đź“– Chapter 1317 - Entering
The sky was blue and the soil was black.
On a green mountain peak, vegetation swayed in the wind. At the same time, a figure could be seen on top of the mountain staring into the horizon. This figure’s clothes billowed and their long hair fluttered, granting them a sense of elegance and gracefulness.
There was a valley at the foot of the mountain, and a village constructed in this valley. The village was rather small, with only a few dozen wooden houses and less than a hundred residents. It was serene and peaceful, and the whole village seemed to be filled with joy.
A few children ran around the village, laughing happily. From time to time, they would lift their heads and glance toward the top of the mountain.
“It seems that kindness is the dominant mentality of the Dao of Joy.” The figure sitting on top of the mountain looked away from the horizon and turned his gaze to the village beneath the mountain. As he murmured softly to himself, he sensed that someone was slowly walking up the mountain.
Soon after that, a respectful voice echoed out from behind him.
“Senior, the children of the village have collected some mountain flowers for you. They wanted to give them to you personally, but they were too timid.” The speaker was none other than the young man of the Joy Branch whom Wang Baole had previously captured.
At this moment, there was a respectful look on his face as he offered up a bouquet of flowers.
The figure on top of the mountain turned his head and smiled lightly. After cultivating the Dao of Joy, he had gradually begun smiling more and more often, and the joyful intent coming from his body became stronger and stronger. Even the young man, who had experienced this many times already, couldn’t help but become dazed, a foolish smile rising to his lips.
“Give them my thanks.” The figure on top of the mountain waved a hand, and the flowers suddenly appeared in his lap. After that, he restrained his joyful intent, allowing the young man to awaken from his daze. Bowing deeply, the young man turned around and went down the mountain.
On the way down, he couldn’t help but glance back several times at the figure on top of the mountain. Seeing the green grass swaying in the breeze, the young man felt emotional.
“Is his natural talent that incredible or is he just particularly suited for the Dao of Joy? It’s hard to believe that his Dao of Joy has reached the level of assimilating with all things after only a few months.
“Although that isn’t the highest level, it’s already at the point where only the great elder can match him.”
The figure on top of the mountain was none other than Wang Baole.
He had been in the second layer of Source Universe Dao Void, the World Realm, for several months now.
During these several months, he had refrained from using any of the outside world’s laws, instead immersing himself in the Dao of Joy. At the same time, he also gained a deeper understanding of this world.
In this world, there were indeed only fourteen natural laws. The seven emotions and six desires, along with the essence of the Ancients, were the only natural laws permitted to be used.
If any other natural law was used, Emperor Spirits would appear. And if too many Emperor Spirits appeared, an unpredictable scenario may occur.
It was even possible that the Emperor would awaken from his slumber.
Thus, Wang Baole couldn’t use the methods of the outside world unless it was absolutely necessary. This was why he had stayed here for several months. He intended to use the Dao of Joy as a replacement for his other methods.
The world’s fourteen natural laws didn’t come from nowhere. Just like the young man had said before, there were three major factions in this world, namely the seven emotions, six desires, and Ancient Epoch City.
However, there were also some things that Wang Baole only understood after arriving here. For example… the enmity between the seven emotions and six desires.
This world was once dominated by the Seven Emotions, but in later years, the Six Desires rose up. After the Seven Emotions were defeated, they were labeled rebels and hunted down by the Six Desires. Many years had passed, and now the Seven Emotions were in a decisive decline.
For example, the Joy Lord of the Joy Branch had been sealed away by the Desire Lord of Ear’s Desire City. Most of the other cultivators of the Seven Emotions were scattered throughout the world, hiding away as best they could.
As for the Six Desires, after years of development, they had grown stronger and had become the greatest force in the world. But the strange thing was that the number of Desire Cities wasn’t six, but five.
The same went for the Desire Lords. There were only five.
Heart’s Desire City didn’t exist, and it was said that there wasn’t even a Heart’s Desire Lord among the Desire Lords.
Wang Baole didn’t know much, only what was already considered general knowledge in this world. At the same time, he could draw some conclusions about the Six Desire Lords.
Each of them had the power of the fifth step. Perhaps they were even stronger, because… aside from their identities as Lords of the Six Desires, they also had another identity.
They were all… the emperor’s disciples.
Some of these matters were recorded in ancient texts, while others were things Wang Baole had learned after chatting with the powerful elder living in the village below the mountain.
In this world, there was a godly being that had existed since ancient times.
That godly being was referred to with a single word:
Emperor!
Emperor Spirits were the guardians of this godly being, and the Lords of the Six Desires were that being’s disciples.
That godly being was slumbering and rarely woke up, so it normally didn’t interfere with this world. However, in the place of that godly being’s slumber, there was someone called the Protector. This Protector ranked above the emperor’s disciples and controlled the entire world in the godly being’s stead.
The Protector’s cultivation base was… impossible to calculate. According to the great elder Wang Baole had spoken with, the Lords of the Seven Emotions had once teamed up and challenged the Protector. However, they failed and were left with heavy injuries.
This was why the Six Desires had been able to rise up.
Because of all this, Wang Baole couldn’t act rashly. He had already guessed that the godly being everyone called emperor was in fact the real Emperor. As for the Protector… he didn’t know if they were a clone of the Emperor, but it didn’t seem like it. From what he heard, the Protector obviously seemed stronger than a mere clone.
Perhaps they were even a being second only to the Emperor.
Therefore, Wang Baole needed to continue observing and completely integrate into this world. Only like this would he have the chance to sneak up on the Emperor, fuse into the black wooden nail, and resolve their karma once and for all.
“Perhaps the 108 universes of Source Universe Dao Void that I saw from the outside world aren’t real. They might have already fused into one.”
As he thought, Wang Baole closed his eyes and continued studying the Dao of Joy.
Meanwhile…
In the first layer above the World Realm, the legendary Slumber Realm, there was no daylight. Corpses and ruins filled the earth, and it seemed that the whole world was consumed by death and decay.
Among the ruins, there was a certain statue standing tall. This statue was of an enormous parrot.
A man dressed in a black robe was sitting cross-legged on top of the parrot statue. His robe covered his head completely, concealing his features, and even draped halfway down the statue’s body.
This figure seemed to have existed for countless years. At this moment, he slowly moved his head, and a pair of eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness of the hood of the black robe. This pair of eyes looked down at the ground in the distance, as if searching for something.
After a while of searching in vain, the opened eyes slowly closed again.