Chapter 822 - 817: Enemy of the Whole World
Ang Xiao was not the type to seek the limelight.
At least compared to the beast who relied on the Dao of Arcane Body to broadcast live across Quanghai and insult him in front of everyone, he acted with much more prudence.
In his eyes, there was only the Great Dao.
In other words, when he made his declaration to the entire Void Sea of Light, he was not announcing what he planned to do next, but rather declaring—
"I have already finished."
RUMBLE!
Overseas, at the Skyline.
Thick, ink-like darkness constantly surged out of the Netherworld connected to the Skyline, expanding outward with the Immortal Pivot at its center and spreading continuously toward the entire Void Sea of Light.
Seeing this, Ang Xiao chuckled lightly with his hands behind his back. His chilling gaze seemed capable of piercing through the Sea of Suffering, catching sight of the Piaomiao and intangible Other Shore.
"Come, all of you."
In the North, at the Sea of Clouds.
World Purger Fei Xue pushed open the doors to her bedchamber. Watching the turbulent winds and clouds in the sky, she deduced the karmic links, and an indescribable emotion surfaced in her beautiful eyes.
Immediately after, the surrounding Heaven and Earth rippled like water, shimmering like a lake’s surface. Within the light, a figure faintly materialized, resembling a drop of ink decorating a blank sheet of paper. It was precisely the True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven, who had already broken through to the Late Stage of Golden Core. However, compared to World Purger Fei Xue, his Qi trace was even more massive.
This did not mean he was stronger than World Purger Fei Xue.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. It indicated that he could not perfectly control his Qi trace; it was a situation that only arose from a flawed foundation and insufficient Cultivation.
However, he couldn’t be blamed for this.
Because he had inherited the legacy of the two Sword Pavilion True Monarchs previously under True Monarch Gangxing, the conflict between the Fruit of Stove-Inside Fire and the Fruit of Roof-Top Earth still persisted.
Logically speaking, he actually shouldn’t have succeeded.
Yet, by some unknown method, he had convinced the Array Spirit currently inside the Heaven-Reaching Hall to lend a helping hand, barely managing to maintain his current condition.
"Still alive?" World Purger Fei Xue cast a sidelong glance and sneered. "You’re only barely balancing the conflict between the Fruits by relying on the Thirty-Three Heaven and Earth Cross and Diagonal Array.
"How long can you remain a Great Perfected Lord?"
Facing this mockery, the True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven appeared quite nonchalant. "As long as I can. It’s still somewhat better than being completely unpresentable.
"Besides, with the senior Array Spirit’s help, I can exert Peak-level combat power as long as I am within the Sea of Clouds. Even if an emergency arises and I must leave the Sea of Clouds, as long as I retrieve a piece of Array Chess in advance for support, I can engage in Combat for an Hour or two, ensuring that major matters won’t actually be delayed."
"As long as you know what you’re doing," World Purger Fei Xue said, shaking her head.
Immediately after, the True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven spoke in a deep voice, "Ang Xiao... he is Overseas. His scheme seems related to the Netherworld. Should we stop him?"
"Stop him?" World Purger Fei Xue retorted. "How? The millennia Tribulation is approaching. Both Profound Wall and the Star Palace are present. Why should we be the ones to go and stop him?
"Moreover, since he dared to do this, he naturally has confidence."
At this point, World Purger Fei Xue suddenly let out a sigh. "He has concentrated all the Tribulation of the entire millennia onto himself.
"Originally, this great Tribulation would have lasted for at least a millennium, just like the last one.
"But by pulling such a stunt, not only has he advanced the timing of the Tribulation, he’s also made himself a target for all. He probably intends to be the bird that sticks its neck out!"
What did it mean to stick one’s neck out?
Originally, the millennia Tribulation had a time limit of a "millennium." During this millennium, the entire Void Sea of Light would serve as a battlefield, turning into a gluttonous feast.
Perfected Lords at the Early Stage of Golden Core could rapidly improve their strength by hunting the Outer Dao, Refining True Treasures, and stepping into the Middle Stage of Golden Core.
Perfected Lords at the Middle Stage of Golden Core could form alliances, complement and mutually benefit each other, and push toward the Late Stage of Golden Core.
Great Perfected Lords at the Late Stage of Golden Core could leverage the Tribulation to accumulate foundations, seizing the opportunity when the Masters of Dao’s control over the Current World drastically dropped, to gaze toward the Other Shore.
However, all of this required time.
Under these circumstances, the earlier one stood out, the easier it was to become a common target. After all, there were too many monks and too little gruel—the positions were strictly limited. If you went up, there wouldn’t be room for me.
This was precisely the case for Ang Xiao.
By initiating the Tribulation ahead of schedule and blatantly putting on a posture of seeking the Nascent Soul, he effectively shattered everyone else’s schemes for the Tribulation.
At this moment, the True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven also figured it out. He frowned and said, "With his Cultivation, he could absolutely take it slow, forge alliances, systematically eliminate those who threaten him step by step, and then seek the Nascent Soul. Why act so recklessly regardless of the consequences? Is he truly unafraid of making the whole world his enemy?
"Or could it be that he has allies?"
World Purger Fei Xue shook her head. "Allies? The path to the Great Dao is always walked alone. Besides, when it involves the matter of the Nascent Soul, it is absolutely impossible for him to have any allies."
"Then he’s courting death!" the True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven stated with certainty. "If that’s the case, he is making enemies of all the Perfected Lords in the entire Void Sea of Light. How could he possibly withstand such an overwhelming torrent?"
"...There is no rush." World Purger Fei Xue paused and shook her head. "If we can’t sit still, do you think Profound Wall and the Star Palace can? Moreover, how could a Nascent Soul be so easily attained?"
Speaking up to here, she raised her head, seemingly gazing at the Other Shore from afar as well.
"The Masters of Dao are watching from above."
In the Void Sea of Light, the Profound Wall and the Star Palace had already converged in one place. One side occupied a magnificent palace, like stars surrounding the moon, while the other side was a towering Immortal Mountain.
The Profound Wall faction, led by Celestial Master Chongying Yuan You, had proactively come to the Star Palace. Glancing around, he immediately spotted dozens of sculptures arranged within the gloomy palace. Each sculpture appeared lifeless, surrounded only by feeble Spiritual perception. The main seat, however, was completely empty.
Celestial Master Chongying Yuan You thought, "So this is the Star Palace... How pitiful, how lamentable."
He dismissed those "Star Monarchs" on the periphery of the Star Palace with utter disdain; they were merely a bunch of captive servants.
Only these lifeless sculptures were the true Ancient Cultivators of the Dao of Arcane Power. Each of them had been his close friends in the past, and they constituted the true foundation of the Star Palace.
Looking at these sculptures, he felt a sense of superiority in his heart.
After the collapse of the Dao of Arcane Body, the lifespans of all Cultivators had drastically decreased. This was especially true for Ancient Law Cultivators like them—who knew how many had fallen back then because of this?
Fortunately, the Masters of Dao of both factions were still present.
However, here came the awkward part: the Master of Dao for the Dao of Arcane Power did not possess authority over "lifespan," and thus had no way to replenish their fleeting longevity.
On the contrary, the Master of Dao for the Dao of Arcane Arts possessed much more advanced methods.
As a result, in the present Star Palace and Profound Wall, all Magical Power Dao Cultivators were forced to turn into stone sculptures. With their vitality Sealed, they huddled and slumbered within the Star Palace.
Meanwhile, the Profound Wall Cultivators relied on a super Magic that enveloped their Outer Realm, barely stalling the passage of their lifespan. They didn’t need to sleep like the Star Palace Cultivators, but the drawback was that they couldn’t leave the Profound Boundary Celestial Realm. Consequently, compared to the Star Palace, the Profound Wall’s presence in the Void Sea of Light was exceedingly low.
Reining in his thoughts, Celestial Master Chongying Yuan You said in a deep voice, "Everyone, the situation is clear.
"Someone among the Immortal Core Demons is seeking the Nascent Soul, while the other Immortal Core Demons plan to watch from the sidelines, leaving us to stop him and taking the opportunity to whittle down our strength.
"Everyone, who intends to go?"
His voice echoed through the massive Star Palace. After a long while, a Spiritual perception transmitted from one of the sculptures. "I will go. I won’t live much longer anyway.
"By taking a gamble, perhaps I can get a new lease on life.
"Even if I fail, I might as well die a quick death."
As the voice faded, that initially feeble Spiritual perception rapidly began to recover. The sculpture swiftly shed its stony texture, revealing a middle-aged man.
"So it’s Fellow Daoist Hao Yuan," Celestial Master Chongying Yuan You said, nodding slightly.
Back then, when True Monarch Gangxing single-handedly charged into the Star Palace and eventually swaggered off, not a single Ancient Golden Core Cultivator in the Star Palace had been willing to engage him in Combat.
This was, of course, not because they were afraid of the half-crippled True Monarch Gangxing.
It was rather because they did not want to waste their lives, which were already nearing their end.
However, when it came to the life-or-death moment of the millennia Tribulation, their previous concerns naturally vanished. These Star Palace Cultivators suddenly became more proactive than one another.
In the final analysis, they were losers.
As the victors of the past, the Immortal Pivot True Monarchs were seeking the Dao. But as the losers, they were fighting for their very lives, making them even more unbridled and reckless.