đź“– Chapter 1173 - That Form!
This scene was exactly the same as what he remembered from the past life trial on Planet Heaven’s Mandate!
It was the war between the Vast Expanse and Never-Ending Dao Domains, when the Vast Expanse Dao Domain revived the statue of Patriarch Vast Expanse and wanted to initiate a decisive battle with the Never-Ending Dao Domain.
At the current moment, all living things in the Never-Ending Dao Domain were prostrating in worship, and indescribably complex incantations came out fo their mouths, as if they were praying.
As they prayed, countless bolts of lightning exploded in the starry sky, seemingly shrouding the whole world in their light. At the center of the lightning storm was something that looked like both a crack and a vortex.
It was like a crack because it was shaped irregularly, as if the starry sky in that location had been torn apart. It was also like a vortex, because innumerable natural and magical laws surged toward it from all directions. These laws constantly collided and cancelled each other out, forming a hurricane-like force that undulated into the surroundings. Thus, from a distance, that spot looked like a vortex!
Waves of pressure burst out of the vortex, heaven-shaking pressure that caused the starry sky to quake and the whole universe to dim. It was as if the standard of existence of whatever was beyond the crack was unbelievably high, so high that the universe here was unable to bear it. Space fractured and shattered as the starry sky seemed about to collapse under the pressure.
It was a pressure that shook the mind!
Indeed, Wang Baole’s mind was shaking. Although he had seen this same scene on Planet Heaven’s Mandate, his cultivation base and awareness had both been much lower back then. Right now, his cultivation base was far higher than before, and he was also fully aware of himself!
As his mind shook, he watched as a huge piece of wood slowly descended from the crack. One chi, two chi, three chi…
With three chi of black wood, the Vast Expanse Dao Domain collapsed, the statue of Patriarch Vast Expanse exploded, and endless screams echoed miserably in the starry sky. Countless living beings were destroyed in an instant as their flesh and blood scattered in all directions. Although no one was carrying out a bloody massacre, innumerable deaths resulted all the same!
Wang Baole’s divine soul was trembling violently. Even now, waves rose in his heart as he watched all this. However, he knew that this couldn’t possibly last too long. Although the red-clothed woman’s divine ability was amazing to be able to create this illusion, there was no way that she could keep it up much longer. It was possible that she would come into contact with something that shouldn’t be touched at any moment, causing the illusion to disappear immediately.
Thus, Wang Baole forcibly endured his shock and did what he hadn’t had time to do during the past life trial!
Unleashing all the power of his cultivation base, fleshly body, and divine soul, he rushed out like a meteor, crossing the battlefield and heading straight for… the crack from which three chi of black wood were protruding!
An intimate and warm feeling emerged in Wang Baole’s mind as he approached the crack, growing stronger and stronger the closer he got.
At the same time, this illusion world suddenly became unstable. It started off with slight shaking, then turned into violent quaking. In but a moment, the whole world seemed on the verge of collapse!
Unprecedentedly loud rumbling reverberated in all directions, and Wang Baole could even faintly hear a scream that seemed to ring out from nowhere. He instantly understood that it came from... the red-clothed woman.
“She can no longer maintain the illusion!” Wang Baole instantly grew anxious and accelerated even further. But at that moment, the collapse of the world also accelerated.
The first thing to be destroyed was the starry sky. At a rate visible to the naked eye, the starry sky disappeared, as if it was being wiped away by an invisible hand.
The next to disappear was the Vast Expanse Dao Domain, and the Never-Ending Dao Domain was also fading rapidly. The entire world was turning to nothingness at an extreme speed.
As for Wang Baole, his own speed had also reached an extreme. Just as the world behind him completely disappeared and the illusion was about to come to an end, he finally… arrived at the crack!
In an instant, he rushed inside. As soon as he did, his vision turned blurry, as if there was a layer of fog over his eyes that prevented him from seeing clearly. Although the crack was an entrance to another place, there was a vast difference between the natural and magical laws of this universe and the universe beyond the crack. Thus, if he didn’t manage to acclimate properly, what Wang Baole saw would be nothing more than the moon in the water!
The moment he entered through the crack, the world outside was completely erased. Even the vortex outside the crack faded into nothingness in an instant. In the entire illusion, only a singular crack in space remained.
However, it obviously wouldn’t remain for long. It wasn’t because the crack was too weak; instead, it was because its standard of existence was too high, far beyond the power of the red-clothed woman. It was like a mortal laying eyes on an immortal or a god, seeing something that shouldn’t be seen. In an instant…
The crack disappeared.
However, just as it did so, Wang Baole’s vision cleared slightly. It wasn’t perfect, still a little blurry, but enough to make some things out.
In the universe on the other side of the crack, Wang Baole vaguely saw that there were no stars. Instead, there were figures of different sizes sitting cross-legged out in space.
There were the figures of men and women, old and young, and even vicious beasts. In total, they numbered 108, and all 108 of them exuded heaven-shaking Dao intent. Their eyes were closed in meditation, and their bodies seemed to contain… entire worlds full of living beings.
Sitting above these 108 figures was a massive figure that made all of them look tiny. It seemed like all 108 figures put together wouldn’t match up to even a tenth of the giant above them.
This giant figure was like a sovereign king, exuding an imperial aura from all over his body. Unlike the others, his eyes weren’t closed. Instead, they were open, and they were looking right at Wang Baole!
As soon as their gazes met, Wang Baole’s whole body tremblied violetnly. It was as if a sharp knife had pierced directly into his divine soul, causing his mind to rumble as his vision turned black. At that instant, the world fully collapsed!
A moment later, Wang Baole regained consciousness in the temple under the Underworld River. Blood poured out of all his orifices, and his body was cracking all over. He seemed on the verge of falling apart as he stumbled several steps backward.
As he did so, wisps of red mist streamed out of his body, quickly converging into the figure of the red-clothed woman. She wailed miserably as soon as she appeared.
“Who are you? Who are you!?” The red-clothed woman seemed to have suffered indescribably severe injuries. Blood spurted from her mouth as her body seemed about to split apart. Covering her singular eye, she retreated rapidly, not even bothering with the wooden puppets she had treasured so much. In an instant, she disappeared into the distance.
And as she disappeared, the world itself turned blurry. A moment later, it collapsed, revealing… the true appearance of the temple interior.
This place was just an ordinary temple, with a statue of a red-clothed woman placed upon the altar. However, there were countless cracks on the statue at the moment, as well as blood pouring from its seven orifices. Next to the statue was a rippling door of light.
And beside this door was Wang Baole. His eyes were closed and his breathing was rapid, and all around him… was a great number of Underworld Sect cultivators. They were all unconscious, but the fluctuations of their auras made it obvious that they would wake up soon.
It wasn’t until a long time passed that Wang Baole managed to calm himself down. Rather than excitement about his divine soul reaching the hundredth step in the great circle of the Eternal Star Realm, his heart was instead full of surging waves, because… he had seen it. Although his eyes were still stinging, still dripping with blood and tears, when the giant figure in the illusion world looked at him, he had seen it!
Embedded in that figure’s forehead was a black wooden nail!
And that black wood… wasn’t unfamiliar to him at all!