Chapter 433 ·Tai Void Appears in the World
Chapter 433: Tai Void Appears in the World
“So it still couldn’t be done after all.”
Profound Origin True Venerable sat upright within his Cave Residence, not the slightest ripple in his eyes.
Even though he had personally witnessed his own son fall on the Life-and-Death Platform.
Profound Origin True Venerable had actually anticipated this outcome long ago.
If Xiao Yu had not been involved with the Ancient Demon Cult, then with his aptitude and comprehension, he would never have been able to establish the reputation of Law-Breaking True Monarch, much less enter the Yuqing Golden Register and become one of the Sect Master’s many disciples. Losing to Chen Beiwu was only natural.
Before Xiao Yu stepped onto the Life-and-Death Platform, among the many future scenes Profound Origin True Venerable had deduced, two-thirds ended with Xiao Yu suffering defeat and falling.
As for the remaining one-third of futures, they were completely blurred, difficult to observe even for a powerhouse at the level of Divine Transformation True Venerable.
‘At the beginning of cultivation, one says Heavenly Mandate can be reversed. At the middle stage of cultivation, one understands Heavenly Mandate is difficult to defy. At the highest stage of cultivation, one understands what Heavenly Mandate truly is. Perhaps this was simply that child’s fate!’
Profound Origin True Venerable inwardly sighed.
Low-level cultivators of the Immortal Alliance often said ‘Once a Golden Core enters my belly, my fate belongs to me, not heaven’, believing cultivation to be an act of defying heaven, and that whether Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment or Golden Core and Nascent Soul, every step was breaking free from the restraints heaven and earth imposed upon human cultivators.
Little did they know that every drink and every peck was predetermined. How could changing fate against heaven ever be easy?
The so-called defying heaven and changing fate spoken of by some low-level cultivators of the Immortal Alliance was merely cultivators seizing an infinitesimal variable within the grand momentum of heaven and earth and rising with the tide.
Even a powerhouse like him, who had cultivated to Divine Transformation True Venerable, could illuminate karma, observe his own Dao path and countless living beings, and foresee portions of the future, could not escape the net of Heavenly Mandate.
It was no exaggeration to say that the higher the cultivation realm of a powerhouse in the Immortal Alliance, the more reverence and taboos they carried in their hearts, understanding that the cultivation path lay in observing the Dao of Heaven, carrying out the workings of Heaven, and avoiding entanglement with certain great karmic ties.
And Chen Beiwu was precisely one of the great karmic ties Profound Origin True Venerable had encountered through divination and deduction. That thread of unpredictable future might even obstruct his own Dao path, otherwise he would not have forced Xiao Yu onto the Life-and-Death Platform to probe him, nor allowed even a trace of killing intent to arise in his heart.
“Profound Origin, you’ve gone too far.”
The instant killing intent arose in Profound Origin True Venerable’s heart, a Divine Sense avatar of the Yuqing Sect Master slowly appeared and reminded him：
“An evergreen tree cannot grow inside a greenhouse. The sect permits Yuqing seedlings to fight for life and death, but absolutely will not allow the sect’s upper ranks to interfere. You should understand what I mean.”
“To die in a Dao struggle is to obtain what one sought. Since that child of mine chose this path, then after losing, he should bear the price.” Profound Origin True Venerable calmly said：“He was merely one descendant. This old man has not fallen so low as to break the rules, lower my status, and act against a junior True Monarch.”
“I hope so.” The Yuqing Sect Master slightly nodded.
He knew this undying old Profound Origin had always been hypocritical and had not spoken what was truly in his heart.
If the sect’s rules were not restraining him right now, Chen Beiwu would probably already have been slapped to death by a single palm.
But it did not matter. As long as Profound Origin obeyed the sect’s rules openly, that was enough.
As for whatever Xiao Yu’s maternal clan might scheme in the shadows, as long as the cultivators they sent were not too far above Chen Beiwu’s cultivation realm and did not violate the sect’s rules, it could be regarded as another form of tempering for a sect prodigy.
He believed in Chen Beiwu’s aptitude. Given time, perhaps the other party might one day have the opportunity to sit at the same table as him.
……
At the same time, Moving Mountain True Monarch, Thunder-Hunting True Monarch, Rainbow Mist True Monarch, and the other Nascent Soul lecturers all looked toward Chen Beiwu with complicated expressions.
Watching helplessly as a promising True Monarch prodigy fell just like that inevitably made them feel a trace of sorrow for one of their own kind.
Of course, this did not mean they had any objections toward Chen Beiwu. They simply felt that it was somewhat regrettable for a peerless prodigy like Law-Breaking True Monarch Xiao Yu to die on the Life-and-Death Platform.
“True Monarch Yue, what do you think of this Life-and-Death Platform Struggle?” Su Miao asked with interest.
“Xiao Yu did not lose unjustly.” Yue Shan sighed emotionally：“If we fought at the same realm, even I might not be True Martial True Monarch’s match.”
“True Monarch Yue is being far too modest.” Qin Zheng slightly shook his head：“Your Prison-Suppressing Yue Turtle possesses peerless defense. In a battle at the same realm, True Martial True Monarch might not necessarily be able to break through your defenses.”
Hearing this, Yue Shan smiled and said no more.
He was only one step away from attaining the Dao as a True Venerable and advancing to Divine Transformation.
Because of this, Yue Shan could faintly tell that Chen Beiwu had still held back during this struggle and had not gone all out.
Of course, no matter how much Chen Beiwu held back, Yue Shan was still confident he could defeat him in one move.
But such a comparison based purely on overwhelming realm advantage was meaningless!
If cultivation years were used for comparison, when he was ninety-eight years old, he had merely been a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. If he had encountered the present Chen Beiwu back then, he would probably have had to bow respectfully and say, greetings, True Martial True Monarch.
“Under a great reputation, there are no empty names. Chen Beiwu truly deserves the two words True Martial.” Su Miao praised.
In her view, using Void-Refining potential to evaluate Chen Beiwu’s aptitude was somewhat too illusory and excessively flattering. The two words True Martial were far more fitting.
What was True Martial?
Invincible in killing battles among the same realm!
If Chen Beiwu could one day raise Yuqing’s prestige during the Grotto-Heaven Grand Competition and suppress the prodigies of the Five Great Grotto-Heavens, he would certainly create a celebrated tale throughout the Immortal Alliance and perhaps even leave behind a legend of True Martial.
“I knew True Martial True Monarch would win!”
On the other side, Yu Zhaozhen’s face was flushed, her excitement difficult to conceal.
Yu Zhaohua glanced at her younger clanswoman and inwardly shook her head speechlessly.
People were never entirely selfless, and every faction inevitably formed internal camps. The Tianyuan Xiao Clan was no exception.
Chen Beiwu publicly killing Law-Breaking True Monarch appeared awe-inspiring and had spread his reputation throughout the entire Yuqing Immortal Sect, but in reality, he had completely offended the Xiao Clan cultivators of Xiao Yu’s faction.
It was only because Chen Beiwu was now the Yuqing Chief Disciple, with the Evergreen Lineage as his backing and a powerful faction behind him. If an ordinary Nascent Soul True Monarch had done the same, they might have died at any moment during an Immortal Alliance mission.
“Enough. From what I know of Chen Beiwu, it will be very difficult for him to accept a Foundation Establishment Dao Companion.” Yu Zhaohua reminded her.
She did not understand why, after Chen Beiwu had politely refused several times, her proud-tempered younger clanswoman not only had not become angry, but instead admired him even more.
Yu Zhaozhen lightly snorted and said dismissively：“If becoming Dao Companions doesn’t work, that’s fine too. At worst, I’ll learn from Xiao Li and take True Martial True Monarch as my master.”
Yu Zhaohua shook her head and could not be bothered to say anything more.
……
“Congratulations to Junior Brother on winning your first battle!”
The moment Chen Beiwu stepped down from the platform, Su Muyu, Mo Chen, and Jiang Chuan all stepped forward to congratulate him.
As they spoke, they could not help recalling Junior Brother’s arrogant words from back then, ‘Once superiority is decided, life and death will also be decided’.
Now that those arrogant words had come true, it only made Junior Brother appear even more extraordinary, someone who always fulfilled what he said.
“Senior Brothers and Senior Sister flatter me.”
Chen Beiwu was extremely concerned about the abnormal change of fate within the Chaotic Heaven and Earth. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he took his leave and returned to the Cave Residence.
Su Muyu and the other two also understood the enormous impact caused by Chen Beiwu suppressing and killing Xiao Yu, so they did not try to keep him.
Water Evolution Residence.
Chen Beiwu’s mind sank into the Chaotic Heaven and Earth as he fully activated his Divine Sense to sense the Calamity Misfortune.
‘As expected, that wasn’t an illusion!’
Sensing a trace of residual calamity aura, Chen Beiwu’s expression slightly hardened.
So this was the strength of a Divine Transformation True Venerable?
Merely a thought arising could make him sense an incomparably terrifying calamity aura, even casting a shadow over the Heavenly Fortune Violet Dragon.
Fortunately, the Yuqing Immortal Sect valued rules above all else. Even a Divine Transformation True Venerable did not dare disregard the sect’s rules and act against him.
‘If I want to truly become a major figure in the Immortal Alliance, the strength of a Nascent Soul True Monarch is still far from enough!’
Chen Beiwu took a deep breath, determination appearing in his eyes.
The higher his cultivation became, the more he understood the terrifying foundations of the Immortal Alliance.
If he did not want to become the next Xiao Yu, he had to display enough talent and strength within the sect to ensure his status remained secure.
At this thought, Chen Beiwu’s gaze turned toward a strand of scarlet Auspicious Fortune wandering within the Chaotic Heaven and Earth.
Seizing fate could rapidly increase his strength!
But compared to using the Nine-Breath Chaos Divine Ability, using the Fate Decree Embryo Divine Ability to suppress and kill prodigious powerhouses and plunder their fate was indeed more efficient, allowing him to reach the goal in a single step.
However, whether in the Immortal Alliance or the Southern Wastes, Nascent Soul True Monarchs were exalted figures and not people he could simply kill whenever he wished.
Chen Beiwu had been able to suppress and kill Xiao Yu because the latter had formed a grudge first, making his actions justifiable. That did not mean he could casually attack Nascent Soul True Monarchs. Such existences all had cultivation factions behind them, and provoking them could easily lead to being attacked by everyone.
‘But just because the Immortal Alliance won’t work doesn’t mean the Demonic Sects of the Southern Wastes won’t. With the Three-Realm War underway, Demonic Cultivators have committed countless killings. Slaying demons and eliminating evil is precisely the duty of a Mirror Moon Sect cultivator like me!’
Thinking this, Chen Beiwu decisively activated the Gate of Ten Directions.
“Buzz!”
The instant the Gate of Ten Directions slightly opened, a thought suddenly stirred in Chen Beiwu’s heart as he recalled the Divine Transformation fortuitous encounter he had previously triggered.
If that Divine Transformation fortuitous encounter had not yet triggered, that would be fine. What he feared was that it had already triggered and canceled itself out together with the Fifth-Tier Calamity Misfortune.
While Chen Beiwu thought about this and returned to the Southern Wastes, at One-Line Heaven in the Earth Proliferation Territory.
As the most remote mountain range of the Earth Proliferation Territory, One-Line Heaven possessed sparse spiritual activity and was ravaged by violent winds, with cultivators rarely appearing.
Only some weak low-level Beast Creatures inhabited this place and struggled to survive.
But today, a squad of cultivators had silently appeared in this desolate mountain range.
There were nine cultivators in total. They wore scarlet Daoist robes, their sleeves fluttering without wind, revealing the Blazing Flame Sect insignia on their chests.
The two cultivators leading them were even walking through the air, with compass-shaped Magical Treasures spinning rapidly in their hands as though sensing and searching for something.
“Continue searching. Whoever finds fluctuations from the restriction will be heavily rewarded with one Golden Palace Pill.”
A Golden Core elder opened his eyes, spiritual light circulating within them.
“Yes, Elder!”
The remaining cultivators immediately spread out, expanding their search outward from the Golden Core elder’s position while releasing scarlet jade Talismans one after another to sense the surroundings.
One double-hour later, the group of cultivators gathered again to report.
“How could you fail to find it!”
The Golden Core elder flew into a rage, flicked his sleeve, and severely injured a Foundation Establishment disciple：“You definitely weren’t searching carefully!”
“Brother Luo, calm down. If that ruin were so easy to find, the Mirror Moon Sect would probably have discovered it long ago.” Another Golden Core elder advised.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
At that moment, rumbling sounds erupted, and a blood-red phenomenon appeared in the heavens.
‘What is this?’
The pupils of the two Blazing Flame Sect Golden Core elders contracted slightly. They raised their heads toward the quietly splitting firmament, despair appearing in their eyes.
A blazing Great Sun suddenly descended with a thunderous roar, emitting extreme light and heat and sealing the entirety of One-Line Heaven.
The Great Sun fell and the earth veins boiled!
Before such a terrifying natural disaster, even Golden Core True Persons were merely ants, unable to escape. Even attempting to release Third-Tier Treasure Talismans to flee was nothing more than wishful thinking.
As for the accompanying Foundation Establishment cultivators beside them, they did not even have time to react. Before they could understand what had happened, their bodies instantly vaporized and vanished from heaven and earth.
“No！！！”
As the scalding heat wave swept across heaven and earth in a ring, the two Blazing Flame Sect Golden Core elders instantly perished.
Wherever the Great Sun reached, mountains and rivers melted like wax, forming a continuous flame mountain range stretching ten thousand li and emitting extreme heat that scorched spiritual activity.
At the center of the sea of flames, where even Golden Core True Persons could hardly survive, the radiance of the Great Sun slowly dissipated, revealing a vast and ancient giant gate.
Above the giant gate, space collapsed and condensed into two seal-script characters. One read Tai, the other Void.
As the two words Tai Void appeared, the sea of flames enveloping the ten-thousand-li mountain range slightly paused, then resumed burning, erupting with rolling heat waves that covered the vast gate.
Although One-Line Heaven was extremely remote, a heavenly transformation of such vast scale could not possibly escape the perception of true powerhouses.
Especially now that the Three-Realm War was becoming increasingly intense, many powerhouses had already turned their gazes toward the Earth Proliferation Territory.
In an instant, winds and clouds surged as powerhouses gathered.
……
Blackstone Gorge, inside a cultivation Cave Residence.
As golden radiance surged, Chen Beiwu’s figure abruptly appeared.
‘Not bad, no cultivator rashly broke in.’
Chen Beiwu swept the area with Divine Sense, confirmed that no one had disturbed the place after he left the Southern Wastes, and nodded in satisfaction before activating his teleportation Mystical Ability.
“Greetings, Lord/Young Master/Master/Lineage Master!”
Seeing Chen Beiwu suddenly appear, Shu You, Mo Li, Wang Hao, Yu Pan, and Jiang Yuyan all bowed respectfully.
“Not bad. After several decades apart, you’ve already become a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator!” Chen Beiwu was somewhat surprised.
Shu You’s greatest merit lay in her absolute loyalty, while her talent and aptitude were relatively ordinary.
Logically speaking, for Shu You to advance from early-stage Golden Core to mid-stage Golden Core should have taken at least over a hundred years of grinding cultivation.
“It was all thanks to the method bestowed by Lord.”
Shu You did not conceal anything. The Beast-Taming Ring on her finger flickered faintly, and a giant beast suddenly appeared.
Its eyes were dark blue, its claws and fangs cold and sharp, its shape resembled a bear, and its entire body was pitch-black. It was precisely the Third-Tier top-grade Treasure Beast 【Soul-Devouring Beast】.
Chen Beiwu immediately understood.
Shu You’s fortune was quite good. She had contracted a Soul-Devouring Beast, rare within the Immortal Alliance and highly compatible with her attributes.
No wonder her cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds within several decades, allowing her to suppress Yu Pan and Jiang Yuyan.
These two were not ordinary cultivators.
One cultivated the Beast-Taming Lineage’s method of Borrowing Beasts to Cultivate Truth and had the assistance of the Third-Tier Supreme Grade Treasure Beast Heaven-Eye Blackhawk.
The other possessed the Crow-Resting Spirit Physique, with combat strength ranking among the very best of Southern Wastes cultivators.
“How is the sect’s war situation now?” Chen Beiwu asked about the serious matter.
Battlefield slaughter and Dueling Contention were two entirely different concepts.
Previously, he had been able to cut through three hundred Upper Yang Soldiers and suppress and kill True Monarch Shangyi because the Dao Soldier formation had not been large enough to pose a threat.
But on a true battlefield, if a late-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch of the Scarlet Yang Sect led three thousand Dao Soldiers and unleashed their full battle momentum, forget Chen Beiwu, even a peak Nascent Soul True Monarch would have to avoid their edge and could not confront them head-on. Once trapped within the military momentum of the Dao Soldiers, even they would risk falling.
“Thanks to Lord suppressing and killing Blood Marrow True Monarch and Bitter Soul True Monarch, the sect’s upper ranks have decided to sweep through Broken Dragon Cliff and completely defeat the allied forces of the Azure Spirit Sect and Blood Fortune Sect.” Shu You respectfully replied.
At that moment, an urgent voice came from outside the room.
“Junior Brother Chen, the sect has sent an urgent report. At One-Line Heaven, in the southeastern extremity of the Earth Proliferation Territory, an ancient Dao lineage ruin has appeared!”
Chen Beiwu raised his eyes and discovered that the newcomer was Clarifying Abyss True Monarch Xin Yu, who looked hurried.
‘An ancient Dao lineage ruin?’
Hearing this, Chen Beiwu’s expression remained unchanged, while Shu You and the other four immediately became energized and exchanged glances.
For a sect Grand Elder to attach such importance to it, this ancient Dao lineage that had suddenly appeared was definitely extraordinary!