The Encirclement: Returning to Stillness's Dead End!
A fierce wind swept sand and gravel across the Black Sha Wasteland.
This vast, desolate land in the western part of the Dao Realm is shrouded in leaden-gray mist all year round; Spirit Vein rarely converge here, nor is there any lush spiritual wood vitality.
Only vast expanses of exposed, dark brown Yan Ji, like the ribs of a giant beast, lie across this boundless land.
This is the ancestral home of the Death Giant Lizard Clan.
In the Dao Realm, where powerful beings abound, the Death Giant Lizard Clan has always maintained a low profile, almost to the point of being invisible.
They do not compete for those famous mountains Blessed Land rich in Spiritual Qi, nor do they participate in the competition for local or external resources.
They simply remained quietly hidden deep within this wasteland, thriving and multiplying.
Ordinary cultivators simply regarded them as a minor Spirit Transformation cultivator with mediocre bloodlines.
Only those who truly stand at the pinnacle of the Nine Realms know that deep within this barren wasteland lies an ancient lineage, one of the eight native clans of the Dao Realm and inheritor of one of the four fruit positions of the Death Dao: [Returning to Stillness]!
At this moment, inside the underground palace at the deepest part of the wasteland.
An old man dressed in a gray-white bone robe sat cross-legged on an ancient stone platform.
His face was a grayish-brown color like dried earth, his eye sockets were deep-set, and his pupils were a pure, deathly white.
The progenitor of the Death Giant Lizard Clan, the supreme being of the Death Dao in the Dao Realm, the Returning to Stillness Dao Venerable.
At this moment, the old man's withered fingers trembled slightly.
In front of the stone platform, a bone compass suspended in the void trembled slightly; and on the compass were engraved ancient runes representing the eight directions of the void in the Dao Realm.
At this moment, the runes in the west, north, and south directions had all turned pitch black.
Even the highest dimension leading to the outer star sea is shrouded in a thick, deep barrier of Death Dao.
The entire sky of the Dao Realm was completely ensnared by an invisible giant net.
"The Nether River Emperor's Great Dao Heaven-Shrouding Seal..."
Returning to Stillness Dao Venerable muttered to himself in a low voice, his voice like two rough, stubborn stones rubbing against each other, extremely dry and hoarse.
He slowly raised his head, his pale eyes piercing through layers of rock, gazing into the depths of the sky.
Months ago, from the moment the Myriad Spirits Imperial Clan's army was defeated in the south and Bailu Lingyuan Death Dao, he had already sensed the unusual ripples deep in the void.
When the Spirit Race retreated, the sky was torn open, leaving a gaping hole stretching for tens of thousands of miles.
The Immortality Dao Venerable risked his life to guide his clansmen away, but the Nether River Imperial Clan did not pursue them relentlessly. Instead, they allowed the remaining core bloodline of the Spirit Race to escape back to the Spirit Realm.
The world believed it was the Nether River Imperial Clan, and fearing the arrival of the Myriad Spirits Emperor Venerable, they dared not go too far.
However, Returning to Stillness, one of the rulers of the Death Dao in this realm, saw the true direction of that dark curtain the moment the void closed.
After releasing the Spirit Race, the Nether River Emperor did not reclaim the power of the Great Dao from the Nether Realm. Instead, it transformed into countless death lines, silently seeping into every inch of the Dao Realm's spatial barriers!
The Spirit Realm is a powerful and influential family, backed by the Myriad Spirits Emperor Venerable who controls the entire Life Dao. The Nether River Imperial Clan is unwilling to engage in a full-scale war with them at this moment, so they spare the Spirit Race's life.
But what does his Returning to Stillness mean?
He was just a nobody from the Dao Realm, an ordinary Dao Venerable.
Without the protection of the Dao Embryo, without the support of the Imperial Clan, and even with only a few hundred thousand descendants of the same clan, they numbered a mere few hundred thousand.
In the eyes of those colossal beings who overlook the Nine Realms, he was not a formidable opponent, but rather a supreme prey, already cleaned and laid out on the chopping block...
"Hehe..."
A long, desolate self-mockery echoed from within the underground palace.
Returning to Stillness Dao Venerable raised his hand to form a seal, and his divine sense, like a gray-white wisp, pierced through the void, attempting to connect with the other seven Dao Venerable in the Dao Realm.
The Dao Realm has been the source of the Nine Daos since ancient times, with the nine native clans each controlling a branch of the Great Dao. Once upon a time, they also possessed a formidable reputation in all the heavens and myriad realms.
However, the divine thought had only traveled a million miles when it struck an invisible iron wall.
The Eastern Cloud Transformation Dao Venerable's cave abode was tightly closed, the mountain-protecting array was fully activated, and the myriad clouds and mists were contained to the extreme, offering no response whatsoever;
The Northern Mysterious Ice Dao Venerable, dwelling in the abyss, his ice palace sunk into the Return to the Ruins, remained unmoved even as divine thoughts swept over him;
The Southern Extreme Poison Divine Hall had long ago concealed its Heavenly Dao Poison, transforming into a cold, lifeless mountain, its myriad poisonous clouds silent and still.
There was only deathly silence; there was no further response.
Not a single divine thought was willing to connect with him, nor did any old friend dare to send him even a single whisper.
Even as a Divine Sense swept across the edge of the West Sea, Returning to Stillness Dao Venerable clearly detected a lingering, chilling aura.
That was the Soul Dao mark of the [Youpo] Dao Venerable of the Nether River Imperial Clan.
The messenger from the Nether River had already secretly visited various Earth Dao masters in the Dao Realm, carrying the Emperor's decree, to convey the Heavenly Order.
"The Nether River takes death, the Beast Realm takes land; this is the will of Heaven."
"Those who act rashly will have their clan exterminated and their path destroyed."
This short sentence was like a series of steel nails piercing the very spines of all the powerful figures native to the Dao Realm.
Normally, the reason why the various Dao Realm keep their native clans around is because the giants of the Nine Realms are mutually restraining each other, and these neutral royal families are needed to seize some of the fruit positions to prevent their rivals from monopolizing the source of the Great Dao.
Now, the Beast Realm Emperor has shown tremendous courage by relinquishing the benefits of the Death Dao and forming an unbreakable alliance with the Nether River Imperial Clan.
Two Dao Embryo were making moves behind the scenes, while ten Dao Venerable were committing violence on the front stage.
Who dares to guarantee his Returning to Stillness?
Who can guarantee his Returning to Stillness?!
If anyone dares to lend a helping hand today, the iron hooves of the Beast Realm and the Nether River will rightfully crush their ancestral mountain of cultivation tomorrow!
To cultivate immortality to the Dao Venerable realm, which one hasn't endured tens of thousands of years of tribulations, and who hasn't experienced endless mountains of corpses and seas of blood?
The higher you stand, the more you realize that the general trend cannot be defied.
It is always true that one should sacrifice Death Dao fellow Daoist to save oneself.
Just as they abandoned the Treasured Earth Dao Venerable with their buckets before, this time they have also abandoned the Returning to Stillness Dao Venerable.
"Hahaha, what a fine alliance of the Dao Realm, what a fine combination of local tribes!"
Returning to Stillness Dao Venerable chuckled softly, his bones cracking with laughter, the pure white, deathly light in his eyes pulsating violently. "Ten thousand years ago, we were sworn brothers; ten thousand years later, I watch as you are torn apart."
"Nine Realms Battle for Supremacy... Nine Realms Battle for Supremacy!"
"In the end, we are nothing more than livestock kept in the Land of Dao Origin!"
Rumble--!!
Before the laughter had even completely subsided, the sky over the Black Sha Wasteland shattered completely.
The sky was like a black glass mirror, smashed by a giant hammer, with billions of spiderweb-like cracks spreading wildly.
Before the violent spatial fragments could even fall, they were instantly vaporized into nothingness by ten terrifying Dao powers!
The entire Black Sha Wasteland, spanning tens of millions of miles, suddenly sank a full hundred feet in that instant!
Countless Death Giant Lizard cultivators lurking underground didn't even have time to scream before their bodies exploded into gray-black blood mist under the terrifying pressure.
The Nascent Soul and Golden Core core turned to dust and completely merged into the earth's veins.
Between heaven and earth, the Wind and Cloud change color.
In the northern sky, the Daoist light manifested in conflict, the black and yellow surging, white bones paved the way, raging flames burned the sky, and evil spirits rose to the heavens!
The five Great Dao Venerable of the Beast Realm were the first to descend.
At the center, the [Earth Virtue] Dao Venerable's face was extremely cold and solemn, with a Xuanhuang Dao Seal floating behind his head, a supreme treasure representing the will of the Peak and Mountain Imperial Clan.
The rules of the Earth Dao transformed into countless chains of the Great Dao, descending from the void and directly severing the ancestral energy of the wasteland's earth veins;
On the left, the [Barbarian Bone] Dao Venerable, the Ancestor Egu, stood tall on the clouds, his white bone armor gleaming with a jade-like white light. With a light stroke of his fingertip, the Life Realm in the entire wasteland was forcibly severed.
On the right, the [Ultimate Force] Dao Venerable transformed into a giant ape ten thousand feet tall, its violent Dao of Strength waves compressing the void into layers of folded, transparent air walls;
Next on the left, the [Sha Qi] Dao Venerable Evil Sha Tiger Emperor is accompanied by a sea of blood, with billions of vengeful souls floating and howling in the blood waves;
Furthermore, the Dao Venerable [Conjoined Fire] Kui Lang Emperor roared to the sky, and the raging divine fire completely burned the southern sky to a crimson red!
The five supreme beings of the Beast Realm, brothers-in-law who suppress the universe.