Chapter 1364: The Grand Master of All Laws
Chapter 1364: The Grand Master of All Laws
"Venerable! Venerable!"
Su Xiaomei's cries pulled Tian Yi from the depths of his memories.
"Venerable, what do you think of this new divine ability I came up with?"
As she spoke, Su Xiaomei's small mouth opened slightly, and she spat out a beam of black sword light pulsing with an aura of utter annihilation, shooting straight toward Tian Yi.
The sword light was founded on the unceasing, regenerative cycle of the five elements, driven by a fearless, death-defying resolve, and honed to a razor's edge with the power to devour and annihilate all existence.
The moment the sword was unleashed, it seemed to possess the might to shatter a world!
It was difficult to imagine that a divine ability of such power could come from the hands of a child not yet ten years old!
A flicker of appreciation crossed Tian Yi's eyes, yet he faced the sword of annihilation without flinching, neither dodging nor evading.
In an instant, the flesh and blood of Tian Yi's face transformed into a lattice of intersecting lines.
Like a great net, it dented inward just slightly, effortlessly deflecting the Great Five Elements Annihilation Sword!
Threads of golden light then emerged from the countless lines of the net.
They swarmed the Five Elements Annihilation Sword, devouring it completely.
Like ice melting into water, the sword light quietly vanished.
Witnessing this, Su Xiaomei, who had been brimming with excitement just moments before, pouted. "You really are too strong, Venerable. Even after reaching the Nascent Soul realm through the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven, I'm still no match for you."
Tian Yi chuckled. "You've only been cultivating for a handful of days, little one. If you surpassed me already, what would I do with this old face of mine?"
He patted Su Xiaomei's head, his expression turning serious as he spoke slowly. "Your divine ability is indeed impressive, unparalleled among your peers. But..."
Su Xiaomei looked up, her eyes wide as she listened intently to his guidance. "It is still a far cry from the true meaning of the Great Dao. For example, what is annihilation?"
Tian Yi raised a finger, and a black light began to gather at its tip.
It was far more profound and inscrutable than the energy contained within the Great Five Elements Annihilation Sword.
"True annihilation does not exist within the natural cycle of a world. What we call extinction is merely a prelude to a greater rebirth."
"To touch upon true destruction, you must venture into the depths of the starry sky..."
"You are still too young. Wait until you are stronger. Hmm, perhaps you can try when you've reached Dao Integration," Tian Yi said, stroking his beard.
Su Xiaomei's face fell. "I have to wait until Dao Integration? That'll take forever! Forget it, I'm going to play with Senior Sister Zhao!"
Before her voice had faded, Su Xiaomei vanished in a flash.
"Zhao Ruoxi..." Tian Yi murmured the name, a shadow of gloom clouding his features.
She was originally the sect master of the Great Dao Sect in the Xuanhuang Realm.
The Tianfa Realm's victory in the ancient war between the two worlds did not mean every cultivator from the Xuanhuang Realm had perished.
Just as the Xuanhuang Realm was ultimately absorbed into the Tianfa Realm, a small number of its cultivators had become part of the new world.
In fact, their assistance had been crucial to the Tianfa Realm's final victory.
However, that group of cultivators were fair-weather friends, incapable of sharing in hardship.
Things had been fine for the past ten thousand years. Although the Tianfa Realm faced numerous calamities, they were already at the pinnacle of the cultivation world and were largely unaffected.
But now...
The Tianfa Realm was falling into the Immortal Ruins.
And these cultivators were all nursing their own selfish plans, none willing to genuinely save the Tianfa Realm.
Tian Yi snorted coldly in his mind.
For now, they hadn't completely shown their true colors, so he couldn't make the first move. He would wait. The most important thing at present was to increase his own cultivation.
Tian Yi's bright eyes gazed at the heavens, as if seeing the True Immortal meditating within the Immortal Ruins.
"The vast majority of my strength comes from the Heavenly Dao of the Tianfa Realm. Although I was dormant for nearly ten thousand years due to severe injuries, my cultivation has soared as the Tianfa Realm devoured the Xuanhuang Realm, more than doubling the world's overall power..."
"Especially since all the other Heavenly Venerates perished, the constant laws of heaven have all converged upon me."
With a single thought, Tian Yi's consciousness seemed to drift above the nine heavens, becoming the vast, dark firmament itself—the Heavenly Dao of the Tianfa Realm, looking down upon the mortal world.
Unlike other cultivation worlds, the Tianfa Realm possessed no world consciousness or will of its own.
There was only the machine-like, constant law of heaven, which had operated on its own since the dawn of time, indifferent to the will of any living being within the world.
As the saying went, the laws of heaven are absolute, demanding reverence and obedience. They could not be defied.
Later, great and wise beings emerged who could resonate with these strands of heavenly law, enabling them to enforce heaven's will.
The world called these beings[Venerables].
Tian Jue, Tian Yin, and Tian Yu were all Venerables of the Tianfa Realm.
However, the war between the two realms had been so brutal that all of them had fallen in battle. Before their demise, they passed on all the resonance and insights they had accumulated over the years to the sole survivor—Tian Yi.
Thus, when Tian Yi awoke, he found he had become the unprecedented Grand Master of All Laws.
In any other cultivation world, he would be the very incarnation of the Heavenly Dao's will.
Tian Yi felt that with a single thought, he could reshape the mountains and rivers of the Tianfa Realm and command the winds and clouds.
"And unlike a typical incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, my power doesn't solely originate from a world's consciousness."
"After ten thousand years of resonating with the constant laws, the world's power has long since seeped into the depths of my soul, becoming one with me. Even if I leave the Tianfa Realm and travel beyond the stars, I can still wield eighty percent of my strength."
"With my power, escaping the Immortal Ruins alone would be effortless. I could even take a few hundred, or a thousand, people with me without issue."
"But to take the entire Tianfa Realm..."
A sense of powerlessness welled up in Tian Yi's heart.
"Unless... I can master a power that rivals a True Immortal."
In the years since he had awakened, Tian Yi had already made attempts in this direction.
First, he studied the residual power of True Immortals that permeated the starry sea.
From it, he comprehended a few True Immortal Seal Characters.
This gave him several trump cards, but it did little to substantively improve his own strength.
Second, he sought to harness the power of ancient immortal artifacts.
The Xuanhuang Realm had a profound heritage. It was said that before the Immortal World's collapse, many of its sects maintained contact with the upper realm. If the Immortal World still existed, the Tianfa Realm would have stood no chance against it.
Fortunately, the war occurred some years after the Immortal World's destruction.
Even so, the Xuanhuang Realm had deployed several immortal artifacts, inflicting heavy losses upon the Tianfa Realm.
After the war, these immortal artifacts were scattered across the land.
Most were devoured by the constant laws of heaven, transforming into worldly wonders that nourished the world itself.
However, a small number remained.
"The Immeasurable Mirror."
"The Great Sun Golden Bell."
"The Primordial Five Elements Wheel."
These were the three he had collected over the years.
But compared to their former glory, these immortal artifacts were now broken and battered. They might be useful for comprehending the power of a True Immortal, but if he were to activate them...
They would likely be destroyed after a single use.
Unless Tian Yi could find immortal spirit energy to repair them.
The three immortal artifacts manifested as three points of light, twinkling in Tian Yi's sea of consciousness.
Insights into the nature of immortals flowed into his mind like a gentle stream.
"The suction of the Immortal Ruins is, in essence, the power of a True Immortal Seal Character."
"Only an immortal can fight an immortal."
"Perhaps I can gather all the remaining immortal artifacts in the Tianfa Realm. And then detonate them all at once."
"Fighting poison with poison. With the sudden storm of immortal spirit energy, I should be able to push the Tianfa Realm out of the Immortal Ruins."
As Tian Yi considered this, he suddenly sensed that something was amiss.
His eyes narrowed, his gaze drifting beyond the stars.
"Escape the Immortal Ruins... and then what?"
Tian Yi had a nagging feeling that a deeper secret was hidden in the vastness of the starry sea.
Once the thought took root, he could no longer suppress it.
"The Tianfa Realm can hold on for a while longer, it seems."
"As they say, one must understand the situation before acting. I must go to the depths of the starry sea to investigate."
After a moment of contemplation, Tian Yi made his decision.
He transformed into an almost imperceptible thread of light and flew into the Darkest Star Sea.
Outside the Tianfa Realm, the pull of the Immortal Ruins altered his trajectory.
But after tracing a magnificent arc, he successfully escaped the area under the Immortal Ruins' influence.
He sped through the starry sea.
In the Darkest Star Sea, all he could see was deathly silence and darkness.
No matter how far he flew, the scenery around him seemed to remain unchanged.
Occasionally, he would encounter remnants of immortal power, but they posed no threat to him.
After an unknown amount of time, a vast Relic Sea suddenly appeared before him.
Stunned by the magnificent sight, Tian Yi's senses sharpened. For the remains of so many destroyed cultivation worlds to be gathered in one place was highly unusual.
He ventured deeper.
When he saw the endless expanse of world fragments and sensed a power that seemed to share the same source as the Immortal Ruins' pull, Tian Yi's heart finally began to pound.
Countless once-prosperous cultivation worlds now lay in ruins, their fragments buried here in solitude.
A wave of sorrow washed over Tian Yi, and he stood frozen for a long time.
When he finally came to his senses, Tian Yi pushed against the omnipresent, tide-like force and arrived at the very edge of the Darkest Star Sea.
Here, his advance was forcibly halted.
The path ahead was severed. There was nowhere else to go. The Darkest Star Sea was an eternal prison.
"There is no escape..."
Even Tian Yi himself was surprised at how quickly he accepted this fact, without taking too long.
An invisible high wall sealed off the entire Darkest Star Sea. All beings within were trapped with no way out.
Standing beneath the high wall, he felt the absolute "nothingness" it exuded.
After a brief moment of despair, countless thoughts flashed through Tian Yi's mind.
"The inhabitants of the Tianfa Realm must never know of this wall's existence. Otherwise, despair will spread, and disaster is sure to follow."
"This high wall..."
"Even I cannot begin to fathom it. I fear only a True Immortal could cross it."
Thinking of the fate of the entire Tianfa Realm resting on his shoulders, Tian Yi could not help but take a deep breath.
"The power of a True Immortal could certainly traverse the wall, but to take the entire Tianfa Realm with me..."
"Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!"
His spirit was shaken. In the face of a power beyond his comprehension, Tian Yi felt a fleeting moment of daze.
But for some reason, not much despair grew in his heart.
It was as if that invisible, high wall was not an insurmountable, absolute barrier to him.
Tian Yi once again sent out several golden threads, attempting to probe the wall's secrets.
Ultimately, he learned nothing.
Sensing that he had lingered at the edge of the starry sea for too long and that trouble might be brewing back in the Tianfa Realm, Tian Yi decided to return.
On his way back, as he looked upon the Realm Fragment Great Wall, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"The corpses of these worlds... perhaps they can be used to nourish the Tianfa Realm."
"After all, they are not completely dead wastelands. A sliver of the worlds' life force still remains."
"Like consuming a meal, the Tianfa Realm will surely grow stronger after devouring them..."
Tian Yi was a man of action.
The moment the thought arose, countless golden threads shot out, intending to drag one of the fragments back.
But just as the threads had wrapped around their target and were about to pull, he stopped.
He took another moment to carefully observe the Realm Fragment Great Wall.
A short while later, he had a realization. "So that's it. The reason this continuous wall of fragments can withstand the True Immortal's power accumulated at the base of the high wall is because of the natural formation they create among themselves. If I rashly remove a piece, I will likely break the balance."
"Like a river bursting its banks or a dam collapsing, the accumulated power of a True Immortal will sweep across the entire Darkest Star Sea..."
"And the Tianfa Realm will be caught in its wake."
Tian Yi frowned slightly, but his brow quickly smoothed over.
"It is not impossible to take one. I just need to choose a specific target at the opportune moment."
He observed the wall once more and finally selected a suitable world fragment.
Sensing a wave in the True Immortal's power at the base of the wall, like a receding tide, he seized the opportunity. Countless golden threads, like iron chains, wrapped tightly around his target.
Then, he began to drag it, speeding through the starry sea toward the Tianfa Realm.
After another unknown period of time, he finally returned.
A powerful suction force immediately assaulted him. Tian Yi held fast to the world fragment, preventing it from falling into the Immortal Ruins.
His mind raced. "Ever since the Tianfa Realm devoured the Xuanhuang Realm ten thousand years ago, it has not been nourished."
"Not only that, but it has constantly been consumed by cultivators. Its foundations have been hollowed out, leaving it terribly weak."
"If I rashly implant this fragment, I fear it will be too much for it to handle."
After some thought, Tian Yi nodded. "I need a medicinal catalyst."
"The cultivators of the Xuanhuang method are insatiably greedy, devouring heaven and earth. However, their bodies are fused with the world, making them excellent catalysts."
"It is not yet time to touch those in the Longevity stage. But sacrificing a few Dao Integration cultivators will have little impact."
With a thought from Tian Yi, five transparent threads shot from his left hand, heading toward different corners of the Tianfa Realm.
Five Dao Integration cultivators fell into a coma without any ability to resist.
They were bound layer by layer with the transparent threads.
There was not a trace of pity on Tian Yi's face.
He extended his index finger and tapped each of them in turn.
Without a flicker of pain on their faces, the Dao Integration cultivators dissolved into fine dust.
With a wave of his sleeve, Tian Yi collected all the dust.
He then swiftly scattered it onto the fragment he had brought back.
Nourished by the power of the World's Souls, the dead world fragment seemed to flicker with newfound life.
It began to emit a low hum.
Only then did Tian Yi slowly begin to sew it into the fabric of the Tianfa Realm.
(End of Chapter)
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