Chapter 4288: Old Matters
If Lin Moyu chose to give up refining the Ferry of Tribulation, and also abandoned the fifth gemstone of the Catastrophic Scepter, then the Catastrophic Supreme would not tell him these old matters.
Before the other spoke, Lin Moyu asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid that after hearing it, I might still choose to give up?"
The Catastrophic Supreme shook his head. "You won't. I believe in my own judgment. In fact, before I even posed this question, I already knew what your choice would be."
"The truth is, you're not aware that if there were any possibility you would quit, you would never have earned the recognition of the Catastrophic Scepter, never have seen me within it, nor obtained the Seeking Cause Ring. This entire experience is interlinked if you had faltered at any point, everything after would have been different."
LIn Moyu could only feel resignation. It seemed as though he had the power to choose, but in reality, he did not. Still, since he had come this far, further thought was pointless. "Then please speak."
The Catastrophic Supreme said, "This matter is ancient. One of my elders accidentally discovered that there exists, within the chaos, a certain will... That elder gave it a name a name I cannot speak."
Lin Moyu's heart skipped a beat he realized it was the Dao.
The Dao could not be described, and could not be uttered it could only be referred to indirectly as 'that one.' Even so, doing so carried certain risks.
The Catastrophic Supreme continued, "He went to investigate it, and after tens of millions of years finally had results. He recorded them down and then fell."
"He was the first Heaven‑Earth Supreme to fall in the chaos. Luckily, with the last flicker of his thought, he sent away what he had recorded."
"All traces of his existence were erased. In the chaos, no one knew he had ever existed even his friends and kin forgot him entirely."
Hearing this, Lin Moyu felt a cold chill.
The Dao hadn't only killed that Heaven‑Earth Supreme it had erased every trace of him, changing the memories of all who knew him. That was true erasure leaving behind nothing at all.
No not quite nothing. The Supreme had left something behind, and a fragment of his will within it.
"Later," the Catastrophic Supreme went on, "I obtained that object, and from it I recovered knowledge of his existence and learned the meaning of 'surpassing chaos.'"
"You received the Catastrophic Scepter," Lin Moyu guessed.
"In the chaos, very few things can evade that one's perception. The Catastrophic Scepter is one of them. At the time, I had not yet reached the Supreme realm," the Catastrophic Supreme replied.
Lin Moyu understood the Supreme's transcendent path had begun with his chance acquisition of the Scepter.
"That elder actually left little concrete information much of it was conjecture. It was when he revealed some of it outwardly that death came for him."
"But these fragments opened a new door for us. We began searching for clues, scouring the chaos, visiting domains, never passing over anything strange or wondrous."
"We found much. It was in that time we discovered the Ferry of Tribulation."
When he said 'we,' it meant the Scepter had not been his alone the green‑robed and white‑robed elders must also have been involved.
"Later, we became Supremes ourselves, reaching the peak of chaos. There was no road left forward. But we all knew that within chaos was someone who saw us as ants. Tell me would you accept that?"
The answer needed no thought. Cultivators lived to defy heaven and change fate.
Anyone who could become a Heaven‑Earth Supreme was a peerless prodigy, a genius among geniuses, a monster who had crushed countless other talents.
To reach the peak, only to find someone else standing above you how could you not want to tear them down?
If you didn't know, that was one thing; but knowing you had to fight.
The Catastrophic Supreme thought so, and so did the green and white robes.
"We sought a way," the Supreme said. "At last we glimpsed something that one had a flaw."
"So we made a plan to fight him. But to guard against the worst, only I would battle; they would hide in the shadows."
"We anticipated failure, and in failing, we sought a road back for ourselves."
This was not pessimism, but clarity. He knew what he was facing.
"I fought my way to the very end. Finally, I saw him. And I struck him once and stole something from him."
Here, pride entered the Supreme's tone.
"I've seen you in the past. It looked like you were instantly killed," Lin Moyu noted.
The Supreme chuckled. "I know what you saw that was a Catastrophic Avatar. There were five in total. That strike told me my foe was not invincible. There was a chance and not a small one."
"The thing you stole from him," Lin Moyu said, "was the Chaos Pearl, wasn't it?"
The Supreme's grin widened. "Very clever. Yes. Quite so."
Then his voice shifted. "Enough. If I say more, it might be overheard."
"If you wish to know the whole truth, become a Supreme yourself those two old men will tell you."
"You can get the fifth gemstone, but you won't be able to use it yet your realm is far from enough."
"But here's the good part the Catastrophic Scepter is beyond chaos; it cannot be detected. The Ferry, however, you can fully use especially in dangerous places. It can carry you through calamity."
"I named it the 'Ferry of Tribulation.' If you dislike the name, change it."
The Supreme's pace quickened, an air of relief in his voice.
It was understandable. He had kept vigil here for countless years dormant, yet sometimes awake knowing his true body had long since perished. Waiting, perhaps in vain, not even knowing if his plan would work.
Only a Supreme with an unshakable Dao Heart could endure so long without collapsing.
But now Lin Moyu had arrived, and his performance seemed to satisfy the Supreme.
So the man was ready to depart. He had said all that needed saying; his tale contained no cultivation guidance, only a story.
Lin Moyu knew the Supreme didn't wish to interfere. Whether or not he was truly the man's reincarnation, the Supreme wanted him to walk his own road.
Plans and arrangements were only guidance; the true obstacles he must overcome alone. Only thus would his cultivation and Dao Heart grow strong enough to surpass even the former Catastrophic Supreme to transcend chaos and defeat the unnameable one.
It would be hard. He could quit at any time but they both knew he would not.
He was halfway down the road and the only way forward was to the end.
Lin Moyu bowed. "Farewell, Senior."
Without another word, the Supreme faded away in laughter, revealing a golden square stele in his place.
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