Chapter 205

Chapter 205: If the Heavens Refuse, I Shall Take It

Dao King wore an expressionless face as his life force surged, preparing to force his way into the underground palace shrine.

"How do these two deities bear such a striking resemblance to the previous generation’s Palace Masters of Empress Nuwa Palace?" muttered the old woman, her face filled with confusion.

The previous generation’s Palace Master of Empress Nuwa Palace had died over a hundred thousand years ago.

"These aren’t just the previous generation’s Palace Masters. Generations of Palace Masters of Empress Nuwa Palace likely each left a trace of their power to guard this underground palace,"

Dao King said lightly.

Boom!

As he spoke, two deities on the palace gate materialized, each with a human head and serpent body—one yin and one yang. Their heads and tails interlocked, embracing like a seamless Tai Chi circle.

Instantly, space-time warped, and a domain of the Great Dao manifested. Yin and yang cleaved the heavens and earth, enveloping Dao King within their realm.

"Such formidable power! It seems the sect master was correct!" declared the second elder, his expression turning grave.

Any treasure guarded so fiercely by generations of Empress Nuwa Palace’s Palace Masters must be a priceless artifact.

Yan Duxing watched from afar, his mind reeling in awe.

That day, he witnessed firsthand his master’s ruthless decisiveness and formidable methods, leaving him deeply impressed.

Trapped inside the yin and yang domain, Dao King remained utterly composed.

He rotated his hands—one cupping yin, the other bearing yang—and unleashed a unified divine ability.

Crack!

Dao King thrust his palms forward. Yin and yang fish swam out, crashing toward the two deities.

"That’s the God-Magic Scatter Hand!"

The second elder’s eyes flickered. This renowned unified divine ability, one of Dao King’s signature techniques, was used sparingly.

As Dao King’s divine ability lashed out, the two deities stood motionless. Their domain coalesced into an immense black-and-white Tai Chi circle. The yin and yang fish merged seamlessly into the realm.

The Tai Chi circle rotated slowly, grinding downward like a millstone. Space collapsed into primal chaos, leaving only pure yin and yang energy between heaven and earth.

Dao King’s gaze stayed tranquil.

Empress Nuwa Palace, descendants of Empress Nuwa’s legendary bloodline, styled themselves as divine clans. They held innate affinity for yin and yang forces and wielded unfathomable mastery of the yin and yang Great Dao.

These deities, formed by the combined powers of Empress Nuwa Palace’s historical Palace Masters, utterly overwhelmed Dao King in the yin and yang Great Dao.

"Lifeless Killing Fist!"

Dao King roared, his hair and beard bristling.

Ferocious killing intent erupted. Like a God of Slaughter, he channeled the Great Dao of Destruction and the Great Dao of Slaughter into one blunt fist, smashing the Tai Chi circle head-on.

Boom!

The punch tore through the domain instantly. The Tai Chi circle shattered under the blow, and Dao King forcibly split the two deities apart.

"Ten Thousand Immortals Bowing!"

Dao King let out another reverberating cry, conjuring an immaculate celestial court.

Each realm of his cultivation had attained perfect, flawless completion.

The Dao Palace Celestial Court manifested in the sky, with Dao King’s primordial spirit seated at its center. Like a lofty Heavenly Emperor peering down upon the mortal realm, he regarded all as mere ants.

As his voice faded, phantom images of celestial and demonic beings, three hundred and sixty-five in all, materialized throughout the sky and earth. As if performing a homage, they bowed in unison towards Dao King’s primordial spirit.

In an instant, three hundred and sixty-five Great Daos erupted simultaneously. The terrifying power swept forth like a raging inferno, utterly obliterating the Yin-Yang domain. The two deities perished into ash within a single bow.

Yan Duxing stared at this spectacle, utterly mesmerized.

Dao King’s power had reached the absolute pinnacle of every cultivation realm – flawless, unparalleled. It was precisely this perfection that rendered him so mighty, truly invincible beneath the heavens.

This particular grand divine ability shattered Yan Duxing’s previous comprehension.

Simultaneously, it revealed to him the sheer audacity of Dao King’s ambition.

The old woman’s expression darkened with sorrow as she thought inwardly, "Senior Brother Withered Wood, your death was far from unjust."

Facing a Dao King of such staggering power, who in the lower realms could possibly stand as his match?

"Congratulations, Sect Master, on finally achieving your heart’s desire," the second elder effused, his face beaming with obsequious praise.

"Heart’s desire?" Dao King shook his head. "It is still far from complete."

He surged his magic power, and the heavy doors of the earth palace groaned open in response.

With a creak, a wave of ancient dust billowed out. Rows of ever-burning lamps suspended on both walls illuminated the path: a long staircase descending into the heart of the earth palace.

"There is something strange within," the second elder frowned. "It actually blocks Divine Sense."

He attempted to probe the palace with his Divine Sense, but it simply could not penetrate. Entering this earth palace would be akin to stepping into utter darkness, little different from being blind.

"All of you proceed to the Holy Sect of Transformation first," Dao King commanded. "Duxing, you remain here and enter with me."

"Yes."

The second elder, the old woman, and the others exchanged a glance, their gazes briefly lingering on Yan Duxing before turning away. With tacit understanding, none dared to question this order.

Regarding this suddenly-appearing, personally-chosen disciple of the Sect Master, though everyone found it peculiar, none dared voice the slightest doubt under Dao King’s formidable authority.

After all, even when entering the Seven-Treasure Mystic Forest, Dao King had taken Yan Duxing along, sheltering him within his Purple Palace—such was the depth of Dao King’s regard for him.

The experts of the Taihao Heavenly Sect and the nine Emperor Venerable puppets promptly departed. Only a thousand-odd disciples remained behind to clear the battlefield.

Dao King and Yan Duxing stepped into the earth palace.

"Master, what truly lies within?" Yan Duxing inquired, perplexed.

"Have you ever heard the phrase: ‘When destiny arrives, heaven and earth lend their strength; when fortune departs, even heroes find no freedom’?" Dao King chuckled.

Yan Duxing nodded.

In the next instant, Yan Duxing’s pupils contracted sharply. "The things here… they are related to destiny? Fortune?"

A pleased smile spread across Dao King’s face.

While Yan Duxing’s innate talent might not be the absolute pinnacle, his innate wisdom and insight were undoubtedly top-tier. He had hit upon the truth instantly.

"Empress Nuwa Palace styles itself as the descendants of the divine clans, controlling one-third of the Spirit Realm’s territory. And the location of Empress Nuwa Palace… it sits upon the very crown of the Spirit Realm’s destiny, the point where fortune gathers most powerfully!"

"Beneath this earth palace, seventy-two terrestrial energy veins converge, coalescing and binding fully half the Spirit Realm’s fortune."

"What I must do is refine this half portion of fortune and merge it with myself. Only then can I strengthen my fortune."

Dao King spoke confidently.

Unifying the Spirit Realm was merely the most superficial goal. Refining fortune and controlling the rules of the Spirit Realm was Dao King’s fundamental purpose.

In a coming chaotic era, only those with great fortune could reign supreme.

Throughout ancient and modern times, none were exempt—from the human ancestor to the Heavenly Emperor and the later Human Emperor, all were such.

"The sole difference between us and those with great fortune lies only in lacking that portion of fortune. Take Nangong Zhandao as an example: bearing the luck of the Yuan Realm, his starting point was far higher than yours. But you need not be disheartened, for sometimes, even those with great fortune may not necessarily prevail in the end."

"Duxing, remember this phrase."

"If Heaven does not bestow, then we must take for ourselves." Dao King’s eyes deepened profoundly.

"Your disciple will etch Master’s teachings into his heart." Yan Duxing felt an abundance of emotions.

He finally understood why Dao King—already at the peak of the Emperor Venerable Realm and having stepped into the half-immortal realm—still had not chosen to transcend the true immortal tribulation to ascend and attain immortality.

Dao King’s reign over the lower realms’ summit was not without reason.

At the very least, possessing such resolve placed him among the rarest in all the lower worlds.

The two ventured into the deepest part of the underground palace.

Statues of human heads on serpentine bodies entered their view.

Seventy-two in total—no more, no less.

"Master, beneath these seventy-two statues lie the seventy-two earth veins, do they not?" Yan Duxing inquired. His cultivation was still too weak to perceive any trace of fortune power.

Dao King gave a slight nod.

With a sweep of his great sleeve, the seventy-two statues shattered instantly. An invisible, intangible miraculous force surged forth like a ruptured dam.

These statues had been erected to seal the power of the seventy-two earth veins. Now destroyed by Dao King, they could hold the earth vein fortune captive no longer.

Boom!

A smile curled Dao King’s lips as manifesting flawlessly in the void was a celestial court.

Its manifestation instantly stabilized the void; time and space seemed to freeze.

An ancient tree flew from Dao King’s Purple Palace—unmistakably the Enlightenment Tree long coveted by Ye Xu.

Having cultivated with it over a hundred thousand years, the Enlightenment Tree had fused completely with Dao King. Now, under his command, the tree’s branches and leaves unfurled, penetrating both the void above and the earth below, greedily drawing upon the fortune from the seventy-two earth veins.

Then, Yan Duxing witnessed a wondrous sight.

The Enlightenment Tree rapidly grew larger and stronger. Leaf after leaf sprouted, inscribed with mystical and esoteric divine patterns as the profound sound of the Dao emanated from its trunk.

Yan Duxing had a sudden flash of insight. He seated himself cross-legged beneath the Enlightenment Tree.

He had attained enlightenment.

As fortune fused into the Enlightenment Tree, Dao King’s power remained unchanged, but his celestial court expanded while his primordial spirit grew steadily. The 365 Dao fruits swirling around him grew ever mightier.

Dao King spread his arms, reveling in this moment of triumph.

Several incense sticks’ worth of time later.

The fortune from all 72 earth veins had been sucked dry by Dao King. The Enlightenment Tree flourished luxuriantly. Divine light gleamed deep within Dao King’s eyes; his entire being radiated an inexplicable, wondrous aura.

"Refining these seventy-two earth veins has allowed me to grasp two-thirds of the Spirit Realm’s fortune. Once I refine the earth vein of the Holy Sect of Transformation… that will mark the first step complete."

Dao King murmured to himself.

His gaze fell upon Yan Duxing. Amidst the Enlightenment Tree’s sound of the Dao, the disciple’s abrupt enlightenment propelled his cultivation straight upward into the Saint King level.

Yet this was but the shallowest ascent.

The Dao resonance awakened within Yan Duxing a far more intuitive sense of its power.

Gradually he began to perceive Dao King’s body-refining method.

A quarter hour later, Yan Duxing opened his eyes, divine luminescence ablaze in their depths. Kneeling before Dao King, he expressed his gratitude: "Your disciple thanks Master for bestowing this favor."

"Between master and disciple, there is no need for formality like this." Dao King smiled warmly, his affection bared—a stark contrast to the figure he projected before others.

Yan Duxing felt the slightest shock at this rare tenderness.

Leaving Empress Nuwa Palace behind, the pair emerged into a world cloaked in profound deathly stillness.

From this day forth, a once-mighty titan had been completely erased.

"Let us proceed to the next destination."