Chapter 573 - 497: Make a Move

WHOOSH... WHOOSH... WHOOSH...

The Chaos churned, endless and infinite.

Before Wu Dao became active again, his consciousness descended upon an Incarnation that had been sitting motionlessly in the Sea of Chaos for a long time. Opening its eyes, he had finally received the information he was waiting for.

King Bao Tong!

Back when he first met King Bao Tong and the others, before he left, he had erased all information about himself from their minds. At the same time, he had left a certain mechanism within their mental Magnetic Fields.

If King Bao Tong ever broke through to the Great Emperor realm and became qualified to learn the Dragon Hunting Tower’s coordinates in the Nine Heavens Pass, the Magnetic Field in his mind would change, guiding him to a designated location in Hongyuan and sending the information to Wu Dao.

Throughout the entire process, King Bao Tong himself would have no idea what had happened.

’The Taichu Void, huh? They certainly know how to hide.’

Wu Dao mulled over the information he received, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. He now knew the Dragon Hunting Tower’s coordinates in the Nine Heavens Pass.

The Taichu Void.

It wasn’t considered a forbidden zone in the Nine Heavens Pass.

It was like a super-massive cosmic void, a place where the rules and order of Taichu were thin—a vast, gray, empty region within the Barbaric Universe Sea.

Most importantly, the Taichu Void was very close to the Mountain and Sea Territory.

Wu Dao surmised that the Dragon Hunting Tower had likely set up its lair in the Taichu Void for the convenience of hunting the Mountain and Sea Wilderness Gods.

’Preparing to mobilize their full force to hunt me down?’

Besides the Dragon Hunting Tower’s coordinates, Wu Dao also learned that a month ago, the Dragon Hunting Tower had begun preparations to hunt him. They planned to mobilize their full force and would stop at nothing.

This level of treatment was comparable to what the Slaughter Emperor had faced back in the day.

This also confirmed Wu Dao’s previous suspicion: the Dragon Hunting Tower had likely known about the incredible nature of his Physique for a very long time.

Otherwise, a mere All Heavens Emperor, who at best had reached the peak of the first step of the Chaos Body, would never warrant such a massive mobilization.

’Aside from the Incomplete Dao Artifact, the Dao Burning Furnace, and that forbidden existence, the First Layer of the Dragon Hunting Tower also contains an unknown number of Primordial Old Monsters!’

Wu Dao’s expression turned grim.

This news was equally shocking.

In the Hongyuan Heavenly Realms, any power with even a single Primordial Chaos expert could be called a Daoist Lineage.

But the Dragon Hunting Tower, which could rival a Common Lord Power, clearly had more than just one.

When the Dragon Hunting Tower besieged and hunted the Slaughter Emperor, they had dispatched nine Supreme Primordial Chaos experts!

Three of them had even reached the third step of the Chaos Body!

It was because the Slaughter Emperor had torn three of the Dragon Hunting Tower’s Primordial Chaos experts to shreds that the sleeping existence within the Tower was awakened, leading to the series of events that followed.

In other words, unless the Dragon Hunting Tower was facing a crisis of survival, that forbidden existence would not intervene.

But the remaining six Primordial Chaos experts were still a terrifying force, and it was highly likely they had all now reached the Primordial Peak.

During the Chaos war a few years ago, the five Primordial Giants who emerged from the Dragon Hunting Tower were all at the Primordial Peak. Furthermore, each of them had reached the third step of the Chaos Body. They were exceptionally ferocious, forcefully carving a path out of the All Heavens’ encirclement.

’Within the Dao, Primordial Chaos is the limit; Near Dao is supreme. With my current strength, I’m still a step behind. It will be difficult to suppress the Burning Chaos Furnace while also dealing with the Dragon Hunting Tower’s Primordial Chaos experts.’

Wu Dao murmured to himself, his gaze profound.

He needed another power to help him deal with the Dragon Hunting Tower’s Primordial Chaos experts.

And as for this power, he had a target in mind from the very beginning, when he first started plotting to acquire the Burning Chaos Furnace—

The Mountain and Sea Realm!

Like the Dragon Hunting Tower, the Mountain and Sea Realm was determined to obtain his Great Dao Body. The "big tiger" hiding in the Hongyuan Elder Council was undoubtedly monitoring his every move.

Once they had an opportunity, they would surely target him, no matter the cost.

Using himself as bait!

If he handled it correctly, he could create a situation where dogs bite dogs, and he could take advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters!

With a plan in mind, Wu Dao’s consciousness quickly returned to Buzhou Abyss.

He used his immense computational power to simulate every step of the plan, taking into account all expected and unexpected factors to ensure nothing could go wrong.

This matter was of immense importance.

It involved a Dao Artifact, a forbidden giant, and the Mountain and Sea Realm. There could be no mistakes, and there would be no second chances!

As for King Bao Tong and the others, their value had been exhausted. Wu Dao no longer paid them any attention.

What the future held for them depended entirely on their own Creation.

Wu Dao had no interest in being a babysitter.

After finalizing all the steps, Wu Dao acted swiftly. He began accepting some missions that took him outside, testing the waters step by step—in other words, constantly ’courting death’.

If he started courting death right from the beginning, it would make people suspect that something was amiss.

By approaching the red line step by step, he could make others believe that his courage—and appetite—was growing, causing him to let his guard down.

It was worth noting that on every mission, Wu Dao went out in his true body. He suspected that, unlike the Mountain and Sea Realm, the Dragon Hunting Tower had always been locked onto his true self; an Incarnation wouldn’t be able to fool them.

As for the lost Cultivation time, it wasn’t a major issue.

He had already reached the Peak of Three Tribulations, which meant his All Heavens Emperor’s Battle Power was perfected.

If he wanted to break through to the Four Tribulations, mere Cultivation was no longer useful.

Instead, he needed to burn vast amounts of Dao Source and nutrients from High-level Civilizations to increase the entropy of his Primordial Magnetism Path civilization to the Nirvana Critical Point for opening the Four Tribulations.

After the breakthrough, he would need a large amount of Dao Essence for nourishment.

Therefore, he had to gather the various materials and resources required for this cultivation project in advance.

However, his Incarnations and the Primordial Sect were handling these matters. He didn’t need to personally attend to them.

His current focus was entirely on the plot for the Burning Chaos Furnace.

...

「In the Taichu Boundary Sea of the Nine Heavens Pass.」

After a period of probing, everything was ready.

Wu Dao decided it was time to make his move.

On this day, he did not accept any new missions.

He left a few clues behind, then quietly departed from the Garrison City he was guarding, ensuring the "big tiger" in the Elder Council would know he was heading to Mountain and Sea.

But they wouldn’t know his exact destination.

This was crucial.

If they knew his destination in advance, what would be the point of the game? The moment he revealed himself, he would have to fight a Primordial Chaos expert, leaving him with very little room to maneuver.

"This wretch! I thought he was already audacious enough, but I didn’t expect him to be so cautious!"

When the "big tiger" in the Elder Council received the news, his expression soured. He cursed Wu Dao for being too cunning and steady.

Because Wu Dao possessed some kind of Supreme Treasure for Concealing Celestial Secret, even this being could not perceive his destination. It could only confirm that Wu Dao had left Mountain and Sea City and was heading for the Mountain and Sea Territory.

"All Desolate Race members along the entire border of the Taichu Universe Sea, be on alert! If you discover any trace of Wu Shi, contact the Primordial Ancestors immediately!"

Unable to find any trace of Wu Dao, the Primordial Ancestors of the Four Great Primordial Clans of Mountain and Sea could only resort to a crude method: ordering all Desolate Race members on the border to conduct an all-out search.

There was no other way.

The field in the Taichu Universe Sea of the Nine Heavens Pass was too barbaric and chaotic, severely disrupting the operation of the Great Dao’s rules and order. Even with the information-processing capabilities of a Primordial Chaos expert, it was impossible to monitor the entire area.

It wasn’t just the Mountain and Sea side. The Dragon Hunting Tower, which was also watching Wu Dao, suddenly found that his coordinates had become blurry and uncertain. This was because Wu Dao had actively enabled the Bitter Dust Robe.

The Limit in the Nine Heavens Pass was the Primordial Peak.

When actively enabled, the Bitter Dust Robe, a 100% complete Emperor’s Artifact, could block and disrupt the prying of the Burning Chaos Furnace for a short period without issue, though it was a great strain.

"Activate the Burning Chaos Furnace’s detection abilities to their fullest! We must find him!"

The opportunity could not be missed. The Dragon Hunting Tower gritted its teeth. All the Primordial Old Monsters awoke and began to jointly revive the Burning Chaos Furnace’s ability to monitor the Body Dao. They would not rest until Wu Dao was found.

While the two powers were frantically searching for Wu Dao,

WHOOSH—

「On the border of the Shanhai Candle Dragon Clan.」

Wu Dao put down the Token used to contact the Heaven-Burying Emperor. His profound gaze pierced through layers of spacetime, looking toward the turbulent, barbaric frontier of the Taichu Universe Sea.

Once the war reached the highest echelons of battle, both Hongyuan and Mountain and Sea were more or less the same.

The forces guarding the borders were no longer armies of hundreds of millions, but rather a single All Heavens Emperor guarding one, or even multiple, passes.

Moreover, ordinary All Heavens Emperors weren’t even qualified.

Ordinary All Heavens Emperors from Hongyuan could only stand guard in the Eight Celestial Passes. The same was true for the Mountain and Sea side. The All Heavens Ancestor Kings in the Nine Heavens Pass all came from the top Di Races and the Four Great Primordial Races.

Every single one of them was above the Twenty-Seven Layers of Heaven.

Furthermore, they were all monsters within their realm, capable of fighting many and killing All Heavens Emperors of the same realm from the Eight Celestial Passes.

The target Wu Dao chose to strike was the premier Di Race that had first tried to hunt him in the Dragon-slaying Battlefield: the Candle Dragon Race.

’So they’re on alert, just as I expected.’

As Wu Dao peered at the Candle Dragon Race’s border pass, he discovered that the Divine Thoughts of Peak All Heavens Ancestor Kings enveloped the surrounding spacetime dimensions of the Garrison City like a great net. Any disturbance would be instantly detected by the Candle Dragon Race.

Evidently, the "big tiger" in the Elder Council had discovered the trail he deliberately left behind after his departure. But without intelligence on his precise destination, the Mountain and Sea border could only be put on high alert.

As for the Dragon Hunting Tower, they were most likely going crazy looking for him right now.

The moment he made a move and exposed himself, both sides would instantly lock onto his position.

In that case...

It’s time to act!

Wu Dao cracked his neck and rose from his seated position in spacetime. His majestic, heaven-supporting physique caused the layers of spacetime to collapse around him. His crystalline black hair whipped about wildly, making him look like an Abyssal Demon God had descended.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—

The instant spacetime collapsed, the All Heavens Ancestor Kings at the Candle Dragon Race’s border pass instantly sensed a dark and ominous aura, one that suffocated them, rising from beyond the pass!

"ROAR! GET OUT HERE!!"

"Who is it?!"

"Who dares to come to the Candle Dragon Race—"

Three Candle Dragons, their twin pupils illuminating the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, roared, tearing the sky asunder. Bristling with killing intent, they manifested their true forms and surged out from the border pass.

Their bodies, as vast as celestial mountain ranges, and their auras as Peak Ancestor Kings crushed vast swathes of the Taichu Universe Sea. Countless second-tier infinite universes in one layer after another were born and destroyed under their oppressive might.

"I heard you’ve been looking for me."

A domineering and desolate voice thundered from the collapsing source of darkness, shaking the border pass and the Taichu Universe Sea. It stirred up billions of terrifying waves, forcefully crushing the oppressive might of the three Candle Dragons.

"Wu Shi... Oh no!!"

Reflected in the suddenly constricting pupils of the three Candle Dragons, Wu Dao, clad in a black Daoist Robe with a world-conquering bearing, strode out from the darkness. His indifferent gaze was like that of the vast heavens’ Great Dao looking down upon all creation.

’He’s also at the peak of the All Heavens Emperor realm!’

’How can he be so strong?!’

Under his suffocating pressure, which was as deep as the Abyss and as vast as the firmament, the three Peak All Heavens Ancestor Kings of the Candle Dragon Ancestors couldn’t even think of resisting. To their horror, they discovered they couldn’t even move a muscle!

’We’re clearly in the same All Heavens Emperor domain!’

And yet, they felt as if looking at Wu Dao was like directly facing the Great Dao of the heavens itself. It was incomprehensible, inconceivable. They felt more insignificant than ants, and even their thoughts and cognitive processes were grinding to a halt!

"How boring."

Wu Dao’s gaze was calm as he looked at the three Candle Dragons, who seemed to have been frozen in place. He knew it was because his current Great Dao Magnetic Field was so terrifying that it could affect the universal state of magnetic fields without any conscious effort.

For example, with just a single thought, the macro and micro Magnetic Fields of these three peak All Heavens Emperor-level Candle Dragons would cease to function. With another thought, they could even be vaporized on the spot.

’In the same realm, I am the Dao. Beneath the Dao, all are but straw dogs.’

This was what it meant for one’s body to be like the Great Dao.