Sea of Light, Mysterious Wall.
Unlike the pyramids of the Celestial Court or the vast star charts of the Star Palace, Mysterious Wall—also a Super World Realm—was very similar to the Immortal Nexus in structure.
Both were boundless continents.
The sun, moon, and stars revolved around the continent, constructing the entire World Realm system. However, Mysterious Wall possessed a fundamental difference compared to other World Realms.
Mysterious Wall had no Dao Fruits.
Here, everyone took the refining of [Dao Arts] as their foundation. Thus, they did not cultivate Dao Fruits. Even the entire cultivation system differed vastly from other World Realms.
In Mysterious Wall, there were no names for realms, only distinctions between cultivators.
Those newly entering cultivation were named [Qi Refiner]. Those with slight achievements were named [Daoist Master]. [Daoist Masters] of different grades wore distinct crowns and robes.
When a Daoist Master reached the extreme and took one step further, they were named [Celestial Master].
Reaching this level, their status was equivalent to the Golden Core Perfected Lords of the Immortal Nexus. Worshipped by trillions of beings in Mysterious Wall as the 'Teachers of Heaven', they generally controlled the cardinal principles of heaven and earth.
Mysterious Wall, Land of Northern Desert.
This place was extremely desolate. Looking out, one saw an endless sea of sand. However, amidst this sky-filling yellow sand stood a magnificent Immortal Mountain, difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Above the Immortal Mountain, a cluster of blazing flame light coiled, resembling a long rainbow yet also like galloping lightning.
Claps of thunder thoroughly illuminated the inside and outside of the Immortal Mountain.
This anomaly lasted for a long time before finally dissipating, revealing a figure sitting upright on the mountain top, breathing in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.
Suddenly, a loud sound rang out.
Immediately after, the figure abruptly spat out a stream of firelight, triggering red winds that swept across the entire Northern Desert. Sparks filled the sky, looking magnificent to the extreme.
"...Done!"
Seeing this scene, the person finally revealed a smile. "Not in vain did I refine for many years. This [Separating Heaven Ever-Bright Grand Immortal Art] is finally perfect."
Just at this moment, a streak of light flew over.
Soon, the light dispersed. A female Daoist with a cold expression walked out, holding a jade whisk in her hand. Her beautiful eyes immediately looked at the figure.
"You succeeded, Yuanyou."
Hearing this, Celestial Master Chongying Yuanyou immediately raised his eyes to look at the female Daoist, nodding slightly. "One thousand two hundred Dao Law Precepts are all present; the Heavenly Immortal Great Precept is perfect."
"Suien, how is it on your side?"
Celestial Master Suien Jiuku shook her head upon hearing this, a trace of sorrow revealing itself on her cold, beautiful face. "The mission of that Old Dragon in the Immortal Nexus failed."
As soon as these words came out, Celestial Master Chongying Yuanyou raised his eyebrows instantly. Celestial Master Suien Jiuku continued to explain, "That mysterious Perfected Lord cultivating the Dharma Body Dao is unwilling to emerge and even injured that Old Dragon. Thus, wanting to revive the Dharma Body Dao before the Great Tribulation starts is probably hopeless."
"...Unwilling to emerge?"
Celestial Master Chongying Yuanyou was somewhat surprised. "That person has walked this far; could it be he hasn't perceived the heavenly secrets yet? If he does not emerge this time, there will be no chance in the future."
"I don't understand either."
Celestial Master Suien Jiuku shook her head. "But no matter what, the Tribulation is imminent. Especially since we Great Celestial Masters are all within the scope of the Tribulation."
After speaking, both fell silent.
A long time later, Celestial Master Suien Jiuku said faintly, "In this battle, how much of a chance of winning does you think we have? We lost once over a hundred thousand years ago..."
"Watch your words!"
Celestial Master Chongying Yuanyou immediately shouted in a low voice to stop her. "Today is different from the past. That great defeat one cycle ago, in the final analysis, was the devil plotting against the Ancestor."
"Although the Ancestor is at a disadvantage now, the devils in the Immortal Nexus are no longer a monolithic block like in the past because they occupy the general trend. Instead, this gives us an opportunity. Even if we are slightly inferior at the Nascent Soul level, our combat power advantage at the Golden Core level is still very large."
This point was not nonsense.
Not to mention anything else, the three Great Celestial Masters of Mysterious Wall were equivalent to three Great Perfected Lords in the Immortal Nexus. This lineup could have swept through the sea of light in the past!
Alas, there were many restrictions, making it difficult to act.
The Star Palace on the other side was the same, with even more severe restrictions.
Except, compared to the completely secluded Mysterious Wall, the Star Palace tinkered with things like "Star Lords" as their proxies in the sea of light.
"Dao Lord battles are not something we lower cultivators can speculate on."
"So we just need to do our own part well. Attack the Immortal Nexus, exterminate Perfected Lords, abolish the Grotto-Heaven Method, and then let the Great Dao return to its origin."
"Don't think too much."
Facing Celestial Master Chongying Yuanyou's gaze, Celestial Master Suien Jiuku straightened her expression and regained her calm. "You speaks the truth. I will take my leave first."
After sending away Celestial Master Suien Jiuku, Celestial Master Chongying Yuanyou planned to continue meditating to adjust his breath, striving to refine another usable dao arts for the Great Tribulation.
However, just at this moment.
Rumble!
In an instant, the originally calm and composed Celestial Master Chongying Yuanyou stood up abruptly, a look of horror on his face. "What's going on? What happened?"
Immediately after, he activated a dao art non-stop to check the changes in Mysterious Wall. He found that, accompanied by that heaven-shaking loud noise just now, the entire Mysterious Wall—and even the Sea of Light outside it, along with infinite World Realms—all underwent inexplicable changes at this moment, like a pebble thrown into water.
Ripples rose one after another.
The next second, his whole body shook violently, his pupils contracting abruptly. "The Tribulation... The Tribulation, which originally had about ten more years of buffer, has actually been inexplicably advanced!?"
Why would it be so?
The same abnormality occurred not only in Mysterious Wall but also in the Star Palace, in the Immortal Nexus, and in all large and small World Realms that birthed Dao Fruits.
Immortal Nexus, at the end of the earth.
[Sky-Shrouding] paced with hands behind his back, walking slowly toward the Netherworld. Behind him, the figures of Tian Qiu and Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde surfaced one after another.
However, compared to before, these two Perfected Lords attached to [Sky-Shrouding]'s Grotto-Heaven now had their seven apertures filled with mist transformed from the Knowledge-Perception Barrier; they were little more than mindless husks. Unable to react to the outside world, unable to resist [Sky-Shrouding]'s decision, they could only follow him down the dark path.
"Netherworld... I'm back again."
[Sky-Shrouding] looked emotional. Compared to the Five Elements Perfection back then, now he not only had three elements left but even had two extra burdens.
Lu Yang's figure flashed through his mind. [Sky-Shrouding]'s eye twitched slightly.
Thinking about it still made him a bit angry!
Forget it, forget it. I won't quibble with a dead person... At least he is more miserable than me. Cultivating the Dharma Body Dao, his path is hopeless. I at least still have a chance to struggle.
Thinking this way, [Sky-Shrouding] instantly felt much better.
Immediately after, he looked around. His gaze pierced through the Immortal Nexus, seeming to see the abnormalities in Mysterious Wall, the Star Palace, and even the entire Sea of Light.
This was within his expectations. After all, what he was going to do next was too shocking to the world and happened to be at the critical starting point of the Thousand Year Great Tribulation. Under karmic resonance, the turmoil in the Sea of Light was only natural. But no matter how turbulent, it couldn't change his decision.
"The Thousand Year Great Tribulation should have started in twelve more years."
"Normally speaking, this would be a great war between the Immortal Nexus and other World Realms. Many Golden Core Perfected Lords fighting to the death, while Dao Lords sit on the Paramita watching success or failure."
"But this is too boring."
"Dao Lords not entering the Great Tribulation—what a joke... Since it is a tribulation, and a Great Tribulation at that, how can it stop at Golden Core Perfected Lords? We should invite the Dao Lords to join in!"
As his voice fell, [Sky-Shrouding] instantly stomped his foot.
Boom!
In an instant, the Netherworld sensed it. Infinite darkness poured out from the end of the earth, turning into silk threads that rapidly spread toward the entire Immortal Nexus!
"Thousand Year Great Tribulation, twelve years later?"
"When that time really comes, various fates will be irreversible. What would be the meaning of fighting to the death then? Since I am fighting for a glimmer of a chance at survival, I naturally must break the fixed fate!"
"Since there is a Great Tribulation, let it begin with me!"
At this moment, [Sky-Shrouding]'s voice resounded through the Immortal Nexus, booming and echoing throughout the entire Sea of Light!
(End of Chapter)