Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Chapter 1971: Final Confrontation II: Learning Curve

Wu Hong messaged Han Guo and the Holy Lord, ordering them to speed up; she also told them to prepare for the worst. Once the Red Cloud has consumed its territory, the court's will be next. After spending so much time reviving this timeline, Wu Hong couldn't just watch as everything and everybody perished.

"Now is not the time to be distracted," Lady Ai suddenly said.

"I'm not."

"Good. If —"

"What's Gu Chang'an's limiter?"

"His what?"

"He's not a Dao Sovereign, right? That means he must have anchored his Dao to something to pass the Outlaw Trial."

"Oh, you mean his Dao Suppressing Item? It's the library."

"This library?"

"Yes," Lady Ai replied, nodding. "But if you want to destroy it, you might need to rethink this plan. I've already tried that."

"That explains the fighting marks I saw in the hallway. But why did you fail?"

"Well, for starters, Gu Chang'an has refined this library to the limit. I even think he's used a unique material that can not only heal itself but also expel Saint Wills. Secondly, the library is fused with his Dao Source, meaning—"

"Destroying requires also destroying the source."

"Exactly."

"You might not have been able to destroy it, but that doesn't mean I can't. And even if I can't, I should be able to seal it."

"Oh? And where does this confidence originate from?"

"A Dao Source Prototype."

"...That might work."

Bang!

Gu Chang'an made his move: trillions of magic circles manifested in the air, releasing beams of highly concentrated destruction energy. Wu Hong returned the favor, using the same array or technique. However, it didn't take long for her attack to be overwhelmed, forcing her to seal the beams instead. But even that approach soon proved too much.

With no choice, Wu Hong had to be tactical; she used the sealed beams as an energy source to power her attacks, finally forcing a draw with Gu Chang'an. But such an attack was just the basics for the All-Knowing Emperor. With a gentle tap of his foot, the ground morphed into an ever-expanding pool of death. Wu Hong immediately countered by creating an ever-expanding pool of life, but after a few seconds of confrontation, her technique failed again.

"No, no, no, you're going about this the wrong way," Lady Ai said. "Your objective is not to defeat him in a direct fight — that's not possible even in his current state. Your objective is to display your Dao fully and last long enough until the Omni Cube backlash."

Wu Hong frowned. "I understand the second objective, but what's with the first?"

"Don't worry about that. Now, your primary task is to adapt. You are not a Tribunal Lord and have never fought at this level. In fact, most of your techniques are still in the [Immortal Stage]. What you should be doing is learning from Gu Chang'an while preserving your strength and stamina."

Wu Hong had to admit Lady Ai was correct. All the simulations she did about Gu Chang'an's strength were wrong; it was obvious after only two attacks. According to her original plan, Wu Hong would test Gu Chang'an and gather data on him, and then she'd use some of the trump cards she had prepared to eliminate him. But now, she had to consider Lady Ai's approach.

"Fine. Let's try your approach first."

"Excellent. I can accelerate the learning process by feeding you some of my memories and experiences."

"Send them to Grand Dao, and I'll learn from her." Although they were currently allies, Wu Hong needed to be careful.

"No problem."

Gu Chang'an was not stupid. An eternal truth of this world is that no stupid individual can reach such a height in cultivation. More often than not, emotions, not intelligence, lead to the downfall of powerful cultivators. So, after only a few attacks, he figured out Wu Hong's plan. Well, it was obvious given how quickly her techniques were improving; from his point of view, it was uncanny.

"Katoosei," Gu Chang'an uttered, and everything changed. The hidden rules of Heaven and Earth suddenly became highly active, and more importantly, they began offering their highest blessings to Gu Chang'an. The All-Knowing Emperor pointed his finger and released a beam with so much power that Wu Hong had no choice but to tap into the power of obsession to barely block it.

"What the hell is that?"

"The Genesis Language — damn it, I didn't think he'd used it so quickly."

"You mean the language spoken by Genesis Lifeforms?"

"Yes. In the old days, there was no Grand Dao Source, and so these creatures were born connected to the [Source Rules]."

"Source Rules?"

"You can think of it as the Grand Dao Source and the hidden rules combined."

"So, the first laws — the ones that exist in the beginning of the Chaos Universe," Wu Hong added.

"Exactly. The Source Rules technically no longer exist, but the power of the Genesis Language can affect Heaven and Earth's hidden rules."

Wu Hong remembered Wang Wei telling him how Madman Chu used a weird language to bypass True Heavenly Dao's blockage in the lower dimension; it's probably the same language.

"Do you have a way to deal with it?"

"Hmm, let me think."

"Forget it: I'll deal with it myself," Wu Hong said. She kept evading these attacks, hoping that they would do some damage to the library. As much as it pained her to destroy such a vault of knowledge, it was better than leaving it in Gu Chang'an's hands. Unfortunately, these attacks didn't leave a scratch on the library. In fact, Wu Hong felt the walls absorb the attacks and strengthen themselves.

While evading, Wu Hong pointed her fingers to manifest four black cubes that surrounded Gu Chang'an. Under her control, they rushed from the four directions, trying to box him in.

"You think you can seal me? How ridiculous." With a flick of his wrist, four beams hit the cubes, expected to disintegrate them. But the expected outcome didn't happen; instead, the large cubes turned into smaller cubes that flew toward Gu Chang'an at unimaginable speed. As someone the hidden rules loved and protected, the attack failed to land as a white shield automatically appeared around him.

Wu Hong didn't mind the failure and kept condensing the tiny cubes to attack, trying to foolishly penetrate what seemed like an impenetrable defense.

"What's your plan exactly?" Lady Ai asked.

"Keep quiet."

"Alright then."

Gu Chang'an frowned. While the speed of these cubes was interesting, the technique was shoddy overall. Was this the extent of Wu Hong's abilities? Had he given her too much credit? For a moment, Gu Chang'an doubted his judgment, but swiftly realized something was wrong.

"This is just a charade — she's planning something else."

Boom!

A powerful shockwave spread outward from his body, eliminating everything in its path. Since he could barely react to the cube's speed, Gu Chang'an chose to use an attack with a wide area of effect, destroying everything in his surroundings. Unfortunately for him, it was too late.

"Katoosei," Wu Hong uttered, and the hidden rules blessed her.

"What?" Lady Ai exclaimed.

"Impossoble!" Gu Chang'an looked at her as if he had seen a ghost. "Even if you had used the Best Copy Spell in the world, there is no way you could copy my technique, especially in such a short period. No, this must be an illusion."

Wu Hong glanced at him and just sneered. Under normal circumstances, that would be true. Unfortunately, Gu Chang'an overlooked something: her foundation was the Alpha Rune — the very first word or language spoken. There is no better match for the Genesis Language than the concept of the Alpha Rune. Wu Hong has been pondering how to optimize or perfect the rune, and lo and behold, Gu Chang'an suddenly provided the best material.

"Great, great, oh, great," Lady Ai proclaimed. "Gu Chang'an has another similar technique. I'll transfer the memory to you; see if you can copy it."

Grand Dao's remnants soon received a new memory that Wu Hong swiftly processed. As previously stated, the Genesis Language was truly the perfect fit for the Alpha Rune, almost like a glove and a hand. So, in even less time than it took her to learn the first one, Wu Hong mastered this technique.

"Badaami," she uttered. Heaven and Earth's hidden rules immediately became inert, which not only canceled out the previous blessing, but all subsequent Saint Techniques and Saint Arts had their potency dramatically reduced.

"Hahaha," Lady Ai's jovial voice spread through the throne room. "Gu Chang'an, oh, Gu Chang'an: you're not only inferior to her in the utilization of knowledge, but even your learning ability is subpar. When it comes to Heaven Dao, you are truly mediocre. Hahahaha."

"Okay. You want to rile me up? Good, you've succeeded." Gu Chang'an raised his hand to condense a red ball the size of a tennis ball. Wu Hong's expression changed as that small ball represented that a quarter of the entire timeline had been instantly wiped out.

Without saying another word, Gu Chang'an crushed the ball, turning it into the purest power that reinforced the seal he had placed on the Omni Cube. His aura skyrocketed, but his face also turned paler than snow.