Chapter 430 - 385: Execution

Qi Yun stood with his eyes closed.

In that instant, the aura around him began to surge explosively, at a speed that even made the Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch’s eyes narrow slightly!

His Deep Blue Daoist Robe billowed without any wind, its corners whipping about. The edges of the fluttering fabric were entwined with a Dao Radiance woven from Cyan Gold and bright yellow.

His long hair, unbound by any crown, now flew upwards as if held by an invisible hand, each strand streaming with a Chaos-colored glow at its tip.

Beneath his skin, his meridians lit up.

It was not the crystalline glimmer of a Star River flowing, as seen when ordinary Cultivators circulate their energy, but a noble, bright yellow brilliance.

It was the brand of the Grand Emperor Profound Vault.

BOOM—!!!

The moment the final strand of Profound Emperor Dao Radiance was devoured by his Purple Mansion, Qi Yun opened his eyes.

Those eyes.

Within their originally deep and boundless Cyan Gold depths, a ball of bright yellow light had suddenly ignited!

That yellow light was blazing, domineering, and incomparably sharp!

Like an emperor who had slept for eons, suddenly opening his eyes in his sarcophagus!

Two divine radiances—the vast Cyan Gold and the domineering bright yellow—collided violently in the depths of Qi Yun’s pupils!

No annihilation.

No repulsion.

Instead, like two primordial divine rivers from different sources meeting at the crossroads of fate, they crashed, entwined, and spiraled together!

The Cyan Gold was yin, the bright yellow was yang.

Yin: Commanding All Skills, encompassing all phenomena, vast as an abyss, deep as the sea.

Yang: attacking and destroying, singularly focused and pure, like a sword, like a blade.

Two Dao Rhymes, diametrically opposed yet from the same Venerable source, slowly spun in his pupils. Their trajectories, profoundly natural, faintly outlined a—

Taiji Diagram!

When the Taiji Diagram first formed, it was still unstable.

The Cyan Gold and bright yellow fought savagely, each trying to devour the other and occupy the entire territory of his pupils!

This was a Dao conflict!

A silent war between two Venerable Dao paths, fighting for dominance within the same body, the same Dao Heart!

Qi Yun’s brow furrowed tightly. His aura fluctuated violently, one moment vast as the sea, the next sharp as a blade.

The Grand Emperor Profound Vault Dao Foundation in his palm had completely dissipated.

But the final wisp of will from before its dissipation still stubbornly lingered in the depths of his Heart and Spirit:

’Grand Emperor Profound Vault...’

’First in attack...’

’When Venerables fight... the victor... is honored...’

That was the final maxim left behind by this Dao Foundation, which had been lost for eons, before it completely dissolved.

Qi Yun closed his eyes.

Deep within his Ancestral Acupoint between his brows, the Primordial True Body trembled slightly.

A stream of chaotic immortal light flowed from its source. Guided by his will, it fell into the eyes where the silent Dao conflict was taking place.

Like a Stabilizing Needle dropped into a churning ocean.

The high-speed, nearly out-of-control Taiji Diagram of Cyan Gold and bright yellow suddenly froze.

Immediately after, with the chaotic immortal light as its core, it found its balance once more.

The speed of its rotation slowed.

The intensity of the struggle lessened.

The noble, bright yellow light plundered from the Grand Emperor Profound Vault was finally devoured.

Like a raging river flowing into an even more boundless sea.

The sea was still the color of Cyan Gold, but in its greatest depths, an immortal killing intent from the Grand Emperor Profound Vault had settled.

Qi Yun slowly opened his eyes.

In his eyes, the Taiji Diagram had vanished, returning to the vastness of Cyan Gold.

But upon closer inspection, flashes of bright yellow light could be seen streaking like meteors through the Cyan Gold depths—it was a sharpness that had been absorbed into his system, brought under his command.

He looked down at his palm.

And at that very moment.

Before Qi Yun’s eyes, the Magic Technique Panel—an interface existing between illusion and reality, visible only to him—silently appeared.

A radiant light flowed across it.

Habitually, he cast his gaze to the very top, to the line of information representing his progress in Daluo Heaven.

Then.

His gaze froze.

[Daluo Heaven: 3.2% → 81.7%]

Over eighty percent.

A full eighty percent.

He had been looking at this panel for several decades.

Dozens of years.

He had stood guard over the Wuji Holy Sect, wielding the authority of the Demon Dao’s Champion Scholar. He had split off his Dharma Body to venture deep into the treacherous Spirit Mountain. He had fought with his life on the line, clashing with Fruit Positions in the All Marvelous Heaven to seize the Bodhisattva’s Golden Nature...

And the progress bar had been increasing.

At an almost despairing pace.

From 0.8% to 1.3%.

From 1.3% to 2.1%.

From 2.1% to 3.2%.

Several decades.

Less than three percent.

He had calculated it once.

At this rate, without some fortuitous encounter, he would need at least—

Three thousand years.

Three thousand years of time passing, three thousand years of bitter cultivation, only then would Daluo Heaven reach Perfection and trigger another update.

Three thousand years.

By then, even if he hadn’t passed away, his vitality would have long since decayed, his Dao path nearing its twilight.

A single Venerable Dao Foundation.

Had shortened that long three-thousand-year road to less than twenty percent remaining, in an instant.

Qi Yun stared at the glaring numbers, speechless for a long time.

’A pity...’

He murmured to himself. In this Microcosmic Cave Heaven, which had yet to fully calm from the aftershocks of the Dao conflict, his voice sounded exceptionally clear, and exceptionally... heavy.

’This Venerable Dao Foundation only contained Dao Essence; no one had ever cultivated it.

’If it had been a Great Master who had successfully cultivated this Grand Emperor Profound Vault Dao Foundation, and I had performed Refinement on him, I could have definitely pushed Daluo Heaven directly to a new version.’

Before his words had faded, Qi Yun shook his head and chuckled. "But if that were the case, it’s hard to say who would have won and who would have lost."

’Being first in attack among the Twelve Venerable Ones was no joke.’

’Uncontrolled, it was already this tyrannical.’

’If it were truly a Great Master who had cultivated it...’

He raised his head.

His eyes, now restored to their Cyan Gold vastness, were no longer looking at his palm or the panel. Instead, they pierced through the barriers of the Microcosmic Cave Heaven and gazed toward—

The unseen Great Dao in the unseen world, which he had just faintly sensed.

It was a path.

A path he had never walked, a path he had never even seen clearly recorded in any scripture.

It lay beyond the myriad Daos.

Above the long river of karma.

In a place higher, more distant, and more ethereal than the All Marvelous Heaven.

That path had been silent for eons.

No footprints, no sound, no living person had ever set foot upon it.

But just now, at the very moment he completed the Refinement of the Grand Emperor Profound Vault—

His foot had stepped onto it.

It was not that he chose to walk onto it.

Rather, the path itself had extended to his feet.

Qi Yun was silent, feeling the faint, almost imperceptible "pull" from beneath his feet.

The pull was very light.

As light as a friend’s pat on the shoulder, or a master’s tap on the forehead.

But he knew what it was.

It was karma.

It was a Dao conflict.

It was—

"When Venerables fight, the victor is honored."

He slowly recited these six words, his voice calm and steady, as if stating a fundamental law of Heaven and Earth.

’Between Venerable Dao Foundations... it is a struggle to the death.’

’Once it begins, it cannot end.’

’Unless only the final victor remains.’

’Otherwise, everyone on this path will walk it forever.’

’Until—’

He paused.

’Only one is left.’

Within the Microcosmic Cave Heaven, the milky-white, glowing ground was now completely calm.

The Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch sat cross-legged at the edge of the cave heaven. His eternally circulating great sun projection silently illuminated the space, which was still steeped in the aftereffects of the Dao conflict.

He listened to Qi Yun’s monologue without interrupting.

But deep within his warm and gentle eyes, a faint trace of solemnity flickered.

’A battle of Venerables.’

Though he was not the bearer of a Venerable Dao Foundation, as Qi Yun’s Dharma Body, their sources were connected, and their karma was intertwined.

He could faintly perceive the path Qi Yun had stepped onto.

’It’s a path of no return.’

Once taken, there was no turning back.

Either one devoured all fellow travelers on the path to become the sole, unprecedented Supreme True Monarch.

Or—

Be devoured.

Qi Yun stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the cave heaven’s Celestial Vault—a sky with no sun or moon, only light.

Deep within his vast Cyan Gold eyes, there was no fear, no retreat, not even a hint of sentimentality.

Only an undercurrent of surging—anticipation!

"So be it."

He spoke softly, his voice not loud, but carrying a decisiveness that severed all hesitation.

"Since I am already on the road, there is no reason to turn back."

"Whether this road leads to a bottomless abyss or the supreme summit—"

"I will know the answer when I walk to the end."

He slowly retracted his gaze and looked down.

His palm lifted slightly.

His five fingers unfurled.

A wisp of radiant light slowly precipitated from the Spirit Vein in his palm.

When the light first appeared, it was a bright yellow.

Pure, blazing, and incomparably sharp.

It was precisely the Divine Power Skill he had gained through the Refinement of the Grand Emperor Profound Vault Dao Foundation.

The wisp of bright yellow light hovered and spun an inch above his palm.

With each rotation, it emitted a terrifying sharpness that made the void stagnate and karma tremble.

It was too sharp.

So sharp that its mere existence caused the not-yet-fully-healed cut on Qi Yun’s palm to silently split open again.

The Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch, sitting at the edge of the cave heaven, watched the wisp of bright yellow light from afar, a hint of gravity appearing on his brow.

He sensed it.

’The Divine Power Skill contained not an ordinary Attacking Technique.’

’But the fundamental Daoist Intent of the Grand Emperor Profound Vault!’

’Singularly focused and pure, only advancing, never retreating, cutting down all obstacles in its path.’

’If Daluo Heaven is the imperial throne that Commands All Skills...’

’...then this Divine Power Skill is the Imperial Sword hanging from the throne room’s ceiling, meant specifically to execute treacherous officials.’

Qi Yun gazed at the wisp of bright yellow light in his palm, his expression calm.

His Heart Thought stirred.

The Magic Technique Panel silently appeared.

As radiant light flowed across it, the wisp of bright yellow light seemed to sense something and suddenly shone brilliantly!

Immediately, a new line of text slowly materialized on the panel. The characters were sharp and exposed, as if carved by a knife and hewn by an axe:

[Execution]

Qi Yun’s gaze lingered on this line of text for a moment.

"Execution..."

He softly spoke the name, his voice not loud, but carrying a strange rhythm that seemed to resonate with the very source of this Divine Power Skill.

The wisp of bright yellow light trembled gently in his palm.

Qi Yun raised his eyes.

He looked toward the Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch, who sat at the edge of the cave heaven, bathed in Infinite Light.

That warm and compassionate face, that eternally circulating great sun projection, that Daoist Inheritance Dharma Body which shared his own source yet existed independently.

A faint curve slowly formed at the corner of Qi Yun’s mouth.

"Fellow Daoist Da Ri."

He spoke, his voice not loud, yet it clearly pierced through every stream of light flowing in the cave heaven and fell upon the Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch’s ears.

"Come and test this skill with me."

These seven words, once spoken, were like seven chess pieces gently placed upon a Cyan Jade Chessboard.

A tacit understanding between two who knew each other to the core, rendering more words unnecessary.

Upon hearing this, the Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch slowly opened his eyes, which had been half-closed.

He looked at Qi Yun, at the wisp of bright yellow light in Qi Yun’s palm, and at the vast Cyan Gold in Qi Yun’s eyes, where the killing will of the Grand Emperor Profound Vault had settled.

He smiled faintly.

The smile was as gentle as a spring breeze, as clear as colored glaze.

"Good."

With that single word, he slowly rose from his Golden Flame Lotus Platform.

Barefoot, he stepped into the void. With every step, a pure and flawless White Lotus bloomed naturally beneath his feet.

The White Lotus spun, scattering an essence of purity and tranquility.

However, when this essence touched the invisible sharpness emanating from the wisp of bright yellow light in Qi Yun’s palm, it melted away silently, like spring snow under a scorching sun.

The Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch came to a stop.

He did not use any Divine Techniques, nor did he activate his eternally circulating great sun projection.

He simply stood with his hands behind his back, waiting quietly.

Qi Yun also did not move.

He just quietly held the wisp of bright yellow light in his palm, his gaze fixed on the Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch.

The two stood no more than thirty feet apart.

Within the cave heaven, the milky-white, glowing ground seemed to sense some terrifying sharpness that was about to descend—a power sufficient to shake this microcosm of a world—

And began to tremble slightly.

...