Chapter 628: Beyond the Heavens?

It was clear that Shui Miao now only had two options: either kill Lü Zheng or break his promise in front of all the heavenly soldiers and generals.

However, Shui Miao soon thought of a third path.

“Die!”

Shui Miao suddenly roared, and the small chessboard killing formation immediately emitted a dazzling white light, blinding all the heavenly soldiers and generals. When the light faded, Lü Zheng had vanished.

“Did he really kill Lü Zheng!?”

“This… how is this possible? The Holy Mother and he are on the same side. If we follow the Holy Mother’s command, doesn’t that mean we’ve betrayed Heaven?”

“…”

The heavenly soldiers and generals erupted into murmurs.

The four Punishment Deities suddenly lost all sense of Lü Zheng’s presence and, terrified, dropped their mid-grade holy artifacts.

Shui Miao waved his hand, channeling the full power of the small chessboard formation to directly shatter the spirits within the artifacts. At the same time, he unleashed his spiritual energy to seize the holy artifacts and decipher their formation secrets. After four or five breaths, he waved his hand again, sending the four Punishment Deities and the five mid-grade holy artifacts flying hundreds of meters away.

“Sister, we can go now.”

With a thought, Shui Miao retracted the small chessboard formation and landed with Holy Mother Shui Tianyi at the gates of Heaven.

“Good!”

Holy Mother Shui Tianyi replied affirmatively and addressed the heavenly soldiers and generals: “What happened today has nothing to do with you. If Heaven collapses, I’ll bear it. Open the gates of Heaven and return to your posts. Everything will remain as it was before.”

“As you command!”

With the Holy Mother having spoken so definitively, no one had any objections. They accepted the order and immediately opened the gates of Heaven.

As Shui Miao followed Holy Mother Shui Tianyi, he was secretly speaking with Lü Zheng inside the small chessboard formation.

That’s right—it was indeed Lü Zheng.

Shui Miao had not killed Lü Zheng. He had merely used the blinding light as cover to capture him inside the small chessboard formation and suppressed him.

“Shui Miao, you’re not that impressive. I thought you’d dare to kill me, but it turns out you’re too cowardly to do it!”

“Hmph!”

“What are you hmphing about, you bastard? Have the guts to let me out!”

“Let you out? Are you dreaming?”

“What do you mean then? Are you planning to imprison me forever? I’m a Punishment Deity, and you’re just a minor Immortal Sovereign!”

“You talk too much. Why don’t you take a nap first?”

After this exchange, Shui Miao suddenly gathered all his strength and activated the Nightmare Cultivation Technique, directly confusing Lü Zheng and the consciousness currently controlling him. Then, through that consciousness, he attempted to extract memories…

However, the super powerful entity was highly alert and immediately employed a secret technique to break free from Shui Miao’s mental control.

“Brave lad, I didn’t expect you to discover me. I admit, I underestimated you.”

Inside the small chessboard formation, Lü Zheng was unarmed and had no way to escape.

Yet, the consciousness of this super powerful entity was incredibly formidable. He managed to easily shake off the illusion. Keep in mind, this was Shui Miao channeling the power of nineteen Immortal Emperor-level experts to activate the Nightmare Cultivation Technique.

“Respect yourself, sir. Although I don’t know who you truly are or why you’re targeting me, I assume you must be a figure of great prestige. For you to secretly manipulate others to frame me like this, isn’t that a bit too despicable and immoral?” Shui Miao deliberately pretended not to know the other’s identity, as if he had not obtained any memories.

In reality, however, Shui Miao had already acquired some information, albeit briefly.

It was the Celestial Sage.

His purpose in coming here was to use Lü Zheng to test the power of the small chessboard formation.

Since the entire Hongyu Chessboard was not yet fully forged, the Celestial Sage had no intention of seizing the small chessboard formation for now.

Upon hearing Shui Miao’s words, the Celestial Sage immediately replied, “Immoral? Haha, you’re too naive. Virtue is merely a tool for deceiving people. But don’t get angry. My only purpose was to see how powerful your holy artifact is. I have no intention of framing you. On the contrary, if your artifacts prove strong enough, I might even ask you to forge some holy artifacts for me.”

“I see. Well, the more friends, the better. May I ask for your honorable name?” Shui Miao continued pretending not to know that the other was the Celestial Sage, solemnly inquiring about his background.

The Celestial Sage chuckled, “Since you’re so straightforward, I’ll be equally open. I am Xiang Tianzhi, the deputy city lord of Wu City in the First Heaven of Immortals. My friend, you’ve stirred up quite a storm this time, provoking the Punishment Heaven Patriarch of Fa City. He will definitely not let you off the hook. I advise you to find a place to hide quickly or consider cooperating with me to forge more supreme holy artifacts to deal with him.”

“Oh?”

What a fraud! Deliberately sending the Punishment Heaven Patriarch after me and then feigning concern—how despicable! Shui Miao sneered inwardly but said deliberately, “Senior Xiang Tianzhi, I’m planning to overthrow the rule of Heaven itself. Would you also wish to overthrow Heaven? Doesn’t that make our cooperation seem rather unlikely?”

“Hmph, overthrowing Heaven is nothing?” Unexpectedly, the Celestial Sage scoffed, “My friend, you’re not a major figure in the First Heaven, so I don’t blame you for not knowing. You’re ambitious and capable, so I don’t mind telling you the truth…”

“The truth?”

Shui Miao’s heart stirred, suddenly filled with curiosity.

“Yes!”

The Celestial Sage sighed, “Ordinary mortals in the mortal world don’t know that immortals exist, nor do they know how vast the Immortal Realm is. Likewise, immortals in the Immortal Realm are unaware that beyond Heaven lies another Heaven, that the universe is vast and filled with various powerful alien deities. Everyone assumes those ancient mighty immortals died from the Five Decays of Heaven, but they don’t realize that those great sages and experts died defending against these alien races. They went to battle against the alien god-kings of the Heavens beyond to protect the weak. These alien god-kings are extremely powerful, and ordinary Immortal Emperors are no match for them. Therefore, to prevent panic among the immortals, the Jade Emperor established five holy cities in Heaven, blocking the path to the Heavens beyond, while those ancient sages continued to fight desperately against the alien invasions in those distant realms.”

“…”

This revelation shook Shui Miao’s understanding.

For some reason, Shui Miao was especially inclined to believe that the Celestial Sage was telling the truth, that he wasn’t lying.

After a pause, the Celestial Sage continued, “In fact, Heaven won’t truly punish you. As long as you’re powerful enough, what’s the big deal about killing a few immortals? Compared to countless lives, they’re just a drop in the ocean. Therefore, as long as your formations are strong enough, I can ensure your safety.”

“…”

Shui Miao didn’t respond immediately.

He was somewhat moved. Compared to the fate of all beings in the Three Realms, what were personal grudges and feuds?

To test the Celestial Sage’s reaction and confirm the truth of his words, Shui Miao suddenly changed his tone: “This story is indeed convincing to me, but unfortunately, I won’t easily believe a fraud who can’t even admit who he really is. If you want to know the power of the small chessboard formation, then please come in person and try it yourself.”

With a thought, Shui Miao immediately released Lü Zheng.

Seeing Lü Zheng suddenly reappear, Holy Mother Shui Tianyi was greatly startled: “Brother, how is he still alive?”

“Because I didn’t kill him.”

Shui Miao suddenly felt his answer was somewhat silly. In such a situation, how could he possibly provoke Heaven completely?

Based on the personalities of the five Punishment Deities, Shui Miao deduced that their leader, Punishment Heaven Patriarch, was likely a rough and bold man. As long as he didn’t kill them, upon their return, the Punishment Heaven Patriarch would likely keep the matter quiet to preserve his own dignity. He would personally come to the Sixth Heaven to at least redeem his honor before making a big fuss.

In fact, immortals are not so different from mortals; their minds work similarly.

Shui Miao, understanding human nature, knew exactly how to handle the situation.

“Brother, you’ll understand one day.”

Lü Zheng shouted at Shui Miao, and after shouting, his body trembled as he regained his senses: “What… where is this place?”

“…”

Shui Miao and Holy Mother Shui Tianyi continued flying forward.

Shui Miao was deep in thought, feeling confused.

Shui Tianyi sensed something was wrong with Shui Miao and stopped him, asking what was troubling him.

Shui Miao told her the truth and expressed his confusion.

After listening, Shui Tianyi immediately shook her head: “That’s impossible! I’ve never heard of such a thing in my entire life. I only know that Heaven has nine levels. As for anything else, I really don’t know. Brother Shui Miao, I think you’ve been deceived. You’ve been tricked by the Celestial Sage. He’s the Celestial Sage, after all—you mustn’t take him lightly.”

“What do you mean? Is the Celestial Sage known for deception?”

Shui Miao truly, deeply wished that the Celestial Sage hadn’t lied to him, that it was just Shui Tianyi who was ignorant, and that he could genuinely do something for the people of the Three Realms.

“Yes!”

Holy Mother Shui Tianyi nodded heavily: “When you speak with the Celestial Sage, you must first understand what he does. You must know that he is the one who helps the Jade Emperor rule over all the immortals and deities of the Nine Heavens. His task is to balance the powers of the various sects. If any sect threatens to spiral out of control, they will declare the start of the Immortal-Deity War. So, do you know what an Immortal-Deity War really is?”

“Please explain, sister. I know the general idea but not the truth,” Shui Miao immediately bowed respectfully.

“Haha, the truth is actually simple—it’s about plundering wealth and suppressing powerful sects, forcing them back into an era of resource scarcity and shortages, letting them rebuild slowly, and then triggering another Immortal-Deity War once they’ve recovered. In this way, sects will always remain sects, and Heaven will always remain Heaven.”

“So, the words he told you were specifically tailored to your personality, designed to prevent you from rebelling, from overthrowing Heaven, so that you would serve Heaven loyally, and when you die, Heaven would still remain.”

“But isn’t it said that only the Jade Emperor possesses the Celestial Formation?” Shui Miao still wanted to believe the Celestial Sage.

Holy Mother Shui Tianyi hesitated slightly before shaking her head: “Alright, brother, actually I didn’t explain clearly before. In truth, there are two holy artifacts in Heaven imbued with the Celestial Formation. One supreme-grade artifact is in Heaven’s possession, and the other top-grade artifact is in the hands of the Celestial Sage.”

“So that’s how it is!”

Shui Miao’s thoughts were once again redirected by Holy Mother Shui Tianyi.