Translator: CinderTL
It ultimately took Li Chunjun over half a year to return to the Human Race's Great World on the frontier.
This was because he was unfamiliar with such long-distance teleportation and spent considerable time mastering it.
Moreover, as the power of the Source of Time dwindled, even though he had reached the Great Unification stage in cultivation, his own weakness limited his ability to resonate with the great dao light net.
It required an excruciatingly long time to shake the great dao light net enough for a single traversal.
This was only possible because he had recently acquired six Immortal Artifacts.
Without these artifacts, he wouldn't have been able to even budge the great dao light net.
Due to these factors, it took him over half a year to return to a Human Race Great World on the frontier.
This Great World was not the Profound Yellow Great World.
Over the past decade, Li Chunjun had already eradicated nearly all Foreign Races in the direction of the Profound Yellow Great World.
The remaining foreign race great worlds were either extremely distant or deeply hidden.
To avoid wasting time on travel, Li Chunjun's extermination efforts naturally followed the principle of proximity.
And to prioritize proximity, he first focused on clearing out the foreign race great worlds surrounding the Human Territory.
After arriving at the Human Race's Great World, Li Chunjun didn't immediately enter. Instead, he quietly sensed the omnipresent traces of the False God Realm.
To prevent his understanding of the great dao from fueling Li Chunjun's growth, the Supreme Powerhouse Gui Ling had offered little resistance before his death. Yet even after annihilating him, Li Chunjun had still obtained valuable insights.
Among these gains was a degree of control over the False God Realm, authority both overt and covert.
Some of these hidden privileges could only be accessed by Gui Ling's true body as a Supreme Powerhouse.
Li Chunjun believed that a mere six months wouldn't be enough for Gui Ling's true body to return from the great dao river to the material world.
Thus, leveraging these privileges, he quickly connected to the False God Realm and began monitoring the changes within Human Territory.
"Whether it was killing the Great Void Ancestral Dragon, the god above gods, or the Progenitor of All Demons, those were merely strikes against foreign races. But this time, I annihilated the reincarnated body of Supreme Powerhouse Gui Ling—a figure second only to the False God Hall's leader. This is tantamount to declaring war on the entire Human Race. I wonder what the internal reactions within the Human Territory are..."
Li Chunjun scanned the False God Realm for a while, quickly noticing something astonishing:
Complete calm.
The entire Human Territory was utterly tranquil.
There was virtually no public condemnation from the False God Hall, Starry Sky Group, or Supreme Research Institute regarding his actions.
In fact, the hottest topic in the False God Realm remained the matter he had promoted through the False God Hall over a decade ago: his plan to preach the Dao in the Profound Yellow Great World.
Intermittent bursts of cheers and celebrations erupted as news of his annihilation of various Foreign Races spread.
It was as if his battle against the reincarnated bodies of the Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse and the Supreme Powerhouse Gui Ling—and his subsequent annihilation of Gui Ling's reincarnated body—had never occurred.
Has the news not filtered down? he wondered. Or, given the magnitude of the event, did the Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse simply suppress the information?
Using the astonishingly high-level authority granted by Gui Ling's reincarnated body within the False God Realm, Li Chunjun swiftly gathered intelligence from the upper echelons of the major powers.
As his focus narrowed on the leadership of these factions, he soon detected something stirring.
Among the Supreme Sages and a small circle of Dharma Aspect cultivators, undercurrents of unrest were already brewing.
Among them, the Dharma Manifestations merely sensed, based on subtle clues, that some major event was about to unfold.
However, they remained completely unaware of the specific nature of this impending crisis.
Even the Supreme Sages were equally baffled by the sudden turn of events.
Yet, from the information they leaked, it became clear that their unease stemmed from the fact that their respective sects had all received messages urging them to summon their founding ancestors—that is, to recall their Dao Unification Dao Venerables from the great dao river.
The return of a Dao Venerable from the great dao river would naturally be a momentous occasion for the Dao Venerable's affiliated power, but it wouldn't necessarily trigger significant undercurrents.
However, when some of the Supreme Sages began to confer and exchange information, they discovered that nearly all major powers backed by Dao Venerables were undertaking the same action.
Hundreds of Dao Venerables seemed to have received the summons to return from the great dao river—a development far from trivial.
It's worth noting that the Human Race typically maintains hundreds of Dao Venerables, dozens of Supreme Sovereigns, and at least one Ultimate Powerhouse on standby to respond to any potential emergencies.
This force...
This force was sufficient to sweep away all foreign races surrounding the Human Race.
Yet the current situation seemed to demand even more: hundreds of Dao Venerables, dozens of Supreme Sovereigns, and a single Ultimate Powerhouse were still insufficient. They were recalling even more Dao Venerables, Supreme Sovereigns, and Ultimate Powerhouses!
The implications behind this were extraordinary.
Many Supreme Sages speculated that the Explorers Guild had discovered an incredibly powerful Great World.
Or perhaps an entirely new great world cluster?
A great world cluster teeming with Dao Venerables, Supreme Sovereigns, and Ultimate Powerhouses?
Or...
Had they found a gathering place of innate divine beings who had fled beyond the Human Territory?
Were they preparing to completely annihilate these progenitor divine beings who controlled the source of the great dao?
Such speculations circulated within a select few circles.
Because the news hadn't spread and the number of factions with true Dao Venerable or Supreme Sovereign-level power remained limited, the False God Realm maintained an illusion of tranquility, as if nothing had occurred.
After all, those who frequented the False God Realm were primarily cultivators in the Spirit Refinement Great Realm.
Even cultivators in the Void Refining Realm rarely made appearances there.
"They're recalling almost all the Ultimate Powerhouses, Supreme Sovereigns, Dao Realm experts... Are they preparing for a final showdown with me?"
Li Chunjun read the messages in silence.
He had long possessed the path-opening power, but he had never chosen to use it. He knew that once he truly embraced the path-opening power and plunged into the void, there would be no turning back.
He would become the true enemy of all "existence."
But now...
It seemed there was no difference.
With the situation having escalated to this point, even if he claimed he didn't want to open the path, no one would believe him.
He recalled a movie he had seen during his time in Great Shang.
Even Superman, a being akin to a god among humans, could not earn everyone's trust.
No matter how harmless he appeared, there would always be those who sought to control him.
After all, those in power could never tolerate someone standing above them.
Moreover, the current disparity between his combat power and that of the Nine Great Institutions was far greater than the power gap between Superman and the local government.
So...
It was pointless.
Moreover, he had already committed to a "preaching to the world" strategy, intending to spend tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or even billions of years cultivating a vast number of Dao Venerables, Supreme Sovereigns, and Ultimate Powerhouses. There was no turning back now.
The only reason he hadn't truly plunged into the void with his path-opening power—aside from a lingering reluctance—was that he hadn't yet faced a truly life-threatening crisis.
And...
He wasn't even sure if "path-opening" would truly lead to "Ascension to Immortality."
"Ah, humans... they never truly see things clearly until they're pushed to the brink, always clinging to hope," Li Chunjun murmured.
Yet his steps never faltered. With a single stride into the void, he entered the border city.
Though only half a year had passed since his clash with the Ultimate Powerhouses of the two top organizations, this Great World on the frontier had already tightened its defenses. As Li Chunjun approached the Star Gate, he clearly sensed that this interworld portal now pulsed with a hidden power capable of detecting even Dao Venerable-level entities.
This power contained the operation of ten great daos. Even a careless entry could expose him.
Fortunately, knowing the Nine Great Institutions would inevitably turn against him, he maintained utmost caution.
Having already mastered a power similar to Star Gate traversal, Li Chunjun's purpose in approaching the Star Gate was merely to pinpoint coordinates and hitch a ride on the great dao light net's activation when the Star Gate activated.
As for the destination of the interworld Star Gate...
It held no significance for him.
With a single traversal, he had already escaped the border and entered a major Great World within the Human Territory.
Upon arriving in this Great World, the level of security plummeted significantly.
Yet Li Chunjun continued to circulate the void great dao, and when he sensed an interworld Star Gate about to activate, he executed another traversal.
However, his destination was not the Profound Yellow Great World, but the False God Hall.
Within the entire Human Race, if any organization possessed the most comprehensive control over information, the False God Hall would claim second place—no one would dare claim first.
Even the Supreme Research Institute, despite its advanced research capabilities, could not match the False God Hall's surveillance capabilities.
After several more traversals, the Great World housing the False God Hall's headquarters loomed within reach.
By now, this Great World had also entered a state of martial law.
Not only were all incoming and outgoing Star Gates subject to strict scrutiny, but Dao Venerables skilled in detection and perception were secretly stationed at the interworld Star Gates.
Unfortunately, Li Chunjun didn't arrive at the False God Hall headquarters through conventional means. He traversed the Void himself, appearing at the periphery of the False God Hall's Great World. Using the void great dao's elusive abilities, he infiltrated the Great World.
Then, leveraging his authority as the reincarnated body of Supreme Powerhouse Gui Ling, he traversed the space several times, arriving at the False God Hall's core:
The space housing the False God Hall's greatest treasure—the Imaginary Dao Venerable.
This Dao Venerable's domain was protected by layers of seals.
Yet after observing them for just three days, Li Chunjun had thoroughly grasped their operational principles.
Whoosh!
Seizing a momentary gap in the seals' operation, Li Chunjun's figure flickered, appearing within the sealed space.
As he entered, the Imaginary Dao Venerable's mental power, vast as a star, descended upon him.
"You've come."
"Hmm?"
Li Chunjun tilted his head slightly.
"I sensed you the first time you used Gui Ling's authority to interface with the False God Realm," the Dao Venerable replied truthfully.
"Something seems to be wrong with him," Li Chunjun said.
"Can you sense it?" Li Chunjun asked.
"I can't sense it directly, but based on the condition of those within the False God Hall, I can deduce that the reincarnated body of this Ultimate Powerhouse is likely in a dire situation," the Imaginary Dao Venerable replied.
"Not just dire—he's already dead," Li Chunjun stated bluntly. "I killed him."
This revelation left the Imaginary Dao Venerable momentarily speechless.
After a moment, he responded, "I understand. So his authority now rests with you."
"Yes."
Li Chunjun fixed his gaze on the Dao Venerable and issued a direct command: "I now order you to mobilize all your computational power, even if it means halting the False God Realm's operations. Find a way—"
He paused, his voice deepening with urgency. "A way... to resurrect someone whose soul has already been refined!"
(End of the Chapter)
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