Poison God's Heritage

"DIE, DIE, DIE!" Qin Bai shouted at the top of his lungs as the hundreds of staff were coming at me. Only for them all to slam into something that felt harder than Godsteel.

From his surprised point of view, he saw me, only tens of thousands of times bigger, easily blocking away the staffs with my body, not even caring enough to block, and had them strike helplessly against the body of a titan.

Before his expression could even change from surprise to that of a person feeling the looming presence of death, I had already extended my hand and grabbed him in the process.

He groaned and groaned from being griped, it was like a helpless chick in the hand of an unknowing toddler.

"Release me this instant!" he shouted.

"Do you think I would?" I tilted my head.

And unceremoniously just tightened my grip. There was no need to describe what happened afterward. All I had to do was wipe my hand on my robes to get rid of the gore grime and blood.

I looked at Madam Zha who was completely petrified.

"What in god's name did you do to obtain this power…"

"You can blame yourself for this, if it wasn't for your rotten corporation, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to grow to who I am today, I may be this strong thanks to your oppression, but due to your oppression I felt despair worse than the depth of hell, so a payback is a must," I said as I moved, more like walked on space itself toward Madam Zha.

"The man responsible for your misfortune had already perished! And aren't you satisfied with how much death you caused? Why must you go so far!"

"Someone has to pay," I said, "And I'm even more enraged that the fucker who did that died before I got to him, so you tell me, how can I appease my wrath?!"

Her lips rose and fell, trembling at the thought of a madman standing in front of her house, threatening to destroy a legacy that was thousands of years old.

"They were nothing but mere mortals from the barren lands! If you want I'd give you a planet full of slaves and beauties for your satisfaction, why must you do this for those of lowly birth!"

I stopped for a second…

And in that second, I saw a relaxed expression on her face, did she think that the dumb shit she just uttered now was supposed to make me forget and forgive?

"Yes, as you know I'm the richest person in the Vast Expanse, name it and you'll have it, no matter the price!"

"Can you bring back the dead?" I asked.

"What?"

"Can your riches bribe the Death God, can your riches bring back the souls of the people you gave up on? Can you do it?"

"What kind of foolish question is that?"

"It is in the same league of the idiocy of your thinking, when you decided that the lives of those who had perished are not worth anything when you gave value to a soul, that's when foolishness started. You weigh the worth of a person in gold, while I weigh the worth of a person by the same worth of existence itself. A soul no matter how small, weak, and insignificant in your eyes, is something that you can never truly obtain or make. It matters not if you own the entirety of the vast expanse…

I stepped closer toward her and added.

"The weight of a planet in gold can't come even to a fractional cost of the soul of a bird. Yet you give value to people in terms of worth, you believe yourself higher than the very heavens that birthed you?"

Madam Zha backed away.

"You got no right to speak about what Heaves had to say! Weren't you an enemy of the Heavens! They sent a Divine Tribulation to take you down! You're an enemy of the heavens why muse you speak words in its stead!"

"Enemy of the Heavens? When did that ever happen?" I tilted my head, "I never was an enemy of heaven, I disagree with it, strive and cultivate against it, and climb my path, my own path of cultivation that does not follow it, but I never considered heavens my enemy, it gifted me the very life I'm living, the very experience I'm receiving, and the relations I'm having, it would be nothing short of being unfilial if I were to become an enemy of heavens, I'm part of it, as it is part of me, and it is a fact that will never change.

We can disagree, but that never meant we're enemies, so tell me, do you truly think I'm an enemy of heaven?"

"Words, all you speak is nothing but empty words. Otherwise, why would the heavens that you say consider all lives as equal would bestow some with power, some with wealth, and some with destitution and sickness!"

"I didn't think I'd be speaking of Dao here, but it matters not, since once I'm done you'd be dead. Let's talk Dao," I said as I sat down in the lotus position, keeping my giant form.

While Madam Zha and the people behind her were petrified at my appearance they had a glimpse of hope when I spoke those words.

"You wish to speak of Dao? Against me who clearly outlived your entire existence hundreds of times over?"

"It's never a bad time to learn, even from someone such as you," I replied.

***

Madam Zha was terrified at the power of the cultivator in front of her, after all, he was strong beyond belief, and he outright crushed one of the Fire Lord's spears to nothing in a single move.

She was in the worst possible situation she's been in after having received the letter from the Fire Lord.

But, there was hope, the fact that he killed one of the Spears meant that this incident will immediately reach the ears of the Fire Lord, and that meant reinforcements will soon arrive.

But…

She needed to buy time, how can she do that against this person, he's too strong, and most King Class cultivators by her side are unable to even put a scratch on him.

How come a King Class Cultivator, this Shen Bao, has a body this strong? Have sword knowledge and understanding to use Du Shen's most prized possession, Tiamat, the nine-headed sword.

Though it is not fully unsealed, it still showed its first form, the Nine Heads of Hell.

But, this foolish being, this man who clearly isn't even over the age of one thousand, no, not even five hundred years of age, dared battle her in Dao?

This is a present that's so valuable it couldn't even be presented in a plate of True Gold.

A youngling tries to duel her in a battle of Dao, where she lived longer than him? She only needed to show the mistakes in his understanding since he's bound to have much and many as he is so young, that is enough to break anyone's Dao Heart, and the cracks on it will immediately drop his cultivation level, throw him in confusion and could even cause deviation.

"You say Heaven is unjust?" he asked.

"Yes, if it was just it wouldn't have rewarded some and neglected some!" she said, "Aren't you the prime example of that, Shen Bao? You grew disgustingly strong, from a planet of weaklings, the Barren Lands, and look at you, while many tried and tried and never even gotten to a fraction of your power, do, you think heavens is just?"

She could already see the confusion in his eyes and was just waiting for him to speak so she can rebuke his reasoning.

"Are an idiot?" he said.

This confused Madam Zha even more. Wasn't he supposed to have tribulation in his heart after hearing the truth.

"Do you think I got to where I am with just luck? Do you know when did I start cultivating?" he asked her.

She didn't have full information on him, after all, the first time he came in contact with the black tower he was in the Core Formation.

"I dipped my toes in cultivation when I was eighty years of age, I had no talent for normal cultivation, and had to sacrifice blood and bones to reach where I am. Had to tide through eternal suffering and hell to be what I am, you think I got to where I am with luck, you must be insane. Heavens are just, I was weak, but strived and worked hard and was rewarded.

People can be born blessed with wealth, and some can be born cursed with destitution, but how many a man can grow poor from wealth, and how many a man can grow rich from poverty? All it takes is effort or sloth. One must not blame the heavens for their starting point, one must blame nothing but their own inability to not use what they had to make up for what they don't have."

"You speak of wealth and opportunities as if everyone was given the same. You're wrong Shen Bao, no one is given the same opportunities, yes, it is exemplary and great that you made the best out of your situation, but can you say the same for everyone else? Those who were born in even worse situations than yours and died before they could achieve anything, do you think they worked less hard than you did?" she said.

Confusion once again appeared on his face, this time she struck a nerve, she was sure of it.

"You really are stupid, I think discussing Dao with you is pointless… Why speak of people's inability to procure opportunities as if it is a given that everyone was going to receive the same opportunities? Do you think if the entire world was fated to be wealthy and rich that it will be beneficial?"

Now it was Madam Zha's face that became confused.

"If everyone was fated to be a General, then who will be the soldier? If everyone was to be a baker, then who will be the farmer that will bring the grain? If everyone was a tailor, then who will be the one to harvest the silk?

You speak of opportunities as if there is nothing but one, while I speak of them as fate that is different from one to another without any of them being below another. A woman serving her husband, providing food for him, and worrying and working in her home is as noble of a job as a man tiding the bloodiness of war.

If you think that one of them is more noble then that is where your lack of understanding stems from. She may look like she's doing nothing but menial jobs, while at the same time, isn't she worried sick about her husband fighting against the invaders?

Or yet again, a farmer who is breaking his back toiling the ground, to send his child to learn, is it less noble than the job of a minister ruling the country? Only man gives value to their work, only man gives value to their blessings, and only man is arrogant enough to give value to other humans. Heaven had always been fair, only you fail to see it…"

Madam Zha's mouth opened and then closed, her eyes widening as she was finally beginning to realize, that if she were to fight him head-on…she probably would have had better chances of winning than fighting this man in Dao, because as it appears…she was already losing.