Chapter 562: The Terror of the Great Celestial Venerable

The Great Tribulation.

To the living beings of the world, it was a great terror. For a Seeker of the Dao, however, it was an opportunity for Attainment Dao—unless, of course, one had no desire to attain it.

Therefore, among all those in the All Heavens who vied for Attainment Dao, every single one of them knew: no one had the right to criticize or negate another’s path from the perspective of good and evil.

The Slaughter Emperor, who embodied the philosophy of self-interest, cared even less for right and wrong, good and evil. He cared only for his own path.

And so, the Slaughter Emperor initiated a tribulation.

At that time, he had broken the shackles of the Primordial Limit and reached the Near-Path Domain of the Initial Tribulation!

Beneath the Great Dao itself, even the Near-Path bodies left behind by Daoists had to avoid his edge and make way for him.

With his own power, he swept through the All Heavens Primordial Chaos with an invincible momentum.

He led the Divine Wilderness World and a group of followers to slaughter their way through worlds like the Profound Yellow Cyan Nether, causing rivers of blood to flow and nearly severing their entire lineages.

At that rate, once the Slaughter Emperor’s Dao Essence from his Killing Dao accumulated to its limit, his bearing the Celestial Mandate to achieve Attainment Dao was practically set in stone.

“But at the final moment, the Great Celestial Venerable intervened.”

The Heaven-Burying Emperor gazed into the depths of spacetime, his voice tinged with indelible resentment and lingering fear.

“Back then, when the World Emperor clashed with the Luotian Sword Master—the only other contender for destiny—at Buzhou Mountain, he dominated the entire fight. It was nothing like the later stories that claimed the World Emperor fled to Buzhou Mountain in a sorry state. But just as the World Emperor was about to finish off the Luotian Sword Master, the Great Celestial Venerable suddenly manifested and used an inconceivable method to forcibly twist the Celestial Mandate and Dao Essence! He transferred the Dao Essence and Celestial Mandate that should have belonged to the World Emperor and grafted them onto the Luotian Sword Master! This was what caused the World Emperor’s power to plummet, leading to his failure just at the cusp of success. History is written by the victors, and the Divine Wilderness suffered the backlash of the Great Dao.”

“He isn’t a Near-Path Seeker, is he?”

Wu Dao mulled over the secrets the Heaven-Burying Emperor had revealed, combining them with what he already knew, and deduced a startling fact.

‘Twisting the Celestial Mandate and Dao Essence!’

‘That’s a struggle for authority against the Great Dao itself!’

‘It’s something a Near-Path Seeker could never accomplish!’

This included how the Celestial Court later established lightning tribulations that never existed before for several worlds, and how it directly plundered everything from its predecessor to control the Celestial Mandate.

All of these actions could be interpreted as the Great Celestial Venerable wrestling for authority with the Great Dao… in order to replace it!

‘And pluck the Dao Fruit of the Hongyuan Five Tribulations!’

“He’s more than just not a Near-Path Seeker.”

The Heaven-Burying Emperor said with a solemn expression,

“His origins are far too mysterious. When he first appeared during the Second Tribulation, he was already in the Near-Path Domain. There are no records of him before that; it’s as if he materialized out of thin air. His Attainment Dao was even easier than any of the other Daoists of the Second Tribulation, as if he had already walked the path once before and was simply repeating the process. The World Emperor suspects that the Great Celestial Venerable is not a being born of Hongyuan. It’s highly likely he is a Dao Usurper from beyond the Dao! When he believes the time has come to harvest the fruit, he will reveal his hidden fangs. Wresting authority from the Great Dao… is the critical step! The Great Tribulation throws the Great Dao into chaos. Allowing Mountain and Sea to initiate their own tribulation is also part of his scheme. He wants to replicate the outcome of the Fifth Tribulation to seize even more authority. As for how far he has come now… no one knows. Even a being with an essence as powerful as the World Emperor can no longer sense the slightest trace of the Great Celestial Venerable’s Dao Essence. It’s as if he has merged with the Great Dao itself!”

‘Merged with the Great Dao!’

Wu Dao’s heart sank.

The weight of those words was immense!

“However, if he has truly merged with the Great Dao, why would Mountain and Sea dare to initiate a tribulation and pave the way for him?”

Wu Dao believed there had to be another secret at play.

‘The Great Celestial Venerable isn’t absolutely invincible!’

“Because his appetite is too great,”

the Heaven-Burying Emperor said.

“He isn’t waiting for just one or two tribulations! He wants the Dao Fruit from the civilizations of all five tribulations! A One Tribulation Daoist can’t even fathom that, let alone the Great Dao of five tribulations. Trying to leverage such a vast and inconceivable existence, even by working backward from the Five Tribulations, is a dangerous endeavor. He risks perishing in both body and soul at any moment, or being assimilated by the Great Dao itself. Therefore, the Great Celestial Venerable is gambling, and Mountain and Sea is gambling as well. The bearer of the Celestial Mandate in this tribulation will be the key to their game, determining who will ultimately own the authority of the Great Dao of the Five Tribulations.”

“So, you’re saying…”

Wu Dao frowned slightly.

“The Great Celestial Venerable’s true body isn’t in the present world but within the Five Tribulations, so his influence here is limited? Is that why Mountain and Sea dares to initiate a tribulation?”

The timeline of Hongyuan was unified. Only the present existed. The past and future were taboo.

‘The Great Celestial Venerable twisted the Celestial Mandate and Dao Essence during the Five Tribulations to usurp the Great Dao’s authority, but most of his power was sealed in the spacetime of that tribulation by the Great Dao itself?’

‘Now, he plots for the Six Tribulations.’

‘If he succeeds, he’ll have the authority of two tribulations. He could use that to shatter the shackles of past and future, then work backward to devour all the previous tribulations?’

“Correct.”

The Heaven-Burying Emperor nodded.

“So regardless of whether it’s Mountain and Sea or the Great Celestial Venerable, whoever succeeds will open their ravenous Taotie maw and devour the Great Dao. Everything beneath the Dao will cease to exist.”

At this point, the Heaven-Burying Emperor gave Wu Dao a deep look.

“You are very special, almost a carbon copy of the Great Celestial Venerable. But you appeared in the wrong era. It’s impossible for you to contend with the Great Celestial Venerable or Mountain and Sea, who have been plotting across All Tribulations, all by yourself.”

Indeed, Wu Dao had arrived too late.

Given the terrifying nature of the Great Celestial Venerable and Mountain and Sea, there was no way he could reach Attainment Dao on his own.

For that reason, even if he was also a Dao Usurper, it no longer mattered.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

That was the gist of it.

‘Usurping the Dao…’

‘Heh.’

Wu Dao was indifferent, his mind focused on the Primordial Magnetism Path within his body.

He was indeed a Dao Usurper.

But he was nothing like what the Heaven-Burying Emperor and the others imagined—someone who schemed time and again just to usurp the authority of a single tribulation.

‘My Dao Foundation already has three layers!’

‘My appetite is far greater!’

But he couldn’t expose this, or no being would allow him to continue growing.

Still… ‘visitors from beyond the Dao.’

‘If the Great Celestial Venerable, a Dao Usurper, came from the mysterious and unfathomable beyond, then where did I, a transmigrator from a past life, come from?’

That was a question that could perhaps only be answered once he truly unraveled the mystery behind his attribute panel’s origins.

“How much time does the Martial Ancestor have left?”

His thoughts returned to the present. Wu Dao asked the question that concerned him most. His current level of cultivation wasn’t high enough to calculate a precise answer.

But the Slaughter Emperor’s essence surely knew.

Not to mention, according to rumor, the Slaughter Emperor had once sought the Dao under the Martial Ancestor when he was still weak. He should have a much better understanding of the Martial Ancestor’s condition.

“The World Emperor speculates one year at most!”

The Heaven-Burying Emperor sighed. Seeing the dark look in Wu Dao’s eyes, he quickly added, trying to offer some comfort,

“However, the World Emperor is not at his peak right now, so it’s difficult for him to observe the battles and conditions at the Martial Ancestor’s level. There might be some discrepancy.”

‘Even with a discrepancy, it wouldn’t be much longer…’

One year.

It was far, far too short.

Even though Wu Dao considered his growth rate to be very fast, he couldn’t possibly become strong enough in such a short time, no matter how many cheats he had.

He still needed a trump card to feel secure.

‘The Dragon Hunting Tower, the Burning Chaos Furnace…’

“The World Emperor set no trial for the Third Extreme Dao Bell. You only need to withstand the pressure of the Buzhou Abyss Prison to obtain it.”

Before leaving, the Heaven-Burying Emperor spoke again in a heavy tone,

“Grow strong quickly. We don’t have much time. I look forward to the day you stand side-by-side with the World Emperor.”

With that, the Heaven-Burying Emperor left the dam area.

The Great Tribulation was imminent. He too needed to recover his former peak strength as soon as possible, and perhaps even take a step further to achieve the Primordial Chaos realm.

“Side-by-side…”

Wu Dao watched the Heaven-Burying Emperor’s figure vanish into spacetime, his heart completely unmoved.

‘What living being in this world doesn’t vie for the Dao?’

‘Side-by-side, fellow travelers…’

‘Such a relationship was nothing more than a reluctant necessity born of a common enemy, as fragile as paper.’

Moreover, the karmic connection between him and the Slaughter Emperor was not insignificant.

In the future, no matter which of them made it to the final step, given their dispositions, there would only be one way to sever that karma.

Hoping for the Slaughter Emperor to yield the path was less realistic than hoping he himself would achieve Attainment Dao tomorrow.

So, when all was said and done, he could only rely on his own strength.

WOOOOO—

The sound of a horn from the front lines of the dam area pulled Wu Dao’s profound thoughts back to the war-torn battlefield.

Beyond the dam area, the Mountain and Sea’s Taotie Primordial Ancestor was leading his troops.

He led a vast army that crushed spacetime as it surged forward. The Dao Essence auras of one All Heavens Ancestor King after another rippled across immeasurable spacetime, oppressing the dam area’s Realm Sea until its order churned and boiled.

There was more than one All Heavens Ancestor King!

“Damn it, they’re a pack of mad dogs!”

Above the dam area, the newly appointed Guan Lord observed the terrifying formation of the Mountain and Sea Army through his scouts. His expression turned utterly grim as he hastily called for reinforcements from his superiors.

Their dam area wasn’t in the most intense combat zone. Normally, only a single All Heavens Ancestor King would lead an army to attack them.

But now… he had spotted three of them!

Although only one was at a similar realm to him, the others were all above the Third Layer, possessing the strength to sweep through the entire dam area!

The newly promoted Wushi Domain Master was merely at the First Layer of the All Heavens Emperor realm.

At this level, a one-layer difference meant you were just cannon fodder. He wouldn’t even be able to withstand the aftershocks. He was completely unreliable, so the only option was to call for more reinforcements.

But that was difficult.

At the current Eighth and Ninth Celestial Passes, which dam area wasn’t under immense pressure? Even diverting manpower would take time.

In other words, before reinforcements arrived, he had to withstand the pressure from Mountain and Sea alone.

This was also why the All Heavens Emperors at the dam areas of the Eighth Celestial Pass died so frequently.

The big tiger hadn’t been rooted out.

Mountain and Sea knew exactly how many forces were deployed at each dam area, so they could dispatch targeted armies and powerful experts to attack, rendering them ever-victorious.

Wu Dao had been at the Eighth Celestial Pass for less than half a year.

But in that short time, Mountain and Sea had already breached a considerable number of dam areas. Vast swathes of territory fell every single day.

To this day, Hongyuan only had twenty percent of its territory left in the Eighth Celestial Pass. The Ninth Celestial Pass was even worse, with less than ten percent remaining, holding on for a final stand around the Buzhou Abyss.

As for the Tenth Celestial Pass, only the Martial Ancestor was left holding the line.

From this perspective, even if the Martial Ancestor didn’t fall, it was only a matter of time before Shanhai Pass was breached.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—

The thunderous roar of war drums shook the myriad Daos in the spacetime of the dam area.

The Domain Masters of many territories began to lead their armies to the front lines in numb silence.

The All Heavens Emperors had their own battlefield.

The armies of experts below the All Heavens Emperor realm still needed the various Domain Masters to lead them in defense.

“A wonderful taste.”

In the Wushi Domain, Wu Dao was also leading his army to move out. He took an intoxicated breath of the alluring scent of the All Heavens Ancestor Kings and Desolate Gods in the Magnetic Field, and the Primordial Magnetic Crystal Particles throughout his body began to hunger.

A body like the Great Dao should naturally consume the Dao.

The closer a being was to the sequence of the Great Dao, the more complete the Dao civilization within their body.

To his Primordial Magnetism Path, they were a delicacy second only to the great fortune of civilizations, possessing extremely high nutritional value.

This was also why, after arriving at the Eighth Celestial Pass, he had always devoured the Mountain and Sea Desolate Gods whole.

However, in the past, he could only eat Ancestral Kings.

The All Heavens Ancestor Kings were like arrogant goddesses.

A single glance from one could have annihilated him into dust, making it impossible to savor their wonderful taste.

Now, his chance had come.

He had been cannon fodder for so long.

And now, faced with one piece of heavy news after another… he was pissed!