Myriad beings from various factions and races watched the incredible spectacle with wide eyes and low-hanging jaws.
More experienced ones quickly re-composed themselves and jumped into discussion as this was a valuable moment to learn from one of the legendary beings of the cultivation universe.
''That pi-'' a girl tried to talk but she was shut down almost immediately.
''Who cares about that pill! Go to the Alcheking's faction if you want to discuss something important like that! Ice Empress is much more important.'' an elder shuhed her.
''It seems like old age has already attacked and rotted your dirty brain. How can you even dare to think that little girl is more important than the weird technique that kid used just now.'' another elder argued with his friend.
''So what if he used some weird technique? He keeps doing that anyway. It's not like we can deduce it and-''
''We might not be able to deduce it completely, but we can definitely learn from it.''
Various old monsters, sect leaders, ancestors and strong rogue cultivators half discussed half fight all around the place.
Some of them had looser tongues due to the constant attack of unexpected events and even dared to insult the Ice Empress, but nobody dared to look up at her as a small corner of their mind knew what her expression would be like at this moment.
Ice Empress shattered the arm of the chair she was holding onto as quiet tears streamed down her face at a slow pace.
Neither Space Empress nor the Phoenix Empress knew what to do in this solemn and awkward moment, while the Little Ghost simply didn't care.
''I looked around a lot... Researched, raided, looted, even kidnapped some bright minds and forced them to study it... Yet I couldn't find anything. Nothing. I still don't know what happened to my Elder brother.'' Ice Empress said slowly before turning to the rest of the Empresses.
''If you the have the smallest clue about what happened there, speak now. I will not only reward you handsomely, but I will also be in your deep debt.'' she spoke sincerely as she dropped all pretenses.
They could do nothing but shake their heads as they didn't have any idea about Wang's technique. It was mysterious and unique, none of the Empresses present knew anything about it.
Suddenly, an imposing voice echoed, letting everybody hear its contents.
''It's called, 'Heaven and Earth Merger'.''
Ice Empress whipped her head back to see the person who spoke.
''Elder Mojang...''
It was Elder Mojang, the most mysterious and rumored to be the wisest person in the cultivation universe.
Despite many rumors, no one knew of his origins, his skills, not even his real name. He was a mystery that appeared and disappeared through history multiple times, signaling his long life and experience.
''I have no idea how that young man got his hands on it, but it seems like he died before he made a final decision.'' he spoke slowly.
''Decision about what? Explain everything!''
''To give a proper explanation, I need to talk a little bit about my own origins. I am the Fourth Heaven's Guard. Moh-Jiang.
Murmurs flooded the place as everyone became curious about the meaning of his words. Nobody knew what that meant, but they could understand the significance of it.
''You probably know about the Heavenly Court, the faction of humanity that gained the favor of the Heavens.''
Ice Empress wanted to shout at him to be faster, but held back with great patience.
''Over time, Heavenly Court was disbanded, but humanity continued being the protagonist of this universe. They not only survived but also thrived thanks to the Heaven's help despite being one of the weakest sentient species.''
Murmurs and angry grunts echoed from the various races as they remembered the unfairness of it all. Humans always had greater luck, while other races had to rely on their racial abilities and hard work, humans only had to breed like animals and rely on their luck to become the strongest force in the universe. It was infuriating for almost all of them, shaking their pride and angering them.
''The truth is... Heavenly Court was never disbanded. It just went through a downsizing.'' Elder Mojang said slowly as he played with his long white beard, causing shocked voices to come from everywhere around him.
Heavenly Court's destruction was the biggest loss humanity received in millions of years! Tyrannical humans who freely enslaved and dominated myriad races had to take a step back. They still reigned supreme but they couldn't be as free-willed as they used to be.
''Leader of the Heavenly Court at the time felt the Heaven's rejection. Heaven was finally starting to reject humanity in order to choose a better protagonist because of the humanity's corruption.''
Almost everyone, even humans, nodded at that. Humanity's sins were known to everyone.
''At that time, he felt like everything was coming to an end and the humanity would go into extinction because of all the sins they have accumulated while they had the Heaven's favor and luck. Generations of domination and slavery would come back to bite us.''
''But, he managed to come up with an idea to regain the Heaven's favor.''
''Heaven's Guard system.''
Him saying those words again ignited the curiosity that everyone had at their hearts.
''Publicly, he disbanded the Heaven's Court but in fact, he just kicked out everyone but himself and his disciple, turning the Heavenly Court into a two-member sect with one disciple and one master.''
''After that, he dedicated his entire life to incurring positive karma and working together with Heaven to become its one and only actual protector, messenger, and servant. Over time, the powers of the Heaven's Guard increased as the Heaven started trusting him more and more, in the end, he even created a manual that would allow his disciple to become the next Heaven's Guard when he died.''
''What does that have to do with anything.'' one of the youngsters spoke up.
''Shut up, let him explain even if they are unrelated.'' a curious elder quickly shut him up.
Ice Empress' silent but deadly gaze shut up all the talkers and Elder Mojang continued his speech after playing with his white beard for a second.
''Heaven and Earth Merger is one of the forbidden techniques in the Manual of Heaven. It's my trump card, and it was my predecessor's trump card as well. We Heaven's Guards are blessed with ageless immortality and great luck, most of the time we don't even have to face our enemies as they 'meet accidents' before even they can reach us, but if someone somehow mangaes to get past everything and reach us to kill us, Heaven and Earth Merger is the last technique we use.''
This time the murmurs didn't stay as murmurs and various being's voices crowded all around them.
Immortality was the reason why most beings cultivated and the Heaven's Guards would automatically gain immortality, along with great luck that would serve them for life. As if that wasn't enough, they would even bring great luck to their own race.
Various ancestors from various races, factions, and sects silently looked at each other with deep meaning.
''It merges the user with the Heaven temporarily, basically promoting you from Heaven's messenger to Heaven's personification, giving you the full power of the Heaven for a short while. Unfortunately, as a result, you die.'' he shook his head in nostalgic sadness.
''I'm actually not sure how he managed to use that technique despite not being a Heaven's Guard, but well... he showed many miracles to us, it seems like it's not entirely impossible to do such thing.''
''It seems like he somehow gained access to the manual at some point. He was probably offered to be the next Heaven's Guard and become the disciple of the current Heaven's Guard.''
''Why would he even think about such a thing? The answer is obvious, yes, yes and yes. How can you even refuse such an incredible offer!?''
''Well, being the Heaven's Guard isn't just all fun... You will be mostly busy with fixing the world, preventing disasters, and killing people. But, I suppose this Wang kid refused it for another reason. Heaven's Guard can't have families or any deep connections to stop them from corruption. It must have been hard to leave his little sister behind.''
Ice Empress's fists clecnched so tight, it even drew blood from her delicate but extremely powerful skin.
'I held you back once again, didn't I?'
Some more sentimental beings quietly cried for his decision while some silently mocked him for refusing such an incredible opportunity for a mere girl.
''If I had a brother like that, I would become an Empress too.''
''Ahh, I remember when I was just like him, naive and expectant...Maybe I would make the same decision as him if my lover back then didn't betray me.''
''Girls are temporary, immortality is forever. Is there even a point to thinking about this?''
''I made a similar decision when I was a child half his age, then my little sister ran off with a guy who got her pregnant and I-''
Wang, who was listening to everything from his corpse nodded to himself in wonder.
''I am more incredible than I thought... What am I talking about, if I was so incredible, I would defeat them without using a sacrifical move like that and live happily ever after...'' he sighed as he rubbed his neck while looking at the Ice Empress.
''But... this is strange. I haven't gained all the memories from the Hundred Reincarnations Technique yet. I should be dead, obviously, but it seems like I lived a bit longer than this.
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