many ways but I only know a few. Although I am one of the 3 Rogue Sages, I’m still 108,000 li away from an actual Sage."

"Then do you know how to get back to God World?" Mo Wuji asked about Sages because he wanted to know how to deal with Huan Ti. Now that he had a rough understanding of the situation, he was eager to get back to God World.

Meng Ye stood up, "There are many planes at the same level as God World. However, I know which one you’re talking about. Come, I will lead the way."

...

Meng Ye merely spent an incense’s time to bring Mo Wuji and Yue Ming to a space island. When they arrived, Mo Wuji realised that Meng Ye actually installed a transfer array here. From the looks of it, this fella was always ready to head back to God World.

The three used the transfer array and arrived at another transfer array in space. After flying for another 10 days, Mo Wuji’s spiritual will located God Continent.

The entrance that Meng Ye took was the same as the one Mo Wuji used previously. From the looks of it, Nirvana Learning Academy wasn’t the only one that knew of it.

During the 10 days, Mo Wuji asked Yue Ming about Gods Tower and found out that Ji Li also used Tao Tie Valley to arrive at God World.

It seems like Tao Tie Valley was a linkway between God World and Immortal World. If he could save Ji Li, he could go back and pay a visit to the Immortal World.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Corpses Please read to understand more about this Daoist belief :)