Chapter 383

Gu's eyes flickered with a hint of gravity.

Yet within less than a billionth of an instant, Zi Jian's cold gaze had already pierced through the rolling purple qi and settled upon Him.

Boom—!

Heaven and earth fell into eternal silence; before His eyes, only an ultimate void remained, even the very concept of "void" becoming an empty abstraction.

Matter, law, and even Dao no longer existed—it seemed as if returned to the primordial chaos before all things.

Crack!

A thread of brilliant light representing "opening and creation" swept across this void so utterly empty it was called "primordial chaos."

Everything began to gain meaning.

The clear, ethereal qi rose to become heaven; the turbid, mixed qi sank to become earth.

Yin and yang found order; the Four Symbols emerged; the Five Phases turned; the myriad Dao paths were first carved open.

All that had been utterly void and empty now expanded boundlessly; the force that had gathered all Dao and all laws began to swell infinitely.

"Failed…" Gu sighed.

Then He directly broke free from the influence of Zi Jian's gaze.

Undoubtedly, that gaze had subtly surpassed the level of Tong Zhen—but it still did not threaten Him, the Ancestor of the Cang Clan.

What truly sent a chill through Him was the surge of power unleashed by Hun Tian Yi just after the failed "Building of the Heavenly Pass."

Huhuh~!

The rolling purple qi churned violently, instantly relocating all remaining Cang Clan heavenly generals still in the process of "Building the Heavenly Pass," leaving only Zi Jian behind.

His indifferent eyes were no longer like seven-colored glazed glass; they had turned pure white, fixed unblinkingly upon Gu, devoid of even the faintest ripple.

No thought, no will, no self.

During the process of building the Heavenly Pass, under the relentless scouring of the boundless Dao—the "Dao's Vastness"—He had failed to maintain His self.

Without the preservation of "self," the Heavenly Pass, painstakingly forged, collapsed—naturally, the attempt failed.

Suddenly, a flicker of struggle surfaced on Zi Jian's face; a sliver of color flashed within His pure white eyes.

"Gu… Ancestor…"

He painfully uttered two words, as if clinging to the last shred of His original self, yet on the verge of being utterly erased by the boundless Dao's scouring.

Is there still hope?

Gu was startled, and without hesitation, acted.

"E Zhuan, Yuan Chen Mo Nong."

Each word He spoke seemed carved into ancient rock, weathered by eons, heavy with the weight of time.

The human race's "Dao Extreme" method of enlightenment could not be interfered with.

But this was Tai Xuan Tian's method of "Building the Heavenly Pass"—no precedent existed; perhaps intervention was still possible?

The past domain was His domain, where its effect far surpassed that of the present world.

Instantly, time seemed to reverse; Zi Jian's past unfolded before Gu like an endless scroll with infinite pages.

"Gui Liu, Sui Yue Gai Yi."

Another voice rang out!

From Zi Jian's "past scroll," countless "images" flew out, drifting toward the Zi Jian seated motionless, face twisted in struggle—like threads of seven-colored divine radiance merging into the purple crystal embedded in His brow.

The effect was immediate.

Within the pure white eyes, the single thread of color that had barely held on now stabilized, beginning to slowly spread.

With the aid of the "past scroll," He truly seemed to be clinging to His self, bit by bit, against the scouring of the boundless Dao.

The pure white hue in His eyes gradually receded, vanished, restoring its original seven-colored brilliance.

Soon, His eyes were only a hair's breadth from full restoration—when, at that very moment, a sudden anomaly erupted!

"Ancestor Gu…!"

A scream, laden with boundless agony, reverberated through the entire space.

Gu froze; the "Heavenly Pass"—the primordial point within Zi Jian's body—had now swelled beyond any possibility of containment!

Its form began to unravel; His Tong Zhen body expanded like a balloon being inflated.

The scouring of myriad Dao paths had turned Zi Jian's own "past" He had just inserted into it into nourishment.

"Fool!"

Rolling purple qi surged upward like a vast net, wrapping toward Zi Jian at the center.

Even as it tightly bound Him, He continued to swell uncontrollably.

"You know the Heavenly Pass must not be disturbed, don't you?!" Gu paused, but faced with Tai Xuan Tian's rebuke, He could only endure it silently.

"I thought… it might differ from the 'Dao Extreme' method…"

Tai Xuan Tian said nothing; instead, He relocated the Zi Jian bound within the purple qi net—allowing Him to swell further would endanger all other aspirants building their Heavenly Passes.

The next instant, the spherical purple qi net vanished abruptly.

…

…

Beneath Gu Tai Xuan Tian.

A colossal sphere of purple qi suddenly appeared; within moments, it had swollen to rival an ancient star.

Though still insignificant against the boundless expanse of Gu Tai Xuan Tian, the aura within—subtly surpassing Tong Zhen—filled heaven and earth, pressing down upon every living being in this realm with suffocating weight.

What is that…?

Every Cang Clan member harbored this question.

No single word, single hair, single detail, single content—none escaped notice!

"Bow your head."

A voice brimming with supreme authority echoed throughout the ancient Tai Xuan Tian.

It is the Ancestor!

All Cang clans paused, then bowed their heads in unison, daring not to defy the Ancestor's command.

Only after every Cang clan had bowed their heads did the purple net enveloping Zi Jian loosen its grip—and then stretch infinitely in all directions, splitting the entire ancient Tai Xuan Tian into upper and lower halves.

And Zi Jian, now freed, was no longer the sacred goddess she had been; she had transformed into a strange crystal with countless facets and edges, expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Within it seemed to flow the lights of past, fate, cause and effect, future, and end.

Seven-colored divine radiance burst forth from the Hall of Ages, landing near the strange crystal that unified countless concepts and encompassed infinite meanings, forming a seven-colored divine figure.

"This is..."

Gu stared at the strange crystal, the light and shadow of his Age Divine Ring swirling behind his head.

Observe the old; life is but a dream.

He wished to understand what manner of existence this crystal was.

"It is a Dao Slave," came the voice of Xuan from the distant sky.

Dao Slave...?

A Dao Slave has no self—it is the slave of the Great Dao.

"Because of your interference, its current strength has surpassed Dong Zhen and draws near that of a Dao-Attained one," Xuan continued.

The method of "Building the Heavenly Pass" follows the path of comprehending "Dao's Vastness," unlike the "Dao's Apex" method, so it leaves behind a physical shell.

And because the original self has dissipated, it becomes a unified body of "concepts" and "meanings"—what is called a Dao Slave.

The Great Dao is without emotion or will, so the Dao Slave possesses no subjective agency.

But its very existence is a grave threat!

"What should I do?" Gu asked.

He intended never to make reckless decisions again.

"Find a way to throw it into the Central Continent."

A Dao Slave stronger than Dong Zhen, nearing the Dao-Attained level, will keep those True Immortals busy for a while—so they won't have to constantly guard against the Sword Ancestor causing trouble.

Throw it into the Central Continent?

Is this something you just toss away like that?

Gu was about to speak when the sword light swirling around his chest wound suddenly trembled—the supreme sharpness, long suppressed, reemerged.

"Hngh!"

He groaned, clutching his chest, as the surrounding space was suddenly stained by a red light of unknown origin.

Huh?!

He looked up—and saw, in the clear blue sky, a red moon had appeared out of nowhere!

Crimson moonlight spilled down, illuminating all directions.

That moonlight was like the sharpest blade in the world, slicing through the purple net that separated heaven and earth.

"As opponents, your ideas are indeed clever," came a voice from afar.

Then a figure stepped forth upon the moon, holding a sword of pure crimson. (End of Chapter)