Chapter 2025: Salvation

"Good heavens..."

The Ancient War God Platform had long since shattered.

The Gui Fo Realm, after all, couldn't hold on and became the Gui Fo Realm ruins.

At the original location of Yuan Dao Bei Song Zong, Nian Zu Cao Yi-han, having received a message from Xu Xiao-shou, broke through the paper-thin seal with one strike. Fa Shen Xing Jie shot out, mending the severed limbs of the Three Corpse Split, quickly piecing them back together.

Before his injuries could fully heal, Cao Yi-han raised his arm high.

From afar, the booming sky-hammer, shimmering with silver light, whistled towards him.

Upon grasping it, it should have rekindled its殺機, smashing down on the Western Desert, crushing Yao Zu Shuang He.

But at this moment, at the crossroad, Ancestral God Dao Yun's ethereal light erupted, and a familiar yet unfamiliar figure rose from nothingness, a divine manifestation imbued with the vicissitudes of time.

Kui Lei-han merely tilted his head slightly. After roughly discerning the person's appearance, his movements involuntarily halted, almost failing to suppress his shock.

"This fellow, he also succeeded?"

How could Dao Qiong-cang succeed?

This was far too unexpected!

One Step to Zero was no child's play. Ba Zun An could succeed because Kui Lei-han could at least see that he had steadily walked every step of the way, leaving traces.

But Dao Qiong-cang...

After the Ten Venerables, what did he do?

He became the Dao Dian master who benefited all living beings, secretly tinkering with Tian Ji puppets on a small scale, and then...

Nothing!

Did the God's Ruins' battle against Wang Ze Sheng Di and Chong Yin count?

Yes, but the enemies were in a weakened state, their combat power clearly at a low point compared to their peak.

Did the Southern Region's Tian Ji Shen Jiao count?

Yes, but this thing couldn't amount to anything; at first glance, who could see any connection to the Gui Ling Ancestral God?

Then...

What else was there?

Nothing, truly nothing!

Dao Qiong-cang's movements on the surface were too few.

What Kui Lei-han could see, the Gods could actually all see.

What they saw was precisely what the Demon Medicine Chong and other Ancestors could see, so naturally, no one ever took Dao Qiong-cang seriously.

It could be said that...

In the entire world, the only one who could somewhat grasp Dao Qiong-cang's hidden moves beneath his superficial actions was Xu Xiao-shou.

However, even Xu Xiao-shou himself only half-understood the flamboyant old Dao, shrouded in mist, as if what he showed people was only what he wanted them to see—seeing it was equivalent to not seeing it.

Under such a premise of understanding, Kui Lei-han's gaze fixed on Dao Qiong-cang's Ancestral God manifestation in the void, and the shock in his heart was simply inexpressible.

To call it "a single leap to success" would be to deem the phrase insufficient, not simple enough, not direct enough.

He thought...

He just became!

He didn't even move...

The Gui Ling Ancestral God's status, from inside out, simply derived itself!

"Is this a dream?"

Even Kui Lei-han couldn't help but entertain such a thought.

But in the next instant, when he blinked and saw Dao Qiong-cang's face clearly again, even though he had never read anything like "Legends of the Ten Ancestors" or "Dao Ancestor Allusions," a flood of memories, proving it wasn't a dream, surged into his mind:

"Sheng Mo Yao Gui Shu, Jian Long Zhan Dao Tian..."

"Dao Zu, Yi Ji... Tian Ji Shen Jiao, Yu Xue Jiao Huang... flesh and blood transformation, memory immortality..."

"First generation, second generation, third generation, fourth generation, fifth generation..."

"Shi Ming Nuo, Wai Zu... After Sheng Xin, Dao Zu... Shi Zu Kong Yu Hen, usurped position..."

"Great Dao patterns, diagrams, arrays... battle-type, comprehension-type..."

"Gui Ling, Great Dao Long He..."

"Perfection, Great Dao Zhi Hai..."

What should appear, what shouldn't appear, all surfaced.

Even the unutterable Gui Ling path from Dao Zu Yi Ji to Dao Zu Dao Qiong-cang was forcefully comprehended by him.

Really?

Fake?

For a moment, he dared not fully believe it.

But these memories didn't seem to have appeared out of nowhere; rather, it was as if he had previously encountered this knowledge but had forgotten it at the time, and now it was simply being recalled.

Initially, the memories appeared gently.

In the mid-to-late stage, even when Kui Lei-han sensed something was wrong and consciously tried to control the surge of memories, those things directly rooted themselves deep in his mind by "defining" themselves, as if that was how they should be!

Black was black.

White was white.

Including the Dao Zu among the Ten Ancestors...

Including the Great Dao Long He and Gui Ling...

Including the distinction between battle-type and comprehension-type...

They were meant to be defined as such from birth, and this was also the shared knowledge of many Ancestral Gods since ancient times. Everyone knew it before, and now even you know it. You're good, I'm good, everyone's good—all good, no bad.

This was really bad!

Crucially, these memories also told him that there was no need to dwell on the past anymore; from now on, he should just proceed according to this standard.

"Damn it!"

Kui Lei-han roared in fury, always prone to profanity.

He could certainly distinguish that some things were true, clarifying direction for the world, allowing for better choices.

But these true things were clearly mixed with a good deal of falsehood.

When they were completely intertwined and became self-cognition, rooted in the mind, it would be laborious and time-consuming to later try to find out which was false and which was true.

And who knew if, by taking too long to clear these memory "junk," he would directly forget to process them later—because he would no longer consider them memory junk, but good things.

"Directly changing a person's thinking from a cognitive level?"

Kui Lei-han was incredibly perceptive, instantly grasping the weakness of the comprehension-type Great Dao: compared to the battle-type, it was utterly defenseless.

But setting aside direct combat power, the cunningness of the comprehension-type Great Dao was such that if a battle-type Great Dao Ancestral God didn't cultivate their mind or intent, or didn't cultivate their comprehension-type Great Dao to a basic threshold sufficient to resist "guidance," they would be utterly defenseless and could be subtly killed from afar.

Mutually antagonistic!

Logically coherent!

Yao Zu Gui Ling, silently.

Dao Qiong-cang Gui Ling, however, was not the sealing of an Ancestor by one person, but a carnival for the whole world.

"Madman..."

"No! This mad dog!"

More than thirty years ago, when Kui Lei-han first encountered Dao Qiong-cang, he already saw the extreme madness hidden beneath this fellow's refined exterior.

Bei Huai's wickedness was written on his face.

Dao Qiong-cang's cunningness was carved into his bones.

It wasn't about who was good or bad; these two were equally matched, both mad dogs.

Thirty years of being the "Dao Dian Master" made people believe he had settled down, that the malevolence in his heart, if not eliminated, had at least significantly faded.

Unexpectedly, upon his return, after shedding that refined disguise, what Dao Qiong-cang revealed was still obstinacy and madness, the most extreme and humanity-extinguishing will to pursue the Dao.

"Xu Xiao-shou, help me."

Kui Lei-han didn't have much time to deal with the memory problem; it was too thorny.

Between dealing with Yao Zu and dealing with Dao Qiong-cang, he chose to trust Xu Xiao-shou, because if the "second generation" in the memories wasn't false, Dao Qiong-cang's true combat power was not to be underestimated.

With this fellow already involved, in the current Five Regions, those still hiding behind the scenes were only half a Mo Zu and Xu Xiao-shou.

Aside from trusting that young man, Kui Lei-han had no other choice and dared not waste his power haphazardly.

So...

If Dao Qiong-cang went mad, could Xu Xiao-shou restrain him?

Cao Yi-han was not Ba Zun An after all, and dared not stake everything on one young man.

At the moment he crossed the ocean, feeling the power of Yi Dao attach to him, protecting his own memories from getting lost, and catching the precise moment when the entire world was receiving memory infusion...

"Shen Jie Jia Mian!"

A low growl from his heart, his entire body's muscles quivering.

It was as if he was squeezing his potential, terrifying currents collapsing and compressing, then transforming into purple lightning snakes wildly surging onto his face, melting into liquid, and solidifying.

In the blink of an eye, a mask, about a finger's width thick, completely integrated with his facial skin, solidified.

Compared to the grey-purple mask he had revealed when fighting Bei Huai before, this time, the mask on Kui Lei-han's face was pure grey, exuding an aura of extreme destruction.

Dao Qiong-cang's sealing of the Ancestor through the comprehension-type Great Dao didn't cause much commotion in the Five Regions after the Ancient War God Platform shattered, as he hadn't summoned the Ancestral God Extinction Calamity.

But when this mask on Kui Lei-han's face solidified, merely the leakage of his aura caused the ocean between the Central and Western Regions to be suppressed into shattered spiderweb patterns, and even the high-altitude Dao Fa completely collapsed.

At this moment, Kui Lei-han darted through the air like lightning, the wind whistling in his ears, and many, many thoughts flashed through his mind.

Ai Cang Sheng was dead.

Hua Wei-yang couldn't protect the Dao.

You Yuan Fo Tuo became a golden sarira and was also gone.

The Ancient War God Platform was completely shattered; perhaps summoning the God's Ruins could withstand a few more blows from the Sky-Hammer, but it was merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause.

If it were just a comprehension-type Ancestral God, even a clash between Gui Ling Ancestral Gods, this half-formed New Heaven Realm might suffice if dragged out until the time was ripe.

But!

The Five Regions were overflowing with prodigies; there were not only comprehension-types!

Yao Zu hadn't fully unleashed her power, Dao Qiong-cang also had a second generation within him, Shen Yi and Jin She Li-zi combined were no less than Gui Ling, not to mention the Sheng Mo eyeing them covetously from behind, and Xu Xiao-shou, who still held an unknown number of cards and was essentially one of those mad dogs...

The combat power was maxed out, but the battlefield couldn't keep up?

How absurd?!

If he had to wait for Ba Zun An to bring the New Heaven Realm out of time and drop the battlefield at their feet for everyone to vent, who knew how long it would take? It was better to...

"Don't act recklessly."

Just then, Xu Xiao-shou's voice came from his ear.

Kui Lei-han was startled; at this moment, he couldn't even tell who was secretly stirring the waters and guiding them.

He sighed deeply.

Kui Lei-han did not make a move with this extreme mask.

Instead, he kneaded the Sky-Hammer in his hand, pinched the mask on his face, tucked it into the special Forbidden Martial Order iron plate necklace he wore, and transformed it into a persistent thought, sending it flying far away...

Into the Purple Mansion of his muddled son, who was still clutching his head, rolling, hunching like a shrimp, desperately shouting about "Wang Hou" and "seeds."

"Damn it!"

"No courage, no strategy, no wisdom, no strength, no thought, no action; if I had known of these eight 'nos,' I shouldn't have given birth to you!"

"Empty?!"

Western Region, Great Desert.

Even before Dao Zu was sealed, Yao Zu had already sensed a subtle abnormality and summoned Huai Xin and Bei Huai from afar.

There was nothing more to say.

It was simply a matter of retrieving old伏筆.

Let the outside world fight to heaven's collapse and earth's裂, with various Ancestral Gods making various calculations; I alone would break all methods.

When the power of various life-medicine pools accumulated since ancient times entered her body, she, Shen Nong Bai Cao, dared to challenge the five families of Bei, Chong, Dao, Cao, and Shen, relying solely on the absolute crushing power of energy levels.

If she gained something from the battle, she might even be able to touch Sheng Dao's butt while also cultivating a new heaven realm.

Confidence stemmed from abundant assets.

As Yao Zu, her greatest strength was not combat, but diligent cultivation and harvest, and she could always rely on the final harvest to crush everyone who blindly charged forward.

"Hoo..."

Thus, after Huai Xin entered her body, Yao Zu had another preparatory ritual. After a deep breath, she then fiercely drew in the vast power that was to be stored in Huai Xin, belonging solely to her.

"Hiss!!!"

With this inhale, even Ancestral Gods would be intoxicated.

Immersed in the pleasure of power ascending, in the dream of bountiful harvest from stepping into the New Heaven Realm, actualizing fantasy into reality.

From Gui Ling Ancestral God, ascending to the throne of the First Ancestral God, Sheng Xin could not restrain this momentum!

Because the power within Huai Xin could not possibly actually have... no power...

"How! Can! It! Be! Em! Pty!"

A broken scream suddenly echoed across the Western Desert, as if a Gui Ling Ancestral God's Dao Heart was suddenly on the verge of collapse.

Accompanying it were violent fluctuations from the Great Dao Shuang He, and Chong Yin's fierce assault of possession.

At that moment, Yao Zu was almost successfully possessed.

Fortunately, she controlled her emotions, gently suppressed Chong Yin's possession, and finally had to sigh, truly worthy of being the one she chose, indeed possessing some cunning.

"Attacking the mind is paramount..."

"Heh, still so good at hiding?"

If the power wasn't in Huai Xin, it could only be in the body.

No matter how clever Bei Huai was, to use this power, he could only rely on his Devouring Body to contain it.

But how much could the Devouring Body handle?

Although it was Nuo's object, Nuo Zu, in his entire life, might not have seen such a vast amount of life essence; how could it be devoured in a short while?

Give you ten years, and you still can't digest my accumulated reserves, Bei Huai!

Just right, Yao Zu's move was very stable. Not only did she summon Huai Xin, Bei Huai was also brought under control, and even brought his semi-perfect physical body.

"All mine."

With a gaping mouth, the power of life and reincarnation erupted into a swirling vortex of suction.

In just one gulp, Bei Huai was directly swallowed into Yao Zu's belly, absorbed into the life patterns, completely fusing as one.

Now, power, surge forth!

...It can surge forth now!

No need to hide anymore?

Come out!

"Haha."

While resisting Chong Yin's attempt at possession, Yao Zu forced herself to lift her spirits, mockingly murmuring to herself, "That's impossible."

Then she confirmed that what she had just swallowed was indeed Bei Huai, the Devouring, Decaying, Immortal Body.

Indeed, she had only gained the power of the three bodies, not a single drop from the life-medicine pool.

"How! Can! It! Be! All! Gone!"

With a thunderous roar, a heart-wrenching shriek erupted.

The Great Dao Shuang He in the Western Desert completely ended its bud-like protective state. Yao Zu Shen Nong Bai Cao fiercely resisted possession, stood up entirely, and abruptly opened her eyes, as if to flee the place.

Steam rose.

Yao Zu's eyes turned blood-red.

In a trance, she seemed to see a small, adorable figure, wrapped in a headscarf, skipping over, bending down, and lightly punching her lower abdomen.

"Eh heh"

The punch was soft as cotton, causing no pain.

But it was heartbreak, heartache, a tearing pain in her heart, bordering on death of the heart!

"Eh heh"

He punched again.

Humming a little tune, shoulders swaying slightly, even wiggling that perky little butt.

"Eh heh, steal from you, just steal from you"

Again!

Another punch!

Another sneak attack!

"Aaaahhhh—"

Yao Zu went mad, almost on the verge of collapse.

"Who?!"

"Who is it?!"

"Who on earth is it?!"

At this moment, reason told her to first suppress Chong Yin, and only then could she search for the answer to the terrifying story of the life-medicine pool's power mysteriously vanishing.

At this moment, madness told her that no matter who it was, if this thief couldn't be found immediately, she, Shen Nong Bai Cao, didn't need to live anymore, like a clown!

"Bei Huai? Not Bei Huai!"

"Dao Qiong-cang? Not Dao Qiong-cang, it's Bei Huai!"

"No, there's another person, at the crossroad, the famous Ancestral successor killed by Bei Huai, Hua Xiang Gu-li even saw him... The art of a thousand changes?"

Who was it?

At first, Yao Zu couldn't even recall the name, as if it contained a great terror.

She desperately slapped her head, almost shattering her skull, trying to make her memories awaken and the answer surge forth through this method, and then she heard a voice:

"Da Fan Shi Shu."

Memories surged forth!

But, there were a bit too many!

No...

No way...

Not this many...

Yao Zu Lao Bo's eyeballs bulged, and suddenly blood spurted from her seven orifices, her entire body rapidly swelling as if about to burst.

The mere surge of memories, of course, wouldn't cause this.

But that moment of unpreparedness caused her to almost fail to curb Chong Yin's offensive, nearly letting him push the possession process from her Ni Wan Gong down into her stomach.

That is to say, in that instant, she almost became Chong Yin!

"No—"

Power condensed, frantically retreating to defend the Ni Wan Gong.

Yet, her body instantly issued a danger alert, even the hairs on her body stood on end.

"Who's here?!"

Yao Zu quickly withdrew a wisp of consciousness back to her body.

But her ears were already filled with the aftermath of an explosion. All she saw was dust and purple lightning snakes dancing across the sky, and beneath an overwhelming shadowy pressure that could blot out the heavens, a tall, burly man in a large cloak, wearing a grey-purple mask, slowly strolled from the distance.

Shen Yi?

Such a figure, could it be Shen Yi coming to their door?

Yao Zu squinted, realizing it wasn't. There was another person with such a figure, Kui Lei-han, who should have been suppressed beneath the Dao Bei Funeral.

Wait!

Shen Ting Bei Ming, it had already exploded?

Wait!

That mask, he also put it on?

Wait!

You're not Shen Yi, you fought me before, used many techniques, and never wore a mask, why wear it so decisively now, so recklessly?

Kui Lei-han, stop!

Nian Zu, stop!

"Slow down..."

"Ugh...唔唔唔..."

"Beg me, beg me"

"Just... give this Ancestor a moment to catch my breath..."

"Eh heh"

"Ah ah ah um um"

Yao Zu wanted to go back and deal with Chong Yin's possession attempt on one hand; consciousness possession was always of Gui Ling level intensity, and Chong Yin's stubbornness meant he would never give up.

On the other hand, she found that the junk memories were increasing and becoming more and more wrong, so she had to divert some attention to deal with them, otherwise it would affect the subsequent battle.

And on yet another hand, through the wisp of consciousness remaining in her body, she clearly sensed Dao Yun's ethereal light erupting from the crossroad, Dao Qiong-cang becoming Gui Ling at this moment, and at the same time, her mind gained a... Yi Ji? Was it her?!

She didn't even have time to be shocked by the appearance of Dao Zu Yi Ji. Then, from another front, as Kui Lei-han approached, Yao Zu already realized something was amiss. After this fellow put on the mask, his combat power was close to that of a Gui Ling Ancestral God. She absolutely couldn't afford to be distracted by other thoughts; she had to focus, she had to concentrate, fight... a... battle...

"Ah..."

"I, was too slow..."

Humans don't have that many sides, and neither did Yao Zu.

Her thoughts reaching this point, she realized what was happening to her: too many things, in too coincidental a way, simultaneously afflicted her.

Her combat awareness, at that moment, was almost pulled below the three realms, her reaction speed so slow that even Yao Zu herself found it laughable, pitiable.

"Ho!"

A surge of spiritual power, and the world fell silent.

Even the noisy voices of junk memories in her mind quieted down for a moment.

Yao Zu looked, and amidst the dust and lightning snakes before her, everything was dark and gone, leaving only a pair of tiger eyes flashing with purple light, looking down from above.

Kui Lei-han was also very slow.

So slow that Yao Zu could even hear his complete, mirthless laugh:

"Let me put it this way, I've rarely fought such an easy battle. No wonder the Ten-Person Council was raised into a bunch of useless bums; is this what it feels like?"

Kui Lei-han raised his fist, Fa Shen Xing Jie缠绕, transforming into an attached Che Shen Nian, and a murderous intent surged from it.

That grey-purple mask, seen up close, was vibrating at a high frequency of hundreds of millions of times per second, yet the electric light was contained, swallowed into Nian Zu's belly, melting into the palm of his fist.

"No..."

Yao Zu's consciousness frantically urged.

The Great Dao Shuang He churned, about to transform into a protective flower bud.

She could not tolerate her Gui Ling body, which had not been successfully possessed by Chong Yin, to suffer even the loss of half a hair under Kui Lei-han's punch.

"Boom!"

Clearly, the Great Dao Shuang He was too slow, and Yao Zu had taken it for granted.

Nian Zu, wearing the mask, threw a punch. The purple lightning instantly melted through the Gui Ling Ancestral God's body, which was forged from surging vitality. It even melted a portion of her life patterns, directly piercing through her lower abdomen from behind.

—A penetrating wound!

"Ugh!"

Yao Zu's eyes bulged, groaning in pain.

Yet she had to suppress the pain, once again dealing with the junk memories, and trying to shift her focus away from Dao Zu Yi Ji. Of course, the top priority was still to continue blocking Chong Yin's possession attempt.

Too much!

Truly too much!

Dao Qiong-cang, Dao Qiong-cang!

You are worse than pigs and dogs, may you die a terrible death!

"Eh heh"

Most importantly, that little adorable figure with a covered head and face, whose identity was unclear, seemed to have also landed a punch, a light, airy one, also on her lower abdomen.

So painful!

Too painful!

If the power of the life-medicine pool hadn't been stolen, none of this would be happening now.

A tiger fallen to the plains, bullied by dogs, why was this happening?

Clearly, Gui Ling breaks through all difficulties, why was this happening?

Just then, perhaps due to the torment of pain, perhaps due to Chong Yin's stubborn influence, perhaps due to finding a treasure amidst the junk information...

Yao Zu suddenly thought that since the Devouring, Decaying, and Immortal Bodies had already integrated into herself, perhaps they could be used against Kui Lei-han?

Various chaotic forces afflicted her, plus Nian Zu was right in front.

This caused Yao Zu to once again act instinctively, without full certainty.

She had to survive!

She had just reached Gui Ling; she couldn't be beaten to death!

So, she gently touched Bei Huai's life patterns.

They had already merged into her own life patterns, and given more time, they would have completely unified, indistinguishable.

There was no choice; Yao Zu needed to accelerate herself. She had to quickly gain the power of devouring, decay, and immortality.

"Boom!"

A sudden peal of thunder erupted over the Western Desert, startling even Kui Lei-han.

It wasn't his thunder...

Looking up, dark clouds gathered in the nine heavens.

From the aura, he could vaguely discern that someone was about to be sealed as an Ancestor, directly summoning the Ancestral God Extinction Calamity.

"Who?"

At that moment, Kui Lei-han was confused; his mind couldn't match the person.

"Who?"

Yao Zu was equally bewildered. Even with her combat awareness diminished, she could determine that she was an Ancestral God, Chong Yin was an Ancestral God, Cao Yi-han was an Ancestral God, and there were no other capable individuals in the Western Region to be sealed as Ancestors.

No one was summoning the Ancestral God Extinction Calamity!

But why did this calamity seem to be directed at her?

Peeling away layers of distracting junk memories, like pushing aside clouds to see a clear sky, Yao Zu suddenly fell silent.

Her vision blurred as she looked at Kui Lei-han before her, as if seeing a beloved who could not be resurrected without comprehending life and reincarnation, tears flowing uncontrollably.

Yet at the same time, another voice echoed in her mind, a voice that seemed to have died more than once, like hers, yet not quite hers, like that murmur under the Great World Huai tree, watching the rain, not seeking a reply:

"A-Yao, it's thundering again..."

"But don't be afraid. If the whole world abandons you, I will save you."