Chapter 296

Chapter 296: Shameless Behavior!

Not only Zhou Qing, but more than half of the entire seminary’s powerful cultivators were directly wiped out at the same moment!

Moreover, the Divine Official Zhao who appeared before them was not her true form, merely a trace of a Great Dao projection.

Yet even as just a trace of a Great Dao projection, the entire seminary was still utterly unable to contend with her.

Before Divine Official Zhao, the smile on the blue-robed woman’s face had vanished, yet Divine Official Zhao regarded her with undisguised contempt.

“Miss Shen!”

At that moment, a sigh suddenly came from nearby.

Then, a white-haired elder slowly stepped forward. Though he appeared very old, the aura emanating from him was immensely powerful.

This person was none other than Wu Qi, the current dean of the seminary and one of the two great disciples of the seminary’s founder, the Pastor.

Wu Qi looked at Divine Official Zhao. “Miss Shen, our seminary…….”

Divine Official Zhao suddenly extended a hand and pressed down. “Kneel when you speak.”

Thud!

Wu Qi had no power to resist and was forcibly suppressed to his knees by a terrifying force.

Wu Qi’s expression changed instantly. He clenched both hands tightly as countless streams of Great Dao power surged within him, yet he could not shake Divine Official Zhao’s power in the slightest.

Wu Qi stared at Divine Official Zhao in disbelief. “You…….”

Divine Official Zhao gave him a casual glance. “Who do you think you are? Even if your master came, they would still have to kneel before me.”

Wu Qi: “……”

Divine Official Zhao pointed at Wu Qi. “Years ago, when the seminary was nearly destroyed, it begged my master for help, and my master, out of compassion, lent a hand. Now, the seminary has forgotten that old kindness and joined with outsiders to scheme against the people of my Cultivator’s Court. Today, I shall act on behalf of my master and reclaim the gift that was bestowed upon the seminary back then…….”

With that, she reached out and grabbed.

Boom!

Within the seminary, a river was suddenly torn out by a terrifying force.

The Great Dao River!

The seminary’s supreme treasure!

Wu Qi’s expression changed drastically in an instant. He cried out in alarm, “Miss Shen…….”

This Great Dao River was the seminary’s ultimate supreme treasure, and the reason the seminary had been able to attract so many brilliant and monstrous geniuses was entirely because of this river.

If the Great Dao River were gone, the seminary would be completely finished.

Divine Official Zhao paid Wu Qi no mind. With a sweep of her sleeve, the Great Dao River flew off into the distance.

By a riverbank somewhere, Ye Tianming was reading a book when he suddenly looked up to see a river descending from the sky, settling steadily into the lake before him.

Ye Tianming was stunned.

Inside the seminary.

Divine Official Zhao glanced at the blue-robed woman. “Whorish conduct.”

With that, her trace of a Great Dao projection dissipated and vanished.

Not far away, Wu Qi’s face had turned ashen.

He knew.

It was over.

The seminary was completely and utterly finished.

If the Great Dao River had not been taken, even with the loss of half its powerful cultivators, the seminary could certainly have recovered in time.

But now, with the Great Dao River seized, this meant the seminary was completely and utterly done for.

Because no geniuses or prodigies would ever come to the seminary again.

Wu Qi was filled with nothing but bitter regret.

He had known about Zhou Qing driving Ye Tianming away before, and the reason he had not stopped it was because the Immortal Treasure Pavilion had offered far too much.

Moreover, the Cultivator’s Court had kept an extremely low profile over the years, having almost completely faded from sight.

But he had never imagined that the Cultivator’s Court would care so deeply about this matter.

Completely and utterly finished.

Just then, the blue-robed woman nearby suddenly smiled. “Dean Wu Qi, it’s just one Great Dao River……there’s no need to grieve. Our Immortal Treasure Pavilion can create ten of them for you!”

Wu Qi’s spirits stirred.

If anyone else had said this, he naturally would not have believed it, but the Immortal Treasure Pavilion……

Ye Tianming stood before the lake, gazing down at it with a face full of bewilderment.

A divine object fallen from the heavens?

He could naturally see that this river was extraordinary. It contained within it the running traces of all manner of Great Daos, and moreover, they were constantly evolving.

Very quickly, he realized that this was likely the legendary Great Dao River of the seminary.

How had it ended up here?

Ye Tianming was deeply puzzled.

He looked up toward the star river above, but saw nothing.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Ye Tianming stored the Great Dao River into the storage ring that the little pagoda had gifted him.

A divine object fallen from the heavens.

No reason to turn it down.

After returning to the wooden cabin, Ye Tianming left the Tianming Sword beside Zhan Taizhan, who was out tending his sheep, and then entered the storage ring.

Once inside, his gaze fell upon the Great Dao River.

Within the river, all manner of Great Daos surfaced and moved in a particular pattern.

Looking closely, Ye Tianming found that it was in fact the three thousand Great Daos, but unlike the three thousand Great Daos of that Heavenly Court Master from before, the three thousand Great Daos within this river were not simple imitations — they already possessed a certain “divine essence.”

Moreover, these three thousand Great Daos were not “dead” but alive, because they were in motion.

The laws of the Great Dao!

The reason the Great Dao River was so incomparably precious was precisely because it contained within it the laws governing the movement of the Great Dao.

The laws by which the Dao moves!

After a moment of silence, Ye Tianming slowly walked toward the Great Dao River, speaking as he went. “At your level, you should have a spirit. Come out.”

A moment of silence passed, then the river suddenly began to stir.

Soon, a wisp of white light slowly drifted up from the depths of the river.

Within the white light, the faint outline of a little girl in white could be seen.

The little girl in white looked at Ye Tianming and smiled. “Hello.”

Her voice was clear and bright, very pleasant to hear.

Ye Tianming smiled as well. “Hello. My name is Ye Tianming. And you?”

The little girl in white said, “My name is Ling He. I am the spirit of the Great Dao River. You can call me Xiao He.”

Ye Tianming said, “How did you end up here with me?”

Xiao He said, “I was forcibly grabbed by a woman…….”

As she said this, a look of fear immediately appeared in her eyes.

Soon, she recounted the whole story from beginning to end.

Divine Official Zhao!

Ye Tianming was stunned when he heard it all.

Second Senior Uncle had come?

Ye Tianming felt a warmth in his heart. Without a doubt, the reason Second Senior Uncle had come was because of the letter he had written back then.

It was a bit of a pity that he had not been able to meet Second Senior Uncle in person.

Ye Tianming collected his thoughts and looked toward Xiao He. “Xiao He, can you tell me about the origins and purpose of this Great Dao River?”

Xiao He smiled. “Of course, of course…….”

A short while later, Ye Tianming finally had a thorough understanding of this Great Dao River.

The Great Dao River had come about because the Pastor, upon observing the laws of the Great Dao on the Great Dao Ranking, was moved to inspiration, and so used a river to simulate the laws governing the movement of the Great Dao.

In the end, it took twelve days, during which he replicated all the laws of the Great Dao’s movement as shown on the Great Dao Ranking.

In the moment of success, a Great Dao spirit was born directly from within the river.

And this Great Dao River became one of the supreme divine artifacts of this universe.

But for reasons unknown, after completing it, the Pastor shook his head repeatedly and said three times, “Something’s not right, something’s not right, something’s not right…….”

The laws of the Great Dao.

Every Great Dao in the world has its own laws.

Ye Tianming gazed at the laws of the Great Dao within the river before him and said softly, “May I go in?”

Xiao He smiled. “You may.”

Ye Tianming looked at Xiao He and smiled. “You don’t seem to resist me at all.”

Xiao He blinked. “Why would I resist?”

Ye Tianming said, “You were suddenly grabbed and brought here to me…….”

Xiao He laughed. “I think you seem really nice!”

Ye Tianming asked curiously, “In what way?”

Xiao He said, “I don’t know, but I just feel like you’re good. And besides, that woman is so terrifyingly powerful — she sent me here, so if I resist, what if she comes and kills me later? I’m scared.”

Ye Tianming: “……”

Xiao He added, “And this place is really, really nice too.”

As she spoke, she looked around at her surroundings, very satisfied with the place.

No wonder — ten years here was only one day in the outside world.

Ye Tianming smiled. “Then stay here as long as you like.”

Xiao He smiled. “Okay, okay.”

Ye Tianming entered the Great Dao River. The moment he stepped in, he felt all manner of Great Dao forces. The Great Dao forces here were different from the three thousand Great Daos of the Heavenly Court Master — the Great Dao forces here were more concrete, more real, and most importantly, each of the three thousand Great Daos here had its own laws of movement.

Ye Tianming was extremely interested in the laws governing these Great Daos. With Xiao He’s cooperation, he was now able to merge with the Great Dao River and perceive the laws of those Great Daos with great clarity. Among them, he was most interested in the few Great Daos at the forefront.

Fate!

Karma!

Reincarnation!

And the laws governing these three Great Daos were also the most profound.

The laws of Fate.

Ye Tianming looked first at the laws of Fate. He found that the laws governing the Great Dao of Fate were breathtaking. The Great Dao of Fate was like a river of countless ages, and within this river, all living beings were like grains of sand, endless and innumerable.

And for the living beings within this river, each person’s fate was a small groove, a small tributary — some long, some short, some vast as rivers and streams, some thin as a needle, some winding and tortuous, some pressing straight ahead to the very end……

And within the evolving laws of this Great Dao of Fate, Ye Tianming found that there seemed to be an invisible hand controlling everything. That invisible hand dredged each person’s fate, linking them together — like managing waterways, clearing the channels and connecting them, gathering these waterways into great rivers, then guiding them ever forward.

When all the small rivers converged together, it was no longer merely the fate of one person, but the fate of the world, the fate of all living beings.

And in this process, Ye Tianming found that some of the greater “rivers,” after countless twists and turns, finally broke free from the invisible hand behind them, departing from the river of fate to forge their own separate course, no longer flowing alongside all living beings. Yet though their fate seemed to have escaped that invisible hand, in truth……

Their endpoint had long since been arranged, including their very escape, which was itself a deliberate act of that invisible hand.

It was like drawing a circle.

The one who draws the circle draws it on paper, and an ant crawls out of the circle, believing it has broken free……in reality, it is still on the paper.

And the one who draws the circle believes they are the one drawing it, when in truth……they too are on the paper.

Ye Tianming’s eyes snapped open. In this moment, he felt only a deep and profound sense of helplessness:

All is predetermined.