The Eternal Calamity of the Heaven-shading

Chapter 282 Dao Struggle
……

Within the Heavenly Venerable's tomb lies a strange world resembling burial ground, vast and boundless, stretching as far as the eye can see.

Rumble!
"May the spirits of the dead rest in peace, and may the souls of the departed guard the tomb. Those who dare to violate this law shall die!"

The dark, swarming army of ghostly soldiers surged towards Xu Dong like a torrent of steel, showing no fear whatsoever.

From afar, the overwhelming killing intent swept across the area, swirling around ribbon-like demonic clouds, which was terrifying and made people's hearts pound.

"Hurry, let's go around it while that old guy has drawn all the hatred." Chu Xiaoyao concealed his aura, afraid of being discovered.

However, he soon hesitated, "Which way should I go?"

Ahead, the air was thick with yin energy, the mist swirled, and the black land stretched endlessly, leading to the unknown.

No matter which way I go, I always feel like I'll get lost.

Just as he was hesitating, Chu Xiaoyao suddenly noticed that Cao Yusheng was walking alone towards the Yellow Springs.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Although he didn't understand, at least he had a direction, so he hurriedly followed.

"Where exactly are you going?" Chu Xiaoyao asked Cao Yusheng, tilting his head.

The malevolent aura grew stronger, and the body ached as if being scraped by a knife, as if an invisible hand was trying to tear the person apart.

"Go to the innermost part of the mausoleum. If I'm not mistaken, it might be much safer there."

Cao Yusheng's expression was blank, but after a brief moment of distraction, he returned to his original state.

Hearing him say that, Chu Xiaoyao frowned and suddenly realized that this fat man seemed to be quite familiar with this place.

In the distant sky, the battle continues.

The one-eyed swordsman Xu Dong charged forward, with phantom images of the sun, moon, and stars revolving around him.

Lingbao Heavenly Technique - Spirit Slaughtering Sword!

With a single sword strike, the phantoms of the sun, moon, and stars fell to the ground, carrying with them a terrifying aura of cosmic slaughter.

This sword strike cleaved through the void, forcefully cutting the Yin soldiers and generals in half. The aftershocks even shook the entire black earth, truly terrifying!
"hiss……"

Chu Xiaoyao's expression changed drastically, and he was almost blown away by the shockwave.

Beside him, Cao Yusheng remained calm and even glanced back, seemingly with a sigh, "As expected of Lingbao Tianzun, the forbidden divine power created by Him is truly powerful. Looking at ancient history, it is enough to rank in the top five."

Hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao didn't bother to investigate further. Looking at the unharmed Fatty Cao and then at himself who had almost been injured by the shock, he couldn't help but fall into doubt.

"Hey, how come I never noticed before? You were pretty good at hiding things!"

"How could someone who spends so much time underground not have some real skills? Young man, you still need to practice."

Cao Yusheng shook his head, startling everyone. "Let's go quickly, or we'll be in trouble once they finish fighting over there and notice us."

The two then concealed themselves and proceeded cautiously.

After crossing numerous mountains, the road ahead became even darker, with a large yellow river lying across it, its waters gurgling and meandering, its destination unknown.

All around, a series of sobbing sounds drifted by, seemingly coming from the bottom of the river, making it seem particularly eerie and unsettling.

Chu Xiaoyao took out a white wooden stick and carefully dipped it into the water. Instantly, the entire stick rotted and turned black, and was shrouded in deathly energy.

"It really is the Yellow Springs!" Chu Xiaoyao exclaimed in surprise, finding it unbelievable.

Under normal circumstances, the Yellow Springs can only be born in extremely yin and deadly places, and it would be good if there was even a small depression, but here there is an entire great river.

Chu Xiaoyao muttered to himself, "What kind of place have we come to? Is it the tomb of the Celestial Venerable, or the legendary burial ground?"

Wow!
Suddenly, a wave rippled across the once tranquil Yellow Springs, as if something was about to emerge. In the distance, a sinister aura swept over, mixed with a refreshing fragrance.

Seeing this, Chu Xiaoyao became wary and immediately took a few steps back.

However, Cao Yusheng's reaction was completely different; he drooled and pounced on him.

"Are you crazy?" Chu Xiaoyao instinctively stuck out his foot and tripped him.

Suddenly, Cao Yusheng lost his balance and fell face-first into the mud.

"Are you crazy? Didn't you see that's Netherworld Grass?" he cursed.

In the next instant, a strange orchid emerged from the water. It was jet black, as if carved from black jade, and exuded an aura of the Great Dao, with a fragrant aroma.

"Netherworld Grass?" Chu Xiaoyao's eyes narrowed.

"That Chu brat is obviously ignorant and a greenhorn. He doesn't even know about the Netherworld Grass. It's a rare treasure that can make one's divine sense immortal. It's a rare opportunity to encounter such a great chance. Why is he stopping me?" Cao Yusheng struggled to his feet, indignant.

"Don't try to fool me. You can't just eat that stuff. It'll turn you into a living dead. Even if you pick it off, it won't help."

As he spoke, Chu Xiaoyao took a deep breath, feeling as if every pore on his body had opened up, and he felt refreshed, as if he had received a holy baptism and was about to ascend to heaven.

The Netherworld Grass is indeed extraordinary; without knowing its true nature, it's easy to mistake it for an elixir of immortality. Unfortunately, consuming it has terrible side effects, making one wish they were dead.

"You're such a jerk, you've made me miss another opportunity."

Cao Yusheng watched anxiously, but the Netherworld Grass was clearly sentient. Startled, it transformed into a wisp of dark light and sank back into the Yellow Springs, disappearing without a trace.

"Then what about the matter of you selling me before? At most, we're even," Chu Xiaoyao argued.

"Damn it, who sold you out?" Cao Yusheng exclaimed in frustration.

Just as the two were about to turn against each other, suddenly, footsteps came from the other side of the Yellow Springs.

"Da" "Da" "Da"

It's like the dead are wandering around, giving you the creeps.

“That is…” Chu Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up, and his expression suddenly changed.

He saw a dark figure, as if it had lost its soul, wandering on the opposite bank.

There exists a strange power there that can block divine sense, so that one can only see a blurry outline with the naked eye, which looks like a man.

"Hmm, this looks familiar. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before," Chu Xiaoyao muttered to himself in confusion.

"Is that so?" An old voice suddenly rang out, close to my ear.

"It's you!" Chu Xiaoyao was startled.

Before anyone knew it, Xu Dong, the Supreme Elder of Guijian Sect, caught up with them. He was covered in wounds, and his only remaining eye showed signs of exhaustion.

Chu Xiaoyao immediately tensed up, but quickly relaxed. As a quasi-Celestial Venerable, his opponent was far beyond his ability to contend with. It was pointless to waste energy on defense; it was better to face him calmly.

"You're quite a freak, kid. Which old monster raised this freak? You're almost catching up to the true mastery of the Guijian Sect's formation techniques." Xu Dong showed a hint of surprise.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao's mind stirred.

Despite having witnessed the Guijian Sect's formation master chasing after him on the Starry Sky Trial Road, Xu Dong now didn't recognize him.

It seems that Wu Gen was not lying; only the two of them retained the memories of the future.

Thinking of this, Chu Xiaoyao calmly asked, "Didn't your Guijian Sect mobilize the entire sect? How come you're the only one left?"

"What Heavenly Venerable Tomb? Heh, it's all fake. They all died here." Xu Dong's voice was cold, like an echo from an ice cellar, resounding throughout the desolate Yellow Springs. "Fake?" Chu Xiaoyao's expression changed.

"And Wu Gen, the true inheritor of your family's array formations, is he dead too?" he suddenly asked, with a hint of disbelief.

In order to find out the truth, that outstanding person of the same age persuaded the sect to launch a full-scale attack on the Heavenly Venerable's tomb, and died in such a dramatic way.

Chu Xiaoyao refused to believe it.

"Humph!"

Wu Gen pointed out a divine light that pierced through his shoulder in an instant.

Rumble!
Just then, a tremendous tremor erupted, and the Yellow Springs before them suddenly boiled, spreading into the endless void.

Looking back, the corpses and coffins scattered everywhere were being obliterated one after another, turning into ashes, including the corpses of ghost soldiers and generals, as if they were about to ascend to heaven.

Such a bizarre scene was difficult even for Xu Dong to comprehend.

However, he sensed a terrifying aura of law annihilation, and that he would perish here if he was not careful. It was terrifying to the extreme.

Suddenly, Cao Yusheng spoke up: "This world of death, constructed from an unknown field, is about to disappear. Someone has extracted a portion of the fundamental laws, causing all order to be disrupted."

“You…” Chu Xiaoyao was somewhat stunned.

It started like this from the outside. Sometimes, Cao Yusheng's expression would change drastically for no reason, as if another soul had awakened within him.

"You, a tomb raider, actually know these things?" Xu Dong's eyes gleamed.

Then, looking at that deeply memorable face, he fell into deep thought again.

"It's impossible for two people to look exactly alike yet have no connection whatsoever. Could it really be related to the Tribulation-Crossing Celestial Venerable?"

The next moment, Cao Yusheng did something unexpected: he actually walked towards the gradually fading Yellow Springs.

The moment those destructive fragments of law touched him, they all transformed into a dazzling point of light, brilliant and beautiful, as if he were strolling leisurely in a garden.

"I have walked alone for ten thousand years, and a cycle of reincarnation has passed in an instant. Now, it is time to wake up from my dream."

As the melodious Taoist chant resounded, Cao Yusheng's figure also became dignified.

His obese body remained unchanged, far from handsome or dashing, let alone imposing, yet it inexplicably sent shivers down one's spine.

That overwhelming pressure from the Great Dao was so real, it had the power to swallow the universe, like a supreme being who looked down upon all ages and was the only one worthy of respect.

"A Celestial Venerable Who Has Transcended Tribulation?"

Xu Dong stared in astonishment. He had only ever seen a similar scene on Lingbao Tianzun. And when he thought of that face, he became even more certain of a certain idea.

"This……"

Chu Xiaoyao was dumbfounded; he also heard Xu Dong's mutterings.

boom!
At this moment, millions of soul-guiding lamps suddenly lit up at the bottom of the Yellow Springs, and a broken stele inscribed with the Scripture of Salvation rose from the void, with the killing array patterns of the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao moving between the inscriptions.

Centered on Cao Yusheng, the world suddenly changed. The endless void, vast as an abyss, revealed the entire origin of the Great Dao.

Chu Xiaoyao was extremely shocked. He saw two figures playing chess in the chaotic mist.

The white-robed youth lightly tapped the white piece, causing a vast galaxy to bloom in the void before crashing into the center of the sky; the green-robed Taoist, on the other hand, placed his piece like an abyss, the energy of the nine netherworlds condensing into a black dragon that coiled around a star position, its eyes blazing with two dancing flames of immortality.

Looking closer, there was another young man next to him, seemingly playing the role of a chess prodigy, completely absorbed in the game.

The familiar attire and the familiar face—who else could it be but Wu Geng, who has been missing for so long?

"Master Lingbao!" Xu Dong knelt down abruptly, sobbing uncontrollably.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao was terrified, feeling as if his very soul was trembling.

The fact that Lingbao Tianzun, who is almost universally acknowledged to have passed away, is still alive after a full 100,000 years is nothing short of a miracle.

Moreover, another question arises: who was the person playing against Him? What if we add Cao Yusheng, who is suspected to be the Tribulation-Crossing Celestial Venerable?

The meeting of these three people is likely to overturn ancient history.

Chu Xiaoyao dared not think any further, and almost in a daze, he murmured softly, "An immortal?"

……

Time suddenly stopped at this moment. Chu Xiaoyao, Wu Gen, and Xu Dong were all frozen in place, their thoughts and bodies completely frozen.

"You bastard Chen Wu, locking me up here while you go off to live a carefree life, even building a fake tomb to mock me." Cao Yusheng said with a face full of resentment.

"I see you're enjoying yourself quite a bit, aren't you? You even unintentionally stole my name." Chen Wu held a chess piece between his fingers, hovering it in the air. After a moment of thought, he finally placed it down.

“One hundred thousand years…” Cao Yusheng’s eyes widened. “One hundred thousand years, do you know how I’ve spent those one hundred thousand years?”

Ten thousand years ago, Lingbao Tianzun had not yet attained enlightenment, and Chen Wu's fifth transformation had just ended. He needed to go back in time to the Chaotic Ancient Era to make his move.

So, before leaving, he took the opportunity to visit Cao Yusheng at the burial ground. After exchanging friendly greetings, he discovered a divine thought that the latter had deliberately left behind and locked him in a "little dark room".

“I know you’ve lost yourself over the past 100,000 years, only remembering your tomb-raiding instincts, spending your days wandering underground,” Chen Wu said casually.

"How dare you even know this? Is this how you treat your brothers?" Cao Yusheng cursed upon hearing this.

"So, I didn't just build a separate Heavenly Venerable's Tomb to fulfill your lifelong wish?" With that, Chen Wu placed another piece.

"Hmph, then why did you bring in so many random people?" Cao Yusheng's anger hadn't subsided. "You've changed, you're no longer the simple and honest boy you used to be."

At this moment, he caught a glimpse of Lingbao Tianzun standing to the side and immediately became somewhat embarrassed.

It's nothing more than that he was trying to explore the breadth of the Samsara Seal Method, but he didn't expect it to cause such a huge disaster in the world. Now, he suddenly sees the victim, and the other party is extremely powerful, so he instinctively feels a little guilty.

"Junior Lingbao greets Senior Dujie!" Finally, it was Lingbao Tianzun who noticed his unusual behavior and took the initiative to speak.

"Ah, greetings, Fellow Daoist Lingbao!" Cao Yusheng said awkwardly.

In fact, this was the first time the two had met, even though each of them only possessed a divine thought and not their true forms.

At the same time, the situation on the chessboard suddenly changed. The white pieces exploded, and the scattered stardust transformed into countless living beings, swallowing up the black pieces along with the river of time they were in.

"I've lost again!" Lingbao Tianzun sighed in defeat.

"Now, it's your turn." Chen Wu stood up and gave up his seat.

"Me?" Cao Yusheng scratched his head, puzzled.

"Yes, that's you."

As he spoke, Chen Wu turned to look at Lingbao, "I know you still don't agree with Cao Yusheng's path, so I specially brought you two together today. Let's have a debate, using this chessboard as the boundary, to see who is right."

“Okay!” Lingbao nodded decisively.

"How do we discuss the Dao?" Cao Yusheng asked.

As expected, those who are shrouded in the spirit of "Covering the Sky" are all iron-willed.

One seeks eternal reincarnation, the other intends to end it; they are in opposition, their conflict involving the Dao, and neither will easily yield.

“Just talking about grand principles won’t convince people, but you’re all in a dead state, so you can’t fight.” Chen Wu pondered for a moment, “Let’s use the two of them as a medium. I’ve predicted the future, and the next Heavenly Venerable will definitely come from the two of them. Let’s see who will have the last laugh.”

After saying that, he pointed to Wu Gen and Chu Xiaoyao, who were in a frozen state.

(End of this chapter)