"Eh? The Three Realms is far vaster than before."
Yinyuanzi found it rather strange. At this moment, the borders of the Three Realms were still rumbling and vibrating, pushing back the Chaos Sea. Its territory was expanding by the moment, exposing many bizarre treasures that had been submerged in the Chaos Sea.
Farther away, new stars were continually being born within the starry sky, and new Dao sceneries were emerging across the cosmos, harboring natural wonders of the Dao.
Such a place was completely different from the Three Realms in his memory.
In the past, the Three Realms had been cramped and its spiritual energy scarce; even pooling the power of all three realms could hardly nurture a handful of figures in the Indestructible realm, and those Indestructible experts of the Three Realms had been pitifully weak.
Yet now, the Three Realms was expanding at an astonishing rate. Even if it had never developed a cave abyss cultivation system, its immortal mountains alone would suffice to nourish a hundred-odd Indestructible beings.
Moreover, the natural Dao sceneries within the cosmos were the key to cultivating the cave abyss system. When cultivators contemplated and studied these Dao sceneries, they would discover the profound mysteries of the Grand Dao, thereby grasping the essence of cave abysses.
"Something monumental must have occurred in the Three Realms." Yinyuanzi gave a light tap of his foot, and the Emerald Rock tiered ship flew directly toward the Three Realms.
The two scouts had steered the tiered ship back to the other shore and were being led by the garrison commander to report the discovery of the Three Realms to Grand Dao Lord Taiyi. But along the way, Yinyuanzi had intercepted and captured the three of them before they could see Dao Lord Taiyi.
The one most eager regarding the Three Realms was Yinyuanzi. First, he had lost face in the Heavenly Immortal Realm when a band of natives slaughtered one of his avatars; second, he had discovered a cave abyss of the tenth level of the Grand Dao here.
The Abyss Sea—the temptation was simply too immense. He too wished to cultivate to the tenth Dao realm and attain the realm of a Grand Dao Master.
He had preached the Dao across thousands of universes, harvesting the powerhouses of those cosmoses, all to amass sufficient strength and gather enough wisdom to break through the limits of the Indestructible realm and reach the realm of a true Grand Dao sovereign.
Were it not for this, he would never have risked offending Dao Lord Taiyi by capturing the two scouts and the garrison commander of the other shore, forcing them to guide him here.
Standing behind Yinyuanzi, the garrison commander said tremulously, "True King, we have come here without authorization. If the other True Kings and Grand Dao Lords find out, you, True King, will certainly survive, but we will surely lose our lives."
The two scouts nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"Hardly save yourselves?" With his back to them, murderous intent flashed in Yinyuanzi's eyes, yet he suppressed it and chuckled. "The Three Realms conceals many secrets concerning the tenth Dao realm. If I attain the tenth level of the Grand Dao, let alone the other True Kings, even the Grand Dao Lords wouldn't dare utter a peep! At that time, far from being guilty, you will have performed a great service."
Though murderous intent had stirred within him, he did not yet wish to kill the two scouts and the commander. The scouts knew the Chaos Sea well; with them around, returning to the other shore would entail far less danger. As for the commander, he was responsible for guarding the ferry port; if he died, it would inevitably draw the attention of other True Kings.
"Eh? There are auras of other Indestructible realm experts here." Yinyuanzi's expression shifted slightly. Sensing something all of a sudden, he actually detected the auras of over a hundred Indestructible beings. The shock gave him pause, nearly prompting him to turn on his heel and leave.
"How insidious of the Three Realms to harbor so many experts in secret! Wait, there is also the aura of a Grand Dao Master!" His face turned ashen. Although he was an Immortal True King of the other shore, possessing boundless might, facing such sheer numbers of Indestructible experts could easily put him at a disadvantage.
And a Grand Dao Master terrified him above all else.
The difference in cultivation and strength between Dao Eight and Dao Nine was not yet absurdly vast; a peak Supreme could still contend against someone in the early Indestructible realm.
However, the chasm between Dao Nine and Dao Ten was like heaven and earth—there was simply no possibility of contention.
A single glance from a Grand Dao Master could strip an Indestructible expert of their power, and a single descending finger could suppress an Indestructible powerhouse.
Yinyuanzi's face clouded with indecision. He thought to himself, *Reason dictates that this Dao Ten being is already dead, but this aura is truly potent. Let me take a look. If he is indeed dead, it will suit my desires perfectly—I can seize his corpse and cave abyss, destroy this universe, and erase all traces, so that no one will ever know that the Grand Dao Master's remains and cave abyss fell into my hands. If that Grand Dao Master is still alive, I will depart immediately; fleeing into the Chaos Sea will still be in time.*
Before long, Yinyuanzi caught sight of the Grand Dao Master's skeletal remains. His Dharmic power was immense, and his vision far exceeded that of ordinary beings. Gazing as far as his eyes could see, he spotted ancient ruins floating across the starry void in the distance, radiating the aura of an alien Dao.
Atop the largest ruin sat a colossal skeleton, and behind its head floated that boundless Abyss Sea.
Looking from afar, Yinyuanzi could even make out various Dao phenomena within the Abyss Sea.
"That foolish dragon had no idea how to unleash the true power of a Dao Master's cave abyss. If this treasure falls into my hands, this single cave abyss will surpass all the cave abysses I have plundered by a hundredfold!"
Yinyuanzi settled his mind and shifted his gaze, only to pause again in surprise. "Though numerous, these Indestructible beings don't seem very strong. They... Ah, I see! They are a band of refugees, not Indestructible beings of the Three Realms universe!"
He saw that the ruins of these Indestructible beings were condensed from the Grand Dao, forming miniature worlds that served as bodhimandas where they sheltered. Being knowledgeable and widely experienced, he instantly understood the reason and murmured, "These Indestructible beings do not belong to the Three Realms. They are a band of refugees—the elderly, weak, sick, and crippled fleeing cosmic tribulation. That Grand Dao Master was their leader, who died for some unknown reason. These Chaos Sea refugees are here to seize the Three Realms!"
He had also heard of cosmic tribulation, knowing it to be an exceedingly terrifying catastrophe capable of extinguishing universes and annihilating the Grand Dao. Anyone tainted by cosmic tribulation was almost certainly doomed; no matter where they fled, the tribulation would catch up to them, bringing death and the destruction of their Dao.
However, Yinyuanzi had never witnessed it in person.
"Were they in their prime, with so many Indestructible beings, I would indeed fear them somewhat. But they are merely a mob of the sick and feeble. The natives of the Three Realms are clashing with these decrepit refugees and about to go to war. Heh, mere ants..."
A conflict had already erupted between the two sides. Yinyuanzi personally steered the Emerald Rock tiered ship, accelerating toward the scene, and chuckled. "Those few native ants look rather familiar—they plotted against me back then. But why isn't that brat who wields swords here?" Remembering Xu Ying, he could not help but grind his teeth in hatred.
Back then, when his avatar had descended at great cost to his Dharmic power, he wouldn't have lost against the Far Ancestor, the Ancestral God, Emperor Ming Xun, and the rest. Yet Xu Ying had wielded the Zhuxian Sword to ravage his cave abysses, bringing about his defeat.
Not seeing that native Xu Ying this time left him rather displeased.
"No matter. There is no rush to kill that native named Xu Ying. Better to seize the Grand Dao Master's skeleton and cave abyss first, lest delays bring unexpected trouble!"
Yinyuanzi suddenly rose to his feet and leapt from the Emerald Rock tiered ship, heading straight for the Grand Dao Master's skeleton.
On the battlefield, the ruin masters of the Former Court era struck first. Shielded by the Grand Dao Master's skeleton, these ruin masters had no more worries and took the initiative to attack!
Shielded by the Grand Dao Master's skeleton, these ruin masters had no more worries and took the initiative to attack!
Though the combat prowess of these ruin masters was far diminished from their prime, they were still more formidable than ordinary Indestructible experts; moreover, their Dao methods were profound, and their divine arts neared perfection.
The Holy Venerable stepped forward first, clashing from afar with a ruin master in an exchange of divine arts. As their techniques detonated, their auras shuddered violently, and that ruin master actually took a step back.
"This Indestructible expert is powerful!" The ruin master was startled, instantly realizing the Holy Venerable's extraordinary caliber.
The man's Dharmic power was actually so formidable that it threatened to surpass his own. Had his Dao methods not been somewhat unrefined, the ruin master feared he would have come out the worse in that very first exchange. Such was the efficacy of the New Dao.
In the New Dao established by Xu Ying, although the Supreme realm was the fourteenth realm and the Indestructible realm was the fifteenth, the Supreme realm was effectively equivalent to Dao Eight plus half of Dao Nine. At the great perfection of the Supreme realm, one could already contend with Indestructible beings like Emperor Mingdao and the Far Ancestor.
The Holy Venerable was the first New Dao expert to step into the Indestructible realm, and having spent several years comprehending the Primordial Source core, his cultivation and strength had skyrocketed. Thus, even though the ruin masters had far longer histories of cultivating in the Indestructible realm, after weathering the cosmic tribulation, their cultivation might truly fall short of the Holy Venerable's.
Waste Qingxuan, Emperor Mingdao, Yuan Weiyang, the Ancestral God, and the others each attacked, charging toward the incoming ruins. In particular, the thousands of dragon powerhouses brought by Emperor Mingdao each unleashed their treasures, bombarding from afar with earth-shattering might that suppressed all before them, daring to confront even the ruin masters head-on.
Yuan Weiyang steered the World-Crossing Golden Ship directly in a ramming charge, pressing into the ruins along the way. Aboard the ship, Supreme after Supreme unleashed Dao methods and divine arts outward, tearing the heavens and earth apart in an instant.
Even the Ancestral God and the Far Ancestor, who were already severely wounded, joined the fray.
The ruin masters had to remain within their ruins, which restricted their movements and made them less agile. However, their advantage lay in having far too many Indestructible beings. Whenever one fell back, another immediately stepped in to take their place. Had they not been unable to leave their respective ruins, a single encounter would have been enough to wipe out the Three Realms completely. Even so, the Three Realms could not hold out for long.
Suddenly, ruins collided and merged with loud thuds, clustering around the ruin where the Grand Dao Master resided and coalescing into a single entity.
Ruin masters rose one after another. No longer fighting the Three Realms in single combat, every single ruin master unleashed their divine arts together, blasting toward the combatants of the Three Realms. The barrage was truly invincible, unstoppable by anyone!
The people of the Three Realms gathered together and pulled far back, not daring to approach even an inch closer.
The Former Court ruins had now become an impregnable fortress. Even Yuan Weiyang's World-Crossing Golden Ship dared not draw near; approaching would mean either being blasted out of the sky or suppressed by the Grand Dao Master's aura and crashing down.
This colossal ruin was like a continent floating in the starry expanse, tilted sideways as it plunged toward the Earth Immortal Realm.
Just at this moment, an extraordinarily mighty figure descended from the heavens with a resounding boom, landing atop the Grand Dao Master's head. Resembling an ancient god of the other shore, he was immensely powerful—even the aura of the Grand Dao Master could not completely suppress his cultivation and Dao!
The aura of that figure was overwhelmingly domineering. Behind him lay boundless darkness, within which floated countless Tianyin Cave Abysses of various sizes, connecting to thousands of universes.
As these Tianyin Cave Abysses rotated and stirred, boundless Dao power erupted! To still possess such an overbearing aura under the suppression of the Grand Dao Master's skeleton, the man's cultivation was beyond imagination.
"Yinyuanzi!" the Far Ancestor cried out.
"An Immortal True King!" the dragons shouted in dismay.
Around the Grand Dao Master, ruin masters also cried out in astonishment: "An Immortal of the other shore!"
"Master of the Emerald Rock!"
Hearing this, Yinyuanzi was slightly taken aback. *These decrepit refugees actually know of the other shore? When did the other shore's name become so renowned?*
Yet he thought nothing of it. After all, the other shore ruled over thousands of universes in the Chaos Sea and continued to expand outward; its prestige had certainly spread far and wide, so it was hardly surprising that they knew of it.
"The skeleton of Dao Ten and the cave abyss belong to me!" Without another word, he seized the Grand Dao Master's skull with one hand and reached for the Abyss Sea with the other, lifting both up.
The numerous ruin masters roared in fury and unleashed divine arts against Yinyuanzi. Faced with so many divine arts, even Yinyuanzi turned grave. He let go of the Grand Dao Master's skull to free up a hand.
With a turn of his hand, countless cave abysses behind him spun into motion, surging with turbulent Dao power to meet the divine arts of the ruin masters!
*Rumble!*
The auras of the ruin masters violently shuddered. Unable to hold their footing, they stumbled back step after step, expressions of shock plastered across their faces!
Even while suppressed by the Grand Dao Master's skeleton, Yinyuanzi had fought them off with only one hand. To think his cultivation was still this profound!
Yinyuanzi was also knocked backward, floating through the air. His blood and qi churned as he stifled a grunt, inwardly astonished: *The strength of these decrepit beings is truly not bad. Though they were inferior to me at their peak, they were still remarkable figures. Where did so many experts come from?*
Just as their powers clashed, a sword light struck without warning! Xu Ying was seen maneuvering three thousand immortal swords with the Zhuxian Sword as the formation eye, laying out the Zhuxian Sword Formation and stabbing into the darkness behind Yinyuanzi!
"Xu Ying!"
Yinyuanzi was both shocked and enraged. In that instant, he felt cave abyss after cave abyss shatter into pieces.
Those ruin masters channeled their respective Grand Daos, gathering their divine arts once more to blast toward him. Yinyuanzi could no longer bother holding onto the Abyss Sea; he immediately freed his other hand to meet the ruin masters' assault, sneering, "Today, after slaughtering all of you, I will destroy the Three Realms and let the Chaos Sea erase every last trace!"
He thrust his left hand behind him, conjuring endless palm prints that reached for Xu Ying.
In the next instant, he fended off the attacks of all the ruin masters. Their auras turned chaotic, and the combined ruins shuddered violently, breaking apart!
At the same time, Xu Ying was forced to fly out from the darkness behind him. Countless palm prints followed in pursuit, colliding violently with the Zhuxian Sword Formation and scattering sword after flying sword!
Blood seeped from the corner of Yinyuanzi's mouth from the impact of the ruin masters. As he sneered, a golden ship slammed violently into his chest, knocking him a step back, though the ship's hull cracked and fractured under the reverberation.
Before Yinyuanzi could regain his footing, the divine arts of the thousands of dragons and Earth Immortal Realm experts arrived, blasting into his chest.
Drifting backward, Yinyuanzi sneered, "Today I shall send you all to your graves—"
The moment those words left his mouth, the Grand Dao Master's skeleton suddenly rattled and turned around. The long-stagnant Abyss Sea violently began to spin!
The Grand Dao Master's skeleton thrust out a finger, striking Yinyuanzi dead between the eyebrows!
Chapter 719