Chapter 646: The Temporarily Awakened Dao Ancestor
At the foot of Mount Thundercloud, after having the Human Sovereign candidates witness Li Er and the Sword Sovereign transcend their tribulations and become immortals, Jiang Li conducted a post-event summary.
Having become a true Sword Immortal, the Sword Sovereign looked at Seven Kill Daozi with a gaze that carried a chill, scaring Seven Kill Daozi so much he trembled, not daring to move a muscle.
The Sword Sovereign didn’t say much more. He flew into the void to continue honing his sword intent, which allowed Seven Kill Daozi to breathe a sigh of relief.
“I have already seen your performances in the Ten Thousand Languages World through the Human Sovereign mark. You all performed exceptionally well.”
“Especially Wuzhi, Ji Kongkong, Yuan Wuxing, and the siblings Luo Ying and Luo Zhu. These five performed most outstandingly. They have passed this stage of the trial. Everyone should learn from them.”
“Currently, the entire Nine Provinces is busy exploring the myriad heavens and worlds. Even so, manpower is still slightly insufficient. Therefore, the next stage of the trial will involve going to other worlds to carry out rescue missions.”
“You five will take the lead and set an example for the others. Go to other worlds to broaden your horizons, temper your spirits, strengthen your will, and save worlds.”
The other Human Sovereign candidates looked at these five with envy. Everyone had seen their performance in the Ten Thousand Languages World and knew Human Sovereign Jiang was not showing favoritism.
Just keep working hard.
“The others, continue completing your tasks. Wuzhi, you stay for a moment.”
Jiang Li called Wuzhi to stay. Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin also gathered around.
With the Human Sovereign candidates gathered here, Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin being present was perfectly normal.
“How did you manage to summon that Dao Ancestor phantom during the competition?”
“For the past half month, I’ve always been automatically learning some Dao techniques, such as Sleeve Dimension, Shadowless Standing, Scattering Beans to Form Soldiers, and so on.”
“During the fight, when I intended to use Dao techniques to battle, a faint, ethereal voice sounded in my mind, telling me to chant ‘Dao Ancestor, urgently and according to the law’ to defeat the enemy. I merely guessed that the original figure was Senior Dao Ancestor, but I had no proof.”
Jiang Li nodded and said, “In that case, it seems the Dao Ancestor is about to awaken.”
“Haha, actually, I woke up a long time ago. I just haven’t spoken, worried it might affect this child, Wuzhi.”
“Now that you are here, I naturally must come out to meet you.”
An aged voice sounded from within Wuzhi’s body. Wuzhi’s expression became vacant, his eyes dull, his arms hanging limply, standing there in a daze.
“Dao Ancestor?”
“Fellow Daoist Jiang Li, it has been nine thousand years.” The Dao Ancestor, temporarily occupying Wuzhi’s body, bowed to Jiang Li.
Both Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin were somewhat surprised. The Dao Ancestor’s awakening was far sooner than they had anticipated.
Especially Bai Hongtu. The Dao Ancestor was the founding ancestor of the Dao Sect. Both by sentiment and reason, he should pay his respects.
“This junior, Bai Hongtu, pays his respects to the Dao Ancestor.”
“This junior, Yu Yin, pays her respects to the Dao Ancestor.”
“This junior, Jiang Li…”
“Stop, stop, please don’t do that. I can’t bear it.” The Dao Ancestor hurriedly stopped Jiang Li.
In the Immortal Realm, he often pretended to be weak to deceive the strong, impersonating a low-level cultivator to enter sects. He would then kneel before statues of Celestial Immortals and Golden Immortals, causing those Celestial and Golden Immortals to vomit blood, their expressions terrified as they asked which great power was playing games in the mortal world.
It was entirely possible that if Jiang Li paid him junior-level respects, his soul would be injured.
One must learn to be careful and cautious.
“I cannot occupy this little monk’s body for too long, or he will be assimilated by me. If you have any questions, ask me quickly.”
“We encountered small black dots in the Observer World. The people there named them the Black Tide. The Black Tide initially appears as a small black dot, appearing randomly and changing size randomly. What exactly are these small black dots? Are they something the Heavenly Dao fears?”
“Black Tide… that’s an accurate name. Your guess is not wrong. The small black dots are indeed what the Heavenly Dao fears. They are also the root of the dispute between me and the Heavenly Dao.”
“I don’t know if you have heard of the term ‘Law’?”
“Houtu Huangqi told me that there are eight Laws in the world. The myriad heavens and worlds, all things and all spirits, conform to these eight Laws.”
The Dao Ancestor was surprised. “So you’ve already met that little girl Houtu. That makes explaining this much easier.”
The Dao Ancestor said seriously, “Actually, the world does not have only eight Laws, but nine. This ninth Law is what you call the small black dot: the Law of Destruction.”
“The Law of Destruction dictates that the world will one day be utterly destroyed. The Black Tide is the physical manifestation of the Law of Destruction.”
“The Law of Destruction possesses extreme randomness. It may appear anywhere. It may destroy a world, or it may destroy itself.”
“What you described, the Black Tide suddenly disappearing, is an example of it destroying itself.”
“The phenomenon of the Black Tide has existed since the birth of the world. We’ve just been very lucky that the Black Tide has not spread.”
“If the Black Tide ever becomes unstoppable, then the Immortal Realm, the void, the myriad heavens and worlds, the Underworld… all will disappear. The world will return to nothingness.”
“Where there is a concept of existence for the world, there is a concept of destruction. The end of the world is destruction. This is an unavoidable matter.”
“Very few know of this Law. After all, this predestined, tragic future only brings sorrow if known.”
“After the Heavenly Dao gained sentience, it asserted that the Black Tide would appear within twenty thousand years, though the exact time is uncertain.”
“The Heavenly Dao proposed destroying the world before the Black Tide could destroy it. If one agreed with His method, one would submit to Him. If not, one’s soul would scatter to smoke and ashes.”
“The Immortal Realm split into two factions. One faction, represented by me. The other, represented by the Heavenly Dao. You all know what happened later. We lost. Except for me, all souls dispersed, their immortal power returning to the Immortal Realm.”
“In that battle, some Celestial Immortals, after killing their opponents, obtained opportunities and advanced to Golden Immortal. The Immortal Realm was reshuffled. The Heavenly Dao became the sole ruler. The existence of the current Immortal Realm is the thorough execution of the Heavenly Dao’s commands.”
“But, speaking of which, what exactly is going on with you being at the Mahayana Stage?”
As the most ancient immortal and the foremost practitioner of the immortal path, the Dao Ancestor was utterly confused and completely unable to comprehend Jiang Li’s situation.
He had originally thought that with him, the strongest, losing, the Heavenly Dao would win without suspense. Who would have thought that after death, he would encounter a Jiang Li that transcended his own understanding?
How could such a major event happening in the Underworld not have been reported by any immortal?
“The time is almost up. If I speak any longer, this little monk will no longer be himself. We’ll talk again when we have the chance.”
After saying this, the Dao Ancestor’s voice completely vanished. Wuzhi’s expression returned to normal, unaware of what had just happened.
Jiang Li said gently, “It was the Dao Ancestor temporarily borrowing your body. Don’t worry. The Dao Ancestor will not replace you. You are you, the Dao Ancestor is the Dao Ancestor. You will always be two separate people. The Dao Ancestor will use the method of severing the three corpses to separate from your soul.”
“Go. As a candidate who passed the Ten Thousand Languages World trial, you can go to other worlds, just like Yuan Wuxing and the others.”
Actually, Jiang Li was overly concerned. Wuzhi wasn’t worried about the Dao Ancestor replacing him. He recited a Buddhist verse and embarked on his journey to other worlds.