Chapter 825: Mahesvara Realm

TN: Mahesvara – according to Wikipedia and other sources, Mahesvara is the other name of Lord s.h.i.+va, one of the principle deities of Hinduism. In the faith of Buddhism, Mahesvara is both the name and the ruler of the Great Realm of Freedom, the place in which those who have achieved enlightenment can reach, it is not Nirvana, but it does exist outside of the Samsara. I don’t know enough about it to explain it well, just know that the Mahesvara realm has the same meaning as the Great Realm of Freedom. What I’ve said above is the real-world general knowledge, not details within the novel, as such the concepts described might differ.

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This might have been the shortest Wind Tribulation ever since the existence of Heaven’s Tribulation.

Facing the immense water pressure at the bottom of the ocean, all the evil creatures vanished in a flash.

They were squished so well they became tiny dust particles that slowly became part of the seabed.

The only one remaining at the bottom of the ocean was Gu Qing Shan.

The Chao Yin sword had controlled the ocean water so that he had an area of empty and dry land to stand on.

Gu Qing Shan glanced at the void of s.p.a.ce.

A line of blood-red text appeared on the [Kindling] UI:

[Because the evil creatures were killed by water pressure, you are unable to obtain any Soul Points from this battle]

After Gu Qing Shan read it, the line of text faded and was replaced by a different, new line of text:

[As the Soul Points is in a scattered state without any other ent.i.ty trying to absorb it, in accordance with the Order’s no-waste policy, beginning the remedial collection of scattered Soul Points]

[38279 Soul Points collected]

[You’ve obtained this Soul Points]

Gu Qing Shan was stunned.

You can do that?

He couldn’t help but ask: “[Kindling], I can collect Soul Points even if I didn’t kill them?”

[You aren’t supposed to, but as it is a waste for this Soul Points to simply scatter away, I collected it for us to utilize later on] the [Kindling] UI responded.

Gu Qing Shan nodded and said nothing else.

A [Order] that doesn’t follow any rules.

Well actually, it still has its own principles.

Utilize all possible means.

At this point, the wind had already stopped.

The Wind Tribulation ended.

Strange foreign noises emerged from the void of s.p.a.ce.

A small fire appeared out of nowhere and landed on Gu Qing Shan’s shoulder.

Taking a closer look, you’d find that this flame was basically transparent, it would not be able to affect Gu Qing Shan’s body at all.

The fire quickly spread all over Gu Qing Shan’s body, but he only silently waited without doing anything.

This was the flame that destroyed all things, it was currently invading his acupoints and spirit energy veins, if he moved carelessly, he could be burnt to ash in an instant.

A few moments later.

The fire completely engulfed Gu Qing Shan.

A mysterious reaction began.

The endless fire expanded to form the scene of a world in front of Gu Qing Shan’s eyes.

The fire faded away.

The world became clear.

A mountain range, a blue sky, and flowing river streams where immortals came and went.

This was the Mahesvara realm.

Who could’ve thought the world that connects with me would be the Mahesvara realm!

The so-called Fire Tribulation always leads a cultivator’s soul vessel into one of many heavenly realms.

A cultivator must return to their own body within a certain amount of time.

If a cultivator’s soul vessel still remained within that heavenly realm after the time was over, that cultivator’s body would be thoroughly burnt to ash by the Tribulation Fire.

Which meant that their Tribulation failed.

The cultivator’s soul vessel would remain forever within the heavenly realm.

However, quite a few cultivators were more than willing to remain within the Mahesvara realm.

Because this was a wondrous heavenly realm, unlike others.

Even if their bodies were destroyed by the Tribulation Fire, their soul vessel would be able to remain within the Mahesvara realm for 10,000 years.

In comparison, even if they manage to clear the Void Wanderer realm Tribulation and successfully break through, a cultivator would still have to face untold hards.h.i.+p and trials to continue moving forward, never stopping.

Rather than dying in one of the Tribulations to come, it would be better to just remain here as a soul vessel and enjoy 10,000 years of freedom.

Any person who attempted to face their Tribulation here would become the target of attack.

Every soul vessel here would try and use everything they have to prevent a cultivator from advancing.

Gu Qing Shan silently took a deep breath and readied himself.

He took a step forward.

As soon as he did, his body remained behind, still surrounded by Tribulation Fire, while his soul vessel left the bottom of the ocean and entered the Mahesvara realm.

The very next second.

Gu Qing Shan noticed that he was standing within an open plaza.

The voices around came into his ears.

Laughter, happy conversations, and a heartful banquet.

Happy shouts, singing, and cheering.

A grand feast was being conducted inside this open plaza.

Someone loudly called out: “Ahahaha, we have a new friend joining us today, everyone! Let’s welcome him!”

Quite a few decided to continue drinking and making merry.

But the majority of the people turned to Gu Qing Shan and smiled.

Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist and smiled back: “Fellow Dao seekers, greetings”

Someone happily replied: “Indeed, we are all friends[1] here, come and have a drink!”

Gu Qing Shan actually came over, picked up a cup, and greeted everyone.

“May I know what we should call you, my friend?”

“This humble one’s surname is Gu”

“Ah, so it is friend Gu. Are you also here at the divine mountain to enjoy eternal joy and happiness?”

“Ever since this humble one heard about this place, I have looked forward to it. The path of cultivation is far and distant, the higher one went, the more one worried about one’s life and death. Rather than that, turning one’s soul over to this place and enjoy the eternal grace was much more preferable”

Gu Qing Shan raised his cup and answered.

After answering, he drank the entire cup of liquor.

“This humble one can finally escape a life of cultivation while fearful of death. A toast to you all!” he loudly declared.

Another cup full.

That brought the atmosphere of the feast to its peak.

The others also gladly raised their cups to follow up with him.

Someone praised: “My friend, you have such a grand will and demeanor, perhaps one of our fairies would be interested in you right now”

The female cultivators all giggled as they hid their mouths behind their sleeves.

This young man is really handsome, and for him to enter the Mahesvara realm at such a young age, his cultivation talents are self-explanatory.

Furthermore, he came from the outside world, unlike the people of this place who have been living their lives either drunk or dreaming, he must know a lot of interesting things.

A great husband candidate.

One of the girls spoke up: “What do you cultivate, fellow Dao seeker?”

A clear and charming voice.

Such a familiar voice.

But this voice has been greatly inhibited, no longer exuding killing intent and allure like it did before.

Gu Qing Shan looked over.

The girl’s facial features were the same as they were before, dignified but full of charm.

This was her race’s natural-born grace and beauty.

Legends had it that within the Samsara, the women of her race were the most excellent, having beauty that could even topple a fortress.

As the kings and emperors of the Heaven Realm saw them, they would risk declaring war just to be able to marry a woman of their race.

The first time they met in a while, yet it was just like their first meeting.

She looked at him and smiled: “I can sense the aura of spells and magic coming from you, was I correct?”

Spells and magic… huh?

That is probably not true.

But if I reveal myself to be a sword cultivator, quite a few would feel uneasy.

Because there is no such thing as a sword cultivator who was willing to live either drunk or dreaming.

Then magic it is.

Gu Qing Shan looked straight at her and calmly replied: “This humble one cultivates Elemental Ice spells and magic”

The girl appeared surprised: “Ah, is that so? I really want to challenge you to a short bout right now”

“This humble one had only just arrived, I can drink, but I would rather not fight”

The other cultivators also tried to convince the girl not to fight as this was his first day here.

Apparently convinced, the girl gave up on the idea.

She then said: “Elemental Ice techniques are quite rare, why don’t fellow Dao seeker Gu show us a bit of what you can do?”

Following her suggestion, Gu Qing Shan randomly formed a hand seal.

He already learnt all of the G.o.d of Frost and Chill’s Ice techniques. But since he was no longer taking on the Divinity’s form, their power had been greatly reduced and no longer reached the standard of a Paragon realm peak stage cultivator.

But to Void Holder realm peak cultivators like these people, the Ice techniques he performed were still considerably more advanced than they are used to.

A bridge of ice manifested right in the middle of the plaza, went past the boundary of the manor, and reached all the way to the sky.

The other end of this bridge of ice was a tall mountain of lush greenery.

“Wonderful!”

“What an impressive technique!”

“Wondrous!”

The cultivators all praised him.

“Unfortunately, it is already quite late today, and we are at a banquet, otherwise, this humble one would like to try taking a sightseeing trip on that mountain” Gu Qing Shan regretfully said.

“The years are long, friend Gu, you will have many other chances” someone said.

“Indeed”

“That is very true, let me accompany you when that time comes, friend Gu”

The people all smiled and cheered happily.

After Gu Qing Shan displayed his technique and said that just now, the cultivators opened up to him a lot more.

The party continued.

As Gu Qing Shan was a great drinker, a straightforward person, a wonderful conversationalist, as well as a highly cultured person, he quickly got along with all the cultivators.

Around midnight.

The party finally reached its end.

At this point, the girl from before came up to Gu Qing Shan with a gla.s.s of liquor in her hand and glanced at him.

“Fellow Dao seeker Gu, would you be willing to join me for a drink this night?” the girl invited.

Everyone cheered.

Quite a few male cultivators appeared clearly jealous.

“That was my hope from the start”

Gu Qing Shan received the gla.s.s, took a sip, and smiled.

“My manor is on Bright Clear Peak. Since this is your first time here, you must be quite unfamiliar with the road, I shall be your guide” the girl said.

Gu Qing Shan informally bowed: “Then please lead the way, o’ fairy”

The girl nodded, leapt upward, and took flight.

Gu Qing Shan swiftly followed.

The other cultivators simply looked on as he left, still a bit hesitant about not stopping him.

“It is fine, this friend Gu is a wonderful man, there won’t be any problem” one of the girls said.

Another girl followed up: “Big sis Zhi Luo has never made any mistakes so far, what is there to be unsure of?”

Hearing that, most cultivators there extinguished their thoughts.

Only a few male cultivators still seemed hesitant.

Another girl chuckled and teased them: “Or do you also want to go to Bright Clear Peak?”

These words thoroughly stopped their ideas.

No matter how worried these cultivators were, they wouldn’t try to barge in when two people are flirting in private, that would be ruining their own image.

So the party ended and everyone scattered.

Gu Qing Shan followed the girl all the way until a certain mountain.

On the way, the girl didn’t say a single word. As they reached the mountain, she led him along a winding mountain road, went inside a waterfall, crossed a small bridge over a stream to finally reach the scenic and bright heart of the mountain where her palace was.

“We’re safe now” the girl declared.

The look of indifference on her face went away completely as she showed a beautiful fearless smile.

“You didn’t expect this, did you?”

“I really didn’t, have you been waiting here for me all this time? I didn’t even know this was possible” Gu Qing Shan sighed.

“Of course it was possible”

The girl was carefully staring at him without even blinking her eyes as if she wanted to carve his appearance forever into her mind.

“I left a drop of my tear with you, that is an exclusive Divine Skill of us Asura, something we can use only once in our entire lives”

She muttered.

[1] Friend vs fellow Dao seeker: the word they use here is “道友”, which consists of the characters for “road” and “friend”. Gu Qing Shan is using it in the meaning of “fellow friends who seek Dao together”, while the others are using it by the meaning of “friends on the way”