NOVEL NEXT Chapter 579: Daozi
Northern Sea Star.
Nine Cauldrons Sect.
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord, anxious and worried, sought out the current Sect Master of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, Su Yaoxue, to share his findings.
Upon hearing what the Dao Lord had to say, Su Yaoxue's expression also turned serious: "There are truly more than thirty Dao Lords?"
"More, not less."
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord stated definitively, "From those I know of, there are no fewer than thirty Dao Lords, and there may be even more lurking in the shadows. Ultimately, the number could reach forty, fifty, even eighty or a hundred—it's not impossible."
At this point, he added, "Two thousand years ago, the tumult caused by Dao Venerate Alkaid in the starry space around was too significant. In the first thousand years, the news had not had the chance to spread, or perhaps it had been disseminated, but the nearby Dao Lords had not had time to hear about it and arrive. But now... two thousand years have passed, and those who were meant to come... have mostly arrived."
"Dozens, even hundreds of Dao Lords!"
Su Yaoxue felt the weight of the Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord's words, and her expression grew even more somber.
"I know that the Dao Venerate laid several Immortal Arrays around the Nine Cauldrons Sect when he left, and he might have left more than one Immortal Artifact. Under our Dao Lords' leadership, thirty to fifty Dao Lords working together might be able to hold them off, but... what if there are more than that? What if there are over a hundred?"
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord was worried.
"So what you're saying is..."
"Didn't Dao Venerate Alkaid anticipate this situation when he left? Didn't he tell you how to deal with it?"
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord asked.
"A way to deal with it..."
Su Yaoxue pondered for a moment, then nodded, "He mentioned that a secret character would come to find me, to protect our Nine Cauldrons Sect, and like him, this person is a Dao Venerate."
"A Dao Venerate?"
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord's eyes brightened, "A true Dao Venerate?"
"A true Dao Venerate!"
Su Yaoxue nodded firmly.
"That's great."
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord exclaimed joyfully: "With this Dao Venerate in charge, plus the Immortal Artifact and Immortal Array left by Dao Venerate Alkaid, even if the number of Dao Lords gathered outside the Northern Sea Star reaches two or three hundred, they would not be able to lay a finger on the Northern Sea Star."
"But the problem is... we've been waiting for a long time, and this mysterious person has yet to arrive."
Su Yaoxue said helplessly.
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord's expression instantly froze.
"I still have a Jade Talisman on me, personally refined by him and one of the means of communication he left me... I'll try it and see if it works."
Su Yaoxue said.
With the situation being as tense as it was, they had to make a decision.
"As soon as possible! The universe is vast, and even for a Dao Venerate, a trip outside might take dozens, even hundreds of years, or in some cases, it may take several hundred, a thousand, or even a few thousand years. But given the current situation, these Dao Lords have become more and more brazen, even beginning to openly descend upon the Northern Sea Star to test us. We... likely do not have a few hundred years."
The Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord spoke with solemnity.
Su Yaoxue nodded, not daring to hesitate, and shattered the special Jade Talisman left by Alkaid.
Now, they could only wait patiently.
...
Elsewhere.
As Su Yaoxue crushed the Jade Talisman, Alkaid in the Lower Realm starry sky was on his way to the Shenluo Corporation's Lower Realm force—the Hall of Thousand Gods.
This power originally had a scale comparable to the Sun and Star Sect, but since the Sun and Star Sect had been cleansed by Alkaid, the Hall of Thousand Gods still maintained its strength.
The latest news Alkaid received indicated that the number of Dao Lords here had exceeded three digits.
Such a vast number was equivalent to pulling all the Dao Lords within tens of billions of light-years to this place, which saved Alkaid the trouble of searching for them one by one.
Of course, whether it was Dao Venerates formed around the core of Immortal Spirits sent by the Shenluo Corporation, or a three-digit number of Dao Lords, it all didn't mean much in front of Alkaid.
Now he was not only cultivating dozens of Great Daos, but many of those Great Daos had already reached the True Immortal Level.
With the Dao Fruit of "Dao Lord" of the Void Path, he could easily counteract the force of ascension from the Immortal Realm. Moving in the Lower Realm starry sky, he had thoroughly exceeded the upper limit of the system.
This could be seen from the fact that powerful Dao Venerates like Melting Dao Venerate and Huan Yin Dao Venerate had been easily crushed by him.
Feeling the shattered Communication Jade Talisman, Alkaid paused.
He glanced at the Hall of Thousand Gods, still a year or two's journey away, and ultimately he set it aside and turned toward the Northern Sea Star.
From his exchanges with Huan Yin Dao Venerate and others, it was apparent that these Immortal Spirits had guessed the relationship between him, Yu Xiao Immortal King, and the Land of Destruction Path. Now, the area around the Land of Destruction Path was probably gathering quite a number of Dao Lords and Immortal Spirits.
He thought it would be a good time to go there and clean things up.
With that in mind, he mobilized the Power of the Great Void Path and rapidly traversed the vast starry sky.
"Universe, starry sky."
As he was traversing, Alkaid gazed at the endless radiance of the external world and couldn't help feeling a flood of emotions: "If only there had not been the Chaotic Origin Realm war, if only the Power of Destiny had not bound me to the battlefield, how wonderful that would have been."
Even if he couldn't appear in the Immortal Realm, living for 129,600 years like a Dao Lord would have been enough for him.
To spend those less than 130,000 years traveling from one unique and splendid planet to another, savoring the splendor and magnificence of each...
What a life with no regrets that would be.
Unfortunately…
The invasion of the Chaotic Origin Realm wouldn't afford the Ancient Immortal Realm a chance for peace.
The existence of the Power of Destiny would also scheme by all means to mobilize any available power...
Or rather, to forcefully conscript any warrior who could be summoned and send them to the battlefield.
He had no choice in the matter.
His gaze lingered in the vast and infinite starry sky of the outer world for a moment, before he finally said, "No matter the outcome, my initial goal has been achieved. To traverse from the Northern Sea to Cangwu in the morning and evening, with my current strength, crossing from Northern Sea Star to Cangwu Realm wouldn't take a day."
Moreover…
Alkaid sensed his Chaos Essence had already returned to a state of "clarity".
If, in the future, he could fully comprehend the Three Thousand Great Daos, perhaps he could draw upon his own Essence of Chaos and create a world akin to the Ancient Immortal Realm.
Even if he couldn't construct the Ancient Immortal Realm, creating a "small world" similar to the Cangwu Realm, which seemed like a continent but was in reality a universe, would suffice.
And since the Essence of Chaos was akin to himself, when the time came, he could modify those mountains and rivers, forests and grasslands, and the marvels of heaven and earth however he wished.
"Since the outside world has all kinds of problems and dangers, there shouldn't be any more trouble if I fully commit to creating 'my world'."
Thinking this, a smile involuntarily appeared on Alkaid's face.
…
Alkaid was speeding on his way.
However, outside the Northern Sea Star, a considerable number of Dao Lords had gathered.
As the Supreme Subtlety Dao Lord had predicted, their numbers exceeded a hundred.
But at the moment, these hundred-plus Dao Lords were not launching any attacks, instead, they were congregating inside a palace.
The palace appeared to be only ten miles long, but its interior was layered with numerous spatial dimensions, expanding the usable area to a radius of over ten thousand miles.
At this time, inside the palace, there were several figures radiating powerful auras who were engaged in a discussion.
"Dao child, we've given them so many years, is it about time? Shouldn't our actions be a bit more forceful?"
"Yes, Dao child, we can't afford to waste our time like this. There are more important matters waiting for us to deal with. We have been openly present for over a hundred years; they should feel the crisis by now and have sent messages to their mysterious backer for help. It's unlikely that they have been quiet for so long."
Several Dao Lords surrounded a man in a white robe who looked quite majestic.
"Qianran, Shenghui, be patient," said the man revered as "Dao child," waving his hand: "It also takes time for him to rush here from the Extraterritorial Starry Sky to Northern Sea Star."
"I'm afraid they don't understand our intention and think we are just onlookers around Northern Sea Star, deterred by the renown of Dao Venerable Alkaid, not daring to actually move against them, and thus not sending any distress signals."
Dao Lord Qianran said gravely, "Our time is precious. The Nine Major Groups have clearly been planning big moves recently. We must establish our organization and recruit a larger team before they act, so we can be ready for the impending crisis. Therefore, I propose that we make a direct visit, whether to intimidate or to speak plainly, but at least bring them out for a meeting first."
"We are here seeking cooperation, not enmity," said the man in the white robe calmly. "Besides, it's not yet clear whether Dao Venerable Alkaid and that other mysterious Dao Lord are friends or foes. If we're wrong and the remaining Dao Lord behind Northern Sea Star is still an Immortal Spirit, our appearance will undoubtedly alert and frighten them."
"Hasn't the great Tianming Immortal King ascertained through the Gate of Myriad Wonders that the successors of the Time Daoist Ancestor and the Void Ancestor have already emerged?"
Dao Lord Shenghui was somewhat surprised, "Someone who has inherited from two Daoist Ancestors will certainly achieve the rank of Dao Venerate. And during our time in the Land of Destruction Path, the only clear candidate is Alkaid, who has ascended and is currently untraceable. The other... must be the unknown Dao Lord who has been consolidating Great Dao Share for the past two thousand years. He likely has a close relationship with Dao Venerable Alkaid."
"Let's wait a little longer," said the man in the white robe. "Due to the significant actions soon to be initiated by the Nine Major Groups, there are currently too many Immortal Spirits in the Lower Realm, and the responsibility we bear is far too crucial to allow any mistakes. So, let's wait a bit more."
"Dao child, have you considered the possibility that the Dao Venerate who received the Daoist Ancestor's legacy might not want to join us? What then?"
At that moment, a Dao Lord suddenly spoke up.
"How could that be possible? Since he was chosen by a Daoist Ancestor and granted the legacy, he must be one of our Ancient Immortal Realm's own and not a so-called Immortal Spirit. Given his origins, who else would he join if not us? Do you think he would side with the Nine Major Groups? Don't forget, the goal of the Nine Major Groups has always been to overthrow us."
Dao Lord Qianran answered immediately.
The man known as Dao child quickly grasped his meaning.
"You mean to say… he wishes to break away from us, from the grand mission and responsibility he carries, and go it alone?"