Chapter 196: Stealing the Authority of the Heavenly Dao
The army departed and set up camp not far from the Heavenly Blade Sect. As for you, you took the opportunity to retrieve the Human Sovereign Banner, which had just advanced to become a Heaven-Rank Artifact.
“This artifact of yours has limitless potential!” Ancestor Yunyi said, as if he had seen right through it.
“But of course!” You said proudly. The Human Sovereign Banner’s current strength was entirely due to your own nurturing.
It was no exaggeration to call it your life-bound treasure.
“You’ve broken through?” Sensing the powerful aura radiating from you, Ancestor Mo Yang could not help but ask.
“By luck, my physical body’s strength broke through to the great perfection of the Return-to-Void realm.” You scratched your head, embarrassed.
As a triple cultivator of body, law, and spirit, your cultivation in all three had reached the great perfection of Return-to-Void. As for your Martial Way cultivation, progress was slow. You still remained at the Three Thousandfold Heavens, comparable to a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
“Haha, good, excellent! The Heavenly Blade Sect has a successor!” Ancestor Yunyi laughed heartily upon hearing this.
Returning to the sect, several dozen Ancestors including you sat together for a meeting.
“The current situation is not favorable for our Heavenly Blade Sect!” A Great Vehicle stage Ancestor was the first to speak.
“I have not come out to move about for a long time. I never imagined such changes would occur in this world’s Heavenly Dao!” Ancestor Tyrant Blade said.
The Heavenly Dao has changed? You pondered silently.
“Ancestor, what exactly is going on?” Ancestor Mo Yang inquired.
“The Heavenly Dao has undergone a change, and our cultivation has also been affected!” Ancestor Yunyi replied in a deep voice.
“What? You are a Great Vehicle stage powerhouse. How can this be?” Ancestor Mo Yang blurted out, aghast.
“Alas!” Ancestor Yunyi let out a long sigh and shook his head, saying nothing more.
“The Heavenly Dao has changed. How could they possibly be unaffected?”
At these words, everyone fell silent. The answer was obvious: the Heavenly Dao also stood on the other side!
Your gaze swept over the crowd, then you suddenly spoke. “Ancestor Yunyi, do you know what exactly happened to the Heavenly Dao?”
“The Heavenly Dao of today is filled with a revolting aura from head to toe!”
“Even I can no longer approach the Heavenly Dao!” Ancestor Yunyi said with a frown.
“Then do you feel that this Heavenly Dao is somewhat like…” You prompted appropriately.
“Desolation!” Ancestor Yunyi slowly spat out a single word, then in an instant, everything clicked. The way he looked at you was filled with an inexplicable meaning.
You smiled in return and said no more.
In the end, the meeting dispersed, and Ancestor Yunyi kept you behind alone.
“You have seen the Heavenly Dao?” Ancestor Yunyi went straight to the point.
“I have.” You nodded. At this point, you and the Heavenly Blade Sect were grasshoppers on the same rope. There were some things that naturally needed no concealment.
Ancestor Yunyi’s face showed a complex expression. “I truly underestimated you!”
“Ancestor, can I trust you completely?” You suddenly asked.
Upon hearing this, Ancestor Yunyi burst into laughter, and said with immense dominance, “So long as you remain a disciple of my Heavenly Blade Sect for even a day, this Ancestor will protect you for a day!”
“I can control the Heavenly Dao!” Your words shocked everyone.
“Hm???” Ancestor Yunyi looked at you in disbelief, as if confirming whether you were joking.
You said nothing. You merely extended your right hand and lightly pointed at the sky. In an instant, dark clouds gathered above the Heavenly Blade Sect.
Tribulation clouds appeared rapidly, continuously converging. Finally, under Ancestor Yunyi’s incredulous gaze, a bolt of Heavenly Lightning descended and landed on your finger.
“This…” Ancestor Yunyi did not know what to say for a time.
The next second, an enormous face appeared above the Heavenly Blade Sect, staring at you expressionlessly.
You knew that because you had used the Authority of the Heavenly Dao, you had been discovered by the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao had come to reclaim its authority!
“Ancestor!” You shouted.
Ancestor Yunyi looked up at the sky and let out a cold laugh. “So it was a fake!”
Afterward, you saw a great blade appear. Ancestor Yunyi swung it once, and actually split this Heavenly Dao avatar clean in two!
Along with it, the tribulation clouds you had summoned all dispersed. The Heavenly Blade Sect was bright once more!
“Ancestor!”
“What happened?”
The massive commotion startled a host of Ancestors into rushing over, questioning you and Ancestor Yunyi.
You snapped back to your senses from Ancestor Yunyi’s earlier strike. Beneath that blade, you had felt your own insignificance.
“It’s nothing. Everyone, go back.” Ancestor Yunyi waved his hand, dismissing the crowd. Only then did he look at you.
Ancestor Yunyi stared at you intently, and said with utmost solemnity, “How much of the Heavenly Dao can you control?”
“Uh… one part in a hundred million?” You said, somewhat uncertain. Of the portion of the Authority of the Heavenly Dao the Old Village Chief had left you, you had only refined a tiny sliver. Much of it still remained within your body, unrefined.
Hearing this, a trace of disappointment flashed through Ancestor Yunyi’s eyes. He consoled himself, “Forget it. This is the fate of my Heavenly Blade Sect!”
“Ancestor, I have a way to increase my control over the Heavenly Dao!”
“But the process will require you to protect me!” You said solemnly.
“Oh? There’s nothing wrong with that!” Ancestor Yunyi said with great seriousness. “If it is not enough, I can have those old fellows come over as well, to guard your Dao together!”
“No. I only trust you!”
Upon hearing this, Ancestor Yunyi shook his head with a rueful smile, but said nothing more.
Arriving at the secluded cultivation grounds, you explained everything that might happen afterward to Ancestor Yunyi, then began your seclusion.
In the deepest recesses of your mind, a mote of light emerged. This was precisely an avatar of a portion of the Authority of the Heavenly Dao!
I wonder, after I refine these, what changes will occur in the Heavenly Dao? You felt some anticipation. After all, this ball of Heavenly Dao authority was something you had brought back from the simulation.
In other words, this world’s Heavenly Dao still possessed this authority!
You emptied your mind and began using the power of your Primordial Spirit to absorb and refine this Authority of the Heavenly Dao.
Having increased your cultivation, your refining speed was naturally much faster than before. Unknowingly, you once again arrived at that palace from before, and saw that towering giant riddled with a thousand holes!
“The Heavenly Dao’s true body has actually become like this.” You could not help but sigh. Even something as powerful as the Heavenly Dao could not escape the fate of being carved up in the end.
You stepped forward, and suddenly felt an irresistible pressure assail you. Even riddled with a thousand holes, the Heavenly Dao was still the Heavenly Dao. It was not somewhere you could approach just because you wished to!