Chapter 1490: Chapter 524: Enmity That Blocks the Tao (Part 3)
This made Doumu realize that the Dao of the one before her was so troublesome that she absolutely could not treat her as an ordinary newly-ascended Transcender!
"Doumu Yuanjun, your strength falls far below my expectations. Before I returned to this realm, he warned me again and again not to underestimate you, yet now it seems— you are far too weak."
"This is the Heavenly Limit between a True Saint and a Transcender, and also the gap between you and me."
Hel slightly lifted her chin, overlooking Doumu Yuanjun, speaking indifferently.
Above the firmament, her visage faintly appeared out of the vastness, surpassing Doumu in absolute beauty, with a Dao Intent lofty and remote; none could probe the height of her Dao, nor fathom the breadth of her heart.
What especially made Doumu feel stifled was the "caution" Hel had displayed thus far.
Hel had yet to reveal her True Form, making it difficult for Doumu to let the Investiture of the Gods lock onto her, to probe the foundation of her Harmonization, and then seek an opening to strike her down.
And now, Hel’s words made her so enraged she laughed; when she herself ascended into Transcendence in bygone days, Hel had not even been born!
Just because she seized the initiative, she dared to be so rampant before her?!
"Six Paths Reincarnation Seal!"
As she fell further and further into disadvantage, Doumu had no choice but to attempt to reverse the battlefield, bringing out a Transcendence heavy weapon that the Heavenly Court had painstakingly prepared for many years!
An ancient, simple seal manifested Heaven and Earth, plunging everything nearby into the most thorough state of "eternal calamity"—the "Eternal Silence" of the end of all things, the severing of Karma, the solidification of time and space.
Doumu poured her full strength into activating this Reincarnation heavy weapon that had been founded in days past with the flesh, blood, and Dao of a Transcender.
The Reincarnation System that the Nether Mansion and Ksitigarbha had once jointly forged with the Netherworld Soil as its core bloomed with radiance in her hands, fully displaying her Reincarnation attainments.
Even Hel was frozen in that instant!
In that instant, even her Great Dream True Body revealed a flaw!
Doumu formed seals with both hands, her Seal Technique stirring thick, deeply entangled karmic tribulations, vast and mighty, boundless and immeasurable, surging to cover Hel.
Mortals fear fruit; Divine fear cause.
Even Transcenders fear the Karma of the masses, especially this Sinful Power Karma involving more than two hundred Realms in her hand.
This kind of Sinful Power Karma could not kill Hel, but it could gradually weaken her.
She would show this newly-ascended Transcender what a war within the Transcendence Domain truly was—it could never be a one-strike kill, but a process of your rise and my decline!
Yet just as the Sinful Power Karma was about to draw near, it was as if there existed an invisible barrier around the frozen Hel; Void, Dao, Dharma—everything tangible and intangible—could not approach.
For a time, the Sinful Power Karma rushing in from all directions was blocked just outside a tiny space around Hel; she seemed to stand apart from the entire Sea of Realms, veiling her own presence and traces within the River of Fate and the River of Time, to the point that even Doumu could not search her out.
Vacuum Heavenly Demon Path!
This was the Transcendence Realm Wuzhou had sought all his life!
At this moment, it was perfectly displayed by Hel, making Doumu’s heart sink.
She still did not give up, attempting to trace and lock onto her, but Hel’s Vacuum Heavenly Demon Path was most skilled in transformation and correction; no matter how Doumu traced, she was always half a beat slower, only able to trail behind breathing in dust.
And each time, she was just half a step too slow!
Even though Doumu realized from the very beginning that Hel was deliberately luring her into continued tracing, she still found it hard to give up, until Hel finally reversed the roles of guest and host, forcing her to withdraw.
"Overestimating yourself."
Hel remained clear and otherworldly, speaking as lightly as clouds and wind, not letting go of any opportunity to humiliate Doumu.
At the same time, Heavenly Demon Transformation silently slipped into Doumu’s Spirit God.
Even if the vast majority were detected and slain, there were always fish that slipped through the net, subtly influencing Doumu’s Spirit God.
"I heard your true fame from him. In the vast deep space, the Ten Thousand Realms bear your traces; All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds have your footprints and projections. Yet why is it that when we truly cross hands, you are this feeble and unbearable?"
Doumu took a deep breath.
Every sentence from this woman belittled and slighted her, yet each time she struck, it gave Doumu the feeling that she herself was the true Transcender, and Hel merely borrowed external power; thus every move she made was at full force, never letting slip a single opportunity for a sneak attack!
Wretched woman!
Doumu no longer cared about the presence of that person deep within the Investiture of the Gods; she fully activated the Investiture, when a sudden chill rose in her heart.
It had not been an illusion before; the connection between her and the Investiture of the Gods had indeed developed a huge problem!
Originally, if she could draw down ten-tenths of its power, now only half remained.
Had that person already abandoned her?
As her thoughts shifted, Doumu fully activated the Investiture of the Gods. The Heavenly Court, already mostly a ruin, erupted with ten thousand zhang of golden light, and faintly, the world echoed with the sound of surging tides.
This time, Hel did not leave Doumu any room to act further. A Tree of Great Dao emerged behind her, radiating resplendent Infinite Light, fixing the Heaven and Earth, Void, Dao, and Law in place.
Even the River of Fate and the River of Time stirred by Doumu were suppressed by the Tree of Great Dao and temporarily stabilized!
Hel considered that she had already very cautiously tested Doumu’s true strength; there was no more need for probing. She could directly suppress her head-on!
For the first time, Doumu Yuanjun’s expression changed as she cried out in shock: "Tree of Great Dao?! You’ve just stepped into Transcendence, and you’ve already condensed a Tree of Great Dao, and it’s not even just a sapling?!"
Hel’s expression did not change, though inwardly she muttered: was the sapling Ji Jingqiu just planted really of such a great origin?
This old woman was losing composure for the first time; the Transformed Celestial Demons that Hel had planted in her heart were finally beginning to take effect, influencing her thoughts.
A Transcender’s Harmonization must have tangible or intangible carriers to bear their Dao,
This time, when she stepped into Transcendence, she used the Dao Fruit of Wuzhou and Mu Shitian as the Dao Foundation to complete her missing Dao, but the key to that last step lay on Ji Jingqiu.
Because of this, she was able to borrow Ji Jingqiu’s Dao foundation and Manifest it with Transcendence methods.
The next moment, Doumu’s aura unexpectedly surged beyond what Hel had anticipated.
"Hm?!" Hel’s face changed slightly. There was still a backup move?
Doumu’s current transformation was like a kind of... sublimation?
Hel’s expression turned icy cold: "Breaking through in the midst of battle—who do you take me for, and who do you take yourself for?"
Doumu’s expression mixed coldness with hidden hatred; she had been forced to break through the True Spirit Heavenly Rank in the midst of battle, something she had never considered beforehand!
At the same time, Doumu’s gaze fell upon the True Spirit Heavenly Rank that resembled a pillar piercing the heavens; her eyes flickered—perhaps this might also be an opportunity for her!
Since Ji Jingqiu had dragged the True Spirit Heavenly Rank down into the mortal world, she could likewise enjoy its benefits!
Just as Doumu was about to forcibly climb the True Spirit Heavenly Rank, she suddenly discovered that Emperor Yi, who had previously attempted a Breakthrough, had disappeared at some unknown moment.
But with Hel behind her, she could not afford to worry about so much; she forcibly sublimated her True Spirit, her perspective and Position both at this moment setting one foot into a higher world.
The world completely changed appearance in her eyes.
The essence of all things became tangled skeins of intricate threads of Karma, along with their corresponding streams of the River of Time.
Infinite Dao scripts were inscribed in the substratum of Heaven and Earth; with a single stroke, they could create things; with a single horizontal and vertical stroke, they could transform into All Spirits. Together, they supported the Heaven and Earth Dao of an entire universe.
At this moment, a figure clearly dwelling in the endless depths raised his head to look up. A sudden chill surged in Doumu’s heart.
She had already rushed to a very high altitude on the True Spirit Heavenly Rank, whereas that figure clearly sat at the very bottom, as if suppressed beneath by the True Spirit Heavenly Rank. Why then could he exert such pressure on her?!
"Ah..." Doumu suddenly let out a low roar. The light of her Spirit froze in an instant, and her fierce momentum came to an abrupt halt.
"Ji Jingqiu?!" Doumu cried out in fury, "You dare block my ascent to the Other Shore?!"
That figure, seated within the Bitter Sea and also seated at the very bottom of the True Spirit Heavenly Rank, as if supporting all existence with his lone body, slowly raised his head and said calmly:
"Doumu Taoist Friend, you are mistaken."
"It is not that I dare to block you, but that I am able to block your ascent to the Other Shore."
