Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Chapter 1974: Final Confrontation V: Makeshift Dao Source

Wu Hong once again fired the Six Luminous Cannon, and this time around, she not only concentrated the cannon's power to increase its potency, but also added the power of hope. However, her efforts proved useless. Gu Chang'an didn't even move as a semi-transparent shield manifested in front of him and easily blocked the beam.

"This is bad."

"Don't you think I know this?" Wu Hong snapped. Just a second ago, such an attack would have decimated Gu Chang'an, and now, he can casually block it.

"He's regaining his peak strength," Lady Ai continued. "At this rate, it won't be long before his strength reaches 1-2 pulses."

"What was it at his peak?" Probably 9-10?"

"Is that considered third step strength?"

"Yes, and no. The weakest Grand Dao Saint has 150 Heavenly Pulses, but sometimes they get injured, or something goes wrong with their cultivation, resulting in their strength dropping below that number."

"I see. I —"

Gu Chang'an's madness did not stop. After swallowing over 80% of the Myriad Vitality Timeline, he felt it wasn't enough. So, opened his mouth and inhaled. The Red Mother and all her trillions of Destructo Beasts turned into a red light that flew into his mouth. Wu Hong's expression changed; she reacted swiftly, firing more beams toward the Destructo Beast, but it was useless.

"How long will it take until your plan works?"

"It's not enough," Lady Ai said. "Your display is not enough. Try to buy more time."

"How, though?"

"Don't you have other trump cards?"

"I do, but none of them will work," Wu Hong admitted. She had done her best to overestimate Gu Chang'an's powers, but even then, she still fell short.

"It's my fault. I should have shared with you how powerful he truly was."

Wu Hong ignored these words. Now was not the time to be debating fault; their priority should be finding solutions. Her mind worked in overdrive, trying to deduce a solution. "Should I sacrifice Grand Dao for a burst of strength? But it would be such a shame to lose its aid. Plus, it's the core of the Heavenly Court. If something goes wrong, the aftermath might be dire."

Wu Hong had to think ahead. After this battle, she still has to deal with Three Virtue. And honestly speaking, she didn't fully trust Lady Ai or any of the other Saints. Losing Grand Dao meant she might lose most, if not all, of her Saint strength, leaving her vulnerable.

"Is it time to abandon post?" She had to consider running away. She's done her best for this timeline, and as such, she had no qualms or guilt about abandoning everything. "No, if I run away now, that bastard Gu Chang'an will chase me until the end of the Earth. Not to mention, it's hard to determine whether I would be fast enough to escape in the first place." As of right now, running away should be the last resort. Wu Hong didn't want to use it unless she absolutely had no other choice.

Bang!

While his opponent was deep in thought, Gu Chang'an was still making a major move. He raised his powerful hand and clenched; the world followed his will. The Book World shrank rapidly. And interestingly enough, the smaller the Dao Source, the more concentrated the power Gu Chang'an could mobilize, and the more intense his aura became.

"Damn it, I didn't know he could do that."

Wu Hong ignored her. After seeing Gu Chang'an's actions, she immediately had an idea.

"You thought of something?"

"Yes, and I might need your help."

"Just ask."

Wu Hong raised her hand, and the Six Luminous Cannon collapsed, returning to their previous states of construct projections, which then transformed into a beautiful black armor with six symbols. The Heavenly Court followed up by returning to Wu Hong's Sea of Consciousness.

"That's your idea?"

"Of course not. I —"

Bang!

Gu Chang'an snapped his fingers, releasing a powerful shockwave that sent Wu Hong flying away. The All-Knowing Emperor frowned. His attack was instinctual; he suddenly felt doom approaching, and his body reacted to eliminate the source. "What could she possibly do at this point to threaten me?" No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't think of a solution — unless Ai Luan suddenly broke through to a higher realm. However, Gu Chang'an scoffed at this idea.

"Regardless of the truth, I must eliminate the threat."

Wu Hong did her best to control herself and land steadily on the ground, but the immense pain made her groan. Blood dripped from every orifice, but the armor hid it, making it appear as if she didn't suffer too much.

"Quick, tell me your idea."

W Hong didn't reply, but showed her. A small black bead appeared in the court, followed by her [Awakening]. Lady Ai frowned, not understanding why she summoned a domain, but she continued observing. The 3800 Seals floated from the book and began to fuse with the bead.

"You want to build your own Dao Source using a Domain? How absur — hold on, this might work. Your Dao Source might be a prototype and hasn't evolved into an independent world yet, but it's still a Dao Source. Domains are essentially training wheels for condensing the Dao Source. Although its essence is way weaker than a true source, you can make up for it with your prototype.

"Great, great, this is a wonderful idea. It's perfect for what I —"

Boom!

Wu Hong was sent flying again, crashing on the boundary of the Book World. Gu Chang'an suddenly appeared in front of her and released a barrage of punches.

"Stop talking and help me build it."

"Oh, right. Your approach is wrong. Instead of building a random domain and fusing with the prototype, create a Domain with each seal, then fuse them. Use your soul and Saint Will Prototype to harmonize all the different powers. And if that doesn't work, use Grand Dao's help."

Wu Hong began multitasking. While taking the beating of her life, she was also rapidly building this makeshift Dao Quintessence. Meanwhile, Gu Chang'an's sense of killing kept increasing, forcing his attacks to become even more ruthless.

"No, no, you're doing it wrong. Use the [Harmony With All Phenomena] to combine everything, and your soul should be acting similar to the Heavenly Dao: the controller of all the laws. Yes, yes, that's it. Damn it, why did it suddenly collapse?"

"You're asking me, but who should I ask?"

"Let me think. Everything was proceeding smoothly, and the theory sounded sound; what went wrong?"

"Return to the origin," Gu Chang'an uttered. Wu Hong's armor immediately began to separate from her, making her expression ugly. She immediately sued Grand Dao's authority to suppress these six Grand Constructs. Unfortunately for her, she only had direct control of three of them. As such, three symbols on the armor dissipated, leaving the ones for the River of Fate, River of Time, and Six Paths Samsara.

"Die!"

Wu Hong teleported away, but when she appeared, a hole had appeared on her chest, mirroring Gu Chang'an.

"Thank you." If Lady Ai didn't transfer most of the damage to herself, she wouldn't have survived that punch.

"We're on this together, aren't we?"

"We are."

"You need to fight more defensively from now until I figure out what went wrong."

"No need. I found a solution."

"You did?"

A black bead flew out of Wu Hong's forehead, and as soon as Gu Chang'an saw it, he squinted. The sense of danger was increasing, but weirdly, it wasn't from this bead. Wu Hong was the source, but it didn't appear to be whatever this bead was.

Lady Ai looked at the bead, confused: this was the same method that had previously failed. "What are you —"

The projection of the three constructs appeared around Wu Hong, and they immediately began to resonate with the makeshift Dao Source. Lady Ai shines brilliantly. What better way to create or stabilize a Dao Source than to use another one? And what better source of power are there in the Infinite Trichiliocosm than the Grand Constructs created by the Grand Dao?

The black bead suddenly grew into a small dimension that immediately suppressed the Book World. "Impossible," Gu Chang'an yelled. It was already absurd for a Quasi-Saint to create a Tier 1 Dao Source Prototype, but evolving it to the second tier was simply impossible.

"Yes, yes, that's it," Lady Ai yelled, her voice spreading throughout the Book World. "What are you waiting for? Do you think there is a better inheritor than her?"

Gu Chang'an's expression turned ugly. He reacted swiftly by placing more chains around the Omni Cube, but it was useless. The third-step artifact easily broke free from his control and flew out of his chest, landing between the two of them.

"You saw her talent as well," Lady Ai continued. "She's extremely talented, innovative, has a strong Dao Heart, and is blessed by luck and destiny. The only weakness is her weak cultivation and the fact that she doesn't cultivate Greater Chaos Dao."

1975 Dao Transcending Road

"Nonsense," Gu Chang'an roared. "You are mine and mine alone. I've spent so much time and effort to piece you together. I sacrificed so much. You belong to me. Only to me."

"So what?" Lady Ai countered. "The cube was peacefully waiting for its destined owner, but you forcefully defied destiny by gathering it. Without you, it would still have pieced itself together, but with the right owner."

"Stop speaking nonsense. You think you can reduce all my efforts to something as simple as defying fate? Keep dreaming. I —"

A terrifying suppression suddenly emitted from the cube, forcing Gu Chang'an to stop speaking. A taut silence descended on the battlefield, leaving the cube to keep releasing a humming sound, as if it were deliberating something. No one spoke out loud, waiting for its decision.

"That's your plan?" Wu Hong asked through divine sense.

"Yes. To be honest, I don't think you ever had a chance at defeating Gu Chang'an. If you were dealing with someone of my strength level, yes, but not him. More importantly, even if you could defeat him, there is no way you'd be able to detect his Time Nexus to kill him. The only solution is to use the cube's power and its [Existence Hierarchy] to erase him from this world. Sorry I didn't tell you."

Wu Hong was silent for a few seconds. Lady Ai was right: Gu Chang'an was too powerful. In terms of cultivation, he was truly one breath away from entering the third step. His Dao Quintessence was on the verge of completion, and if not for the flaw in his Dao, he would have already succeeded.

"I understand your plan, and I'm not blaming you, but I have some concerns — mainly about the cube's owner. Is it alive? Why does it still exist? What's its purpose? You should understand more than anyone else the complications of dealing with powers beyond comprehension."

"It's always a good thing to be guarded, but you don't have to worry too much," Lady Ai reassured. "First, your Dao doesn't fit perfectly with the cube, which is not a bad thing. As long as you don't become overly reliant on its power or change your Dao, you'll be fine. More importantly, its owner is most likely dead. According to my research, he entered the [Dao Transcendence Road] and never returned."

"The what?"

"You haven't heard of…oh, right, you're just a Quasi-Saint. Anyway, it's the last step Grand Dao Saints need to take to achieve transcendence. Only by successfully conquering the road can you become a Hongmeng Saint."

Wu Hong's mind began to analyze these words and piece together much previously unknown or missing information. He remembered how the Highest Sovereign couldn't transcend without entering the Primordial Timeline. "Is the Dao Transcending Road in the Primordial Timeline?"

"Um? You're right. Have you heard about it before? Maybe under a different name?"

"No, but I've always theorized why the Primordial Timeline was so valuable. Why does the Grand Dao have so much power and control over all these arrogant and prideful Grand Dao Saints?"

"That's right. But it's not like they are completely without options."

"Oh?"

"Have you heard of the Lost Timeline?"

Wu Hong nodded. "I've heard the name."

"Do you know what happened?"

"I've heard of the most popular theory that they did something so terrible that Grand Dao might have wiped them out. You don't mean?"

"Yes. Their sin was finding alternate paths to the Dao Transcending Road."

"If that's the case, I understand why Grand Dao went to such an extreme."

"Peh! That bitch is just power-hungry and is a control freak," Lady Ai said, not hiding her disdain for Grand Dao. "Anyway, it's not like the operation was a complete failure."

"Oh?"

"There is a surviving group from the incident, and once in a while, they release hidden access to the road. Unfortunately, they haven't shown up in a while, making people speculate that Grand Dao might have successfully wiped them out."

"Maybe they are planning a big move."

"Let's hope so," Lady Ai replied, sighing deeply. "Anyway, aren't you a Primordial Being? You don't have to worry about any of that."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You said it yourself: Grand Dao is a control freak. Do you think she'd allow us to access the road so easily, without any conditions?"

Lady Ai was silent.

"If you look at history, it's apparent that Grand Dao wants people to transcend using her rules and methods to prevent what happened with the second transcendent from occurring again. So, if there isn't already some stringent rule on accessing the road, I'm willing to bet there will be soon."

Wu Hong couldn't help thinking about the Highest Sovereign. The man has gone to such lengths to enter the Primordial Timeline, but in the end, his efforts might be in vain. To enter the Dao Transcending Road, he might have to pay an even greater price than the invasion cost.

"I don't feel bad for you guys at all. You deserve it."

"Where did that come from?"

"From what I know, during the Battle of Lost Timeline, countless timelines came to their defense. Everyone understood it would be beneficial to the entire world if Grand Dao didn't monopolize the road. However, you guys from the Primordial Timeline stayed out of it because it didn't affect you. In fact, many of you even supported Grand Dao."

"I'm not surprised at all," Wu Hong said. "Most cultivators, even Saints, are short-sighted. They would easily sacrifice the future for a short-term benefit. But why are you blaming me for my forefather's mistake?"

"You benefited from their actions, didn't you? So, why can't I blame their mistakes on you? As the saying goes: a father's sin must be paid by their sons."

Wu Hong was speechless. She had no control over her birth, and more importantly, she was pretty sure that proverb was wrong. Ultimately, she decided to end this conversation. With this brief exchange, it's apparent how biased Lady Ai was regarding this topic.

"Are you sure the owner is dead? I mean dead dead."

"I've done extensive research on Gu Chang'an and that artifact. From what I know, even the most powerful Grand Dao Saint cannot survive too long after entering the road. They must exit periodically to heal and regroup. However, the owner has never returned. More importantly, the artifact wasn't his Proving Dao Artifact.

"He created it for his son, who was killed after people guessed his father's fate. The artifact was divided in the final battle, scattered across the Infinite Trichiliocosm."

"I see. And what realm was this son?"

"You're a bit paranoid, aren't you?"

"Can you blame me?"

"Fair. In this world, paranoid people tend to live longer," Lady Ai replied, nodding. "He was only a Primordial Chaos Saint. Do you feel relieved now?"

"Yes." Although Wu Hong still plans to be extra careful, she felt more reassured dealing with a Primordial Chaos Saint-level threat. The only other issue was the previous owners of the different cube parts, but the chances of those people surviving Gu Chang'an's wrath were minuscule.

"Let's focus on the current situation," Lady Ai suggested.

"Who do you think the cube will choose?"

"I think you have a greater chance. As I said, you fit more with it than that bastard."

"Do you think it has an artifact spirit?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter."

"True." An artifact of such power doesn't require a spirit; no matter what, it will have a certain level of cognitive ability.

"I'm curious —"

The pressure released by the cube suddenly stopped, granting everyone around the ability to speak once again. However, before anyone could get a single sentence out, they disappeared, suddenly teleported to another location.

Wu Hong's guard was on high alert as she looked at her surroundings: an endless white space behind her, and an even more infinite space in front, but this one was not empty. As far as she could see, there were books stacked on top of each other and scattered everywhere, with no end in sight and no signs of organization.

"Is this a library? What's going on?" she thought. Luckily, she wasn't the only one confused. Gu Chang'an, who had appeared in the same location, was also looking around with a baffled expression. And upon seeing Wu Hong, an intense killing intent flashed in his eyes, but he suppressed it. Without understanding the situation, acting rashly would be stupid.

"Lady Ai, do you know what's going on?" No one answered. "Lady Ai? It seems our connection has been severed." Wu Hong clenched her fists and immediately frowned: her strength had returned to the Quasi-Saint Realm. This was bad news — especially after sensing Gu Chang'an's killing intent.

Just as Wu Hong was contemplating what her next course of action should be, a new change appeared in this somewhat dull environment, drawing her and Gu Chang'an's focus. A string of characters appeared in front of them: "T…"