Chapter 573: Dao Path (4K)

"Eternal Heavenly Sovereign, come out and meet this deity!"

Above Beichi Prefecture, a tremendous dragon's roar echoed.

The dragon's cry carried fierce wind and snow, and icy chill permeated the skies above Beichi Prefecture.

Many cultivators in Beichi Prefecture could sense the vast icy divine authority and its overwhelming chill.

Deep within the Eternal Ice Fortress.

Wuchun Xianjun sat in the Divine Might General's residence, and at this moment sensed the great commotion, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

"This is an unexpected gain; it seems heaven's will is also on our side!"

His eyes flashed with sharp intensity.

At the same time, there were some ripples in his eyes.

Having waited for over a thousand years, his inner patience had nearly reached its limit; he did not know how long this Eternal Ice Fortress Heavenly Sovereign had remained in the fortress, nor whether he had obtained any news regarding the hidden treasury of the Xuanming Divine Position.

The longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it became for him.

Yet, since no news had come from those behind him, he still chose to wait, waiting for the right moment.

……

In the Eternal Ice Crystal Divine Hall.

Ao Gen's thousand-zhang white dragon true form coiled around the pillars of the ice crystal divine hall, and at this moment he spoke.

"Immortal, this should be my uncle Ao Mo of the West Sea arriving; my uncle has always been devoted to the Dao as if it were life itself, his cultivation profound—Immortal, please be cautious!"

"Acting, naturally, requires performing the full set!"

Zhang Jian smiled faintly, and indeed did not care.

His form suddenly transformed into a streak of purple-yellow divine light, flying out of the ice crystal divine hall, and in an instant he arrived above Beichi Prefecture.

At this moment, from afar he saw a figure clad in a black robe, with wind and rain Dao patterns intertwining around his body—a majestic divine form; the two deities locked eyes, and Zhang Jian saw this fierce dragon god's eyes suddenly flare hot, a strong fighting spirit arising.

At this moment, Ao Mo's eyes widened, and he immediately shouted.

"Are you the Eternal Ice Fortress Heavenly Sovereign who harmed my nephew?"

Zhang Jian gazed upon this West Sea Dragon God and spoke calmly.

"This deity does not know who your nephew is."

"Cut the garlic, my nephew is none other than the Taihu Dragon God Ao Gen; he merely made a small mistake, yet died unjustly in your Eternal Immortal Prison—Heavenly Sovereign, should you not give this deity an explanation?"

"I am the Eternal Heavenly Sovereign; I need only answer to the Heavenly Court, not to anyone else for anything!"

Zhang Jian's expression was 'cold and detached'.

"Then you shall pay with your life!"

At this moment, Ao Mo's face burned with rage; he transformed into hundreds of wind and rain dragons, flying toward Zhang Jian, and majestic divine power permeated the heavens above Beichi Prefecture.

"You are not worthy!"

Seeing this, Zhang Jian likewise waved his hand, and a streak of purple-yellow immortal light flowed forth.

Vast divine power collided in the void, and the two forms instantly intertwined in the depths of the void, surging toward the depths of the Ninefold Cloud Heavens.

Another immortal deity emerged from the void, eyes trembling as they watched this scene.

The killing intent permeating the void was as cold as snow, sealing ice over millions of miles of cloud layers.

Fortunately, both sides had restraint, and did not affect the living beings of Beichi Prefecture.

This scene entered the ears of many attentive immortals and deities, causing many immortals and deities to let their imaginations run wild.

And a portion of the reporting immortals who had resolved to serve under the Eternal Ice Fortress Heavenly Sovereign, upon seeing this scene, also felt some anxiety.

The battle fluctuations above continued for a long time.

Only after several days did it end.

Between them, it appeared no victor had been decided, but this scene fell into the eyes of some powerful immortals and deities, yet in their hearts they already harbored suspicions.

Wuchun Xianjun stood in the depths of the cloud heavens, his eyes flashing with intense Dao-heart fluctuations.

The immense divine power displayed by these two deities undoubtedly surpassed his own; in his view, this was no mere performance!

"That final strike, though appearing indecisive, the new Heavenly Sovereign employed the power of three great treasures, and also retreated swiftly—likely already wounded, though I do not know the extent of the injury."

Wuchun Xianjun was not surprised by this.

Ao Mo is a renowned powerhouse of the West Sea Dragon Palace; it is said he has also severed fate, possibly already entered the Fifth Step of Heavenly Heart Returning to the Dao.

Ao Mo is not like him; as a powerhouse of the West Sea Dragon Palace, he also bears the title of War God among the dragon clan, lacks no treasures, and his cultivation should be able to suppress this Eternal Ice Fortress Heavenly Sovereign—should be no problem?

Wuchun Xianjun's heart secretly stirred with excitement.

……

In the Eternal Ice Crystal Great Hall.

At this moment, Zhang Jian and another middle-aged sovereign clad in black robes appeared in this divine hall.

The other black-robed sovereign is naturally the dragon clan powerhouse Ao Mo.

"Uncle!"

Upon seeing Ao Mo's form, Ao Gen, coiled upon the pillars, instantly brightened his eyes, his form transforming into a streak of flowing light as he descended from the pillars.

Ao Mo gazed upon Ao Gen's vital spirit, examined him up and down, then nodded slightly.

"Ao Gen, it seems your fortune is not bad—you encountered this exalted Heavenly Sovereign, not only preserving your life, but also healing the hidden wounds on your body!"

After a brief pause, Ao Mo bowed his hands toward Zhang Jian.

"Eternal Heavenly Sovereign, I, on behalf of the West Sea Dragon Palace, thank the Heavenly Sovereign for your full effort in healing; had it not been for the Heavenly Sovereign's intervention, my nephew would have lost his life in vain!"

Zhang Jian smiled faintly and said: "For now, the priority is to uncover the one who acted in secret; this matter still requires your assistance, Dao friend Ao Mo!"

Ao Mo gave a slight nod.

After receiving the message from the West Sea Dragon Palace, he personally came rushing here.

He had long known all the details from the letters; before, he merely played along with the Heavenly Sovereign of the Eternal Ice Fortress in a performance.

He was also curious as to who dared to plot against the Dragon God of the West Sea Dragon Palace.

He felt this matter might well be aimed at the Four Seas Dragon Palace.

For years, immortals and gods hostile to the Dragon Palace have existed, secretly obstructing the Four Seas Dragon Palace.

Of course, this time, with Zhang Jian entering the Eternal Ice Crystal Divine Palace, it was also to confirm whether Ao Gen was truly safe and sound.

Now that Ao Gen was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, his gaze fell upon Zhang Jian.

"Heavenly Sovereign, you must promise me: after this matter concludes, we shall surely have a proper duel!"

Though this battle previously had an element of performance, neither of them had failed to exert most of their strength.

Even after using most of their strength, he found himself unable to prevail against the opponent, which truly surprised Ao Mo.

Before entering the Eternal Ice Fortress, he had indeed inquired about this Eternal Heavenly Sovereign's information.

The opposing party had only a thousand years ago spread the Earth Emperor's primordial qi throughout the heavens.

By rights, his cultivation should have only reached the second step of the Taiyi Great Perfection.

Yet he had entered the fifth step of the Taiyi Great Perfection, his heart returning to the Dao, gradually establishing his own path.

The gap between them was immense.

Even with a divine body, it should be impossible to erase such a disparity.

Zhang Jian glanced at this Dragon God and smiled faintly.

"If Dao Brother is willing, there will be an opportunity!"

His expression bore a light smile.

After Ao Mo personally saw Ao Gen, he turned and departed.

Gazing at Ao Mo's retreating figure, Zhang Jian's expression grew somewhat solemn.

The power of the fifth step of the Taiyi Great Perfection, the heart returning to the Dao, is indeed formidable.

It surpasses his imagination somewhat.

After the fourth step of the Taiyi Great Perfection severs fate, comes the heart returning to the Dao.

This is the most crucial first step among the five steps of the Taiyi Great Perfection, vital for attaining the Dao.

Heart returning to the Dao means determining one's own path.

For example, he walks the path of the Earth Emperor.

His Earth Emperor's path is jointly composed of the path of the State and Altar Dao Sovereign and the path of the Nine Abysses Dao Sovereign, with additionally over ten branches that must be fulfilled.

He must ensure the Earth Emperor's path is unobstructed.

He must guarantee this road is unpolluted, free of traps, and secondly, that he does not violate the taboos of great divine powers.

On this point, Zhang Jian feels hesitant.

The authority over the primordial qi of the Earth Emperor that he controls is too broad; he must focus, to avoid conflict with other earth-attribute and earth-attribute Dao Sovereigns.

However, the two major authorities of the State and Altar Dao Sovereign and the Nine Abysses Dao Sovereign must absolutely not encounter problems.

That is to say, at this step, he still needs to condense a primordial qi of the State and Altar and a primordial qi of the Nine Abysses, which can be either acquired or innate.

As for other similar aspects such as yin-yang, the five elements, time-space, and reality-illusion, they need to be refined as appropriate, ultimately forming the Earth Emperor's path, and he must resolutely and unwaveringly follow it.

Every Dao Sovereign's path is unique.

If a great divine power has already walked this path, then entering it later naturally means facing that power's suppression, even path contamination, and the final outcome needs no explanation.

For now, he has not yet entered the fifth step.

Zhang Jian, however, does not need to be overly concerned.

He can only boldly hypothesize now; the careful verification process has not yet arrived, and he must at least wait until after the fourth step severs fate.

Zhang Jian then quickly announced he would enter seclusion for five hundred years within the Eternal Ice Crystal Divine Palace; as for external affairs, he would dispatch the Tai Xu Ling Shen to handle them, and other celestial officials without urgent matters should not disturb him.

Zhang Jian's decision to enter seclusion is naturally to lure that hidden person into continuing their attacks, so as to conveniently grasp their weakness.

Moreover, the seclusion state is genuine.

He needs to continue elevating his Dao heart.

During this battle, the Dao Sovereign's worldview played a significant role.

After elevation, his Dao heart governing the casting of multiple fifth-rank immortal law matrices became much easier.

For the Nine Transformations Chaos Qing Lotus Transformation Great Law, the use of the Eternal Immortal Treasure also became more effortless and free.

Yet Zhang Jian still feels that, in cultivation, he is far inferior to Ao Mo, who has unified the states of past, present, and future by severing fate.

Being able to clash with him relies entirely on the divine foundation and the power of various heavenly and earthly rare treasures within his body.

Furthermore, Zhang Jian has also made arrangements at several key points deep within the Eternal Ice Fortress.

The forbidden zone of the Eternal Ice Fortress is not only the Eternal Ice Prison, but also the Eternal Ancestral Qi Essence transformed into the Eternal Ancestral Vein below, which is one of the ancestral spiritual veins of the Nine Heavens of the lower realm.

There is also the Eternal Gate.

The Eternal Gate is a spatial passage leading to the extraterritorial void.

It is a historical legacy issue left over from the ancient battlefield.

Above all, there is the Nine Heavens Divine Stele.

The Nine Heavens Divine Stele is the supreme treasure for suppressing the celestial realm, standing at the central region of the Eternal Ice Fortress; if an accident occurs, it will affect the entire Nine Heavens of the lower realm.

In the coming time, Ao Mo will appear in Bei Zhou Prefecture every so often, or alternatively, before entering the Eternal Ice Fortress, he will shout insults and issue challenges.

Yet no one responds anymore.

This also causes many immortals of the Eternal Ice Fortress to secretly feel disheartened, to the point that the morale of the thirty thousand Eternal Heavenly Soldiers is affected.

……

Five hundred years later, deep within the Eternal Ice Prison, the eighth layer.

The immortal gods imprisoned in the seventh layer of the Eternal Ice Prison are mostly of the Taiyi True Number level.

While the eighth layer of the Eternal Ice Prison imprisons Taiyi Heavenly Immortals, as well as Taiyi Great Perfection-level immortal gods, and also tyrannical demonic fiends.

And it is rumored that the ninth layer of the Eternal Immortal Prison is a chaotic void, where it is said that errant Dao Lords are imprisoned.

In the ninth layer of the Eternal Immortal Prison, besides the Eternal Ice Fortress Heavenly Lord, no other immortal gods are allowed to enter, lest they be affected and driven mad.

In fact, the Eternal Ice Fortress Heavenly Lord is also the jailer of the ninth layer of the Eternal Immortal Prison.

At this moment, in the eighth layer of the Eternal Ice Prison, over a hundred prison guards are patrolling.

Since over a thousand years ago, when the Taihu Dragon God Ao Gen encountered trouble, the Eternal Ice Prison has also increased its defenses.

At this moment, a series of strange bell sounds suddenly rang out from the eighth layer of the Eternal Ice Prison.

The bell sounds drifted over, and the many prison guards of the eighth layer unknowingly had their eyes grow dazed, collapsing into unconsciousness; at this moment, a figure clad in purple silently appeared in the eighth layer of the Eternal Ice Fortress.

Her posture was alluring, her face beautiful.

Around her body swirled thick, intense demonic qi, this demonic qi extraordinarily vast.

At this moment, her gaze swept over the eighth layer of the Eternal Ice Prison, sweeping over each prison cell, and from her body surged a vast purple demonic qi that flowed outward, instantly sweeping toward each prison cell.

Inside the cells, another mighty immortal god was startled by this terrifying demonic qi, and furthermore, a vast demonic Dao will linked to their spirits, like overlapping demonic sounds, triggering countless demonic qi in their hearts to run wild, boiling over.

But just then, a beam of ice-cold divine light suddenly burst forth from one of the prison cells, like heaven and earth covered in ice and snow blossoming, the chill within the entire Eternal Ice Prison transformed into layers of eternal divine light intertwining, sweeping toward this purple-clad demoness.

"A trap?"

Seeing this, the purple-clad demoness suddenly changed expression.

Demonic qi surged upward from her body, forming one after another black demon lotuses to block above her head.

Attempting to resist that eternal divine light.

The bell in her hand underwent extreme changes.

The piercing bell sound seemed to pierce through time and space, as the years flowed toward the depths of the prison cell.

But the bell sound ceased instantly, and a figure holding a white bone divine staff appeared before her; the Profound Ice Divine Staff merely tapped lightly, and this alluring, voluptuous demoness was completely frozen, sealed in ice.

Zhang Jian held the Profound Ice Divine Staff, he glanced at the demoness before him, and in his eyes flashed a hint of cold indifference.

This is an extraterritorial heart demon.

When he first entered the Central Heavenly Realm, he had encountered such beings before, though this demoness had cultivated to the level of Taiyi Heavenly Immortal; coming from the extraterritorial heart demons, she was also quite formidable.

The demon god who schemed against Ao Gen a thousand years ago should be this very woman.

At this moment, a hint of smile appeared in his eyes; he seized her, and finally he had grasped the initiative.

Although she might merely be one of his pawns, he had plenty of ways to make this pawn speak.

The Three Lives Stone also possesses such ability.

Zhang Jian waved his hand, and thus he sealed this purple-clad demoness within the Map of Mountains and Rivers.

And at this moment, within the residence of the Divine Might General, Wu Chun Xianjun sat silently upon the divine throne, his eyes showing some concern.

For some reason, this time he felt a strong sense of unease in his heart.

Although there was no sudden impulse of emotion.

But this was a kind of intuition.

"It seems, after all, I still need to act personally!"

Wu Chun Xianjun rose to his feet, he decided to go all in.

If he missed this opportunity, given the domineering nature of that Eternal Heavenly Lord, even the slightest suspicion would mean he likely had no chance to ever touch the divine throne's secret cache again.