Chapter 510 - 445: Ill-Mannered Creature

"You bastard, how dare you!"

Behind him, Ming Ao, as relentless as a maggot feasting on bone, seemed to sense something and let out a maniacal roar. The Slaughter Domain trapping him began to crack from the sheer force of his shout, threatening to shatter at any moment!

But his only answer was the sight of Wu Dao’s back, disappearing into the darkness without the slightest hesitation.

’This is...’

The moment Wu Dao burst into the core of the Asura Emperor’s Tomb, he was still taken aback by its design, despite having mentally prepared himself.

It wasn’t that it was too grand or sacred.

It was that it was far too plain!

A setting sun at dusk; Qing Mountain served as the tomb.

A crystal-clear river encircled Qing Mountain.

A great black standard, planted atop Qing Mountain, stood unyielding. It fluttered in the twilight breeze, telling the tale of the tomb’s occupant and his magnificent yet tragic life.

’It’s all an illusion!’

Wu Dao snapped out of his slight trance. He sensed the peculiarity of the Magnetic Field, which emptied the mind and tempted one with the urge to lie down and slumber peacefully for eternity with the tomb’s occupant.

HUMMM—

The Dao Particles ground against each other, vibrating.

Everything in his perception changed with incredible speed, like flipping through the pages of an album!

BOOM!!

In that instant!

The domain within the Emperor’s Tomb transformed, its peaceful serenity replaced by a pressure as heavy as the abyss!

The gentle twilight...

...became an ancient blood sun illuminating the Netherworld!

The verdant Qing Mountain...

...every blade of grass and every tree, every grain of sand and every speck of dust...

...began to writhe, seeping a foul and ominous black blood. It released an endless torrent of dark, deathly energy—the very source of the terrifying death qi in the cosmos outside.

SPLASH—

The river encircling Qing Mountain...

...in that same instant, swelled to an unknowable size. It was now a surging river of Chaos, suffused with Chaos Mother Qi. Countless Worlds churned within its currents, being born and then destroyed!

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR—

And the black standard atop Qing Mountain!

It was embroidered with a scene from a corner of the ancient, mysterious Netherworld: a surging river of blood, which nurtured and gave rise to the Asura Race!

As the great standard billowed,

it was as if the Asura Emperor himself had been resurrected! Black Emperor Dao Patterns manifested, issuing commands to a mighty army!

Within the Asura’s river of blood, innumerable Asura warriors and Nether Gods roared. The iron-blooded smoke of war billowed, and their cries stirred the dark, baleful energy of the Asura Cosmos, manifesting the very Essence, Qi, and Spirit the Asura Race once displayed in its conquest of the All Heavens!

There was no doubt!

This great black standard was the Emperor’s Weapon the Asura Emperor had once used to command his people—

The Asura Battle Banner!

As for the river encircling Qing Mountain,

it was the Chaos Mother Liquid that had flowed out from the Asura Emperor’s disintegrating Inner Universe after his death!

’According to legend, the source of the Asura Nether River, just like the Yellow Springs River, is the Eighteen Netherworlds!’

As his gaze swept toward Qing Mountain, Wu Dao stared intently at the Asura Battle Banner, trying to discern whether the Nether River was real or fake.

But he was disappointed.

The Nether River on the Asura Battle Banner...

...was merely an offensive and defensive Emperor Array that the Asura Emperor had inscribed in his lifetime, modeled after the real river. Its killing intent, baleful energy, and Magnetic Field were incredible, but it lacked the unique Dao Essence of the Yellow Springs River.

He had seen the Yellow Springs River before.

His first disciple, Wuchen, possessed a part of it. Having recorded its Magnetic Field information, Wu Dao could naturally tell whether this Nether River, supposedly from the same source, was real or fake.

’If it’s not in the Asura Battle Banner... then could it be...?’

Wu Dao extended his senses through the Magnetic Field, trying to see through the Qing Mountain tomb and locate the Asura Emperor’s Corpse. He suspected the Nether River was hidden within the Great Emperor’s Dao Fruit.

After a Great Emperor dies,

their Inner Universe gradually breaks down and returns to the Great Dao.

Their Divine Communication Technique will also contract along with their Ancestral Dragon Vein, condensing into a small Dao Fruit. Obtaining it allows one to inherit the Emperor Dao and become a Great Emperor.

However, the karma involved is immense.

Another’s Dao is never so easily taken.

When one uses a Dao Fruit to become a Great Emperor, they face a great tribulation of the Divine Soul upon their Attainment Dao. If they fail to pass it, they will become a vessel for the original Great Emperor’s return, and their consciousness will be replaced.

And that’s just for Great Emperors.

As for All Heavens Emperors and Primordial Emperors,

they are not far from the Great Dao. So long as their Dao exists, they exist, making them fundamentally unkillable. The chances of them leaving behind a Dao Fruit are minuscule.

Take the Heaven-Burying Emperor, for example.

Before his death, he scattered his Dao Source, hiding it within the nexus points of the All Heavens’ Great Dao. Upon his return, he need only reclaim his Dao Essence to return to his peak.

It was the same for that scheming old bastard, the Slaughter Emperor.

However, the stronger the existence,

the more powerful the nodes of the Great Dao’s network where they stored their Dao Essence, and the more difficult it is to retrieve.

’I wonder if the Slaughter Emperor has returned yet.’

’And where did he hide the crucial Dao Essence for his return? It’s most likely related to Shanhai Pass. Otherwise, a loyalist like the Heaven-Burying Emperor would never have entered the pass.’

Returning to the matter at hand, as Wu Dao probed Qing Mountain, he sensed a shielding Magnetic Field deep within the tomb, one as hard as Divine Iron. Not even his vibrating Dao Particles could chisel through it!

This made him even more certain.

’The Nether River must be hidden within the Dao Fruit!’

’If I can master the Nether River,’

’then perhaps I can find the Dao Artifact known as the Eighteen Netherworlds ahead of schedule!’

Unfortunately, nothing in this world is ever perfect.

RUMBLE!!

The Emperor’s Tomb shook, and cracks appeared in space-time!

"You spineless piece of trash, you can’t escape!!"

The commotion from outside—the Ancient Fierce Beast rampaging and shattering the domain—drew rapidly closer, its crazed roars yanking Wu Dao’s thoughts back to the present.

’This bastard has a truly filthy mouth!’

Wu Dao’s face darkened. With no time to continue probing the Emperor’s Tomb, he activated the Extreme Dao Bell, instantly devouring the entire great river of Chaos Mother Liquid that encircled Qing Mountain.

Chaos Mother Liquid.

The energy source used to power an Emperor’s Weapon!

The Asura Emperor appeared to be well and truly dead. The reserves of Mother Liquid that had flowed from his dissolved body were astonishing, enough to last Wu Dao for a very long time.

Of course, it couldn’t be used to power the Extreme Dao Bell.

The fundamental nature of this Emperor’s Artifact was too high.

Back in its day, it had been only half a step away from attaining the Dao alongside the Slaughter Emperor and becoming a Dao Artifact.

The All Heavens Chaos Mother Liquid...

...could only awaken a sliver of its true Mighty Power.

To reawaken the full Mighty Power of the Extreme Dao Bell required Primordial Mother Liquid, which was produced by a Mixed Yuan Tao Emperor.

The step to becoming a Mixed Yuan Tao Emperor...

...was both similar to and different from Wu Dao’s current path.

Their progress on the Dao was measured by the tribulations of civilizations.

To give birth to one’s own Chaos Dao civilization and achieve Attainment Dao through tribulation was, in essence, to have one’s own civilization undergo the Great Dao’s Initial Tribulation.

Therefore,

Primordial Mother Liquid, like the Dao Source of the Great Dao,

could nourish and cultivate a flourishing Extraordinary Civilization. In other words, activating a Primordial Dao Artifact or a Dao Artifact was, in essence, burning an entire civilization for fuel!

After collecting the Chaos Mother Liquid,

Wu Dao, equipped with the Holy Spirit Emperor’s Plate, ignored the increasingly terrifying pressure as he climbed Qing Mountain. In a flash, he reached the summit and his hand closed around the staff of the Asura Battle Banner!

HUMMM—ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

In an instant!

It was like grabbing hold of the entire Asura Cosmos!

An endless horde of Asuras transformed into mind-assailing Celestial Demons and charged Wu Dao’s Divine Soul, attempting to obliterate his consciousness and usurp control!

But...

...a mere remnant will from an Emperor’s Weapon...

...thought it could obliterate Wu Dao’s consciousness?

"Get lost!!"

An imperious, divine voice boomed with chilling authority!

FWOOSH—

RUMBLE!

The flames of his immortal consciousness blazed fiercely!

It had reached the level of the Mud Hell Sea!

Simulated manifestations of two ultimate, will-tempering Dao Artifacts appeared within Wu Dao’s consciousness, pulverizing the countless Asura Celestial Demons into oblivion!

BUZZZZ—

The Asura Celestial Demons seemed to be merely a test.

Once they were crushed by Wu Dao’s will,

the Nether River on the Asura Battle Banner began to surge. The Emperor Dao Patterns covering its surface bloomed with an ancient demonic light, and within it, the countless Asuras bowed their arrogant heads!

This meant...

...that the Emperor’s Weapon, the Asura Battle Banner, had acknowledged Wu Dao. He was now worthy to bear the great standard of the Asura Race and inherit the glory of the Asura Emperor!

It could only have been Wu Dao.

His willpower was terrifyingly immense.

Had it been anyone else,

who knows what state they would have been in after being tortured by the remnant will of the Asura King Banner. They would have stood no chance of gaining its acknowledgment so quickly.

RUMBLE—BANG!!

The moment Wu Dao raised the Asura Battle Banner,

a frenzied, battered Ming Ao burst into the Emperor’s Tomb Space. Golden Holy Flame capable of incinerating all creation erupted from his body. With blood-red eyes fixed on Wu Dao, he snarled through gritted teeth,

"How do you want to die, you bastard?!"

’So what if you got the Emperor’s Weapon?!’

’The threat of the Primordial Path’s Celestial Punishment hangs over you!’

’Dare to awaken the might of that Emperor’s Weapon, and it’ll blast both you and the weapon to cinders!’

’Therefore,’

’an ant is still just an ant!’

But what made Ming Ao suspicious...

...was that in the face of such an absolute disparity in power, Wu Dao showed not a hint of panic, let alone any attempt to flee.

Instead, he stood tall and firm, utterly motionless!

His black eyes, which looked down upon all creation, gazed at him. In the cold, chiding tone of a teacher, he rebuked him:

"You ill-mannered little mongrel. With a mouth full of filth all day, were you born from a maggot?!"

’Ill-mannered...’

’Little mongrel?’

’He’s lecturing me!?’

Having lived for nearly ten thousand years,

Ming Ao, a being whom countless others would have to address as ’Ancestor,’ was momentarily stunned. He felt as if his dignity had taken a critical blow, and endless flames of fury erupted from his eyes!

"Die!!"

DONG—RUMBLE!

The vast Emperor’s Tomb itself shook!

As his fist flew forward,

everything in its path exploded into Chaos before being forced into a vacuum. It was as if an ancient, sky-supporting Divine Mountain had toppled over and was now hurtling straight at Wu Dao!