Translator: CinderTL
Outside the True Dragon Great World, the Starry Sky Group had secretly established a hidden Star Gate for covert operations.
Tian Heng of the Supreme Research Institute, Xu Yun of the False God Hall, Han Lan of the Starry Sky Group, and Tai Chu of the Immortal Alliance—four dao unification experts—simultaneously emerged through the gate.
"We've arrived at the True Dragon Great World," Dao Venerable Tai Chu said with a faint smile.
"We must thank Director Han Lan," Professor Tian Heng added. "His high-level authority allows him to freely activate any Star Gate. Without his assistance, we wouldn't have reached the True Dragon Great World so quickly."
Director Han Lan's expression remained grim. "Yet your Supreme Research Institute's handling of the Great Void Ancestral Dragon has been less than satisfactory. He's shown signs of defying orders. Why didn't you impose more restraints on him?"
Professor Tian Heng, recalling the Great Void Ancestral Dragon's recent actions, adopted a suitably awkward expression. "He is, after all, an innate divine being who successfully achieved dao unification and has generally been cooperative. The Supreme Research Institute couldn't treat him like a prisoner. While there are methods to restrain him, these measures are solely under the institute director's control."
"Alright, we're all here. According to the latest news from the False God Realm, the Great Void Ancestral Dragon has already engaged Li Shengsheng in battle. And it seems the fight has spilled from within the True Dragon Great World to beyond its borders?"
Dao Venerable Xu Yun frowned. "What does 'beyond the True Dragon Great World' even mean? Outside the True Dragon Great World, the Great Void Ancestral Dragon can unleash its full power. Li Chunjun hasn't achieved dao unification yet. How could he possibly contend with a divine sage who embodies both the Void and Soul Daos?"
The other three shared his skepticism.
However, Professor Tian Heng, now outside the True Dragon Great World, was less concerned with Li Chunjun's strength and more focused on...
"Where's the Great Void Ancestral Dragon?"
Professor Tian Heng scanned the surroundings. "The Great Void Ancestral Dragon's true form is comparable in scale to a Lesser Domain. By now, we should be able to observe it easily from outside the True Dragon Great World. So where has this divine sage gone?"
Professor Tian Heng's astonishment was mirrored by Tai Chu and Xu Yun.
"How can such a massive Great Void Ancestral Dragon just vanish?"
"I checked the False God Realm earlier. The Great Void Ancestral Dragon was fine just moments ago... Someone was still observing its true form."
The two Dao Unification experts exchanged uneasy glances.
Han Lan urged Tian Heng, "Use the Supreme Research Institute's internal high-level communication channel. We're already outside the True Dragon Great World—is the Great Void Ancestral Dragon still playing hide-and-seek? Could he be trying to monopolize Li Chunjun's innate divine being?"
Professor Tian Heng, also considering this possibility, immediately contacted the Supreme Research Institute with a grave expression.
Just then, Dao Venerable Xu Yun, who had been harboring discontent, suddenly sensed something amiss.
"Wait, something's wrong. My personal understanding of the Great Void Ancestral Dragon is fading. Has a Dao Venerable of the Grand Dao of Karma severed my karmic connection with him?!" he exclaimed.
"A Dao Venerable of the Grand Dao of Karma? There aren't many of them..." Dao Venerable Tai Chu instinctively replied.
But halfway through his response, he realized...
His own understanding of the Great Void Ancestral Dragon was also gradually blurring.
"No! It's not just you—my karmic connection with the Great Void Ancestral Dragon has been severed too!"
Before Dao Venerable Tai Chu could speak, Director Han Lan interjected, "What a formidable technique! This must be the work of the Immeasurable Dao Venerable!"
Though not a Supreme Sovereign, this Dao Venerable was the foremost expert on karma, second only to the progenitor divine being. Among the Human Race, he stood at the very headwaters of the Grand Dao of Karma.
"No! This isn't just the Grand Dao of Karma!" Professor Tian Heng sensed something deeper, his expression grave. "When I spoke with a researcher at the Supreme Research Institute earlier, he claimed there was no record of a 'Great Void Ancestral Dragon'! It was only when I instructed him to contact Dean Ling Hui and ask the Dean to personally verify the Great Void Ancestral Dragon's existence that he finally remembered..."
He concluded with a heavy declaration: "Our perceptions have been distorted!"
"Cognitive distortion? A dual practitioner of the Grand Dao of Karma and the great dao of the soul? That can only be the Supreme Sovereign of Destiny. He achieved supreme sovereignty through the three great daos of karma, soul, and reincarnation. While his mastery of karma doesn't match the Immeasurable Dao Venerable's, his karmic attainments remain exceptionally profound..." Dao Venerable Xu Yun remarked.
As a Dao Venerable of the False God Hall, responsible for nearly all intelligence gathering within the Human Race, he possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of every being who had achieved dao unification or higher.
The others listened, agreeing that only the Supreme Sovereign of Destiny could accomplish such a feat. Yet...
"The Supreme Sovereign of Destiny has already ventured deep into the great dao river. We haven't heard of him ever emerging from it. And why would the Great Void Ancestral Dragon provoke him?"
"Could the divine sage be backed by the Supreme Sovereign of Destiny? But isn't he a disciple of the Profound Yellow Supreme Sovereign, under his protection at Profound Yellow's invitation? Yet Profound Yellow and the Supreme Sovereign of Destiny have no known ties."
The Dao Venerables were filled with bewilderment and disbelief.
At that moment, Dao Venerable Tian Heng seemed to sense something, his expression subtly shifting.
A Heart-Mind fluctuation emanated from a communication dao artifact on his person, materializing into a holographic projection of a middle-aged woman.
Upon seeing the image, Xu Yun, Tai Chu, and Han Lan simultaneously bowed slightly. "Spirit Wisdom Supreme Sovereign."
While Dao Venerables might not be inferior to Supreme Sovereigns in status—some dao unification experts at the upper reaches of the great dao even disregarded the authority of certain Supreme Sovereigns—most still showed respect to those who had pioneered the path of cultivation.
Spirit Wisdom Supreme Sovereign nodded slightly.
But then he delivered news that shook the four Dao Venerables to their core.
"The Great Void Ancestral Dragon's soul lamp has extinguished. He has fallen."
The words hung in the air like a thunderclap. Not only the other three dao unification experts but even Professor Tian Heng froze in shock.
"Fallen?!"
In the next instant, the Heart-Minds of the four Dao Venerables surged with turmoil.
"How could he have fallen? He was perfectly fine just moments ago, right outside the True Dragon Great World..."
"Dean Ling Hui, could you be mistaken? How many years has it been since a dao unification being of the Human Race fell?"
"When a dao unification being falls, the great dao they embodied is released into the great dao river, inevitably causing ripples that would be sensed by any Dao Venerable specializing in the Void Dao!"
Xu Yun interjected urgently, "Moreover, these ripples would project into the Cosmic Void, causing the Cosmos to mourn with a cataclysmic resonance comparable to the destruction of an entire Great World. This event would be observable by Dao Venerables across at least half of the Human Territory. Yet we were just outside the True Dragon Great World and felt nothing of the kind—no cosmic upheaval originating from the great dao river."
He turned to Spirit Wisdom Supreme Sovereign. "Could there be a malfunction with his soul lamp?"
"I had the same suspicion and asked Professor Myriad Realms to verify it... The Great Void Ancestral Dragon has indeed fallen," Spirit Wisdom Supreme Sovereign declared gravely. "You may contact any Dao Venerables you know who specialize in the Void Dao to confirm this."
The dao unification beings exchanged glances, each seeing disbelief reflected in the others' eyes.
And...
A deeply hidden sliver of terror.
Each Dao Venerable trusted only information they had personally gathered and verified. Thus, after Ling Hui urged them to confirm the truth themselves, they hesitated not a moment before sending out their inquiries.
Fortunately, the Dao Venerables communicated with astonishing speed.
Within moments, they had obtained the answers they sought.
For the first time, even these Dao Venerables, whose hearts were perfected and who treated emotions as bargaining chips, were visibly shaken.
"The Great Void Ancestral Dragon... has indeed vanished from the Void Dao! He's truly fallen!"
"What exactly happened? Which Supreme Sovereign intervened? Judging by the cognitive distortion techniques used, the Supreme Sovereign of Destiny is the most likely culprit."
"Even if the Supreme Sovereign of Destiny struck, how could the Great Void Ancestral Dragon fail to send even a single message? Not even an Ultimate Powerhouse could silently annihilate a Dao Venerable! Especially one like the Great Void Ancestral Dragon, who wielded both the Void and Soul Daos and was far from weak among those who had achieved Dao Unification!"
One by one, the Dao Venerables voiced their speculations, revealing their own understanding of the situation.
The Great Void Ancestral Dragon... had actually fallen?!
A Dao Venerable, fallen so silently...
Even though these Dao Venerables had lived for tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of years, the thought of such a scenario sent a chill down their spines. The proverb "when the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" rang true in this moment.
"I want to know who it was too," Spirit Wisdom Supreme Sovereign said, his Heart-Mind momentarily faltering. "Based on the information I've gathered so far... no Supreme Sovereign attacked the Great Void Ancestral Dragon, nor did any supreme powerhouse. In fact, just as you all suspected, even an Ultimate Powerhouse would find it nearly impossible to silently eliminate a Dao Venerable as powerful as the Great Void Ancestral Dragon."
"Who was it? Who could have done this?" Dao Venerable Tai Chu's gaze swept across their surroundings.
Under the perception of the Grand Dao, there was no dao unification presence nearby. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he felt a primal dread.
It was as if some terrifying entity lay hidden in the shadows, biding its time. One misstep... and this Dao Venerable, who had only lived for sixty million years, would meet the same fate as the Great Void Ancestral Dragon—a silent, unnoticed demise.
At that moment, Dao Venerable Xu Yun suddenly spoke: "After eliminating all impossibilities, the remaining possibility, however improbable, must be the truth."
As soon as Xu Yun spoke, the Dao Venerables quickly realized who he was referring to.
"You mean..."
"Li Chunjun!"
Xu Yun nodded.
The Dao Venerables' pupils constricted.
Professor Tian Heng couldn't help but lose his composure. "How is that possible? He hasn't even achieved dao unification yet..."
"Don't forget," Xu Yun said, "the intelligence we gathered recently showed that the battlefield between Li Chunjun and the Great Void Ancestral Dragon extended beyond the True Dragon Great World itself. If he wasn't absolutely certain of his capabilities, would Li Chunjun have dared to leave the True Dragon Great World and confront a dao unification true body head-on?"
"But he clearly hasn't achieved dao unification... We haven't heard of anyone successfully achieving it in recent years..." Professor Tian Heng protested.
"Our understanding has been distorted!" Xu Yun declared. "Just as our perception of the Great Void Ancestral Dragon was nearly twisted, Li Chunjun has achieved dao unification through means we cannot comprehend!"
He paused, his Heart-Mind trembling with solemnity. "And upon achieving dao unification, he immediately displayed the power to slay the Great Void Ancestral Dragon through unimaginable methods!"
(End of the Chapter)
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