"The Dao methods of this world are actually so primitive!"
During the battle between You Xuan and Taishu Xi, Lu He, a disciple of the God Fiend Grand Dao Lord, watched from below the stage. Seeing the prowess of these two peerless masters, he was utterly dumbfounded.
"These are the peerless masters of this universe?"
Over the past few days, he had traveled across many parts of Cuixu Continent searching for reclusive experts. But he hadn't encountered a single one, discovering instead that the Dao methods and divine powers of the New Universe were exceedingly rudimentary. The highest cultivation among the practitioners here was merely the Ascension stage, inferior even to any Great Thousand Universe under the jurisdiction of the other shore!
Yet it was precisely such a primitive universe that had inflicted horrific casualties on pioneers like them. Before they had even set foot on Cuixu Continent, all but a mere handful had perished.
He even estimated that if an Indestructible from the other shore came here, it would be difficult for them to preserve themselves. The architecture of the spirit runes was truly too profound.
Lu He couldn't help scheming, "The strength of these two peerless masters is so pathetic. It seems this universe truly has no powerful figures. With such a brilliant Great Dao architecture combined with the Dao methods of the other shore, I will be the sovereign here!"
On the other side, Yin Rao, a disciple of the Yin-Yang Grand Dao Lord, was also watching the battle. Her thoughts stirred. 'The Great Dao architecture of this world is supremely profound, yet its Dao methods are extremely backward. There must have been a fracture in civilization. For some reason, the cultivators here abruptly vanished without leaving behind an inheritance!'
This world-shaking battle between orthodox and demonic factions ended with You Xuan slaying the Three Islands, Six Sages, and Twelve Demon Venerables. Lu He's mind stirred, and he immediately gave chase to those despondent members of the demonic path, intending to unify the demonic path and become the Dao Ancestor of this place.
Carrying the prestige of having slain Taishu Xi and cut down the Three Islands, Six Sages, and Twelve Venerables in succession, You Xuan returned to Taiwei Palace, the pleasant shock in his heart still difficult to contain.
"The sword technique taught by the Old Immortal is simply too formidable!"
Cuixu Continent had already been in an era where the orthodox waned and the demonic waxed. Because no one had been able to cross the Thunder Marsh Heavenly Tribulation for a long time, countless chosen talents had died beneath the tribulation, with nobody able to ascend.
Over time, the demonic path arose, seeking longevity through unconventional methods.
As for the orthodox path, it gradually declined.
When he challenged Taishu Xi this time, he hadn't harbored much hope. After all, his opponent was a renowned veteran of the demonic path whose fame spread far and wide. Meanwhile, though he was the foremost person in sword dao among the orthodox path, there were also foremost figures across three hundred and sixty other paths—saber dao, formations, artifact crafting, divine powers, martial dao, and so forth.
Yet unexpectedly, when he unleashed the Karma Immortal-Proving Sword in this duel, moving along karma, he had executed the other party in the very next instant with absolute cleanliness and efficiency.
When the Three Islands, Six Sages, and Twelve Venerables ambushed him, not a single one could withstand even a sword stroke from him!
Now, he had truly become the foremost figure of the orthodox path.
"The Old Immortal guided me for barely twenty days, yet he propelled me to become the foremost person of the orthodox path! Just how formidable must the Old Immortal's strength be?"
You Xuan hurried to see Xu Ying, only to find Xu Ying standing before Taiwei Palace, examining this ancient palace.
"You Xuan, are there records regarding the origin of Taiwei Palace?" Xu Ying asked suddenly.
You Xuan shook his head. "This disciple does not know. Taiwei Palace is too ancient, even older than our sect. Rumor has it that it existed since the beginning of the opening of heaven and earth."
Hearing this, Xu Ying couldn't help shaking his head with a laugh. "Existed since the beginning of the opening of heaven and earth? This isn't the Yuan Realm. Even in the Yuan Realm, enduring the opening of Hongyuan would cause disastrous damage rather than preserving it so completely."
You Xuan plucked up his courage and said, "This disciple has learned the sword dao divine power taught by the Old Immortal, and my strength has increased greatly. It is only that I suffer from having no path to longevity. Could the Old Immortal impart an immortal art..."
He was apprehensive. After all, having already received the sword dao imparted by the Old Immortal and leaped to become the foremost figure of the orthodox path, asking for an immortal art on top of that felt like reaching for a yard after taking an inch.
Xu Ying glanced sideways at him. Seeing the karma entangled upon him flourishing by the day, Xu Ying's mind stirred, and he said, "You possess great cause and great effect. You are a good seedling for cultivating my Dao methods. Very well, I shall take you as a disciple and impart to you a method to ascend and prove the Dao!"
You Xuan was both surprised and overjoyed. He hurriedly bowed down and asked, "Master, can this method of ascending and proving the Dao allow one to become an immortal?"
Xu Ying smiled. "It can lead to attaining the Dao, let alone becoming an immortal."
You Xuan kowtowed.
Xu Ying tailored his teachings to local conditions, making additions and subtractions to the Golden Wheel Karma Calamity Deliverance Scripture on the foundation of spirit runes. When one first began cultivating this technique, it was exceedingly difficult to pick up, requiring the study and comprehension of tens of thousands of different spirit runes. But with each rise in realm, the number of spirit runes would decrease somewhat.
By the time one cultivated to the Ascension stage, the number of spirit runes would be only around a thousand.
Upon reaching the first Dao validation, which was the Supreme realm, the number of spirit runes would be reduced to around a hundred. At the second Dao validation, the Indestructible realm, the spirit runes would dwindle to just a dozen or so.
At the third Dao validation, on the eve of cultivating to the Lord of Great Dao realm, only a single spirit rune would remain.
A single spirit rune would embody a perfect Great Dao!
The Golden Wheel Karma Calamity Deliverance Scripture had originally been an Indestructible-grade technique. But after Xu Ying's modifications, it actually led directly to the third Dao validation, capable of being cultivated to the Lord of Great Dao realm—a technique worthy of being called Lord of Great Dao-grade!
Of course, as the creator of this technique, Xu Ying himself had not yet achieved the Lord of Great Dao realm. Therefore, this technique could only be considered an experiment.
Furthermore, Xu Ying had not yet sorted out the spirit runes for the later three validations; You Xuan would have to complete them slowly on his own when he proved the Dao.
Xu Ying imparted this technique to You Xuan. You Xuan felt only its vastness and profundity, and kowtowed once more. "May this disciple impart this technique to the other disciples?"
Xu Ying, intending to guide him, laughed and said, "Why not? However, do not focus solely on the Golden Wheel Karma that your teacher imparted. You must also perceive the rationale behind Golden Wheel Karma: from complexity to simplicity, and then to validating the Great Dao. Not only can the Great Dao of Karma be treated this way, but wind, rain, thunder, lightning, metal, wood, water, fire, the Innate Five Tai, Chaos, Yin and Yang, Hongmeng, Taiyi—all kinds of Great Daos can be practiced in this manner. Once you realize this, you will be an unrivaled Grandmaster with the three validations within your grasp."
You Xuan listened with only partial understanding.
Xu Ying did not concern himself with whether he could grasp it, turning back to studying Taiwei Palace on his own.
You Xuan bowed to Xu Ying, then stood up and assembled the disciples of Taiwei Palace to impart Xu Ying's modified Golden Wheel Karma Calamity Deliverance Scripture.
This technique tested a disciple's learning aptitude tremendously; after all, right from the start, one had to learn and comprehend tens of thousands of spirit runes. The entire sect followed him in cultivation, but those who could cross the threshold were few.
You Xuan thought back to Xu Ying's words and pondered bitterly, yet still did not understand how it was to be done.
Not until thousands of years later, when he finally proved the Dao and suddenly recalled Xu Ying's words while comprehending other Great Daos, did he finally achieve thorough enlightenment, becoming a generational grandmaster of the Spirit Realm Universe.
That, however, was a story for later.
Standing before Taiwei Palace, as the disciples and elders cultivated the Karma Golden Wheel and the karma upon them grew heavier, Xu Ying's own Karma Golden Wheel grew increasingly powerful.
The higher the cultivation of the Taiwei Palace disciples, the deeper their entanglement with the New Universe, and the deeper the entanglement between the New Universe and Xu Ying, their founding ancestor. Naturally, the power of karma grew stronger and stronger.
"Fellow Daoist, pardon my offense!"
Xu Ying's eyes flashed. He suddenly took a step forward and pointed a finger. Instantly, Taiwei Palace was activated by him, unleashing the vast might concealed within the palace!
Everyone in Taiwei Palace sensed the palace abruptly radiating an abyss-like, boundless power, and was stunned. Faced with this force that felt like countless suns coalescing together, they felt profoundly insignificant!
It was a power comparable to hundreds or thousands of galaxies, hidden inside the small Taiwei Palace!
"How could our Taiwei Palace be such a formidable magic treasure? The Old Immortal's power is truly majestic!" They were shaken to the core.
The spirit runes belonging to this palace were fully awakened!
"Six types of spirit runes!"
Xu Ying couldn't help being shocked as well. This Taiwei Palace possessed six types of spirit rune forms in total, belonging to Indestructible-grade spirit rune forms.
Simplifying the types of spirit runes down to six was already at the level of a Dao Lord or even Grand Dao Lord among Indestructibles, remarkably close to a Lord of Great Dao!
"How could such an existence have disappeared?"
Xu Ying drove Taiwei Palace and mused leisurely, "Fortunately, tracing this treasure to find its master is not difficult. Taiwei Palace, let me see your karma and find your master!"
He pushed his Karma Golden Wheel to the absolute limit. In an instant, the various threads of karma entangled with this palace emerged.
As long as a magic treasure existed, the karma between the treasure and its master would not dissipate. Therefore, Xu Ying was certain he could find the treasure's master.
Moreover, the karma between a treasure and its master was often the thickest among the many threads of karma.
All the karmic connections of Taiwei Palace emerged. The thickest karmic thread among them coiled in the air like a hemp rope, pausing at various places.
The movement of a karmic thread often tracked the movements of its master. Taiwei Palace's master had clearly visited many places, leaving behind karmic threads there.
Xu Ying spurred his divine sense, searching along the thread. After spending over ten days, he finally reached the end of this karmic thread.
Ahead lay a boundless Chaos Sea.
This karmic thread actually connected into the Chaos Sea, causing him to instantly lose track of where it led!
"In other words, the master of Taiwei Palace ultimately walked into the Chaos Sea!"
Xu Ying pondered for a moment and withdrew his divine sense.
Once a karmic thread entered the Chaos Sea, its karma would become lost, sinking into chaos, impossible to trace.
His divine sense traced the karmic thread back toward Cuixu. Just then, Xu Ying spotted another karmic thread, also originating from Cuixu Continent and also entering the Chaos Sea.
The entry points of the two karmic threads differed, but were not far apart.
Startled, he was about to trace this karmic thread back to its source when he suddenly noticed a third karmic thread, likewise originating from Cuixu Continent and ending in the Chaos Sea.
Then came a fourth, a fifth, a sixth...
As he searched, more and more karmic threads met his eyes. Sturdy karmic threads stretched from Cuixu and other places toward this region of the Chaos Sea, piercing into the Chaos Sea and vanishing!
Shaken to the core, Xu Ying immediately sent his divine sense tracing along the threads in all directions. Before long, a strand of his divine sense arrived at a Dao scenery, discovering an ancient cave abode within; the cave abode was deserted.
Another strand of his divine sense arrived at a grand hall amidst the starry sky; a third strand entered the ocean, stepping into an undersea divine palace.
His fourth strand entered a massive mountain range, inside of which was hidden a treasure of astounding scale.
His fifth strand arrived in a city of the three-eyed race, where the karmic thread connected to an ancient pagoda.
The karmic threads branched everywhere in staggering numbers, yet every single karmic thread corresponded to an ancient site or a magic treasure of astounding might!
Yet their masters had without exception vanished into the Chaos Sea.
'Strange. Did all the people in this universe who proved the Dao enter the Chaos Sea? ...No! Even if only those who proved the Dao entered the Chaos Sea, immortals who had not yet proved the Dao should still have remained. It's impossible for the civilization to have regressed to this degree!'
Thinking this, Xu Ying took a long breath and thought to himself, 'With my current cultivation, I cannot push the Dao of Karma to its utmost limit, unable to see more karmic threads or uncover the reason behind the decline of the Spirit Realm Universe's civilization. Now, my only option is to use the unstructured nature of the Martial Dao, borrowing the Dao power of other Great Daos to push the karmic Dao power to its ultimate limit!'
He activated the Martial Dao Cave Abyss. Dao powers of the five Great Daos, including Taiyi, surged forth, merging into the Martial Dao Cave Abyss and transforming into structureless Dao power!
All this Dao power flooded into the Karma Cave Abyss at once, driving the Great Dao of Karma to an unprecedented peak!
His cultivation in karma was still weak, and his attainment in this Dao was not particularly high, but his Dao power was incomparably immense!
Behind Xu Ying's head, the Karma Cave Abyss expanded wildly, spanning hundreds of millions of li in an instant, enabling him to perceive even more subtle karmic threads.
Xu Ying gathered his divine sense high in the sky, condensing it into an eerie karmic eye that gazed down upon Cuixu Continent. Millions of slender karmic threads wound and fluttered, streaming from Cuixu Continent and various parts of the universe!
These karmic threads flew past him, plunging into the Chaos Sea and disappearing without a trace!
"All the powerful beings of this universe ultimately entered the Chaos Sea..."
Xu Ying stood frozen in astonishment. The sudden disappearance of these people was what had caused the civilizational fracture of the entire Spirit Realm Universe!
The big bell flew out, connecting its divine sense with Xu Ying's. Through the vision of Xu Ying's divine sense, it also witnessed this scene and was deeply shaken.
"The powerhouses of this universe all relocated at the same time... Why did they choose to move away and leave behind the universe that nurtured them?" it asked, perplexed.
Xu Ying withdrew his divine sense and said in a grave voice, "We'll understand once we travel to the past and see."
He channeled the Taiyi Cave Abyss. In an instant, the Taiyi Great Dao transformed into the Zhouguang Great Dao, and the Taiyi Cave Abyss correspondingly became the Zhouguang Cave Abyss.
Xu Ying stamped his foot, and a long river of time manifested—the past and future of this universe flowing beneath his feet.
The big bell followed him as they walked toward the past. Waves rolled under Xu Ying's feet, and between the waves lay bygone eras, scene after scene of the past flitting by.
Xu Ying walked against the flow outside the river of time, gradually reaching over six hundred thousand years ago. This was the temporal limit that Immortal Emperor Meng Shanming could reach.
Yet for Xu Ying, Meng Shanming's limit was trivial.
He continued forward, delving deeper and deeper, passing a million years ago, two million years ago, five million years ago.
The time of the Spirit Realm Universe had always been the same: a history of cultivators struggling just to survive a little longer.
Upon reaching seven million years ago, Xu Ying began to feel the strain.
Arriving at ten million years ago, he felt the pressure of time growing heavier. Enduring the pressure, he pressed onward to twenty million years ago, yet still found no trace of the prehistoric civilization.
When Xu Ying reached twenty-four million years ago, he needed the big bell's assistance to help drive the Zhouguang Cave Abyss.
The big bell floated within the Zhouguang Cave Abyss, ringing continuously.
Xu Ying pushed onward, gradually arriving at twenty-eight million years ago, until he could finally hold on no longer.
At this moment, he looked into the river of time and suddenly saw Lingxu Continent twenty-eight million years ago. Countless extraordinarily powerful cultivators lived there, some even far stronger than him!
There were Indestructibles, and even beings surpassing Indestructibles.
Suddenly, a wondrous bell toll sounded as if ringing from everywhere in heaven and earth at once! Almost simultaneously, all the cultivators exploded, their bodies turning into wisps of chaotic qi that drifted toward the Chaos Sea beyond the heavens!
Xu Ying was stunned. Amidst the waves of time, even those Indestructibles, even those Masters of Great Dao, suffered total annihilation of both flesh and primordial spirit!
Even their desperate struggles were completely in vain!
In that tolling of the bell, every single cultivator turned into chaotic qi, forming torrents that flew toward the Chaos Sea!
Xu Ying stood there dumbstruck, cold sweat rolling down his forehead.
The big bell was still somewhat bewildered, unable to understand what had happened. It asked, "Ah Ying, what happened?"
"That bell toll... was the bell toll from the Chaos Sea..."
Xu Ying murmured, "It is the sound of that bell engraved in the creases on your body—the one we heard before. When the toll of that bell rang out, every single cultivator died! Lord Bell, this karma is a bit too huge. I might not be able to bear it..."
Chapter 759