Chapter 443: Paying Homage to the Dao Lord

Fu Tian was stunned.

He had originally thought that Chen Yu would yield slightly before his imposing aura, or at least show a hint of hesitation.

After all, a full-force battle challenge from a late Golden Core great demon was something few in the entire Xu Xuan Heaven would dare to take lightly.

But he never expected the other party to open his mouth with such arrogant words.

Fu Tian's eyes burst forth with light, and he threw his head back, laughing heartily: "Good! Good! With this kind of momentum, you're worthy of being the Dao Lord!"

He threw his head back and let out a long cry that shook the surrounding wilderness. Spreading his cyan-gold wings, his form rapidly expanded in a burst of light, revealing his colossal true body that blotted out the sky.

A massive cyan-qin bird with a wingspan of several hundred feet soared through the sky, its wings flowing with cyan-golden light. Its long tail feathers trailed behind, and each flap stirred the surrounding clouds into churning, unending turmoil.

He lowered his head to gaze down at the white-robed figure on the Dao platform.

"Daoist, come fight me in the sky above!"

With a flap of his wings, his cyan-gold form abruptly shot toward the high heavens.

"Why not?" Chen Yu's voice was as calm as still water. His form transformed into a golden long rainbow, rising from the Dao platform and following Fu Tian straight into the clouds.

Man and demon, two streaks of light, one after the other, rose into the high sky above the Hundred Mountains, facing each other from a distance atop the clouds.

On the Dao platform, the assembled Golden Core cultivators couldn't help but turn their gazes to Wu Shouzhuo.

Everyone present knew Fu Tian's strength. This cyan-qin, though arrogant to the point of no bounds, was an unquestionable late Golden Core great demon, and his formidable physical body gave many cultivators of the same rank a headache.

If it weren't for that white ape holding him down, this cyan-qin would have long since turned the Great Marsh upside down.

Letting such a young man face Fu Tian alone—would there really be no problem?

Wu Shouzhuo felt the gazes around him, but only calmly stroked his beard: "Junior Brother Ning Jiao is now the Dao Lord of the Southern Wastes. This old man has no authority to interfere with his decisions. You all just watch."

This confidence made all the Golden Core cultivators present freeze slightly.

The Golden Core cultivators present were all old monsters who had cultivated for hundreds of years. Their skill in reading people was already at the pinnacle. They discerned something from his attitude, and no one spoke another word.

They all raised their heads, projecting their Divine Sense onto the figures confronting each other in the high heavens, holding their breath and concentrating.

The four Chi circled overhead, not joining the battle but spreading out to the four corners, forming a loose encirclement. They were both watching the battle and preventing Chen Yu from taking the opportunity to strike.

The leading demon king, Yan Zhu, spoke up: "Fu Tian, this human is so arrogant that he demands all eight tribes come at once. Why don't we join forces and first dampen his spirit, so he doesn't really think our Great Marsh has no one to match him."

Fu Tian didn't look back: "One of this king is enough to teach this kid a lesson."

He lowered his qin head. "Daoist, this king will let you have the first move. Go ahead, so no one can say I, the elder, am bullying the younger."

Chen Yu stood atop the clouds and couldn't help but smile at that.

He didn't stand on ceremony either. Reaching up, he drew the longsword at his waist.

The moment the blade left its sheath, a wave of golden light spread from within his body.

[Gel Projection]

[Embryonic Yuan Slime Dao]

With me at the center, the golden light was like thick ink dripping into clear water. Wherever the Dao resonance passed, the clouds were dyed gold. The Hundred Mountains of the Southern Wastes turned into a golden expanse, as if they had all come alive in that moment.

The Golden Core cultivators gazed at the vast ocean of golden light filling heaven and earth, and they even felt that Chen Yu had merged himself into the very fabric of the world, becoming one with the mountains, rivers, wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning. His presence was everywhere.

The Golden Core cultivators, who had been silently speculating on how Chen Yu would deal with Fu Tian's overbearing physical body, now wore expressions of shock.

Some Golden Core elders even blurted out: "What Dao is this? This old man has cultivated for five hundred years and has never seen such a phenomenon."

This was none of the known Great Daos in their understanding.

This pressure, as if the entire world stood behind him, sent an indescribable tremor surging from the depths of every Golden Core cultivator's heart.

"This Dao of Fellow Daoist Ning Jiao is truly astonishing."

"As expected, one who enjoys a great reputation lives up to it."

Xue Qin's gaze pierced through the clouds, landing on the golden figure high in the sky: "Elder Wu, this old woman doesn't recall the Three Origins Sect having this Dao."

Wu Shouzhuo smiled while stroking his beard: "This is a new Dao. Naturally, you've never seen it."

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding murmurs sharply rose in volume.

Every Golden Core cultivator present naturally understood the significance of a new Dao.

The Great Daos of Xu Xuan Heaven had long since been explored along most of their branches by sages of the past. The Daos that cultivators practiced today were mostly just patches and repairs on the old paths opened by their predecessors. Being able to create new meaning along an old Dao was already enough to be called a genius.

An unprecedented new Dao meant that the cultivator who opened it didn't have to painstakingly climb along the path trodden by predecessors, but could freely forge their own path through this untamed wilderness.

A new Dao was easier to advance in than an old one—this was an established fact in the cultivation world of Xu Xuan Heaven.

No wonder Wu Shouzhuo had so decisively stepped down and yielded his position.

With a new Dao in hand, even without Unity with the Dao, there was still a chance to ascend.

Xue Qin praised: "This child has only just passed a hundred years and is already this accomplished. Truly a heaven's pride."

A hundred-year-old Golden Core?

Hearing this, the elder from Blissful Heaven, who had seemed completely uninterested in everything, also raised his head. His murky gaze pierced through the clouds and fell upon the white-robed figure.

No one understood the weight of the four words "hundred-year-old Golden Core" better than these old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years.

A hundred-year-old Golden Core, in the span of a Golden Core cultivator's several-hundred-year lifespan, was hardly different from an infant in swaddling.

So young, and with a new Dao in hand, ascension was practically a certainty.

A Golden Core elder in the crowd sighed in a low voice, his tone sour: "Why is the Three Origins Sect's fortune always this good?"

"Two heaven's prides is already a blessing that countless sects envy. And now they add another hundred-year-old new Dao Golden Core. Heaven truly is biased."

High in the sky, Fu Tian was also startled by the suddenly spreading golden light, narrowing his eyes. But he quickly pulled himself together, flapped his wings, and his voice grew even more battle-hungry.

"Kid, don't be so arrogant! Take this king's strike!"

He threw his head back and let out a long cry. His wings expanded at a visible rate, blotting out half the sky.

He abruptly shook his wings, and countless feathers rained down from the sky like a storm. Each one was wrapped in fierce demonic energy, tracing dense cyan trajectories through the air, as if they wanted to pierce through the white-robed figure and the entire sea of clouds beneath him.

Xue Qin looked up at the overwhelming rain of feathers and quickly raised her hand.

[Primordial Yellow Kun Earth Dao]

A dull rumble came from deep within the earth.

From among the peaks of the Hundred Mountains below, several mountain peaks, like giant dragons waking from slumber, wrapped in immeasurable momentum, abruptly rose from the ground. After ascending into the air, they lay horizontally in front of Chen Yu.

The feathers Fu Tian had shot slammed into the mountain walls, producing a dense series of explosions. Stone shards flew, and dust filled the air.

But when the dust cleared, the peaks, radiating a muddy yellow light, still stood firmly in place, unmoving.

Fu Tian's pupils constricted.

This kid had also mastered a second Great Dao?

Chen Yu ignored him. Instead, he secreted a clump of golden gel from his palm.

[Mana Explosion]

[Water Arrow Technique]

[Primordial Unity True Technique]

The golden gel stretched and deformed in his palm. The surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth was drawn in, frenziedly converging toward the arrow.

Wind, clouds, light, heat, and the spiritual vein energy buried deep beneath the Hundred Mountains Dao Ground—all of it was pulled into the arrow's body by an invisible suction force.

The arrow's light grew increasingly brilliant, eventually transforming into a five-colored divine radiance.

He let go.

The moment the five-colored divine radiance left the bowstring, with a momentum that seemed capable of piercing through the void, it shot straight at Fu Tian.

Fu Tian's pupils violently contracted.

A third one?!

He had no time to think. His enormous wings folded sharply inward, wrapping his entire body within thick cyan-golden light.

Light flowed, layering and interweaving on the surface of his wings, like a massive shield inlaid with cyan-golden scales.

The moment the five-colored divine radiance slammed into the cyan-golden giant, the explosion dyed the entire sky a blinding white.

Then came a thunderous boom. The sound was as if a gap had been torn in the heavens themselves, causing the cyan jade bricks on the Dao platform to tremble slightly.

The shockwave, carrying spiritual energy, spread in all directions. The clouds in the sky were pushed aside in neat rows, revealing a patch of clear, azure blue sky.

On the Dao platform, some of the younger disciples with weaker cultivation bases wobbled and staggered backward under the impact of the shockwave, only to be steadied by their seniors' gentle Divine Sense.

But no one paid attention to these juniors' loss of composure.

The eyes of all the Golden Core cultivators were fixed on the high sky, not moving an inch.

Three Daos cultivated simultaneously, and each one was tempered to such an exquisite degree. This could no longer be explained by natural talent alone.

Someone whispered under their breath: "Three Daos again... Why does the Three Origins Sect produce such monstrous talents?"

"A thousand years ago, it was Ancestor Cloud Cliff the Immortal. Today, it's this Earth Immortal, Ning Jiao."

No one answered him, because everyone knew the answer. Fortune was something that could never be envied into being.

In the sky, Yan Zhu hurriedly approached, his voice tinged with worry: "Fu Tian, you're not dead, are you?"

The cyan-golden light peeled away layer by layer, revealing the figure within.

Fu Tian still hovered in the air, but his wings were now in disarray. Wisps of cyan blood were slowly seeping out.

His breathing was slightly rapid, but his gaze remained sharp. His inner pride and unwillingness to submit had not been diminished by even a fraction by this arrow. On the contrary, it was as if his blood had been stirred.

He shook his wings, raised his head, and snorted: "Even if you have late Golden Core strength, if you can't even wound one of my wings, how can you be worthy of the title Dao Lord?"

Chen Yu chuckled lightly: "Then what about this sword?"

Under the Dao platform, Feng Qingyun, who was familiar with this move, felt his eyelids twitch violently. He instantly knew that this demon was about to get into trouble.

And indeed.

Chen Yu raised his sword. Thirty-one clusters of golden light separated from his body, shooting out in all directions.

As the golden light flew, it swelled in the wind, visibly transforming into thirty-one golden divine soldiers, each over a hundred feet tall.

Some wielded greatswords, some held long halberds, some drew longbows, and some raised giant axes. Their postures were varied, carrying a murderous aura.

They stood upon the clouds, surrounding Fu Tian in the center. The golden light radiating from their bodies connected into a single whole, sealing this stretch of sky into a golden cage.

Fu Tian's cyan-golden wings, which were enough to cover a small part of the sky, now seemed insignificant in the shadows cast by the hundred-foot-tall divine soldiers.

Chen Yu said calmly: "Strike."

[Primordial Origin Sword Dao]

At the same moment, all thirty-one golden divine soldiers swung their weapons.

Greatswords, long halberds, axe blades... All the attacks intersected in midair, coalescing into a single, brilliant golden light that spanned the heavens and the earth.

The golden light swept across the sky, cleaving the sky it passed through in two.

Fu Tian stared at the approaching golden light. Gritting his teeth, he condensed all the cyan-golden spiritual light onto his wings, preparing to endure this blow head-on.

But Yan Zhu could see that he was barely holding on. If this attack actually landed on him, he would either be dead or severely injured.

"My Red Tribe will assist you!"

The four Chi rushed over. A dark red blaze surged up from their bodies, dyeing half the sky a scorching crimson.

They transformed into meteors, charging toward where the golden light was descending, attempting to block this sword with the combined strength of four demons.

Boom!!!

The blaze exploded. The golden light spread, sweeping over the Hundred Mountains Dao Ground, causing the banners on the platform to snap and rustle loudly.

The four Chi were sent flying backward, tumbling several times in the air before barely managing to stabilize themselves.

On the Dao platform, all the Golden Core cultivators stood up at the same time, each employing their Dao arts.

Multicolored spiritual light interwove, isolating the violent wind that was enough to overturn the Dao platform.

Everyone stared at the white-robed figure standing alone in the high sky, leaving only one thought in their minds—the heavens of Xu Xuan Heaven were about to change.

It wasn't just three Daos. It was four!

Back then, Ancestor Cloud Cliff the Immortal could sweep through Xu Xuan Heaven undefeated with just three Daos. What about four, then?

One dragon every millennium—yet they all emerged from the Three Origins...

Amid the chaos, a mournful, unwilling cry suddenly rang out.

Fu Tian burst forth from the residual golden light, covered in blood. His bloodshot, vertical pupils stared fixedly at Chen Yu.

Why?

Why could a human cultivate four Daos simultaneously?

He wailed, nearly delirious.

"Cloud Cliff was the same! And so are you! Why does it always have to be your Three Origins Sect!"

His demonic aura surged violently. Ignoring everything, he burned his essence blood, transforming into a crimson blood light, and lunged fiercely at Chen Yu.

Chen Yu frowned slightly and was about to raise his sword when Wu Shouzhuo's Divine Sense transmission entered his sea of consciousness.

"Junior Brother, be careful. Fu Tian's father once lost to Ancestor Cloud Cliff's sword. Over time, Ancestor Cloud Cliff became the heart demon passed down from generation to generation of the Cyan-Qin Tribe."

"The reason he's going all out like this isn't purely about victory or defeat. He's been consumed by his heart demon."

So that was it.

Chen Yu understood in his heart. He watched the recklessly charging Fu Tian and gently shook his head.

But unfortunately, from today onward, this cyan-qin's heart demons might have one more.

[Gel Mimicry]

[Dragon Bloodline]

[Primordial Unity True Technique]

The golden light around Chen Yu suddenly exploded, and a deep roar came from within, shaking leaves off the trees in the Hundred Mountains Dao Ground.

"Is this Dragon's Aura?!"

The four Chi all stopped midair simultaneously, their vertical pupils wide with disbelief.

They saw Chen Yu transform into a five-colored divine dragon, slowly swimming out, stretching his body.

The dragon's body was several hundred feet long. Golden scales shone brightly, his dragon horns were rugged, and his dragon whiskers drifted. Clouds and mist spontaneously converged and churned around him.

He coiled in the sky, looking down from on high at the earth enveloped by his might.

On the Dao platform, the Old Whale Man's eyes reddened, and he trembled with excitement.

The Dragon Sovereign was indeed related to the dragon clan. His guess had been correct.

All the Golden Core cultivators were also rendered speechless by this sight.

The golden light and the crimson shadow collided in the high sky with a thunderous boom.

Fu Tian's wings, carrying immeasurable momentum, slammed into the divine dragon's body. But his form seemed to have hit an immovable mountain range.

The divine dragon's body didn't even tremble. On the contrary, Fu Tian's wings, which were strong enough to tear through an ordinary Golden Core's Protective Spiritual Glow, shattered upon contact with the golden scales.

Fu Tian let out a mournful cry. He fell from the high sky, crashing straight toward the Dao platform below.

Several Golden Core elders simultaneously reached out to cushion his fall, placing him steadily on the Dao platform.

Fu Tian lay on the stone slabs. He struggled a few times before barely managing to prop up his upper body. His cyan-golden feathers were a mess, stained with the blood he coughed up.

His once arrogant and unyielding vertical pupils were now unfocused, yet they still fixedly stared at the golden figure slowly reverting to human form in the sky. His lips moved a few times, but in the end, nothing came out.

In the thing he was most proud of—his physical body—he had lost.

He had lost utterly and completely, with no excuse whatsoever.

Chen Yu's figure emerged from the golden light. His robe was as neat as before.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calmly sweeping over the four stunned Chi, then falling upon the Golden Core cultivators on the Dao platform who had not yet fully recovered from the shock.

He spoke, his voice carrying across the Dao platform: "I am the Dao Lord. Does anyone have any objections?"

The four Chi reacted first. Their dragon heads simultaneously lowered, and their postures shifted from vigilance to submission.

"We pay homage to the Dao Lord."

On the Dao platform, there was a moment of silence. Then, the cultivators of the Three Origins Sect were the first to clasp their hands, their voices in perfect unison.

"We pay homage to the Dao Lord."

Xue Qin also bowed deeply: "The All-Through Dao Sect pays homage to the Dao Lord."

As soon as the All-Through Dao Sect moved, the Golden Core cultivators from the other sects also reacted.

No one dared to question further.

The Liang Yi Sect, the Four Symbols Sect, the Eight Desolations Ground, the Cold Palace, the Ten Thousand Demon Valley, the Azure Tide Palace, Blissful Heaven, the Dao Ground... One by one, the Golden Core cultivators stood and clasped their hands in greeting to the white-robed figure standing alone in the high sky, overlooking the Hundred Mountains.

The voices began unevenly but gradually converged into a neat and solemn wave, layering upon layer like a tide, eventually forming a unified roar that resounded through the clouds.

"We pay homage to the Dao Lord!"

The sound pierced through the clouds, swept across the Hundred Mountains, and echoed between heaven and earth, lingering for a long time.

Chen Yu's gaze finally fell upon Fu Tian.

He was silent for a long time. Eventually, he slowly pushed himself up, fully reverting to human form, took a deep breath, lowered his head, and clasped his hands: "Fu Tian pays homage to the Dao Lord."

Chen Yu nodded slightly.

Thus, all the sects of the realm were finally under his command.

They could now join hands to face the great heavenly calamity.

His gaze lingered on Fu Tian: "Why didn't Elder White Abyss attend the gathering? Has something happened to the Eight Tribes of the Great Marsh?"

Fu Tian was silent for a moment, then answered truthfully: "We did not meet with White Abyss. The Nine-Tailed Tribe conveyed White Abyss's message, saying that this king could represent him at this Dao conference. The old fellow had other important matters to attend to."

He frowned. "I found it suspicious at the time, but the Nine-Tailed Tribe has always been close to White Abyss. So, I didn't think much of it. I thought the old fellow was up to some scheme he didn't want us to know about..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

Fu Tian's face suddenly turned deathly pale. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth, splattering onto the stone slabs of the Dao platform.

His body swayed violently. The Chi beside him quickly supported him, but his eyes were locked onto the northwest direction, his gaze churning with shock and fury.

"Who dares to kill my cyan-qin blood kin?!"

Just then, a figure stumbled into the sky above the Hundred Mountains Dao platform.

It was the direct disciple Gu Songyue had sent out earlier to scout for information.

His Dao robe was torn in several places, with faint traces of blood visible. But he didn't have time to perform the proper courtesies.

"Master! It's terrible! Those demon beasts have actually colluded with the demonic path and slaughtered their way all the way to the Southern Wastes."

"Six of the Great Marsh's tribes have already turned. Now, demons and demonic cultivators are allied and heading toward the Hundred Mountains. Living beings are suffering along the way."

The Dao platform erupted in an uproar.

"Huan Long! I will never rest until you are dead!" Fu Tian threw his head back and let out a miserable, piercing shriek, instantly transforming from a human voice into the mournful cry of a cyan-qin.

He broke free, revealed his true form, and shot toward the northwest without looking back.

"Dao Lord, let us go and help him." The four Chi followed closely behind.

Some Golden Core cultivators from sects in the Great Marsh also hastily rose, clasped their hands to Chen Yu in farewell, and then turned into various colored Dao lights, chasing after Fu Tian's direction.

Wu Shouzhuo landed beside Chen Yu, his expression grave: "Junior Brother, if the demonic path dares to act so brazenly and enter the Southern Wastes, they must have already reached a certain level of power."

"The reason the demonic path has been rejected by the Righteous Path for millennia isn't just because of its cruel methods."

"Once it falls into the hands of those with twisted hearts, its harm to Xu Xuan Heaven will be incalculable. Some demonic path techniques can even advance a cultivator from the early Golden Core stage to the late Golden Core stage overnight through slaughter."

"The other six tribes of the Great Marsh have been scheming for so many years. If they dare to make a move now, they have probably already become a formidable force."

Chen Yu nodded: "Let's all go take a look."

His form transformed into a golden light and sped off toward the northwest.

"This old woman will follow the Dao Lord."

"I will go as well."

In an instant, hundreds of streaks of golden light shot out simultaneously, streaking across the sky. The sight of Golden Core cultivators fleeing together was magnificent and shocking, dyeing the sky in a riot of spiritual light.