The Ninth Dao Foundation
The turmoil in the Heavenly Court arose suddenly and then subsided just as quickly.
Ever since that day when the West Sea Sword slew the Buddha, covered the sky with a wave of its hand, and sealed off the Heavenly Court with a single word.
In just over a month, the unprecedented "calamity" that nearly swept through the entire Xuanhuang Home Realm, triggered a war among countless cultivators, and drew the attention of True Lord, quickly subsided in an almost eerie "calm."
It came like a tsunami collapsing the sky, and went like the tide receding from the beach.
All the turmoil and clamor seemed to quickly return to normal after the deep blue figure in front of the Southern Heaven Gate waved his hand and set up a Sword Qi array that covered the entire Heavenly Court.
The cultivators dispersed dejectedly, each returning to their cave abode.
The West Sea returned to "calm," leaving behind only the shattered sea area reshaped by Sword Qi and Buddhist light, and the lingering, chilling Daoist aura in the air, becoming a terrifying legend destined to be recorded in history.
The turmoil seems to have subsided, and the Xuanhuang Realm is about to return to its old course.
However, everything has its inertia.
In particular, it involves the ancient grudges and interests between two major camps.
The great war between good and evil, which was temporarily "shelved" due to the emergence of the Heavenly Court and the disruption of destiny, should have reignited with even greater ferocity after the storm subsided.
The Northwest Demonic Path had been preparing for a long time, sharpening its weapons and gearing up for battle. It had planned to take advantage of this shift in the fortunes of heaven and earth to launch a major counterattack and tear apart the Central Land defense line that the righteous path had built up over thousands of years.
But when the rolling demonic clouds of the Northwest Demonic Path pressed in once more, blood banners fluttered, and countless demons roared, preparing to face the fierce resistance the righteous path had anticipated—
What they saw, however, was a bizarre emptiness.
The imposing border fortress, which I had envisioned as a towering mountain with shimmering runes, was now empty.
The guardian cultivators, array towers, and war Law Artifact vanished without a trace, leaving only the lonely city walls wailing in the wind.
The strategically important location, which was envisioned as having layers of defenses and mutually reinforcing each other, is now empty.
The Spirit Vein were extracted, the treasures were moved away, and even the ground looked like it had been scraped clean.
Only the mountains and rivers that cannot be moved remain.
The vanguard of the demonic path cautiously advanced for thousands of miles, yet encountered no organized resistance whatsoever!
Only a few small sects and Rogue Cultivator who were unable or unwilling to retreat fled when the demonic clouds loomed over them.
The righteous path—has been abandoned.
It wasn't a tactical retreat, nor was it a trap to lure the enemy in; rather, it was a direct surrender of the vast Central Land, which had been cultivated for countless years, accumulating most of the Xuanhuang Spiritual Qi and resources, and regarded as the foundation and symbol of the righteous path!
Faced with this fresh, unimaginably huge, and readily available victory, the entire Northwest Demonic Path was initially stunned.
"Is this a trap?!"
"What tricks are those Pseudo-Lord from the righteous path playing?!"
"Investigate! Investigate to the death! Within a million miles, dig three feet into the ground to find the ambush!"
The demonic giants were filled with suspicion and uncertainty. Scouts and Formation Art masters were dispatched to repeatedly probe every inch of land and every patch of sky, fearing that they might have stumbled into some earth-shattering trap.
However, the results of the returns were confirmed time and again – it really was empty.
The main forces of the righteous path, those renowned sects, Aristocratic Clan, and alliances, have already retreated far and wide, like the receding tide, towards the bitterly cold northwest, carrying their core strength and accumulated resources.
After the initial shock came ecstasy, followed by a strange mix of realization and trepidation.
The ecstasy was beyond words; without losing a single soldier or demon, they had conquered the Central Land!
What incredible wealth and fortune!
That sudden realization and palpitation stemmed from fear of that man.
Qi Yun, the leader of the Wuji Sacred Sect!
Thus, after a brief hesitation and acceptance, the demonic army, like a black torrent, swiftly engulfed every inch of the Central Land Plains.
The Devil Palace rose from the ground, the blood pool was rebuilt, and the wailing of evil spirits replaced the celestial chants of the past.
The most fertile and Spiritual Qi abundant central land of the Xuanhuang Realm has thus changed hands.
The Righteous Path Alliance, amidst a complex mix of emotions, relocated entirely to the Northwest.
Thus, good and evil have transformed!
The Xuanhuang order that had lasted for tens of thousands of years, with the Central Land in control and the Northwest besieged by demons, was reversed in a short period of time in a dramatic and absurd manner, all because of the achievements and potential threat of one person.
The flow of fortune, the distribution of power, and even the future rise and fall of the Daoist lineage in the Xuanhuang Home Realm were all foreshadowed by this.
The outside world is constantly changing, territories are shifting, and fortunes are surging.
For Qi Yun, who was currently in the core secret realm of his own Great Luo Heaven, it was already an insignificant, distant background noise.
He sat cross-legged on a chaotic stream of air. His aura was much more stable than when he was in the West Sea, but the weariness and paleness between his brows had not completely faded. The grayish-white sword mark on his palm was still clear, but there was no longer any Sword Qi flowing through it.
In the center of the space, eight figures, like solidified amber, were completely sealed by layers upon layers of chains of the Great Luo Dao Laws, shimmering with chaotic light, and floated in the void.
All eight people had their eyes closed and their faces were peaceful.
Only within them, the faint yet extraordinary "Supreme" aura, originating from the same source as the Qi Yun Great Luo Dao Foundation, quietly burned and resonated in this secret realm, like eight stars in the night.
Qi Yun's gaze was deep and focused, like the most patient craftsman examining eight pieces of uncut jade about to be sculpted, or the most cautious scholar studying eight profound celestial books.
He did not immediately begin the "refining" process.
He raised his right hand, his five fingers blooming like lotus flowers, or as if plucking invisible strings. With a gentle pinch, wisps of chaotic energy flowed from his fingertips, merging with the surrounding Great Luo Heaven rhythm, evolving into many illusory images such as the Eight Trigrams, the Nine Palaces, and the stars of the Zhou Tian constellation. There were also subtle ripples of the Long River of Time rippling between his fingers and palms.
He was performing divination.
Using his own Great Luo Dao Foundation as a guide and the eight captured Supreme Dao Foundation as "bait," he used his supreme Divine Sense to communicate with the the Unseen Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, attempting to capture and locate any trace of the last Supreme Dao Foundation.
Time passed slowly, and in the void before Qi Yun, various strange phenomena arose and disappeared endlessly. Sometimes they revealed blurry mountains and rivers, sometimes they outlined the silhouettes of unfamiliar figures, sometimes they turned into a chaotic mass of lines and points of light, and sometimes they returned to the complete void of darkness.
However, nothing was found.
That ninth Supreme Dao Foundation seemed to have completely evaporated in the Xuanhuang Realm.
No matter how much Qi Yun activated the Secret Method and consumed his divine sense, all he received in return was emptiness and fog.
"Can't find it?"
Qi Yun slowly withdrew his momentum, and the divination phenomena flowing between his fingers suddenly collapsed.
He opened his eyes, a cold, sharp glint flashing in them.
With his current control over the Great Luo Heaven, and the eight Dao Foundation of the same origin in his hands as the strongest sensors, theoretically there should be no existence within this Xuanhuang Realm that can completely evade a search of this scale.
unless----
"Interesting," Qi Yun muttered to himself, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on his knee. "Someone deliberately hid this Supreme Dao Foundation?"
True Lord?
His gaze fell once again on the eight sealed figures, as if deep in thought.
"The idea of Empty Attainment the Great Luo Supreme' was my own, and I never told anyone about it. Was it a pre-planned strategy?"
Countless thoughts collided in Qi Yun's mind.
Unable to find the ninth Dao Foundation, his original plan was to refine the eight first, and then slowly search for the last one. Overcoming skill with brute force was a prudent approach.
However, just before he attempted to refine this Supreme Dao Foundation...
In the the Unseen, it seemed as if a pair of cold and ruthless, all-encompassing, enormous eyes suddenly opened high above, their icy gaze piercing through layers of void and the barrier of the Great Luo Heaven, locking onto Liaozheng he attempted to achieve "Supreme Unity"!
It was as if as soon as he dared to take the step of "refining" and begin to merge with the supreme origin, this calamity would immediately and mercilessly descend, erasing him along with this Great Luo Heaven Secret Realm!
In other words, he only has one chance to try to Empty Attainment the Supreme Dao fruit!
He must find all nine Supreme Dao Foundation and complete the fusion in one go to succeed in one fell swoop. Only then can he possibly withstand the terrifying calamity that follows. Otherwise, if he forcibly starts with only eight foundations, he will surely die and perish forever when the calamity comes!
"But where exactly is this last Supreme Dao Foundation hidden?"
Qi Yun fell into deep thought, his mind sinking into his Purple Mansion, repeatedly "examining" his own Great Luo Dao Foundation, recalling the subtle sensations of resonating with those eight Dao Foundation, and deducing all possibilities—
Time passed slowly, and the secret realm fell silent.
Sudden-
"Etc----"
Qi Yun's eyes flashed suddenly, like lightning streaking across the night!
"Got it!"
Without further hesitation, he stood up abruptly!
Take that first step!
"Sizzle--!"
In the next instant, his figure pierced through the void and disappeared from this Great Luo Heaven Secret Realm.
Almost at the same time.
The Xuanhuang Continent lies deep within a desolate Gobi Desert, utterly ravaged by time and the flames of calamity.
The space distorted slightly, and Qi Yun's deep blue figure suddenly appeared, like a drop of ink falling into a traditional Chinese ink painting.
Before me lay an endless expanse of ruins, a tapestry of crimson and charred black.
The broken, towering golden Buddha statue, thousands of feet tall, is half-buried in the sand. Its head is broken off, and its compassionate face is covered with cracks. Further away, the ruins of palaces can be vaguely seen. Although they have collapsed and crumbled, the faint Buddhist charm and immortal golden light remaining in each brick and tile still tell the story of the supreme glory and sanctity of this place in the past.
Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm Site Ruins.
With a slight shift in his gaze, Qi Yun waved his hand, and the ground immediately parted to the sides, revealing the earth thousands of feet below.
In an instant, a golden pillar of light shot into the sky, illuminating all directions, and an endless, vast aura surged and spread in all directions.
At the source of the light, one could vaguely see the phantom of an ancient tree, its entire body as if cast in gold, its branches strong and ancient, its leaves resembling Dao patterns, only a few feet tall, yet radiating a magnificent aura that seemed to support the heavens and earth and nurture all laws.
Wealth Connects to the Divine!
The moment the Wealth Connects to the Divine appeared, countless eyes followed the dazzling light and aura. But when their gazes fell upon the deep blue figure, they all trembled and hurriedly retreated!
That was close! I almost killed myself by watching.