Chapter 4336: The Road Ahead
The Divine Phoenix Ancestor opened a spatial passage and slipped into the void, departing for the same destination as the Heavenly Void Son.
Where exactly they had gone, Lin Moyu could not know. But he was certain their departure was not to rest, not to fade away, but to carry forward a greater mission.
The Catastrophic Supreme's grand arrangement spanned countless ages. How could it ever be so simple?
The Heavenly Void Son, the Divine Phoenix Ancestor, even the Blue Robe and White Robe figures hidden in the shadows each was an important piece. The masterminds behind this spanned at least three Supremes in collusion, with numerous Full Completions as part of the plan.
Lin Moyu remained inside the Phoenix Ancestor's sealed palace, sitting crosslegged, beginning to organize and digest the flood of information he had obtained.
Through the Catastrophic Scepter, the Phoenix Ancestor had transmitted the entrustments of the Catastrophic Supreme, the commands left across eternity.
The truth was startling.
Long ago, the Catastrophic Supreme foresaw his likely defeat. He had risen too late, and many foundations were incomplete. Even if he patched them with full effort, the cracks remained.
He prepared accordingly.
In case of failure, a second chance had to exist.
So he arranged eight great formations.
Seven across the Four Extremes and Three Domains, one more hidden within the Ancient Wastelands.
Alone, each formation was unremarkable. But when united eight became the framework of a HeavenDueling Grand Array.
The Divine Phoenix Ancestral Land itself was one of the eight formations. Its foundation was the entire territory, its core the palace of the Ancestor himself.
At present, it slumbered silently, awaiting activation.
What might happen when all eight arrays awakened, no creature could imagine.
To Lin Moyu, the revelation shook him deeply.
The Catastrophic Supreme's hand was vast beyond reason.
One Full Completion cultivator, flying from one extreme of Chaos to another, might require tens of thousands of years. Yet a single array, properly placed, connected distant extremes as if they were a single step.
This was power beyond comprehension.
And this was the scale at which the Catastrophic Supreme who aimed to challenge Dao itself played.
How fierce must his resolve have been!
Lin Moyu's thoughts raced as he reviewed.
"According to his will, my task now is to traverse the Four Extremes and Three Domains, seize the seven arrays, then proceed to the Ancient Wasteland for the eighth.
"Only when all eight are within my grasp… will I hold the qualification to confront 'Dao.'"
And this was merely "qualification."
Whether victory was possible, even the mighty Supreme had no certainty.
There were limitations:
Full Completions could not casually step into domains not their own. The Four Extremes barred such trespass.
Thus, Lin Moyu had to venture there before reaching Full Completion.
As for the Three Domains, that was safer; he was born of the Central Domain, and so could also travel the Upper and Lower Domains.
The Ancient Wasteland, however, required Full Completion strength to survive, otherwise death was guaranteed.
A strange emotion welled in Lin Moyu's heart.
It felt as if… his entire path had been laid out for him.
Each step, arranged long before his birth.
At first, the feeling was suffocating. But upon review, he admitted every arrangement accounted for his state, his shortcomings, his growth. Every flaw covered. Perfect.
Without the Disaster Bearing Boat, he would never have entered the palace.
If he hadn't mastered runic arrays, he could never unlock the formations within even with the Boat, he would have been trapped eternally.
The Catastrophic Supreme had anticipated everything.
Lin Moyu exhaled.
Though dissatisfied that his road was so closely bound to another's design, he vowed inwardly:
"Even if you pointed the way… I will walk it with my own will. I will carve my own truths upon this path. And I know it is what even you desired."
His voice was low, but firm. The air vibrated, the Dao itself humming in resonance in recognition of his resolve.
He next reviewed the history of the Ancestral City.
Once, it had been glorious. A citadel of phoenixes, filled with mighty clansmen, safeguarded by indestructible arrays.
Then, without warning, a forceless assault descended. Invisible, inescapable.
The city fell in a single breath.
Every phoenix inside perished save one: the Ancestor.
The truth was revealed.
The one who struck down the city was none other than Dao itself.
The Catastrophic Supreme's struggle had drawn Dao's retaliation. Through karma, the strike landed here.
The Divine Phoenix Clan was nearly erased.
Only the Ancestor persisted. Using his essence and soul, he reforged life, birthing the Three Phoenixes. Across countless ages, they rebuilt.
Lin Moyu gleaned the terrible nature of Dao's strike:
"Invisible, without sound; once locked, no evasion. Resist or die."
Even the Catastrophic Supreme himself could not withstand it.
And yet, the Ancestor survived.
Perhaps because of an artifact… unparalleled.
Lin Moyu shivered. The attack followed karma. Since the Ancestor bore karmic ties to the Supreme, he was targeted. But others, such as the Blue Robe and White Robe, were spared their karmic links had been severed beforehand.
Thus, even Dao was not omniscient. One could cheat karma by stepping outside its thread.
Lin Moyu looked at the Catastrophic Scepter in his hand.
This was such a tool. The one means in all Chaos to step beyond chains of fate.
His vision sharpened.
Now he knew more Dao stood above, watching, ruling. And yet Lin Moyu, rather than shrinking, felt excitement.
Cultivation itself was defiance of Heaven.
If Heaven sat above, then break Heaven, and be Heaven yourself.
Rising, Lin Moyu produced two things:
a jade slip from Pang Qi, containing complete data on the assassins who had once come for his life.
Cause had been seeded. Now, with karma in hand, the initiative lay with him. By tracing cause, he could hunt. With the Karmic Ring, nowhere could they hide.
He scanned the slip and smirked.
"So… that enticing woman was from the Demonic Flower Clan."
Indeed the laughing enchantress who once emerged from a flower was noted as one of their Flower Queens, at Full Completion strength but weaker than the Purple Gold Phoenix.
The second item was a storage ring, courtesy of the Purple Gold Phoenix, containing hundreds of chaotic materials.
A literal mountain within.
Lin Moyu spread open his Wings of Disorder.
They crackled, stirring a violent wind, sucking the materials in. Wind flared into fire, refining them one by one.
If he absorbed them all, the wings would be reforged, strengthened tremendously. A technique relatively weak in domains but here, in Chaos, it might become a fearsome card.
His eyes gleamed with anticipation.
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