After the Great Dao Died

The man wore dark robes. His face was young, yet endless lightning surged around him.

The newcomer was none other than Chen Lingxi!

Chen Lingxi arrived atop the clouds, his aura unfathomably deep.

A faint smile suddenly tugged at the corner of Emperor Daye’s expressionless face.

He tilted his head slightly, and the smile vanished, returning to his deep, exhausted look.

Yu Jiangwei stood upon an Azure Cloud. Her abyssal eyes pierced the churning fog and landed on Chen Lingxi.

She scrutinized him carefully, her elegant brows inching upward.

They had only been apart for a short time, yet the Dao Origin fluctuations around Chen Lingxi were inexplicably deeper than during the battle at Ancestral Mountain. His Profound Root Transforming into a Tree stage was complete, and his blood qi surged like the tide.

His bearing was far stronger now than when he had defeated Bai Lingze.

She felt a touch of awe.

”Such cultivation speed would be considered stunningly brilliant even among the Noble Sect Immortal Gates in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm.”

Not far away, Daoist Shu Rong, Chi Jianshu, also raised an eyebrow.

Her eyes, burning with starlight, swept back and forth across Chen Lingxi.

Bai Lingze stood atop the Jade Platform, the unhurried smile on his face freezing.

From his Azure Cloud, Chen Lingxi swept his gaze over the crowd.

He saw Emperor Daye sitting upright on his war chariot, his Dao Origin churning as he faced off against the blazing sun behind Zhao Duanxuan.

He also saw Yu Jiangwei on her Azure Cloud, surrounded by churning fog, her abyssal eyes fixed on him.

He gave Chi Jianshu a slight nod in greeting, then sat cross-legged upon the clouds.

The moment he sat down, the Great Sage aura permeating his body grew even heavier and more expansive.

Though no lightning visibly flashed around him, the sheer intensity of his presence was not the slightest bit inferior to anyone present.

The expressions of the powerhouses all shifted.

Bai Lingze stood on the Jade Platform, watching Chen Lingxi from afar.

”So the divine sense avatar saw him, but didn’t see him clearly. Now, I see that his bearing is much stronger than before.”

Bai Lingze frowned; the Dao Origin fluctuations of Thunder Prison Heaven already beginning to restrain themselves around Chen Lingxi made him frown even deeper.

”Profound Root Transforming into a Tree! To think he completed his Profound Root Transforming into a Tree so quickly!”

He had personally watched Chen Lingxi step by step from the struggle for the Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi until today. Back then, this person was merely a lowly Qi Circulation cultivator, barely stepping into the Dao Foundation after the Battle of Cauldron Seizing.

Now, his profound root had transformed into a tree, and his Dao Origin was as deep as an abyss.

Moreover, although the man sat cross-legged without a word, his sheer bearing alone suppressed the surrounding sea of clouds into stagnation, making the obsession piling up in Bai Lingze’s heart grow even heavier.

He remained silent on the Jade Platform for a moment, then lowered his head to look at the Dao-Capturing Ancient Tree beneath the Heavenly Gate Sea, exuding its primordial aura.

Thoughts spun rapidly in his mind.

’Chen Lingxi has that Killing Power Cauldron Vessel. I am no match for him.’

The might of Chen Lingxi’s Killing Power Cauldron Vessel from the battle at Ancestral Mountain was still present. If they fought again, this avatar’s chances of winning were virtually nonexistent.

Furthermore, this person’s profound root had now transformed into a tree, and he cultivated an incomparably domineering fleshly profound mystery. Clashing with him head-on would be truly unwise.

’Besides, that Dao-Capturing Ancient Tree is not something I must fight for. I already have a cauldron vessel. The Realm-Refining Furnace will activate sooner or later... Even if Chen Lingxi luckily obtains that cauldron vessel, he will eventually be refined here. If someone else takes it, I can just scheme for it later. Since that’s the case, why should I take such a huge risk for this Dao-Capturing Ancient Tree?’ Bai Lingze thought to himself.

Reaching this point in his thoughts, he made his decision.

He no longer hesitated. Quietly concealing himself within the clouds and mist, he retracted the sound of the Hymn of the Divine Being around him until it was nearly imperceptible, withdrawing from the battlefield like a silent shadow.

He retreated with extreme caution, concealing his aura as he flew backward along the sea of clouds at the edge of the Heavenly Gate Sea.

He flew straight for hundreds of miles, until the terrifying fluctuations over the Heavenly Gate Sea were left far behind him, and until he could no longer sense the auras of those various Dao Foundation powerhouses in the slightest.

Only then did Bai Lingze slow down, moving leisurely through the void.

Right at this moment, a sword light suddenly hurtled over from the distant horizon!

That sword light contained the extremely terrifying Dao mechanism of Thunder Prison Heaven, as well as the fearsome radiance of the Thunder-Concealing Sword Scripture.

Wherever the sword light passed, the sea of clouds was cleaved open, leaving a rift that stretched across the sky. Lightning patterns flowed within the rift, exhaling a suffocating and terrifying pressure.

Bai Lingze’s pupils suddenly shrank.

The sound of the Hymn of the Divine Being around him erupted with a boom at this moment. The Jade Platform Seal, the Profound Caging Method, the Watchtower Constellation Great Seal... numerous foundational techniques activated simultaneously, transforming into dazzling jade barriers that shielded his front!

But that sword light was too domineering!

The Weiji Thunder Radiance of Thunder Prison Heaven and the Thunder-Wielding Heavenly King Sword Light of the Thunder-Concealing Sword Scripture intertwined, like a Heavenly King hurling down a lightning spear.

Wherever the sword light passed, the Jade Platform Seal explosively shattered, the Profound Caging Method disintegrated inch by inch, and the Watchtower Constellation Great Seal was cleaved into a sky full of light fragments!

Bai Lingze’s avatar nearly exhausted all its foundational reserves under these three successive swords, but ultimately failed to block the destructive edge of the fourth sword.

Boom!

The sword light pierced the final jade barrier and viciously slashed Bai Lingze’s avatar.

The avatar was shattered inch by inch by this sword!

Countless fine cracks spread from its chest to its limbs. Jade-colored avatar essence surged out from the fissures, spilling across the void like blood.

Bai Lingze roared furiously, ”Chen Lingxi!”

In the distant clouds, Chen Lingxi stepped forth.

He stood atop the clouds, lightning coiling around him. The Abyssal Heaven Spiritual Sword hovered by his shoulder, the Weiji Thunder Radiance on its blade still crackling.

He lowered his head, gazing at Bai Lingze’s crumbling avatar, and spoke softly, ”Daoist Friend Bai, you fled last time. Where do you plan to flee this time?”

As Bai Lingze’s avatar dissipated, those ethereal, transcendent eyes stared fixedly at Chen Lingxi, revealing bone-piercing killing intent.

A smile appeared at the corner of Chen Lingxi’s mouth.

”Daoist Friend Bai, my cultivation does not match yours, and my background does not match yours, yet you cannot defeat me.” His voice smashed into Bai Lingze’s mind like a heavy hammer. ”Remember this: from now on, I am your heart demon! As long as I live, you will never take another step forward!”

Bai Lingze took a deep breath, his eyes burning with killing intent as he met Chen Lingxi’s gaze.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke. His tone remained arrogant, but now carried a trace of unwillingness.

”Chen Lingxi,” he said slowly, ”do not think that defeating this avatar means you have defeated me. My true body in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm cultivated to the Dao Foundation Late Stage long ago. The abundance of its divine abilities and Spiritual Artifacts is far beyond what this frail avatar can compare to.”

He paused, the killing intent in his eyes growing even denser. ”This Weiji Grotto-Heaven is now on the verge of destruction. If you manage to leave this world alive, then come find me in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm. I will let you see exactly how massive the gap is between this avatar and my true body.”

Chen Lingxi shook his head slightly, a flash of disdain in his eyes.

Bai Lingze’s words seemed as arrogant as ever, but they actually revealed an undisguised guilty conscience.

His every word emphasized the power of his true body, hinting that the defeat of this avatar was ”nothing at all.”

But when those words reached Chen Lingxi’s ears, they carried only one meaning.

He was afraid.

He was afraid that this heart demon would take root from now on, and afraid that his true body in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm would be left with hidden perils as a result.

His so-called rhetoric about ”come find me in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm” was merely a desperate attempt to find a fig leaf for his own failure.

Chen Lingxi shook his head in mockery.

With a flick of Chen Lingxi’s finger, Thunder Prison Heaven shrouded the void.

He raised his right hand, and the Abyssal Heaven Spiritual Sword fell into his palm of its own accord, as if possessing a spirit.

Upon the blade, the sword light of the Thunder-Wielding Heavenly King Sword flared once more, and a beam of sword light slashed out.

Just like that, it pierced through the center of Bai Lingze’s brow!

Bai Lingze’s body shuddered, and the remaining luster in his eyes completely extinguished.

The avatar was utterly annihilated, turning into a sky full of jade light fragments that dissipated within the surging lightning.

Chen Lingxi sheathed his sword. He stood calmly amidst the fading motes of light.

’If his avatar is this arrogant, there’s no telling how conceited his true body must be,’ he thought to himself, lightning slowly circulating in his eyes. ’But regardless, this person is dead.’

Right at this moment, the roaring sound of divine abilities came from the direction of the Heavenly Gate Sea in the distance!

Chen Lingxi raised an eyebrow slightly, turned around, and flew toward the Heavenly Gate Sea.

After flying for two to three hundred miles, he lowered his cloud at the edge of the sea of clouds bordering the Heavenly Gate Sea. Pushing his Method of Qi Observation to its absolute limit, he gazed toward the battlefield.

He saw Yu Jiangwei!

This Dao Foundation powerhouse from Zhuran Star was currently standing on the Azure Cloud, the fog transformed from her Dao Substitution Body Great Divine Ability churning madly around her.

Taking on two opponents at once, she fought alone against the Ehai powerhouse Ling Shangyou and Daoist Shu Rong, Chi Jianshu.

Ling Shangyou sat cross-legged on a lotus platform of cloud qi, the Ehai Dao Origin around him surging silently like a dark current.

He repeatedly flicked the fly whisk in his hand. With every flick, thousands of bizarre black threads shot toward Yu Jiangwei like a torrential downpour.

Those threads appeared frail, but they actually contained extremely overbearing corrosive power. If an ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator were touched by even a sliver, their Dao Platform would be eroded and their profound root corrupted by that Ehai power.

Chi Jianshu, meanwhile, activated the Big Dipper Jade Ruyi, the phantom of the Big Dipper above her head spinning wildly.

Seven streams of starlight poured down, transforming into a Big Dipper Star Sword grand array that suppressed toward Yu Jiangwei’s other Substitute Dao Body.

Within that starlight, longswords forged of starlight could be faintly seen flickering in and out of existence, exhaling a sharp, chilling gleam that made one’s heart palpitate.

Yet facing two opponents alone, Yu Jiangwei was not at a disadvantage in the slightest!

Her two Substitute Dao Bodies split into two paths, simultaneously engaging Ling Shangyou and Chi Jianshu in combat.

The Substitute Dao Body on the left wielded a longsword of fog. The sword momentum was sharp to the extreme; every strike cleaved out a foggy sword light dozens of zhang long that stretched across the sky, chopping Ling Shangyou’s sky-covering whisk threads to pieces.

Under the sword qi, those threads formed from Ehai Dao Origin were actually shredded into nothingness.

The Substitute Dao Body on the right used the churning fog around her as a shield, blocking the entirety of the fierce assault from Chi Jianshu’s Big Dipper Star Sword grand array three zhang away.

That fog appeared feeble but was actually incredibly resilient. When the starlight sword radiance landed on it, it was like a clay ox plunging into the sea, silently dissipating into nothingness.

Ling Shangyou’s whisk threads grew weaker and weaker, and Chi Jianshu’s Big Dipper starlight grew dimmer and dimmer.

Yu Jiangwei, however, grew more courageous as she fought, her sword qi becoming ever sharper and her fog ever thicker.

Right at this moment, Yu Jiangwei’s two Substitute Dao Bodies swung their swords simultaneously.

Two fog sword lights stretching across the sky chopped down from opposite ends of the firmament, cleaving directly toward Ling Shangyou and Chi Jianshu’s heads!

The Black Lotus Platform beneath Ling Shangyou was cleaved to pieces by this sword. His entire body was sent flying backward by the residual might of the sword qi, his Ehai Dao Origin nearly entirely dispersed. He crashed viciously into a deserted, barren mountain, kicking up a sky full of dust and smoke.

The starlight of the Big Dipper phantom above Chi Jianshu’s head had already dimmed significantly, the seven streams of starlight tottering on the verge of collapse.

Yu Jiangwei fought two Dao Foundation avatars alone!

Taking on two opponents at once, she emerged victorious.

Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes and looked up at the Celestial Ranking.

On the Celestial Ranking, Yu Jiangwei was ranked third, second only to Zhao Duanxuan and Ying Xian.