Avatar of the Heavenly Dao

Yu Xian and Zhang Shou had not seen each other in nearly six hundred years. The last time they had met was during an event. It was a blindfolded watermelon-slicing contest where Yu Xian and Zhang Shou had been matched as opponents. Yu Xian had ended up losing because Zhang Shou, in order to hone his saber technique, had specially trained his mind's eye. Even though all supernatural abilities were banned during the event, there was still a world of difference between someone who had trained and someone who had not. Right now, Zhang Shou was dressed in a sleeveless martial arts tunic with a broad chopping saber slung across his back, shooting the breeze with Cheng Pi. Seeing Yu Xian arrive, he immediately grinned. "Salty Fish, you finally showed up!" "How is it? Feeling confident?" Yu Xian stepped forward, patted Zhang Shou on the arm, and asked with a smile. Zhang Shou chuckled. "Around sixty percent. Everything that can be enhanced has already been enhanced. My only worry is whether the Heavenly Dao's trial will throw a curveball." The so-called shattering the void was actually about breaking through the rules of the Zhen Realm. And the rules of the Zhen Realm were, naturally, the Heavenly Dao—which was none other than the true body of the Great Dao True Beast. Currently, aside from Yu Xian, who had obtained authority and possessed the ability to leave the Zhen Realm freely, everyone else had to defeat the Heavenly Dao to bring their full strength out of the Zhen Realm. "It really just tests your strength, character, and willpower. As long as you have no problems in those three areas, you should be fine," Yu Xian summarized. Though he had never shattered the void himself, the Zhen Realm's database contained ample records on past void-shatterers. Essentially, the Heavenly Dao's trials were designed to target a player's weaknesses. "Sounds manageable enough. Someone among us has to take the lead, so I'll go scout the path for everyone," Zhang Shou said with a broad smile upon hearing this. Yu Xian turned to Cheng Pi and Jin Sheng, asking, "When do you two plan on leaving?" "We'll play it safe a bit longer. Over a thousand years have already passed; toughing it out for another few centuries won't make a difference," Jin Sheng replied. Cheng Pi nodded. "Mm-hmm, my thoughts exactly." "Why don't you play it safe too? Tough it out for another few centuries?" Yu Xian looked at Zhang Shou and teased. Zhang Shou shook his head. "Forget it. Over these past few decades, I haven't felt any progress at all. If I can pass, great; if not, the worst that can happen is starting over from scratch. Maybe switching to another class will turn out even better." "Fair enough. Good luck, then," Yu Xian said with a nod. After chatting with the group for a bit longer, he walked over toward Niman and Nora. "Long time no see," Yu Xian greeted Niman with a smile. Niman smiled back. "It really has been a long time. Almost three hundred years." "When do you plan to shatter the void? You should be far more confident than Old Zhang," Yu Xian asked curiously. Among everyone present, Niman was undeniably the strongest. Yet after entering the Zhen Realm, she had kept an extraordinarily low profile, cultivating in silence and ignoring all conflicts and gossip. "Let's wait and see. Since we have endless time, I'd like to thoroughly polish my inner state first," Niman replied with a smile. Yu Xian looked at Nora. "What about you?" "Being in the Zhen Realm isn't bad either. No rush," Nora said with a faint smile. Then she glanced at Zhang Buyao beside them and asked, "You two should be close to max level, right?" "Yeah, just a bit left. Probably another few centuries of leveling and we'll max out," Yu Xian nodded. Nora remarked with double meaning, "Then seize the opportunity and try to hit max level as soon as possible." "?" A question mark popped into Zhang Buyao's head; she could not shake the feeling that Nora's words carried a deeper implication. Afterward, the group chatted idly for about half an hour. Noon finally arrived, and it was time for Zhang Shou to begin shattering the void. Everyone present flew into the air, yielding the entirety of Qilin Mountain to Zhang Shou. They pulled back several kilometers and watched Zhang Shou atop the peak. Once Zhang Shou was ready, he slowly unslung the saber from his back and drew it. A powerful aura gradually swirled around him. He and the blade in his grasp seemed to merge into one, radiating a wondrous harmony. "One Slash to Cleave the Heavens!" Zhang Shou closed his eyes, gathering his saber intent while sensing the elusive yet omnipresent Heavenly Dao. Then he snapped his eyes open and swung his saber toward the heavens. A dual-colored golden-red saber beam cleaved toward the sky in an instant. Before the beam even reached the expanse, the clouds overhead split cleanly in two, followed by the rest being swept away entirely. In reality, shattering the void was itself a metaphor. The Heavenly Dao was everywhere. A player could shatter the void whether they cleaved the sky, the earth, the sea, or the empty air. However, if one's realm was insufficient and they could not even sense or lock onto the Heavenly Dao, then striking anything would be futile. Zhang Shou's slash toward the sky was an attack launched directly at the Heavenly Dao after sensing its presence. As for why he chose the sky, it was mainly because he was accustomed to sensing the Heavenly Dao above him. Just as some were right-handed and others left-handed, he had always treated Heaven as his imaginary adversary, and so he cleaved the sky. Under Zhang Shou's slash, the originally elusive Heavenly Dao manifested instantly. A fissure appeared across the sky while the azure expanse rapidly turned golden. A colossal eye slowly opened, its glazed pupil locking onto Zhang Shou below. "Come! Fight me!" Zhang Shou looked up at the gigantic eye and roared with excitement. The next moment, a massive golden arm emerged slowly from the sky. Zhang Shou immediately felt the entire world lock onto him—nowhere to flee, nowhere to retreat. This strike was guaranteed to hit. Since there was nowhere to run, he would meet it head-on! Zhang Shou took a deep breath and delivered a slash straight toward the descending arm. The golden-red saber beam collided with the limb in an instant, cutting through it like a hot knife through butter and splitting it clean in two. "Nice!" Seeing this, Yu Xian cheered for Zhang Shou. The arm was formidable, but Zhang Shou was stronger. Slicing through it meant he had passed the first trial; if he could withstand two more attacks from the Heavenly Dao, he would be able to shatter the void and leave the Zhen Realm. "Looks like Zhang Shou really has been cultivating diligently all these years," Jin Sheng remarked with a smile. Unlike before when they had banded together, they had not clustered as a group in the Zhen Realm. Instead, each cultivated on their own. When opportunities to cooperate arose, they would collaborate, but most of the time, each pursued their own path. This had been Niman's idea. After all, shattering the void could only be achieved by relying on oneself; if one developed a habit of relying on others from the start, how could they ever hope to shatter the void? Because of this, the companions who had originally planned to level up together had instead embarked on their individual paths of cultivation. Seeing Zhang Shou standing tall on his own now, everyone present felt deeply moved. Cultivating alone and enduring countless bouts of loneliness and pain had truly been worth it. At that moment, a humanoid Great Dao True Beast suddenly appeared in the sky. It was colossal in size, its white-jade body adorned with numerous golden ornaments and intricate patterns. When it opened its eyes, even from thousands of meters away, everyone could feel its overwhelming pressure. The Avatar of the Heavenly Dao had entered the battle.