Chapter 355: The Old Dao Traversing the Myriad Worlds

Just as Duan Fei was about to ask for details, he saw the Old Dao’s expression change. The old man grabbed him and they began racing through the scroll paintings.

They raced continuously from one scroll painting to the next, each one a different world, leaving Duan Fei’s head spinning from the sheer spectacle.

One moment he was weaving through a crowded city, and the next he was transported into a vast, sandy desert.

Then, with a ripple from the Old Dao, the sand transformed into seawater, plunging Duan Fei into an endless ocean until he sank to the very bottom.

The constant scene changes made everything a chaotic blur for Duan Fei.

By the time the Old Dao finally stopped, Duan Fei still felt like everything was spinning. It took a long while for his vision to settle.

Only then did Duan Fei realize he was in a barren desert. A shockingly large full moon hung overhead, making the surrounding sand glitter like grains of salt.

The Old Dao pulled Duan Fei down to sit on the ground with him. He looked at Duan Fei and asked, “You came from my apprentice’s world? Interesting. You have absolutely no Cultivation, yet you managed to ascend. What trick did you use?”

“You call escaping a scroll painting ‘ascension’?” Duan Fei asked in surprise.

“And why wouldn’t it be?” the Old Dao said, scratching his hairy leg. “Transcending one’s original world to enter the greater world—how is that not ascension? But I must say, I truly am exceptionally gifted. To think I even managed to ascend from a world with such pathetic Spirituality.”

“Then why did you ascend?”

“To find Spirituality,” the Old Dao said with a smile. “Since you’ve ascended, you should be able to see it too. Every world has its own Spirituality. The more Spirituality a world has, the higher it floats. The less Spirituality it has, the lower it sinks. Once it sinks to a certain level, the world gets devoured, and everything in it vanishes completely.”

Recalling what he had just witnessed, Duan Fei nodded. It was exactly as the old man described.

“Since you ascended from my world, you must know its history. Our world used to be up there, one of the top-tier worlds. But a war between the Immortals left it riddled with wounds, and its Spirituality drained away far too quickly. Many Immortals fled, transcending to other worlds. This process siphoned off even more Spirituality, causing our world to sink lower and lower. In the end, it was on the brink of annihilation.”

“So that’s what happened. No wonder you had to shed your body to ascend. But the Evil Corpse you left behind is atrocious. It’s nearly impossible to kill.”

“I agree. What can I say? I’m a peerless genius, so naturally, my Evil Corpse is too.”

Seeing the Old Dao look so smug, Duan Fei swung his Crowbar and lopped off a few strands of the old man’s beard.

Scrambling away in a sorry state, the Old Dao yelled, “Why are you so violent, you little brat! What if you’d killed me?”

“You’ve already shed your body once. Why not die again and do the world a favor? Now, tell me, how do we get rid of your Evil Corpse?”

“It’s impossible.”

Sitting back down, the Old Dao scratched his head, looking troubled. “That Evil Corpse is the physical body I left behind when I shed my mortal form. What I am now is the primordial spirit. As long as I exist, my Evil Corpse will exist. Even if you chop my physical body to bits, the Evil Corpse will just revive.”

“Oh, I get it. So we just have to kill you.”

Seeing Duan Fei get ready to strike, the Old Dao’s face went pale. He quickly shouted, “Don’t be so rash, young man! What’s wrong with letting me live?”

“There’s plenty wrong with it. I think you’d both be better off dead.”

“Stop fooling around! I’m planning to find some Spirituality and go back to replenish my old world. So just hold on a bit, thank you very much.”

Gesturing for Duan Fei to sit down again, the Old Dao continued, “Besides, leaving the Evil Corpse behind has another benefit: it helps me endure my tribulations. The whole process is a little complicated. You could say I discovered a ‘system.’ This system lets you Descenders help deal with the Evil Corpse, which in turn provides me with the Energy I need to operate out here.”

After the Old Dao’s explanation, Duan Fei finally understood the old man’s purpose here.

The world was in shambles, its Spirituality lost, and the Old Dao’s only apprentice, the Little Daoist, was trapped inside, unable to escape.

If the world was destroyed, his apprentice would be too. So, he had no choice but to risk shedding his body and leaving to find Spirituality in the outside world to replenish his own.

The Evil Corpse created by this process wasn’t a complete waste, either. The poisonous food provided by Cuihua had an effect on it similar to enduring and resolving a tribulation, which in turn generated a special kind of Energy that allowed the Old Dao to move about in the world outside the scrolls.

Now that he understood, Duan Fei had to admit the old man was quite a genius.

Most people couldn’t even begin to understand this system, yet the Old Dao had managed to exploit it. It was a truly brilliant move.

Then, Duan Fei asked, “You’ve seen it yourself. Your original world is a wreck. It’s basically worthless. Is there really any point in saving it?”

“I have no choice. I’ve got a hopeless apprentice in there. I have to save him,” the Old Dao sighed.

“Fair enough. So who are you constantly hiding from? You even dragged me all the way out here.”

“Shh… It’s someone whose name must not be spoken.”

“Voldemort? Or that transfer student?”

“What the hell? I’m talking about the Heavenly Dao!”

The moment the words left his mouth, the Old Dao’s expression changed dramatically.

Everything around them began to contract. The passages between worlds were sealed, and something from the outside was rushing straight for them.

“My life is bitter!”

With a mournful cry, the Old Dao grabbed Duan Fei and continued to flee for his life.

It was only then that Duan Fei noticed several rays of golden light shimmering above the Old Dao’s head. Each time they jumped to a new location, one of the rays would dim slightly.

After a few jumps, the dimmed ray of light would shatter, and the process would begin anew, weakening the next ray of light. This repeated over and over.

When they reached a snow-covered mountain, the Old Dao finally stopped, shivering. He shot Duan Fei a resentful look. “See? This is all your fault! Why’d you have to go and say his name?”

“Is the Heavenly Dao really that terrifying?”

“You said it again! Wait… Why is there no Reaction when you say it? Who are you to him?”

The Old Dao had been about to run again, but when he saw that nothing happened after Duan Fei spoke, he couldn’t help but marvel at it.

He sat down in the snow and pulled out some fine wine and meat he’d apparently snagged during their escape. He draped a cotton overcoat over his shoulders and tossed one to Duan Fei.

Inviting Duan Fei to sit, he pointed a finger. The golden light above his head flickered, and the snow around them rose up to form a small igloo, enclosing them both.

Then, as if by magic, he produced a small stove. He sliced some high-quality pork belly, and in no time, it was sizzling on the grill.

‘Okay, that has to be it.’

But then the Old Dao pulled out crisp lettuce, a secret-recipe chili powder, and sliced purple garlic. Only then did he finally sit down, grinning. “Here, have some.”

“You’re really this picky at a time like this?!”

“It’s one of the few pleasures I have left.”

“I thought your pleasure was female ghosts?”

“That’s for after the meal.”

Seeing the Old Dao start to eat, Duan Fei could only sit down and join him.