Chapter 394

Chapter 394: The Fall

Taihao Heavenly Sect, Spirit Realm.

After the collapse of the Immortal Realm, numerous ancestral Masters of Taihao Heavenly Sect returned. Dozens of Immortal Kings and nearly a thousand true immortals formed an utterly formidable force.

That day, disciples of Taihao Heavenly Sect fasted and bathed, carrying themselves with solemn dignity as if awaiting the arrival of a great figure.

Li Ruoshui and other Immortal Kings anticipated it very much.

The Founding Master was about to return.

At high noon, a beam immortal light flew from beyond the heavens. Resembling a rainbow bridge, it extended from the horizon into Taihao Heavenly Sect. A Daoist-looking elder with refined features and an ethereal bearing arrived through the air.

His aura ran deep like an abyss or towering peak, divine radiance gathering in his eyes. Every movement exuded overwhelming pressure—he was unmistakably a powerhouse who had attained the proof of the Second Primordial Spirit.

"Disciples welcome the Founding Master!"

Upon seeing the elder, countless disciples of Taihao Heavenly Sect knelt and greeted him in unison.

"‘Rise, all of you.’"

As the Founding Master spoke, an invisible force lifted everyone gently to their feet.

"Founding Master, have you… broken through?" A man in white asked excitedly.

"Indeed."

The Founding Master smiled faintly. "Feeling insights during the Immortal Realm’s collapse, I secluded myself for half a moon and advanced to proof of the Second Primordial Spirit."

"Congratulations, Founding Master!"

The Immortal Kings cheered loudly.

On the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings, those holding proof of the Second Primordial Spirit as semi-Immortal Emperors were exceedingly rare. With his strength, Mo Yuheng, Founding Master of Taihao Heavenly Sect, could truly be called a titan.

"Where is Wuyou?" Mo Yuheng unleashed a sweep of Divine Sense but found no trace of Dao King. His brow furrowed slightly.

"Since Di Wuyou returned with us from Void Tomb, he vanished without a trace, leaving no trail to follow." Li Ruoshui said.

"Hmm…"

Mo Yuheng gave a half-smile. "As expected of one I favor. Clever enough."

He had entrusted Dao King with full control over Taihao Heavenly Sect, directing conquests to gather fortune—precisely to amass that fortune when he descended to lower realms.

Yet Dao King, seeing through Mo Yuheng’s scheme, vanished just before the Immortal Realm collapsed.

"Founding Master, shall I personally fetch Di Wuyou?" The man in white spoke gravely. As a second-generation disciple, Formless Demon Lord’s junior brother, he’d cultivated to late-stage Immortal Venerable.

"No need."

Mo Yuheng chuckled. "I have my measure."

…

On the Sea of All Realms, a lone boat drifted with the tides. Nangong Zhandao stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Lan Youruo as they journeyed toward a Secret Realm for cultivation trials.

Though chaos reigned across the lower realms, Nangong Zhandao had the Creation spiritual embryo safeguarding his path. Unless seeking death, he faced little mortal peril.

"Husband, why do you seem restless lately?" Lan Youruo frowned.

After the Epoch Golden Book was borrowed by the human ancestor, Nangong Zhandao grew preoccupied. Being closest to him, Lan Youruo naturally sensed this.

"My luck is fading away,"

Nangong Zhandao said solemnly, "The Epoch Golden Book gathered the luck of the Yuan Realm. But now that the Epoch Golden Book had been destroyed, the luck of the Yuan Realm had also collapsed. I had a feeling that I would face a death calamity."

"Impossible."

Lan Youruo said, "Husband, you are a child of fortune, favored by fate. How could you encounter a death calamity?"

Nangong Zhandao slowly shook his head.

"Hahaha…"

Suddenly, a loud laughter sounded on the Sea of All Realms. A figure in white arrived gracefully. The Dao King walked on the waves and landed on the small boat in a few steps, gazing at Nangong Zhandao.

"Di Wuyou?"

Nangong Zhandao’s pupils contracted.

"It’s me."

The Dao King laughed and said, "Nangong Zhandao, both of us carry luck within us. But now that the Epoch Golden Book is destroyed, your luck comes to an end."

"That great luck will only dissipate over time."

"Rather than letting that happen, hand it over to me."

Swish!

A flash of light passed, and the Creation spiritual embryo suddenly appeared in thin air.

Nangong Zhandao gazed coldly at the Dao King. Since the Yuan Realm’s recovery, the Dao King had been plotting against him. Nangong Zhandao was very wary of the Dao King.

"This spiritual embryo had some strength in the past. But times are different now. This seat has cultivated to the full true immortal realm. You cannot escape my grasp."

The Dao King sneered coldly.

Bang!

The Dao King didn’t utter another word. He stirred his magic power, bound the surroundings to form a prison seal, instantly isolating this area. Then he struck a palm blow toward Nangong Zhandao.

Clang!

A fairy sword materialized in the Creation spiritual embryo’s hand. The Creation spiritual embryo slashed the sword at the Dao King.

Boom!

The Dao King swept his palm across. That fairy sword was snapped in half. He grabbed the spiritual embryo with one hand, channeled the power of the Great Dao into its body, sealing all its acupoints.

In an instant, the spiritual embryo turned into a mere flesh body.

Nangong Zhandao and Lan Youruo had not yet attained immortality. Faced with the Dao King’s assault, they had absolutely no power to resist.

In the past, if Nangong Zhandao encountered a calamity, various coincidental events would occur, helping him escape the death calamity and turn misfortune into luck.

At this moment.

Nangong Zhandao felt deeply heavy-hearted.

"Nangong Zhandao, you constantly boast that your own effort brought you to where you stand now. But stripped of luck, how much could you achieve?"

The Dao King sneered coldly, "Without luck, you are just an ordinary person."

"Luck is secondary; the self is primary."

"Throughout my journey, I have weathered countless storms of bloodshed, slain my master to seize power, and suppressed all realms. Have I ever relied on anything but my own strength?"

"Fortune is merely a tool to attain eternity!"

Boom!

Dao King flicked his finger. Nangong Zhandao’s Great Dao shattered, his magic power dissipated, and his body scattered force in all directions like a punctured bellows.

"My Lord!" Lan Youruo’s eyes were wide with horror.

"Di Wuyou! I’ll fight you to the death!"

Lan Youruo charged desperately towards Dao King.

A flicker of cold indifference passed through Dao King’s eyes. A ray of sword light burst forth from his fingertip. It sliced through Lan Youruo’s divine principles and pierced her glabella like an arrow.

In that instant, Lan Youruo’s vitality vanished, her primordial spirit slowly disintegrating.

"Youruo!" Nangong Zhandao roared, his voice raw with agony, clutching her lifeless body tightly. He glared at Dao King, his soul igniting. A gate rose from his Purple Palace.

The Gate of Origin.

This Immortal Gate was a treasure bestowed upon him by the human ancestor long ago.

Nangong Zhandao mustered every ounce of his strength, pouring it furiously into the Gate of Origin, attempting to annihilate Dao King.

"Utter waste."

Dao King sneered in disdain.

With Nangong Zhandao’s cultivation level, it was impossible for him to activate the Gate of Origin.

"Ten Thousand Immortals Bowing!"

Dao King let out a long cry. Imperial might erupted. Countless divine immortals manifested, layer upon endless layer, all bowing deeply towards Nangong Zhandao in unison.

Boom!

The Gate of Origin was sent flying. Nangong Zhandao’s body fractured, exploding into countless fragments.

The fortune scattered and dispersed.

Yet, he was not dead.

Cultivators in the Emperor Venerable Realm could be reborn from a single drop of blood; how could they die so easily?

Dao King activated his profound art. Wisps of the dispersed fortune were drawn towards him, devoured, and rapidly refined.

Rumble!

His cultivation soared vertically. In the blink of an eye, it reached the peak of the True Immortal Realm and broke through into the Immortal King Realm.

"Hahaha…"

Dao King threw back his head and laughed uproariously. "Truly worthy of being the fortune of the ancestral home, so vast! Though not at its peak splendor, it rivals, even surpasses that of the Spirit Realm and the Mysterious Realm."

"Nangong Zhandao, before your death, you’ve granted me a magnificent gift."

Nangong Zhandao’s scattered corpse reformed. His eyes flickered with an unstable light.

"It was determined from the Star Realm onward," Nangong Zhandao murmured. When the Mad Daoist stole his Ziwei Spirit Root, it marked the beginning of his decline.

"Succeeding through fortune, failing through fortune."

A sudden, bitter understanding washed over Nangong Zhandao.

He had considered himself a peerless genius, unmatched in the path of the sword.

Yet, when the fortune vanished, he was revealed to be merely ordinary, vulnerable to manipulation.

It proved that all his achievements were bestowed by fortune.

Nangong Zhandao smiled, the expression bleak.

His arrogance and conceit had not only doomed him but had also doomed Lan Youruo.

"I truly am a useless piece of trash!"

At this moment, Nangong Zhandao’s Dao heart shattered completely.

"Throughout all ages, those destined to bear the ancestral home’s fortune—the human ancestor, the Heavenly Emperor, the Human Emperor—which among them was not a supreme hero?" Dao King’s expression was contemptuous. "What right did you have to compare yourself to them?"

"This fortune is now in my hands, and I will not betray it."

"Set your mind at rest and depart!"

Swish!

Dao King clenched his hand. A terrifying pressure bore down from all sides, forcibly crushing Nangong Zhandao like overripe fruit—body and soul obliterated.

A proud son of destiny had fallen.