Chapter 1809 — Unrivaled Upon the Sea of Ruins
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Suddenly they caught sight of another Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon, and their spirits soared; rousing their Dao Trees and Dao Fruits, in an instant they remade their bodies, taking the form of men with rooster heads, immensely powerful, and flew toward that Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon, wings flapping behind them.
They passed through a bubble, and their minds went suddenly dim and muddled; when they came to themselves, they saw that their forms had changed once more, becoming two green snakes slithering along the ground.
"The Seventh Young Master's divine abilities are no match for those who have attained the Dao!"
The two sensed their Dao Trees and Dao Fruits, roused their divine abilities once more, and remade their bodies; the strength of Dao-attainers was displayed in full, and in an instant they took the form of men with serpent heads, still immensely powerful, and charged out of the bubble.
Scarcely had they left that bubble when they entered another, and became two old trees.
The two Dao-attainers' minds were somewhat disordered, but before long they remembered who they were; the two old trees tore themselves from the ground and became two burly tree-men, striding out of that bubble world.
They stepped into another bubble, and fell into a great sea, becoming two tiny fish.
When they plunged into the next bubble world, they became two wildflowers by the roadside.
Entering yet another bubble, they became two grasshoppers, hopping to and fro.
With every bubble world they entered, their consciousness grew more dim; yet Dao-attainers were mighty after all, and holding fast to their Dao hearts, they always managed to wake again.
Only, each awakening took longer than the last, and the two began to fear in secret whether they would be able to rouse their sense of self the next time.
Yet to remain in a bubble world was no solution either, for the bubble worlds would burst and be annihilated from time to time; each explosion was like the kalpa of destruction and the kalpa of creation at the opening of heaven and earth, and what it consumed was their cultivation and strength.
Moreover, as bubbles perished, new bubbles were born, without end.
The two Dao-attainers passed ceaselessly from bubble to bubble, and the other Dao-attainer they sought had long since vanished without a trace.
Thus they underwent countless cycles of reincarnation, until at last, rolling into yet another bubble world, they became two Chaos Stones.
The consciousness within the two Chaos Stones sank gradually into stillness along with the chaos qi, becoming a state of pure chaos.
Then another object rolled into that bubble world, and landing, became a Chaos Stone.
The three Chaos Stones lay there rigid, motionless, without any consciousness or thought.
Meanwhile, in the world outside, only an instant had passed.
In the blink during which Palace Master Hehuan and Palace Master Phoenix roused their treasure halls to extinguish the fire of heat death, they made their decision, and at once turned back, seeking to leave the Ruins.
But to their horror, they could not see the entrance to the Ruins.
They looked up, and saw only skies shaped like wheels, one after another, within which the great kalpa of destruction surged and howled!
Palace Master Hehuan reached up and seized the hand of Palace Master Phoenix, who had risen into the air, and pulled her back, shaking her head and saying in a low voice: "Do not go! Once inside, you fall into the Dao of Reincarnation, and life becomes worse than death!"
Palace Master Phoenix suddenly recalled the rumors about the Seventh Young Master of Miluo Palace, and hastily checked herself, breaking out in a cold sweat.
In the old tales, there had once been those who entered the space of reincarnation within the dream of the Seventh Young Master, Shen Mu, and met with every manner of uncanny thing; the tales were most sinister.