Chapter 980: Hope Of Becoming A Dao Master (2)

In the distant Ling Jiang Universe, within the Greenridge Macrocosm, in the Ming Jian Realm.

Inside the Spacetime Sword Hall.

Wu Yuan's qi refiner self, who had been in quiet meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils filled with shock.

I've lost contact with my body refiner self?

What exactly has my body refiner self encountered?

A hint of gravity flashed in the eyes of Wu Yuan's qi refiner self.

What secrets does that eternal being's corpse hold?

His qi refiner self's memories were cut off the moment his body refiner self was brought into that special passage. Beyond that, he knew nothing.

I can only confirm that my body refiner self is still alive.

Wu Yuan's gaze flickered.

Severing the connection between my two true selves is no simple feat. Even some eternal beings might not be capable of it.

Wu Yuan understood this clearly.

Moreover, though my body refiner self has been advancing recklessly, I was following the black pagoda's guidance. It should point me in the right direction... yet I was instantly transported away. It's likely related to the Ancestral Pagoda.

Either it involves the Ancestral Pagoda, or it involves that deceased eternal being. Though I don't know who that eternal being was.

In truth, Wu Yuan already had a vague guess.

How could such powerful lifeforms, with auras similar to astral beasts, suddenly appear within a corpse? Furthermore, the figure had a colossal body spanning one light-year? All these signs pointed to the extraordinary nature of this fallen eternal being. And this corpse was located in the deepest regions of the Creation Dao Realm.

Could it be the Dao Master?

Wu Yuan's qi refiner self mused silently, gently closing his eyes.

After much deliberation, he abandoned the idea of seeking help. He would wait!

...

In the Long Shan Universe, at the headquarters of the Eldritch Court's Long Shan Saintdom, within the hall belonging to Overlord Ming Zhun.

Hm? Wu Yuan has suddenly lost contact with the Eldritch Court Voidrealm again?

A flicker of surprise passed through Overlord Ming Zhun's eyes.

He had just received the news. The inter-Saintdom war was at its most intense phase, and as an Overlord of the Eldritch Court's Long Shan Saintdom, he naturally paid close attention to the situation. He was also aware that Wu Yuan's true self had fallen into the Abyss Region of the Well of Life and hadn't emerged. There had been no issues for over a thousand years, yet now he had suddenly lost contact with them.

Contact was cut off abruptly, and he didn’t leave a message. Could it be similar to the last time, when he was trapped in some special region?

As a realm created by the Creation Dao Master, many special areas within the Creation Dao Realm could block the Eldritch Court Voidrealm’s coverage. Overlord Ming Zhun was well aware of this.

Or has he perished?

Overlord Ming Zhun couldn't be sure.

The depths of the Well of Life were treacherous beyond measure, a place even Overlords were reluctant to venture into. There was no way to save Wu Yuan. At least, he couldn't do it.

Let’s wait. If there's still no news after ten thousand years, I'll report it to the Eldritch Progenitor.

After brief consideration, Overlord Ming Zhun relayed the message to Overlord Hou Jue, then he paid it no more mind.

...

Deep within the Creation Dao Realm, Wu Yuan's body refiner self was now oblivious to everything happening in the world outside. At present, he was only concerned with his own safety.

Stay alive. No matter what I encounter next, I must do everything in my power to survive.

Wu Yuan silently recited to himself.

Worry, concern, excitement, and longing swirled within Wu Yuan's mind, fueled by the uncertainty of whether he would survive or perish.

Have I arrived?

This thought flashed through Wu Yuan's mind, and immediately after, the countless streams of light around him dissipated, and the spatial passage dissolved into nothingness.

Whoosh!

Wu Yuan gently landed on the ground, immediately surveying his surroundings. He was instantly startled. W

hat an enormous temple.

It was enormous indeed. Before Wu Yuan stood a towering temple in outer space, supported by eighteen colossal pillars on either end. Each pillar was inconceivably tall.

Eight light-years!

Wu Yuan, whose spatial perception wasn't greatly restricted, instantly estimated.

All thirty-six pillars of the entire temple were eight light-years tall, with base diameters exceeding a hundred billion li. Around the temple, only boundless outer space was visible.

Wu Yuan, standing about ten thousand zhangs tall, was smaller than a speck of dust in this majestic temple. The entire temple was empty, save for the thirty-six pillars and the floating throne at the far end.

A throne.

Wu Yuan's gaze finally settled on the immense throne, estimating it to be nearly a light-year in height. It was truly colossal.

The throne was inscribed with countless mysterious Dao patterns, exuding a majestic aura. Its imposing presence was even more powerful than an Overlord's. Even without anyone seated upon it, Wu Yuan instinctively felt an impulse to submit.

However, Wu Yuan resisted this instinct, unwilling to kneel. Some guesses had already formed in his mind.

This enormous throne is likely the seat of that fallen eternal being I saw not long ago.

Given the height of that eternal being, it indeed matched the dimensions of this temple and throne.

But where exactly was this place? Was he still inside the Well of Life?

“I never expected that we'd get a little babe who's just advanced to the Sovereign phase after waiting so long,” a childlike girl's voice suddenly rang out.

"Indeed, and one who snuck in at that," another childlike boy's voice responded.

The two voices resonated throughout the vast temple.

In reality, for beings who had cultivated to sempiternal life, their so-called voices were transmitted through spatial and Law fluctuations, capable of covering hundreds of light-years in an instant.

"Who's there?" Wu Yuan was startled.

Then he saw it. The two pillars closest to the throne suddenly burst forth with endless radiance.

The light converged, forming two figures. One was a red-robed girl with two pigtails pointing up, exquisitely beautiful and cute. The other was a chubby white-robed boy with his hair tied up, looking somewhat like a little adult.

The two of them appeared tiny in the temple, but their actual height exceeded a trillion li.

When their gazes fell upon Wu Yuan, he felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. It was as if two lofty and majestic beings stood on the shore, looking down at him who was still struggling in the river.

It wasn't that they were deliberately looking down on him, but rather, it was a natural instinct of lifeforms, like elephants gazing upon ants.

Eternal lifeforms?

Wu Yuan instantly recalled his encounters with True Saint Taiyuan and Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu.

The two children before him, though not quite matching the two supreme beings he had seen, bore similarities to them.

There are living eternal beings within the Creation Dao Realm?

Wu Yuan found it somewhat absurd, his heart surging with endless shock.

From what he understood, eternal beings didn't linger long in the river of space and time. There were only harms and no benefits.

Whoosh!

The red-robed girl and white-robed boy took a step towards Wu Yuan. Strange, unpredictable waves of spacetime enveloped their bodies, causing them to shrink visibly. It was as though they were compressing spacetime.

Finally, by the time the two children reached Wu Yuan, they had shrunk to merely thousands of zhang tall, appearing like true children before the ten-thousand-zhang-tall Wu Yuan.

However, a nebulous guiding of destiny allowed Wu Yuan to understand just how terrifying the two figures before him truly were. They were beings who had transcended the river of space and time, eternal and undying! At the very least, Wu Yuan could not sense even a trace of karma or destiny from them.

"Wu Yuan pays his respects to the two Seniors," Wu Yuan bowed respectfully, keenly aware that the two before him had lived for an unfathomable length of time, possibly countless samsara cycles of heaven and earth. The lifespan of eternal beings was not measured in years, but samsara cycles.

"At least you have manners. It's been a long time since we've seen such a weak lifeform," the red-robed girl smiled mischievously at Wu Yuan, as if looking at a small toy. "You’ve yet to reach the pinnacle stage of sempiternal life, unable to survive in the cosmic sea."

"Little one, coming here may be either your fortune or your misfortune," the white-robed boy smiled as well.

As eternal beings with their true bodies present, they could effortlessly discern many secrets upon looking at Wu Yuan.

"Oh?" A flicker of surprise flashed through the red-robed girl's eyes. "I can only glimpse traces of your past?"

"And I struggle to divine your future?" The white-robed boy was equally astonished.

By all rights, for a Sovereign like Wu Yuan, they should have been able to see vast swathes of his past if they so desired, and make reasonably accurate predictions about his future. But now, Wu Yuan appeared before them like an impenetrable fog, difficult to see clearly.

"No wonder you were able to come here. Truly extraordinary."

"A lifeform born within the universe, cultivating for less than a hundred thousand years, yet possessing such strength, and even cultivating two paths to eternity... There must be a Dao Master-level existence behind you," the white-robed child smiled.

A Dao Master-level existence?

Wu Yuan mused silently. Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu? The Spacetime Dao Master? He was connected to at least two such beings.

"Seniors, where exactly is this place?" Wu Yuan asked.

Silence.

The red-robed girl and white-robed boy were stunned for a moment, exchanged glances, then burst into laughter.

"You don't even know where this is, yet you dared to barge in?" The red-robed girl grinned, showing a row of white teeth. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. You snuck in, so naturally you wouldn't know."

"Snuck in?" Wu Yuan was taken aback.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Normally, one must complete the nine trials set by Master to reach this place," the red-robed girl explained. "But you arrived through other means."

Nine trials?

Wu Yuan was inwardly alarmed.

Master? She was presumably referring to the Creation Dao Master.

Wu Yuan now understood that the Creation Dao Realm, having endured numerous samsara cycles of heaven and earth, indeed harbored great secrets.

"If our perceptions are correct, you came here through a special passage within the master's mortal remains," the white-robed boy looked at Wu Yuan, sighing lightly. "We placed the master's remains in the Abyss Region. By all rights, no sempiternal lifeform should have been able to find it. You really have some luck."

"Luck?" Wu Yuan was dumbfounded.

It wasn't luck he relied on, but the black pagoda within his body. Without the black pagoda to guide him, finding the passage would have been truly impossible.

"May I ask, Seniors, is this master you speak of the Creation Dao Master?" Wu Yuan inquired.

"Correct. He is indeed the one you call the Creation Dao Master," the red-robed girl nodded lightly. "However, the master preferred to call himself 'Mountain Daoist', an honorific title bestowed upon him by the great Origin Saint."

Mountain Daoist? Origin Saint? Bestowed?

Wu Yuan's eyes widened, realizing these were inconceivable secrets. He had heard True Saint Taiyuan mention the Origin Saint once before, referring to them as an invincible existence.

"Enough. There’s little use discussing these ancient secrets further," the white-robed boy said coolly. "Kid, we don't care how you got here, but since you've arrived, we'll follow the rules set by Master. We'll give you one chance, just like the few successors throughout history who passed the nine trials to reach this place."

"What chance?" Wu Yuan asked.

"The chance to become a Dao Master," the red-robed girl revealed an innocent smile. "If you succeed, you may have the opportunity to inherit Master's mantle in the future, becoming the new Dao Master, reaching the pinnacle of existence in the megaverse, having your name praised by countless lifeforms, and leaving your mark eternally upon the many rivers of space and time.

“Your lifespan will be as eternal as the Great Daos! Heaven and earth may decay, but you will not. All things may perish, but you will endure," the red-robed girl declared.

Eternal? Enduring?

Wu Yuan thought silently.

Then how did the Creation Dao Master die?

"And if I fail?" Wu Yuan asked. He had gathered that several other successors had already arrived before him.

"Naturally, they all died. Wielding the Authority of Creation represents enforcing a facet of the Primordial Rules. It is glory, but also shackles," the white-robed boy said softly. "It is a responsibility, but also a heavy burden. Those who cannot bear this burden will naturally be crushed beneath it."

Wu Yuan's pupils constricted slightly.

"Don't worry too much," the red-robed girl grinned. "To become a Dao Master, one must first achieve eternity. You're still far from that level. For now, you only need to leave a strand of your imprint upon the Authority of the Great Dao.

“Of course, you'll most likely fail. If you do fail, you'll suffer the backlash of the Great Dao and die, but we will resurrect you. However, your insights into the Dao of Creation will be completely assimilated and erased," the red-robed girl smiled.

"Losing your Dao comprehension won't kill you immediately," the white-robed boy said coolly. "You'll be able to live until the end of this samsara cycle of heaven and earth before dying at least."