đź“– Chapter 1226 - Provocation?
Wang Baole’s expression turned strange. He felt that this speculation of his wasn’t very likely. After all, if his original form truly was the universe’s wood element, why did he take more than a hundred tries to form the wood seed for his Extreme Wood Dao?
“Besides, if my original form really is the sourcepoint of wood, who could possibly use it to pierce the Emperor’s brows? And… why would they do so?
“Logically speaking, wood, as part of the five elements, is one of the basic component of the universe. It’s unlikely for its sourcepoint to have any consciousness, and it’s even more unlikely that someone could mobilize it for their own purposes…
“Unless… it’s not that someone mobilized it? The wood sourcepoint itself instinctively attacked because the Emperor tried to touch it?” Based on his initial speculation, many ideas quickly flew through his mind. In the end, he just chuckled. Although his speculation was plausible, he didn’t really care.
Ultimately, it was nothing more than a guess.
“I’ve formed the wood seed. In terms of the Wood Extreme Dao, I can be considered to have reached the early stage. Next, I need to incorporate the wood element of either the Unorthodox or Never-Ending Holy Regions into my wood seed. That will be considered the middle stage. If I can incorporate the wood element of both, I’ll reach completion.
“And what I want is precisely this completion.” Wang Baole closed his eyes and meditated on the profundities of the Wood Dao. His seclusion continued as he sought to increase the power of his wood seed. Now that he’d begun cultivating the Extreme Wood Dao, although his cultivation base hadn’t improved too much, his battle prowess was vastly different from before.
On the one hand, it was because of the domineering nature of Sundered Night. Although he hadn’t yet used it in battle, Wang Baole was certain that its power was enough to shake all creation.
On the other hand, it was because his understanding of Dao had reached the threshold of the supreme laws of the universe. Every word, every action, even every glance contained endless mysteries of Dao.
As for his exact power level, Wang Baole couldn’t really know. After all, he hadn’t truly fought a Universe Realm cultivator yet, so he didn’t have a point of reference.
“There’s no rush…” Wang Baole smiled slightly and continued his enlightenment. As he meditated, all vegetation in the entire Left Dao Holy Region trembled, and every wood-aligned cultivator felt more and more awed.
Even though Wang Baole was in seclusion, his consciousness seemed to split into innumerable parts. Strands of his consciousness appeared in each and every plant in the Left Dao Holy Region, watching the changes in the outside world.
They also appeared deep in the hearts of every cultivator cultivating the Wood Dao. These strands of consciousness were then able to borrow the cultivator’s perception and view the outside world.
It could be said that at this moment, Wang Baole was everywhere at once.
Just like that, time continued to pass. The war in the Never-Ending Holy Region continued to intensify. The scale of the battles grew larger and larger, and the resulting influence increased as well.
Battles between Divine Emperors became more and more frequent.
Bone Emperor, Buried Spirit, Nether Saint, Radiant Light, Imperial Mountain, and Mystic Blossom all appeared more and more often. Moreover, because the Underworld Sect’s Heavenly Dao had manifested, the cycle of reincarnation had been interrupted. The dead could no longer be resurrected through the Never-Ending Heavenly Dao. Thus, as the war continued, more and more spirits of the dead appeared in the Underworld River.
This meant that the Underworld Sect grew stronger and stronger. However, the Never-Ending Clan’s response was very strange. Although they knew that their actions would only increase the Underworld Sect’s strength, they still continued to ceaselessly throw fodder into the battlefield.
Both sides seemed to be intentionally delaying the date of the decisive battle while scheming in the background.
Soon, the Left Dao and Unorthodox Holy Regions could no longer stay out of the war. Under the orders of the Never-Ending Clan, a number of factions were herded onto the battlefield, and even some top powerhouses were forced to join the fight.
There were naturally those who wanted to drag their feet, but… when that happened, the Never-Ending Clan spared no effort in striking like lightning, crushing them completely to ensure that nobody dared to hesitate to enter the war.
Fortunately, the Federation and the other top-tier factions still had the leeway to refrain from participating. However, it was obvious that as the war continued to escalate, the number of sects who could stand the pressure would become fewer and fewer.
But at least for the time being, the Federation still had a transcendent status. Due to Wang Baole’s existence, the intelligence teams sent to the Never-Ending Holy Region were more or less unaffected by the war. Whether it was the Never-Ending Clan or the Underworld Sect, both of them seemed to deliberately avoid them.
Just like that, another three years passed.
Over the course of the past three years, the number of sects in the Left Dao Holy Region had sharply declined. Battles between the Underworld Sect and the Never-Ending Clan had entered the region several times, and half a year ago, a battle between Bone Emperor and Mystic Blossom had penetrated all the way to the center of the region, leaving huge swathes of destroyed civilizations in their wake and causing the entire Left Dao Holy Region to tremble.
In the end, the Flame Patriarch and Patriarch Nine Daos took action, releasing a heavy pressure that caused Bone Emperor and Mystic Blossom to restrain themselves.
But after restraining themselves, Mystic Blossom and Bone Emperor both glanced in the direction of the solar system. Mystic Blossom narrowed his eyes, while Bone Emperor directly scoffed with a contemptuous gaze.
“There’s already havoc at his doorstep, but he doesn’t even dare to show up. It seems that the Federation’s lord becomes more timid the further he walks.”
Perhaps their arrival at this time was actually a subtle probe. Although Mystic Blossom and Bone Emperor paused their fight for a moment due to the Flame Patriarch and Patriarch Nine Daos’ pressure, they suddenly surged into motion a moment later. This time, their battle took them in the direction of the solar system at an extremely high speed.
Obviously… since Wang Baole had been in seclusion for so many years, the Never-Ending Clan had decided to feel things out. Meanwhile, Bone Emperor had his own thoughts and chose to cooperate with Mystic Blossom in probing the solar system.
Seeing this, Patriarch Nine Daos didn’t stop them, but he paid close attention from his position in his sect’s headquarters. Meanwhile, the Flame Patriarch, who had been meditating in a cross-legged position on Earth, suddenly frowned. He opened his eyes, and was about to rise to his feet.
But the next moment…
All the plants in the entire Left Dao Holy Region emitted killing intent and straightened their bodies. They were like sharp knives pointing at the starry sky as countless threads spread out into the void.
At the same time, all wood-aligned cultivators abruptly trembled, and vortexes appeared between their brows. These vortexes also released invisible threads that swiftly entered the void.
Meanwhile, Bone Emperor and Mystic Blossom were closing in on the solar system while ostensibly fighting each other. At that moment, Wang Baole’s gigantic clone sitting cross-legged outside the solar system suddenly raised his right hand.
As he lifted his hand, countless threads suddenly appeared out of thin air, converging above him from all directions. Eventually, the innumerable threads of wood element power formed… a gargantuan finger.
This enormous finger was so big that even an Eternal Star was nothing in front of it. It contained the combined power of all the plants and wood-aligned cultivators in the Left Dao Holy Region. Now, as it formed in the starry sky, it suddenly pressed down toward the two approaching figures.
Bone Emperor and Mystic Blossom instantly stopped fighting, instead turning toward the incoming finger with grim expressions on their faces. A gigantic skeleton suddenly appeared behind Bone Emperor, exuded a mighty, heaven-shaking aura. Meanwhile, Mystic Blossom transformed into a fifteen-petaled black lotus. Each petal’s face was distorted with viciousness as Wang Baole’s finger attack struck.
At this moment, all the experts in the entire Never-Ending Dao Domain were using whatever methods they could to view the battle with bated breath. As they watched, the wood finger collided with the two Universe Realm powerhouses. In an instant, the void collapsed. The gigantic skeleton was sent flying, and Mystic Blossom’s lotus transformation was dispelled as he, too, was forced back.
It was impossible to see what exactly had happened. In any case, the finger paused, and Wang Baole’s clone slowly opened his eyes.
“Chen Qingzi, Patriarch Never-Ending, this Wang requires an explanation!”
Almost as soon as Wang Baole spoke, Bone Emperor, who had been sent flying all the way out of the Left Dao Holy Region, suddenly trembled. Chen Qingzi’s figure walked out from the void beside him, face completely expressionless. Without giving Bone Emperor any time to explain, Chen Qingzi lifted a hand and slapped down.
With a boom, Bone Emperor’s body exploded into pieces. Although he reformed a moment later, he was obviously much weaker than before. He looked at Chen Qingzi with a horrified expression, not daring to even speak.
Then, nodding toward the solar system, Chen Qingzi turned and brought Bone Emperor into the void. However, when it came to Mystic Blossom… the Never-Ending Clan didn’t react at all. No one did anything as Mystic Blossom shuttled through the void and returned to the safety of the Never-Ending Clan.
Seeing this, Wang Baole’s true body, who had been in seclusion for many years, lifted his head.
“It looks like I’ll have to head out for some exercise.”