Chapter 1697 — Yours Truly Raises the Standard of Revolt
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Though he was a Dao-attainer who had lived through four cosmic epochs, with a Dao heart of unyielding firmness, even he could not help but feel a faint stir at this moment.
Once his Dao tree descended, he could take a step ahead of everyone in Miluo Palace and brand his own Dao upon this cosmos's ultimate void!
That was the first move!
If he branded his Dao before all others, then before this cosmos collapsed he might well cultivate his fourth Dao fruit!
"With the descent of Miluo Palace, the collapse of this cosmos is inevitable, and I fear it will come even faster than the collapse of the sixteenth epoch. Not everyone has hope of cultivating another Dao fruit in this cosmos, but I certainly can."
The Lord of the Lingguan Hall was in excellent spirits. This was precisely why he had braved the peril of offending the Seventh Young Master, Shen Mu, to descend to this place!
At last the Lingyuan heavens were wholly transformed into energy and vanished. The Lord of the Lingguan Hall felt a mighty, boundless power of the Dao surge into him from his Dao tree, Dao flower, and Dao fruit, and his body and mind were filled with ease. He summoned Heavenly Venerable Xu and said, "These ten years I have enjoyed your care, and I have repaid you by raising the Dao of Youdu you cultivate by no small measure. Today my work is complete; I shall go to the void of your cosmos and attempt to brand my Dao there, and establish my ultimate Daluo Heaven."
Heavenly Venerable Xu bowed in thanks.
Over these ten years the Lord of the Lingguan Hall had instructed her in how to cultivate, and she had profited greatly; her cultivation and strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, far surpassing what they had been.
"Cultivate as I have taught you, and attaining the Dao will be no difficult matter."
With his Dao tree standing behind him, the Lord of the Lingguan Hall instructed her: "If the Heavenly Emperor comes asking, tell him plainly that I have gone to brand the ultimate void. When I attain the Dao in this world, I shall possess two Dao flowers and three Dao fruits. I need only divide my mortal body, and I can become five Dao-attainers to aid him."
Heavenly Venerable Xu was struck with awe: "Five Dao-attainers?"
The Lord of the Lingguan Hall rose into the air, one step to each heaven, and after thirty-six steps he stepped into the ultimate void.
"This young cosmos has scarcely a handful of Dao-attainers. A pity that six billion years of history should produce such trash."
The Lord of the Lingguan Hall sensed the ripples of Daluo Heavens coming from the ultimate void, and made out how many there were; he could not help shaking his head.
He seated himself and began to lodge his own Dao there. Even the cold, silent wind of the ultimate void could do nothing to him. He had attained the Dao in a past cosmos, not in this one, and so he still needed to brand his Dao upon the ultimate void before he could bring his cultivation and strength to their fullest.
In ordinary times he might have chosen to cultivate in the world, to cultivate another path different from that of the previous cosmic epoch; that was the orthodox way of cultivation in Miluo Palace.
"But the Seventh Young Master is in this cosmos, and he will not permit me to cultivate in the orthodox way! After all, that is the Seventh Young Master..."
The vast army of the Heavenly Court pressed on, drawing ever nearer to the Yuan Realm, but along the way its baggage and supplies were consumed in enormous quantities; even the Heavenly Court's terrifying wealth could hardly sustain it.
More crucially, Jingping had severed all the spirit-energy translocation bridges linking the Heavenly Court, stripping it of its rule over the myriad heavens and worlds. Without the resources of the myriad heavens and worlds behind it, the Heavenly Court's expedition against Jingping found even the consumption along the road hard to bear.