Chapter 536 Part 4

Chapter 536 Part 4: The Tao Ancestor (4)

Qiao Mu and the Dao Ancestor stood in the middle of this great river. When Qiao Mu looked back, he faintly saw echoes of himself in the flowing water, moments when he faced death at different times.

Behind each echo of Qiao Mu, the river split into different branches, rushing forward with great force.

"Those who have strayed from the path and gone off course will be made into illusions by me. Only those who reach the end may break the cycle."

As the Dao Ancestor’s voice spread out, the branches of the river gradually became unreal and faded away, leaving only the main flow where Qiao Mu stood.

In the shadow of the river’s phantom, only the Dao Ancestor stood before Qiao Mu.

"Do you understand?" asked the Dao Ancestor.

Qiao Mu nodded.

"I understand."

He lowered his head and drew his sword.

The heavy yellow sword light instantly filled the empty great hall, tearing apart the illusion of the ancestor in an instant.

Amid the rumbling sounds, the gods and Buddhas outside the hall looked on in astonishment, and the Nine Dead Demon Lord at the entrance showed a surprised expression.

Millions of years of wisdom gathered in Qiao Mu, and at this moment, as the sword light appeared, the entire Dao Palace shook violently, trembling and tearing apart; this was a tremendous power that left even the immortals outside the Dao Palace in shock.

When the great hall of the Dao Palace collapsed with a terrible noise.

They saw the ancestor’s illusion make no move to resist or evade, and simply disappeared.

At this moment, the illusory river flowing through the great hall became a little clearer; the ancestor’s illusion stood right in front of Qiao Mu, yet at the same time, it also stood at every point along this river of time.

The upstream representing the past had the ancestor, and the downstream representing the future also had the ancestor; he stood in every stream of water, everywhere.

"Is this what it means to be immortal?" Qiao Mu’s face showed no joy or sadness as he struck out with his sword again.

A faint light gathered above his head, forming a crown, and then, with the swift light of the sword, it surged into the river of time like a great flood.

From upstream to downstream, the shadow of the Dao Ancestor vanished little by little beneath the sword’s light, never to appear again.

"The Heavenly Emperor’s All Laws are Inviolable power has shown up in a non-cultivator facing calamity…" The True Immortals were all shaken.

The Heavenly Emperor is the strongest being born since the beginning of chaos, and the True Immortals certainly all knew of him.

When they looked again at the square table in the great hall.

They saw that the square table was torn apart, the lights faded, and the books were shattered. Everything completely vanished in the mighty light of the sword, leaving no trace behind.

At this moment, a voice arose from somewhere in the hall, softly chanting:

"No shadows in all directions, the six paths leave no traces. Jumping out of the three realms, not within the five elements."

Then, it sighed in satisfaction:

"To hear the truth in the morning is worth dying in the evening."

The figure of the Nine Dead Demon Lord rushed into the shattered hall first, but only saw Qiao Mu still standing in the void.

"Has the Supreme Master really died like this?" asked a True Immortal in astonishment from the depths of the sea of clouds outside the hall.

"The Supreme Master has attained eternal life and should not have died so easily," replied a powerful True Immortal with a long beard.

"But there is no trace of him left in this palace."

"The Supreme Master is indeed gone," said the Nine Dead Demon Lord, looking at the empty hall, feeling a strange emptiness in his heart.

"What’s wrong?" Qiao Mu sheathed the Human Emperor Sword and looked up at the arriving Nine Dead Demon Lord. "You can’t be saying that this is the future he wanted, right?"

"Isn’t this a part of it?" the Nine Dead Demon Lord said in a low voice.

"The Supreme Master had already attained eternal life in the last Chaos Era, yet in the end, this is where it stops; he cannot fully transcend."

"He is too powerful; no one can fully destroy him, not the Heavenly Emperor, nor the Entropy that was once called ‘the end of all realms.’"

"But because of this, the Dao Ancestor could only reach a realm close to the Way of Heaven, unable to truly transcend…"

"Today, I will borrow the sword in your hand to cut away the shadows he left in the myriad worlds, to end the cycle of cause and effect. From now on, he has completely turned into the Way and truly escaped."

"…You can say whatever you want." Qiao Mu shook his head, put away the Human Emperor Sword, and strode out of the great hall.

"You really are impossible to deal with." The Nine Dead Demon Lord watched Qiao Mu’s departing figure and couldn’t help but speak.

"The so-called immortals are just Entropy’s way to perfect itself, and you, chosen by the Heavenly Emperor and the Dao Ancestor, are merely a tool for the Dao Ancestor to achieve his goals."

"Now that the Dao Ancestor is no longer within these myriad worlds, do you still want to follow his path?"

"It doesn’t matter," Qiao Mu said calmly.

When he first entered Return Ruins, he said that the path of immortality lies in the Immortal Gate in the celestial realm, while his martial path was in the human world, and ascending was useless to him.

It is the same now.

"Whether it is an outsider or a chess piece."

"All the choices are mine, everything is my own fault. If the plan of the Dao Ancestor matches the path I chose, what does it matter if I am a chess piece?"

The struggle between the Dao Ancestor and entropy has lasted for ages, from the very beginning of chaos until now, but this is not what Qiao Mu cares about.

After understanding the source of his immortality, there is only one last thing Qiao Mu needs to do.

"Come back to Jiu Province with me."

Qiao Mu looked at Qiao Canxue and Qiao Feixian, who were waiting outside the Dao Palace.

The three of them stood up and left the crumbling Dao Palace, flying towards the shining river of stars surrounding the ruins of the Heavenly Court.

The Nine Dead Demon Lord watched Qiao Mu’s departing figure and sighed softly.

"The Way Ancestor chose him for a reason, and it was not without purpose."

Now, the Way Ancestor has stepped outside this game board with Qiao Mu’s sword, no longer within these countless worlds.

Even after learning the truth, Qiao Mu will still walk towards the direction he hopes for.

The many True Immortals waiting outside the Dao Palace also gazed at Qiao Mu’s departing figure, their expressions complicated.

From a mortal’s perspective, the immortal beings facing challenges seem like a blessing that fell from the sky.

But for the few True Immortals who know Dao Zhen, these challengers are just unfortunate tools caught in the conflict between two immortal beings.

They were born on the eve of the Great Collapse, appearing in the countless worlds as the power of entropy began to grow, like a fleeting firework that is both bright and short-lived.

Only when they reach the end of their cultivation journey do they realize that life and death are decided by fate, not by themselves.