Chapter 542: [Fierce Battle, Crossing the Tribulation]

Chapter 542: Chapter 470: [Fierce Battle, Crossing the Tribulation]

As the battles on the arenas of the Four Celestial Passes erupted.

「At the Seven Days Pass.」

Little Martial Ancestor, Fenji, the Light and Dark Divine Venerable… a host of monstrous cultivators at the Limit of the Quasi-Emperor realm, had all taken to the arenas!

Their opponents were none other than the Four Great Primordial Clans of Mountain and Sea, hailed as invincible among those of the same realm!

“Panwu, my brother died by your hand! Today, you will pay for it in blood!”

Little Martial Ancestor’s opponent was a Peak Quasi-Ancestor King from the Mountain and Sea Qiongqi Clan, who roared at him with furious eyes.

This race was known as the Heaven Opening Fierce Gods of Mountain and Sea.

They controlled the world’s most vicious and malevolent energies, their bodies wreathed in pitch-black Karmic Fire, appearing like ultimate gods of evil that had escaped from the depths of Purgatory!

“Revenge? You’re not worthy.”

Little Martial Ancestor’s voice boomed with absolute dominance.

His magnificent physique stood firm amidst the surging Karmic Fire, immovable as a Heaven-Supporting Divine Pillar. He radiated the supreme aura of the Martial Ancestor, who once suppressed all turmoil throughout the All Heavens.

In the instant his indifferent eyes blinked, he exploded from extreme stillness into extreme motion. Like an Ancient Fierce Dragon unleashed, he thrust out a hand, clenched it into a fist, and brought it down with the weight of the heavens!

DONG—

RUMBLE!!

The moment Little Martial Ancestor struck, numerous other Peak Quasi-Emperors from Hongyuan clashed with the Mountain and Sea’s Primordial Races across the Great Wall Arenas of the Seven Days Pass, which separated the two realms. It was like a fleet of speeding Little Cosmoses colliding head-on!

Countless Daos clashed, and divine light blazed brilliantly!

The force of their battle shook the very firmament above the arenas, causing it to constantly collapse and explode.

A world-shaking, unparalleled war had broken out!

When civilization’s survival is at stake, every person has a duty to fight!

In a war of offense and defense between two realms of this magnitude, no one dared to hold anything back. The moment the fighting began, everyone gave it their all.

Even if it meant defeat and death, they first had to push the arena as deep as possible into the Mountain and Sea territory, to lessen the pressure on those who would fight after them.

Outside the Celestial Gates, the masses watched in grim silence as the endless battles raged.

Inside the Celestial Gates.

What no one noticed was that Wu Dao, who had been lying dormant in the depths of the Miasma Abyss, had suddenly vanished without a trace.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

Chaos churned, and all sense of direction was lost in the Ten Directions.

「In a corner of the infinite Sea of Chaos.」

‘Let’s begin.’

Inside the Extreme Dao Bell.

Wu Dao withdrew his consciousness from the war at Shanhai Pass and adjusted himself to his peak state. He issued a command to Star Mother, who was outside the Extreme Dao Furnace, and officially began his assault on the barrier to the Second Tribulation.

He had arrived at a curious state—a realm that defied all mortal logic, the domain of “∞-1.” He was touching the first tier of infinity!

But a divine, dam-like wall blocked his path.

With his current One-Tribulation Dao Practice, if he couldn’t break through that dam of limits separating the finite from the infinite, then no matter how much his power grew, it would merely be an increase within the realm of the finite. Compared to infinity, it would still be no different from zero.

“Understood,” Star Mother replied. “Beginning pressurization.”

Star Mother nodded. Her petite body flowed with brilliant light, as if a vast and boundless Star Sea had taken human form. Within her starlight, the light of infinite wisdom flickered.

Her computational power was already infinite.

However, her true form was at the barrier between the finite and the infinite. Once Wu Dao ascended, she could corrupt a higher-level Emperor’s Weapon and easily achieve full emperorship herself.

VMMMM—

The Extreme Dao Furnace began to pressurize.

It mobilized faint wisps of the Extreme Dao Bell’s Power of Origin. The amount was infinitesimal, yet the rotation of the furnace’s resulting field could still easily tear apart the magnetic forces of Wu Dao’s fundamental Primordial Magnetism Particles.

It could even shatter the Primordial Magnetism Dao Strings within his most microscopic One-Tribulation Dao Particles, allowing him to reconstruct even stronger Two-Tribulation Dao String Particles from within the Creator Domain.

Of course, this was all predicated on Wu Dao successfully crossing the Second Tribulation and obtaining enough material to forge this new structure—in other words, more All Things Dao Veins!

“Initiating self-destruction!”

Once the pressure reached a certain threshold, Star Mother gazed at the innumerable One-Tribulation Dao Particles within the Extreme Dao Furnace. A grave solemnity appeared in her Star Pupils as she slowly pressed her small hand down, beginning to tear apart the two vibrating Dao Strings within each particle.

These were the root veins of the Primordial Magnetism Path.

They were the network connecting the Dao Source of the Primordial Magnetism Path to the Crystal Grain Bodies at the very ends of the Tree Diagram. Tearing them would affect the structure of the entire diagram!

At the same time, he would also begin to fall toward nothingness.

VMM~

The instant the One-Tribulation Dao Strings tore apart, a vast and powerful wave of Tribulation Qi from the Primordial Magnetism Path surged forth.

Wu Dao officially entered a state of complete self-destruction. The very concept of his existence began to blur as he was continuously assimilated into the Great Dao.

But his indestructible consciousness burned fiercely, maintaining his clarity and once again pulling him into the primordial Creator Domain—a place between existence and non-existence, unimaginable to any living being!

Compared to the First Tribulation, the primordial, wilderness-like Chaotic Qi Flow was gone from the Creator’s Dao-selection domain for the Second Tribulation.

In its place was a bizarre, phantasmagorical land where the networks of countless Dao Veins intertwined and collided.

Each network originated from a majestic, indescribable existence coiled at the apex of a Great Dao, and each was connected to a long, surging river of civilization that flowed without end.

The rivers of civilization were still shrouded in mist, their details indistinct, like looking at flowers through fog.

‘Humanity…’

Wu Dao was now one of these indescribable beings. His newly grown twofold network of veins trailed behind him, pulling along his river of the Primordial Magnetic Civilization. As he observed the others, he discovered that these indescribable entities possessed humanity.

‘Is this a reflection of Hongyuan’s Second Tribulation?’

The Divine Spirits had abdicated, the Ten Thousand Races had risen, and civilization had transformed from monolithic to pluralistic.

The All Things Dao Veins that each Daoist Master possessed were no longer mere derivations of a single path. Instead, each Dao Vein was a completely new Dao, serving as nourishment for their fundamental Great Dao.

From the perspective of the Dao, they were no different from Wu Dao.

Furthermore, their intellect was fully developed, dramatically increasing the difficulty of fighting and devouring them!

“The sky cannot have two suns, and a Dao cannot have two masters! I invite you all to die and grant me completion!”

Amidst the booming sound of the Dao, Wu Dao saw one of the indescribable beings, its body roiling with the Tribulation Qi of the Great Dao, lunge toward the nearest Daoist Master.

The moment the tribulation began, Chaos Qi surged at the end of each Daoist Master’s river of civilization, obscuring the Dao-bearing existence that lay there.

It was natural selection, the law of the jungle.

Only the last Dao Master standing would earn the right to decide the future of the Primordial Magnetism Path’s civilization. If Wu Dao were to fail, he would be replaced by the victor—a newborn ‘Wu Dao.’

Therefore, he could only win. He absolutely could not afford to lose!

“KILL!!”

Wu Dao’s battle cry was furious, his will a blazing inferno.

His indescribable physique churned with immeasurable Tribulation Qi. Without a moment’s hesitation, he too plunged into the Poisonous Insect Fighting Arena to join the brutal slaughter!

…

「While Wu Dao was undergoing his tribulation in the Sea of Chaos.」

The war at Shanhai Pass had entered a fever pitch.

In just one day!

“Grievous news! The Lingxiao Army Master has fallen in battle!”

“Grievous news! Great Emperor Jingchen of the Eight Celestial Passes has fallen in battle!”

“Glad tidings! Little Martial Ancestor has steamrolled the arena, consecutively slaying three Quasi-Emperors of the Qiongqi Race! The arena has advanced three territories!”

“Glad tidings…”

Across the eight great Celestial Gates, reports of triumph and tragedy arrived in quick succession!

On both sides, Celestial Prides stained the arenas with their blood, falling like shooting stars. Even Great Emperors, beings who could suppress the cosmos, had become mere consumables!

The Great Wall Arenas of the All Heavens Pass constantly advanced and retreated. Vast amounts of Dao fortune descended upon victors and were stripped from the fallen. The constant ups and downs felt like two great saws tugging at the hearts of all who watched.

On the first day of the great war, the forces of Mountain and Sea and Hongyuan were evenly matched.

By the fifth day of the great war.

“Grievous news!”

“Grievous news!”

“Grievous news!”

…

Six out of every ten battle reports were tragic!

Hongyuan’s disadvantage was beginning to show, and it was growing!

In the clash between the top Celestial Prides of each realm, they had once again fallen behind, even with the hidden prodigies sent into battle by the All Heavens Lord.

They couldn’t close the gap.

Because their opponents were all Little Ancestors from the Four Great Primordial Clans of Mountain and Sea. The advantage of their Innate, Near Dao bloodlines destined them to be unrivaled by their peers!

While Hongyuan had to sift through countless talents to find just one such prodigy, their enemies were born having already mastered the Strongest Divine Techniques—and more than one at that. Their cultivation of various Daos was as if blessed by the heavens, facing almost no resistance!

Could a few exceptional individuals make up for the average?

Even with the vast population of the Primordial Ten Thousand Races of Hongyuan, that was simply unrealistic!

On the tenth day of the great war.

「In the Sea of Chaos.」

Wu Dao successfully crossed the Second Tribulation. The number of his Dao Veins increased from two to three, and he began to forge the Two-Tribulation Dao Particles.

The Second Tribulation was harder than the First.

That was a certainty.

Consequently, each step of the process would require more time.

In the short term, he couldn’t spare the focus to return to Shanhai Pass. He could only hope that Hongyuan would be able to hold on.

‘Don’t be too useless.’

The fifteenth day of the great war!

Eight out of every ten battle reports from the Celestial Gates were tragic!

The forces of Mountain and Sea began a major push. Among the Great Wall Arenas of the eight Celestial Gates, only a few ‘salients’ were still stubbornly holding their ground.

At the Seven Days Pass.

The second-tier Peak Quasi-Emperors on the Emperor’s List were being purged. Eighty percent had already fallen. The factions of the All Heavens cried tears of blood, and wails of sorrow echoed everywhere!

Below the Seven Days Pass, the defenders were essentially just throwing away lives to hold the line!

They weren’t fighting for victory, but merely to delay the advance of Mountain and Sea, to survive the final, nightmarish half of the month!

The twentieth day of the great war…

“Little Martial Ancestor, don’t fight anymore!!”

「At the Seven Days Pass.」

Outside one of the few arenas that had pushed forward, the soldiers and Celestial Prides of the All Heavens stared, their eyes nearly splitting from their sockets in grief. On the blood-soaked arena, Little Martial Ancestor stood, his former grace gone, swaying on the verge of collapse. They roared in anguish without end.

Little Martial Ancestor was the public face of Hongyuan’s Quasi-Emperors.

Naturally, he was specifically targeted by the strongest fighters from the Four Great Primordial Clans of Mountain and Sea. After his first match, every single opponent was an Extreme Quasi-Emperor, a being who could break through to the Ancestral King realm at any moment!

In terms of realm and achievement, there was no gap between them. The only thing being tested was their raw combat prowess!

Little Martial Ancestor was indeed powerful.

As the Direct Disciple of the Martial Ancestor, he had inherited numerous peak Taoist Magic and Divine Techniques of the Martial Dao. His battle prowess was unmatched among the younger generation.

But no matter how strong he was, he couldn’t withstand a continuous gauntlet of opponents!

Injuries to his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were easy enough to treat.

But injuries to his Dao were not. The successive battles had left his Martial Dao Dragon Vein—which was on the verge of evolving to the ancestral level—riddled with massive cracks and suffused with a deathly Tribulation Qi.

If he kept fighting, he would never be able to recover.

At best, his cultivation realm would regress.

At worst, his path forward would be severed completely!

No amount of providence from his civilization could save him then!

The spectators from the All Heavens could no longer bear to watch. They believed Little Martial Ancestor had already done more than enough. He had not only held off powerful foes but had also pushed forward and reclaimed territory!

With such meritorious achievements, even if he were to forfeit and withdraw, no one would fault him.

But…

“My Ancestor fought before me. How can I retreat?!”

Little Martial Ancestor was unyieldingly fierce. Using some unknown secret technique, he stabilized his trembling body and Dao Foundation, turning to face the next enemy with an air of absolute dominance!

He was the Direct Disciple of the Martial Ancestor!

He had inherited the Martial Ancestor’s will. He would protect Hongyuan even if it meant his own utter annihilation!

Furthermore, he was currently the strongest Defender at Hongyuan’s Seven Days Pass. If he retreated, who would fill the void?

That opening alone would be enough for the forces of Mountain and Sea to steamroll their way forward before the war’s end, opening their Taotie maws to devour a massive amount of Hongyuan’s destiny and territory!

Therefore, he could not retreat!

Great Emperors have their own heavens to uphold.

Quasi-Emperors have their own calamities to quell.

Whether he was to burn brightly and give his all today or some day in the future, it made no difference at all to Little Martial Ancestor!