Within the Three Thousand Main Realms, in the God King Hall of the Star God Realm.
At the center of the grand hall, a ‘Phantom World-Herding Tree’ stood unmoving, its root system penetrating the three thousand worlds, its swaying branches and leaves reflecting the rise and fall of all Realms.
Suddenly!
“Buzz!”
A projection of an extremely thick World-Herding Tree root, originating from the edge of Chaos, violently spasmed without warning! The Law chains forming the root emitted a piercing sound.
Gray-black strange light and an unprecedented Chaos divine light, carrying an absolute will to devour and smelt, fiercely clashed and intertwined within the root! In a tiny area corresponding to the entire root, among countless ‘branches and leaves’ representing world positions, a small patch of dim, withered ‘leaves’ appeared, and a searing pain and fury, stemming from the tearing and forceful stripping of the Law Foundation, transformed into a raging Law current, violently crashing against the silent barrier of the God King Hall!
Boom!
As if two ancient, eternal stars had been awakened! The two quiescent light clusters suspended in the hall—icy silver-white and heavy dark-gold—suddenly erupted with light that pierced the universe!
Two wills, transcending myriad Realms, instantly awakened!
Their gazes directly cast upon the phantom of the ‘World-Herding Tree’, firmly locking onto that special branch of the ‘World-Herding Tree’ that was violently trembling and whose light was chaotic, focusing on the root that was being madly eroded and twisted by the gray-black strange light!
“Origin Abnormality Devouring!”
The icy silver-white will vibrated the Void Realm, carrying a hint of imperceptible shock and anger. The World-Herding Tree was the Foundation that maintained myriad Realms, and its roots being so brutally torn and assimilated was unprecedented!
“Alien Dao Rooting!”
The dark-gold will boomed like a great bell, instantly discerning the starting point of the anomaly—that gray-black strange light originated from the Dao principles of the utterly devoured “Netherworld Tree”, and the Chaos divine light that was madly eroding the World-Herding Tree’s Law represented a brand new, aggressive, nascent Dao Origin!
The trembling of the ‘Phantom World-Herding Tree’ grew more intense, and in the eroded root section, the Law structure was being forcibly rewritten, the Dao rhythm belonging to that unknown alien Dao, like a virulent vine, spread in reverse along the Law Context of the root, attempting to pollute a more fundamental area!
“Seal!”
“Retrieve!”
Two divine decree-like wills descended simultaneously!
Silver-white divine light poured down like an ice river, and dark-gold divine radiance fell like a sky curtain, instantly enveloping the violently spasming projection of the World-Herding Tree root!
Buzz—!
The raging Law current was forcibly suppressed, and the conflict between the strange white Dao Origin and the Chaos divine light was temporarily isolated! That root was as if gripped tightly by invisible divine tongs, and the speed of erosion and spread dramatically decreased.
The Law chains forming the root emitted a wail of being overwhelmed, but its Origin structure was temporarily stabilized by the God King’s great power.
At the same time, a powerful constrictive force acted upon the entire World-Herding Tree. Other un-eroded roots and branches glowed brightly, and vast world Origin power was forcibly drawn back from myriad Realms, converging at the core of the main trunk, forming a tough Law barrier, isolating the potential spread of pollution from the eroded root.
The “pain” of the World-Herding Tree was forcibly suppressed, but its light visibly dimmed a fraction—this was the cost of self-preservation.
“World Patrol Envoy!”
The will of the silver-white God King was like billions of ice blades scraping across the Void Realm.
At the dome of the God King Hall, a previously quiescent array of stellar runes, corresponding to the direction in which the eroded root extended, suddenly lit up! Light converged, and a figure clad in starlight battle armor, with a blurred face and an aura as sharp as a newly sharpened divine blade, instantly materialized! On his armor, Law patterns flowed, originating from the same source as the World-Herding Tree’s roots, but purer and more condensed.
“Trace the Origin! Slay the Anomaly!”
The will of the dark-gold God King carried an unquestionable iron rule.
The figure of the Starlight Divine Servant slightly bowed towards the direction of the God King, and in the next instant, transformed into a Law stream of light tearing through space and time, following the trajectory of the World-Herding Tree root projection that had been temporarily sealed and constricted by the God King’s great power, soaring towards the border Origin beyond the Three Thousand Main Realms—a world position anchored by a nascent Chaos Dao Tree.
An alien Dao was born, and the divine blade was out.
It must be utterly annihilated!
——————
The Chaos Dao Tree, with roots like billions of evil Dragons, pierced through the Demon Abyss Channel, greedily devouring the filthy torrent. Metal-element Dao patterns tore through the strange power barrier, earth-element Dao patterns crushed chaotic energy, water-element Dao patterns corroded the core, and devouring Dao patterns absorbed the Origin like a whale! The Demon Abyss strange power was like a clay ox entering the sea, completely turning into nourishment for the Dao Tree.
The main trunk of the Dao Tree was cast from Chaos Divine Gold, with billions of Dao patterns arising and perishing in circulation. At its apex, three thousand divine lights burst forth, each representing a rudiment of a wildly growing Great Dao! Wherever the divine light reached, the Void Realm solidified and submitted. The overflowing pressure was ancient and profound, carrying the arrogance of new birth, causing Celestial Venerable Fentian’s Dao Fire to bow low, and the great mystery ancient sword to hum with reverence!
Several hundred years passed in a flash!
At the core of the Chaos Treasure Mansion, that Chaos Dao Tree, rooted in the Demon Abyss Channel, was now completely different!
What was once a nascent rudiment now had a main trunk that reached the heavens and earth, like a pillar supporting the sky! Its surface was covered in Chaos Dao patterns that were complex and profound to the extreme, circulating to form a self-contained cycle of creation and destruction. The Strange Dao power deep within the Demon Abyss Channel suddenly stagnated and contracted, as if every last drop had been swallowed!
At the apex of the Dao Tree, the three thousand Chaos divine lights transformed into three thousand Chaos Dao Fruit rudiments of various forms, containing supreme Dao rhythm! They hung quietly, like three thousand hearts nurturing Chaos stars, each pulsation causing the entire Treasure Mansion Void Realm to throb in response!
“Crack!”
A soft sound originated from deep within the Dao Tree’s core!
That figure, Li Mu, who had been entrenched in the Dao Tree’s Origin core, his Divine Soul will completely fused with the Dao Tree for several hundred years, suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes!
In his eyes, there was no joy or sorrow, only endless Chaos creation and destruction, and the rise and fall of myriad Dao! An indescribable, terrifying will, transcending all existence, awakened with a roar!
Kind Dao Realm, achieved!
Boom—!!!
The entire Chaos Dao Tree violently trembled! Its billions of roots entwined around the Demon Abyss Channel suddenly retracted! The Demon Abyss Channel, long since sucked dry and left as an empty shell, was utterly pulverized, “poof,” along with the last trace of Strange Dao aura, completely shredded, swallowed, and turned into nothingness by the roots!
Almost simultaneously, a vast and irresistible power erupted from the core of the Dao Tree’s main trunk! This power contained the supreme will of governance, smelting, and creation! The remaining world barriers, Void Realm structures, and even the “soil” assimilated by the Dao Tree within the entire Chaos Treasure Mansion, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, surged madly into the Dao Tree’s main trunk!
The Dao Tree’s form changed dramatically again! It began to contract and condense, its sky-reaching main trunk shrinking inward, its billions of roots coiling back, and its three thousand Dao Fruit rudiments merging into its core! Finally, it transformed into a fist-sized, singular “Dao Seal,” wreathed in Chaos Qi, with billions of Dao patterns circulating and perishing on its surface! Within the core of the Dao Seal, Li Mu’s figure was clearly visible, completely integrated with the Dao Seal, exuding a terrifying aura that suppressed all ages and was uniquely supreme!
The Chaos Treasure Mansion completely vanished.
In its place, only Li Mu stood alone in the Void Realm. He had no resplendent light, merely his existence itself, and the pressure he exuded was as deep as an abyss, as heavy as the heavens, causing the Divine Souls of the extreme Dao experts observing from tens of thousands of miles away to instantly tremble!
Tens of thousands of miles away, the extreme Dao experts barely suppressed the tremors and reverence deep within their Divine Souls, their gazes complexly focused on that figure.
Celestial Venerable Fentian’s Dao Fire flickered erratically around him, and he was the first to speak, his voice hoarse with disbelief: “Dao Friend Li… you… succeeded? That Strange Dao will…”
The great mystery ancient sword in Grand Profound Sword Revered’s embrace hummed incessantly, and his eyes, sharp as lightning, stared fixedly at Li Mu: “Kind Dao Realm! Dao Friend Li, your cultivation now transcends the Realm above the extreme Dao?
“Where is the Strange Dao Origin?”
Green light flowed around the Azure Emperor, and he looked at Li Mu, asking with concern: “The Demon Abyss Channel has completely vanished, and the Strange Dao aura is utterly gone. Dao Friend Li, was this battle a success?”
Bone Emperor Demon God’s eye sockets glowed with wildly leaping Phantom Fire, and he hissed: “Strange Dao! That disgusting thing… is it utterly dead?”
Blood Hell Demon God’s crimson eyes intertwined with greed and apprehension, his Adam's apple bobbed, but he remained silent.
Mind Clarity Holy Monk’s heart lamp Buddhist light was warm in his palm, soothing everyone’s emotions, and his clear gaze directly met Li Mu’s: “Amitabha. Li Shi Zhu’s aura is perfectly harmonious and unimpeded, Chaos is self-contained, and that Strange Dao evil…”
Li Mu’s gaze calmly swept over everyone, as if passing over an boundless star sea, and his voice clearly reached the ears of the extreme Dao experts: “The Strange Dao will, is not extinguished.”
The experts’ hearts jolted! Not extinguished?!
Li Mu continued: “It, severed its root and escaped.”
Severed its root and escaped?
The experts were stunned. That terrifying existence, at the very last moment when Li Mu completely refined the Demon Abyss Channel and achieved the Kind Dao Realm, chose to sever its connection to this world’s Foundation, abandoned this Demon Abyss, and fled!
Li Mu raised his hand and pointed to the area behind him that had completely turned into nothingness, even its spatial structure having been utterly devoured: “The Demon Abyss no longer exists, however!”
Li Mu’s gaze cast further, penetrating the boundless world barriers, and he indicated: “This branch of the Three Realms, has already… connected with the Three Thousand Main Realms.”
As his words fell, an invisible pulsation, originating from deeper Laws, as if from an infinitely distant source, silently swept across this chaotic border region.
The extreme Dao experts, with their profound cultivation, instantly captured this pulsation—it was an extremely subtle ripple caused when a massive, unimaginable Law network, a strange “node,” was forcibly connected.
Celestial Venerable Fentian’s Dao Fire suddenly flared, and he exclaimed: “The Three Realms… are truly connected to the Law Origin of the Main Realm?”
Grand Profound Sword Revered’s grip on his sword suddenly tightened, and the great mystery ancient sword emitted a long hum, carrying unprecedented solemnity: “Immortal Spirit Realm, Spirit Realm connected to the Main Realm!”
The Azure Emperor’s expression was unprecedentedly solemn, and his gaze towards the deep Void Realm was filled with worry: “It’s hard to say whether it’s a blessing or a curse!”
Bone Emperor Demon God laughed maniacally: “Hahaha! This Realm connected to the Main Realm! This is great!”
Blood Hell Demon God’s crimson light in his eyes surged, his greed almost materializing: “Main Realm… Origin!”
Mind Clarity Holy Monk chanted a low Buddhist chant, and the heart lamp Buddhist light flickered, attempting to illuminate the unknown depths: “Amitabha. Calamity, is also Opportunity.”
Li Mu stood quietly in the Void Realm, oblivious to the reactions of the others. He felt the vast Law network from the Three Thousand Main Realms; the Three Realms were no longer isolated islands, their Law Origin had been forcibly anchored by his Chaos Dao Seal and integrated into the Foundation network of the Three Thousand Main Realms.
Li Mu’s gaze swept over the extreme Dao experts with their varied expressions, and deep within his eyes, as profound as a Chaos star abyss, an indescribable tremor quietly arose.
It was as if, deep within the immense, rock-solid Law Foundation of the Three Thousand Main Realms, something… had been fiercely pricked. This stinging sensation did not act upon his Physical Body or Divine Soul, but was directly imprinted on the Origin of his “Dao,” which was completely fused with the Chaos Dao Seal. It was an instinctive repulsion and… warning generated when a higher level was invaded by some “foreign object”!
“Hmm?”
Li Mu’s brow furrowed imperceptibly. This feeling came abruptly and left quickly, but it cast a cold stone into the flawless heart lake of his Perfection Kind Dao Realm.
It was more distant, more obscure, carrying a kind of… pure, cold “presence,” like a sleeping ancient cold abyss, quietly opening a tiny crack due to the subtle tremor caused by his forced anchoring of the Three Realms node.
This feeling was extremely faint, fleeting, yet it sent an unprecedented chill down Li Mu’s spine. The intuition of the Kind Dao Realm far surpassed common sense. It was not any known form of threat, but rather more like a… passive response of a sleeping rule, or an unconscious turning over of an unimaginably vast existence in its endless slumber.
Threat! An unknown threat, possibly transcending imagination in its level!
This thought flashed through Li Mu’s mind like lightning. He had achieved Kind Dao, and had just felt that this Realm no longer had shackles, but instantly perceived a hidden shadow in the more boundless heavens and earth, one capable of making even him feel a tremor. That shadow was entrenched in the deepest part of the Main Realm’s Law Foundation, temporarily unable to attend to him, a mere speck of dust, but the ripple generated by this anchoring had already disturbed a trace of its quiescence.
He could not stay here long! Passively waiting was tantamount to waiting for death!
Chaos light swirled in Li Mu’s eyes, and he instantly made a decision.
“Everyone.” Li Mu looked at them and suddenly spoke.
The experts’ hearts jolted, and they all looked at him. Li Mu’s aura was still as deep as an abyss, but in his eyes, there was an indescribable solemnity and urgency.
“The Strange Dao originates from the Main Realm, its Origin unknown, perhaps harboring an even more terrifying existence! Now, the anchoring of the Three Realms is complete, the gateway is here, blessings and misfortunes are to be borne by oneself, and the path ahead chosen by oneself.” Li Mu said solemnly.
Celestial Venerable Fentian, Grand Profound Sword Revered, and the others’ expressions changed dramatically.
“I need to go first.” Li Mu’s gaze cast towards the deep channel, where Law aura was slowly but firmly permeating, “Enter the Main Realm, trace the source. The peril of the Strange Dao, the pressure of rules, …all need to be faced directly, only then can a sliver of hope be found, and also for those who come after… to explore the path ahead.”
Li Mu no longer looked at the others, Chaos Qi naturally flowed around him, billions of Dao patterns flashed across his body, and his entire aura instantly retracted to the extreme, yet he seemed to resonate with the vast Law on the other side of the channel.
“Dao Friend Li!” The Azure Emperor called out anxiously, with concern.
Li Mu did not turn back, only leaving behind a cold and resolute statement, echoing in the Chaos Void Realm:
“Guard the gateway well. If I do not return, or if a powerful enemy presses down… the survival of this Realm, will be on your shoulders.”
Before his words finished, Li Mu’s figure had already moved. His entire being transformed into a pure, condensed to the extreme Chaos stream of light, its color contained within, as if all external brilliance had been stripped away, leaving only the most essential trajectory of “Dao.”
This stream of light was so fast that it surpassed the Divine Sense of the experts, carrying an unwavering resolve, instantly disappearing into the deep, dark entrance of the channel that connected to the Law torrent of the Three Thousand Main Realms!
The stream of light vanished.
At the channel entrance, the ripples of Law intensely swayed for a moment, then slowly subsided. The permeating Main Realm aura seemed to become a little clearer.
In place, only the extreme Dao experts remained, looking at the empty channel entrance, their hearts shaken, silent for a long time. (End of Chapter)
