On the Path to the Great Dao

Chen Shi didn’t notice Little Duan Immortal’s expression. His gaze was fixed on Chen Yindu and the others at that moment.

Chen Yindu, Creation Little Five, and the rest were hurrying toward this side, their target clearly to pass through this wall of the Great Dao and leave that place.

Chen Shi recalled the portraits of Chen Yindu and that woman left on the bronze city wall, and a thought flashed through his mind: “Back then, Grandpa must have crossed this wall of the Great Dao from the other side to get to my side. That’s why he left those ‘so-and-so was here’ drawings on the bronze wall. He and that woman were actually from the other side—this place is like a forbidden zone to them!”

His mind raced, immediately seizing on the key point.

Grandpa loved exploring the secrets of this world. The more hidden something was, the more it intrigued him. With such a glaring restricted area sitting here, sealed off by a wall of the Great Dao, he naturally couldn’t sit still—he had to investigate.

He and the other woman in the painting were probably fellow disciples, or perhaps another woman infatuated with him. The two came here together, broke through the wall of the Great Dao, and arrived on this side of the bronze city wall.

To commemorate their exploration, they left their portraits on the wall.

“That means Grandpa must have left a passage on the wall of the Great Dao for easy exit! So, after he, Fifth Uncle, Granny Sha, and the others pulled off such a huge feat, they fled here first!”

Chen Shi watched Chen Yindu and the others drawing closer, his eyes flickering. He thought silently, “So, what’s on the other side?”

He looked up at the sky. The Celestial True God’s face in the heavens was growing clearer.

The Dark Bird grew larger and larger, as if it had absorbed all the radiance of the sun and moon from this world. It spread its wings, soared upward, and flew toward the cracked sky.

This Dark Bird carried the power of the sun and moon from the Great Realms of nearly two thousand ancestors of the Thirteen Great Clans over more than six thousand years, pouring it into the Celestial True God’s body.

Chen Shi saw the sky trembling violently, as if vast vitality was being awakened at this moment.

The Celestial True God’s tightly shut eyes actually began to slowly open a crack!

At the same time, Chen Yindu, Creation Little Five, and the others rapidly reached the wall of the Great Dao. Chen Yindu, disguised as that bald-headed Daoist, stepped forward first. Raising his hand, his blood and energy formed a perfectly interlocking pattern of shamanic ritual markings that matched the identical pattern on the wall of the Great Dao.

The two merged, but didn’t activate the formation.

Chen Yindu carefully replaced every single shamanic ritual marking in this small formation with talismans, keeping the effect unchanged. Then, he activated the talismans and led the group through the wall of the Great Dao.

On the city wall, Chen Shi watched in stunned amazement.

Shamanic ritual markings and talismans could be converted into each other. For instance, Little Duan Immortal had tried to decipher the shamanic ritual markings on the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler, turning them into nine new talismans.

The Blood Lake Sutra Chen Shi had obtained in the Heavenly Pool Kingdom was also a technique written in shamanic ritual markings that could be decoded into new talismans.

The shamanic ritual markings copied from the Bronze Great Wall this time could also be turned into talismans.

But to use them like Chen Yindu did—breaking through a seemingly unbreakable wall of the Great Dao—was rare.

Chen Yindu led Creation Little Five and the others as they flew swiftly onto the bronze city wall. He said, “This has already alarmed the Celestial Way Immortals of Despair Slope, but even they can’t stop the sacrifice now. Once we’re outside the wall, we’ll be safe…”

“Grandpa!”

Chen Yindu’s heart shook violently. He followed the sound and saw a young boy running toward him, shouting loudly, “Grandpa!”

He felt dazed. Was it Little Ten?

Before he knew it, he had grown this tall—must be sixteen or seventeen by now, right?

When he left, Chen Shi was still a little tot. How had he shot up this high in the blink of an eye?

A pang of guilt hit him. He had left without saying goodbye back then. Would Little Ten resent him?

How had this child managed on his own in the mortal world?

How much hardship had he endured? How much grievance had he swallowed? How many trials had he faced?

If he could have stayed by his side, perhaps the boy would have suffered less.

Chen Yindu was a man of supreme wisdom, but even he hadn’t expected so many tangled thoughts to flood through his mind in an instant.

Chen Shi rushed over and hugged him tightly, unwilling to let go, afraid he might leave again.

“I can’t lift him onto my shoulders anymore. In the blink of an eye, he’s grown up.” Chen Yindu thought sadly.

Creation Little Five stepped forward and said, “Dad, we need to go. If we don’t, the immortals of Despair Slope will find us soon.”

He tried to take over Chen Yindu’s surging emotions, not wanting them to interfere with Chen Yindu’s judgment. But when his mind touched Chen Yindu’s, it was rejected.

Chen Yindu clearly treasured the bond between grandfather and grandson deeply, unwilling to hand it over for processing.

“Little Ten, let’s go.”

Chen Yindu smiled. “We’re going home.”

Within Despair Slope, one mighty Celestial Way Immortal after another descended, watching the bronze deity statues slowly darkening. Their faces were grim. Each of them looked around, searching for the intruders’ whereabouts.

They had already sealed off the entrance to Despair Slope the moment they arrived, trying to catch the rats in a trap.

More Celestial Way Walkers rushed over, searching everywhere for the invaders’ hiding place.

“What is Immortal Palace looking at?” a Celestial Way Immortal asked as he came to Gong Wanqing’s side.

He followed Gong Wanqing’s gaze, but only saw the wall of the Great Dao encircling Despair Slope, with a faint glimpse of the bronze city wall beyond.

Gong Wanqing withdrew her gaze and shook her head. “Nothing. Just suddenly recalled some old memories. Brother Kou, this is a serious matter. Should we inform the Celestial Venerable?”

Kou Immortal hesitated for a moment, then said, “Despair Slope was infiltrated by thieves, and they even activated the Universal Sacrificial Rite of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths without anyone noticing. The thieves might still be here! This must be reported to the Celestial Venerable.”

Gong Wanqing said, “I’ll go with you!”

Kou Immortal worried that going to see the Celestial Venerable alone would result in punishment. With her accompanying him, they could share the pressure. He smiled and said, “Then I’ll trouble Immortal Palace.”

Gong Wanqing followed him, but then, as if possessed, she turned back to look at the wall of the Great Dao, thinking, “Could it be him?”

In her heart, only that person could silently infiltrate Despair Slope, and only that person could silently leave Despair Slope.

Back then, she and that person were master and disciple, yet they had grown close.

He had asked her what lay beyond the wall.

She had told him it was Despair Slope’s forbidden zone, sealed by the Celestial Venerable’s wall of the Great Dao to block external demonic energy.

He wanted to see it.

She shouldn’t have agreed, but her own curiosity about the forbidden zone got the better of her, and somehow, she followed him.

That person was her disciple, not very strong in cultivation, but his knowledge made even her admire him. They arrived at the wall of the Great Dao. She watched him sit at the base of the wall, deep in thought. Suddenly, he leaped up and used an unexpected technique to break through the Celestial Venerable’s wall of the Great Dao. They calmly crossed it and arrived on the other side.

“It must be him returning.”

Immortal Palace thought silently. “He’s come back to relight the sun. But why hasn’t he come to see me?”

Not far away, Zhong Wuwang’s gaze fell on the massive altar. He then looked up at the sky and thought, “So this is where the True King was sacrificed back then? Were the civil and military officials who came with him also sacrificed alongside him?”

He stared at the Celestial True God.

Was the True God bestowing the Innate Dao Embryo a good thing or a bad thing? Or was the Innate Dao Embryo just a trap, a tool to relight the True God’s eyes?

“Why can the True God be awakened and the sun lit without using the Innate Dao Embryo?”

His eyes flickered. “As long as enough powerful beings are sacrificed, there’s no need to offer the Innate Dao Embryo, right? As for powerful beings, there are many, many in this world…”

Just then, Kou Immortal’s voice came from afar: “Wuwang, you’re coming to see the Celestial Venerable too. Follow along.”

Zhong Wuwang tensed up, kept his expression calm, and followed the two. He thought to himself, “There are still a few things I need to clarify. Is the Celestial True God alive or dead? Is it sacrificing the Innate Dao Embryo or reclaiming it? How many times has the Innate Dao Embryo been sacrificed?”

In the mortal world.

Feng Ruotong led seven Celestial Way Walkers, relentlessly chasing the Grand Sacrificial Officer of the Divine Capital and his group. They had clashed several times, with victories and defeats on both sides. The Grand Sacrificial Officer feared Despair Slope would send more Celestial Way Walkers and Celestial Way Immortals, growing increasingly anxious. But he couldn’t shake off Feng Ruotong and the others, and his frustration boiled over.

“Brother Feng is just a stubborn plaster, always sticking to our tails!”

The two sides met again by the River of Forgetting. The Grand Sacrificial Officer laughed bitterly, his tone icy. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll gamble my life and drag you down with me?”

Feng Ruotong didn’t look as strained as the Grand Sacrificial Officer. Instead, he seemed relaxed, smiling as he said, “If you were willing to gamble your life, I wouldn’t have had the chance to escape during that fight at the teahouse in Beilai City. It’s because you’re afraid I’ll drag you down and take you with me before I die that I managed to get away. Brother Yin, you won’t fight me to the death.”

A sneer crept onto his face. “Last time we fought desperately, both of us were severely injured. You found that after getting hurt, your power started slipping away. So you won’t let that happen again.”

The Grand Sacrificial Officer snorted but didn’t deny it. “When you push us to the edge, I’ll fight to the death.”

Feng Ruotong chuckled. “My target isn’t you. It’s the one behind you—the Demon Emperor of the Demon Capital. Brother Yin, forcing out that Demon Emperor is my real goal. Only he is the true threat to my Despair Slope!”

Not long after the Divine Capital was established, it recruited numerous demon gods from the underworld, along with Calamities and Catastrophes. This was quickly detected by Despair Slope’s spies, the Heaven’s Listeners.

There were many demon gods in the underworld, each fighting their own battles. The Calamities and Catastrophes were also dazed and confused, their forces scattered and hard to organize. But for these terrifying beings to be unified and gathered together, forming the Divine Capital—this was no small matter and shook Despair Slope.

Despair Slope sent Feng Ruotong to investigate the forces behind the Divine Capital. Feng Ruotong encountered the Divine Capital’s forces, and the Grand Sacrificial Officer stayed behind to fight him. Both were shocked beyond measure.

The Grand Sacrificial Officer was stunned by Feng Ruotong’s strength, while Feng Ruotong was shocked to discover that behind the Grand Sacrificial Officer stood an unfathomable Demon Emperor. Both sides held back out of mutual fear.

This time, Feng Ruotong had descended the mountain with the goal of finding this mysterious Demon Emperor!

Once the Demon Emperor was found, the Celestial Venerable would naturally take action, eradicating both the Demon Emperor and the Divine Capital!

Feng Ruotong’s eyes flickered, and he smiled faintly. “If I gravely wound you all, I don’t believe the Demon Emperor will just stand by and watch you die!”

The Grand Sacrificial Officer was stunned at his words.

The Demon Emperor? Hadn’t they already met?

Chen Shi was that mysterious, unfathomable Demon Emperor!

But Feng Ruotong obviously wouldn’t believe that kind of talk. Chen Shi’s cultivation was low, while the experts in the Divine Capital were at least full-fledged demons, with the Calamities and Catastrophes possessing even more formidable power. How could such beings revere Chen Shi as their Demon Emperor?

The two sides were on the brink of battle, ready to fight again. Suddenly, the heavens and earth shook violently. Mountains, rivers, the sky, and the ground—all came from every direction, making them unsteady!

Everyone was alarmed. They soared into the air and looked around. They saw countless peaks, countless rivers, and countless villages and towns rapidly vanishing!

The grand temples standing tall in the distance, the alien suns towering into the clouds, were gradually fading. The gods stationed there also vanished without a trace!

“The Yin and Yang realms are separating!” someone cried out in alarm.

Seizing the moment of Feng Ruotong’s shock, the Grand Sacrificial Officer broke free from his aura’s lock and led his men in a rapid retreat.

Feng Ruotong quickly led the seven Celestial Way Walkers in pursuit. But suddenly, their vision blurred, and they found themselves involuntarily leaving the underworld along with the earth and mountains.

They looked around. In the world where they now stood, distant mountains surged forth endlessly. Ghost gods vanished, and the world seemed to undergo a complete reconstruction!

Then, bright light suddenly streamed down from the sky.

Feng Ruotong looked up. The Celestial True God slowly opened its narrow eyelids, flames bursting from them. Sunlight poured onto the earth.

The sun had been lit once more!

Feng Ruotong was shocked and confused. He looked around and saw that the countless suns and moons of the Upper Realm had completely disappeared without a trace.

“Who activated the Universal Sacrificial Rite of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths? Wasn’t it said that we would wait until we found the Demon Emperor of the Demon Capital, then eliminate the Empress of Earth’s clone and the gods from the Divine Continent of China, before awakening the True God?”

He was utterly bewildered. He thought, “Could it be that the Celestial Venerable showed mercy, sparing the suffering of the living, and thus awakened the True God?”

In the fifty provinces of the Western Ox New Continent, people who had been teetering on the edge of life and death saw the countless suns and moons disappear and fell into despair. At Qianyang Mountain, Yan Xianzhi was also in despair, his face ashen as he stared at the sky. His concubine, holding his youngest son, was crying softly in fear.

Suddenly, someone looked up and pointed at the sky, shouting, “Look! What’s that?”

Fire streamed across the sky. The Celestial True God was slowly opening its eyes. The Ten Thousand Mountains around Qianyang Mountain were rapidly fading, gradually disappearing. The distance between the mountains was closing at an incredible speed.

By the time the sun changed from a narrow slit to a full, round orb, and sunlight covered the earth, the Yin and Yang realms had completely separated.

People looked around, barely able to contain their excitement. They ran, cheered, and embraced each other.

They didn’t know why the Celestial True God had revived, but they knew that this scene of apocalypse had finally ended.

Good times had finally arrived.

Yan Xianzhi couldn’t help but weep with joy, hugging his concubine and youngest son tightly.

“The Yin and Yang realms have separated again. The end-times calamity is over. This old man can return to the Western Capital and continue serving as Chief Grand Secretary!”

His heart raced. “The Thirteen Great Clans have suffered heavy losses, but they won’t be destroyed after all!”