Cleanup

"That is true." The Dao Lord fell silent for a moment before saying, "Leaving Dao Sovereign Yaoguang aside for now, that unknown Dao Sovereign remaining in the lower-realm universe—the one who likely inherited the legacy of the Time Dao Ancestor—his style of doing things... is ruthless and domineering to the extreme. In the span of two thousand years, just how many Dao Lords has he slain? And his purpose—I need not state it for all of you to guess: gathering shares." At these words, the several Dao Lords present plunged into thought at once. After several breaths, Dao Lord Shenghui was the first who could hold back no longer. "The Time Dao Ancestor and Void Dao Ancestor chose them, which is equivalent to placing our hopes of expelling the Nine Great Groups on their shoulders. They wouldn't be so foolish as to lose sight of what truly matters." "I am not doubting their allegiance." The Dao Lord sighed softly. "It is their conduct... that we might not be able to accept. Furthermore, they may not necessarily be willing to accept us either. One can already glimpse this from how Dao Sovereign Yaoguang, who was with him, ascended to the Immortal Realm two thousand years ago yet has never once contacted us." "Gu Yan, Yaoguang is Yaoguang. The Dao Sovereign who received the Time Dao Ancestor's inheritance might not think that way. He clearly already understands his situation, which is why he is doing everything he can to hunt down Dao Lords and obtain enough shares," the white-robed Dao Child replied in a deep voice. At the end, he added, "Even though I do not know what method he possesses to store those shares..." The Dao Lord known as Gu Yan understood upon hearing this: the Dao Child wanted to do everything possible to win over every force that could be rallied, so as to seize the initiative in the impending war across the lower-realm starry sky. Therefore... Even if the successor to the Time Dao Ancestor had engaged in some extreme actions, they were willing to turn a blind eye. After all... It was all for the future of the Ancient Immortal Realm. They had all already prepared themselves mentally for this. For the continuation of their system, for the preservation of their civilization, certain sacrifices were unavoidable. "Be that as it may, we must still prepare contingencies," Gu Yan said, sweeping his gaze across the Dao Lords present. "If all goes smoothly and the inheritor of the Time Dao Ancestor is willing to join us and fight against the Nine Great Groups together, then even if he committed some past offenses, we can forgive him. If he demands benefits, we can make concessions. But if the worst-case scenario truly comes to pass and that inheritor proves utterly unreasonable... I suggest we still have a corresponding plan in place." "A corresponding plan?" Dao Lord Qianran looked at him. "You mean..." Gu Yan gave a heavy nod. "If he obtained the legacy of the Time Dao Ancestor yet refuses to shoulder the responsibility he ought to bear... then it will be necessary for us to make him hand over the Time Dao Ancestor's inheritance to someone who can shoulder it!" At these words, the gazes of several Dao Lords fell upon the white-robed Dao Child simultaneously. "Silence such nonsense!" the white-robed Dao Child barked immediately in anger. "Dao Child!" Qianran urged at once. "What manner of figure are you? With the body of an Immortal Venerable, you are hailed as a presence comparable to the Zhuanlun Immortal King! Cultivating for less than thirty thousand years, you have already comprehended the Grand Dao of Reincarnation to the Immortal King realm. Were it not for lacking sufficient shares of the Grand Dao of Reincarnation, you would already be a true Immortal King, standing at the pinnacle of the Immortal Realm!" A hint of fanaticism showed in his eyes. "Furthermore, in the twenty thousand years since you became an Immortal Venerable, you have thwarted dozens of plots by the Nine Great Groups and slain thousands of their lackeys! With merits such as these, who within our Ancient Immortal Alliance can compare to you aside from a few Immortal Kings? If you are not qualified to inherit the Time Dao Ancestor's legacy, who is?" "Qianran speaks the truth! Relying on your own talent, Dao Child, you were still able to cultivate the Grand Dao of Reincarnation to rival an Immortal King in a mere thirty thousand years. Using the Wheel of Karma, one of the three sacred artifacts of the alliance, you led us to reincarnate and be reborn through the power of the Grand Dao of Reincarnation. If you can obtain the Time Dao Ancestor's inheritance and the sacred artifacts and supreme treasures they left behind, your future will surely be boundless." Dao Lord Shenghui chimed in as well. "In time, becoming a second Time Dao Ancestor and achieving feats like striking across into the Hunyuan Realm and nearly slaying an Overlord would be no mere dream." "Reincarnating as an Immortal King to recultivate and become a true Dao Sovereign, you should rightfully be the leader in confronting the Nine Great Groups in the lower-realm starry sky! Concentrating all power in you is the best way to ensure our victory against the Nine Great Groups' forces in the lower realm!" Gu Yan spoke up once more. "Never speak of such things that disrupt unity again!" Dao Child Zhuanlun waved his hand sharply, sweeping a stern gaze over them. "Have you forgotten? The first prohibition of our Ancient Immortal Alliance is that no Dao Lord within the alliance may kill another." "Of course we know that," Gu Yan said quickly. "If that mysterious Dao Sovereign who inherited the Time Dao Ancestor's legacy is willing to join us and shoulder the responsibility of resisting the Nine Great Groups, we naturally will not lay a finger on him. But if he refuses to direct the Time Dao Ancestor's power toward the right path and insists on going his own way... then even if you agree, Dao Child, we Immortal Venerables who followed you down from the Immortal Realm will not agree, nor will the two hundred and thirty-three Dao Lords who joined our Starry Sky Alliance!" "Indeed. If he does not join our Ancient Immortal Alliance and acts alone—in ordinary times that might be fine; with his Dao Sovereign-level strength, he could go anywhere in the vast starry sky. But what is the situation now? More than five Immortal Kings from the Nine Great Groups have descended to the lower realm, which means they have mobilized no fewer than five Dao Sovereigns! As for figures possessing quasi-Dao Sovereign strength, there are dozens, if not a hundred!" Qianran said with righteous indignation, "Once such a terrifying force sets its sights on him, death will be the only thing awaiting him! If he dies, so be it, but if the Time Dao Ancestor's inheritance falls into the hands of the Nine Great Groups, won't that grieve our friends and gladden our foes?! Therefore, we must never allow this to happen!" "Qianran..." Dao Child Zhuanlun started to say. But Dao Lord Shenghui cut in: "To our Ancient Immortal Alliance, the legacies of the Time Dao Ancestor and Void Dao Ancestor represent our hope of turning the tide. Dao Child, you wouldn't want to see this final hope fall into the hands of the Nine Great Groups, would you?" These words cut off whatever Dao Child Zhuanlun had been about to say. His expression shifted repeatedly before he finally spoke: "There must be a better solution." "We know. What we are anticipating is merely the worst-case scenario. But not wanting such a thing to happen doesn't mean we can make no preparations," Qianran said. "It is only a contingency—merely a contingency!" Dao Child Zhuanlun reiterated. "Of course, it is only a contingency, just in case," Gu Yan agreed from the side. "However, the other party is a Dao Sovereign after all, possessing illustrious renown. Although with your strength, Dao Child, combined with the rest of us, suppressing and slaying a true Dao Sovereign is not impossible... without full preparation, it could cause us considerable losses. Thus, we must ensure this contingency is foolproof. And that process requires your participation and cooperation, Dao Child." "I..." Dao Child Zhuanlun sighed in utter helplessness. Only after a long moment did he exhale deeply. "I will cooperate with you. However, I reiterate: this is the absolute worst-case scenario. If that Dao Sovereign is truly willing to cooperate with our Ancient Immortal Alliance, you must respect him just as you respect me. Under no circumstances may you raise weapons against him and do something that grieves our friends and gladdens our foes." "Rest assured, Dao Child. As long as he is willing to cooperate, we will not hold the slightest grievance." Qianran, Shenghui, Gu Yan, and the other quasi-Dao Sovereigns who had once possessed Immortal Venerable combat power agreed in unison. As for the possibility that even by joining forces they might not defeat that mysterious Dao Sovereign? The thought never even crossed their minds. The power ceiling of the lower realm was right here; no matter how powerful an Immortal King was, the maximum power they could exert in the lower realm was limited to "Dao Sovereign." And for their group to join forces to surround and kill a Dao Sovereign would not be difficult. ... *Whoosh!* Out in the cosmos, the space around Yaoguang warped violently. Relying on his "Dao Master" talent in utilizing void power, Yaoguang easily traversed the vast distance between the Pantheon and Beihai Star. His figure appeared directly in the starry sky. As soon as he arrived in the space outside Beihai Star, before he even needed to sense them in detail, the auras of dozens—even a hundred—Dao Lords fell within his range. "So many Dao Lords have actually gathered outside Beihai Star?" Yaoguang frowned. With so many Dao Lords congregating outside Beihai Star, they couldn't possibly be here just to watch. They came with ill intent. Without wasting any time, Yaoguang summoned the Grand Dao Pagoda directly. The power of the Grand Dao of the Void circulated through him. With a clench of his phantom hand, the starry sky centered on him—with the exception of Beihai Star—contracted at an astonishing speed. It was as if an ultra-massive black hole had formed in this stretch of space, voraciously dragging in all surrounding matter and energy, twisting everyone's very comprehension of spatial concepts. Moreover, this speed was fast to the extreme! Even if it could not match Yaoguang's feat of traversing tens of billions of light-years in a single year, at this rate, collapsing tens of light-years of cosmos into the palm of his hand would take merely a few days. Such a method had completely exceeded the limits of any Dao Lord's imagination. Before these Dao Lords could even understand what was happening, amid the spatial contraction, the Dao Lord closest to him had already been "dragged" right before his eyes. He unleashed a Great Void Art that rippled through the vibrations of the Grand Dao of the Void, landing instantly upon this Dao Lord within arm's reach. With "Dao Master"-tier void power, let alone dealing with these lower-realm Dao Lords, even if a true Immortal King were to descend in person, the outcome would only be decided after a fight. As for those Dao Sovereigns known as reincarnated Immortal Kings, before him they were no different from ordinary Dao Lords. Just as when damage reaches absurd overkill, lesser minions were one-shot, and mighty bosses were one-shot just the same—there was no difference between them. This Dao Lord had not yet recovered from the spatial distortion. In fact... He had no idea that he had already entered Yaoguang's attack range. So when he was struck by the spatial Grand Dao of the Great Void Art and his body was annihilated, he didn't even know from which direction the attack originated, much less which powerhouse had struck. "Dao Sovereign, show mercy..." His panicked divine mind attempted to transmit a plea. But the speed of the spatial contraction had already surpassed the speed of his divine mind's transmission. In the end, without even knowing where his opponent was and unable to release even a ripple of divine mind, he was effortlessly erased by the power of the Great Void Art.