Chen Du was utterly horrified.
He felt the Martial Dao aura within him, which had just reached its Peak Stage and was powerful enough to dominate the world, rapidly declining!
Like a mountain collapsing, it collapsed with a deafening roar!
No matter how hard he tried to activate his technique, he couldn't stop the loss of that power.
His energy was rapidly depleting, and his Martial Immortal Peak Stage realm was teetering on the brink of collapse, like a candle flickering in the wind.
What terrified him even more was the innate fortune within him that had protected him through two lifetimes.
Just moments ago it was at its peak, but now it has been instantly drained by an irresistible force, becoming withered, depleted, and empty!
The voice still echoed in his ears, making him feel incredibly cold all over.
His mind seemed to freeze the moment he heard that sound.
Chen Du wanted to move, but he couldn't.
He wanted to think, but his mind felt like it had been submerged in deep water; all his thoughts were thrashing about beneath the surface, unable to rise to the top.
Then, the world went dark.
It's not that the sun has set, nor that dark clouds have obscured the moon; it's that the colors of the entire world are being gradually stripped away.
The sunlight, moonlight, firelight, and even the colors of the broken tiles and bricks on the ruins were fading at a visible speed, turning into an endless, thick darkness.
In the center of the darkness, a figure slowly materialized.
The Black-Robed Man!
He stood there as if he had been there before the world was born.
That black robe wasn't made of ordinary fabric; it was made of a solidified night.
There are no patterns or wrinkles on it, as if the deepest and coldest part of the universe's darkness has been cut into the shape of a person.
The hem of his robe fluttered without any wind, yet not a sound was heard, as if even the wind avoided him.
His face was hidden in the shadow of his hood, unfathomable, with only two dark red points of light faintly visible deep within the hood.
Each flash carries a chilling indifference.
His presence made everything around him lose its weight.
Heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, ruins, corpses—everything seemed to revolve around him; he was the sole axis of this world!
Chen Du saw that the Martial Dao aura emanating from his body transformed into strands of golden light.
As if being pulled from his body like silk threads being peeled away, it floated and drifted towards the Black-Robed Man, disappearing into that bottomless black robe.
A thought suddenly occurred to him: this person could decide his life or death with a single thought.
The oppressive feeling was exactly the same as the figures he had seen in the void outside the Motian Sect, like a Mount Tai.
It's not about the magnitude of power, but about the overwhelming difference in levels, the gap in the essence of life, like an ant looking up at a deity in the heavens.
The Black-Robed Man spoke, his voice seemingly coming from all directions, yet also resounding directly in Chen Du's mind. "I never imagined that the Lingwu Immortal Dao Secret Realm could produce someone like you."
Chen Du felt a sweet taste in his throat, but he forced himself to swallow the blood.
In an instant, it seemed that because of his kindness, he was able to think.
He raised his head and questioned, word by word, "A secret realm of Immortal Dao? Is there anything special about it? What exactly happened? Let me die knowing the truth!"
"Every Immortal Dao realm will inevitably give birth to Divine Status."
The Black-Robed Man seemed to smile slightly. "The Martial Dao techniques you practice were actually created by me, and their origins lie in 'The Martial Dao Return to the Source True Body Origin'."
"Once you cultivate the techniques I created, you will become my Martial Dao seed. Your aura, energy, and fortune will all be under my control. The deeper you cultivate and the higher your realm, the sweeter the fruit you will reap."
"I not only sowed the seeds of Martial Dao in this secret realm, but I also spread out a large amount of fortune, and infused one of the most powerful fortunes into one of you."
"By killing each other, you can plunder each other's fortune. The stronger the person you kill, the more fortune you take. When you reach the pinnacle of all beings and become the sole fruit, it will be mine to devour."
Chen Du felt a chill run through him. He already knew what was going on, but he still asked, "Was that person Ning Shanyue?"
The Black-Robed Man shook his head.
No, it's your mother.
"I see... I see..."
Chen Du knelt amidst the ruins, his life force waning to its lowest point, like a lamp whose oil has been drained.
But in that instant, his mind became clearer than ever before.
Ning Shanyue's fortune wasn't initially that extraordinary. His ultimate extraordinary fortune came from the Liu Shi; she was the true master of that overwhelming fortune.
That's why Ning Shanyue was so wary of him, kept him under control, guarded against him, and forbade him from practicing martial arts or standing out.
Because Ning Chuan is that woman's son.
"That old bastard, he deserved to be killed."
Chen Du snorted coldly!
He looked up at the Black-Robed Man and suddenly laughed, "To transform the myriad things of heaven and earth into one's own, to harness the wisdom of billions of people for one's own use, and even to use an entire world to cultivate supernatural powers—this kind of technique is exactly the same as that of the Motian Sect."
"You're also from the Motian Sect, but your strength is far greater; at least... you're not in the Qi Refining stage."
The Black-Robed Man did not deny it, perhaps out of admiration, or perhaps because he believed Chen Du was doomed, so he took the time to chat with him.
"Through this method of refining poison, one can transform the wisdom of hundreds of millions of people in the entire world into one's own, and transform the Martial Dao aptitude of hundreds of millions of people in the entire world into one's own."
The Immortal Dao immortality has been greatly diminished, while the Martial Dao has flourished. Only fruits like you can grow one by one.
As he spoke, he slowly raised one hand, his five fingers resembling five pillars capable of severing heaven and earth.
"You Martial Dao prodigies, killing each other and plundering each other's fortune, in the end, the one who survives will become the most perfect fruit in this secret realm, and the one who picks the fruit is me."
After he finished speaking, he gently clenched his fist.
In an instant, the sky over the entire Spirit Martial Realm darkened.
Chen Du could sense that the Martial Dao fortune and energy that existed in this world in the dark were suddenly stirred up by something.
Simultaneously separated from the eight directions and six realms, and from the bodies of countless living beings, it transformed into billions of golden and dark red streams of light, surging towards the Black-Robed Man.
Heaven and earth seemed to let out a silent lament; the fortune of the Immortal Dao weakened to its extreme at this moment.
The protective array in the direction of the Spirit Flourishing Sect flickered like a paper lantern.
The Black-Robed Man waved his hand again, and the stream of light that condensed the Martial Dao power of an entire world suddenly slammed towards the Spirit Flourishing Sect.
Chen Du heard a deafening roar, like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting, coming from the far distance, in the direction of the Spirit Flourishing Sect.
The entire mountain range, palaces, and halls, along with the mountain gate where he had hidden for a hundred years, all collapsed with a single blow.
Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, and even the Capital, tens of thousands of miles away, could feel the earth tremble.
"Finally..." The Black-Robed Man laughed, a laugh that seemed to be squeezed out of his throat, carrying the wild joy that had been suppressed for countless years.
With a flicker, he vanished from his spot, reappearing above the ruins of the Spirit Flourishing Sect.
He bent down and picked something up from deep within the collapsed mountain gate.
It was a flickering light, like a newborn baby, or a tiny sun.
Inside, countless scenes rotate, including mountains, rivers, and glimpses of countless living beings experiencing birth, aging, sickness, and death, like the most core and fundamental existence of a world.
Divine Status!
This is the Divine Status of the Lingwu Secret Realm.
The Black-Robed Man slowly raised the Divine Status, his laughter echoing through the ruins. "Finally, I've broken through the Divine Status's defense mechanism! I've finally obtained the Divine Status of the Lingwu Secret Realm!"
Chen Du, however, was now completely exhausted.
His Martial Dao aura had been completely drained.
The physical body, True Essence, spiritual power, and soul are all disintegrating at an irreversible rate.
He stared at the manic smile of the Black-Robed Man, his last shred of consciousness slowly fading away like a candle flickering in the wind.
Vanished into thin air!
[The Hundred-Lifetime Reincarnation has been triggered, consuming one rebirth opportunity, with seven remaining.]
[Reincarnation Inheritance triggered; in the next life, you will inherit 50% of your current cultivation level.]