Chicken Dao Master
Gong Jiexuan found Dong Xuan, Cen Xizi, and the others, and they gathered together, hiding in Black Wind City deep underground in the mortal realm, their expressions grim.
Gong Jiexuan took a headcount. Apart from Wu Xizi and Jiang Ningzi, Hai Ningzi—who cultivated the path of calamitous destiny—had also failed to return.
This time, Dao Master Luo and Dao Master Lin had abruptly revealed their murderous intent and begun a wanton slaughter. The three factions—Taiyi's Dao Masters, those of Tianjing, and the Dao Masters resurrected in the other shore—had all suffered grievous blows, with many killed and wounded.
"Hai Ningzi cultivates the path of calamitous destiny, and this path excels at reading the movements of calamitous destiny. Luo Shizong and Lin Chuanting bear an exceedingly heavy calamitous destiny upon them—to try to find him would be all but impossible!"
Dong Xuan said, "There is no need to worry, young lady. Hai Ningzi will surely come through safely!"
Even so, Gong Jiexuan remained deeply worried. Even Jiang Ningzi, who cultivated the Causality Great Dao, had been cruelly cut down—clear proof that Lin and Luo were fearsome beings second only to Luo Taizong and the Dao Venerable.
Cen Xizi said, "Fortunately Hua Shengsheng is already dead. Had he not died, that would have been true doom with no escape!"
Gong Jiexuan shook her head. "Hua Shengsheng's death was engineered by Luo and Lin on purpose. If Hua Shengsheng had not died, how else could they have drawn out these Dao Masters who are hiding away? And with Hua Shengsheng dead, the calamitous destiny greatly diminished—so seizing the moment to lure the snake from its hole and cut down the other Dao Masters one by one was the best choice for them."
Each of them felt their heart sink. Hua Shengsheng had possessed more than three hundred innate numinous treasures. Once he died, these treasures became ownerless, drawn toward their respective universes and scattering in all directions. At that point the Dao Masters were essentially scattered, no longer able to muster any force that could stand against the two great Dao Masters—and thus Lin and Luo were handed the chance to pick them off one by one.
"Even if they are only picking us off one by one, the strength of those two—Lin and Luo—is truly terrifying!"
Gong Jiexuan was the only one who had witnessed Dao Master Luo's strength head-on. "Luo Shizong's void links to the Great Thousand Universes—some four thousand six hundred universes in all. The heaven-earth Great Daos of these universes amount to his own cave abyss, which he can draw upon at will. Even my father in his prime might not have been a match for his Dao force!"
Every heart lurched. Dao force was cultivation itself. Once one cultivated to the stage of the three attestations, comparisons of cultivation were no longer made in qi but in Dao force; the more profound the Dao force, the stronger the cultivation. Among the Eight Innate Masters of Tianjing, the one whose Dao force was most abundant was the Dao Venerable, who had achieved the eight-dao attestation. His cultivation realm had already reached the great-perfection stage of the Dao Master realm, and with the eight-dao attestation added upon that, his Dao force was vast and boundless—even the other seven combined could not hope to match him.
"That his Dao force can rival the Dao Venerable at his peak—Dao Master Luo's strength is truly inconceivable!"
"The resources of the Great Thousand Universes were used to raise three monsters."
Cen Xizi said in a low voice, "Had Dao Master Hua not died, his Dao force would likely have surpassed even the Dao Venerable's." At these words everyone's heart sank, and each thought inwardly, How fortunate.
Dao Master Hua had cultivated the Taiyi Great Dao of the Nine Innate Daos. Though the Taiyi Great Dao he had mastered encompassed only some fifty-odd innate Great Daos, when the Dao force of those fifty-odd innate Great Daos drawn from more than four thousand universes was gathered together, his Dao force would likely far exceed even Dao Master Luo's. Where Dao Master Luo's strength lay was that his Void Great Dao ran through more than four thousand universes, letting his Dao force flow without the slightest obstruction.
When Dao Master Hua channeled the Dao force of the Great Thousand Universes, he had to pass through amber-like matter and suffered great loss in the process; but what Dao Master Hua channeled was the Taiyi Great Dao, whose might far surpassed Dao Master Luo's—and that was truly terrifying.
Gong Jiexuan said, "Fortunately Dao Master Hua thought far too highly of himself. He believed that once he had cultivated the Taiyi and harvested the Dao force of the Great Thousand Universes, he could rival the Chaos Master. But under the Chaos Master's Great Dao fluctuations—had he survived, all of us would have perished."
Dong Xuan said, "The problem now is how to deal with the two of them."
Resourceful as Gong Jiexuan usually was, at this moment she too was somewhat at a loss. Dao Master Luo and Dao Master Lin were simply too strong—even pooling the Dao force of them all, it would be very hard to stand against the two in a direct confrontation.
"There is one way," she said softly. "The Dao attestation great divine power. When three neighboring Great Daos are joined into a single divine power, it equals a single great divine power unleashed by a Dao attestation cultivator.
"Cen Xi, your Wuji; Dong Xuan, your Taiyi... and Wu Xizi besides..." At that she suddenly broke off. Wu Xizi had stayed behind alone to cover the retreat and had never returned, while Gong Jiexuan's own Hongmeng had not yet been cultivated to the Dao Master stage, so she could not form a Dao attestation great divine power together with Cen Xi and Dong Xuan. Jiang Ningzi, who cultivated causality, had already died; Hai Ningzi, who cultivated calamitous destiny, was of unknown fate—so he could not form a Dao attestation great divine power with Jing Ningzi either.
"Unless we can find the one who attained the Dao through Hongmeng..." she mused silently. Just then a voice drifted over: "To deal with Luo Shizong and Lin Chuanting, there are means besides the Dao attestation great divine power..."
"Taiyi..." Every heart jolted, and they all sprang to their feet, bracing for battle.
Dao Master Taiyi was, after all, a Dao Master of the other shore—no one knew whether he might join forces with Lin and Luo. Gong Jiexuan raised a hand to signal them not to act rashly, and said softly, "Since Dao Master Taiyi has come, please, come in."
Dao Master Taiyi walked into the ancient temple where they lay hidden. These days, even in the mortal realm beneath the other shore, people were few and far between—most had perished in the killing calamity, leaving behind only crumbling ruins.
Gong Jiexuan, Dong Xuan, and the others looked. Behind Taiyi there had once been ten Dao Masters, but now only four remained—clearly his strength had suffered grievous losses as well. Yet Dao Master Taiyi's cultivation was deep and abundant, exceeding even Dong Xuan's, plainly showing that his self-nature self-sufficiency had been cultivated to an extremely high realm.
Gong Jiexuan said, "Dao Master, just now you spoke of another way. Might I ask—is this way perhaps the Taiyi Great Dao by which you harvest the Great Thousand Universes?"
Dao Master Taiyi shook his head. "I am only a newly advanced Dao Master. What qualification do I have to harvest the Taiyi Great Dao of the Great Thousand Universes?"
Dao Master Qixian explained, "Only the three great Dao Masters and the Dao Masters who had already attained the Dao in those years were qualified to channel the Dao force of other universes. In those days, Dao Brother Taiyi was not yet qualified!
"Back then, Taiyi held only the rank of a Grand Dao Lord among the immortals—worlds apart from a Dao Master. The three great Dao Masters would never grant him the chance to harvest the heaven-earth Dao force of other universes; at most they would let him harvest disciples and inheritors.
"And only the Dao Masters who had attained the Dao in the same generation as Hua, Lin, and Luo possessed the qualification to harvest the Dao force of other universes! But those Dao Masters died early. In those days the other shore ruled only a few dozen universes when the calamitous destiny erupted, and they were picked off one after another by the three great Dao Masters."
"Then how are we to restrain Luo Shizong and Lin Chuanting?" Yu Xizi asked.
Dao Master Taiyi said slowly, "The abilities of Luo Shizong and Lin Chuanting come mostly from the heaven-earth Dao force of the Great Thousand Universes and from the innate numinous treasures they wield. Strip away the Dao force of the Great Thousand Universes and those treasures—how do their true cultivation and true strength compare to yours, Dao Brothers?"
"I am now at the mid stage of Dao Master," Yu Xizi said. "Luo Shizong and Lin Chuanting are at the peak stage of Dao Master. Though their realm stands a notch above mine, in both cultivation and strength they fall far short of me!"
Dao Master Taiyi looked toward Dong Xuan. Dong Xuan said, "Their Dao force is far inferior to mine!"
Taiyi's gaze then fell upon Cen Xi. Cen Xi said, "Their cultivation is exceedingly high, but after all they have not trod the Nine Innate Daos—they are just slightly beneath me!"
Taiyi then looked toward Jing Ningzi. Jing Ningzi said, "Though the two of them have thoroughly comprehended the corresponding Great Daos of the Great Thousand Universes—one might say they have grasped the very essence of the Soul Dao, the Spirit Dao, and all such Great Daos—the Nine Innate Daos are the Nine Innate Daos. No matter how many lesser Great Daos they cultivate, none can match the might of the Nine."
Dao Master Taiyi's expression turned grave. "This is the method by which to deal with them."
Everyone was taken aback, not grasping his meaning.
Dao Master Taiyi said, "We have no way to snatch away the innate numinous treasures they wield, but we can sever their link to the Great Thousand Universes. Once that link is severed, then even with their cultivation—even if they bring out their many innate numinous treasures—they will still be something we can handle."
Jing Ningzi sneered, "You say sever it, and it just severs? How do we sever it?"
Dao Master Taiyi said, "The Slaughter Great Dao can cut off the void. Dao Master Tongtian has that ability, and you, Dao Brother Jing Ningzi, cultivate the Slaughter Great Dao as well—so you ought to be able to sever the void."
Everyone looked toward Jing Ningzi, hope showing on their faces. Jing Ningzi gathered his killing intent and forged it into a blade. With a flash of light, a resplendent blade-aura severed the void layer upon layer—yet the void knit itself back together as fast as it was cut, endless and inexhaustible. It simply could not be truly severed.
At the sight, their hearts sank. Jing Ningzi could not even sever the void of the other shore's universes—and the void that linked the various universes was in fact the void that ran through the Chaos Sea, which he would likely be even less able to sever.
Jing Ningzi tried several more times but still could not cut it. His face fell, and he shook his head. "Tongtian has that ability, but I do not!"
Dao Master Taiyi was somewhat disappointed. Cen Xizi said, "Then would it not work to simply ask Dao Master Tongtian to act?"
Dao Master Taiyi said, "Dao Master Tongtian left Biyou Palace long ago and went to Tianjing to hunt down and kill the Dao Venerable. To this day he has not returned, and whether he lives or dies is unknown!"
Gong Jiexuan's heart gave a start. She opened her mouth, but said nothing.
Dao Master Taiyi went on, "Apart from that, we can only pin our hopes on a Void Dao Master stepping in—severing the void amid the fighting, so that they cannot calmly draw upon the Dao force of the Great Thousand Universes." Here he frowned deeply. Neither the other shore nor Tianjing had ever had a Void Dao Master. The Void Great Dao was like a stunted, underdeveloped heaven-earth Great Dao—those who cultivated it could at most reach the two attestations, and even at the realm of immortality they could not raise it to the Dao Master realm.
Gong Jiexuan said decisively, "Set the Void Dao Master aside for now. Is there any other way?"
Dao Master Taiyi said, "There is one more way: to return to the past and slay them while they are still weak."
The group exchanged glances. Return to the past and slay the two Dao Masters, Lin and Luo? Could it truly be done?
Dao Master Taiyi said, "For now, it may be the only workable way—because this divine power has already been created!"
Gong Jiexuan's eyes flickered. "Xu Ying."
"Ping Yaozi and Ling Xuzi both died at his hands. And you once used this very method to interfere with my father—it was because of that he was wounded by Luo Taizong. Only, that time you were changing the present, while now you would be changing the past. Can it succeed?"
Dao Master Taiyi said, "Are Ping Yaozi and Ling Xuzi not precedents?"
"It is not the same," Yu Xizi said. "Ping Yaozi and Ling Xuzi were low in cultivation and strength; they could hardly have outlived the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation. But Luo Shizong and Lin Chuanting—their cultivation and strength are simply too high; even the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation may not be able to destroy them. If they are figures destined to cross the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation, then to kill them in the past would mean enduring the backlash of endless time—a backlash so vast that even a Dao Master of the Nine Innate Daos like me cannot begin to imagine it."
Dao Master Taiyi frowned slightly. If Dao Master Luo and Dao Master Lin, the two of them, were indeed destined to cross the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation, then they belonged among existences that had leaped clear of the universe's cycle of rebirth, bearing the causality of an entire universe with them. In that case, to kill them in the past would be as hard as reaching out to save someone destined to perish in the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation—for whoever intervened would have to bear the backlash of endless time.
"Cut time into its smallest divisions: a single instant can be split into five hundred million cross-sections, and each cross-section holds the might of all the Great Daos of that universe!"
Dong Xuan looked at Dao Master Taiyi and said, "To kill—or to save—is to bear the backlash of the time of an entire other-shore universe. Never mind a Dao Master; even the legendary End of the Great Dao could not withstand a single blow before such a force!"
Dao Master Taiyi looked around at them all. "If we mean to kill Luo Shizong and Lin Chuanting, how can it be done without taking some risk? If we do not kill the two of them, will they not then cross the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation? Only by killing them now can we stop them from crossing the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation."
Cen Xizi shook his head. "The causality you take for granted, Taiyi, is not true causality. When the Dao Venerable once instructed Jiang Ningzi, he told him this: A certain household kept a flock of chickens, and among them was one especially clever chicken. It noticed that every day at noon the mistress of the house would come to feed them, and so this clever chicken concluded that there existed in this universe a certain Great Dao, one by which food would descend from the sky at each noon.
"Later, guests came to that household. When noon arrived, the clever chicken at once rushed to the mistress's side—and so it was killed to be served to the guests!"
Dao Master Taiyi frowned slightly.
Cen Xizi said coldly, "The Dao Venerable said that this is the Great Dao as we assume it to be. We watch for Hongmeng phenomena to appear in the universe, and from them comprehend the causal phenomena of Hongmeng's appearance, and from that comprehend causality—never realizing that all of it lies wrapped within the Chaos Sea. We who cultivate the Nine Innate Daos are, in truth, nothing but a flock of self-styled clever Chicken Dao Masters. Taiyi, do not do the things you do not understand."
Dao Master Taiyi opened his mouth to speak, but Dong Xuan said, "As things stand now, the only course is to cast aside our illusions and fight them in earnest. Taiyi, you have a chance to win. You have cultivated self-nature self-sufficiency, so you can go to the Great Thousand Universes and comprehend the Taiyi Great Dao of each of those universes, one by one.
"Dao Master Luo can harvest the Great Thousand Universes, and so can you." He paused, then said, "The heaven-earth Great Daos of the Great Thousand Universes are not all alike, but once you are there, relying on your self-nature self-sufficiency you can quickly comprehend the secrets of the Taiyi Great Dao of those places. By then you will be another Hua Shengsheng—perhaps even stronger than he was."
Taiyi shook his head. "Traveling to those universes takes far too long. Even the nearest universe takes ten years on average; for the farther ones, the journey might take a hundred, even a thousand years—that is not out of the question! To roam the whole of the Great Thousand Universes would take a hundred thousand to two hundred thousand years. By then, who knows what the other shore will have become."
Gong Jiexuan suddenly said, "If we find the Hongmeng Dao Master and achieve the three-dao attestation of Hongmeng, Wuji, and Taiyi—unleashing the Dao attestation great divine power—we can still do battle."
Dao Master Taiyi hesitated a moment, then turned to leave. "I know who this Hongmeng Dao Master is. I will go find him. As for the rest of you—join forces with as many Dao Masters as you can, and together stand against Lin and Luo."
He halted his steps and turned his head toward them. "Once Lin and Luo are dead—that will be the time of our decisive battle. Masters, I ask that you not hold back then!"
Chapter 873