Chapter 501 |
“What exactly is Daoyuan trying to do?”
That question puzzled not only the Mages, but also the Heavenly Sovereigns of the Immortal Realm.
In their minds, another, deeper fog loomed.
All the Heavenly Sovereigns knew that the instigator behind the rebellion could only be Daoyuan. The Great Heavenly Sovereign surely knew as well—yet why had he shown no intent to intervene?
The atmosphere in the Immortal Realm had been strange for some time. Anyone with eyes could sense that the Great Heavenly Sovereign’s control over the realm was steadily waning. Many assumed it was due to some internal flaw in him, but after witnessing him strike with overwhelming power—effortlessly suppressing every Ninth-Rank Demon that had broken free from the Demon-Suppression Abyss—it was clear that his might still towered above all others.
So then, why was he allowing such upheaval to unfold across the Immortal Realm?
Daoyuan’s next moves were even harder to comprehend.
If he had indeed harbored treacherous thoughts, then upon realizing that the Great Heavenly Sovereign remained unscathed and his power undiminished, he should have curbed his arrogance.
But he did not. On the contrary, he grew even bolder and more blatant.
For a time, dark currents surged beneath the surface.
There were ten Heavenly Sovereigns in total: three belonging to the Vientiane Lineage, four to Daoyuan’s Lineage, and the rest neutral—or rather, once aligned with the Great Heavenly Sovereign before turning traitor. Now it was clear that Daoyuan had orchestrated those defections. But what gave him the confidence to act so brazenly? And why did the Great Heavenly Sovereign continue to stand by?
“Your Excellency, we discovered this jade slip outside the Sect,” one of Vientiane Heavenly Sovereign’s trusted subordinates reported, offering a pale green tablet. “No message was inscribed within it—but the aura… there’s no doubt it belongs to Daoyuan Heavenly Sovereign.”
Vientiane recognized the aura immediately. She pinched the jade slip between two fingers but didn’t probe it with her divine sense. She simply stared at it in silence.
She understood precisely what Daoyuan’s gesture meant—it was both a threat and an invitation.
Seeing her remain quiet, the subordinate continued, “Our planted agents have all been exposed and returned. However, Daoyuan’s followers didn’t execute them. They were sent back unharmed. We’ve also gathered some information from them.”
Vientiane crushed the jade slip between her fingers. “Speak.”
“According to what they learned,” he said quickly, “Daoyuan Heavenly Sovereign actually reached the peak of the Heavenly Sovereign realm one hundred fifty thousand years ago, after the last great invasion of the Outer World Heavenly Demons. He’s been concealing that fact ever since. His ascension plans began roughly a hundred thousand years ago. The reason he’s revealing them now… is because of the Mages.”
He dared not hold anything back. “The True Demon’s body seems to be vital to him. His hundred-thousand-year plan revolves around the remaining limbs, but the Mages’ arrival disrupted everything, forcing him to act before he was fully prepared.”
Vientiane’s tone was calm. “And this information—you obtained it by infiltration, or did he hand it to you directly?”
“It was told to us by Daoyuan’s own followers.”
Vientiane murmured, “So brazen… But what makes him so certain of success?”
Openly provoking the Great Heavenly Sovereign was madness enough. But what puzzled Vientiane most was Daoyuan’s confidence in inviting the True Spirit Mages to witness his ascension.
She had seen the Mages’ might with her own eyes—how, within just over a decade, several True Spirit Mages had arrived in Xinyati, each possessing power that could terrify an entire realm. Even one such being was enough to make the Immortal Realm tremble. So what gave Daoyuan the audacity to stand against eight of them?
The so-called “invitation” to witness his ascension was clearly a trap. Neither the Mages nor the immortals believed otherwise. But what astounded her was that the Mages accepted it without hesitation.
Vientiane understood why: she had witnessed the Mages’ power. Their campaign now seemed less aimed at the demonic remnants and more at the Immortal Realm itself. The True Spirit Mages had grown weary of Daoyuan’s manipulations. Should he dare turn against them, the eight Mages would likely annihilate the Immortal Realm without mercy.
“This confidence… where does it come from? From the Outer World Heavenly Demons? Those dying vermin are far from enough. And the Great Heavenly Sovereign—what is he planning?”
Her subordinate bowed deeply, his head nearly buried in his chest. He could feel himself being drawn into a terrifying vortex—giants preparing to clash, any movement from them enough to shatter him to dust.
He wished he were nothing more than an ordinary mortal, blissfully ignorant and free of fear.
A long silence followed. Then, finally, Vientiane asked, “What of Milo and Hun Yuan?”
“We’ve lost all contact with our people there, but their soul jades remain intact.”
Vientiane dismissed him with a wave and sat cross-legged alone in the vast expanse of the Vientiane Immortal Hall, whispering softly to herself as the silence swallowed her form.
Relying solely on the Original Heavenly Demons would never be enough.
The Third Holy Tower’s magic, derived from the ancient magical system, was the natural nemesis of these consciousness-born entities. A single move from Laura was enough to doom six Original Heavenly Demons to eternal ruin.
In just two short months, Laura had already sent back several Eighth-Rank Demon specimens for study, and the Mages soon discovered effective methods to counter them.
The so-called Manifestation of Fantasy was, in essence, a form of contract and exchange. A Heavenly Demon would forcibly invade a being’s soul to sign a contract. The host would trade their life force to realize a wish, while the demon would absorb the surplus vitality as tribute.
For every ten parts of life force sacrificed, only one part of the wish would be fulfilled—the rest devoured by the demon.
Once the host’s vitality was fully drained, the demon would consume their soul and occupy their body.
In principle, it resembled dealings with devils, though, as Garfield noted, even devils lacked such terrifying power.
“If the Original Heavenly Demons and the Great Heavenly Sovereign were both born from the mind of the Transdimensional Behemoth, that would explain everything,” Adam said in the command center. “The Original Heavenly Demons see the Great Heavenly Sovereign as a betrayer—and they seek to destroy him.”
Everyone turned to Adam. No one interrupted; they were all weighing the plausibility of his words.
“They are two sides of the same coin—or rather, three sides. Their goal might be to resurrect the Transdimensional Behemoth, or perhaps to devour the Great Heavenly Sovereign and step into the light themselves.
As for Daoyuan…” Adam paused briefly before continuing, “He may be both the architect and executor of the entire plan.”
“Of course, there are still gaps in this theory—the biggest being power itself. Perhaps Daoyuan sought the remaining limbs of the True Demon to amplify his strength further. But we disrupted that plan. Now, with his schemes exposed, he has no choice but to gamble everything.”