Chapter 2040: Double Doors

"Moonless Sword Immortal is also about to become an Ancestor? Mo Swordsmanship, Ancestor Mo?"

"He's just short of transcending the tribulation... He's hidden the lightning tribulation within his body, using Eighth Venerable An's method of concealing it. From the looks of it, he plans to transcend the tribulation in the Time Realm?"

"A genius idea, it might actually work!"

"But the prerequisite is to overcome the great mountain that is Sacred Xin!"

"Can the One-Character Grand Rule Sword split a mountain that even Frosty Peaks couldn't freeze and shatter?"

The Five Domains still had many supporters of the Moonless Sword Immortal, as he was the only one known as the "Double Genius of Ten Venerables and Seven Sword Immortals." Since the emergence of his Third Realm sword, there had been continuous uproar across various regions.

However, while some were optimistic, others observed calmly and held pessimistic views:

"It's just borrowed wisdom; when it comes to true swordsmanship, Eighth Venerable An is still supreme!"

"One person's enlightenment, clarifying 'my way,' inspired the Demonic Elixir Pestilent Path. The path of 'nothing from something' allowed Ancestor Nian to return after becoming a Great Dao. Even the method of concealing lightning tribulations was stolen by Gou Wuyue, humph!"

"Moreover, this wave from the Moonless Sword Immortal completely copied Eighth Venerable An. Eighth Venerable An is 'Sword I,' he is 'True Void,' following Mo Dao's path. In reality, peel back the skin, and inside it's all Eighth Venerable An's painstaking effort!"

It had to be admitted, these words were quite pertinent. Since Hua Changdeng's initial failure to become an Ancestor during the Spirit Refinement Era, and Eighth Venerable An's successful "one-step return to zero," all subsequent Ancestor Gods, or even ancient Ancestor Gods who advanced further because of this, had stood on the shoulders of the giant that was Eighth Venerable An to explore their paths. It could be said that Eighth Venerable An, with his profound height, single-handedly uplifted the "return-to-zero" paths for all various Daos, methods, and Ancestor Gods. This most profound point was understood by very few in the Five Domains.

Outside the battlefield, Omni-Mech Unit Zero, the strongest Heavenly Mechanism Puppet with the most direct computational power, calculated even more as Gou Wuyue's One-Character Grand Rule Sword lit up.

"Beep beep beep!"

"Third Realm..."

"The back of Mo Dao..."

"The path to zero..."

Lines of information popped up, but the will within Unit Zero sighed silently after processing everything. It saw further ahead. Not just this sword, but the Great Dao that followed this sword.

Undoubtedly, the One-Character Grand Rule Sword's offensive power absolutely surpassed Frosty Peaks, possessing the intensity of a Return-to-Zero Ancestor God's strongest attack. It even surpassed or equaled Eighth Venerable An's Myriad Sword Art's Third Realm, the "World-Toppling Sword Bone." After all, both Frosty Peaks and World-Toppling Sword Bone were still within the scope of ancient swordsmanship, but the One-Character Grand Rule Sword leaped beyond swordsmanship, daring to point directly towards the "path to zero" with this single strike. But if the sword was strong, did that mean the way of the sword also became strong?

"The path of True Void is too vague..."

Could Gou Wuyue truly achieve "one-step return to zero"? At least in Unit Zero's judgment, no matter how it was extrapolated, the success rate was less than one percent. Because although Mo Dao's concept was lofty, and Gou Wuyue dared to embark on it, it lacked the most crucial link in the path to zero: "Clarifying the Self!"

"Has he truly clarified 'the Self'?"

The gods and Buddhas in one's eyes are not truly eliminated just because one claims to have cut them down. Judging from the way the One-Character Grand Rule Sword was formed, Gou Wuyue, inside and out, still couldn't shake off the shadow of Eighth Venerable An.

"Eighth's 'Sword I,' at first glance, seems small; the sword is small, and I am small. Yet, it is grounded, capable of seeing the big picture from the small. When the sword is high, it surpasses the way of the sword; when 'I' am high, 'I' can encompass all paths of body, spirit, and will. It is a step-by-step progression, one stair at a time, steadily walking to the pinnacle of the Dao."

And what about Gou Wuyue?

"Gou's 'True Void,' at first listen, has a lofty concept; the true is high, and the void is also high. It takes the world one stands in as 'true' and the back of rules as the 'void world,' embracing all rivers, where all paths can be used by 'me'. But with such a vast Dao, 'the Self' instead appears like a rootless duckweed. How then can one fully control it?"

In Unit Zero's deductions, ninety percent pointed to three variations, leading to one outcome: Either Gou Wuyue would enter the void world, directly becoming self-delusional, achieving a "myriad-changing self" like Pestilent Yin—in other words, going mad. Or he would lose himself completely, unable to return, which would be even more terrifying than Time Ancestor splitting into myriad forms or Name Ancestor sinking into reincarnation. Or he would simply "become nothingness"—existing in the void world without returning to his true self, which in another sense, would also be a Great Daoization. All three variations pointed to the same outcome: failure!

Stripping away the superficial concepts of "true world" and "void world," Gou Wuyue's path was actually that of the Sacred Ancestor. His only way to maintain his self was through the Ancestor God's Destiny. But once he used the Ancestor God's Destiny, the subsequent steps were simple: splitting off avatars to strip away the parts that hadn't clarified "the Self," then merging them back into one, and finally, returning to zero. This path, even for someone as powerful as the Sacred Ancestor, took over ten Ancestor God Eras to complete, only succeeding in the Spirit Refinement Era, and even then, it became dominated by the Demonic Ancestor's will. The difficulty was unimaginable. Could Gou Wuyue surpass this, shortening the time to three days or a month?

But if he didn't use the Ancestor God's Destiny, the one percent chance of success for Gou Wuyue, Unit Zero's deduced answer was...

"A variable."

Indeed, ancient sword cultivators had no upper limit. Who's to say he wouldn't suddenly clarify "the Self"? The will within Unit Zero sighed deeply once more, never expecting that Gou Wuyue's attempt to become an Ancestor, even if his "True Void" failed, would once again prove the immense value of Eighth Venerable An's enlightenment.

"With 'Sword' at the forefront, there is already 'Eight'; who can surpass that?"

"Unstoppable!"

"Completely unstoppable!"

Unlike Unit Zero, an observer with extensive dialectical reasoning, Sacred Xin, who was in the thick of the battle, considered things very simply. Pure attack power! The One-Character Grand Rule Sword's power exceeded even the highest heavens by more than a foot! As the cicada-wing thin green sword light swept across the sky, Sacred Xin instantly perceived that even he could only retreat three steps in the face of such a "true damage" rule-based sword strike. And if he retreated, the Heaven and Earth Seal would surely collapse. If Gou Wuyue entered the Time Realm, no matter how low his probability of becoming a god or Ancestor was, no one would be able to stop him from transcending his tribulation. Perhaps the two Great Dao rivers in the Time Realm, the monster with perfected Intent Dao, would emerge. After defeating that monster, Gou Wuyue might even return powerfully as a Return-to-Zero Ancestor God. Of two evils, choose the lesser. At this moment, Sacred Xin's thinking was incredibly clear: use offense as defense, forcing Gou Wuyue to defend himself!

Immediately, he severed an arm, which split into an avatar, maintaining the Heaven and Earth Seal. At the same time, his main body soared into the sky, picked up the Dao-Extinguishing Profound Ruler, and instantly arrived before the Gate of Profundity, where Gou Wuyue had just disappeared.

"You cannot open the Time Realm passage!"

"You cannot forge this Dao!"

The Divine Demon Dao Sea brightly flared, and the power of divine demons poured entirely into the massive ruler. Sacred Xin unleashed his full ten-tenths power, completely abandoning the Time Realm passage that had constrained him everywhere, focused only on attacking.

This time, the Dao-Extinguishing Profound Ruler for the first time emanated its true, rightful power. The heavy ruler hummed, vibrating, and struck the void.

"Boom!"

The space and Dao principles across all regions of the entire Sacred God Continent simultaneously cracked, the sky's light dimmed, and the world momentarily plunged into darkness. At that instant, the world entered an era of declining Dharma. No one could sense the existence of the Great Dao; even the spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to have lost its glow, turning into ordinary air. Under such restrictions, even the One-Character Grand Rule Sword, flying and striking from afar, paused its offensive, because the strongest attack, composed of myriad rule-based Mo Swords, temporarily couldn't borrow the power of heaven and earth's Dao principles. The One-Character Grand Rule Sword almost disintegrated; its offensive was nearly severed at its root, as if by pulling the firewood from under the cauldron.

"What a Sacred Xin!"

Such a judgment of the battle situation was truly that of an ancient Ancestor God, showcasing a superior vision that outmatched Gou Wuyue by more than a single measure.

The Gate of Profundity was about to vanish. But Gou Wuyue was forced to return from the void world. Waves of song and demonic winds gathered, transforming into the Sound of Nulan in his hand. Meeting the lingering power of the Dao-Extinguishing Profound Ruler, Gou Wuyue forcibly unleashed another sword strike.

"World Shift: True Void Crossing!"

The first Gate of Profundity had not yet faded. As this sword was unleashed, another gate surprisingly opened behind the first. Gou Wuyue, carrying two Gates of Profundity on his back, his aura rapidly surging, wielded the Sound of Nulan and sliced it before him, creating a clear dividing line. Green light coursed wildly, threads dividing front and back, and the current world, into true and void. The Dao-Extinguishing Profound Ruler was clearly aimed at Gou Wuyue's waist, but as it crossed the dividing line, the tip of the ruler plunged inch by inch into the void world. It swung past Gou Wuyue's waist, yet couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes. Then, as it was withdrawn above the dividing line, the body of the ruler returned from the void world, its power undiminished, almost striking Sacred Xin's own arm.

The Five Domains gasped in awe. A true, two-layered world of True and Void! Gou Wuyue had fully attained the Dao; not only could he unleash the One-Character Grand Rule Sword on the Mo Sword Path, but on Mo Dao itself, he could effortlessly draw a dividing line for the True and Void worlds. How was this different from a Plane Lord who controlled two worlds? He had not yet become an Ancestor, yet it was as if he used the void world as his divine court, possessing the reality of an Ancestor God!

"And that gate..."

The most frightening thing, in fact, was the double Gate of Profundity, which even Eighth Venerable An had not been able to open. The One-Character Grand Rule Sword pushed Mo Swordsmanship's attack to its extreme, opening the first gate. World Shift: True Void Crossing fully solidified his understanding of Mo Dao, opening the second gate.

"One Dao, two gates?"

"Double-gated, Gou Wuyue?!"

How astonishing! How extraordinary! Even Sacred Xin, after turning over and shedding his momentum, was startled by Gou Wuyue's double-gated imagery, almost believing another Eighth Venerable An had been born.

However... an ancient Ancestor God was, after all, an ancient Ancestor God. Sacred Xin immediately noticed that behind the seemingly powerful double gates, Gou Wuyue, who had been in the void world and returned, clearly had a flicker of disorder in his eyes.

"Why?"

Sacred Xin pondered for a moment, then burst into laughter, as if he had understood something.

Taking advantage of the battlefield's division, Gou Wuyue, after his double-gated sword strike, clearly had no intention of continuing the fight. He turned and swiftly darted towards the Time Realm passage.

"Enter, transcend the tribulation, become a god and Ancestor!"

This was his only thought, and in such a chaotic situation, his only method of self-preservation!

In a flash, just as Sacred Xin and Gou Wuyue briefly clashed, another battlefield was also raging. Although the One-Character Grand Rule Sword was powerful, and Sacred Xin's main body was absent, his severed arm avatar had still exhausted all its abilities.

"Guardian Demon General!"

At an imperial decree, the Guardian Demon General had no choice but to forcefully drag its maimed body and challenge the Rule Sword once more.

Previously, myriad Rule Swords had rained down like stars, riddling it with holes, even shattering the spiritual light of its great demonic spear. The One-Character Grand Rule Sword was far superior to that. It was an attack of countless Rule Swords overlapping, condensing, and returning to zero; how could the Guardian Demon General block it? Indeed, the Guardian Demon General was full of courage, but under this sword, its great spear broke, and it was bisected at the waist by the direct block. In the end, it could only drain all its demonic power, clashing head-on by unleashing a Black Underworld Wave, its light wave sweeping towards the One-Character Grand Rule Sword.

"There's a chance!"

The One-Character Grand Rule Sword's light dimmed considerably because of this.

Seeing this, the Guardian Divine General immediately drew his great sword, burning himself on the spot, and unleashed another extreme sword strike:

"Holy Light Purification!"

That sword light, carrying magnificent purifying power, adhered to the concept of simultaneous neutralization and attack, attempting to sever the connection between the myriad Mo Swords and the heaven and earth rules, hoping to further weaken the One-Character Grand Rule Sword's power.

Such thoughts were too idealistic. The ancient sword cultivator's offensive power remained outstanding. With a ripping sound, the green sword light swept through the purifying light wave. The great sword in the Guardian Divine General's hand shattered like brittle mud and hair, breaking instantly, and even his own body was diagonally cut in half from abdomen to shoulder.

"There's a chance!"

The severed arm avatar could only resort to psychological victory. After all, after the One-Character Grand Rule Sword broke through two blockades, its green light had dimmed... by a tenth!

"Four-Directional Divine Platform!"

"Great Deluge Ancient Bell!"

"Azure Primordial Dragon Cauldron!"

For a brief moment, Sacred Xin's severed arm avatar conjured no less than a dozen ancient relic artifacts to weaken and protect. Without exception. As the sword light swept past, the divine platform, ancient bell, dragon cauldron, and their like were all cut in two, as fragile as paper.

"What can be done, what can be done..."

The severed arm avatar's pupils dilated. Finally, it poured out everything it had, not for a counterattack, but to empower the Heaven and Earth Seal. Then it turned, spread its arms, cast a resentful glance at Sacred Xin in the distance, and chose to embrace the sword light and die. Sacred Xin's avatar was split in two.

With another thunderous roar, the One-Character Grand Rule Sword fiercely struck the Time Realm passage. This time, it truly hit a hard wall. The Time Realm passage connected an entire Time Realm. Even Sacred Xin could only seal it, not destroy it, because destroying it meant destroying an entire Time Realm, which couldn't be done in a short time. The power of the Heaven and Earth Seal was continuously eroded by the sword light. After a brief breath, with a ripping sound, it was completely pulverized, and a gap was cut into the Time Realm passage. The One-Character Grand Rule Sword plunged into it, vanishing from sight.

The Five Domains fell into a deathly silence! Everyone stared, knowing that Sacred Xin sealed the passage because someone inside wanted to come out, and they all guessed it was Eighth Venerable An. But...

"No one came out?!"

"Eighth Venerable An, Ancestor Eight, didn't come at all?!"

At this moment, realizing that the cunning ancient Ancestor God might have used this ruse to force the ancient sword cultivators in the Five Domains who might become Ancestors to take action, everyone felt despair. Waiting by the stump for a rabbit? Entrapment? If Eighth Venerable An didn't come out, Gou Wuyue wouldn't dare to face the fight head-on. Who would save the Sacred God Continent?

"Extinguish!"

From afar, Sacred Xin's Dao-Extinguishing Profound Ruler struck down again. This time, it wasn't aimed at any person or object, but directly at the heaven and earth rules connected by the True Void Crossing sword. Similarly, extinguishing Dao principles at their root, it severed the dividing line. Sacred Xin was able to rise again, crossing the divided battlefield without entering the void world, immediately arriving next to the Time Realm passage.

"Too late..."

Even though Sacred Xin moved extremely quickly, unleashing the Heaven and Earth Seal once more. Gou Wuyue had already stepped through the gap cut by the One-Character Grand Rule Sword, a step ahead of him.

But as Gou Wuyue vanished, Sacred Xin laughed sinisterly, the Divine Demon Dao Sea beneath his feet staining pure black, and he formed a hand seal:

"Demonic Seed Heavenly Seed Art!"

No black light was seen soaring, but countless demonic lights erupted from Gou Wuyue's body, clearly indicating he had instantly become possessed by inner demons. Through the inner demon connection, Sacred Xin saw many scenes. During the Battle of Ten Venerables, the admiration and defiance upon first seeing a poem, a sword, a sword, a song; during the battle in the Eight Palaces, the helplessness and despair upon seeing the Great Buddha's Slash again, feeling willing but powerless; during the observation of the battle at Lingyu Mountain, finally witnessing the "one-step return to zero," the overwhelming awe and fear of looking directly at the sword suppressing Hua Changdeng...

"Hahahaha!"

Sacred Xin laughed mockingly, tears almost streaming down his face. How could "Eighth's Humble Gou" be a joke? Gou Wuyue, inside and out, clearly retained traces of Eighth Venerable An everywhere, unable to erase them. How could he clarify "the Self"? However... Wen Ting outwardly submitted but inwardly defied. Gou Wuyue outwardly defied but inwardly submitted.

To put it bluntly, Eighth Venerable An's towering presence and brilliant radiance suppressed all sword cultivators in the Five Domains to the extent that even if they wished to become Ancestors or achieve "return to zero," they had to switch to other Great Daos besides swordsmanship. How could he not be a stumbling block in others' hearts? Beholding Eighth was like seeing a majestic peak, distant and unattainable! At this moment, Sacred Xin completely understood Gou Wuyue's inner thoughts, laughed wildly, and allowed him to enter the Time Realm to transcend his tribulation and become an Ancestor:

"Suppressed fear—how can that be 'clarifying the Self'? It's merely self-deception!"

"Even if this Ancestor doesn't destroy you, the inner demon tribulation of the Ancestor God's Dao Extinction Tribulation can also destroy you!"

The Heaven and Earth Seal reactivated, closing the gap. No one saw Gou Wuyue make any resistance; they only watched him enter the Time Realm with his back to the world, carrying that surging aura of inner demon chaos.

"Ancestor Mo, is there no hope?"

Although they didn't know what had happened, Sacred Xin's final mockery was not hard to interpret.

Most likely, it would be very difficult for Gou Wuyue to return?

"Heh!"

Sacred Xin shook his head and chuckled, no longer worried about Gou Wuyue. While there was still a variable, he might clarify "the Self" under the inner demon tribulation, but this probability was negligible, almost zero. In this round, it seemed Gou Wuyue had won, but how could Sacred Xin have lost?

"But Xu Xiaoshou..."

Sacred Xin's divine sense flared, and he immediately scanned the entire Five Domains of the continent, yet found no trace of any great tribulation aura or Xu Xiaoshou's figure. He breathed a slight sigh of relief, then scoffed and chuckled again.

Xu Xiaoshou returning? How could that be! The Dao principles of the Time Realm were inherently chaotic, making it difficult to rely on oneself. Furthermore, Xu Xiaoshou lacked the energy supply to nourish a new heavenly realm, and igniting his backup plan in the Five Domains already showed his weakness in transcending the tribulation. Moreover, the aura of his Ancestor God's Dao Extinction Tribulation could even be sensed through the Time Realm passage, indicating how high the difficulty of his tribulation was, and thus, how high the mortality rate! Originally, Xu Xiaoshou's return was already a negligible probability. The gap cut into the Time Realm passage just now was brief, no tribulation aura emanated from it, and Sacred Xin had promptly blocked the path again. All things considered, Xu Xiaoshou was left with only one outcome:

"Buried in the Time Realm!"

Two potential great enemies—one plagued by inner demons, one dead under the tribulation—both beyond salvation.

"So, next..."

Sacred Xin, seasoned and cautious, still dared not let his guard down. He continued to maintain the Heaven and Earth Seal, but freed up his attention, glancing at the Tree of Memory and Unit Zero.

"Only your battle remains."

"And this Ancestor awaits the division of spoils."

"No matter who the New Heavenly Realm falls to, I, Sacred Xin, will have half the credit!"

"You all..."

Sacred Xin was just about to speak. Suddenly, heaven and earth trembled, sending shivers down everyone's spines. A loud Dao sound descended from the sky, like a grand bell resonating within hearts and minds, directly imprinting and taking root:

"The Sacred God Continent is on the verge of collapse."

"All cultivators in the Five Domains, praise Ancestor Shou, welcome the Apricot Realm. Under this Ancestor's gaze, all beings are equal."

There was a pause, and then the tone of the voice shifted, becoming unruly and defiant, clearly full of aggressive battle intent and overflowing killing aura:

"Except for the Demonic, Elixir, Pestilent, and Dao Ancestors!"