Chapter 1858 — The Contest of Dao Conviction

"Heh, Old Seven.

. .

"

The ancient memories awakened, and Third Young Master Ling Xiao finally remembered himself, remembered what had befallen him when Shen Mu cast him into the Tribulation of Creation of the Seventeenth Epoch.

He fell into that Tribulation of Creation, and countless versions of him rushed at once toward the Foul Ground that the Tribulation of Destruction had not yet annihilated.

Only there was there a thread of life! But just as countless versions of him raced toward the Foul Ground, the Tribulation of Creation erupted as well, and its power was beyond all imagining: in countless spaces, countless future selves of his, as though undergoing the opening of heaven and earth of a universe, abruptly burst apart, transformed into the Five Primes, into expanding space, body slain and dao dissolved! Countless future selves of his exhausted every means to resist the Tribulation of Creation, driving the divine powers and dao arts of Miluo Palace to their utmost, yet even the strength of a Young Master was of no use whatsoever before this unimaginable catastrophe.

Only then did he understand the gulf between himself and the master of Miluo Palace, and Taishang, and Wuji, and even Shen Mu. That gulf was not a gulf in cultivation, but a gulf in dao attainment, in comprehension of the Dao.

How many futures the Tribulation of Creation had severed from him, he did not know!

He even suspected that his coming billions of years, even tens of billions of years, had all been annihilated by the Tribulation of Creation!

That was horrifying beyond measure.

In that Tribulation of Creation, he had only had time to flee into the Foul Ground with his head.

"Ninety-five billion years have passed since the Tribulation of Creation.

The wounds I took in it should be healed by now.

" The head of Third Young Master Ling Xiao recovered its memory, and at once flesh and blood began to grow. Before this he had been nothing but a head, drifting through the Foul Ground, muddled and dim, acting on instinct alone, not knowing how to restore his body.

Not until Shen Mu, sealed within the pagoda formed from Taichu's flesh and blood, flew into the Foul Ground did Ling Xiao's head obtain a trace of flesh and blood. And the strangest thing in all of this was that the flesh-and-blood pagoda was formed from Taichu's flesh and blood, yet the one who at that time controlled Taichu's body was none other than Third Young Master Ling Xiao.

Moreover, the divine power stored within that flesh-and-blood pagoda was another great divine power that Ling Xiao had created, aimed at the weaknesses of Shen Mu's arts and divine powers: Miluo Dao-Transmutation! In the end, Ling Xiao's skull in the Foul Ground obtained a trace of flesh and blood from the flesh-and-blood pagoda, and only thus was he able to live again!

The circularity of it all was well worth pondering. Young Master Ling Xiao strove with all his might to restore his body; this body was in truth the flesh and blood of the ancient god, the Heavenly Emperor Taichu, joined to his own skull.

But in the Tribulation of Creation, all the spirituality within his skull had been erased by the tribulation, and so he could only use Taichu's flesh and blood to restore his body. Fortunately, Taichu's body was exceedingly powerful; though Taichu himself had been unable to cultivate his body to its utmost, Young Master Ling Xiao could.

"It seems now that the Tribulation of Creation erased only ninety-five billion years of my future.

" Young Master Ling Xiao's head grew swiftly, and a neck sprouted beneath it.

He sensed his dao spear, the spear that pierced his skull, which must have been damaged by the Tribulation of Creation when it fell with him into the Foul Ground, its power greatly diminished. "The future beyond ninety-five billion years was not destroyed by the Tribulation of Creation. I am reborn at this moment; in the Seventeenth Epoch to come, I still have boundless time.

This battle, I have still won it! " Ribs grew out, arms grew out.

So long as he restored his body, even Taichu's body, he could in a very short time refine it to an extremely high level.

Even if it fell short of his original body, it would not be far off. What he lacked now was the cultivation the Tribulation of Creation had ground away; but with his abilities, a few years would suffice to cultivate back to his peak. Beside him lay a broken ship.

Young Master Ling Xiao's pupils contracted slightly. The wreck had been smashed into two halves by something unknown; the other half was gone, leaving only this broken half.

He looked at the ship, yet could not recall where it had come from. He remembered that when he was nothing but a skull, the withered bones of an accomplished Daoist aboard the wreck had fought him for flesh and blood, tearing a great chunk of Taichu's flesh from his face and pressing it onto those bones; but the cultivation of that Daoist's bones was clearly far below his own, and the flesh could not be preserved.

"This ship is not the Master's Golden Ship of Salvation.

The accomplished Daoists aboard it were exceedingly strong.

Where did they come from?

" Young Master Ling Xiao frowned. The ship gave him a familiar feeling; in its hold were hidden many withered bones of accomplished Daoists, locked inside by someone.

In life their strength had been formidable; though not the equal of a Young Master, their powers were unfathomable.

Forces possessing so many powerhouses were truly few across the past sixteen cosmic epochs. "This is no place to linger. Old Seven will surely be watching this place; every moment I stay adds a thread of peril!

" As he was now, though he could swiftly restore his body, he was still somewhat lacking to contend with Shen Mu.

He must hide for a few years, recover to his peak, and only then could he defeat Shen Mu. Young Master Ling Xiao reached out; the rust-covered dao spear flew up and fell into his bony hand. Holding the spear, Young Master Ling Xiao flew, his body racing through the Foul Ground as flesh and blood kept growing.

Soon his upper body had fully grown out, and then the bones of his legs began to grow.

At last Young Master Ling Xiao could stride and walk, and he let out a long breath of relief.

With legs, he could fight or flee, and his speed increased greatly.

Just then his expression shifted slightly: he saw the Forest of Obelisks left behind by First Young Master Taishang to suppress the enemies of Miluo Palace.

The gate of the Forest of Obelisks had been shattered by Shen Mu, and the forest of steles appeared behind the gate.

From within the forest came a mighty suppressive force, and faintly one could see a dao tree hung with twelve dao fruits standing there. "Taiyi!

Or rather, Tiandu! He is hiding here!

" Young Master Ling Xiao departed, thinking: "So then, those Heaven-Opening Host who slipped in here must be in this place as well. They are suppressed by Taiyi; no wonder they have not been seen for three and a half billion years.

I need a few years to recover; if these Heaven-Opening Host could break free, they would be of some help to Miluo Palace.

" After all, he needed several years to heal, and in that time Shen Mu and the Jingping host would have more than enough time to tear the power of Miluo Palace up by the roots.

If the Heaven-Opening Host broke free, Shen Mu would be unable to go aid the Jingping host in wiping out Miluo Palace; and with the Heaven-Opening Host running wild, once they were free Shen Mu could only rush about putting out fires everywhere, with no leisure to destroy Miluo Palace, and no leisure to hunt for his whereabouts. Only, how was he to free the Heaven-Opening Host? Before long, a trace of joy appeared on Young Master Ling Xiao's face: he saw the Heaven-Opening Land! The ruins of Tiandu City appeared before him, and the Heaven-Opening Land was there.