Chapter 1647: The Advent of Fusheng's Dao
Chapter 1647: The Advent of Fusheng's Dao
The scene was identical to her last intrusion into the Dao Net.
In an instant, countless intersecting horizontal and vertical threads materialized around her, forming a colossal web that enveloped Rinsing Moon Bai.
Then, a pair of transparent, colossal hands appeared, radiating immense fury as they descended to suppress the woman and the wall. “How dare you!” a voice boomed.
This time, however, Rinsing Moon Bai was not as powerless as before.
A Wuji rhythm emanated from her, enveloping her body in armor impervious to all techniques. The moment the transparent hands made contact, they were warped and blasted away by the resonance.
“Hmm?”
As the unseen entity reeled in shock, Rinsing Moon Bai, wielding her jade staff, had already closed the distance in a flash.
Her power was truly world-shaking. In the span of a breath, she pulverized the transparent hands. Even the vast expanse of the Dao Net in the surrounding starry sky shattered and warped under the force of her assault.
The fragility of the Dao Net took Rinsing Moon Bai by surprise, but her reaction was swift. Fearless, she plunged straight into the breach.
Threads of the net constantly tried to reform, reaching out like tentacles to halt her advance. But the suppressive power of the Wuji Dao against the Dao Net was simply too overwhelming. Each of these Dao strings, whose power nearly rivaled that of a True Immortal, disintegrated upon contact!
Seeing Rinsing Moon Bai advance with unstoppable momentum, the Immeasurable Wall clamored excitedly, “This way! I can feel the dense aura of a True Immortal over here! Its Dao is vibrant, yet its presence is faint—it must have been suppressed for a very long time...”
Following the Immeasurable Wall’s guidance, Rinsing Moon Bai continued her rapid flight deeper into the Dao Net.
Figures began to appear in droves, materializing to block her path.
“Those who block my way will die!”
Facing these mortal obstructions, Rinsing Moon Bai merely scoffed, not slowing in the slightest.
Her Heaven-Overturning Staff technique unleashed a sweeping wave of pure light that engulfed most of the enemies before her in a single breath.
Yet one figure managed to withstand the force of her staff, bringing her assault to a dead stop!
Rinsing Moon Bai’s torrential charge was abruptly halted.
She narrowed her eyes, studying the person blocking her way.
He was a refined, middle-aged man dressed in white robes and a scholar’s cap. His calm eyes met hers, but a flicker of fury smoldered beneath the surface.
Without a word, he made his move.
“Nangong Fusheng, I beseech the Dao Net to grant me its power!”
Following his sharp cry, Rinsing Moon Bai seemed to see the countless intersecting lines of light across the sky ripple as if struck by a gentle palm, causing a weightless, ethereal print to peel away and descend.
It drifted down slowly, imprinting itself upon Nangong Fusheng’s body.
His aura began to swell, climbing endlessly.
At first, he was at the peak of the mortal realm, same as her. But moments later, his power had surged to that of a mighty True Immortal.
Then, his presence rivaled that of a Nameless True Immortal.
And that was still not his limit.
With the paths of countless Daos seemingly engraved upon his skin, Nangong Fusheng stood before her, and it was as if Rinsing Moon Bai faced the Great Dao itself!
In a mere instant, Nangong Fusheng had completed his transformation from an ant to a giant.
Glaring at Rinsing Moon Bai for daring to trespass in the Dao Net, Nangong Fusheng held nothing back.
“Universe in the Palm!”
A hand as vast as a mountain range descended upon her.
Everything else vanished from Rinsing Moon Bai’s vision, leaving only the lines of his palm, each one a raised mountain range.
Within that palm were rivers and mountains stretching to infinity; there was no escape, whether to the heavens above or the earth below!
“Overturn!” she roared.
Rinsing Moon Bai remained composed, churning her jade staff, determined to overturn the collapsing sky.
A continuous stream of pure light surged upward, attempting to hold back the descending palm.
But the moment they made contact, she felt the immense disparity in their strength.
Perhaps she could hold on for a moment with her divine abilities and powerful artifact, but there was absolutely no possibility of pushing it back, let alone overturning it.
“Wuji Dao!”
Rinsing Moon Bai instinctively tried to leverage the Wuji Dao’s property of nullifying all techniques to dissolve his attack.
But for some reason, the Wuji rhythm, which had been invincible until now, failed against Nangong Fusheng!
The laws of the Dao had transformed into markings on his skin; though they sensed the Wuji aura, they remained condensed and did not disperse.
“This is bad! It’s the Advent of the Dao—he’s using its laws as his own!”
It was the well-traveled Immeasurable Wall that saw through the technique and cried out in warning.
“The Advent of the Dao?”
“The Wuji Dao can nullify all techniques, but he isn’t directly wielding the laws of the various Great Daos against you. Instead, he has inscribed the entire Dao Net onto himself to enhance the physical power of his body.”
“It doesn’t confront the Wuji Dao directly—there’s a buffer layer, which allows it to remain stable.”
“Strictly speaking, your opponent is a body cultivator. He’s not defeating enemies with divine abilities or techniques, but purely with overwhelming physical might!”
“You have to break the Dao Net inscribed on his body first!”
In a flash of lightning, Rinsing Moon Bai and the Immeasurable Wall exchanged this information.
Meanwhile, Nangong Fusheng’s colossal palm was already right above her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you!”
The Immeasurable Wall sent out an Eternal Rainment, covering Rinsing Moon Bai just in time.
As if it had pressed down on a hard stone, Nangong Fusheng’s palm, despite crushing down with immense force, was pierced and bloodied. He recoiled in pain.
Rinsing Moon Bai seized the opportunity to escape the palm’s coverage. Her jade staff, imbued with the Wuji Dao, smashed toward the Dao markings engraved on Nangong Fusheng’s body.
Wherever the Wuji Dao struck, all other Daos scattered.
A blank spot appeared on what was once Nangong Fusheng’s flawless tattoo of the Great Dao.
Yet he showed no sign of panic. Gazing at the darting figure of Rinsing Moon Bai, he sneered, “The Dao gives birth to the world!”
Every Dao marking on his body erupted with a blinding radiance, and from that light, figure after figure emerged.
In mere moments, they filled the sky, a dense, numberless host that blotted out the sun.
Nangong Fusheng’s giant form vanished in the blink of an eye, replaced by an innumerable army of celestial soldiers and generals!
And without exception, every single one was a body cultivator!
The Immeasurable Wall gasped. “This kid... he’s refined his entire lifeblood into clones. Although the power of the embodied Dao Net is now divided among them, lowering their overall strength, this actually makes him even harder for us to deal with.”
“He figured out that we’re relying on the Wuji Dao and devised a countermeasure!”
Besieged by countless body cultivators, Rinsing Moon Bai found herself locked in a bitter struggle.
Even though each swing of her staff could obliterate dozens of figures, Nangong Fusheng’s lifeblood surged, seemingly inexhaustible.
She couldn’t destroy them nearly as fast as he could create them.
Gradually, more and more figures swarmed her, like ropes seeking to bind her tightly.
Even with the protection of the Eternal Rainment, Nangong Fusheng couldn't harm her in the short term. However, Rinsing Moon Bai felt her movements growing sluggish, her actions becoming more and more labored.
“This isn’t looking good!” the Immeasurable Wall declared, its voice filled with worry.
Rinsing Moon Bai was quite frustrated herself.
She had thought that with the Wuji Dao and the Immeasurable Wall’s many treasures, she would be able to carve a path of destruction.
How had she been thwarted before achieving anything of note?
Could it be that her plan to pave a path to immortality by slaying immortals was doomed to fail before it even began?
Her expression darkened. The Immeasurable Wall, noticing that the breach in the Dao Net was slowly repairing itself, urged her, “We should retreat for now! Let’s go back and come up with a better strategy!”
Rinsing Moon Bai was not one to be reckless. She ceased her entanglement with Nangong Fusheng, cleared a path with the Wuji Dao, and fought her way out from the depths of the Dao Net.
She temporarily escaped Shuo Xinghai and returned to the safety of the High Wall.
Recalling his countless clones, the white-robed Nangong Fusheng watched the direction of Rinsing Moon Bai’s disappearance with a calm expression.
Beneath his robes, the Dao markings remained clearly visible, as if seared into his flesh with a white-hot brand, covering his entire body in a shocking display.
Then, Nangong Fusheng coughed lightly, a trickle of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.
...
“Has the lower realm really become this powerful?”
Defeated in their first attempt, the pair fell into a state of self-doubt.
“That Advent of the Dao technique is certainly difficult to counter. It’s almost like fighting against the power of the entire Dao Net, except he converted it all into physical strength.”
“Without the advantage of the Wuji Dao nullifying all techniques, the fact that we escaped unscathed is already quite an achievement,” the Immeasurable Wall said after a long pause, consoling itself.
Rinsing Moon Bai looked up toward the Immortal Ruins beyond the Xuanhuang Realm. “Perhaps we should choose a different opponent?”
The Immeasurable Wall considered this for a moment before shaking its head. “The Dao Net lies on the only path out for us. We’ll have to face it sooner or later. If we truly want to pave a path to immortality, one or two True Immortals won’t be nearly enough...”
Hearing this, Rinsing Moon Bai’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she slowly nodded.
“However, that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to be enemies with the Dao Net,” the Immeasurable Wall suddenly added, changing its tone.
“During our fight, I caught a glimpse of what looked like many True Immortals suppressed beneath the net. Thinking back, the only way they could have woven such a colossal net in the stars is by imprisoning and exploiting those True Immortals...”
“You mean?”
“Knowing the True Immortals of the Immortal Realm, they would never submit to being captured like this without a fight. Therefore, it’s highly likely this Dao Net faction is hostile to the other immortals. In other words, we might be able to cooperate with them,” the Immeasurable Wall whispered.
“But that’s only if they haven’t already captured every True Immortal in this realm.”
Returning once more to the space beyond the High Wall, the Immeasurable Wall faced Shuo Xinghai and shot out streams of dark light. “Let me conduct a covert investigation first.”
The Dao Net was dense and intricate, making the Immeasurable Wall’s investigation extremely difficult.
It was a full three years before it returned, successful.
“Just as I predicted. There is an Immortal Hunt in the Star Sea. They hunt other immortals to forge the Dao Net.”
“That Nangong Fusheng who fought us is one of the Dao Net’s founders.”
“However, the true master of the Dao Net is a mysterious entity known only as the [Great Net]. It usually appears as a pair of blue, colossal hands. Even when we broke into the Dao Net, it never made a move...” The Immeasurable Wall relayed the intelligence it had gathered.
An image surfaced in Rinsing Moon Bai’s mind—the memory from her two previous lives of the Immeasurable Wall being suppressed.
“Those hands... I felt they were even stronger than Nangong Fusheng.”
With the intention of cooperating, Rinsing Moon Bai returned to the Shuo Xinghai’s Dao Net.
This time, however, she did not force her way in. She simply waited.
Sure enough, the forces of the Dao Net soon detected the arrival of their previous intruder.
Figure after figure materialized, facing her from a distance.
Rinsing Moon Bai scanned the crowd but did not see Nangong Fusheng.
“Chaos, Divine Thought...” the Immeasurable Wall quietly identified them for her.
“You have returned, guest. What is your purpose this time?” Chaos asked, his face expressionless.
Even though she was a mortal, they, as True Immortals, dared not underestimate her in the slightest.
Especially now that they knew she wielded the Wuji Dao.
Last time, Nangong Fusheng had managed to stop her, but the Advent of the Dao—channeling the power of the entire Dao Net—had inflicted considerable damage on his body.
But fortune and misfortune are two sides of the same coin. The experience allowed him to break through a long-standing bottleneck and glimpse an opportunity for advancement. He was currently in seclusion, which was why he hadn’t appeared.
Rinsing Moon Bai got straight to the point. “The Immortal Hunt preys on immortals. I, too, wish to hunt them. Perhaps we can help each other.”
“Oh?”
The True Immortals of the Dao Net all stared at Rinsing Moon Bai, their eyes filled with suspicion.
Rinsing Moon Bai felt a little helpless and had no choice but to explain again. “The path ahead is blocked. To forge a path to immortality, this is the only way.”
Hearing this, the True Immortals of the Dao Net fell silent once more. They looked at her with complicated expressions.
“So it was all a misunderstanding. Excellent!”
“We can indeed discuss this further.”
A pair of blue, colossal hands suddenly appeared among them.
Chaos and the others started slightly, then nodded in acknowledgment.
Rinsing Moon Bai, too, felt her guard go up.
“There is no need to be tense, fellow Daoist. I am merely intrigued by your path of slaying immortals to attain immortality.”
“Of course, if you merely wish to transcend mortality and become an immortal, I have several other methods. If you are interested, I can share them with you one by one,” the blue hands said with a laugh.
“Several methods to become an immortal?” Hearing this, Rinsing Moon Bai’s brow furrowed. Her immediate reaction was disbelief.
Yet, the other True Immortals of the Dao Net all wore expressions that suggested this was a matter of course.
And the blue hands did not seem to be lying.
In that instant, Rinsing Moon Bai suddenly understood the meaning behind the complicated expressions she had seen on their faces.
It was likely something along the lines of: “It’s just becoming an immortal. Is there really a need to go to such absurd lengths?”
To think that the goal she had striven for so desperately was, in their eyes, something easily attainable.
Even with a state of mind tempered by more than thirty reincarnations, Rinsing Moon Bai felt a slight ripple of disturbance.
She spoke in a low voice, “I would like to hear the details!”
“Hahaha!”
The blue hands let out a hearty laugh as a burst of light erupted, instantly enveloping Rinsing Moon Bai.
She did not resist, allowing it to do as it pleased.
Light and shadow shifted. Rinsing Moon Bai’s vision blurred for a moment, and the next thing she knew, she was in a pavilion on a mountain peak.
A gaunt yet spirited old man was waiting for her.
“Rinsing Moon Bai,” she introduced herself.
“This old one... is Cheng Dao.”
Cheng Dao looked Rinsing Moon Bai up and down, a hint of delight flashing in his eyes.
“To think that such a remnant realm could still produce a figure like you,” Cheng Dao praised generously.
Rinsing Moon Bai’s heart skipped a beat. Though she didn’t know what he was referring to specifically, she suspected it had something to do with her heaven-defying aptitude.
Unsure how to respond, she simply remained silent.
Cheng Dao didn’t mind. With a pleasant expression, he began to ask about her path of slaying immortals to attain immortality.
A look of shame crossed Rinsing Moon Bai’s face. “It is merely a desperate measure, born from having no other path to immortality. One immortal for every step. Though mortals and immortals are separated, this should at least allow me to walk the immortal path to its end.”
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