đź“– Chapter 1278 - Heaven Trampling?
At this moment, the power of fire, earth, and metal erupted out at the same time, giving rise to an immense pressure that seemed capable of crushing all creation. The giant hand of blood instantly suffered a strong shock.
Although this giant hand seemed to occupy the entire starry sky, as it reached down toward Wang Baole, it suddenly slowed down. When the Metal Dao appeared, the giant hand even stopped completely, fixed in place and unable to move forward at all.
It was as if there was an invisible barrier freezing the void between the giant hand and Wang Baole, causing it to come to a halt.
At the moment, the Xie Family ancestor, Moon Star Sect ancestor, and Patriarch Seven Spirits were blitzing through the central region, chasing after the red-robed young man who had turned into the blood hand. They were still quite far away, but even from a distance, all three couldn’t help but tremble.
This trembling wasn’t just because of the all-destroying might of the giant hand of blood, but also because of the overwhelming aura radiating from Wang Baole’s body.
The entire stele world seemed on the verge of breaking down, but Wang Baole’s expression didn’t change at all. He had been awaiting this day for far too long.
Right now, the Immortal’s Fire to his west towered to the heavens, the illusory stele to his north shook all the world, and the illusory figure from the silver ingot to his south threw the entire universe into chaos.
But it wasn’t over yet. The next moment, Wang Baole spoke his fourth word, which was also… the fourth Dao!
"Water!"
The instant he spoke, a teardrop appeared to his east. This teardrop was obviously small and insignificant, but as soon as it appeared, the starry sky seemed to be soaked in water. An indescribable sorrow suffused the entire stele world.
This sorrow influenced the emotions of all living beings, affected all those cultivating the water element, and made everything related to water simultaneously rumble.
In the end, the power of water in the starry sky gathered together to form… a gigantic face. This face was extremely blurry, and it was impossible to determine whether it belonged to a man or a woman. Countless threads of water weaved into long hair, spreading like a river of stars. At the same time, a shining tear could be seen in the corner of one of the face’s eyes.
As soon as this face appeared, the giant hand of blood shook again. This time, it started to collapse, as if it couldn’t bear the pressure anymore. Inside, the red-robed young man who had transformed into the hand felt extremely shocked. His madness grew even more intense upon realizing that this trump card was useless, and the giant hand suddenly squirmed with a harsh screech.
In an instant, it transformed into a blood-colored centipede once more, screeching and rushing toward Wang Baole again. This time, the aura radiating from the centipede was even more astonishing. It was sharp enough to pierce the void, to the point that the centipede, when looked at from a distance… seemed more like a peerlessly sharp sword!
And this sword immediately recovered from its previous state of collapse and whistled toward Wang Baole, breaking through all obstacles as it rushed forward with peerless momentum.
Wang Baole, eyes still closed, slowly raised his head. He didn’t need to look – his perception could already detect everything around him. As the centipede-sword closed in on him, he uttered the fifth word.
"Wood!"
The Wood Dao was Wang Baole’s essential Dao, his fundamental Dao, and his original form. At this moment, the four cardinal directions were already occupied. Thus, at the center point, above Wang Baole’s body, a massive slab of black wood suddenly appeared.
In an instant, heaven and earth changed color, the starry sky twisted and distorted, and an indescribable force exploded from Wang Baole’s location. The black wood changed from illusion to reality, and it looked like both a black wooden ruler as well as a black wooden nail. It exuded a peerlessly ancient aura.
This ancientness even surpassed the other four Dao Seeds, as if compared with them, the slab of black wood… had truly existed for all eternity!
Rumbling reverberated throughout the starry sky. Shining with a blinding crimson light, as if trying to compete for glory with the five manifestations, the blood-red sword tore through the starry sky and finally reached Wang Baole.
At the same time, a boom spread through the starry sky that seemed to tug the heartbeats of all living beings along with it. As the Dao manifestations of the five elements all appeared, Wang Baole’s cultivation finally… erupted in an unprecedented manner!
His cultivation base seemed to have broken past a certain limit. As the sound of something shattering echoed in his ears, Wang Baole felt his aura instantly expand to cover the entire stele world.
This was… the completion of the Five Elements!
At last, he had finished laying the foundation for his Eight Extremes Dao!
Wang Baole didn’t care what kind of cultivation base he had right now. As someone with neither future nor past, there weren’t many things that Wang Baole cared about anymore. Raising his right hand, he lightly pinched two fingers together, and the blood-colored sword was caught between them, unable to move forward in the slightest.
Cracking sounds suddenly echoed out as the sword trembled slightly. In the blink of an eye, fissures appeared all over the sword body, starting from the spot in contact with Wang Baole’s fingers. A moment later, the blood-red sword… collapsed and exploded.
As it exploded, its fragments turned into pieces of a centipede’s body. These pieces all collapsed in an instant, turning into a blood mist that fell back and churned violently before finally reconverging into the body of the red-robed young man.
As soon as the red-robed young man appeared in the distance, he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood. His complexion was completely pale, and his face twisted in disbelief and madness.
"Heaven Trampling?!
“It should be impossible for a Heaven Trampler to appear in this world. After all, the black wood’s soul fragment is nothing more than a soul fragment. Although you managed to awaken… your connection to this world is too deep. If this world is destroyed, you will be left with neither root nor source, consigned only to death!” As he spoke, the red-robed young man waved his hands violently. All of a sudden, a vortex appeared behind him with a rumble. This vortex was the color of blood, and within it was a pair of eyes which had opened just a crack.
Through this tiny crack, it was possible to sense a gaze filled with endless coldness as well as boundless majesty. It was as if everything this gaze looked upon was illusory, and nothing was permitted to exist.
It seemed to come from an infinitely distant location, and had the power to last through all time. At this moment, every living being in the stele world felt their minds go blank, as if they had lost power over their very lives.
The entire stele world trembled, and cracks spread rapidly. It was like an eggshell about to break, or a world… on the brink of apocalypse!
All of this was because of the gaze that came through the barely-opened eyes in the vortex.
“The Emperor…” Murmuring softly, Wang Baole slowly stood up. With earth, water, metal, and fire all around him, under the infinitely vast manifestation of his Wood Dao, he took a step forward and waved his right hand.
Suddenly… the starry sky twisted as the surroundings changed. The stars disappeared, the universe disappeared, everything disappeared, and the location Wang Baole and the red-robed young man now found themselves was… the void!
They were no longer in the core of the stele world, but rather the second layer.
“What use is this? If this place is destroyed, the stele world will also cease to exist. Soul fragment of the black wood, let’s see what you can do then!” The red-robed young man laughed maniacally and didn’t hold anything back. As the vortex behind him rumbled, the pair of eyes within seemed to open a smidge wider.
But at that moment… Wang Baole turned his head upward, and the five elements around him suddenly spun. His figure turned blurry in an instant as his deep voice echoed in all directions.
"Five Elements… Into Reincarnation!"