Pre-Ancient Divine Land, North Sea.
Clad in profound robes, Lu Yang stood with his hands behind his back amidst the clouds and mist. He looked up at Zhen Qulu, who held a jade bead and was gradually ascending toward the dome.
Beside him, a hazy silhouette paced over, then parted the veil to reveal his true face. It was [Sky-Shrouding]. However, having handed over the Ancestral Dragon's Primordial Spirit, his aura was now entirely restrained, barely maintaining the Primordial Spirit fire to avoid being kicked out of the Heaven Beyond Heaven due to losing his qualifications.
"Speaking of which, it's quite ironic."
Hearing the voice, Lu Yang turned around to see [Sky-Shrouding] say with a melancholic expression: "This Heaven Beyond Heaven... I'm afraid it's not a land of opportunity at all."
"Oh?"
Lu Yang raised an eyebrow: "Why do you say that?"
"Previously, they said all Dao Lords would have the chance to compete for the opportunity of Deity Transformation, but in reality..It seems we are merely delivery boys."
At this point, [Sky-Shrouding]'s tone turned quite mocking: "The Ancestral Dragon was willing to split his Primordial Spirit to come here, thinking a heaven-sent opportunity awaited, only to be reduced to a plaything in someone else's palm. Sword Lord and the others also came here with their hearts set on the Great Dao, only to become vassals of the Pre-Ancient Dao Ancestors."
"And then there's the World Honored One..."
"I chatted with him just now. He's actually the direct reincarnation of a Pre-Ancient Dao Ancestor? The Primordial Saint's situation seems similar. It's truly absurd."
At first glance.
The so-called Light Sea seemed to be merely the reignited embers of the Pre-Ancient Era, forcibly brought back to the Pre-Ancient Era under the interference of [Jun]'s majesty.
Yet ironically, their existence was what forged the history of the Pre-Ancient Era.
The cause of the future became the effect of the past.
It was as if everything had been arranged long ago. As an older-generation Perfected Lord of the Saint Sect, [Sky-Shrouding] was all too familiar with this feeling of being a pawn on a chessboard.
It was simply like—
After a moment of silence, [Sky-Shrouding] spoke his true thoughts: "It's simply as if that Deity Transformation Immortal had already pre-determined who would become the next Deity Transformation."
Lu Yang: "..."
Having said this, [Sky-Shrouding] smiled with a hint of wicked amusement: "Senior, who do you think the pre-determined Deity Transformation is? Could it be that old thing, the Primordial Saint?"
"I heard he also obtained the legacy of the Pre-Ancient Era, and the largest piece at that. He even has two Pre-Ancient Dao Ancestors standing on his side. He looks very much like the pre-determined one... Of course, other Dao Ancestors are also possible. For example, the one right before us—I think his chances are very high."
The Third Dao Ancestor of [Reverence of the Divine], Zhen Qulu.
Lu Yang gazed into the distance, looking at the white-clad figure already ascending to the dome, as well as the four people beside him: Sword Lord, Cang Hao, Myriad Laws, and Du Xuan.
"...Interesting."
Watching this scene, Lu Yang asked curiously: "Why did Sword Lord and the others choose to become vassals of this Dao Ancestor? Simply because of the [Heavenly Dao]?"
"...I don't know the details either."
[Sky-Shrouding] blinked upon hearing this: "From the moment I saw them and they started hunting me down, they were already following that Pre-Ancient Dao Ancestor."
High above the dome, Sword Lord Nian Yao kept her beautiful eyes tightly shut. Her cold and aloof aura receded slightly at this moment. In this instant, she recalled many people and events.
Most of them were from her youth.
She had once been merely a chivalrous heroine in a small world realm, a woman who yielded to no man. She had saved many people, done many things, and witnessed joys and sorrows, partings and reunions.
However, her talent was too exceptional, and her cultivation grew higher and higher. The people she had met in her youth aged and died one after another. The people around her changed batch after batch. In her hometown, she used to be the most conspicuous hero, but when she returned home after a period of secluded cultivation, not a single person recognized her anymore.
[Heaven and Earth are ruthless; they treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs.]
This was not resentment. After all, heaven and earth treat all sentient beings equally; this is inherently the law of nature. However, she felt, wasn't this precisely the meaning of cultivation?
She was strong, very strong, so she ought to have the ability to change all of this.
Heaven and earth are just, so I will make the universe biased. I will pioneer the Dao of Emotion and remold heaven and earth, endowing it with emotion so it can pity sentient beings.
This is what the Heavenly Dao should be.
Since that was the case, let it be called the [Heavenly Dao].
The grand aspirations of her youth flowed slowly through her heart. Once upon a time, thinking of these things would make her blood boil, making her wish she could act immediately.
But now—there was only icy coldness.
No feeling at all. It was clearly her own memory, yet recalling it felt like looking at an irrelevant painting; it couldn't touch her soul in the slightest.
Never had there been a moment where the Sword Lord realized so clearly.
'I have changed.'
Her blood was no longer boiling hot, her heart no longer beat for external things, and even her Dao of [Thread of Affection] had unknowingly transformed into something else.
When did it start?
It should have been after she forged her Primordial Spirit, when her perspective transcended the Light Sea, rising above all things, realizing that those without a Primordial Spirit were just mayflies.
Mere mayflies—they couldn't even be considered human. They were just consumables.
In the next second, the Sword Lord opened her beautiful eyes.
A smile slowly blossomed on her peerlessly beautiful face. Infinite threads of affection surfaced in her cold, beautiful eyes, thick with tender affection, as if they had assimilated the emotions of all sentient beings.
Yet deep within those eyes of supreme emotion and true nature, there was no longer the enthusiasm of the past, but a bone-chilling coldness, and the indifference that treated all things as straw dogs.
"The Primordial Spirit is [Me]."
"In heaven and on earth, there is only one [Me]. The emotions of the past... truly laughable. [Me] is the most real. Aside from [Me], all things are false!"
She lived only for [Me].
At this thought, the Sword Lord immediately looked at the white-clad figure not far away, saying calmly: "Fellow Daoist, you may begin. Do not waste the opportunity."
Zhen Qulu nodded upon hearing this.
In the next second, as this [Reverence of the Divine] Dao Ancestor pinched a hand seal, the previously clear blue dome transformed once more. Layered time scenes began to surge.
The anomaly once triggered by Zhu Liuxian reappeared. Time above the dome began to hurtle toward the future, and heavy, dark clouds emerged.
Zhen Qulu's hands shifted, and heavy, profoundly mysterious colors condensed into patterns. Layer by layer, they were projected onto the Sword Lord, landing on her beautiful face, her skin, every part of her body, and even penetrating deep into her Primordial Spirit, as if forging and smelting a superb vessel.
"It has begun..."
Seeing this, Lu Yang below immediately focused his mind. Observing a Dao Ancestor's act of resisting the Final Tribulation was of immense benefit to his own cultivation.
After all, in order to resist the Final Tribulation—
Whether it was Guiming, Zhu Liuxian, or Zhen Qulu, at this moment they were all pushing their methods to the extreme, holding nothing back.
Just then.
Amidst the heavy, dark clouds, a speck of deathly still color unexpectedly pierced through the years and emerged—arriving abruptly, even earlier than the future Zhu Liuxian had anchored.
"How is that possible..."
Seeing this, the one with the strongest reaction was naturally Zhu Liuxian himself. His eyes widened almost instantly: "It's earlier... The time of the Final Tribulation is advancing?"
Conversely, Lu Yang was not surprised by this.
'As expected. Although it likely hasn't truly birthed wisdom yet, after Zhi Tianming's reincarnation attempt, the sentience of the Final Tribulation is strong enough to exhibit an instinctive desire for survival.'
The pure Final Tribulation cannot even sustain its own existence. Much like the Terminus Tiger awakened by the Primordial Saint in the previous life, the Final Tribulation, now possessing sentience, was instinctively tracing back time, wanting to distance itself from its own annihilation and head toward the present... And every time a Dao Ancestor opened a time channel, it allowed it to draw closer to the present.
Above the dome, Zhen Qulu also frowned deeply.
He had to admit that the early appearance of the Final Tribulation caught him somewhat off guard. But he quickly regained his composure, for this time, he was fully prepared.
'If it were before, I likely would have failed.'
Zhen Qulu thought to himself: 'But now, with this Sword Lord from later ages, her concept of the [Heavenly Dao], and that special Great Dao...'
Everything was vastly different.
Zhen Qulu had to admit that the appearance of the Sword Lord filled the flaws in his original design, allowing him to perfectly realize his design and concept.
"Come."
In the next second, Zhen Qulu casually tossed out the jade stone in his hand, the Dao Artifact Heavenly Heart Seal, and the recently suppressed Ancestral Dragon Primordial Spirit.
Almost simultaneously, the Sword Lord opened her eyes. Looking at the spreading Qi of the Final Tribulation, she didn't hesitate in the slightest. Her red lips parted slightly, and she directly swallowed that deathly still color into her stomach. As the myriad colored patterns on her body flashed alternately, at first glance, she actually showed no signs of damage!
'My Dao...'
As the Sword Lord murmured, an indescribable, heaven-spanning giant net slowly unfurled, centered on her and spreading in all directions toward the trillions of sentient beings.
Rebuilding the [Heavenly Dao]!
Almost simultaneously, Cang Hao, Myriad Laws, and Du Xuan also struck. [Fortune] served as the guide, [Spiritual Power] as the foundation, and [Dao Arts] propelled its operation.
In addition to this, there was the Ancestral Dragon's Primordial Spirit.
And all of this was centered around the current Sword Lord, controlling the operation and changes of heaven and earth. And the so-called Final Tribulation was naturally also a part of heaven and earth!
Simply put:
"She wants to become the [Terminus Tiger]..."
Lu Yang whispered softly, finally understanding the Sword Lord's intentions. This shameless and crazy woman wanted to achieve a massive shortcut through this method!
After all, as things stood, even Lu Yang had absolute certainty he could suppress the Sword Lord. Even with Cang Hao's assistance, their existing chips were not enough for the Sword Lord to compete for the opportunity of Deity Transformation... However, the [Terminus Tiger] was different. As long as she became the [Final Tiger], stealing the position of the Innate Dao God...
Then the Sword Lord's strength would instantly skyrocket!
"No wonder she risked her life."
In an instant, Lu Yang understood why the Sword Lord chose to cooperate with Zhen Qulu—because only this Dao Ancestor's Dao was mutually beneficial with hers.
'Zhen Qulu's Dao lies in external objects.'
'To put it plainly, he first attains the Dao using external objects, then uses the power of the external objects to feed back into himself... And right now, the Sword Lord is the external object he is forging.'
Zhen Qulu was helping her achieve this.
As for what happened afterward—whether the Sword Lord would turn the tables and become the master, or Zhen Qulu would take her for his own—the two probably had an agreement long ago, and it would simply come down to who was more capable.
At this moment, above the dome, the Sword Lord used her body as a sacrifice, having already transformed into the Heavenly Dao. Like a whirlpool, she madly swallowed the surging Qi of the Final Tribulation. At her brow, the Ancestral Dragon's Primordial Spirit shone brilliantly; for the Final Tribulation, which had just begun to develop sentience, this was the best bait.
After all, the Final Tribulation and the Beginning were incompatible.
As the aura of the Ancestral Dragon's Primordial Spirit diffused, the originally scattered Qi of the Final Tribulation seemed to spot its mortal enemy, galloping over overwhelmingly.
And then it was accepted in full by the Sword Lord.
But that was all.
"Still not enough, far from enough."
Zhu Liuxian shook his head upon seeing this: "My Feng Shui Grand Formation could handle this level. She's nearing her limit; the Final Tribulation is about to become much stronger."
RUMBLE!
As if responding to his sigh, as time advanced closer to the future point where the Final Tribulation lay, the deathly still color grew increasingly intense. It transformed into visible shadows, crawling up the Sword Lord's body bit by bit, causing the bright patterns all over her body to gradually dim.
Still not enough.
This wasn't a question of whether the method was exquisite or not; it was purely "absolute power defeating all schemes." The increasingly strong Final Tribulation would inevitably crush anyone whose cultivation was insufficient!
Right in the deepest part of the Final Tribulation.
A point of bright light suddenly appeared.
The brilliantly shining Seed of the Great Dao had once again manifested in response, sending down profound wonder and attention. But that was all; it still seemed as unreachable as ever.
Yet at the same time, a smile appeared on Zhen Qulu's face. He then looked at the Sword Lord: "Fellow Daoist Nian Yao, it's all up to you now."
"..."
The Sword Lord did not respond. She merely lowered her beautiful eyes and pushed the Great Dao she controlled, the Dao of [Thread of Affection], to its absolute limit at this moment.
Target: The Final Tribulation!
To be precise, the Final Tribulation that had been influenced by Zhi Tianming's reincarnation attempt and had preliminarily birthed sentience. Having sentience meant the [Thread of Affection] could affect it!
A dense net of emotion layered upon itself, parasitizing the Final Tribulation. It immediately began to extract its majestic power, transforming the originally uncontrollable, all-destroying Qi of the Final Tribulation into a Final Tribulation under the control of the [Heavenly Dao]. And during this process, the Sword Lord's aura began to climb upwards rapidly!
Lu Yang watched, dumbfounded.
What the hell was this?
"A Final Tribulation that has preliminarily birthed sentience... I see. No wonder they chose this point in time. Only the Final Tribulation at this moment can be parasitized by the [Thread of Affection]."
Because the Final Tribulation at this time, although possessing sentience and capable of being parasitized by the [Thread of Affection], had not yet birthed true human nature and wisdom.
In simple terms, it was naive and innocent.
Therefore, facing the [Thread of Affection], although it possessed the ability to resist, it lacked any awareness to do so. It passively accepted it blindly, until it was eaten clean.
To put it even more bluntly:
"The Sword Lord is dual-cultivating with the Final Tribulation!"
Through this method, not only did she not need to conflict with the Final Tribulation, but she could even turn it to her own use. This was something only the Sword Lord could achieve!
'The Dao of Dual Cultivation is indeed broad and profound.'
Compared to the Sword Lord's methods, Bu Tianque's seemed somewhat lacking in experience, remaining on the material level. Too small! Her vision was too small!
The [Thread of Affection] could actually be used like this!
In an instant, as the Sword Lord's aura climbed to its peak, the Seed of the Great Dao located deep within the Final Tribulation seemed to sense it, further sending down profound wonder.
In this instant, a resonance arose in the Sword Lord's heart.
She suddenly turned around, looking along the years toward a certain direction. And there, she saw a pair of icy eyes completely different from her own.
'Primordial Saint...'
Reaching this point, she had almost succeeded. Just a little more time, and she could squeeze the Final Tribulation dry, completely incorporating it into the [Heavenly Dao] system.
When that time came, she would inevitably reach the heavens in a single bound, obtaining the essence of the [Terminus Tiger] and becoming the Final Tribulation Dao God. Although she would still have to settle the score with Zhen Qulu, she had certainty in that. As long as everything went smoothly, she could become the person closest to transcendence in this struggle in one fell swoop!
The future was so bright.
Yet at this moment, there was not the slightest joy in the Sword Lord's heart, only icy coldness. [Destiny] presented countless future scenes in her eyes.
Incalculable futures rose and fell.
But—there were none.
The Sword Lord's pupils shrank rapidly, because the vast river of destiny at this moment failed to manifest even a single future scene of [Her achieving her goal]!
The future seemed to have an [Inevitable Fate].
Immediately after, within the rolling torrents of the future scenes revealed by the river of destiny, a hazy and illusory human figure suddenly stepped out of thin air.
The moment he appeared, he occupied all futures.
This meant he would definitely be born; there was no suspense, nor could it be stopped... In the next instant, he landed deep within the Sword Lord's sea of consciousness.
It was a young man.
Tall, wearing Daoist robes, his appearance was not only full of masculinity with sharp, angular features but also carried an indescribable charm full of aesthetic appeal.
But the most attention-grabbing thing was his eyes.
Those were eyes that were purely ignorant, naive, curious about everything, yet devoid of any concept of good and evil—eyes that treated all things as straw dogs.
"How is this possible..." The Sword Lord's red lips parted slightly, her pupils shrinking rapidly.
That was the consciousness of the Final Tribulation!
No longer just possessing preliminary sentience, but truly possessing wisdom.
It... had become enlightened!
"No... nothing... nothing is impossible."
The young man spoke. With just one sentence, he seemed to have learned the languages of the world. His originally ignorant wisdom matured in an extremely short time.
In the next second, he suddenly frowned slightly:
"What is this thing? Somewhat annoying."
Bang!
Before his voice faded, the dense net of emotion clinging to him was violently destroyed, causing the Sword Lord's main body to instantly surface with massive cracks!
Outside, the previously composed Zhen Qulu instantly experienced a drastic change in expression.
In the spark of a flint, he had already channeled his profound wonders, attempting to repair the Sword Lord's body, but the result was merely slowing the spread of the cracks upon her.
"How could this happen?"
Zhen Qulu's eyes were gloomy as he immediately checked the Sword Lord's status. Upon seeing the newly born young man in the Sword Lord's sea of consciousness, a flash of realization hit him.
'The Final Tribulation birthed a consciousness ahead of time?'
'No! How could a newly born consciousness be this strong?'
'Normally speaking, even if someone awakened the Final Tribulation's consciousness, limited by their own cultivation, the birthed sentience couldn't possibly master much of the Final Tribulation's majesty.'
'Unless... the person who awakened its sentience already possessed cultivation infinitely close to Deity Transformation, allowing the newly born Final Tribulation consciousness to reach this level... Taiyuan Xian! The Ancestor of the Name and Form schools! It's them... They awakened the Final Tribulation's consciousness ahead of time, causing my plan to fail on the verge of success!'
At this thought, Zhen Qulu nearly ground his teeth to dust.
His plan had been so close to success! If he had just a little more time, the Sword Lord's [Thread of Affection] could have squeezed dry all the profound wonders of the Final Tribulation!
Alas, heaven does not follow human wishes.
Even more terrifying was that because the Final Tribulation had birthed a sufficiently strong consciousness, the Dao God that was supposed to be born in the future had emerged ahead of time!
What would it do?
Zhen Qulu almost immediately realized that this newly born Final Tribulation Dao God would definitely try every possible means to trace back space and time to prolong its own existence.
The price would be the Final Tribulation entering the present time point ahead of schedule.
A catastrophe was imminent!
"Are you kidding me..."
"Willing to perish together just to ruin my plan, simply because I might succeed first? When did the Ancestor of the Name and Form schools become like this..."
Zhen Qulu found it somewhat unbelievable.
Because in his understanding, whether it was the Ancestor of the Name and Form schools or Taiyuan Xian, although they were called the Demonic Dao, they weren't this evil.
Even the final battle between Taiyuan Xian and the Dao Venerable was confined between the two of them and did not implicate others. Even when Taiyuan Xian ultimately lost by a single move, he didn't cause any catastrophe because of it. This was why the Dao Venerable spared his life and promised him a sliver of hope in the future.
Therefore, Zhen Qulu could not understand it at all.
If it were just to stop him and interfere, that would be one thing—it would just come down to who was more capable. He was mentally prepared for that and wouldn't be surprised.
But everything has a limit.
Now someone was willing to plunge the entire Pre-Ancient Divine Land into catastrophe just to prevent him from succeeding. This extremely self-centered, extremely selfish behavior...
It wasn't even evil anymore.
It was simply animalistic!
Pre-Ancient Divine Land, Zixiao Palace.
The Primordial Saint withdrew his gaze, took a step forward, and slowly pushed open the doors of this Deity Transformation dwelling before him. The [Heavenly Destiny Divine Record] in his hand was shining brilliantly.
"The overall situation is set."
"Nian Yao will definitely die, and the Final Tribulation Dao God, born ahead of time, will inevitably trace back to the current time point. From this moment on, the destruction of the Pre-Ancient Era has entered its countdown."
The Primordial Saint's tone held no fluctuation.
Behind him, the Ancestors of the Name and Form schools only felt an intense, chilling fear, but they dared not show the slightest bit of it, silently watching the Primordial Saint directly in front of them.
'A miscalculation...'
'It's not right. I originally thought this Primordial Saint was just a tool created by Taiyuan Xian, just like we created him. But looking at it now...'
Their speculation was wrong.
Granted, the Primordial Saint was meticulously planned and single-handedly created by Taiyuan Xian. However, as of today, everything was actually being led by the Primordial Saint.
Taiyuan Xian's goal was never "creating a puppet."
In fact, it was the exact opposite; he was "upgrading to a new generation."
[I followed the Pre-Ancient conduct... but ultimately lost to Jun. However, the Primordial Saint's own conduct allowed him to finally reach the summit in the Light Sea era.]
Therefore, Taiyuan Xian had changed.
Under [Supreme Forgotten Emotions], there is no "self," no emotion, only the purest desire for transcendence. This was true for the Primordial Saint, and it was the same for Taiyuan Xian.
And the Primordial Saint's mindset was:
"I would rather teach myself to never transcend, than teach others to transcend before me."
A catastrophe is imminent? A good thing!
"Faced with a crisis, people's bottom lines tend to lower... Only at this time is my action likely to gain support. This is the human heart."
In the past, his intention to perform a great sacrifice of sentient beings would have inevitably been attacked by all the Dao Ancestors. However, at the current time point with the Final Tribulation approaching, if he said a great sacrifice of sentient beings held the hope of resolving the Final Tribulation, then the Dao Ancestors would certainly not be so firm, and would instead choose to compromise.
It's a very simple truth— better fellow Daoist dies than this poor Daoist.
"No one will choose incorrectly. Sentient beings are like grass; cut down a batch, and another will grow. Who would take it to heart, let alone value it more than themselves?"
"Even if there were someone, he could not possibly attain the Dao."
And if you don't attain the Dao, are you even human?
The Primordial Saint's tone was icy. His gaze then shifted, looking toward the location where Lu Yang was:
"Moreover, this is also an opportunity to probe."
"Faced with the impending Final Tribulation, the best and most effective method is to restart... Perfect. Let us see if that Xuande can still trigger the power of restart."
[It's useless. That profound wonder cannot affect a Deity Transformation and will not take effect here.]
"That is merely your claim."
The Primordial Saint's eyes were calm, saying in a deep voice: "I need proof. Only if he fails to restart even when killed by the Final Tribulation can this claim be verified."
(End of Chapter)