On the Path to the Great Dao

Upon hearing this, Black Pot immediately leaped up, revealing his true form and growing immensely large. With demonic flames beneath his feet, he charged out of the Upper Realm fragment. Chen Shi lifted the Wooden Cart and leaped onto Black Pot's back.

Just as Black Pot was about to break free of the Upper Realm, his body suddenly tightened, bound by an invisible force, and his speed slowed noticeably.

Chen Shi and Liu Qinghong also felt their bodies stiffen. Their cultivation and vital energy stirred restlessly, on the verge of bursting forth from their bodies.

At the same time, the vital energy of everyone within the Upper Realm erupted from their bodies, converging into a torrent that surged toward the Li Family Ancestor.

The Li Family Ancestor had clearly discovered something. In an instant, he activated the Upper Realm, mobilizing all its power!

The Upper Realm was a Realm of Emptiness—essentially a higher-grade Dao Field. Within that Dao Field, the Li Family Ancestor was a supreme deity, and Chen Shi and the others, trapped inside, were subject to his control!

Liu Qinghong had only sent a clone, the weakest in cultivation. She groaned, unable to stop her own vital energy from flowing outward.

At the same time, the Li Family ghost god who had drawn his sword stiffened. With a crash, his extraordinary power shattered, transforming into a billowing pillar of green smoke that shot into the sky.

After this ghost god's Golden Body shattered, what remained was his original state: his Primordial Spirit.

The path of god-cultivation primarily involved spirits, souls, or Primordial Spirits absorbing the energy of incense offerings, converting it into extraordinary power, and condensing a Divine Manifestation. Extraordinary power was the essence of a deity's strength. But strip away that extraordinary power, and a mighty god's true nature was merely a spirit, soul, or Primordial Spirit.

This Li Family ghost god's Primordial Spirit was only at the Spirit Transformation realm. The moment his Golden Body shattered, his Primordial Spirit began to dissolve, transforming into countless streams of light that flew toward that white skeleton.

In just a few breaths, his Primordial Spirit was reduced to only his three souls and seven spirits. The next moment, even those souls and spirits disintegrated. His heavenly and earthly souls flew away, while his human soul was absorbed by the skeleton.

Other Li Family cultivators and deities rushed to attack the skeleton, trying to rescue this person, but suddenly they too froze. The gods' Golden Bodies exploded one after another, their extraordinary power rising as green smoke into the sky.

Pillars of green smoke shot straight into the clouds, a spectacular sight.

As for the cultivators, their physical bodies began to decompose rapidly. First, their clothes rotted away instantly, then their skin burst open, fluttering like butterflies. Their blood and energy flowed outward, muscles dissolved, and internal organs melted away. In just a short moment, only a row of white skeletons remained standing in place.

Someone sensed the danger and immediately turned to flee. But after only two steps, all the flesh and blood on his body was sucked away, leaving only a running skeleton.

As for the previous skeleton, it now stood upright, rapidly condensing its Primordial Spirit. Flesh and blood grew on the bones at an astonishing speed. In just a short time, it was fully fleshed out, and even clothing materialized on it.

Looking at his attire, it was also in the Ming Dynasty style.

Skin grew over his body, a beard appeared on his lips, and he seemed to be in his thirties. His features were not particularly handsome, but he had an immortal bearing—a transcendent air about him.

Jue Yangzi had been reborn!

But behind him, flesh writhed chaotically, and demonic energy was thick and sinister. He didn't look like a man of the Dao at all!

He had achieved Dao Unification and become an immortal—but a demonic immortal!

He hadn't managed to escape corruption. He became corrupted, transformed into a demonic immortal, and ascended. But at the moment he flew into the Celestial Realm, a sword light from the immortal realm struck him down. He died on the highest peak of the Ascension Ground, and that sword light refined him into a skeleton!

But obviously, he wasn't so easy to kill—especially a corrupted immortal, which was even harder to destroy.

If that sword light had remained, he would eventually have been refined into nothingness, both form and spirit annihilated. But unfortunately, the Li Family ghost god had been tempted by greed. When the sword light dissipated, Jue Yangzi was resurrected.

Just as he finished restoring his body, the Li Family Ancestor sent a finger strike toward his brow. This finger technique was the Qianyun Tribulation Finger from the Minor Tribulation Salvation Formula. Its force could break any Golden Body technique.

The Minor Tribulation Salvation Formula was a cultivation technique from The Ten Books of Cultivation. With his cultivation surpassing the Great Ascension Realm, combined with boundless divine power, this finger technique was truly unstoppable!

Jue Yangzi was about to dodge when his body suddenly trembled, his face contorted, and he froze in place.

The Li Family Ancestor's finger strike hit Jue Yangzi's brow, producing a booming, surging sound. Jue Yangzi's head snapped back, and countless chunks of flesh exploded from behind him, splattering across the sky behind him.

But those chunks of flesh writhed and flew back from the sky, returning to Jue Yangzi's body.

The Li Family Ancestor struck again and again, launching furious attacks at Jue Yangzi, trying to obliterate him before he could fully recover.

Yet the Li Family Ancestor felt Jue Yangzi's life force growing stronger, while his own divine power was collapsing and disintegrating. Terror gripped his heart.

In other words, his repeated attacks hadn't managed to harm Jue Yangzi's core. Instead, the recoil from hitting Jue Yangzi was shaking his own Golden Body to its limit!

"I can't let him revive! If he revives, I'm the one who dies!"

The Li Family Ancestor forcibly activated the Upper Realm fragment, willing to absorb everyone's vital energy if necessary!

But just as he pushed the Upper Realm to its extreme, ready to unleash his most powerful strike, a loud crack rang out. The Upper Realm actually flew out from behind his head, whistling away!

He stood stunned. "My Realm of Emptiness... ran away?"

He hurriedly looked back and saw a hanged ghost, a noose still around its neck, now transformed into a thousand-foot giant, carrying the Upper Realm fragment as it sprinted away.

"Scholar Zhu!"

The Li Family Ancestor's heart shook violently. He suddenly remembered a descendant of the Zhu family he had encountered over a thousand years ago. That man had restored his Zhu surname and tried to take the imperial examinations, shocking the world. After the Thirteen Great Clans suppressed him, he actually fought his way to the Western Capital, trying to restore the Zhu family's legitimacy.

At that time, the Li Family Ancestor was still alive but had already resigned as Sect Leader and was living in retirement. When Scholar Zhu attacked the Western Capital, he heard the news and went to suppress him, along with other ancestors.

After that, Scholar Zhu vanished without a trace.

"He hanged himself? His Dao Heart was too fragile—couldn't handle the blow."

The Li Family Ancestor's anger surged. "My Upper Realm!"

"Boom!"

His fist slammed into Jue Yangzi's body. Flesh kept exploding off Jue Yangzi, nearly reducing him back to a skeleton.

That was his most powerful strike.

Without the Upper Realm fragment, he couldn't suppress Jue Yangzi at all!

Jue Yangzi's body rapidly healed.

The Li Family Ancestor's Golden Body festered, crumbling and dissolving into green smoke that rose into the air.

He lunged at Jue Yangzi, sending out another tribulation finger. It struck Jue Yangzi's brow. Jue Yangzi's body didn't move, but his finger exploded with a crack!

Suddenly, his Golden Body burst apart with a series of snapping sounds. His extraordinary power dissolved, revealing his Primordial Spirit.

The Li Family Ancestor flew backward, racing toward the entrance.

At that moment, Scholar Zhu had already carried the Upper Realm fragment to the radiant light entrance. Suddenly, the entrance closed.

Scholar Zhu's heart sank. He turned and saw the Li Family Ancestor flying toward him.

The Li Family Ancestor's heart also sank. This immortal realm was Jue Yangzi's Dao Unification site, and he couldn't escape this united Realm of Emptiness either.

"If you hadn't stolen my Upper Realm fragment..."

The Li Family Ancestor was filled with hatred. Just as he was about to pounce on Scholar Zhu, his Primordial Spirit suddenly exploded with a bang, turning into streams of light that flowed into Jue Yangzi, who was flying toward them.

Scholar Zhu hurriedly set down the Upper Realm, staring nervously at Jue Yangzi approaching. He shouted, "Little Ten!"

Chen Shi and Black Pot flew out of the Upper Realm. Liu Qinghong sat in the cart, shouting quickly, "Hold on a little longer! My true body is coming right away!"

Her true body had already cultivated to the Return to Emptiness realm. In both the yang and yin worlds, she was already an extremely formidable expert. But in front of a demonic immortal like Jue Yangzi, she was utterly inadequate.

Black Pot stared nervously at Jue Yangzi approaching. Suddenly, he stood upright, activating the Heavenly Cycle Fire Domain. The Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler flew out of the Wooden Cart with a whoosh and landed in his hand.

Chen Shi summoned the other immortal artifact, the Yin-Yang Sun-Moon Rings, and tossed it to Scholar Zhu. "Teacher, use this for defense!"

Scholar Zhu quickly activated the rings. Yin and yang energy swirled around him, putting him slightly at ease.

With a thought, Chen Shi invited the Little Duan Immortal out of the small temple. She frowned slightly. "The space I've united with Dao is only the space of the small temple. His united space is so large—I can't match him."

Chen Shi raised the Western King's Jade Seal, gritting his teeth. He didn't remove the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade from the miniature shrine. He thought to himself, "If I unleash the divine blade, there might be two demonic beings."

Jue Yangzi walked over. His gaze fell on Black Pot and the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler, then swept over Scholar Zhu and the Yin-Yang Sun-Moon Rings. Finally, it landed on Chen Shi and the Western King's Jade Seal.

"So you're the current True King? So young."

Jue Yangzi's face was filled with demonic energy. Behind him, countless chunks of flesh writhed, climbed, and grew rapidly. Soon, they covered the sky and began to infect the mountains and rivers. Before long, only the Ascension Mountain remained, not yet completely contaminated by the flesh.

Immortal energy swirled faintly, as if it could repel the flesh.

Chen Shi steeled his courage and shouted, "That's right! I am the current True King of the Western Ox New Continent! Jue Yangzi, when you see the True King, why don't you bow?"

Jue Yangzi's demonic nature grew heavier. He laughed loudly, a sinister laugh. "Back then, the True King persecuted his fellow Daoists and killed all the immortals under heaven. Anyone who had crossed the heavenly tribulation was on the execution list! Countless of my Dao companions were killed by that dog court and its lackeys! You are the True King now—so the old True King is dead, right? Fine, I'll kill you first..."

His demonic energy surged. Just as he was about to strike and kill Chen Shi and the others, he suddenly froze. His gaze fell on the Upper Realm fragment behind Chen Shi. Inside that fragment were tens of thousands of common people, staring at him in despair.

Jue Yangzi's face suddenly twisted with rage. He shouted, "Kill them all too!"

He charged forward. Chen Shi, Black Pot, Scholar Zhu, and the Little Duan Immortal each prepared for battle. But suddenly, Jue Yangzi stopped again. He lowered his head to look at his hands, his body trembling.

"This isn't me! It was the True King who harmed me—it has nothing to do with the common people, nothing to do with the young True King either. This isn't me. It's definitely not me... If I can't tell right from wrong, then this immortal cultivation isn't worth doing!"

He shook his sleeves. A long rainbow descended from the sky, passing through his body.

The moment the rainbow pierced through him, it transformed into an immortal sword. Jue Yangzi raised his hand, grasping the sword light that had pierced through him, and slashed at his own united Dao small world.

This single sword strike fell. Light blazed across the small world. Mountains and rivers shattered, the world cracked and collapsed, and countless chunks of flesh were severed!

In just a short moment, this small world separated from the Western Ox New Continent, reverting to a Realm of Emptiness.

Jue Yangzi's aura weakened. He coughed up blood repeatedly and cast aside the immortal sword in his hand. The sword turned back into a rainbow, hanging in the sky.

His expression was desolate. His face darkened as he looked up at the sky.

In the sky, the radiant light he had left when ascending to the Celestial Realm still drifted there, undestroyed.

Chen Shi was moved. Jue Yangzi had actually severed his own united Dao small world, cutting himself down from the immortal realm!

Now his corruption wasn't as deep as before. He should have regained his reason.

But in that moment when his demonic corruption was spiraling out of control, he drew his sword and severed himself. This Daoist's willpower was terrifyingly strong!

"Senior Jue Yangzi."

Chen Shi tested the waters. "Your injuries are severe. I have some healing medicines here."

Jue Yangzi seemed not to hear him. He muttered to himself, "I'm just a cultivator. I don't like the court. I don't like fighting for power and profit. I only like cultivation—being able to discuss the Dao with a few like-minded friends, to solve each other's cultivation problems together—that was enough. The court invited me many times to become an official, but I always refused."

He murmured on. "When I reached the Body Unification realm, I sensed that demonic energy was stirring inside me. My Dao companions sensed it too. Together, we found ways to deal with it. We stumbled and crawled our way to the Great Ascension realm. During the Tribulation Crossing realm, we used the heavenly tribulation to suppress the demonic energy within us, finally reaching the Ascension realm."

He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "That one step forward would have made us true immortals. Together, we designed all kinds of techniques, all aimed at suppressing the demonic energy at the moment of ascension, preventing corruption from happening. Heh, who would have thought the True King would issue the Immortal Sealing Decree, forcing all cultivators to abolish the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms, leaving the world without immortals!"

His grief was overwhelming.

Some people feared the court and abolished their cultivation. But others would rather die than comply.

The True King's iron law: anyone who dared to disobey would be executed!

His Dao companions, the ones who had cultivated alongside him, fell one by one under the court's encirclement. Besides them, all the cultivators who had crossed the heavenly tribulation at that time were also on the list for elimination and sealing!

He was terrified. He hid and fled, barely escaping the pursuit and encirclement. But the court's immortal artifacts were still tracking him.

"The True King didn't want cultivators to ascend. But I was determined to ascend, just to spite him. Not only would I ascend, but I would leave a memorial stele at my ascension ground, telling him openly and honestly! I wanted to prove the results of mine and my Dao companions' research! They were dead, but I would ascend. I would tell the world: the True King was wrong! He shouldn't have killed us! We could suppress the corruption and ascend!"

He chuckled lowly. "But it was only at the moment of Dao Unification that I realized... I was wrong. We were all wrong! The various techniques that my Dao companions and I had designed—they couldn't suppress the demonic energy at all! The moment we united with Dao, we would become corrupted, we would turn into demonic immortals!"

He fell to his knees with a thud, laughing as he looked up at the sky. His laughter sounded like sobbing. "Uniting with Dao leads to corruption! And corruption brings the Celestial Realm's execution! No exceptions! Wrong, hahaha, we were all wrong! Ren Tianxing, Dan Qiuzi, Xiao Xiangzi—even as you fled for your lives, you were still thinking about how to avoid corruption, still trying to create something beyond the limits of Dao techniques, to make the True King admit his mistake! But we were all wrong! All wrong..."

He prostrated himself, weeping loudly, and didn't get up for a long time.

Chen Shi looked at him with sympathy. It wasn't the True King who had cut off their path to immortality. It was this very world that had severed it.