Like a Ray in My Night (Part 4)

671 Not Enough Resources for Everyone

Since the energy was seeping into the surrounding area, then absorbing that would at most clear up some of the energy that hadn't been absorbed by the array. It wouldn't change the overall situation, would it? Of course, it could be that his Master wanted to destabilize the array further to free up the person.

This had been their original guess anyway. After seeing his Master's level, he wasn't sure if that was necessary though. If he wanted to cause trouble, he was strong enough to do it all on his own. Why involve somebody else? Just for reassurance?

It didn't seem to make much sense but, honestly, while he was certainly the person in the Teng Yong Sect who understood his Master best, that didn't actually mean he understood him well. He only knew one side of his which was his role as a strict teacher. He hadn't witnessed his truly sinister side growing up in the sect. At most, he had gleaned a hint of it here and there in how ruthless he was but he hadn't caught on to what it truly meant.

Looking at this from the perspective of someone who had a reason to want to get rid of the four great righteous sects but also wasn't one to put himself in harm's way and would instead search for the best way out ... he might indeed want to minimize his risk by sending somebody else.

And this person sealed by the array was perfect for that, weren't they? After all, they had been trapped down there for what should be hundreds if not thousands of years by what were essentially the founders of the four great righteous sects and their disciples. When they were finally freed, wouldn't they wish for revenge? And wouldn't that revenge fall on those who were still — knowingly or unknowingly — actively keeping the array running by cultivating right on the nodes of the array?

In this way, his Master could get someone to deal with the righteous sects for him at a very cheap price. Meanwhile, he himself would get the energy that would allow him and his people to get even stronger. So in case that person somehow failed in completely annihilating the four great sects ... he could easily take care of the remnants by himself.

This whole operation would be made easier if the array was further destabilized by the surrounding energy but ... frankly, it shouldn't make a difference. The energy had been there for a long time but as long as the four great sects existed and there was no external force interrupting the energy flow in the lines of the array, it wouldn't collapse anytime soon.

No, if he wanted this to be done quickly, it would be much easier to simply attack the part of the array that had already been destabilized to a degree thanks to the southern chasm's creation. One more hit from someone of his strength and chances were, the person inside might be able to free themselves.

And wasn't this the best way to go about this? Not even mentioning that person's likely thirst for revenge, they might even be somewhat grateful to his Master if he freed them. Then, wouldn't he need to worry less in case the person was even stronger than expected?

Mei Chao Bing slightly paused when he thought of that and had to urge himself to continue practicing before his Master realized that his thoughts were elsewhere.

Yes, maybe this was where his Master's insistence came from: He was worried about how strong that person truly was. Maybe he was almost strong enough to ascend and maybe the energy from the array could help him shorten that gap further or even close it completely but there was no saying whether that was enough to contend with that person beneath the continent.

Mei Chao Bing had seen some of the documents from that time himself. Much was lost but it had been enough to understand the sheer terror even the strongest people of the time felt when they wrote about that person. This was a clear sign that they had at the very least been at the demigod stage themselves and, in fact, it suggested they were even stronger than this.

No one from that time was alive any longer but what they did know was that the average level of cultivators nowadays was lower than it had been back in the day. The reason for this was simple: Much of their continent's spiritual energy was needed to maintain the array. Where would enough energy be left for all the cultivators?

Between this and the number of cultivators rising, there simply weren't enough resources to allow them to live up to what their ancestors did. Thus, with each generation, reaching the higher levels became more and more difficult. For many, the golden core stage had become an impassable ceiling, not because they lacked in ability but because they were limited by their circumstances.

Only the best amongst the talents of this day and age were able to make their way past this obstacle. And, frankly, looking at it with the knowledge he had gained during the last few weeks, he couldn't help but wonder if 'talent' in this case meant those people being somewhat special in certain regards.

Looking at the people he knew, there were some a lot of oddities in them: He himself had somehow turned out to be the successor of the ancient Lin family which was a special existence in the first place. Yun Bei Fen's first senior martial brother had a perception high enough that he could enter another dimension like the dreamscape at will, seeing it in broad daylight when nobody else could perceive it. Senior martial brother Shen might not have a special identity himself but he was the long-term partner of Yun Bei Fen's third senior martial brother who had an ability.

Maybe he was thinking too much and this was only a coincidence but ... he felt that maybe there was a reason certain people managed to reach such heights more easily than others. It did seem like a logical explanation at least.