Chapter 2065: Order and Disorder (I)

The elderly second-in-command of the Nine Layer Guard breathed out heavily. Hopefully nothing would happen in the dao master’s absence. That would be for the best.

If the dao master eliminated Disorder and occupied the northern region, then half of the chaos would belong to them!

The dao master would be much stronger and have no more opponents before the ninth ranks returned en masse!

“I hope... that we can recover our former glory!”

Order was first constructed one million years ago, separating the chaos into nine!

It had thrived and flourished then. Even Skyward now was not as mighty as the Order master had been. There were legions of ninth rank worlds in the ninth layer who paid homage to the greatest in the chaos...

That had been when order was most glorious!

It’d been on the cusp of being completed when...

“Skyward!” murmured the old man. That fellow deserved to suffer in purgatory for all eternity!

He seemed so benevolent and innocent now, but he’d been the one to deal the most fatal blow to the Order master. If it hadn’t been for Skyward’s secret machinations, Order would not have fallen apart.

The dao master trusted Skyward’s group too much back in those days. We will not repeat those mistakes again!

Hope filled the man’s eyes as he looked at the void outside.

Order was about to return.

......

The northern region.

Order shook as sounds of conflict and slaughter filled the worlds. Worlds began breaking apart and cultivators fled when they could. Those who couldn’t had no choice but to go down with their worlds.

The will of disorder began to spread throughout the north.

Mayhem had come to the northern region.

......

Five Elements major world.

The Disorder master was in a good mood as he absorbed the will of disorder. An uneasy world gripped by upheaval and unrest was the core of his survival. He wasn’t willing for the chaos to calm down. It was best if anarchy reigned and order never found its footing.

Of course, the spirit of the chaos would continue to decline if order was never established. It might grow stronger in the short run... but as people died and turmoil never ceased, spirit would start to fade.

The only solution was if one maintained the turmoil while also establishing order within. That might be the intersection point between order and disorder.

As a ninth rank exalted emperor, Disorder was well aware that it was only a matter of time before chaos was unified as one complete whole. It might be Skyward that accomplished it, it might be someone else. But for the moment, chances were low as he was the one at the helm.

Being able to descend ahead of time might be the only opportunity he ever had to ensure that things turned out differently. Killing Order’s heir or reincarnated self, then seizing the Heaven’s Stratagem might be his only chance to stand against Skyward and rise up.

Otherwise, he would never be able to hold his own against an existence like Skyward.

Disorder looked at the west. That person... might already be here.

He’s here to pit himself against me, isn’t he? I’ve only just descended and haven’t fully recovered my strength. Perhaps Chaos Sky thinks this is the best time to kill me.

“Did Skyward and the rest consider this when they sent me?”

Did they think that I would face an encirclement from the dao of order after my arrival?

Skyward would have!

So what’s going through his mind? Does he want me to kill Chaos Sky or for Chaos Sky to kill me, so that he can build an even stronger order?

Disorder no longer knew what Skyward had in mind. Ever since Order died and Skyward came in contact with the first generation cultivator of time, the man started nursing many thoughts that others didn’t know about.

“Chaos Sky... Nine Layer Guard...”

None of these entities are weaklings. Many of the ninth ranks’ underlings are going to help me this time, as will Skyward’s subordinates. Is Skyward doing this to weaken the other ninth ranks, so that their people will die in this conflict?

That will give Skyward the upper hand again!

Disorder’s thoughts grew clearer as he took in more will of disorder. He was more calm now, compared to the general foggy and befuddled state he’d been in when he first arrived.

“If I die to order, order will be strengthened. If Chaos Sky is truly infinitely close to ninth rank, then Spring Autumn in the south, Li Hao and the Human King in the east will be no match for Chaos Sky. Unification of the chaos will be a foregone conclusion!”

That would eliminate many issues and even force Li Hao to ask the ninth ranks for support. He would have to pay a price for it, perhaps handing time over to another.

Whereas if Disorder killed Chaos Sky and established order within disorder... the ninth ranks... didn’t seem like they would lose anything.

Those coming to him were subordinates of other people, not his own.

Various thoughts rapidly ran through Disorder’s mind before he suddenly said, “Come see me, Skymetal!”

In the distance.

The leader of the Five Elements was irked by the voice, but quickly presented himself in the palace that once belonged to him.

“What instructions do you have, venerated one?” Skymetal intoned. He was getting ever more pissed off by Disorder’s demands.

“Have those from the other dao masters arrived?”

“Some, but not many. There are only four eighth ranks and seven seventh ranks thus far. They come from the dao masters of yin and yang, life and death, and a few others.”

“Is that it?” Disorder was very displeased. “Before I came, all of the ninth ranks promised me that they would send their people to me as soon as possible. They would obey my commands! But only four eighth ranks have arrived aside from those of Skyward and Five Elements??”

It sounded like a lot, but was... not that many at all.

There were so many ninth ranks in the depths of the chaos—two dozen of them!

That was not a small figure.

Each ninth rank world had at least a few heavyweights left on it. While the number wouldn’t be as impressive as those on Skyward major world, look at what had shown up!

Only four of them!

What did they think he was, a beggar?!

“It could be that some people have not revitalized yet, or don’t know that the venerated one is in the north,” said Skymetal. “But even with Chaos Sky coming to us... There aren’t many eighth ranks in the west. Meanwhile, we have the venerated one and all of us...”

He didn’t understand what a ninth rank like Disorder was worried about. The northern region was an overlord’s faction as well. Even if the west was stronger than the north, there were limitations to how much stronger it could be.

Fine, he readily admitted that he was weaker than Chaos Sky. But you’re here, aren’t you? Chaos Sky only has four or five eighth ranks under his banner. So what if he has a few more in hiding?

Look at us!

We have eight eighth ranks among elemental wielders, three more on Five Elements major world, and another four have answered the call. That’s a total of fifteen eighth ranks!

And with the army of seventh ranks we have...

To be honest, I think that we’d still take them even if Chaos Sky shows up with Spring Autumn.

The Nine Layer Guard?

They’ve been extinguished for endless years! Even if they still exist, how many can they be? And based on what I know, there’s no sign of large-scale deployment of heavyweights in the western region.

You’re a ninth rank! What are you afraid of??

Disorder simply grazed Skymetal with a frosty stare. Five Elements of the north were the dumbest, alright. No wonder people derided them the most among the four regions. No one thought much of them!

I cultivate the will of disorder and am a ninth rank to boot, but I haven’t been blinded by my own success. These guys made it to eighth rank on a fluke and have already lost two of their brothers. They show absolutely no improvement afterward!

He still doesn’t think that he’s extremely weak, just that he was unlucky! And he also thinks that the north still retains the ability to conquer the chaos. What an absolute idiot!

It’d be nice if the chaos was filled with people like him. Then Skyward wouldn’t need to plot anything at all. He could just come back and be done with it. One replica would eliminate all enemies within the chaos.

The situation now is that Skyward and Calamity’s replicas have been eliminated, but this guy still thinks that he’s invincible throughout the chaos.

Fifteen eighth ranks!

Is that a lot?

Sure.

But aren’t you aware of how strong they are?

Disorder wouldn’t be concerned if he had fifteen Chaos Skys answering his commands, but these fifteen would just barely amount to a Long Zhan.

No, they would be slightly inferior. The three Five Elements jointly fighting together would not be able to overcome Spring Autumn.

Where did their arrogance come from?? They were weaker than the captain of the Nine Layer Guard!

“How many dao crystals have you guys collected?” Disorder couldn’t be bothered to explain himself.

Skymetal raised an eyebrow at the shift in topic. “About ten billion... The major worlds didn’t have deep reserves and many of their powerhouses fled...”

So there wasn’t much.

Disorder frowned faintly. That was indeed not much. He’d been thinking that simply devouring dao strength would not be enough to have him recover to peak condition. That would require the spirit of disorder to grow stronger.

The unrest in the north was fortifying his great dao, but not by much...

He looked at Skymetal out of the corner of his eye and suddenly smiled. “Not bad. Have the rest convene as soon as possible. Chaos Sky might have already reached the north, so we need to make things snappy. Battle needs to be over before the other powerhouses realize something’s happening!”

“Understood.” Skymetal nodded and prepared to leave.

“Have you gathered spirit yet?” Disorder abruptly asked, as if the thought had just occurred to him.

“What?” Skymetal blinked.

“Nothing, you’re dismissed!” Disorder shook his head, shaking it even after Skymetal departed. Clearly, the guy had not done so yet. He didn’t even know what spirit was. Skymetal really was trash.

Chaos Sky certainly had gathered the spirit of order. Li Hao had one too. While it wasn’t one of time, his dao spirit had dealt a blow to Calamity last time. The Human King... was uncertain. Long Zhan did, his was the spirit of the chaos.

Did Spring Autumn have any?

It was hard to say, but most likely.

So that left only Five Elements of the north without any. That... made sense. The dao master of the five elements might have taken it all, but to not have formed any of their own was the sign of pure trash.

Someone like Skymetal would’ve had difficulty reaching ninth rank even a million years ago.

“Chaos Sky...” murmured Disorder. He returned to extracting large quantities of dao strength to complete his cultivation.

The man already had some preparations in mind.