The Eternal Calamity of the Heaven-shading

Chapter 284 The Carefree Celestial Venerable, the Ultimate Path, the Sublimation of All Laws
In the 500,890th year of the Mythical Era, a vast and endless sea of ​​suffering appeared on the Star Trial Road, causing a huge sensation.

With heroes rising up and people gathering from all directions, most of the cultivation world has turned its attention to them.

However, taking advantage of the gathering of heroes, a mastermind secretly set up an unparalleled killing formation, causing all the powerful individuals who entered to search for treasure to be trapped, their fates unknown.

Those left outside were extremely anxious, but unable to force their way in. They could only see sword energy rolling and tearing through the starry sky, with stars falling from time to time, crashing into the black ocean and causing it to surge and even pour into the depths of the star field.

"It is Lingbao Tianzun. I never thought this would be His Sea of ​​Wheels. Even His Supreme Heavenly Venerable Weapon is guarding this place."

People were talking about it and were extremely shocked.

At this time, only tens of thousands of years had passed since Lingbao Tianzun disappeared, and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth had just begun to revive. Therefore, the cultivation world easily recognized the Lingbao Killing Array Diagram and the four killing swords (the fifth sword was invisible).

"Has the Celestial Venerable Lingbao attained immortality?"

“It doesn’t seem like it. Since Lingbao Tianzun’s sea of ​​consciousness is here, it means that something might have happened to him. I remember that Tianzun once said that if he were to pass away one day, he would definitely cut off his own body to prevent it from turning into a corpse.”

"What if it's a body shed after becoming an immortal?"

Everyone was shocked and felt a chill run down their spines at the thought of this outcome.

Soon after, a powerful force unleashed its hidden strength, sending a near-Celestial Venerable-level expert carrying an ultimate weapon to forcibly invade that sea of ​​suffering.

Soon, an earth-shattering battle broke out, the aftershocks shaking the surrounding star fields, shattering countless stars into dust.

In the end, the quasi-Celestial Venerable returned defeated, because the array diagram and the killing sword were too powerful. When they were combined, their killing intent was boundless, and nothing could withstand their power.

In the days that followed, people tried every possible way to find out the whereabouts of the first group of powerful individuals, but all of them failed. Even when the Guijian Sect tried to communicate with the Lingbao Killing Array Diagram, it was to no avail.

By consulting ancient records and combining them with actual combat performance, the cultivation world finally concluded: "Lingbao Tianzun's killing formation diagram is almost unsolvable. Even without anyone in charge, ordinary quasi-Tianzun would all be killed unless a peerless Tianzun-level expert intervenes."

Seeing this, many forces involved were in a state of near despair.

After all, a large number of Saints and Saint Kings, including many Great Saints, are trapped inside. They represent high-end combat power and are a solid foundation. Currently, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth has just been revived. If they are so easily lost inside, it will have a significant impact on the future situation.

Therefore, a small number of people still refuse to give up and choose to wait patiently on the outskirts of the Heavenly Venerable's Sea of ​​Wheels.

Several years have passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the vast Sea of ​​Bitterness suddenly changed. Black mist swirled and killing intent soared to the sky, but only at its very center did it swirl and gleam, dazzling like a celestial spring.

"They're out! They're out!" exclaimed the outside world.

The powerful figures who had been trapped earlier finally appeared, now being chased by the dangerous waves and fleeing in panic.

Some people outside were overjoyed and rushed forward to greet him.

Fortunately, the terrifying phenomenon of the Heavenly Venerable's Sea of ​​Wheels did not spread outwards; it seemed to be merely driving away the intruders. Therefore, those people escaped unharmed.

However, after everything settled down, they were horrified to discover that a large part of their memories were inexplicably missing, and no matter what methods they used, they could not remember what they had experienced inside.

This strange situation naturally aroused curiosity from the outside world, and there were many different speculations about what was going on.

However, the Heavenly Venerable's Sea of ​​Wheels had been sealed, and he could no longer enter. From then on, a hot topic emerged in the cultivation world, and it has remained popular for a long time.

……

The Starry Sky Trial Road, near the fiftieth city of the human race.

A great battle is underway, with Chu Xiaoyao facing off against a renowned prodigy who is an expert in formations.

"I have mastered the secret of Lingbao Tianzun's character formation. Admit defeat; you can't possibly be my match."

The man was full of confidence. As he spoke, he manipulated the array flags, trying to block all escape routes.

Chu Xiaoyao sneered at this, stepping on wondrous Dao patterns and shifting his position.

"I admit that the secret of word formation is unparalleled, but your mastery of array formations is far inferior, and you are most afraid of variables."

As soon as he finished speaking, a ray of divine light pierced the void, and his figure mysteriously broke through numerous restrictions. When he reappeared, he was already in front of his opponent.

"How could you possibly see through my formation?" The prodigy looked terrified, his pupils reflecting a cold, divine hand.

"Because of my speed..."

In the instant he shattered the opponent's acupoint, Chu Xiaoyao whispered, "Always half a breath faster than your formation."

"Besides, I've also mastered the secrets of character formation. Knowing yourself and your enemy, what can you use to fight me?"

Before he could finish speaking, the man died, leaving behind a deep sense of resentment.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
Suddenly, applause broke out.

Chu Xiaoyao turned his head and saw Wu Gen's figure emerge from the void, his face full of approval, saying, "You're very good, you've improved so much, now you're finally qualified to be my opponent."

"You couldn't hold back so quickly?" Chu Xiaoyao asked calmly, as if he had expected his appearance.

Not long after the Heavenly Venerable's Sea of ​​Wheels closed, the two of them were no exception and were expelled. However, they retained more of their memories and understood who their greatest enemy was.

"I still don't quite understand, so many people have accidentally entered the ripples of time and space, why was it that Xu Dong was the one who died?"

Before the battle began, Chu Xiaoyao asked the question that concerned him most.

Upon hearing this, Wu Gen paused for a moment, then said quietly, "My uncle failed to unravel the mystery of his heart. He became more and more entangled in the illusion, and even actively attracted the tribulation of enlightenment, wanting to break through that barrier."

"I understand." Chu Xiaoyao suddenly realized.

"Come on, once I defeat you, there will be no more powerful enemies on my path." Wu Geng's tone was firm, revealing his killing intent. "In this life, I will surely attain enlightenment."

“Me too!” Chu Xiaoyao’s gaze sharpened.

……

The fleeting appearance of the Heavenly Venerable's Sea of ​​Wheels seemed like a signal. In the days that followed, the myriad paths of the universe gradually recovered, and one after another, outstanding talents embarked on the Star Trial Path, creating a thriving scene.

In this era of great upheaval and diverse cultures, competition is most brutal.

Logically speaking, standing out from the crowd and attaining supreme status is harder than climbing to heaven, because there are too many competitors, and everyone has considerable expertise in formation techniques, making it almost impossible to challenge someone of a higher level.

As for the reason, it can be traced back to Lingbao Tianzun.

An interesting phenomenon is that since the founding of Taoism, the few celestial deities whose achievements have been highly regarded and praised by the people have almost all led an era.

First, there was the Heavenly Venerable of Tribulation Crossing. As He created the "Lin" secret and spread it throughout the universe, a trend of body refinement began to prevail in the cultivation world. Regardless of their realm or race, all cultivators pursued the ultimate physique.

Next came the Eternal Celestial Venerable, who, after attaining enlightenment, passed down the secret of the character "者" (Zhe). People thus realized that a powerful physique alone was insufficient; one also needed extraordinary healing abilities. When the Boundless Celestial Venerable ascended to power, most of the geniuses and outstanding individuals across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths simultaneously mastered both the "临" (Lin) and "者" (Zhe) secrets, making them virtually indestructible.

In this situation, the Boundless Heavenly Venerable passed down the secret of the military, opening up a new path and showing the world another direction.

Since everyone is equipped with tanks and is frantically accumulating defense and recovery power, then let's start with weapons, forge sufficiently powerful natal weapons, and rely on weapons to break through defenses.

Even if the "Lin" and "Zhe" secret techniques are incredibly powerful, they are limited by the comprehension and talent of most cultivators. The "Bing" secret technique provides a significantly faster improvement, and once cultivated to a certain level, it can even interfere with or manipulate the opponent's weapon.

As a result, people began to study the secrets of the character "兵" (soldier) again, aiming to seize other people's weapons. Some powerful cultivators even set their sights on the weapons of many powerful sects.

For a time, everyone in the cultivation world was on edge, and no one dared to reveal their natal weapon unless it was a life-or-death battle, for fear of it being taken away.

This trend continued until the time of Lingbao Tianzun.

As ancient corpses with spiritual powers emerged one after another, signs of a corpse calamity began to emerge. Lingbao Tianzun, who was at odds with them, was naturally regarded as a thorn in his side.

Therefore, before He attained enlightenment, He was constantly engaged in great battles, often found himself besieged, and was also targeted by high-level corpse cultivators.

Formations have always been the best way for the weak to overcome the strong, as they can draw upon the power of heaven and earth to make up for the gap between oneself and the opponent.

Besides these, it has many other functions, including teleportation, trapping and imprisoning enemies, gathering spiritual energy to aid cultivation, and concealing heavenly secrets to help one overcome tribulations...

Lingbao Tianzun thus defied the heavens and single-handedly eradicated the corpse scourge. The "Group" secret he created involved the deduction and deciphering of array patterns, reversing the course of creation and bringing together the best of ancient and modern times.

The four Celestial Venerables mentioned above are all unparalleled in their respective fields, and they have all publicly revealed their supreme divine arts.

Therefore, in the Taoist belief system, their status is significantly higher than that of other celestial deities.

As for the sole exception, the Eternal Celestial Venerable, He also passed down His own methods, but over the years, only a few people have successfully mastered them because the threshold is relatively high, and it has not become a trend.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine what the current state of the cultivation world is like.

With the shadow of the previous corpse disaster still lingering and the boundless potential of formations becoming increasingly apparent, a surge of interest in studying formations has unsurprisingly swept across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. All the outstanding talents who have embarked on the Starry Sky Trial have, to varying degrees, some level of expertise in formations.

Unfortunately, two freaks appeared in this life.

One of them is Wu Gen, the current true successor of the Guijian Sect in array formations. He possesses the complete Lingbao Tianzun inheritance and his mastery of array formations is unparalleled.

The other is Chu Xiaoyao, a free and unrestrained cultivator. Although he is not as unparalleled in array formation as Wu Gen, he has cultivated extreme speed, which allows him to quickly see through the flaws of most arrays and break through their constraints, moving freely.

"With these two around, it's easy to see how mediocre and incompetent the other geniuses are!" This is the sentiment of the people.

In the eyes of outsiders, they are destined rivals.

Both originated from the Tongtian Ancient Star Domain. Starting from the Saint Realm, they fought life-and-death battles countless times, each one earth-shattering and awe-inspiring, in no way inferior to those who had attained enlightenment in the past.

Just like in the previous lives of Wuliang Tianzun and Chaos Tianzun, everyone else could only become background figures, watching helplessly as the two of them made great strides and their brilliance illuminated the entire era.

……

More than eight hundred years later,
In the final trial of the ultimate path, Chu Xiaoyao encountered his lifelong nemesis, Wu Gen, who sought the Dao through formations. At this time, both of them had reached the peak of the Quasi-Celestial Venerable realm.

Wu Gen set up an array in the endless void, using the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth as array patterns and himself as the array eye.

When Chu Xiaoyao broke through the void, the vast starry sky rippled with the Great Dao, and an aura of world destruction swept across it, intending to annihilate everything.

"This is our last battle." Wu Gen's voice was exceptionally cold.

"Over the years, I have mastered all the classics and integrated all the principles, constantly developing new formations, totaling 129,600, layered upon each other, ever-changing. Can your speed secret technique break this formation?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao remained silent, but his speed increased by three points, almost reaching the pinnacle of the world.

Seeing this, Wu Gen sneered. Countless silver threads were wrapped around his fingertips, each thread corresponding to a certain formation, slowly weaving together a mysterious and unpredictable Great Dao Heavenly Map in the space-time rift.

The moment he activated the formation, the silver threads suddenly collapsed into a cocoon, and then a dazzling, blazing light illuminated the ages.

boom!
At this moment, a destructive surge of the Great Dao suddenly erupted, and in an instant, terrifying tribulation light collided billions of times, sweeping away everything.

"If you take speed as your path, can you outrun the decay of time?"

Wu Gen charged in, unleashing a barrage of techniques. In a fierce clash, he locked onto Chu Xiaoyao's figure, causing the latter's body to crack and cough up blood as he flew out.

"Pursue the Dao and question the heavens, can it be eternal? The river of time... appears!" Chu Xiaoyao roared, his light engulfing the universe.

This was his ultimate, sublime strike, which actually attracted a long river.

At first it flowed slowly, then it became rapid, and then it roared and surged towards Wu Gen.

Time flows!

The fundamental manifestation of the laws of the universe, surging with the breath of time, spread across the sky and earth, emitting countless thunderous roars.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent! This is the kind of opponent I value!" Wu Gen exclaimed with delight.

The next moment,

Enveloped in myriad laws and boundless waves of Dao, the laws of heaven and earth transformed into tangible chains of divine order that enveloped him, while countless array patterns and endless starlight all converged upon his body.

Wu Gen's body shimmered brilliantly, his feathered robes fluttering as he unleashed the pinnacle of his life's attack.

The radiance engulfed the universe, and no one could see it clearly. All that was known was that a tremendous collision had occurred there, with the celestial river surging and crashing.

……

Finally, when everything came to an end, Chu Xiaoyao staggered, covered in blood.

"I lost!"

Wu Gen's figure was ethereal, and he murmured to himself before dissipating.

"Yes, you failed. You pursued the ultimate evolution of array formations too much, but you didn't realize that the more you learn in the path of cultivation, the better."

Chu Xiaoyao stood up with difficulty, his eyes shining with an inexplicable light, "When one path reaches its ultimate limit, all laws are sublimated; this is an eternal and unchanging truth."

“When one path reaches its ultimate limit, all laws are sublimated…” Wu Gen repeated this phrase, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Xiaoyao, you have won, the future Celestial Venerable Xiaoyao."

Before he could finish speaking, his body collapsed to the ground.

From this point on, a peerless genius fell and became nothing but smoke, while the victor will face the baptism of the Tribulation of Proving the Dao.

(End of this chapter)