Chapter 640: The Supreme Authority and the Outsiders of Old

Not long after, Ming Yu and Ning Wan Zhu, led by the Sovereign of the Void, had traversed most of the Void Holy Domain.

Strangely, along the way, all manner of splendid buildings stood row upon row in grand profusion, yet there was not a single sign of life.

Apart from soldiers in heavy silver armor stationed on either side of the streets, there was no trace of any living being.

Ning Wan Zhu did not ask, but in her heart she vaguely guessed that the current state of the Void Holy Domain might be related to what the Sovereign of the Void had just mentioned — that she had been defeated by the Sovereign of Insight and had 'died' once.

They arrived at the core region of the Void Holy Domain.

A black Gao Ta, its entire surface inscribed with faint golden runes, stood towering.

From afar it was unremarkable, but now that they were nearby, they could see that dense, countless runes covered the entire body of the tower, forming a subtle and unfathomable aura that filled the whole Gao Ta.

And its purpose...

seemed to be 'sustaining' and 'repairing'.

Hum~

The faint golden runes inscribed on the tower's body suddenly grew a little brighter.

The pitch-black surface before them seemed to melt, rippling outward in rings visible to the naked eye.

A white-haired, aged elder slowly walked out from within, his eyes a complete, pure white — a rather terrifying sight.

He stepped forward to stand before the Sovereign of the Void, his withered, emaciated body swaying as if it might collapse at any moment, like an old machine on the verge of falling apart.

Yet neither Ming Yu nor Ning Wan Zhu harbored the slightest thought of looking down on him.

Though he had suddenly appeared and looked utterly wretched, this elder himself was equivalent to Dao Merging.

Although he was very weak and had suffered extremely severe injuries, Dao Merging was still Dao Merging.

Every being who had reached Dao Merging could not be underestimated.

"Greetings, Sovereign," the elder offered a bow.

"These two guests from beyond wish to seek out the outsiders who once came to the Taiyi Realm," the Sovereign of the Void said, her tone as placid as ever.

"Understood."

As the elder stepped aside, the black tower before them slowly opened, irregular blocks appearing along its surface and drifting aside.

In the blink of an eye, an arched doorway wide enough for three to pass through appeared in the previously seamless black Gao Ta.

A thin curtain of pure Bai Guang covered the entire arched doorway, seemingly to prevent the power of 'sustaining' and 'repairing' from leaking out.

But this also made it impossible to see the scene within the tower.

"Please, follow me."

With that, the Sovereign of the Void stepped inside first.

Seeing this, Ming Yu first glanced at Sister Wan Zhu.

The ultimate 'good' might not be bad for outsiders like them, but whether it was 'good'...

That remained to be observed.

'It's fine,' Sister Wan Zhu transmitted.

Facing such an utterly good person, the Ling Yin Heart Canon she cultivated could be put to even better use.

Moreover...

The Sovereign of the Void had never once entertained the thought of concealing her own heart.

After all, for the vast majority of the Taiyi Realm's powerful beings, concealing one's heart was tantamount to being unwilling to face one's true self.

In a certain sense, it was an act that shook one's own convictions!

Thus, the two of them quickly followed behind the Sovereign of the Void and entered the black Gao Ta together.

Shortly after the two entered the Gao Ta, those irregular blocks began to churn around the arched doorway until they covered it entirely, leaving not the slightest gap.

The emaciated elder with a pair of pure-white eyes swayed unsteadily and melted back into the black Gao Ta.

……

……

Inside the Gao Ta.

"Unlike me, the Sovereign of Insight upholds the survival of the fittest, natural selection," the Sovereign of the Void's voice echoed. "He believes 'chaos' is the essence of the world, and order is merely an occasional ripple across the long river of time."

Crystal after crystal, translucent and sparkling, floated silently — so densely packed that no end could be seen at a glance.

The ground glowed with a soft, bright pure-white dawn-light.

The dawn-light illuminated every crystal, allowing one to see straight through to their interiors at a glance.

Within the crystals, just like the pillars in the Holy Domain's hall before, figures were sealed away — some old, some young, some male, some female. The human race made up the vast majority, but there were also no few of other races.

These were all living beings who had been caught up in the great war three years ago, when the Sovereign of the Void and the Sovereign of Insight had clashed over their differing convictions.

Some belonged to the Sovereign of the Void's command, but most did not belong to the 'Taiyi Continent' — they came instead from the upper Thirty-Six Heavens and the lower Seventy-Two Heavens.

Upon her revival, the Sovereign of the Void had, as her very first act, gathered the remnant souls of the living beings caught up in that great war, and built this tower to forcibly draw upon the power of the Void Realm, sending the many remnant souls inside to be repaired.

Yes — forcibly drawn!

The Sovereign of the Void was one of the strongest beings of this realm; even compared to the Tongxuan of the Xuan Realm, she could be counted among the very pinnacle of Tongxuan.

So many years ago, she had already turned the tables.

It was no longer the world that had chosen her — she had made the world her 'subordinate'.

And precisely because she had devoted the vast majority of her power to 'sustaining' and 'repairing' the lives of those caught up in that great war, the impact of her one 'death' had yet to fade even now.

In the most critical clash with the Sovereign of Insight, she had also fallen at a disadvantage.

"Perhaps the convictions you uphold differ from mine, but I can see that you are not followers of 'chaos'."

At this point, the Sovereign of the Void's tone finally carried a hint of seriousness.

"If the Sovereign of Insight were to obtain the third Supreme Authority, even your world might be eroded by 'chaos'."

Erosion by 'chaos'?

The Grand Xuan Realm?

Emm…

That's a bit hard to comment on.

"The third supreme authority?" Ming Yu asked.

This was also the first question she had asked since they met.

"Correct," the Kongji Shengzhu of Emptiness nodded slightly. "The Grand Unity Realm has three supreme authorities in total. Among them, 'Emptiness' is the first, 'Insight' is the second, and the third supreme authority appeared suddenly five years ago."

The appearance of this third supreme authority was also the greatest reason she and the Kongji Shengzhu of Insight erupted into a great war.

Originally, neither she nor the Kongji Shengzhu of Insight had any certainty of killing the other, so neither had ever made a move.

"Since Emptiness is first, why did you lose?"

"The Kongji Shengzhu of Insight wanted to detonate the seventy-two lower heavens and the thirty-six upper heavens. I could not sit by and do nothing, so while shielding the one hundred and eight heavens, I was defeated by him."

In terms of pure strength, she was actually somewhat superior to the Kongji Shengzhu of Insight.

But the Kongji Shengzhu of Insight believed in the strong being honored, that chaos is eternity, so he was somewhat more unscrupulous.

As she said these words, Ning Wan Zhu could feel that not even a trace of unwillingness surfaced in her heart.

In other words, she clearly knew her 'goodness' would be exploited by the Kongji Shengzhu of Insight, yet she still did so.

She even did not think that was 'wrong.'

To put it more precisely, she only felt that the Kongji Shengzhu of Insight's act of detonating the one hundred and eight heavens was wrong, but she did not feel that the Kongji Shengzhu of Insight exploiting her 'goodness' was wrong.

A person of extreme goodness…

As expected, when any single aspect reaches an extreme, it is not quite normal.

Just like that, asking and answering as they went, the three of them passed through the long corridor inside Gao Ta and arrived before a towering crystalline wall at the very center of Gao Ta.

Within it were likewise sealed some objects, but they were not living beings — they were some 'artifacts.'

A withered, twisted branch, with a few yellowed leaves still clinging to it, looking utterly unremarkable.