Chapter 519 - 451: Emperor’s List

However.

Coincidence or not, his original goal in coming to the Seven Days Pass had always been Abyss City. The missions offered by the other Garrison Cities during the Vacuum Stage were simply uninteresting.

More importantly, Abyss City was generally located in a forbidden area, which was beneficial for his Cultivation.

Within the Garrison City.

It was impossible for Long Chen to make a move on him.

In a place with a Dao Celestial Stele, the Celestial Punishment could still easily annihilate any who defied it.

Therefore...

Long Chen’s opportunity to strike...

Could only be during an Abyss Task!

"My sincerest thanks to the Dragon Army Master for arranging this opportunity. I will be sure to repay this kindness generously in the future."

Wu Dao reined in his thoughts and offered his thanks with genuine earnestness, his expression showing no trace of resistance.

"I will be sure to deliver the message."

A hint of coldness flashed through the Vice Army Master’s heart, but his face remained a mask of enthusiasm. He personally escorted Wu Dao into Barrier Abyss City and gave him a grand introduction.

"We greet the Primordial Heavenly King!"

After the Vice Army Master departed, within the Military Affairs Hall of Barrier Abyss City, a crowd of King-Sealing Venerables bowed reluctantly to Wu Dao. They couldn’t understand why the Crown Prince had brought an outsider into the Three Lives Battlefield.

Before Wu Dao’s arrival, everyone in the Three Lives Battlefield, from top to bottom, had been from the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty. There were no outsiders.

But with the Vice Army Master having personally received him, they understood the gravity of the situation and dared not act rashly.

Clearly, with their level of strength, they weren’t qualified to know the history between Long Chen and Wu Dao. They didn’t even have the standing to act as petty nuisances.

As for these Venerables from the Rising Dragon World, Wu Dao had no intention of making a grand display of power to win them over, like a new official lighting his three fires. It would be meaningless.

He exchanged a few perfunctory words and then dismissed them to go about their business.

During times of peace, a Celestial King like him didn’t have many matters that required his personal attention.

After dismissing the crowd of Venerables, Wu Dao went to the Dao Celestial Stele in Barrier Abyss City. He inserted his Battle Merit Order and, just as he’d expected, noticed something different.

Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black.

Three mission lists hung suspended in the air.

The black one, without a doubt, was for Abyss Tasks.

There was no activity on it at the moment, but now that it had come into contact with Wu Dao’s Celestial King Battle Merit Order, it would notify him the instant a mission appeared.

And not just him.

The Military Lord of the Three Lives Battlefield would also be informed.

It was worth mentioning that if one was stationed at an Abyss Pass City but did not accept Abyss Tasks, the redemption level of their Battle Merit Order would be lowered.

Take Wu Dao’s current Battle Merit Order, for instance.

After two major contributions, it had already been upgraded by the Dao Celestial Stele to a Great Venerable Order, which could be used to redeem Five Tribulations Dao Source of the Great Venerable Essence.

If he were to refuse an Abyss Task, his Battle Merit Order would be demoted to the Venerable Level, limiting him to redeeming Venerable Level rewards.

Only by performing another major meritorious deed could its rank be restored.

This was also why most people avoided Abyss City like the plague. The amount of merit required to restore the order’s rank was exorbitant, severely hindering their progress.

Of course, the Great Dao was a cold, logical program, not a moron.

It wouldn’t issue an Abyss Task that was impossible to complete, like sending a Great Venerable to assassinate a Quasi-Emperor. That would be a complete suicide mission.

But even so, the risks of Abyss Tasks were enormous.

They often required deep infiltration into enemy territory.

Just because it wouldn’t send you to assassinate a Quasi-Emperor didn’t mean you wouldn’t run into one—or even a Mountain Sea Ancestor King—while on a mission.

’The Golden Tasks aren’t bad either. I can have my numerous Incarnations carry them out.’

Seeing no new Abyss Tasks, Wu Dao’s gaze swept over the Golden Task board, the next tier down. The Seven Days Pass was primarily a battlefield for the elites of two realms, so most of the targets on the list were from the Di Race.

The battle merits from killing a single Desolate God of the Di Race were equivalent to killing ten members of the Imperial Race.

His numerous Incarnations had been secretly upgraded once before coming to the Seven Days Pass, with the top echelon having reached Great Venerable Perfection.

Sweeping the Golden List would be absolutely no problem at all.

"Hm? Is this the Emperor Ascension List?"

After exiting the Dao Celestial Stele interface, Wu Dao discovered a new list on its surface, one that hadn’t been there at the Six Celestial Passes—the Emperor’s List.

To be more precise, it was the Emperor Ascension List.

After probing it with his mind, Wu Dao instantly understood. At the Seven Days Pass, the upper limit of combat power on both sides was the Great Emperor rank, and the most critical battlefields were all guarded by Great Emperors.

At the same time, the Seven Days Pass was also the Emperor Formation Pass.

The Primordial Emperor Path was, in fact, the Seven Days Pass. In the hundreds of thousands of years following the Five Tribulations, the Great Dao bestowed its fortune, giving rise to a great number of the Three Great Emperors of Hongyuan.

The Emperor’s List was born from this.

Those on the list ranged from the Limit of the Quasi-Emperor Realm down to recent initiates, a dense collection of names and titles. Without exception, every one of them was a Military Lord of a battlefield.

For these individuals to be listed proved their potential was acknowledged by the Great Dao. As long as they didn’t die prematurely, they were destined to become Great Emperors; it was only a matter of time.

Out of curiosity, Wu Dao glanced at the first name on the Emperor’s List—

Little Martial Ancestor Wu Cang, Qiong Tian Domain Master, Three Paths, Quasi-Emperor Limit...

Cultivating three paths at once, and at the Limit of the Quasi-Emperor Realm!

What a monster.

No wonder he was appointed a Domain Master while still in the Quasi-Emperor Realm.

He had most definitely slaughtered an Ancestral King before.

That foul-mouthed trash, Ming Ao, was so arrogant with his third-step Great Perfection Horizontal Refining Saint Body, but Wu Cang could probably kill him in a single blow.

Little Martial Ancestor...

He was most likely a successor to the Martial Ancestor Panwu Emperor.

His true combat power had to be far beyond the supposed Limit of a three-path Quasi-Emperor, because the ten people ranked below him were all monsters at the Quasi-Emperor Perfection stage across three paths.

For Wu Cang to be ranked first, one could only imagine how much substance was behind that title.

"Quasi-Emperor Fifth Heaven?"

Wu Dao found the name of the Three Lives Army Master, Long Chen, near the bottom of the Emperor’s List and was slightly surprised by his growth rate.

He had been at Shanhai Pass for less than half a year.

Back then, Long Chen had just become a Quasi-Emperor and been appointed a Military Lord. He hadn’t expected Long Chen to advance five layers in such a short time.

This was the Quasi-Emperor Realm!

Even the top Celestial Prides from the outside world would find it incredibly difficult to advance a single layer at this stage!

Not to mention, Long Chen possessed the Three-Life Dantian, allowing him to Cultivate Immortal, Martial, and Weapon Three Paths simultaneously.

Adding Transverse Soul Cultivation to that, he was advancing on five paths at once. The difficulty was immense; it would be impossible without constantly engaging in bloody battles and earning major merit.

"Five paths, Fifth Heaven... Not bad..."

A corner of Wu Dao’s mouth curled up as a flicker of Battle Intent finally ignited within him. The previous few little bastards he’d dealt with had been utter trash, possessing nothing but powerful backgrounds and good luck.

Bullying the weak was truly boring.

Long Chen was different.

In terms of both temperament and strength, he had reached a respectable level.

An enemy like that...

...would actually be somewhat interesting to fight.

Withdrawing his gaze, Wu Dao glanced at the surrounding soldiers who were collecting missions and greeting him. He gave a calm nod and started walking toward the City Lord’s Mansion.

The sounds of discussion from behind him...

...reached his ears, every word crystal clear.

"He’s looking at the Emperor’s List. It seems this Primordial Heavenly King isn’t far from the Quasi-Emperor Realm."

"I heard he killed a top Celestial Pride from the Candle Dragon Emperor Clan in the Dragon-slaying Battlefield. If he becomes a Quasi-Emperor, he’ll be terrifying."

"I still think the Crown Prince is stronger."

"Obviously! The Crown Prince’s reputation for being invincible within his realm was forged in battle, time and time again. Forget the Di Race—not even a Little Ancestor of the Four Great Ancestors of Mountain and Sea would be his match!"

...

The conversation continued with all sorts of worshipful praise.

"’Unrivaled’... The stronger you are, the more excited I become."

Listening to their praise, Wu Dao felt no indignation or resentment. Instead, his anticipation only grew.

Barrier Abyss Pass City.

It was situated atop the Barrier Abyss Forbidden Area.

As its name implied: an endless abyss shrouded in heavy Illusion Barriers.

It was like an enhanced version of a Gravity Well.

The further down one descended, the more terrifying the all-encompassing oppressive field of Chen Tian became. The hazy gray Illusion Barrier also carried the Power of Annihilation from decaying life.

This unique environment was somewhat similar to the Extreme Dao Furnace he’d had Star Mother construct when he was Crossing the Tribulation.

It could tear apart his Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles, and even its more microscopic Magnetic Field structures. This made it incredibly suitable for practicing the Essence Devouring Art. He had to admit, Long Chen had arranged a true Blessed Land for him.

Within the City Lord’s Mansion, the cultivation grounds were connected to the Miasma Abyss below.

The wide mouth of the well was filled with a gray, deathly miasma of extremely high purity. A Venerable would be in great trouble if they were even slightly tainted by it.

’Long Chen has the Three-Life Dantian, so his true strength is definitely not limited to the Quasi-Emperor Fifth Layer. What’s more, he’s the Crown Prince of the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty. An Emperor’s Weapon is standard issue for him, and he surely has all sorts of other heaven-defying trump cards.’

As he descended into the Miasma Abyss, Wu Dao reviewed the intelligence he had on Long Chen. He concluded that with his current strength at the Quasi-Emperor Zero Layer, his odds of victory in a direct confrontation were not one hundred percent.

And if it wasn’t one hundred percent, that meant there was a possibility of failure.

Wu Dao never fought battles that relied on luck.

With this in mind, he activated his many Great Venerable Perfection Incarnations, which he had already transferred to the Seven Days Pass. He had them begin frantically accepting Golden Tasks to hunt for Dao Source.

As for the Abyss Tasks, they weren’t always available and were typically assigned to specific Garrison Cities. Thus, very few of his Incarnations were stationed in Abyss City.

"Father God, the transformation of all the One-Tribulation Original Dao Realms is complete."

Deep within the Miasma Abyss, in a region that even a Quasi-Emperor’s senses couldn’t penetrate, Wu Dao entered a state of Cultivation. As he did, Star Mother’s cheerful voice rang out.

With a sweep of his thoughts, he looked inside the Star Mother Origin Space.

There, the Primordial Dao Wheel was parasitic upon 259,200 One-Tribulation Original Dao Realms, all of which had undergone a clandestine swap.

This number corresponded to the One Tribulation Dao Vein Number of the Primordial Magnetism Path.

Their quality was inconsistent.

Most were merely Venerable Tao Realms, and the Dragon Vein Pacifiers they used had very short lifespans.

But it couldn’t be helped.

The Primordial Sect had been collecting them for too short a time.

Wu Dao could only make do for now.

He would just have to gradually replace them with One-Tribulation Great Venerable Original Dao Realms later on.

"Let’s begin."

Wu Dao adjusted his condition, linked all his Dao Veins to the Primordial Dao Wheel 3.0, and officially entered a state of Cultivation.

HUMMM—

Following Wu Dao’s command, Star Mother took control of all the Primordial Dao Wheels parasitizing the Tao Realms. She began to accelerate the ability of the Primordial Magnetic Civilization’s Dao Veins to absorb, digest, and evolve.

AHHH—

The screams were endless.

Countless Spirits of Living Creatures within the Dao Wheel’s Origin Space were also being burned frantically, transforming into the power source that turned the wheel.

The Spirit of Living Creatures is the very foundation of a life form’s wisdom.

By burning Divine Souls for power, Star Mother was essentially converting the wisdom of countless lives into unified computational power.

She used this to enhance her own processing ability, allowing her to deduce the future path of the Primordial Magnetic Civilization.

Once the path forward was deduced, Star Mother would unleash the Evil Lotus. This would increase the speed at which each Primordial Magnetism Dao Vein absorbed and assimilated the Great Dao’s One Tribulation Dao Source and Five Tribulations Dao Source, allowing them to advance at high speed along the newly paved road.

The results of this entire process were then fed back to Wu Dao, resulting in a cheat-like, top-down power-up that allowed his growth rate to remain at an unbelievable speed.

The most critical component in all of this was Star Mother’s computational ability.

Each step required a far greater offering of Spirits of Living Creatures than the last. The number of Divine Souls this little girl had consumed to date was absolutely astronomical.

But it didn’t matter.

The Primordial Sect was now spread across the All Heavens.

Tao Realms were difficult to acquire, but Life Divine Souls? Getting those was almost too easy.

He could absolutely ensure his "little daughter" Star Mother never lacked for nutrition, letting her grow up healthy and well-fed each year, earning the satisfied praise of her "old father" Wu Dao.

Most importantly, Star Mother hadn’t hit her rebellious phase yet.

Unlike his "eldest daughter," Yaya.

She was probably still plotting some twisted version of "fatherly love and filial piety."

However, even so, Wu Dao’s expectations for Yaya were the highest.

This was because the girl had a fateful connection to the number one Dao Artifact, the Classic of Mountains and Seas. When she had left Hongyuan, she was even protected by one of its pages.

In Yaya’s memory, that page from the Classic of Mountains and Seas was a companion artifact that had voluntarily detached itself from the North Mountain Scripture at the moment of her birth!

Dao Artifacts choose their wielder.

Without a fateful connection, one could possess world-shaking power and still find it impossible to obtain one.

He understood this deeply from his experience with the two Dao Artifacts, the Sea of Suffering and Nirvana.

Although he had obtained two extremely precious wisps of Dao Essence from them through sheer force of will, he had never felt that sense of ’this item is fated to be mine,’ the way he had when he first encountered the Bitter Dust Robe in the Dragon Mud Cave Heaven.

This was also one of the reasons he had decisively rejected Great Zizai Heaven three years ago. He had a premonition that even if he managed to forcibly cross the Sea of Suffering’s true form, he would never be able to gain its acknowledgment.

But that didn’t matter.

If you were strong enough, you could forge your own fate!

With the seeds of karma he had sown, someone would naturally deliver the artifacts to him in the future!

And his obsession with Dao Artifacts wasn’t because he craved external power.

It was because he wanted to EAT them!!

Given Yaya’s fateful connection with the Classic of Mountains and Seas...

If, in the future...

Heh.

Holding on to this glimmer of anticipation, Wu Dao immersed himself in his Cultivation.