Chapter 1308: Seeing Dao at a Higher Level

An unknown amount of time later, Ye Guan slowly opened his eyes. Upon seeing an unfamiliar ceiling, he sat up abruptly and scanned his surroundings.

I'm alive?

Ye Guan realized that he was inside a cave, and a small campfire was flickering weakly nearby.

What happened?

Ye Guan's face was marred with absolute confusion.

"You're finally awake?" A voice suddenly came from the cave entrance.

Ye Guan turned and saw a young man squatting at the cave entrance. His clothes were tattered, especially his pants, which had several large holes. At a glance, it almost seemed like he wasn't wearing any pants.

Ye Guan instantly became alert. "Who are you?"

The young man grinned at him. "You still don't know what happened, do you?"

Ye Guan frowned and called out,

"Master Pagoda."

Little Pagoda's voice echoed.

"Hmm."

The young man glanced at Ye Guan's abdomen. "That pagoda of yours is pretty good. You should hear its explanation first."

With that, he leaned against the cave wall, muttering curses under his breath. He didn't seem satisfied with just venting, as every now and then, he'd even kick the wall.

After listening to Little Pagoda's explanation, Ye Guan felt like he had been struck by a lightning bolt. His mind went blank. The next moment, he seemed to go mad and rushed outside to the Sea of Suffering. He ran straight to the shore and looked at the still, deathly silent waters before him.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

His legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.

Dead. They're all dead.

Ye Guan stared blankly at the Sea of Suffering, and his mind flashed with images of Ling Xiao, Emperor Jun, Third Sister, and the others.

Tears welled up in his eyes and fell uncontrollably.

"Crying won't change anything!" The young man from earlier walked over, staring at the Sea of Suffering in the distance. "Even if you cry yourself to death, they are not going to come back to life."

Ye Guan suddenly asked. "You're the Ancestral Dao, aren't you?"

The young man glanced at him and smirked. "You're not stupid. That's right, I—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Guan lunged at him.

"What the hell?!" The Ancestral Dao's expression changed dramatically. "What are you doing? Ah—!"

Ye Guan mercilessly beat the Ancestral Dao to a pulp. Although their cultivation bases were still intact, the Ancestral Dao was far weaker than before. Against Ye Guan, he was too weak to resist.

The Ancestral Dao's miserable screams echoed throughout the shore.

An unknown amount of time later, Ye Guan finally stopped.

However, the Ancestral Dao's face was already swollen beyond recognition.

Ye Guan sat on the ground, silent.

The Ancestral Dao glared at him and exclaimed, "What was the point of that?! If you have the guts, go fight Fan Zhaodi instead!"

Ye Guan stared at him, and his voice was filled with hatred as he said, "Without you, would she even become

that

powerful?"

Hearing that, the Ancestral Dao flared up with anger. "Without your intervention, would she be able to devour my cultivation?"

Ye Guan fixed his gaze on him. "Wasn't she your subordinate?"

The Ancestral Dao snapped, "And wasn't she once on your side, too?"

The two fell silent, realizing that they had fallen into Fan Zhaodi's trap.

After a while, Ye Guan turned to look at the Sea of Suffering again, and his vision became blurry.

The Ancestral Dao also gazed at the Sea of Suffering, and his expression was complicated. Every world beyond those waters once belonged to him.

He was driven out like a stray dog.

Damn it. That was infuriating,

thought the Ancestral Dao.

Ye Guan suddenly asked, "Why did you save me?"

The Ancestral Dao withdrew his gaze. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"

Ye Guan shot him a sharp look.

The Ancestral Dao's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly said, "Young man, don't be rash. We're on the same boat. We should work together to deal with Fan Zhaodi, not fight each other."

Ye Guan remained silent.

The Ancestral Dao added, "Think about it. There wasn't really a deep enmity between us. Our conflict was merely a battle over the Dao. If we join forces, we can surely fight Fan Zhaodi."

The Ancestral Dao cast a wary gaze at Ye Guan. Truth be told, he was worried that this kid would go mad and attack him again.

Right now, he was too weak—truly too weak!

Damn it!

the Ancestral Dao cursed inwardly at his humiliating reality. Indeed, he had never suffered such humiliation before!

In the face of Ye Guan's silence, the Ancestral Dao added, "This Sea of Suffering will not be able to hold Fan Zhaodi back. On that day, I saw her fight the Sea of Suffering itself.

"She's the strongest in the Ten Tiers of Civilization, and she has yet to completely absorb the energy of all living beings. Once she has assimilated them all, the Sea of Suffering will not be able to stop her..."

Since Ye Guan was still silent, the Ancestral Dao threw out a bombshell. "Emperor Jun and the others still have a chance to live."

Ye Guan suddenly sat up, and his previously dull and lifeless eyes ignited with a fierce light. "What did you say?"

The Ancestral Dao spoke solemnly. "They can still live."

Ye Guan locked eyes with him. "Keep talking."

The Ancestral Dao turned to look at the Sea of Suffering and said, "This sea... those who enter it will die, and their souls will be extinguished. Their past and future will also be erased, but what outsiders don't know is that it's actually a supreme reincarnation artifact.

"Those who perish within it are reborn, but their new lives are no longer within this universe, and their past selves are completely erased. They are essentially reborn as brand-new people."

Ye Guan was stunned.

"But!" the Ancestral Dao added, "If you're strong enough, you can help them recover their past memories. But for that, you need to take control of the Sea of Suffering.

"And let me just make things clear—I couldn't do that even at my peak."

Ye Guan suddenly asked, "Can

she

do it?"

"I don't know." The Ancestral Dao shook his head. "I don't even know how strong she is right now..."

Ye Guan remained silent.

The Ancestral Dao continued, "To control the Sea of Suffering and make it yours, there are only two ways. You can use brute force to subdue it, but that's impossible. Not even

she

can do that.

"The second way is to become the master of the Other Shore Ark."

Ye Guan frowned. "Other Shore Ark?"

The Ancestral Dao nodded, his eyes flashing with excitement. "It's the greatest treasure of the Other Shore, and it was born during ancient times.

"By becoming its master, the Sea of Suffering will surely recognize you, and you'll have the power to defeat that lady.

"The ark contains nine supreme ancient divine techniques, one of which is 'Seeing the Dao at a Higher Level!' If you want to defeat her, you must sacrifice all beings or surpass her Dao!"

Ye Guan stared at the Ancestral Dao. "Why are you telling me that?"

The Ancestral Dao's eyes flickered, and he chuckled. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We're on the same side now."

Ye Guan didn't speak.

The Ancestral Dao knew that Ye Guan wasn't easily fooled, so he laughed and said, "Of course, I have my own agenda, but I swear on my life that everything I told you just now is true. Otherwise, I'm going to die without a proper burial."

After a long silence, Ye Guan asked, "How do I obtain the Other Shore Ark?"

The Ancestral Dao's interest was immediately piqued. He crouched beside Ye Guan and said, "First of all, we need to get to the Other Shore. Once there, we'll settle down and plan things carefully."

Ye Guan glanced at the Ancestral Dao and looked at the still Sea of Suffering. His hands clenched into fists.

The Ancestral Dao gravely said, "We need to hurry. That lady is already invincible there, and she'll definitely try to come here."

Ye Guan nodded and whispered, "Brothers and sister, wait for me..."

After speaking, he looked at the Ancestral Dao.

The Ancestral Dao immediately stood up and said, "Let's go."

With that, he led Ye Guan away.

"Can we just fly?" Ye Guan asked.

The Ancestral Dao shook his head. "No, we're still within the boundaries of the Sea of Suffering, and it's a special place. Fly, and the Sea of Suffering will suppress you, so we can only walk out of this place on foot."

Ye Guan nodded slightly and said nothing more.

After walking for a while, Ye Guan asked, "Why did the Sea of Suffering appear here?"

The Ancestral Dao indifferently said, "Because of that fool... the Great Daoist Brush Master!"

Ye Guan frowned slightly.

The Ancestral Dao continued, "This universe of ours is essentially a massive prison, and the Sea of Suffering is a prison within a prison. As for the Great Daoist Brush Master, he was exiled to this universe."

Ye Guan was puzzled. "Exiled?"

The Ancestral Dao nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"That guy wanted to establish a new order... Back then, the Other Shore was called the Saints' World, and the True Saints reigned supreme. When that guy arrived, however, he started preaching about equality among all beings and called for a revolution.

"He rallied everyone to rebel against the True Saints, and it brought about his end."

Ye Guan's eyes were filled with doubt.

The Ancestral Dao continued, "I only heard about it from someone else, but apparently, that guy nearly wiped out the True Saints over there. Then, the legendary Other Shore Ark appeared.

"After that, no one knows exactly what happened, but in the end, the Great Daoist Brush Master was exiled here."

After a pause, the Ancestral Dao added, "Logically speaking, he should be helping you because your idea of order is very similar to the one he tried to establish.

"Instead of doing that, he decided to help her. Something feels off about this. I have a strong feeling that he has an even deeper scheme."

Ye Guan asked, "Are you from the Other Shore?"

The Ancestral Dao nodded. "I was exiled as well."

Ye Guan turned to look at the Ancestral Dao.

"

Hahaha.

" The Ancestral Dao chuckled and said, "I'm different from the Great Daoist Brush Master. I couldn't defeat those True Saints. I committed a crime in my clan and fled to the other side with the Ancestral Dao Seal. My plan was to take an unconventional path to reach the Life Extinction Realm. Then, I'll go back here as a big shot. Unfortunately, I fell into that woman's trap. Damn it, that wretch..."

"What crime did you commit?" asked Ye Guan.

The Ancestral Dao calmly replied, "Nothing major. It's not worth mentioning!"

Ye Guan stared doubtfully at the Ancestral Dao. He was about to say something when something made them turn their heads to the right at the same time..

The Ancestral Dao's face darkened instantly at the sight.