Star Odyssey

Chapter 2965: Law Of Judgment

Many people sighed. They had expected to see the rise of another Progenitor here.

Progenitors were extremely rare, but the Heavens Sect had many experts at that level. How many of them had actually risen to power in the Origin Universe? Just because the Heavens Sect had a great number of experts, it did not mean that it was easy to reach that level.

If it were, Lu Buzheng and his peers would have broken through long ago.

Arch-Elder Zen and the others watched as the tribulation’s vortex disappeared, and they readied themselves to step forward to comfort Qing Ping.

Suddenly, they froze, staring ahead blankly.

They saw Qing Ping. His aura had already fallen to the point where he did not even possess the strength of an Envoy. But then, white light suddenly erupted from his chest. It spread further and further out, illuminating the universe and instantly lighting up the entire Neoverse.

Countless people looked up at the sky, where they saw an unforgettable scene.

They saw the darkness of space give way to a white sky. It looked as though the universe had been eclipsed by this light.

This was not a form of power. No one could sense anything like stellular energy, and yet the darkness of outer space had been replaced by this bright sky that illuminated everything. It was also possible to vaguely make out a massive set of scales in the distance space. They looked as though they were weighing something.

Everyone was stunned.

"This is not a stellular tribulation. He- he’s taking another path!" Destina was horrified.

Lu Buzheng and others just stared. There was yet another person in this universe who was able to reach the Progenitor level without facing a stellular tribulation. Qing Ping had already clearly failed his tribulation. Just what kind of talent did he possess in order to instantly challenge an alternate path?

Big Sis was shocked. Many people during the ancient Heavens Sect era had not become Progenitors with stellular energy. However, not only had Qing Ping found an alternate path to cultivating with stellular energy, but he had also done so the moment he failed his stellular tribulation. Was this something that a human could even do?

Further away, Shao Chen watched in admiration. Just like Astral-10’s headmaster, Qing Ping was taking an alternate cultivation path that did not require stellular energy. People had done this in the past, and the people of the current era were capable of doing so as well.

The universe was filled with endless possibilities. There were rules, but there were ways to do things while bypassing those rules. It was possible to become a Progenitor through pure cultivation, but there were also other means of reaching that level. The only constant was that it was impossible to reach that level without incredible perseverance and outstanding wisdom.

Qing Ping was accomplishing just this, as had Shao Chen before him.

It seemed possible that the future Lu Yin was hoping for might actually appear, with the Three Realms and Six Daos and Nine Mountains and Eight Seas all appearing once more. Only then could the Heavens Sect truly rival its former self.

There was no vortex in space, no stellular energy, nothing at all. All that could be seen was the white sky that had replaced the Neoverse’s outer space, along with the set of scales.

Qing Ping took a step forward and stood on one side of the scales, his hands clasped behind his back. "Others are judged by these scales, but justice truly begins by weighing one’s own heart.

"Judge yourself as you judge others. Law of Judgment."

Madness! This thought occurred to all who were watching when they heard Qing Ping declare the rules of his judgment.

Unless one was a madman, how could one judge their own heart? The heart could not be controlled. Everyone possessed some bit of greed and selfish desires. How could anyone be truly fair and just?

It was no wonder why Qing Ping was capable of taking another path. His path was simply seeking death. He had been true to his sense of justice and his morals for countless years, taking an incredibly difficult path, but the path that he had chosen could only lead to his death.

Even Mu Xie did not believe that Qing Ping could successfully tread this path that he had chosen. Humans were creatures with greed in their hearts. How could anyone abandon the seven emotions and six desires? Such a person would no longer be human.

On the scales, Qing Ping's body started to slowly drift upwards. On the other end of the scales was the white sky that had replaced the universe. It was bright enough to illuminate anything, even Qing Ping's heart.

Seeing Qing Ping drifting upwards, the hearts of Arch-Elder Zen and the others watching all sank. Sure enough, this was another failure. The trial had already started. As soon as Qing Ping rose to the top, the failure would be complete.

Qing Ping stared at the opposite end of the scales. "I am very just. When I fight against non-humans, judgment is passed based on their species. Their guilt is not mine, but theirs. Who decided that they were something other than human?"

Everyone was stunned by his words.

"I am very just. When I fight against a dwarf, judgment is passed based their height. Who decided that they were shorter than me?"

No one could say a thing.

"I am very just. When I fight against a cripple, judgment is passed based on being whole. Who decided that they were an incomplete person?"

People’s mouths were hanging open.

"I am very just. When fighting against an ugly person, judgment is passed based on their appearance. Who decided that they were uglier than me?"

Everyone was left utterly confused.

"Where is the injustice in my judgments? These are the rules of my judgment. There are billions of laws in the universe. If a law exists, then it can be used to perform a judgment. If the ruling is unfair, then it is the universe that is unfair, not me. If the universe is unfair rather than me, and people are made unequal by the laws of the universe, then how can we transcend these laws?

"I am very just. Not once have I conducted an unfair judgment."

When Qing Ping finished speaking, the scales actually stopped moving. After that, the scales moved further up, drifted back down, and then rose up again. It continued to move up and down.

Everyone watching felt terribly confused. They had never seen anything so shameless in their entire lives. Qing Ping’s words were shameless—there was no doubt about that, so why did they sound so sacred? Qing Ping’s questions had shifted the judgment from him to the laws of the universe.

It was true. There were laws to the universe, so it made sense to judge according to those laws. How could anyone claim that such judgments were unfair?

While Qing Ping was the one to propose the laws being used to judge, the universe did not deny those laws.

Existence made things reasonable. That was Qing Ping's form of being just.

No one would ever consider blaming the universe itself for being unfair or unreasonable, so it made sense to allow the universe itself to perform an impartial judgment.

Instead of saying that the brilliant sky that had taken over the universe was judging Qing Ping, it would be more accurate to say that it was judging the laws of the universe themselves.

Qing Ping was nothing more than the messenger.

Big Sis gulped. This person was truly shameless. In fact, he even made Ce Wangtian look reasonable.

This was the greatest height a scoundrel could reach.

How would this judgment end? If Qing Ping lost, it would mean that the laws of the universe should not exist, and the universe would be forced to eliminate the laws that Qing Ping had proposed for his judgments. For example, the law of species or the law of completeness. However, those laws could not be eliminated.

This judgment that Qing Ping had triggered was really a judgment of the laws of the universe.

To have the laws of the universe negate the laws of the universe. This was the path that Qing Ping had chosen.

He was guided by his own sense of justice and followed the laws. This allowed him to take a shortcut, which was to take advantage of the universe’s very own laws.

At this moment, everyone who heard Qing Ping's words felt that what he said was true and accurate, no matter how shameless it was.

The judgment proceeded as expected. Slowly, Qing Ping dropped back down, while the bright sky was raised up.

It was a sight that no one who saw would ever forget.

That was a bright sky that pierced through everything its light touched. Who could lift the sky? But the judgment did not rule in favor of the bright sky.

This was a scene that would be recorded down in history.

The entire ordeal, from the moment the bright sky appeared to when the judgment was decided, only lasted long enough for a stick of incense to burn. Once the darkness of outer space returned, Qing Ping's aura had utterly vanished. There was only a single man standing all alone in the middle of outer space. No one knew what he was doing.

Everyone stared. Had Qing Ping succeeded?

Big Sis let out a breath. "There are so many madmen in this era."

With that, she simply left.

Mu Xie smiled. "Congratulations, Junior Brother."

From far away, Shao Chen nodded to Qing Ping. "Congratulations."

"Congratulations."

More and more people congratulated Qing Ping on his success.

Lu Buzheng and the other Semi-Progenitors glanced at each other. Was this really fine?

If one could become a Progenitor like this, then what else was possible?

They had always viewed the Progenitor realm as something strict and difficult, but the truth of the matter was that everyone walked their own path. The key lay in whether one could clearly see their own path.

Qing Ping's path had clearly been blocked, so he had simply found an alternative path.

His method of becoming a Progenitor felt like a slap in the face to all the Semi-Progenitors who had been putting off their breakthroughs.

Lu Buzheng decided to return to the Heavens Sect. He would not do anything except train for the time being. If he could not become a Progenitor, he would not be able to keep up with the changing times.

More and more juniors were breaking through, but Lu Buzheng, an expert from the ancient Heavens Sect, had not. It was rather embarrassing.

Destina, Hen Xin, and the others felt much the same way.

Not only had Qing Ping become a Progenitor by opening a new path for the Fifth Mainland, but he had also given many Semi-Progenitors greater confidence and an understanding of their options.

This was a man who had become a Progenitor after failing his breakthrough.

At the same time, far away from where Qing Ping had his breakthrough, there was an asteroid field. The void twisted, and a bit of dirt mysteriously fell out.

Ten days later, a spacecraft limped into the asteroid field.

"Warning, vessel is severely damaged. Please conduct repairs immediately. Warning, vessel is severely damaged. Please conduct repairs immediately..."

There were many people on the ship, and cries rang out everywhere.

"How is it? Can we fix it?" The middle-aged captain was solemn as he stared ahead at the asteroid field. If they could not go around it, they would have to blast their way through. Their current situation would not last for very long.

"Repairs won’t be a problem, but we need time."

"Are there enough materials?"

"Plenty. Even in the worst case scenario, if we can’t fix it, we can at least hold out until a rescue team arrives."

"Good."

"Captain, am I seeing things? Is that a tree in front of us?"

The captain looked over at the display. It showed what was around the spacecraft, and something very strange had appeared.

There was a large tree in space, but it was only half visible. It looked as though half of the tree had been cut away.

Everyone looked over in surprise.

"The universe is filled with strange things. That tree must have been tossed away," someone guessed.

"Do you think that that tree looks familiar?"

"Yes, it does look rather familiar to me. I feel I’ve seen it before."

"Me too."

The captain's eyes lit up. "That’s the big tree that the Heavens Sect is looking for!"

People around him grew excited. "That’s right! That's the big tree that the Heavens Sect ordered everyone to search for! Whoever finds it will be greatly rewarded."

"Captain, we’ve made a fortune this time! This is the Heavens Sect, the Heavens Sect!"

Everyone was very excited.

The captain's eyes were bright as he stared intently at the display. Sure enough, this was the big tree that the Heavens Sect had been searching for. The announcement had made it clear that whoever managed to find the tree would be generously rewarded for reporting the tree’s location to the Heavens Sect.

The Heavens Sect was the ruler of the current universe. A single ruling from that place could change countless lives.

The captain had spent all of his money to buy his ship in order to transport goods, but this business was very risky. The transportation industry had been monopolized for a long time, which meant that small-time businesses like the captain’s were more likely to face trouble. However, he had no choice if he wanted to make a living.

At this moment, he was staring at an amazing opportunity. All he needed to do was report the location of this big tree to the Heavens Sect.

"Hahahaha, it really is! Brothers, this is our chance to rise up in one go!" the captain said with a laugh.

The others were just as excited. "Captain, let's catch it! However, it’s broken now, so I don’t know if the Heavens Sect will still want it."

"Don't be ridiculous! We can't catch a tree that the Heavens Sect is searching for. Besides, look carefully. That tree isn’t really broken. It looks more like it’s hiding half of itself in the void."

"There’s dirt beneath it. I wonder what it’s connected to."

"The void is warped there, so don’t get any closer. Take a picture and immediately send it to the Heavens Sect. Don't even think about trying anything. Catching that tree isn’t something that people like us can even attempt."

"Captain, you’re smart!"

"Hurry up!"

...