Chapter 322 : Primordial Chaos Dao Artifact

Chapter 322: Primordial Chaos Dao Artifact

After putting away the jade slip, Chen Beiwu turned his gaze toward the red-robed female cultivator.

To be able to cultivate to the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment in the Southern Wastes and gather a band of pillaging cultivators, Zhao Wuyan’s discernment and reaction speed had indeed far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators.

But those who killed would, in the end, be killed.

The reason she was kneeling and begging for mercy now was not because she knew she was wrong, but simply because she feared death.

‘However, such dense calamity qi can be taken in part. It might prove useful in the future.’

Chen Beiwu raised his right hand and lightly pointed toward the red-robed female cultivator.

This finger strike was soundless and without radiance. It stirred not the slightest trace of heaven-and-earth spiritual mechanism. Yet the red-robed female cultivator’s expression changed drastically.

Having personally witnessed the deaths of her second and third sisters, she did not believe Chen Beiwu’s gesture to be ordinary. Instead, she felt a great terror between life and death descend upon her.

The fear in Zhao Wuyan’s heart instantly transformed into the madness of one driven to the brink.

Since this Golden Core True Person refused to spare her life, then even if she had to shatter her spirit artifact and self-detonate her Dao foundation, she would splatter him with blood.

However, before absolute strength, all resistance was meaningless.

As Chen Beiwu’s finger descended, the red-robed female cultivator’s essence, qi, and spirit were extinguished. The mana within her body, which had surged to its limit, also fell into silence at that very moment, unable to stir even the slightest ripple.

‘Calamity!’

The entire process of seizing the calamity qi was extremely simple—no more than the span of a finger snap.

With a movement of his divine sense, Chen Beiwu relied on the might of the Nine-Breath Chaos Divine Ability to forcibly strip away half a strand of near Fourth-Tier calamity qi from Zhao Wuyan and send it into the depths of the Nine-Breath Chaos supreme treasure.

As for the remaining half strand of calamity qi, it slowly dissipated into heaven and earth along with Zhao Wuyan’s death.

Sensing the red-robed female cultivator’s fate, Li Senyi pressed his forehead to the ground and did not dare to speak.

“Na.”

The Five Qi Vine leapt down from Chen Beiwu’s shoulder, picked up Zhao Wuyan’s storage ring, and then turned its gaze toward Li Senyi.

There was an aura about this fellow that it detested to the extreme.

Boom!

Countless vines burst forth from the ground, binding Li Senyi into a mummy and hoisting him upside down into the air.

“Spare—”

Before Li Senyi could finish speaking, the Five Qi Vine clenched its small hand. The overwhelming vines exploded instantly, and an intact storage ring slowly fell to the ground.

“Na.” (Those who see it get a share.)

Picking up the storage ring, the Five Qi Vine weighed the two rings in its hands. It carefully put away the heavier one, then handed Li Senyi’s storage ring to the Golden Egg and Iron Egg.

Iron Egg showed no interest. The Golden Egg, however, activated its divine sense and took out everything inside the storage ring in one breath.

“Buzz.”

As spirit stones, spiritual materials, medicinal pills, and jade slips scattered across the ground, Chen Beiwu’s gaze shifted slightly and fell upon a palm-sized black banner.

This black banner had been refined from human skin. Eighteen dried infant corpses were embedded upon its surface. It moved without wind, emitting an incomparably dense aura of resentment and blood fiend power. It was one of the more vicious and malevolent formation arts of the demonic path, known as the Child-Mother Corpse Infant Formation.

‘No wonder the little fellow’s killing intent was so heavy.’

With a flick of his finger, Chen Beiwu directly crushed the black banner with Yuanshi True Qi.

……

Meanwhile, millions of li beyond the Biyuan Mountain Range, at the border of the Mountain Submergence Realm, in a lawless zone.

A long-burning lamp flickered with幽绿色火焰, casting light upon ancient murals on the surrounding walls.

Beneath the murals, a cultivator clad in a dark-black Daoist robe opened his eyes, revealing traces of world-worn vicissitude.

Suddenly, his brows knit slightly as he sensed that within his sea of consciousness, a nearly imperceptible mark of divine sense had quietly dissipated.

“Another piece has been lost?”

The black-robed cultivator smiled calmly, his expression unmoved.

Over the years, he had laid dozens, if not hundreds, of idle pieces within the Earth Proliferation Territory.

The destruction of a trivial piece was nothing worth investigating. He did not even have the interest to find out who had done it.

Compared to such trivial matters, what concerned him more was the development progress of the Tai Void Formation Sect’s ruins, and…!

At this thought, the black-robed cultivator’s gaze shifted toward the center of the cave dwelling.

There were no murals there. Instead, suspended in midair was a map showing the mountains, rivers, terrain, and spiritual vein distribution of the Earth Proliferation Territory.

Above the map, five directions were marked in blood-red with five names: Mirror Moon Palace, Profound Sword Pavilion, Greenwood Sect, Blazing Flame Sect, and Heavy Gold Sect.

“Almost time,” the Blood Demon True Venerable muttered.

In his previous life, as a Divine Transformation True Venerable, he had witnessed countless sect alliances and thoroughly understood the essence of relationships among cultivation sects.

To put it plainly, although the Five Great Sects of the Earth Proliferation Territory appeared united on the surface, in reality they were merely bound by shared interests, forming horns against one another.

They might stand united against external threats in ordinary times, but when it came to moments that wounded their very foundations or touched upon critical interests, most would harbor their own schemes.

‘Though my cultivation has only recovered to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul and is not even one ten-thousandth of my former peak strength, relying on my previous life’s divine sense realm, it is still enough to subdue certain cultivation families and sect forces.’

The Blood Demon True Venerable calmly assessed his strength, yet still had no intention of revealing his true body.

The Five Great Sects of the Earth Proliferation Territory had long inheritances. Even though no Divine Transformation True Venerable currently presided over them, they were not to be underestimated.

Otherwise, even as a Divine Transformation True Venerable cultivating anew, he might still meet the end of death.

Back then, the sect master of the Myriad Nether Sect had been too arrogant. Believing that no Divine Transformation True Venerable existed within the Earth Proliferation Territory and that none could match his strength, he had joined forces with a group of demonic cultivators to forcibly ascend the Blazing Flame Sect’s mountain gate.

In the end, he had been refined to death by the Blazing Flame Sect’s True Monarch grand cultivator using the Great Sun True Flame. As a result, rumors spread throughout the Earth Proliferation Territory that the Blazing Flame Sect had a hidden Divine Transformation True Venerable overseeing it.

At this thought, the Blood Demon True Venerable stared at the map, his eyes filled with mockery.

What a joke. How could he not know whether a local Divine Transformation True Venerable existed within the Earth Proliferation Territory?

If one truly emerged, when the Three Flowers Gathered Atop, it would inevitably stir the rules of heaven and earth. It would be impossible for there to be no signs at all.

Moreover, during that ancient world-destroying calamity that swept across the entire Southern Wastes Region, the Earth Proliferation Territory, as one of the main battlefields, had suffered the most severe impact and devastation. Even the rules of heaven and earth had changed, Dao’s Rhythm constantly dissipating, powerful cultivators gradually withering away.

Ten thousand years ago, the incomplete Dao’s Rhythm of creation in the Earth Proliferation Territory could still assist Nascent Soul True Monarchs in breaking through to become Divine Transformation True Venerables.

But in this era—where spiritual mechanisms were still acceptable, yet the Dao’s Rhythm of heaven and earth’s creation was thin and fractured—the Earth Proliferation Territory had become barren soil.

True Monarch grand cultivators advancing step by step in orthodox fashion simply could not break through to become Divine Transformation True Venerables.

Unless a Nascent Soul True Monarch dared to venture into the other three territories of the Southern Wastes, seizing creation’s Dao’s Rhythm from beneath the jaws of Divine Transformation True Venerables.

Or else, like the Myriad Nether Sect’s master, one could tread the demonic shortcut—plundering the living and defying heaven to break through.

The former was exceedingly difficult. If the Nascent Soul grand cultivators of the Five Great Sects left their sects to venture into other territories and confront Divine Transformation True Venerables, their chance of survival was virtually zero.

Otherwise, the ancestors of the Five Great Sects would not have halted at the perfection of the True Monarch realm.

The Blood Demon True Venerable chose the latter.

He only needed to find the inherited 【Life-Refining Qi-Transformation Three-Flower Gathering True Formation】 left behind by the Tai Void Formation Sect and activate it. With the formation as his foundation, bypassing the Five Great Sects’ mountain gates, he could blood-sacrifice the entire Earth Proliferation Territory, absorb the essence, qi, and spirit of all living beings, and attempt to charge into Divine Transformation.

However, refining an entire territory through the Life-Refining Qi-Transformation Three-Flower Gathering True Formation was a vast undertaking.

Resources, spiritual veins, manpower, experts—none could be lacking. Moreover, the Five Great Sects would never sit idly by and watch him blood-sacrifice all living beings.

At this thought, the Blood Demon True Venerable slowly closed his eyes.

As a Divine Transformation True Venerable, what he lacked least was patience.

This grand game of the Earth Proliferation Territory had only just begun.

……

At the entrance of Biyuan Market.

Chen Beiwu glanced at the bustling flow of people around him. A trace of reminiscence flickered in his eyes before he activated the Cangming Void-Stepping and headed straight for the teleportation array of Rotating Star Hall.

“Greetings, Dao Child.”

Upon seeing the Dao Child token, the square-faced cultivator guarding the teleportation array immediately bowed respectfully.

The guards behind him, hearing this, realized that a great figure had arrived and quickly bowed as well, not daring to show the slightest negligence.

“No need for formalities. Open the teleportation array to the sect for me,” Chen Beiwu said with a slight nod.

“Buzz!”

Soon, as the teleportation array lit up, Chen Beiwu’s figure disappeared.

Seeing this, the square-faced cultivator did not dare delay and immediately took out a Transmission Talisman to report to the sect.

He could not help it—he truly wanted to advance!

The sect had issued an order: whoever first discovered and reported news of the Dao Child would be rewarded with a Third-Tier treasured pill, the Golden Palace Pill.

On the other side, spatial ripples dissipated.

Chen Beiwu stepped down and happened to see a familiar figure—Zhu Shaoyuan, who had arrived after receiving notice from his subordinate.

“Disciple greets Master. Congratulations to Master for advancing your cultivation further and attaining the Rank of True Monarch.”

Chen Beiwu stepped forward two paces and bowed deeply in full accordance with proper etiquette.

“Zi’ang, you have successfully formed your core?”

Zhu Shaoyuan’s gaze fixed upon Chen Beiwu, waves crashing in his heart.

What was going on?

From this fourth disciple of his, he actually felt as though he were facing a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

No, not quite. This sensation was even more obscure—so much so that it stirred within Zhu Shaoyuan a faint sense of being unable to contend!

He had secluded himself for many years. Relying on the merit of slaying a Golden Core cultivator of the Heavy Gold Sect, he had received from the sect a Fourth-Tier Core-Forming Mysterious Pill as a reward. Supplemented by the sect’s secret arts, and after enduring countless hardships, he had finally taken that crucial half-step—tempering his Golden Core to the extreme and nurturing within his Purple Mansion a phantom Nascent Soul prototype.

All that remained was to continue accumulating for thirty more years. With the power of the Secret Art of Nirvana Infant and the strength of the mysterious pill, he would complete the Nascent Soul condensation within the Purple Mansion and formally step into the Nascent Soul True Monarch realm.

It was no exaggeration to say that Zhu Shaoyuan’s current cultivation far surpassed Golden Core Perfection. He could be called a Half-Step True Monarch—invincible among Golden Core cultivators.

Yet before his own fourth disciple, he faintly sensed the disparity in strength between them.

It was not that he was stronger than his disciple.

It was that the disciple was stronger than him!

This unbelievable discovery left Zhu Shaoyuan momentarily speechless.

“By fortunate chance, I succeeded.” Chen Beiwu smiled modestly.

Before his master, there was no need to be overly high-profile.

“The path of cultivation advances one realm at a time. Each step depends on one’s accumulated foundation. There is no such thing as luck—especially on the Golden Core Great Dao.”

Zhu Shaoyuan shook his head. His eyes burned as he looked at Chen Beiwu and transmitted through divine sense: “Zi’ang, is the core you formed a Taiyi Golden Core?”

Golden Cores had distinctions of superiority and inferiority.

But even if one cultivated the most supreme First-Grade Golden Core of the Southern Wastes, a mere Golden Core cultivator could not cause the slightest sense of crisis to a Nirvana Infant cultivator.

Only the legendary supreme Golden Core—flawless and immaculate, perfectly united with the Dao—might possibly achieve that.

“It is not a Taiyi Golden Core.” Chen Beiwu shook his head slightly.

Zhu Shaoyuan froze.

If not a Taiyi Golden Core, then what Golden Core was it?

Before he could continue questioning, Chen Beiwu explained, “This disciple has named it—the Yuanshi Golden Core.”

Zhu Shaoyuan’s eyes narrowed slightly, surprise flickering within them as he looked at Chen Beiwu.

What tremendous boldness. What immense karmic weight.

What was Yuanshi?

The origin of the Dao, the beginning of all things.

To dare use such a name to bear one’s Golden Core—the Golden Core Dao Zi’ang cultivated might not be inferior to the Taiyi Golden Core.

Sensing the curiosity in his master’s eyes, Chen Beiwu willed it, drawing forth the vast and boundless Yuanshi True Qi within his body.

“Buzz!”

In an instant, a Yuanshi Dao’s Rhythm containing Taiyi creation and the generation of all things surged from Chen Beiwu’s body.

“Good, good, good! What a Yuanshi Golden Core! You have already surpassed your master!”

Feeling the terror of this Yuanshi Golden Attribute, Zhu Shaoyuan admitted frankly.

To define one’s own Dao name and open a path of one’s own—such an achievement had never existed since ancient times!

Even though Zhu Shaoyuan regarded his own talent as peerless, he had to admit that Chen Zi’ang’s aptitude far surpassed his own.

“Come. Let us go at once to meet the Patriarch.”

Zhu Shaoyuan could hardly wait.

Having cultivated such a heaven-defying prodigy for the sect, he must at least fleece another Core-Forming Pill from them.

“Master, please wait.”

Chen Beiwu suddenly felt an inexplicable summoning and could not help but lift his head toward the firmament.

Rumble—

At that very moment, the heavenly phenomena changed abruptly.

Above the Mirror Moon Sect, what had been a cloudless sky stretching ten thousand li suddenly surged with rolling purple qi, extending thirty thousand li, forming steaming and billowing purple-auspicious clouds.

“Roar!”

With the sound of a dragon’s roar, an ancient, primordial, supremely exalted terrifying pressure swept across the entire Mirror Moon Sea Region.

Hearing this, all disciples of the Mirror Moon Sect—regardless of cultivation level—instinctively halted their actions. Their minds were shaken by the pressure as they raised their heads in unison, staring at the heavenly phenomenon in stunned silence.

“What is this?”

“Golden lotuses emerging, purple qi forming clouds—could it be that the sect’s Patriarch is breaking through?”

“Hiss—my realm bottleneck has actually loosened!”

Sensing the effects of the phenomenon, some disciples with decent talent hurriedly sat cross-legged and began circulating their cultivation methods.

At the main peak of the Mirror Moon Sect, outside the Elders Hall.

The five Golden Core main-line elders were also alarmed. Their figures appeared instantly upon the plaza outside the hall as they gazed at the phenomenon in the sky.

“Purple qi arriving from the east for thirty thousand li? This is a sign of a Void-Refining Dao Venerable descending into the world!” exclaimed the Grand Elder Zheng Qianwei in disbelief.

“Could it be that our sect has a hidden Dao Venerable cultivating in seclusion?” guessed the Second Elder Yu Shuxian.

Hearing this, the other Golden Core True Persons fell silent and all looked toward the Second Elder.

What bold imagination!

Not to mention a Void-Refining Dao Venerable—even if the sect merely had a Divine Transformation True Venerable presiding, it could likely unify the Five Great Sects of the Earth Proliferation Territory and even contend for supremacy across the Southern Wastes.

This phenomenon was most likely a stirring of the sect’s foundational heritage.

……

Deep within Taiyi Hall.

An old man with crane-white hair and a youthful face sat within Five Elements spiritual mist.

“Hmm?”

Sensing the phenomenon of the Mirror Moon Sect, Zhu Wuya’s eyelids twitched slightly, surprise appearing on his face.

Strange. The Primordial Chaos Dao Artifact, which had remained dormant for tens of thousands of years since the sect’s inheritance began, had always been silent. Why had it suddenly stirred? Could it be warning of a foreign enemy’s invasion?

At this thought, Zhu Wuya’s divine sense moved, “looking” toward the core foundation of the sect’s grand formation.

But what he discovered this time far exceeded his expectations.

Unlike before, that supremely noble Primordial Chaos Dao Artifact was no longer deathly silent. Instead, it revealed a trace of indescribable excitement and joy.

‘A Dao Artifact possesses spirit and chooses its master to dwell with.’

Recalling the records from ancient texts, Zhu Wuya swallowed hard, his heart pounding wildly.

‘Could it be that today the sect’s foundation has awakened of its own accord… and seeks to acknowledge me as its master?’