Dao Lord

Biodata

Nature and Rank

Dao Lords stand above Great True Lords and Golden Core cultivators. Their true bodies are so overwhelming that lower cultivators ordinarily cannot look upon them directly: even Late Golden Core Great True Lords retain little memory of what they see, while weaker cultivators may die or explode from the exposure 882 1049 1433.

Before the establishment of the Other Shore, a cultivator needed a third-stage Dao Heart and a sufficiently powerful Dao lineage at Golden Core perfection to undergo further sublimation into a Dao Lord 1111. A Dao lineage could serve as a burden that let a Dao Lord raise his rank, but insufficient support risked causing him to become lost in Void Darkness 1111.

The Dao Lords later created the Other Shore method through the Light Sea and Origin Jade. It permits ascension to their level, but has only six fixed positions 1433 1250.

Powers and Limitations

Great Dao Authority

A Dao Lord's Primordial Spirit can reflect and command a Great Dao, granting authority far beyond conventional cultivation methods 1357.

• Dao Lords may manipulate authorities connected to their Great Dao, such as Destiny, Karma, Dharma Power, or the Sword Dao 1209 1360.
• Their strength is not uniform; the Netherworld can sustain a Dao Lord, but the abilities of its potential holders vary greatly 1161.
• A Dao Lord's true body is also called a Nascent Soul Dao Body 1433.
• Directly manifesting such a body in the lower world imposes catastrophic pressure on the surrounding reality and its cultivators 1049 1433.

Influence from the Other Shore

Dao Lords stationed upon the Other Shore can affect the Light Sea without descending in person.

• The Sword Pavilion Dao Lord was able to slay Lu Yang's Karma and future from the Other Shore, making Lu Yang's return to the Real World immediately fatal 859.
• The World Honored One could secretly descend by having his True Self consciousness borrow the body of the Vajra Realm Sun Tathagata 1001.
• Their Dao Paths can restrict how freely they interfere in lower realms 612.
• The Other Shore reduces, but does not eliminate, the destructive effect that a Dao Lord's true body has on lower cultivators 1049.

Dao Lineages

Dao Lords establish and preserve vast lineages, including sects, dynasties, and religious systems.

• Before the Other Shore, a sufficiently heavy Dao lineage enabled a Dao Lord to raise his rank; if it could no longer sustain him, he risked losing himself to Void Darkness 1111.
• Even after the Other Shore reduced this dependency, Dao Lords retained their lineages as protection against the collapse of the Other Shore 1111.
• Dao Lords can demand the lives or Seas of Consciousness of their lineage members as karmic repayment, as seen during the hunt for cultivators with True Lord potential 1209.
• Lu Yang's Deification Method threatens this arrangement by severing established lineages and weakening their connection to their Great Daos 1357.

Known Dao Lords

Major Events

Dao Lord War

The Dao Lord War followed a conflict between the paths of Heavenly Dao and Other Shore. The Sacred Sect Ancestor prevailed, but Sword Lord and Cang Hao continued seeking another path and joined Chu Sheng in a plot against Si Sui and the Dao Lords of the Three Foundations 1182.

The World Honored One became a Dao Lord only after assisting Chu Sheng in killing Si Sui, thereby filling the vacancy left by the fallen Dao Lord who governed both the Dharma Body Path and Yin-Yang 1250.

Dao Lords' Hunt

When Other Shore fragments consolidated into six pieces, the Dao Lords began competing to strengthen their fragments. Chu Sheng purged Star Palace cultivators with True Lord potential, while the World Honored One, Sword Lord, Cang Hao, and Chu Sheng divided regions of the Light Sea among themselves 1209.

Dao Tianqi resisted the purge by receiving targeted cultivators into the Netherworld before Chu Sheng could harvest them 1209.

Sky Soaring's Ascension

Sky Soaring completed his Dao through Tribulation and inscribed it upon the Other Shore's Third Layer. With Si Sui's support, he became the first person to ascend to Dao Lordhood without intervention or arrangement from another Dao Lord 1496.

Associated Concepts

• Other Shore — The Dao Lords' cultivation system, created through the Light Sea and Origin Jade; it has six fixed Dao Lord positions 1433 1250.
• Dao Heart — A core foundation of cultivation. Its stages include perfection, Heart Fasting, and Primordial Spirit; the highest stages are directly tied to Dao Lordhood 1111.
• Dao Lineage — A sect, religion, dynasty, or other body of followers that can support and burden a Dao Lord 1111.
• Nascent Soul Dao Body — The true body manifested by a Dao Lord's Great Dao 1433.
• Heavenly Dao — A competing path jointly established by Sword Lord and Cang Hao 1250.