Chapter 431

Chapter 431: The Desolate Universe, Dao Fruit

"He truly is an utter madman."

Ye Xu found himself speechless, silently questioning within, "System, is the Mad Daoist’s method feasible?"

[Yes.]

As concise and clear as ever.

"A lunatic genius," Ye Xu murmured. At least he could never come up with something like that. Truly, he was still best suited to being a laid-back slacker, minding his own business quietly in Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

"Daoist friend, when you grasp at too much, you lose it all," Ye Xu said. "Though your method may work, should anything go wrong, Heaven’s Secret Pavilion bears no responsibility whatsoever."

"Heh heh heh…" The Mad Daoist chuckled eerily, the sound sending chills down the spine.

"Actually… I’d quite like to crack open your skull and see just what exactly fills your mind…" A sudden, unbidden thought surfaced in Ye Xu’s mind, and he voiced it aloud.

"……"

The Mad Daoist’s grin froze. Shouldn’t that line have been his?

"Master, why trouble yourself so?" he retorted.

With a fluid motion, he plucked his own head from his shoulders and held it out towards Ye Xu. It remained animated as the voice continued, "Go ahead, Master. Have a look."

Horror gripped Xixi; goosebumps erupted all over her body.

"……"

Ye Xu’s eye twitched. Channeling his magic power, he firmly placed the Mad Daoist’s head back onto his neck. "The location of the Origin Dao," he stated flatly, suppressing his unease, "is recorded within this jade slip."

"You’d best depart. Quickly."

Staying near the Mad Daoist too long, Ye Xu feared, would surely erode his own sanity. That impulsive remark was something he could never have imagined himself uttering at any other time.

"Master, await my good news."

Grasping the Heavenly Emperor Sword and tucking the Primordial Ancient Mirror into his sleeve, the Mad Daoist turned to stride out of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

"Leave this way," Ye Xu sighed.

Boom!

Heaven’s Secret Pavilion shook faintly. An arcane power erupted violently, tearing open a deep time-space passage through the boundless void. It pierced directly towards the universe where the Path of Oblivion lay dormant.

Ye Xu reached out, grabbed the Mad Daoist by the collar, and unceremoniously flung him into the passage.

The Mad Daoist merely chuckled, "Heh heh," devoid of even a flicker of fear, transforming into a stream of light that vanished into the depths of the tunnel. Only after a quarter-hour did the passage finally seal shut.

"I hope you succeed," Ye Xu murmured quietly.

The Mad Daoist was, after all, a valued long-term client. If he ascended to the Hongmeng Dao Realm and drew Heaven’s Secret Pavilion along, that represented lucrative future business.

"So much time has passed, and he still hasn’t emerged?"

Days stretched on. Daoist Qing Xuan and his group waited restlessly outside Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, unable to suppress their curiosity any longer.

"Could he… have really transcended?"

The itch of suspense tormented them all.

"It will be clear once we look." Li Ruoyu landed outside Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, carrying his hands behind his back, and walked into the pavilion.

The crowd followed immediately.

Stepping into Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, everyone scanned the surroundings and saw only Ye Xu and Xixi playing Five-in-a-Row.

"Elder, the guests have arrived," Xixi said.

"Spectators."

Ye Xu, too lazy to lift his head, said, "Go ahead and find yourselves a seat to sit."

No one dared to show the slightest dissatisfaction, each using magic to create a stool and sit down.

"Dare I ask, Master, has Uncle Master already transcended?" Li Ruoyu bowed respectfully and inquired.

"Still on the road."

Ye Xu laughed.

On the road?

Their hearts stirred slightly; what did this mean?

"Did he really obtain the method of transcendence?" Li Ruoyu’s face became grim, his expression growing complex.

"What else?"

Ye Xu said, "Do you think I was joking with you?"

"Master, that’s a misunderstanding."

Daoist Qing Xuan spoke up immediately, saying, "We were merely curious, with no intention to question you, Master."

"Heh…"

Ye Xu smiled and said, "I know; you all won’t act until you have proof. But when Mad Daoist returns, he should have entered the transcendent realm."

"Since you’re curious, just wait here."

"However, I’ll warn you first; Heaven’s Secret Pavilion won’t provide food."

"…"

Li Ruoyu and the others wore bitter smiles.

As usual, the Master was stingy.

…

Swish!

After who knows how long, a discomfited figure flew out of a time-space passage and entered an unfamiliar universe.

When Mad Daoist left the time-space passage, time and space abruptly closed off.

At that moment, with his power, he could no longer find the path back to the Pangu universe.

"This universe is already lifeless and silent."

Mad Daoist gazed into the distance; his vision passing over ancient stars dying out, without a trace of life, the entire star region decaying and desolate.

"The universe isn’t eternal either."

The Mad Daoist showed not the slightest flicker of emotion.

Those who had attained the Three Yuan Proof possessed longevity comparable to that of the heavens, yet when the universe faced annihilation, unless one had leapt beyond the Heavenly Dao and achieved ascension, they still could not escape the calamity of destruction.

Vast stars and supreme powerhouses were but mere specks of dust subject to the rules.

This was a truth the Mad Daoist had understood long ago.

Thus, he spared no cost, determined to leap beyond the Pangu universe and transcend through ascension.

Beneath the boundless starry sky, streaking meteors occasionally blazed past, only to quickly lose their final radiance and turn into dead stars, utterly lifeless.

Chaotic Destructive Winds raged across the cosmos, veiled under the aura of oblivion.

The Mad Daoist roamed freely within this dying cosmos.

His mastery of the Path of Oblivion was supremely profound, on par with Yi Tianxing’s Great Dao of Space. These forces of extinction could not extinguish his vitality; instead, they nourished him.

He followed the coordinates, journeying towards the universe’s core.

According to the golden book and jade slip, this universe had endured sixty-two trillion years. Its cosmic energies had become unbalanced, triggering the eruption of the Oblivion Calamity.

The Oblivion Calamity was an immensely terrifying catastrophe.

Born from this catastrophic event was the Primordial Path of Oblivion, potent enough to annihilate the entire universe.

Unless one achieved transcendence, none could escape the destruction wrought by the Oblivion Calamity.

Huff… Huff…

The Calamity Winds of Oblivion swept through the cosmos, pulverizing stars into dust that scattered across the vast universe like motes of ash.

"Is that… a Chaotic Demon God?"

Amidst a swirling mass of chaos, the Mad Daoist beheld the colossal skeleton stretching for millions of miles. It bore no resemblance to humans, its entire being permeated by the eerie, rule-bound aura unique to Chaotic Demon Gods.

"The power of this Chaotic Demon God… is no less than mine," the Mad Daoist thought.

Progressing further, the pressure weighing on the Mad Daoist intensified.

However, he was not a denizen of this desolate universe, bore none of its imprints upon his soul, and thus escaped the direct focus of the Oblivion Calamity.

Moreover, the Heavenly Dao of this universe had already fallen silent; no heavenly punishment would descend upon him.

Nevertheless, even with this exemption, the Mad Daoist nearly struggled to move forward.

"Daoist Friend…"

Suddenly, a voice called from the depths of the chaos. The Mad Daoist glimpsed a dilapidated celestial palace, bobbing and sinking within the chaotic mire, rising and falling unpredictably.

Upon a throne within sat a desiccated skeleton.

"Hmm?"

The Mad Daoist flew towards the celestial palace. With one palm strike, he shattered the surrounding chaos and entered the palace. "Who are you?"

"So… an Outsider from beyond the heavens."

The skeleton’s jaws began moving, opening and closing as human speech issued forth. "Might I inquire, Daoist Friend, which universe do you hail from?"

"The Pangu universe."

The Mad Daoist stared fixedly at the skeleton, his brows slightly furrowed.

The skeleton’s every trace of Dao had been obliterated by the Path of Oblivion, yet a single strand of an unyielding obsession stubbornly lingered.

His strength in life must have been truly terrifying.

"The Pangu universe…"

The skeleton shook his head; he had never heard of it.

"Could you grant me release, Daoist friend?" The skeleton spoke, voice thick with agony. "Since the Oblivion Calamity erupted, full twelve million years it has taken for the Path of Oblivion to grind away my entire Dao cultivation…"

"Yet, this one filament of obsession refuses to dissipate."

"Memories, scene after scene, echo relentlessly within my mind. Enduring it is unbearable."

"Please, Daoist friend, aid me."

For twelve million years, he witnessed with his own eyes friends, loved ones, cherished confidants—all wiped out by the Oblivion Calamity. Only he remained, that torment plaguing him ceaselessly.

He had been too powerful.

Even the Oblivion Calamity could not extinguish him completely.

"Hehe…"

The Mad Daoist’s cruel smile widened. "Is it not simple, Daoist friend, this release you seek?"

"My very purpose in coming here is to claim the Path of Oblivion. Once done, your liberation follows."

"But clinging to this shred of obsession is futile."

"It would serve me far better."

WHOOM!

The Mad Daoist stirred his divine power. His massive hand shot out, seized the skeletal frame, and violently ripped the lingering strand of obsession from its bones. Instantly, he extracted and devoured the memories of this mighty being.

"Aaaah…!"

The obsession shrieked in unearthly anguish.

It took a long while before the Mad Daoist fully digested the memories and assimilated a lifetime of cultivation knowledge.

CRUNCH.

The skeleton shattered utterly into dust, the last vestige of obsession finally scattered.

"Emperor Qingming…"

The Mad Daoist murmured softly. "…now he was a figure to be reckoned with."

With Emperor Qingming’s memories absorbed, the Mad Daoist instantly knew the exact source of the Oblivion Calamity. He transformed into a streak of brilliant light and shot across the boundless universe.

Within the vast cosmos, time itself loses meaning.

After an unknown period.

The Mad Daoist finally arrived at the heart of the Oblivion Calamity. The terrifying essence of the Path of Oblivion had reduced the cosmic center to its primordial state. Here, the heaven and earth remained unformed, with yin and yang still undivided, the five elements chaotic and unbalanced—an infinite expanse of utter void.

This was the manifestation of the Great Dao of Taiyi.

It signified that everything within this universe had been regressed by the Oblivion Calamity back to the very starting point.

Whether it could yet evolve into a full universe once more remained an utter unknown.

The Mad Daoist activated his divine eye, its piercing gaze fixed upon the calamity’s focal point.

Faintly, he discerned a singular, bizarre Dao fruit floating within that core. The devastating power of the Oblivion Calamity pulsed outward, radiating entirely from this one fruit.

"Today," the Mad Daoist declared, greed blazing in his stare, "I shall devour you and forge my ascendant foundation beyond the Dao!"

His mad grin widening, he unleashed the teachings of the Path of Oblivion.

How to harvest the Path of Oblivion’s primeval power, the very method to refine it into his own being—the secrets resided within the Path of Oblivion teachings.

WHOOSH!

The Mad Daoist immediately drove his divine power through the Path of Oblivion techniques, a bolt of focused malevolence surging straight for the Dao fruit.