First Contact with the Dark Strangeness

Li Ming watched the Immortal Dao Runes erupt from the Bronze Immortal Hall. Though the Thunder Sea raged, it did no damage to the hall.

Examining the Chaotic Dragon Nest up close, Li Ming noticed many details he had missed before.

Every one of those ink-black pieces of Dragon Wood looked ancient and weathered, as though it had endured countless ages.

Judging by the Immortal Dao Runes that occasionally flickered across them, the Dragon Wood might truly have come from the Immortal Domain rather than being native to this world.

When the Thunder Sea's upheaval subsided, Li Ming stepped out of the Bronze Immortal Hall.

The moment he set foot on the Dragon Wood, endless Grand Dao Runes appeared, each laden with murderous intent.

Li Ming circulated the incomplete Boundless Heavenly Art and, with the Bronze Immortal Hall protecting him, avoided the killing force.

Who would have thought that old thief Boundless Heavenly Venerable had studied formations to such a degree?

If Li Ming had not carefully studied the Nine Secrets: Xing and the Nine Secrets: Zu, he might really have fallen into the trap.

With the Bronze Immortal Hall above his head, Li Ming walked deeper into the Chaotic Dragon Nest.

After passing through the dense tangle of Dragon Wood, he reached the interior of the Chaotic Dragon Nest. Before him stretched a vast Thunder Sea.

Nine-colored Immortal Light surged and roiled.

Nine-colored thunder filled every inch of space.

The terrifying aura was enough to reduce a Supreme to flying ash.

Even Li Ming felt a profound sense of danger.

The True Dragon Elixir regarded Li Ming with the curiosity of a child.

Li Ming looked at the True Dragon Elixir and said with a smile, "I mean you no harm!"

"I can take you away from this dangerous place!"

"You can see the world outside!"

At Li Ming's words, the True Dragon Elixir bolted like a startled hare, darting back into the Dragon Wood with a whoosh. It hid far away and watched him.

Li Ming was at a loss for words. He had not expected the True Dragon Elixir to be so good at fleeing.

If not for the layers upon layers of Immortal Dao Runes and thunder here, he would have seized it by force long ago.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you!"

"I truly want to rescue you from this sea of suffering!"

As Li Ming spoke, he used a mysterious art that made listeners instinctively trust him and believe everything he said was true.

It resembled the God-Degreeing Art, yet it was not the God-Degreeing Art.

Sure enough, the True Dragon Elixir slowly flew toward Li Ming.

It gave off a faint mental fluctuation.

"I sense the aura of an Immortal Medicine on you!"

"Did you eat it?"

"Or did you imprison it inside your body?"

Li Ming had not expected the True Dragon Elixir to sense the Flat Peach Divine Medicine's aura.

The Flat Peach Divine Medicine might have formed when Pan King died and underwent Nirvana during the Perfect Era. With that in mind, Li Ming suspected the True Dragon Immortal King might really have crossed paths with Pan King.

At the thought, Li Ming took the Flat Peach Divine Medicine straight out of his Bitter Sea.

"Look. This is the Flat Peach Divine Medicine!"

"He has always been rooted in my Sea of Bitterness. By drawing on my Heavenly Venerable Life Spring Divine Liquid, he can thrive."

"And he doesn't have to worry about danger!"

"Of course, having him inside me has brought me countless benefits too."

"We both benefit!"

Seeing the True Dragon Elixir grow eager and edge closer, Li Ming took out a mass of Chaos Immortal Essence.

"See? My Heavenly Venerable Life Spring Divine Liquid isn't like that of an ordinary Heavenly Venerable."

"I'm the legendary Chaotic Body!"

"The divine liquid my Life Spring produces is Chaos Immortal Essence. Even Divine Spring Water can't match its astonishing effects."

On this point, Li Ming spoke the truth.

As a Chaotic Body, his Heavenly Venerable Life Spring Divine Liquid was far more precious than Lingbao Tianzun's. This was a unique advantage of the Chaotic Body.

"I don't want to be shut up here either. I want to go out and have a look around."

"But I don't want you imprisoning me in your Life Spring..." said the True Dragon Elixir.

Li Ming frowned. He had not expected the True Dragon Elixir to be so difficult.

Li Ming went on, "You can soar through the sky and travel beneath the earth. You can go anywhere you want."

"If you want to leave, you can."

"I can make you a promise: I'll take you away, and you'll stay in my Life Spring for ten thousand years. After that, you'll be free to come and go. I'll never force you to stay."

Though Li Ming said this, he was thinking something quite different. As long as I can trick the True Dragon Elixir into coming with me, who cares whether he wants to stay or leave?

Once he's in my hands, he still thinks he can run?

At the very least, he'll have to wait until I've thoroughly studied him.

The True Dragon Elixir tilted his head and thought it over. Sensing Li Ming's aura, which seemed to harmonize with all the Daos, he was indeed tempted.

He smelled the Chaos Immortal Essence Li Ming had taken out, drew it over from a distance, and swallowed it with a slurp.

His nine leaves immediately unfurled, releasing golden rosy mist. The fragrance unique to an Immortal Medicine spread in every direction.

For an instant, even Li Ming felt a little drunk from its scent.

Li Ming had not expected the divine liquid from his Life Spring to work so well.

The True Dragon Elixir swayed as though drunk. It took him quite a while to recover.

After circling Li Ming once, he signaled that he was willing to follow him.

He flew straight onto Li Ming, his golden roots gripping Li Ming's arm tightly.

Highly satisfied, Li Ming casually placed his mark on the True Dragon Elixir, then took both him and the Flat Peach Divine Medicine into his Bitter Sea.

Li Ming asked, "True Dragon Elixir, do you know what's inside the Chaotic Dragon Nest?"

The True Dragon Elixir seemed to sink into his memories. Only after a moment did he answer, "I'm not sure either."

"I've been here since I was born."

"My earliest memory seems to be growing on the remains of a True Dragon!"

"What? The remains of a True Dragon?"

Li Ming was startled too. Could the remains of the True Dragon Immortal King be inside the Chaotic Dragon Nest?

He carefully examined the True Dragon Elixir's memories.

An inexplicable power flowed through Li Ming's body as he worked through them. Sensing that strange aura, the True Dragon Elixir nearly fled.

But inside Li Ming's Bitter Sea, he had nowhere to hide. He could only tremble and let the mysterious power descend upon him.

Li Ming's divine sense settled on the True Dragon Elixir. He carefully examined the elixir's life and its fragments of memory.

He discovered that the True Dragon Elixir had been born no more than five hundred thousand years ago!

Before that, its memories were blank—or rather, there were no memories at all.

It was as though he had suddenly undergone Nirvana and been reborn hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Or as though he had simply been born then.

Li Ming considered it. This was the Myriad Dragon Nest, suspected to be a True Dragon's lair, and the True Dragon Elixir might have formed from the Nirvana of a dead Immortal King. He could not help questioning how the elixir had truly come into being.

Had the True Dragon Immortal King's remains fallen into Boundless Heavenly Venerable's hands?

Li Ming coveted those Immortal King remains.

A True Immortal's corpse alone could yield so many insights. It was hard to imagine how much he could gain from an Immortal King's remains.

Yet that still failed to explain why the endless thunder was so violent.

And why it never dissipated.

When Boundless Heavenly Venerable tried to use Wang Bo's Chaos Origin to transform into a Chaotic Body and live a new Lifetime, had something else happened here?

Or had the ripples of the Grand Dao radiating from the Immortal King's remains killed him?

Who knew?

Li Ming gazed at the violently raging Thunder Sea inside the Chaotic Dragon Nest, unable to see what lay in its depths.

Rumble!

As Li Ming pondered, the Thunder Sea ahead entered another period of heightened fury.

He had no choice but to retreat temporarily into the Bronze Immortal Hall.

The Thunder Sea roared. Endless nine-colored thunder churned with wild force.

Chaotic energy surged. Fiercely blazing bolts flew everywhere like thunder dragons, each one stretching like a river of stars. The sight was staggering.

Dragon roars rang out without end, as though ten thousand True Dragons had awakened. The entire Chaotic Dragon Nest seemed to come alive.

Endless Immortal Light burst from the nine enormous Dragon Caves and poured into the Chaotic Dragon Nest.

Countless bolts of Immortal Dao Divine Thunder joined the storm as well.

Divine dragons appeared one after another, as though forged from Divine Marked Purple Gold, charging and roaring through the Thunder Sea.

These True Dragons, condensed from dragon energy, were formed entirely of dragon energy and Grand Dao Runes. They guarded the Myriad Dragon Nest and the Chaotic Dragon Nest.

Li Ming suddenly felt the Bronze Mirror within him tremble faintly, as though something were drawing it in.

After a moment's thought, he steered the Bronze Immortal Hall deeper into the Chaotic Dragon Nest.

Endless Grand Dao Runes flickered within the Myriad Dragon Nest, many of them Immortal Dao Runes.

Even after countless ages, these Immortal Dao Runes had not been erased.

Complete formations still shone here, and the aura of the Immortal Dao permeated everything.

Li Ming steered the Bronze Immortal Hall toward the depths of the Chaotic Dragon Nest.

The deeper he went, the richer the aura of the Immortal Dao became.

Soon, Li Ming was astonished to discover a person ahead—or rather, a person within the Chaos Thunder Sea.

He was stunned.

Deep within the terrifying Immortal Dao Divine Thunder, a tall, heroic figure stood amid the Heavenly Tribulation as though undergoing one himself.

Li Ming opened his Heavenly Eye and looked closely.

The figure looked exactly like Wang Bo, the Chaotic Body!

Li Ming had seen a portrait of that ill-fated Chaotic Body, Wang Bo. He recognized him at a glance.

He could sense that this was not the real Wang Bo, only Wang Bo's Chaotic Body Origin.

The terrifying Immortal Dao Divine Thunder did not seem to regard the Chaotic Body Origin as something foreign. Instead, it treated the origin as part of this place and did not actively attack it.

Yet the Chaotic Body Origin kept trying to merge with and refine the Immortal Dao Divine Thunder.

It sought to draw the power and aura of the Immortal Dao from it.

That seemed to enrage the thunder.

The terrifying thunder struck Wang Bo in a frenzy.

Phantom Immortal Spirits formed from countless bolts of thunder surrounded Wang Bo and attacked relentlessly.

Wang Bo showed no fear. He fought the Immortal Spirits head-on.

Every Immortal Spirit radiated the aura of a Supreme. They were terrifying.

Yet Wang Bo withstood power at that level, tearing apart divine dragons and Phoenixes.

Even the phantom Immortal Spirits born of thunder could not destroy him.

The Immortal Dao Divine Thunder did not attack him. It was the Heavenly Venerable-level thunder that struck him.

It was as though Heavenly Tribulations kept descending to destroy this challenger.

Li Ming was even astonished to find that the thunder had taken the forms of Immortal Medicines.

He remembered that Wang Bo himself had never reached the level of a Heavenly Venerable. Boundless Heavenly Venerable had killed him when he was only an Eighth Heaven Quasi-Emperor.

Could it be?

Had Boundless Heavenly Venerable fused with the Chaotic Body Origin?

Li Ming's eyes blazed as he searched the Chaotic Body Origin for traces of Boundless Heavenly Venerable's aura.

Human faces manifested by one Immortal Medicine after another radiated laws of the Immortal Dao and attacked Wang Bo furiously.

But Wang Bo, manifested from the Chaotic Body Origin, showed no fear and charged at the Immortal Medicines one after another.

The man struggled with all his might. The technique he unleashed at the end was none other than Boundless Heavenly Venerable's Forbidden Secret Art!

Just as Li Ming had suspected, Boundless Heavenly Venerable really had refined Wang Bo's Chaos Origin.

And he intended to use the Thunder Sea and Immortal Dao Runes here to live a new Lifetime!

"Mortal-World Ascension!"

Wang Bo roared again and again, as though he meant to devour all the thunder.

The terrifying thunder fell upon him, wrapping him in layer upon layer.

The next moment, the Grand Dao Heavenly Sound thundered. Endless chaos surged in, and the aura of Wang Bo's Chaotic Body grew a little stronger.

Then Wang Bo's figure transformed into another familiar form.

Wang Bo's appearance had become that of Boundless Heavenly Venerable.

So Boundless Heavenly Venerable truly had devoured Wang Bo's Chaotic Body Origin.

This was only his origin, ceaselessly trying to devour the Immortal Dao Runes within the Thunder Sea.

It seems Boundless Heavenly Venerable really isn't completely dead!

Since he can devour Immortal Dao Thunder in this Chaos Thunder Sea and try to fuse with it, he must have something to rely on.

Li Ming opened his Heavenly Eye and looked closely, trying to make the Chaos within his body resonate with the Chaos Thunder Sea.

He wanted to glimpse Boundless Heavenly Venerable's secret.

Before long, through the layers of chaos, Li Ming discovered a mysterious coffin at the bottom of the Chaotic Dragon Nest.

It looked weathered and ancient.

As though it had passed through countless ages to remain in this world.

Even more astonishing to Li Ming was the mark of the Desolate Pagoda on the coffin.

This mark belonged to the Desolate Heavenly Emperor alone.

"Could this be a coffin crafted by the Desolate Heavenly Emperor?"

"Could the Desolate Heavenly Emperor have made it specifically to heal the eight hundred old soldiers?"

"Could the Boundless Heavenly Venerable's body be hidden inside?"

"And was his origin trying to harness the Heavenly Dao's power here to devour Wang Bo's origin completely, transform into a Chaotic Body, and live a new Lifetime?"

All this time, the Boundless Heavenly Venerable had been trying to fuse with and devour the Immortal Dao Divine Thunder here.

Without that mysterious coffin, his origin might long since have turned to ash.

The Boundless Heavenly Venerable, formed from Chaos Origin, seemed to sense Li Ming's presence through the haze.

He abruptly opened his eyes and turned toward Li Ming.

He was a heroic, imposing middle-aged man in Daoist robes, exactly like the portraits of the Boundless Heavenly Venerable in legend.

He looked at Li Ming in utter confusion.

After a moment's hesitation, his face suddenly twisted into a vicious expression, as though he feared Li Ming would seize or destroy everything here.

He charged toward Li Ming, ready for battle.

Endless thunder and boundless killing intent surged with him.

It was as though a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood were rushing at Li Ming.

Even the Boundless Heavenly Venerable's Dao-Proving Weapon, a blood-red Killing Sword, flew out of the coffin with a metallic ring.

"Boundless Heavenly Venerable!" Li Ming shouted.

His immense voice rang out like a Daoist battle cry.

The aura of a mighty being spread in all directions, bearing down on the Boundless Heavenly Venerable.

Sensing Li Ming's terrifying aura, the Boundless Heavenly Venerable looked bewildered once more.

"Who are you?"

"How can you be so powerful?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Don't disturb my cultivation and transformation!"

Just then, a strange smile appeared on the face of the Boundless Heavenly Venerable formed from Chaos Origin.

Dense black runes surfaced across his body. They were so uncanny that a single glance seemed enough to drag a person into ruin.

"Dark Strangeness?" Li Ming was startled.

He had never seen runes so uncanny, or an aura so strange.

Through the haze, he seemed to understand.

Had the Boundless Heavenly Venerable been contaminated by the Strange Substance during his transformation?

Or had some strange creature that had found its way into this world contaminated him?

No wonder the terrifying thunder here was so fearsome. Was it meant to seal away or destroy these strange things?

As that aura of Dark Strangeness spread, the Bronze Mirror within Li Ming trembled softly and released a mysterious power.

Of its own accord, it enveloped the Boundless Heavenly Venerable formed from the origin and forcibly stripped away the strange runes and aura.

Li Ming watched the Strange Substance hover there, black as ink and shaped like a drop of Black Blood. Feeling its uncanny aura, he found it deeply unfathomable.

A force—or rather, a pressure—that seemed capable of destroying all ages and piercing past, present, and future erupted from it.

Then the mysterious power within the Bronze Mirror completely obliterated the ink-black Strange Substance.

Once the Strange Substance was gone, the Boundless Heavenly Venerable's divine consciousness went blank for a moment. Then he seemed to come to his senses.

A terrifying aura erupted from him. The Boundless Heavenly Venerable had truly lived into a Third Lifetime.

The Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth roared and came into harmony. Though he had not transformed into a true Chaotic Body, he had indeed lived into a Third Lifetime.

He had cast aside his contaminated old body in the coffin and forcibly used the Chaotic Body Origin he had taken from Wang Bo to transform into a Divine Embryo.

Right before Li Ming's eyes, he broke through by force and transformed into his Third Lifetime.

Such abundant vitality, such an earth-shaking presence—it was hard to believe.

When every trace of aura and radiance subsided, the Boundless Heavenly Venerable grew calm again.

He cupped his hands toward Li Ming. "So it's the Demon Venerable!"

"Thank you, Demon Venerable, for saving me from the Bitter Sea and allowing me to live a new Lifetime!"

"You know who I am?"

Li Ming was astonished. The Boundless Heavenly Venerable had been trapped here all along, so he should not have known that Li Ming had later achieved Enlightenment as Supreme. As far as Li Ming knew, their paths had never crossed in history, either.