152 - The Struggles of a Dying World

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“This world is doomed... isn't it?"

Qin Yun sat at the edge of the world, watching this miniature sun slowly descend into the darkness. He bore witness to what he feared most, a desolate landscape where not the slightest trace of life could subsist.

As the light fell, many outlines appeared within the darkness. They all possessed the same shape, that of large lotus leaves. With almost no reference point, Qin Yun couldn’t judge the distance, yet he only had to make an educated guess to know that those lower leaves were many times the size of the entirety of the Western Region.

“How far must they be for me to see them in almost their entirety?”

Qin Yun scarcely could wrap his mind around it, for the human brain was never meant to understand those scales. It was akin to a man in space bearing witness to an entire planet. Past a certain point, distance and size lost all meaning; all that remained was the shape, and its shape was all too peculiar.

“It can’t be a coincidence that this world is in the form of a lotus. It must be as I thought. If so, the Heavenly Dao must be...”

Qin Yun let the words hang in the air, for he now felt the weight of it all. He wondered how long ago Corruption first appeared in this world and how it had spread so much that only four of those leaves remained primarily free of its influence.

"It would be foolish to believe the Great Barrier might offer a good line of defence. It's just a last-ditch attempt to preserve itself from a world on the brink of ruin. How long ago did the Heavenly Dao realize its doom? Why choose to struggle now?"

Qin Yun couldn’t understand why he had been born into this world at this junction, much less why he had been chosen. Was this merely a coincidence, or did the Heavenly Dao know something he didn’t?

Still, it was all pointless. Had he been born a few thousand years earlier, before the Corruption encroached upon this world's last bastions of hope, there may have been a chance. But now? There was nothing he could do. There simply wasn't enough time.

“Why go through all this trouble?”

Something else caught Qin Yun's attention. He knew that the closer they were to the Well of Souls, the more strength the Heavenly Dao could draw from it. This meant that Corruption would have to expend much more effort to advance.

However, with all the dense Corruption Qin Yun could now see on the large leaves below him, such struggles were pointless. The Heavenly Dao would never be able to fight it all off. It only needed to pool all its resources, and the battle would have already been won.

“Why didn’t it do so already? Why this war of attrition?”

This was something Qin Yun couldn’t reconcile. Why use the Outsiders at all to break through the Great Barrier? In the grand scheme of things, they were completely inconsequential. Sooner or later, the barrier would fail, and the Corruption would flood inland. These people wouldn't even expedite the process.

"What is it thinking?"

There was also something else. Why weren't there any signs of Corruption in the Deep Desert? Qin Yun had seen the corrupted jungle on the south side of the river, yet there was no such thing at the tip of the Western Leaf. There was only sand and desolation.

"I guess it stands to reason that Corruption can only cling to living things. Once the Heavenly Dao forsook this place, all traces of life vanished except for one. Despite its strength, that worm should already be too far gone..."

The fact that both leaves were so different in dealing with the Corruption couldn’t help but stick in Qin Yun’s mind. As he had yet to see the remaining two, he couldn’t be too accurate in his assessment, yet there was one thing he was almost sure of.

“Is it using the last of this land to experiment? What is it trying to accomplish?”

As Qin Yun pondered, the light continued its journey downwards. He counted over twenty different leaves—or petals, if you would—on this side alone, but also on four different levels, this one being the highest. The further down the light travelled, the larger the petals became, some even rising up in a semi-circular motion.

If darkness didn't exist and he could see as far as he wished to, Qin Yun was sure he would see the lower leaves rise up to more than eye level at their tips, making these lotus leaves form a bowl, with the Well of Souls being the centre of it all and the sun, the origin of all light, slowly rotating around it.

“What even is that sun?”

It didn't even make sense. There was no way it could be a celestial object, as it behaved much too unnaturally. In fact, everything in this world felt unnatural and manufactured. It was only right that the sun should also be the same.

“What about the stars?”

Watching the dim outline of those distant leaves, Qin Yun finally had an explanation for the stars vanishing once away from the core of this lotus. What if the stars didn't simply vanish but were merely hidden from sight? Let's say by a heavy curtain positioned straight above this world's extremities, something like curled-up lotus leaves.

"The stars cannot be seen here, for above my head is just another upside-down lotus leaf... What a strange world we live in..."

Qin Yun couldn't help but shake his head. It all felt so absurd, especially that none of this had ever been recorded. There was no mention of the shape of this world in any of the Qin Clan's historical records. How long ago must those other leaves have fallen for the truth to be buried in the sands of history?

"I thought that by having an Immortal in the clan, the Qin might have a longer history than most. Yet, it seems it still pales compared to the conflict between this world and Corruption. I have no way to truly estimate this scale..."

Yet there was something more. There always was. If the leaves were so curled up on themselves that they reached above his head, what of gravity? Since they had already fallen to the Corruption, why hadn't it simply leapt from the sky, only to fall on this ground? Surely, it could survive the fall.

“Maybe it already did?”

Qin Yun frowned, recalling what he had seen when he broke through the wall with his sword intent. Beyond it was the stuff of nightmares, a realm of pure Corruption. He had pierced a hole through the veil, allowing these creatures entry, and only with the Heavenly Dao's intervention did it finally close itself off. The Corruption was beaten back, and all memories and mentions of it were swiftly erased like a secret not meant to be known.

“It isn't that Corruption isn't there. It's simply hidden from us... The world isn't ready to face its impending destruction. Like a good mother to her children, the Heavenly Dao simply spares us the existential dread of our inevitable end..."

Why struggle then?

With all this before his eyes, Qin Yun couldn't understand the Heavenly Dao's resistance. Why was he chosen as a champion, as were many others? He couldn't help but think back to Liao Cheng, the man he had met in Jin City. What was the reason for the boons he had been granted? Did the Heavenly Dao think he could make a difference, or was this a futile effort to keep appearances?

"Surely, the Immortals near the Well of Souls should know something. Do they have a plan, or have they given up entirely?"

This trip answered most of Qin Yun's questions but also brought forth much more. Once upon a time, this world was thriving. It was many times the size it now was, and judging by the population of the entire Western Region, this world might have contained trillions of people and thousands of different species, all intermingling. Yet, they were all dead, or worse, changed into aberrations meant only to consume others, turning them into what they now were.

Qin Yun was at a loss for what to do. He had spent months on this trip and travelled thousands of miles, all for what? To know the proper shape of this world? While the prospect was intriguing from a historical perspective, it didn't change that the world was doomed. He didn't believe that the Heavenly Dao could change the current tides, much less a small individual like himself.

He may possess vast knowledge and countless devices safely tucked away in his black storage, but nothing could truly tip the scales. Corruption was just such an entity. It was already way too late.

"I know this isn't my first life here... was I already aware of the scale of it all? Did I once try to fight against it and fail? Is that why the Heavenly Dao sealed this part of my memory?"

Honestly, Qin Yun could understand why it would keep all this hidden. Knowing their doom was upon them would only create chaos among the populace. It was better to let them live the last of their lives in peace before the world crumbled under them. It tried to protect them in its own way.

Still, Qin Yun couldn't shake the fact that it was all for nothing. If they had known, they could have united the world against Corruption. It may not have amounted to much, but at least it would have fostered a semblance of hope. While now, all that remained was despair.

However, Qin Yun didn't despair. He had no reason to. Even if he were to perish, it would only be the end of a single life—one among many others. He had already experienced death so much that he grew bored of it.

No. What truly concerned him was his wife. She still basked in her ignorance, not knowing that this world was on the brink of collapse. She believed she could eventually reach the peak of cultivation. Yet, she probably wouldn't have enough time, not at the pace things were going. Qin Yun estimated this world still had a thousand years at most—far from enough to reach the realm of immortality.

"If we could reach that realm, we may at least be able to break free from this world. The world would still die, but we could survive."

It was a plan as good as any other, yet it possessed one giant flaw. Even in the entire history of this land, those with the talent and luck to become Immortals numbered less than a thousand. For two individuals of the same generation to do so was unheard of, yet Qin Yun didn't have a choice. For them to survive, he would have to ensure she could. Fortunately, Yun Jingfei's talent was top-tier. With the proper guidance, reaching the peak wasn't impossible.

Qin Yun rose to his feet and was prepared to turn back. He had a long way to go before returning to the Western Outer Region. He engraved the bleakness of this world into his mind, yet he felt a peculiar peacefulness while gazing at this desolate scenery.

He had once aspired to this, the end of all things. So many times, he wished for the cycle to end, but now that it was before his eyes, this entity capable of granting his wish, he wanted nothing more than to turn back. Somehow, the thought alone couldn't help but make him laugh.

“Have I grown attached already?”

He smiled at the thought of his wife, yet this smile faded instantly as the silence of this lifeless world was broken by the sound of thunder. His gaze jerked upwards, and he was stunned to see dark clouds gather overhead despite being deep into this waterless land.

"That's... impossible," he muttered, eyes wide open.

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