📖 Chapter 1286 - Don’t Mess with Me!
To the ignorant, the origin of the stele world was a complete mystery. But to Wang Baole and these Paragons outside the stele, its history was no secret.
This stele was All’s right hand.
Before, it had been firm and stable, but ever since All died, the stele world lost its foundation. Like a tree without roots, it gradually withered over time and no longer had its original power.
If not for this, then why would the Hand of All inside the void be unable to deal with a mere clone of the Emperor? After all, All could even fight against the Emperor’s true self.
Ultimately, it was because All’s hand had lost its vitality.
But now… the old man could see that the immense hand stretching out of the stele world was completely different. It was no longer withered and lifeless, as it had been for so many years. Instead, it was filled with vitality!
This vitality obviously couldn’t come from All, who was long dead. It came… from Wang Baole!
This was also the reason why the old man couldn’t help but cry out, because such a thing meant that Wang Baole had already refined the stele world.
Only by refining the stele world could Wang Baole possibly have fused with All’s hand and allowed it to regain its vitality.
Thus, the old man instantly became wary. What he was wary of wasn’t Wang Baole’s cultivation base. Actually, to the old man, a cultivation base at the fourth step wasn’t too special.
What worried him the most was Wang Baole’s identity, as well as the way he seemed to be fishing.
“Wood Tribulation…” The old man narrowed his eyes and murmured softly.
He knew the origin of the black wooden nail. It was the manifestation of the Wood Source, one of the five source essences born at the beginning of the infinite Great Universe. It was the pinnacle of the wood element, the sourcepoint of all things wood, as well as the expression of tribulation.
This was because the five original essences had no consciousness, and in fact, it was basically impossible for them to produce true consciousness!
Therefore, although normal cultivation of these Daos wouldn’t be affected… any living being who tried to tamper with the underlying logic of the universe would be subjected to a tribulation of extermination.
Throughout the ages, there had been only one person subjected to an extermination tribulation – the Emperor.
If the Emperor succeeded in overcoming this tribulation, all living beings in the Great Universe, even Paragons like the old man, would be forced to bow their heads. This was something the old man absolutely didn’t want to happen, and was also why he went around persuading others to join in his plan.
At the same time, if the Emperor failed his tribulation and perished, his myriad Daos would scatter to the winds. Those who reached the level of a Paragon would have the opportunity to comprehend these Daos, and might even have the chance… to become the new Emperor.
Therefore, under the leadership of the old man, numerous Paragons had come together for the Wood Weapon Plan. Because of its uniqueness, they had chosen to carry out the plan in this stele world.
According to their plan, Wang Baole would be a weapon to slay the Emperor. If he succeeded, the Emperor would fail his tribulation and die.
And even if Wang Baole failed, the Emperor would have a fatal flaw, leaving him imperfect and shattering his invincibility.
At the same time, because of the special nature of the Wood Source, this Wood Weapon shouldn’t have been able to give birth to true consciousness. Thus, there was no chance of things going out of control.
Indeed, even though the old man had seen Wang Baole’s growth, he hadn’t been too worried. To him, Wang Baole was just a weapon. Even if this weapon had some sort of consciousness… that consciousness would be limited, and there was nothing to fret over. After all, in theory, any consciousness born from the Wood Source wasn’t truly real; even if it stood right in front of the old man, it shouldn’t have been able to see him.
It would be as if they stood in different dimensions.
But all of this had gone awry because of one Paragon’s daughter. If it were any other Paragon, things would have been fine. But the Paragon in question… was extraordinarily powerful, and thus had a special status. The other Paragons the old man had managed to persuade didn’t dare to interfere with this Paragon’s actions.
This was the first deviation. Now… there was a second deviation!
The Wood Weapon had grown much more than planned. Using the Emperor’s clone as bait, it had actually… seen the one it shouldn’t have been able to see!
This caused the old man’s heart to pound. He realized that his plan… had gone off the rails.
The Wood Weapon had escaped his control!
“This is impossible… The Immortal, it’s the Immortal!!” The old man’s breathing hastened, and something seemed to come to mind. As he looked at Wang Baole’s face on the stele, a complicated expression appeared in his eyes.
It seemed that the reason for the Wood Weapon escaping his control was because of… the Immortal inheritance that had existed in this Great Universe since ancient times.
His plan was a fixed framework that was almost impossible to break free of, but the Immortal… was fetterless, and thus impossible to restrain!
These two things were completely contradictory, and between them… the latter was obviously superior!
“This Great Universe’s Immortal… in the end, just what is it?” The old man was silent. Wang Yiyi’s father was silent as well, and Wang Baole was also silent.
The Hand of All stretching out from the stele world seemed full of life in the old man’s eyes, but to Wang Baole, it wasn’t so.
What rolled off the hand in monstrous quantities wasn’t life force, but… underworld qi!
Incredibly thick underworld qi!
The reason for this underworld qi was because… Wang Baole had comprehended more than just the five elements.
As the name suggested, there weren’t just five elements in the Eight Extremes Dao. After the five elements came yin and yang, and after yin and yang was fetterlessness!
Extreme Yin, Extreme Yang, and Extreme Fetterlessness!
Wang Baole was lacking Extreme Yang, so Extreme Fetterlessness was also imperfect. But as for Extreme Yin… Wang Baole’s Extreme Yin was already complete. It was the Death Dao of the Underworld Sect.
This was a change that neither the old man nor the Emperor’s clone had expected. Wang Baole’s cultivation wasn’t five Daos, but rather six and a half!
The extra half-Dao was fetterlessness.
These six and a half Daos allowed him to fight against the Emperor’s clone with nothing more than a clone of his own. At the same time, it was because of this half-Dao of fetterlessness that Wang Baole had begun to question his existence.
He wanted to know how many people were watching his battle.
He wanted to know how many people were trying to influence him.
He wanted to know where his original form came from.
However, Wang Baole wouldn’t just trust what others said, so he threw out some bait.
He was using the Emperor’s clone as bait to see who would come.
Back when he was in the past life trial on Planet Heaven’s Mandate, he had struggled to his limit to see the outside world. It was the same now. He would give his all to see what would happen.
This was why Wang Baole concealed his true self, silently and secretly… refining the stele world.
He knew that no matter what he ended up seeing, the stele world was his root and foundation. Thus, he had to control the stele world first and foremost!
And now, he had seen what he wanted to see.
After a moment of silence, Wang Baole suddenly smiled. Under the old man’s complicated gaze, the Hand of All holding the Wood World gently clenched.
Pop!
A clear sound that could shake the soul rang out. It seemed to echo from the depths of the universe to this location. It seemed to echo from this location… to the depths of the universe.
The old man’s mind trembled, and the numerous gazes focused on this place all became grim.
The world of reincarnation was destroyed!
“You wanted him to die, and now he’s dead.
“So from now on…
“Don’t mess with me!”
Wang Baole’s voice echoed throughout the starry sky. At the same time, the stele, along with the Hand of All, disappeared. With a void-shaking rumble, terrifying fluctuations spread in all directions. At this moment, in place of the stele, there was… a giant black wooden nail!
A wooden nail standing tall in the starry sky.