Chapter 825 Frowning and Coldly Scowling

Long after, when He Xiaozhao, as Daoist He, stood atop the Tower of Utmost Bright Candlelight, using himself as a blazing light to illuminate the void, he would surely recall that distant afternoon when he followed the army on an expedition to an unknown great world, and thereby witnessed the light.

At that time, his homeland was still ruled by the Tàishǐ Dao Sect. As one of the ‘Three Thousand Lower Realms’, it accepted all requisitions from the Tàishǐ Dao Sect without compensation, whether it was offering up all its cultivators to be driven and used, or presenting all its divine gold and immortal materials as a matter of course.

He Xiaozhao had lived under the rule of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect since childhood. His family had a long and deep history, even tracing back to the Tàishǐ Dao Sect's arrival in this realm, incorporating it into the Three Thousand Lower Realms.

At that time, this world still had its own name, called ‘Chéngqīng Heaven’, because historically, an Immortal Venerable had emerged from this realm. He used his own Dao to guide the pure and tranquil qi of the Grand Void, washing away the turbidity of heaven and earth, transforming Chéngqīng Heaven, which originally had little spiritual energy, into the prosperous age of numerous cultivators and immortals without end.

Golden sunlight shone brightly, illuminating the world, and light rain fell, benefiting all living beings.

From that time on, the original red sun and azure sky transformed into a golden sun and green sky, and starlight fell from beyond the heavens, awakening the spirit of all things.

From then on, all beings bowed in unison, praising Immortal Venerable Chéngqīng's supreme feat. Under the protection of this gentle Heavenly Venerable, the beings of Chéngqīng Heaven grew and strengthened peacefully in this boundless Void, until one by one, more immortals and Immortal Venerables were born, following in the footsteps of Immortal Venerable Chéngqīng, and went with Him to the Grand Void between the myriad heavens and realms, seeking the Great Dao of the myriad worlds above the Heavenly Dao.

How magnificent – immortals stepped into the Void, seeking the Dao in the universe, while the myriad people followed in their footsteps, wanting to tread a vast path of seeking the Dao with the feet of all beings!

Whether Immortal Venerable or the masses, all had great ambitions. They gazed at the distant stars, anticipating infinite possibilities in the infinitely vast realms, anticipating the opportunities within those infinite possibilities that could allow them to take another step forward.

However, the universe is dark. So is the Void Sea of heavens.

Are Immortal Venerables really that strong?

Perhaps they are already very strong, capable of transforming worlds, changing the qi of heaven and earth, and altering the essence of all things. Such powerful beings, even if they go to the Void Sea of myriad worlds, can create a world, self-establish a realm, and bear the merit of opening a path to heaven and earth.

But there will always be someone stronger.

Ancient books say: On this day, the golden sun fell, all the immortals perished, a hundred and eight white suns rose, and even a blazing sun sank and floated, scorching the world.

The Immortal Venerable fell, the universe mourned together, and rain fell from the sky, like tears.

However, even tears were not allowed. The Tàishǐ Dao Sect suppressed the Heavenly Will of the entire Chéngqīng Heaven, and dragged the entire realm to the vicinity of their world, ‘Tàishǐ Heaven’, becoming one of the three thousand stars orbiting the sun.

Beginning the 497,000th year of the Era, the overlord of the Void Sea Upper Realm, leading the one hundred and eight peaks and the three thousand lower realms, the Tàishǐ Dao Sect began its new round of conquests. In the void of the multiverse, thousands upon thousands of worlds trembled, because what they had to face was a behemoth that suppressed the heavens, possessing a Dao Harmonization Sage.

Faced with the insignificant resistance of Chéngqīng Heaven, twelve Envoy Angels under the command of Luòxiāo Peak, one of the one hundred and eight peaks, emerged together.

On this day, the Dao of Immortal Venerable Chéngqīng collapsed, all the immortals perished, and the Tàishǐ Dao Sect dispatched disciples to reside in the world, cleaning up heaven and earth, changing language and modifying writing, and severing all ancient inheritances.

The Tàishǐ Dao Sect carried out destruction on the past of Chéngqīng Heaven. Those immortals from the Upper Realm shattered spiritual mountains, stripped away spiritual veins. They used great divine powers to change the world, turning the world that was originally like a fairyland into a flat and uninteresting cultivated land and medicine garden. The people of Chéngqīng Heaven became their farmers and medicine growers, laboring for them generation after generation without end.

They even forcibly imposed a completely new language, as well as a culture and inheritance that were completely different from the past, on the beings of Chéngqīng Heaven. They eliminated all the history and past of Chéngqīng Heaven, stripping away and eliminating all the inheritances of Heavenly Venerable Chéngqīng in this realm.

No one remembers that Immortal Venerable anymore. Even He Xiaozhao, who had read that forbidden book, only knew the other party's name and deeds. No one knows what kind of grandeur His past divine powers, the inheritances He used, and the Chéngqīng Great Divine Power He performed for the sake of all beings were.

On the contrary, he knew everything about the Tàishǐ Dao Sect very well, and the cultivation method he practiced was also a branch derived from the fundamental cultivation method of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect, the ‘Hùnyuán Wújí Casting Dao Method’.

——What is Hùnyuán, what is Wújí, and what is Casting Dao?

He Xiaozhao, who had once been puzzled by this, had once seen the truth of all this during a patrol mission to the vicinity of Tàishǐ Heaven.

He saw that the incomparably vast Tàishǐ Heaven, which was majestic and magnificent even in the Void Sea of myriad worlds, far larger than Chéngqīng Heaven by hundreds of millions of times, swallowed another cultivated, spiritually radiant, and dazzling world, just like a giant fish swallowing a small shrimp.

An entire Hùnyuán Great World, a world even larger than Chéngqīng Heaven, was swallowed by Tàishǐ Heaven in this way. The endless Dao rhythms and infinite spiritual light contained within all became the resources of Tàishǐ Heaven, becoming the ladder for the Tàishǐ Dao Sect to advance further.

Endless spiritual light illuminated the boundless void of the universe. It could be vaguely seen that the entire Tàishǐ Heaven seemed like a pill furnace spanning the endless Void Sea.

The blazing sun was like fire, the great world was like a furnace, and a Daoist whose face could not be seen sat cross-legged above the void.

His horsetail whisk swayed slightly, stirring the Daoist meaning of the pill, overlooking the rise and fall of the realms.

——The myriad Daos of the heavens are mixed in one furnace, only then can the Hùnyuán Tàijí Pill be formed.

The three thousand lower realms, the one hundred and eight peaks, and even the entire Tàishǐ Heaven and Tàishǐ Dao Sect, which dominated the surrounding boundless Void Sea, were merely magical artifacts used by the ‘Tàishǐ Wújí Sacred Venerable’ to refine and cast the Dao Pill, His fuel, fire sticks, and cauldrons.

[How can this world be like this?]

He Xiaozhao was shocked and confused by this, and could not even hide the shock he felt when he saw this scene. The Tàishǐ Dao Sect powerhouse leading the team noticed the disbelief of this lower realm Dao soldier, and shook his head with some amusement.

[Why shouldn't this world be like this?]

A question, answered with another question.

The Tàishǐ Dao Sect powerhouse did not care about the inconceivable thoughts of these lower realm Dao soldiers. He casually waved out a cloud of light mist, and condensed and displayed a vast star chart of the realms in the void, a dynamic map that changed in real time with time, showing the panorama of the vast myriad realms Void Sea.

The Tàishǐ Dao Sect, which ruled endless realms and required an immortal thousands of years just to walk from one end to the other, only occupied a mere corner in this vast panorama. Even though the Tàishǐ Wújí Sacred Venerable shone brilliantly in the void, He only illuminated a small area around Him.

Because of the existence of the Tàishǐ Wújí Sacred Venerable, all beings built Dao Sects under His glory. First, the Sage preached the Dao to the peaks, and then the peaks annexed thousands of civilizations for their own use. With the Sage as the core, the one hundred and eight core sects as tributaries, and millions of annexed civilizations, they jointly formed the behemoth of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect. The so-called three thousand lower realms were only the frontiers reached by the behemoth's tentacles.

And all this was only for self-preservation.

In the void of the multiverse, worlds like Chéngqīng Heaven that were conquered were actually a minority. More were the vagrants wandering in the multiverse.

They were perhaps cosmic refugees forced to flee due to cosmic disasters, or losers who had been defeated in battles with their enemies. Of course, there were also some scattered powerhouses wandering in the universe, who wandered aimlessly in the Void Sea and accepted the recruitment of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect.

In the void of the multiverse, there were infinite worlds, and there were also infinite powerhouses. Conquest and destruction never ceased. One civilization after another was completely destroyed, and the bones of all beings became the fertilizer for another race's civilization to cultivate. The remnants of civilization became trampled dust and ruins.

He Xiaozhao saw that there were huge Void Sea fleets, swarming out of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect from a dark Void Sea of myriad worlds. They shattered the universe, overturned all things in heaven and earth, and recycled the scattered clouds of cosmic wreckage after the world was shattered – that was the 'Micro-Eternal Civilization' collecting materials to build 'Eternal Wonders'.

[We are all of the human race, so you will not be exterminated. The strong among you can also receive the inheritance of my Tàishǐ Dao Sect and become one of us. But look at those Micro-Eternal demons, destroying realms and star universes, just to build an eternal tower. Whether you are human, beast, immortal, or demon, you are all a brick material in that eternal wonder]

[Look at that end, the Sea of Heavenly Void Mayfly Insects devouring the heavens. They take the universe as farmland and the myriad realms as ingredients. Being devoured by these mindless, un-knowing demonic insects that are like the return to nothingness, it is simply sinking into eternal calamity, unable to be reborn]

[Look again...]

The Daoist smiled and pointed to the realms, not angry at all at He Xiaozhao's questioning.

It was precisely because Chéngqīng Heaven was located near the Tàishǐ Dao Sect that it was not swept away by the Void annihilation wars that were a thousand times more tragic than the conquest of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect. The Chéngqīng Immortal Venerable was unwilling to accept recruitment, and what awaited was naturally the punishment of severed inheritance.

The people of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect were not surprised by this. It was only natural for the Sacred Venerable to use the realms as a pill furnace. This myriad realms Void Sea multiverse was supposed to be like this. At least, in their group of worlds, this kind of thing was really very common.

Why be confused? In the beginning there was the Dao, everything that exists is reasonable, why question the sunrise and sunset, why be troubled by wolves eating sheep, and sheep eating grass?

He Xiaozhao didn't understand, but he was always confused.

Beginning the 512,792nd year of the Era, the Void Sea of myriad worlds melted, the void shook violently, and supreme divine power shifted the heavens and realms. The Tàishǐ Dao Sect, the Micro-Eternal Civilization, the Heavenly Will Divine Court, and other multiverse-level civilizations, which were originally separated by endless years and confronted each other in endless realms, were abruptly gathered in one place.

And their respective territories all revolved around a supreme upper realm that was so large that it was inconceivable, and even impossible to see the boundaries, releasing a brilliance that was far brighter and more luminous than any world.

How ironic, the Tàishǐ Heaven, which was originally surrounded by the realms, like a scorching sun, had now become a foil for a more dazzling star. In front of that world, the entire territory of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect was just a drop in the ocean.

Strength and insignificance are always relative.

Even the Sacred Venerable was moved by this. This Supreme Sage who overlooked the rise and fall of the myriad realms finally got up. He put down the horsetail whisk, stood with his hands behind his back in the Void Sea, and looked at the light and shadow of that great world from afar, his eyes slightly moving, as if he was praising and extolling, and as if he was guarding and pondering.

And because the Sacred Venerable had intentions, the Tàishǐ Dao Sect came out in full force.

He Xiaozhao was just an insignificant and smallest member of it.

He was located in the Hùntiān Myriad Dao Formation of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect, and the Void Sea, which should have been infinitely vast, was also occupied by the fleets and great formations of many other civilizations, and the divine light heavens.

Many civilizations, whether strong or weak, whether ruthless and domineering, or compassionate and gentle, were all gathered here.

These powerful civilizations, which could also be named in the multiverse, and were also considered to be strong with great prestige in their respective world clusters, stood in front of that boundless great world, releasing terrifying fluctuations that caused the stars to sink and float, and all things to tremble. In front of them, the calm sea of stars would also ripple, and many worlds would also tremble. The terrifying pressure was enough to crush the ages and cause the Great Dao to be annihilated.

[Sacred Venerable Senior Teacher, long time no see, are you well? Are you not continuing to refine pills today?]

A vast voice came, coming from the Heavenly Will Divine Court. The Heavenly Will Great Emperor rose from the shade of the Jianmu tree. This master of the gods who achieved the Dao from the Azure Sky Divine Tree raised his hand and stirred the branches. Immediately, the endless sea of leaves roared, like a melodious long song.

However, compared to the solemn divine power contained in this long song in the past, there was a little less majesty and a little more curiosity in the Dao sound that rang today.

The Sacred Venerable was squinting and staring at the great world in front of Him, and turned His eyes upon hearing the sound.

Since the other party respected Him as a senior teacher, He also slightly raised His palm: [As Your Majesty sees, the Supreme Dao Venerable is stirring up the anomalies of the Void Sea Myriad Realms. Now that the ice has melted and the great realms have merged into groups, how can I continue to refine pills and cast the Dao, and enjoy the freedom of the heavens?]

[Indeed] The Divine Emperor nodded, He also turned His head and looked at the great world in front of Him: [In the past hundred thousand years, the changes in the myriad realms Void Sea have been no less than a hundred times. The spiritual tides have surged and dried up, and the rise and fall of the universe has surpassed ten thousand times before, and today it is even more so]

[It has always been difficult to ask about the Heavenly Will, and I call myself the Heavenly Will, which is really overestimating myself. Being too self-important, now it seems that the mysteries in the Void Sea of myriad worlds are truly endless and difficult to exhaust]

[So it is]

The Sacred Venerable lowered His eyes and chuckled, the Daoist stood with His hands behind His back and shook His head slightly: [I want to be non-interfering, but I need to be interfering, alas]

——Interference.

The interference of the strong, the implementation of the strong.

At this moment, in the great formation, He Xiaozhao could sense that the Tàishǐ Wújí Sacred Venerable was watching everyone, including himself. Not only that, He knew the history of Chéngqīng Heaven, harbored doubts about the Tàishǐ Dao Sect, and felt unwilling to accept the current situation. All of this was known to the Sacred Venerable.

But the Sacred Venerable was non-interfering.

He didn't care about these small matters.

If the one hundred and eight peaks of the Tàishǐ Dao Sect wanted to conquer, then go conquer. If they wanted to destroy, then go destroy. If they wanted to create, then go create. There are three thousand Great Daos, what is not the Dao? There are hundreds of millions of ways to walk the Dao, how can a Sacred being exhaust them all?

The Sacred Venerable was humble. He knew His ignorance because of His strength, so He allowed all things to follow their own Dao.

Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and neither is the Sacred Venerable.

Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and treat all things as straw dogs. The Sacred Venerable treats all beings in the myriad realms fairly. He passed down His Dao, and even the descendants of Chéngqīng Heaven can trace back from the tributaries and learn the original divine power inheritance.

He did not favor the one hundred and eight peaks, nor did He treat the three thousand lower realms kindly. He was not bad to anyone, nor was He good to anyone. The worlds swallowed into Tàishǐ Heaven simply became a part of Tàishǐ Heaven, and the beings inside did not encounter any disasters.

They might even live better.

The Tàishǐ Dao Sect became what it is now because of the selfishness of everyone in the Tàishǐ Dao Sect. They wanted to be superior, they wanted to control the lower realms, and they wanted to be revered as ancestors.

——Let it be.

No matter what it becomes, that is also its own karma.

[How can this world be like this?]

[It's just because it should be like this]

After a few conversations, the Sacred Venerable and the Divine Emperor had joined forces, and in the void of the multiverse, other civilizations and other powerhouses had also mostly joined forces. They curiously stared at this endless great universe in front of them, thinking about what secrets it contained that allowed it to become the center of the myriad realms, vaguely becoming the core of the entire multiverse.

After observing, they would eventually take action and set off towards it, and the army would move with them, conquering all enemies.

Destruction, or despair, subjugation, or merger, or anything else that might happen, are all matters of course.

Although this realm is large, it seems that there is no Dao Venerable or Sacred God to protect it. It is truly an excellent Dao field. The Sacreds of the heavens naturally have to rely on their own abilities to see who can occupy the most realms from it.

"What's going on?"

But suddenly, all the Venerable Lords, all the powerhouses, all the civilizations, heard a voice.

This voice carried doubt, the annoyance of hurrying footsteps, and a hint of unpleasant anger: "What's going on with these worlds? Who created the order? Are you slacking off!"

"People are starting to eat people, and you're not even managing it, it's disgusting!"

The sound of a great river flowing rang out, like a prairie fire spreading from afar to the nearby hustle and bustle.

All the powerhouses turned their heads, either in astonishment, or calmness, or frowning, or curiously looking towards the distant end of the void.

Then, they all saw that countless mighty rivers burning with blue-purple flames were gathering from all parts of the void of the multiverse, turning into a surging torrent, like winding dragons and snakes, and also like divine birds spreading their wings.

Its brightness illuminates the universe. Its light shines on the heavens.

The Yan River surged, penetrating the emptiness of the Nine Nethers, and connecting the darkness of the Ruins of Nether. The almost boundless divine light was like a knife, splitting the ancient obscurity and darkness, and cutting out a long road that ran through the void of the multiverse and led directly to the homeland.

Following the light of the knife, endless daytime, just like the light sprinkled at will by the great sun, spread all over the heavens and worlds.

He Xiaozhao was also bathed in this ray of light – and sensed the confusion and distress in his heart, and a great Dao meaning was born, telling him an answer that was not a problem.

[Why is this world like this?]

['I' do not allow it!]

Not I, but 'I'.

Thousands upon thousands, infinite and endless 'I'.

All beings are 'I'. Faced with the oppression that is taken for granted, there will always be 'I' who are angry, 'I' who are confused, 'I' who intend to resist, and 'I' who do not allow all of this.

'If I feel that something is wrong, then go and take action to change it, to make all things better'

'This is the power of change, this is the foundation I give to all 'I''

'Everyone can be Zhúzhòu, everyone can, and should be 'I''

He Xiaozhao was moved.

Not only him, but too many beings in the myriad realms great formation were moved and made a commotion.

[Dao friend!]

Immediately, sensing the endless Great Dao divine rhythm contained in these lights, all the Sages were shocked, angry, or surprised and astonished: [What do you mean by this?!]

[Are you going to stir up turmoil and wreak havoc on the beings of the realms!]

"Havoc? Who is the havoc? If no one wreaked havoc, how could these worlds be like this?"

And in the light, a grand voice rang out, carrying a steady but profound anger: "Because no one goes to change it, that's why it's like this!"

"There has never been anything taken for granted, there has never been anything that has always been like this!"

From the myriad realms Great Dao, from one Zhúzhòu Dao Harmonization realm after another, light came, and they gathered from all parts of the void of the multiverse, and finally condensed into a vast light. In this light, a human figure was condensing, holding a long knife, carrying a bow and spear on his back, intending to cut through all the past evils, pierce all the stubborn opinions in his heart, and shoot down all those who were high above and disdainful.

The youth strode forward, walked out of the light, his eyes like raging fire.

The long knife pointed, severing the ages; the divine will reached, grinding the sun and moon.

The majestic Great Dao image stood before the universe, facing the myriad gods and Venerables.

He reached out and pointed to all the Sacreds in the heavens and worlds. No matter who it was, they could clearly sense that the finger that seemed to be poking their heads was pointing at them.

The owner of this finger frowned coldly, with no difference.

It was just treating everyone equally.

Chapter One, seeking monthly tickets!