After the Great Dao Died

Zhao Duanxuan stood in the void, his gaze like lightning. It fell first on Chi Jianshu before shifting to Cheng Qingyun of the Ninghai Profound Sect, who sat cross-legged atop an azure cloud.

Chi Jianshu, Daoist Shu Rong, felt her heart tighten.

She knew that since Zhao Duanxuan had decided to act, he would show no mercy.

Without a moment’s hesitation, her spiritual sense spread outward like a tide, and her voice transmission landed simultaneously in the ears of Cheng Qingyun and Daoist Chanting.

”Fellow Daoists, Zhao Duanxuan’s momentum is too immense. If he breaks us one by one, we will all return empty-handed today, and even these avatars will perish here! Why not join forces and stall him first?”

Cheng Qingyun and Daoist Chanting reached their decisions at almost the exact same moment.

In the next instant, the auras of the three Dao Foundation avatars erupted simultaneously. Three streaks of brilliance shot into the sky, violently crashing against Zhao Duanxuan’s blazing sun.

At the exact moment Zhao Duanxuan struck, a sudden shift occurred on the other side of the battlefield.

The Golden Crown Demon Lord of the Southern Heaven Region—the rooster blanketed in golden feathers with a comb like fire—suddenly let out a sharp, high-pitched crow.

He flapped his wings. The sky-blotting sea of golden feathers originally sweeping toward Chi Jianshu forcefully wrenched direction in midair, transforming into a golden torrent that roared toward Bai Lingze.

The golden feathers tore through the air, sharp as swords and wreathed in the extraordinarily pure Dao Origin of the Southern Heaven Region, piercing countless fine ripples into the void!

Yet Bai Lingze seemed to have expected this all along.

The smile on his lips did not diminish; instead, it grew even colder.

”As expected,” he sneered. ”Demon cultivators are fickle. I guessed long ago that you wouldn’t submit so easily.”

Before his voice faded, his spiritual sense stirred.

The azure-clad sword cultivator from Dragon-Revering Sect’s Sword Audience Peak didn’t hesitate in the slightest. With a flick of his longsword, an incomparably fierce azure sword aura tore across the sky, cutting off the Golden Crown Demon Lord’s path.

”Demon Lord, pardon the offense.” Liu Chengfeng’s voice was completely calm, yet a latent sword intent ran through it.

A flash of anger passed through the Golden Crown Demon Lord’s eyes.

”Who are you? You actually have the nerve to stop me?”

He spread his wings and clashed fiercely with Liu Chengfeng.

For a time, numerous divine abilities collided madly in the void, unleashing countless earth-shattering booms.

The sky above Ancestral Mountain degenerated completely into an asura killing field.

Fighting one against three, Zhao Duanxuan not only held his ground but grew fiercer with every exchange.

Every time the blazing sun behind him rotated, a terrifying Dao Origin capable of incinerating all things erupted with a boom, forcing back Chi Jianshu’s starlight, Cheng Qingyun’s profound light, and Daoist Chanting’s spells.

The phantom of that sun was simply too overbearing, like a true sun descending to the mortal realm. His every movement carried the might to destroy the heavens and shatter the earth.

Yet that abyss seemed capable of swallowing everything!

In just a brief clash!

The phantom of the Big Dipper above Chi Jianshu’s head had already dimmed significantly.

The projection of Cheng Qingyun’s protective Spiritual Artifact had been scorched full of holes by the sun.

Daoist Chanting was in an even more wretched state. Before that abyss, his cultivated spells were like snow cast into a furnace, completely melted and devoured!

Even with the three joining forces, they were actually beaten into a steady retreat by Zhao Duanxuan alone.

On the other side, Bai Lingze strolled toward Yu Jiangwei!

”Fairy Jiangwei of the Zhuran Star possesses extraordinary killing power. I, Bai Lingze, have come specifically to seek guidance!”

Bai Lingze’s gaze burned brightly.

Yu Jiangwei remained silent.

Executing her Substitute Dao Body Great Divine Ability, two identical figures wove through the pervasive fog.

A longsword formed of fog tore across the sky!

Bai Lingze struck at that exact moment!

The sound of the Hymn of the Divine Being around him was incredibly overbearing. The sonic waves formed overlapping golden ripples, blocking all of Yu Jiangwei’s attacks three zhang away.

At the same time, jade light swirled within Bai Lingze’s eyes, seemingly allowing him to see through the profundity of Yu Jiangwei’s divine abilities.

It was as if an immortal stood by his ear, guiding his way!

Atop this Ancestral Mountain, a chaotic melee had erupted!

Zhao Duanxuan truly deserved the title of the strongest!

Fighting one against three, he still had strength to spare.

Right after he blasted Cheng Qingyun hundreds of zhang backward with a single palm and shattered Daoist Chanting’s protective divine ability with a punch, he vaulted over several mountain peaks in succession, evading Daoist Shu Rong’s Big Dipper starlight.

Then, his fingertips suddenly pinched a talisman!

The talisman burst into flames, and Zhao Duanxuan’s speed surged. Like a true bolt of lightning, he traversed the massive distance!

And those eyes, burning with golden flames, fell upon Yu Jiangwei.

He squeezed his right hand in the void, and the blazing sun behind him frantically compressed and condensed under his grip, turning into a fist-sized orb of blazing white light within his palm.

He took a step forward, a step that traversed the distant void, and appeared directly behind Yu Jiangwei.

At this moment, Yu Jiangwei was facing off against Bai Lingze. She had not expected Zhao Duanxuan to possess such a Spiritual Artifact!

Expressionless, Zhao Duanxuan struck out with his palm! He then locked his spiritual sense onto the other three cultivators and leaped to another zone.

Meanwhile, that blazing white orb plummeted like a falling comet, wrapping an apocalyptic, terrifying might around itself as it blasted straight down at Yu Jiangwei’s head.

Caught off guard, Yu Jiangwei had no strength left to resist this earth-shattering, long-prepared strike from Zhao Duanxuan.

She only had time to merge her two Substitute Dao Bodies into one and push her protective fog to its absolute limits.

The palm fell.

Yu Jiangwei’s Substitute Dao Body shuddered as if struck by lightning. The churning fog around her collapsed with a boom beneath the palm.

She was sent flying backward by the blow. The outline of her avatar blurred; it was clear she had suffered extremely severe injuries.

She barely managed to stabilize her form. Lifting her head, she looked at the expressionless Zhao Duanxuan, and then at Bai Lingze, who was pursuing her with a smile.

There was not much fear in her eyes. She merely gave Bai Lingze a deep look.

”Daoist Friend Lingze of the Bai Family, you truly live up to your reputation,” she sighed softly.

Bai Lingze knew Yu Jiangwei was mocking him.

His expression remained unchanged as he shook his head slightly, a faint smile on his face.

”The Immortal Slough is already in the pockets of our Bai and Xi families. No one else may touch it,” he said.

”Daoist Friend Yu, we shall meet again in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm.”

He raised his hand, preparing to strike and thoroughly annihilate Yu Jiangwei’s projected avatar.

But at this moment, Yu Jiangwei suddenly reached out, and a perfectly round Spiritual Pearl abruptly appeared in her palm.

The Spiritual Pearl expanded with the wind, transforming into a sphere three zhang wide in the blink of an eye. Spiritual light swirled across its surface, faintly revealing a profoundly abstruse spatial escape formation slowly operating within.

She sat cross-legged atop the Spiritual Pearl, pouring all her remaining spiritual qi into it.

In the next instant, the Spiritual Pearl turned into a streak of light and shot into the sky. Its speed was unfathomably fast; in the blink of an eye, it pierced the sea of clouds and vanished at the edge of the horizon.

Bai Lingze watched the vanishing stream of light, raising an eyebrow slightly, but made no move to pursue.

Not far away, Chi Jianshu had already fled astride the Big Dipper Jade Ruyi. Cheng Qingyun’s avatar had been scattered by Zhao Duanxuan’s hands, and Daoist Chanting had transformed into a cicada to hastily escape!

He shook his head slightly, spreading his spiritual sense to sweep across the now-silent battlefield.

He could clearly sense that several strands of spiritual sense were still densely gathered in the surrounding void.

Many had already been driven back by him and Zhao Duanxuan.

Yet traces of their spiritual sense lingered, spying on the area.

As for the Golden Crown Demon Lord and Liu Chengfeng, who knew where their battle had taken them? They had vanished completely.

In the sky above the entire Ancestral Mountain, only he and Zhao Duanxuan remained.

These lingering spiritual senses clearly wanted to see whose hands the Immortal Slough would ultimately fall into.

But Bai Lingze didn’t care in the slightest.

He didn’t even bother attacking to snuff out those secretly prying senses.

His expression was quite calm as he turned his head, his gaze finally landing on the Mountains and Rivers Great Array.

Opening his hand, the Spiritual Artifact Wall-Breaking Shuttle manifested, radiating a heart-palpitating, sharp, cold gleam from his palm.

Under the gazes of Zhao Duanxuan and Liu Chengfeng, he raised his hand and tossed it. The Wall-Breaking Shuttle transformed into a brilliant pale golden streak of light, piercing straight toward the very center of the Mountains and Rivers Great Array.

There was no massive boom, nor any violent surge of spiritual energy!

The moment the Wall-Breaking Shuttle pierced the Mountains and Rivers Great Array!

That Mountains and Rivers Great Array—built with Ancestral Mountain as its foundation, the twelve mountain ranges as its bones, and countless rivers as its blood, having forcibly withstood days of frenzied bombardment from several Dao Foundation avatars...

Received this single strike from the Spiritual Artifact!

And finally began to disintegrate and collapse at a speed visible to the naked eye...

Then it shattered, turning into a sky full of light!

The Mountains and Rivers Great Array densely enveloping Xiao Changlv vanished into nothingness.

Sitting cross-legged in the center of the valley, Xiao Changlv slowly opened his eyes.

The two clusters of golden flames in his eyes continued to dance slowly.

He lifted his head, his gaze passing over Zhao Duanxuan to land on Bai Lingze, who was striding over.

Bai Lingze took a step forward, his eyes radiating killing intent.

He stood above the valley with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down at Xiao Changlv from on high.

”Where exactly is the Immortal Slough?”

Xiao Changlv remained seated cross-legged, not uttering a word, as if he hadn’t heard the question.

Bai Lingze frowned slightly and was about to speak again.

Just then, a rainbow light suddenly arched across the sky.

The rainbow tore across the heavens from the distant horizon, paving a straight path above Ancestral Mountain like a bridge of seven colors.

Atop the rainbow, a black-clad figure walked slowly forward, stepping upon the red light with his hands behind his back.

The man possessed a stalwart physique, wearing an imperial crown and a dark Dragon Robe.

On his sharply contoured face, a pair of eyes burning with golden flames slowly flickered.

Simply by standing upon the rainbow, the deep and majestic fluctuations of Dao Origin around him felt like a bottomless abyss or an endless ocean, impossible to describe!

It was precisely Emperor Daye, Ying Xian!

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Zhao Duanxuan’s mouth.

It was as though he felt a hint of the delight of meeting his match.

”Ying Xian, you’ve finally shown yourself.”

With a flick of his finger, a golden cauldron appeared above his head.

The cauldron was no larger than a palm, its body carved with nine golden dragons. Each golden dragon was so lifelike that it pulsed with a terrifying, heart-stopping pressure.

The moment the cauldron appeared, a desolate aura capable of suppressing all things surged like a tide crashing against the shore!

At this moment, Zhao Duanxuan’s aura was incomparably ferocious.

He lifted his head and looked toward Emperor Daye Ying Xian atop the rainbow.

”Ying Xian... my Gold-Suppressing Cauldron was prepared specifically for you,” he muttered softly to himself.

He raised his hand and tossed the golden cauldron into the void.

Once it left his hand, the cauldron grew with the wind. In the blink of an eye, it transformed from palm-sized into a colossal cauldron that blotted out the sky! The massive cauldron inverted itself, mouth facing down, enveloping a hundred-li radius.

The instant the giant cauldron descended, the void within this hundred-li area suddenly sank, and the flow of spiritual energy between heaven and earth ground to a halt!

Even the churning sea of clouds above the firmament was locked firmly in place by this terrifying suppressive force.

Zhao Duanxuan stood beneath the giant cauldron with his hands clasped behind his back. The red-gold light around him resembled a blazing sun, shining in tandem with the golden glow of the cauldron.

His imposing aura was already terrifying to the extreme, and now, backed by the Gold-Suppressing Cauldron, it surged violently once again.

Standing there, he looked like an immortal wielding divine retribution, illustrious to the absolute limit.

Staring at Emperor Daye Ying Xian, he slowly spoke. His voice was resonant as a grand bell, echoing throughout heaven and earth.

”Coming here today, you must have something to rely on.

”Since that’s the case, out of respect for you, I must face you with my full strength.

”Daoist Friend Ying Xian, if you please!”

Emperor Daye Ying Xian stood atop the rainbow, frowning slightly.

The grayish-white fog manifested by the Heavenly Decline Law Great Divine Ability around him swirled slowly. Yet the suppressive force from the Gold-Suppressing Cauldron was so majestic and overbearing that it actually stagnated his surrounding Dao Origin to some extent.

Within this golden cauldron, he felt that Zhao Duanxuan’s aura had multiplied several times over, turning him into a towering mountain that even he could not surmount.

’The foundation of an upper sect is truly extraordinary.’

’In such a short time, how could they ferry over something so remarkable?’ he mused internally.

The two clusters of golden flames in his eyes suddenly shot out two brilliant beams of golden light, which pierced through the radiant glow of the Gold-Suppressing Cauldron and landed squarely upon it.

Although this Spiritual Artifact was only a projection, it must have cost the Que Star Xi clan a massive price, prepared specifically for him, Ying Xian.

’It seems the Que Star Xi clan has paid a massive price for this Immortal Slough and this Grotto-Heaven.’

He murmured this in his heart, his frown deepening.

He turned his head to look at Bai Lingze.

Right now, Bai Lingze was striding forward with a smile on his face, heading toward the still cross-legged Xiao Changlv.

In his view, Zhao Duanxuan would deal with Ying Xian.

As for himself, he only needed to capture Xiao Changlv and force him to reveal the location of the Immortal Slough.

His steps were unhurried, and the melody of the Hymn of the Divine Being lingered ceaselessly around him.

Just by walking toward Xiao Changlv, a suffocating pressure bore down on the valley.

Naturally, the spiritual senses lingering in the void also witnessed this scene.

Yu Jiangwei, hiding in the shadows; Daoist Shu Rong, who had fled far away but still spied with her sense; and the other unscattered spiritual senses all sighed inwardly.

It seemed there was no longer any suspense over who would claim the Immortal Slough.

Though Ying Xian was strong, he was firmly trapped by Zhao Duanxuan’s Gold-Suppressing Cauldron.

And Xiao Changlv was already a spent force. How could he possibly resist Bai Lingze?

Ultimately, the Immortal Slough would fall into the hands of the Xi and Bai families.

Just at that moment.

A clap of thunder suddenly exploded in the sky!

Everyone heard that clap of thunder.

It was a thunderous sword intent condensed to the absolute limit, overbearing to the absolute extreme!

The sword intent flared from the distant horizon before transforming into a dazzling, ten-li-long sword light that illuminated heaven and earth!

The sword light was simply too fast. In an instant, it pierced through heavy layers of clouds and landed squarely above Ancestral Mountain.

As the sword light dissipated, a figure stepped slowly from within.

The man was tall and slender, his face young and handsome!

Yet endless pale golden lightning coiled and churned around him, wrapping him from head to toe like a garment of woven thunder, making him look like a deity stepping out of the Thunder Pool.

Most heart-palpitating of all, however, were his deep eyes, wherein two miniature storms of lightning were burning like mad.

The lightning resembled two thunder orbs embedded in his sockets. Deep within his pupils, countless fine lightning runes swirled, radiating a suffocating and terrifying killing intent.

”Bai Lingze...”

”I’ve come to kill you!”

A clear voice exploded through the void like a clap of thunder.

The Dao Origin fluctuations contained within the voice were deep and vast!

Everyone was utterly dumbfounded.

Chen Lingxi?