After the Great Dao Died

That colossal human face radiated oppressive might as it manifested.

Chen Lingxi raised his head, feeling an indescribably terrifying aura crashing down from the heavens.

The aura was unimaginably vast, ancient, and majestic.

Hanging high above the nine heavens, the face resembled a dark gold sun taking up half the sky, so fiercely radiant it was impossible to look at directly.

Constructed entirely from an indescribable, profound radiance, its contours were blurred—like a moon in the water viewed through an eternal fog.

Its features and expression were completely obscured.

He could only vaguely sense a pair of emotionless, detached eyes slowly opening above the sea of clouds at the apex of the sky.

Those eyes held no emotion—only a pure, condescending indifference.

Chen Lingxi’s breath caught in his throat.

Under the weight of that gaze, his Plundering Dragon Dao Platform trembled violently. The Thunder Prison Profound Root atop it, which had already grown into a towering tree, curled up involuntarily, and the Weiji Thunder Radiance coiling around it dimmed.

Within his Inner Divine Palace, the phantom of Great Sage Yaotian suddenly opened its eyes. A heaven-encompassing Great Sage aura surged out, attempting to resist the terrifying pressure.

But the moment the Great Sage’s phantom appeared, it was crushed inch by inch by an ineffable power contained in that gaze, crumbling back into nothingness and dissipating deep within his body.

”So this is the True Lord!”

Chen Lingxi’s mind raced.

He had seen this terrifying entity once before, back in the Absolute Perception Divine Chamber.

This was the lord of the Que Star Xi Family—the great cultivator who wielded the Cauldron Vessel Realm-Refining Furnace, ruled over Que Ten Star, and decided the life and death of billions with a single word.

Now, just by casting a single glance and manifesting his unfathomable will into the contours of a face, he caused the entire Weiji Grotto-Heaven to tremble!

And hovering between the brows of that colossal face was a phantom.

It was a young man in silver robes.

He looked to be only in his twenties. With hair cascading over his shoulders and a cold, sharp face, he was wreathed in extremely deep and pure fluctuations of Dao Origin.

Standing between the brows of the giant face, he was like a silver moon suspended in the center of a dark gold sun. Though not as blindingly radiant, he possessed an innate, awe-inspiring bearing.

He looked down at the Weiji Grotto-Heaven, his gaze ultimately settling on the Heavenly Gate Sea, and then on Chen Lingxi.

His gaze was extremely calm.

Yet, within that calmness lay sheer indifference.

”This Cauldron Vessel may fall into the hands of the numerous profound sects or immortal clans of the Land of Nine Palaces, but it absolutely must not go to a figure from the Grotto-Heaven,” the silver-robed young man declared. His voice resonated like a grand bell, echoing thunderously across heaven and earth.

He paused, his gaze still resting on Chen Lingxi, a barely perceptible coldness flashing through his silver eyes. ”The dust has already settled on this Grotto-Heaven.”

His grandiose voice faded.

The silver-robed young man slowly turned around and bowed deeply to the colossal face.

”I respectfully beseech the True Lord!”

The moment those words fell, the churning clouds around the giant face began to spin madly, as if answering an irresistible summons.

The rotation grew faster and more frantic, transforming in the blink of an eye into a massive vortex that stretched across the sky.

In the exact center of the vortex, the void began to collapse and shatter, revealing a bottomless, dark expanse beyond.

Then, the silver-robed young man’s aura flared. The silver Dao Origin fluctuations around his body abruptly erupted, turning into a dazzling pillar of silver light that shot into the heavens, piercing straight through the clouds.

His voice rang out like a heavenly decree across the entire Weiji Grotto-Heaven, reaching the ears of every cultivator.

”The Grotto-Heaven’s fate is sealed. I invite all sects to use the Pool of Reincarnation to guide your Seekers of Truth back. I invite all Daoist Friends of the sects to disperse your incarnations!”

Rumble!

Up in the heavens, lightning suddenly bloomed.

The lightning was pale gold, as thick as a heavenly pillar. It struck violently from the center of the vortex, cleaving a massive rift thousands of miles long through the churning sea of clouds.

At the end of that rift, right where the lightning landed, a colossal vortex was slowly forming in the void.

This vortex was entirely different from the one surrounding the giant face.

Pale blue overall, it hovered in the sky like a giant mirror. Dao rhythms flowed and profound light flashed across its surface, where countless dense formation patterns could be faintly seen slowly circulating.

At the same time, streams of ancient aura drifted through it.

This was also a Cauldron Vessel!

Without a doubt, this Cauldron Vessel was the legendary Pool of Reincarnation!

Chen Lingxi immediately saw numerous streaks of light shoot up into the sky from all directions of the Heavenly Gate Sea, flying swiftly toward the Pool of Reincarnation.

He recognized many of those departing Seekers of Truth.

Not far away, Yu Jiangwei, who had yet to disperse her incarnation, stood upon an Azure Cloud. The mist formed by her Dao Substitution Body Great Divine Ability was slowly fading around her.

Her eyes, as deep as the abyss, pierced through the churning mist and landed on Chen Lingxi.

There was no resentment or killing intent in her gaze, only a very faint, ineffable pity.

It was like a teacher who cherished talent watching a sapling that could have grown into a towering tree, yet was destined to be uprooted in the impending storm.

Daoist Shu Rong, Chi Jianshu, stood on the Big Dipper Jade Ruyi. She looked at the silver pillar of light descending from the sky, looked at the slowly rotating Pool of Reincarnation, and then looked at Chen Lingxi, who was still standing beside the Dao-Capturing Ancient Tree.

She sighed.

Then, facing Chen Lingxi’s direction, she bowed from afar.

It was as if she were bidding farewell to a true Daoist Friend.

Subsequently, Daoist Shu Rong flicked her sleeve. Surging Dao Origin wrapped around Lin Suri and the others, speeding toward the Pool of Reincarnation. The Dao Origin was so thick that the figures inside could no longer be seen.

Lin Suri could be heard calling out loudly, ”Daoist Brother!”

Right at this moment!

A furnace abruptly materialized in the void!

The furnace was far too massive and imposing, hanging behind the giant face like a true sun.

Its body was dark gold, breathing out a suffocating, terrifying pressure.

As the furnace rotated, flames spewed from its mouth.

The flames were blazing white, hot to the extreme. Even across such a vast distance, Chen Lingxi could still feel the wave of heat rushing against his face.

Wherever the heatwave passed, the sea of clouds evaporated and the heavenly winds collapsed. Even the Pool of Reincarnation high in the sky trembled slightly from the scorch.

At this moment, the colossal face dissipated.

Yet behind the furnace, a figure slowly stepped out.

It was as if the True Lord had arrived in person!

The figure was majestic, like the galaxies of the cosmos!

His indistinct silhouette hovered behind the furnace, his body wreathed in the endless brilliance of Dao principles.

Those principles slowly circulated around him like chains spanning across the galaxy, framing him as an ancient deity parting heaven and earth.

Everything in the world was equal to an ant before him.

As the Cauldron Vessel Realm-Refining Furnace spun, it incinerated, melted, and refined everything.

And the will of that True Lord was like the will of heaven—indisputable, inviolable, and insurmountable.

”The True Lord intends to use the Realm-Refining Furnace to refine the Grotto-Heaven...”

Chen Lingxi gazed at the all-incinerating furnace fire in the sky, at the emotionless eyes of the True Lord, and at the streaks of light fleeing in panic toward the Pool of Reincarnation...

Then, a faint smile suddenly appeared at the corners of his mouth.

”But... how could it be that easy?”

Within Chen Lingxi’s eyes, the two clusters of Weiji Thunder Radiance that had dimmed to the point of nearly extinguishing suddenly blazed brightly!

He lowered his head. His lightning-burning eyes looked toward the Storm Immortal Pivot in the void, then toward the Lake Immortal Pivot and the direction of the Ancestral Mountain.

In the next instant, fury abruptly erupted in his eyes, and he took a long, deep breath.

”True Lord, Great Sage... you view the billions of living beings in my Weiji Grotto-Heaven as ants. Since that is the case...” He paused. ”I will let you see just how much flesh an ant’s dying bite can tear from your bones!”

In a flash!

A strand of Chen Lingxi’s divine sense flowed like water into the Vast Void Pouch at his waist, entering the Transmission Jade Slip used to contact Emperor Daye, Ying Xian.

”Daoist Friend, it is time.”

High above the Heavenly Gate Sea, within that expanse of void scorched into a chaotic blur by the furnace fire and the great sun...

Amidst the thick mist of the Heavenly Decline Law, Emperor Daye Ying Xian, in the prime of his life, slowly walked out from the churning grayish-white fog.

Murderous intent similarly radiated from his eyes.

He did not pursue Zhao Duanxuan, whose incarnation was slowly dissipating.

He merely raised his head and looked at the sky-blotting face of the True Lord, looking into those emotionless, detached eyes.

Then, he suddenly flashed a broad grin!

In the next instant!

An aura surged into the Mountains and Rivers Great Array that blanketed the entire Weiji Grotto-Heaven!

Through the conduction of the Mountains and Rivers Great Array, it traveled far away to the Volcano Immortal Pivot.

In a mere split second, the Mountains and Rivers Great Array within the Volcano Immortal Pivot abruptly dissolved.

Following that, a single drop of river water fell from it!

That single drop exuded an extremely ancient, profoundly boundless Dao rhythm.

Following the final surviving veins of the Mountains and Rivers Great Array, it fell silently, dropping squarely into the churning magma in the deepest part of the Volcano Immortal Pivot!

”The river water’s spiritual energy drips into the Four Great Immortal Pivots, and the Great Sage’s true body descends...”

Chen Lingxi’s emotions surged, and then, everything changed.

At the exact moment that drop of river water fell into the Volcano Immortal Pivot, the four Immortal Pivots of the Weiji Grotto-Heaven simultaneously lit up with dazzling brilliance.

The four pillars of light were like four heaven-reaching torches ignited all at once. They shot up into the sky from the four corners of the Weiji Grotto-Heaven, piercing straight through the clouds.

And in the exact center where the four pillars of light intersected, a massive black hole was slowly opening.

Inside the black hole, countless streams of grayish void turbulence churned madly. Yet, in the deepest depths of that turbulence, a faint, illusory long river was rapidly approaching.

As the river drew near in an instant, it revealed itself to be a surging, roaring ancient long river!

The long river gushed out from the depths of the black hole like a galaxy flowing out of ancient eons, carrying incomparable, majestic power as it violently descended upon the Weiji Grotto-Heaven.

The river water was pale blue, clear and translucent to the extreme.

Its surface was incredibly wide, stretching endlessly as far as the eye could see.

As the water churned, it kicked up monstrous waves. Every single crest contained terrifying power sufficient to destroy heaven and earth.

The waves crashed against the void, producing a deep, resonant rumble like a grand bell, shaking the entire Heavenly Gate Sea until it trembled violently.

Then, the long river began to steam.

Countless streaks of incredibly dense water vapor rose slowly from the surface, gathering madly in the sky above the river, growing thicker and more solid by the second.

Ultimately, the water vapor coalesced into a figure.

The figure was wreathed in endless pale blue ripples, which circulated slowly around her like living creatures.

Her face was obscured, veiled by the churning ripples, with only a pair of abyss-like eyes faintly visible as they slowly opened.

Great Sage Luoyuan!

Had descended!

The moment she opened her eyes, the heaven-encompassing blazing white furnace fire was washed over by a wave from the river, silently dissipating into the void.

Great Sage Luoyuan’s figure stood upon the long river. Ripples churned around her, radiating a suffocating, terrifying pressure.

Just by standing there, she caused the Realm-Refining Furnace’s flames to stall, and made the colossal, sky-blotting face above tremble slightly.

Behind the furnace, the aura of the indistinct True Lord suddenly became like a storm sweeping across numerous stars—terrifying and wrathful.

Gritting his teeth, Chen Lingxi stood beside the Dao-Capturing Ancient Tree that was now close at hand. He wanted to pluck this complete Cauldron Vessel, but was pinned in place by two completely different oppressive forces, entirely unable to move.

He could only forcefully raise his head, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the two terrifying figures beginning their distant standoff in the sky above.

The flames spewing from the Realm-Refining Furnace. The vast, churning long river behind Great Sage Luoyuan.

’One is a True Lord, and the other is a Great Sage,’ Chen Lingxi thought.

Two terrifying entities, both capable of easily crushing this Weiji Grotto-Heaven and treating its billions of living beings as ants and firewood.

At this moment, they had been forcibly dragged onto the same chessboard by him.

He couldn’t help but grin.

”Both the True Lord and the Great Sage want to refine the Grotto-Heaven! How could they not pay a little price!”

”Let me see, between the True Lord and the Great Sage! Just who is stronger!”

Behind the Realm-Refining Furnace, the aura of the indistinct True Lord suddenly transformed into a terrifying storm sweeping across numerous stars.

Even the silver-robed young man standing between his brows flashed a look of deep astonishment in his eyes.

”To think there is actually such an existence within this Grotto-Heaven?” he muttered to himself, the habitual composure and arrogance in his tone vanishing without a trace.

At the same time, outside the firmament above the Heavenly Gate Sea that had been churned into chaos by the Realm-Refining Furnace and the Great Sage’s long river, countless streams of spiritual energy tore through the void and descended upon this place.

These streams of energy were not physical. They were tyrannical divine senses projected from the distant Great Xuanzhuo Realm, crossing the void turbulence and bypassing the Grotto-Heaven’s barriers.

They seemed to come from numerous powerhouses outside the Weiji Grotto-Heaven.

These streams of energy all contained a pressure that could not be underestimated. As they collided and intertwined, it was as if many lofty entities were watching this sudden upheaval from afar!

Amidst the clashing spiritual energies, countless divine senses could faintly be heard whispering in the void.

”The Immortal Capital... they actually left such a trump card in this Grotto-Heaven?”

”The true body of Great Sage Luoyuan has awakened and descended? This defies karma; it defies both past and future!”

”Fortunately, this Great Sage is injured. Not even a tenth of her killing power remains!”

”How could the Great Encompassing Heaven Heaven-Illuminating Mirror miss such a remnant of the Immortal Capital? Could that Mystic Monarch have...”

The numerous powerhouses whispered, their spiritual energies unavoidably trembling with shock and astonishment.

They seemed to be discussing secrets that Chen Lingxi could not fully comprehend.