"How could the Heavenly Dao threaten to unleash tribulation if things aren't returned? This Heavenly Dao divine artifact speaks even less eloquently than Seventh Master—Seventh Master is far more refined and genial."
Xu Ying felt rather surprised. *If I were the Heavenly Dao, why would I need the mortals of various worlds to return immortal roots? Isn't the Heavenly Dao supposed to be omnipotent? It could simply create new roots. The Heavenly Dao divine artifact shows not a shred of the poise the Heavenly Dao ought to possess. Is it really guided by the Heavenly Dao's consciousness, or by a human?*
It suddenly occurred to him: What if the divine artifact wasn't governed by the will of Heaven, but by a mortal of flesh and blood like himself? What if someone was merely acting in the name of the Heavenly Dao?
If a person was using the artifact's mouth to utter threats, that would make complete sense! Mortals possess the seven emotions and six desires, joys and sorrows, anger and grief, schemes of coercion and bribery—but the Heavenly Dao possesses none of these! The movements of Heaven are constant; they do not exist for a Sage King Yao, nor do they perish for a tyrant Jie.
Why would the Heavenly Dao ever threaten the living beings of all worlds over mere immortal roots?
Just as Xu Ying thought this, the Heavenly Dao divine artifact suddenly sensed his presence and immediately traced his perception back toward him! Xu Ying instantly severed his Heaven-Human Induction, cut off his divine sense, and reined in his aura. His Heaven-Human Induction came from the Yuan clan's Primordial Dao Invoking Heaven Induction, which linked his divine sense to the myriad heavens and worlds. When the Heavenly Dao divine artifact traced his perception route, it would only sense that his divine sense originated from other heavens, unable to pinpoint his true origin! The artifact did not continue hunting for the source of that induction. After all, when the will of Heaven spoke and projected its voice across the myriad worlds, there would inevitably be powerful cultivators in those realms probing the source and questioning the Heavenly Dao's authenticity.
Just moments ago, hundreds of waves of divine sense had swept past, brushing against the celestial root of the Lesser Xuan Heaven.
Even so, Xu Ying was the only one bold enough to tether his perception directly to the Heavenly Dao divine artifact's own senses to probe the Heavenly Dao's consciousness.
Suddenly, amid the myriad heavens and worlds manifested around the immortal palace, streaks of spiritual light flew forth from those worlds toward the palace. These were the immortal roots scattered across various realms during the ancient battle on the heavenly road, now heeding the call of the divine artifact and returning to the greater root! Naturally, there were certainly those across the myriad worlds who refused to yield, clutching onto their immortal roots and refusing to let them fly away.
Seeing this, Xu Ying felt a surge of excitement. *Countless years have passed since that great villain shattered the heavenly road. With the road severed, no one has ascended. Regardless of that person's true motive, perhaps this time the heavenly road really can be reconnected, and ascension made possible once more!*
Ahead, within the immortal palace, as more immortal roots flew in from all worlds, the immortal root of the Taiyi Minor Mystic Heaven finally began to reveal its true form.
It was a vine composed of pure spiritual light—a single plant with two intertwined vines growing as one.
Between the two vines, tendrils connected them into a double helix structure, mutually embodying Yin and Yang, coexisting in primal simplicity.
It was precisely due to this wondrous duality that when the Yin-Yang Vine was shattered in the past, it had transformed into all kinds of diverse immortal grasses and plants.
Xu Ying once again activated his induction of the heavens, establishing a link with the Yin-Yang Vine's immortal root to search for traces of primordial Dao essence. He thought, *With so many immortal roots flying in to form the Yin-Yang Vine, there must be primordial Dao essence within that can refine the medicines!* Inside his secret depositories, the immortal medicines were continuously being refined, and his Heaven-Human Induction grew increasingly pure, gradually extending further.
The two colossal spiritual lights of the Yin-Yang Vine twisted around each other and soared skyward. The far end of the root faintly connected to another, higher dimension of space and time! Through the churning spiritual light, glimpses of that other realm gradually appeared.
Xu Ying's divine sense attempted to connect with that realm, yet found it impossible to break through. *Is that the next stop along the heavenly road, or the Immortal Realm?*
Settling for the next best thing, he searched along the leaves of the Yin-Yang Vine. These leaves connected to various worlds among the heavens, with some tendrils plunging deep into their respective time and space. Xu Ying even felt that he could climb along this vine into other worlds! However, the Yin-Yang Vine's structure remained unstable—likely because many immortal roots were still missing—and it looked as though it could collapse at any moment.
Where the leaves met other worlds, water and fire surged while thunderclaps crashed, resembling an apocalyptic cataclysm that even divine sense struggled to pierce. *The primordial Dao essence is definitely hidden somewhere within this Yin-Yang Vine root!*
Xu Ying searched leaf by leaf. When the Heavenly Dao divine artifact transmitted its voice across the heavens once more, Xu Ying's divine sense, clinging to the root, picked it up with acute precision.
"People of all worlds, I am the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao. Promptly return the immortal roots hoarded in your realms to restart the heavenly road! Refuse, and tribulation shall descend to smite you!"
Several more immortal roots flew out from the heavens, likely surrendered by powerful factions dreading divine punishment. Xu Ying's eyes lit up. *Tracing the primordial Dao essence in these immortal roots could lead me to where the rest of the essence is hidden!*
He immediately directed his divine sense to bond with one of the incoming immortal roots, which had just flown out of the barrier of water and fire and was about to merge with the Yin-Yang Vine. Xu Ying swiftly inspected it, but found no primordial Dao essence; the faction that kept it had presumably harvested it already. He immediately focused his divine sense on another incoming root, but that one lacked primordial Dao essence as well.
Abandoning it, Xu Ying reached out to a third. He searched rapidly, but the roots flying from other worlds were already merging into the Yin-Yang Vine—time was running out! He had to hurry and find a root containing primordial Dao essence, then follow it to find where the essence went!
The third root: none!
The fourth root: none!
The fifth root: still none!
Gradually, no more immortal roots flew forth from the myriad heavens and worlds. Though the Yin-Yang Vine linking the heavens remained somewhat unstable, it no longer threatened to crumble at any second. Judging by its state, there were still many immortal roots that had taken the form of immortal plants and grasses, forcibly suppressed by powers across the realms and withheld from returning!
Xu Ying's heart sank. There were no more roots for him to trace the essence.
The Heavenly Dao divine artifact transmitted its message across the heavens a third time, its consciousness reverberating through every realm and ringing through the clouds: "People of all worlds, promptly return the hoarded immortal roots to restart the heavenly road! Refuse, and tribulation shall descend to smite you!"
A glimmer of hope flared anew in Xu Ying's heart. *What if another faction can't take the scare and surrenders their root? That could be my chance!*
Yet the myriad heavens and worlds remained utterly silent. Clearly, those who dared withhold immortal roots after three warnings from the Heavenly Dao were powers of terrifying strength and influence!
*There are quite a few hardliners in the myriad heavens and worlds!*
Xu Ying couldn't help admiring their grit. Had it been him, he probably would have buckled under the coaxing and threats and handed over the immortal root.
Suddenly, brilliant divine light churned violently. An unspeakable, indescribable terror swept past Xu Ying as a god with a dragon's head and human body rose within the radiant glow! The instant the god passed, its gaze fell upon Xu Ying.
When their eyes met, Xu Ying's divine sense instantly fell into chaotic disarray, his mind flooded with a barrage of disordered consciousness. His own thoughts went completely blank. Bizarre talismans, symbols, erratic lines, and deafening static danced before his eyes, his pupils dilating. Only when the dragon-headed, human-bodied god moved far away did his awareness gradually return.
Xu Ying felt a sudden, agonizing pain in his chest. Looking down, he discovered that at some point, his right hand had gripped a bloody, dripping heart. The heart was still connected to his chest cavity—it was his very own heart! Enduring the agony, Xu Ying stuffed the heart back into his chest. Chaotic lines and symbols still flickered before his eyes, and a cacophony of noises buzzed in his ears. Only after a good while did he return to normal.
Xu Ying hastily checked on Yuan Qi, only to find the serpent devouring his own tail, having already swallowed half of his body. Xu Ying hurriedly channeled the Heart-Centering Technique to wake him. The giant serpent frantically coughed his body back out; nearly half his tail had already been digested, exposing rotting flesh and stark white bone!
"Whenever we encounter the Heavenly Dao, strange and bizarre things always happen..." Xu Ying recalled his several encounters with heavenly gods, where he seemed to hear terrifying voices that warped his mind and thoughts, leaving him with lingering dread. That dragon-headed, human-bodied deity just now wasn't a real god, but a projection cast by the Heavenly Dao divine artifact's light. In truth, the divine artifact itself had just passed right beside them!
Xu Ying steadied himself and looked toward the dragon-headed deity. Shimmering with light, the towering god had already followed the spiritual leaves of the Yin-Yang Vine to the outside of one of the heaven worlds. The colossal deity breached the turbulent barrier of water and fire and stepped into that world.
Xu Ying immediately mobilized his divine sense, following the Yin-Yang Vine to the edge of that world as well, peering at the scene inside.
The god formed by the divine artifact floated serenely in the sky of that world, magnificent and imposing. Under the Heavenly Dao's shroud, that world suddenly descended into turmoil.
Xu Ying watched as the living beings of that world—humans and monsters alike, beasts on the ground and creatures in the water—all went mad in an instant. They either mutilated themselves, slicing off their own faces or gouging out their hearts to eat them, or slaughtered others, attacking anyone in sight without rhyme or reason!
Even the accomplished Qi Refiners found it impossible to remain calm under the Heavenly Dao's influence; one after another succumbed to inner demons, plunging into slaughter!
Sects and sacred grounds across that world hoisted up mighty magic treasures one after another to suppress their sects' fortunes and contend against the Heavenly Dao's majesty! Yet it was entirely in vain, for the cosmic phenomena were shifting as well.
Snow fell in the sixth month, lightning storms erupted, volcanoes burst forth everywhere, floods surged, storms raged, and natural disasters ran rampant! In the ocean, countless fish corpses piled up across the water's surface; on land, crops were engulfed in infernos, and fiery gales ignited all vegetation!
The entire world fell into ruin. Humans and demons alike went extinct, leaving only those sects struggling to hold out beneath the protection of their magic treasures! But their treasures could not last long either, as they felt the relentless passage of time and decayed at breakneck speed.
Finally, the supreme experts of those sects could bear it no longer. Bearing their sect-guarding treasures, they flew toward the dragon-headed god in the sky, seeking to stake their lives against the Heavenly Dao divine artifact!
Their silhouettes looked so frail. They were the pinnacle Qi Refiners of that heaven, titans of the Ascension stage, founding masters and ancestors revered by the world. Yet before they could even reach the dragon-headed god, their minds snapped into chaos; they began frantically mutilating themselves or attacking their fellows, meeting untimely ends one after another!
Xu Ying felt cold to his bones, his body numb. *So this is the tribulation of Heaven! Truly horrifying!*
In mere moments, the Heavenly Dao divine artifact had wiped out all life in an entire world, leaving not a single survivor!
Xu Ying's face turned deathly pale. Shivering, he withdrew his divine sense, his legs quaking uncontrollably.
Yuan Qi, whose divine sense had hitched a ride on Xu Ying's, had witnessed the spectacle as well. The great serpent was trembling so hard that Xu Ying shivered like a sieve along with him.
"Seventh Master, stop shaking," Xu Ying said in a trembling voice.
Yuan Qi's voice quivered. "Ah Ying, I'm not shaking! I've got plenty of guts—don't you humans love drinking snake bile to boost your courage...?"
Xu Ying stammered, "I'm not shaking either. Then who is?"
He heard the clanging chime of a bell and hastily looked into his Realm of Xiyi. There, the bronze bell was hovering, trembling violently.
"What are you looking at me for?!" the bronze bell snapped in fury. "You two are shaking too!"
Just as Xu Ying was about to retort, an immortal root flew out from the newly obliterated world, heading toward the Yin-Yang Vine. Just moments ago, the Heavenly Dao divine artifact had destroyed that entire world solely for this tiny immortal root! Before the Heavenly Dao, all living beings were reduced to dust.
Xu Ying composed himself and channeled his induction of the heavens, quickly establishing a link with that immortal root.
Joy surged within him as he immediately sensed a pool of shimmering water within the root—the primordial Dao essence harbored inside it! Xu Ying planted a sliver of his divine sense within the essence, then withdrew the rest.
The moment the immortal root touched the Yin-Yang Vine, it dissolved into streaks of spiritual light, merging with the vine. As for that pool of shimmering water, it darted swiftly through the vine and vanished. Xu Ying, however, did not need to watch where the water went; he only needed to sense his sliver of divine sense.
Soon, he sensed his divine sense racing along the vine's stems and tendrils, descending toward the immortal palace below, traversing a grand hall, and entering a mural upon the wall!
Xu Ying was invigorated. He leapt up and dashed toward the immortal palace!
"Lord Bell, Seventh Master, perk up! We might just have hit the jackpot!"
The bronze bell was still shivering, falling just short of carving "unruffled" onto its metal body.
Yuan Qi was in no better shape, curled into a ball and tucked inside Xu Ying's collar with only his head poking out, the crest fluttering behind his head shaking like a dancer's feather fan. Xu Ying's legs were shaking as well—he was trying to act just as unruffled, nearly tumbling over several times.
Yet the youth, the snake, and the bell were all thrilled. They were cowardly, yet daring, brimming with anticipation for the harvest ahead.
Chapter 147