Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 562 The Path to the End
Chapter 570

"Give me the order!"

The Lord of Blood Prison suddenly stood up, his voice resounding throughout the entire Blood Prison Star Sea.

"Activate the 'Blood Prison Array'! Seal off the entire Star Sea!"

"Recall all Dao Ancestors who are fighting abroad!"

"Furthermore, send someone to the 'Heavenly Secrets Pavilion' at all costs to acquire all information about this person! I need to know who he is and where he came from!"

Commands were issued from the temple, and the entire vast Blood Prison Star Sea, like a sophisticated war machine, began to operate frantically with unprecedented efficiency!

It's no longer a chase, but... a full-scale preparation for war!
If other forces in the Black Sand Belt were to witness this scene, they would likely be utterly astonished.

What kind of enemy could make the infamous and domineering Lord of the Blood Prison adopt such a posture of being on high alert?
……

Inside the cave in Shattered Star City.

Xu Ran was unaware of the uproar he had caused, nor did he know that the Lord of the Blood Prison had fallen into a state of panic because of him.

At this moment, his brows furrowed tightly.

Just after his breakthrough, as he took out the ancient navigation map to study the so-called "Ancient Road to the End," an indescribable feeling descended upon him.

It was a feeling of being "watched".

This gaze comes from no direction, and from no living being.

It seemed to have been cast from the upstream of time, from the ruins of an era, transcending endless cause and effect, and directly imprinted upon his true spirit.

Cold, deathly silent, filled with ominous and eerie atmosphere.

It was as if a god or demon, buried in ancient burial ground, had slowly... opened its eyes because it possessed this map.

"By possessing this map, one will be perceived by certain 'things' left behind on the ancient road."

The old man's words from Wanbaolou echoed in his ears.

Xu Ran's expression became more solemn than ever before.

He could sense that the gaze carried a kind of hunger.

It wasn't hunger for flesh and blood, but hunger for "existence" itself. It wanted to... "devour" him!

"Hmph, what a coward."

Xu Ran snorted coldly, and the sword intent of "correcting mistakes" instantly spread throughout his body, forming an invisible barrier that blocked the prying gaze.

However, the next moment, something even stranger happened.

Ripples began to spread in the space around him.

Wisps of black mist seeped out from nowhere. These wisps of mist had no energy fluctuations, yet they carried an aura that caused all things to wither and the Great Dao to decay.

Wherever the mist passed, the stone walls of the cave silently "disappeared".

It's not that it's turned to ashes, but rather that its "concept" is being erased.

Tu Feng stared in horror at his arm, which was becoming transparent at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"S-Senior! Save me!" he screamed in utter terror.

His cultivation and his Taoist techniques were completely ineffective against this black mist!

Xu Ran's eyes turned cold.

"Toying with the 'End' principle before me?"

A glimmer of light appeared at his fingertips.

That was neither sword light nor the light of any supernatural power.

That was a glimmer of... "life".

This glimmer of light was like the first ray of life born from chaos, the first flower of the Dao blooming at the beginning of an era.

The light spread out, forming a domain.

Within this realm, life thrives endlessly.

The eerie black mist, upon contact with this area, seemed to encounter its nemesis, letting out a silent roar as it was continuously neutralized and purified by the "life" principle contained within it.

"Get back."

Xu Ran's gaze seemed to pierce through the endless void, reaching the source of the mist.

He stretched out his hand and gently clenched it in the air.

"Break!"

Somewhere in the ancient road to the end, beyond the immeasurable expanse of time and space.

This is a desolate ruin, filled with countless enormous, unimaginably massive corpses of gods and demons, as well as fragments of the ancient universe.

On the head of one of the colossal beasts, which had long since lost all its divinity and was now nothing but an immortal shell, a wisp of black mist was slowly rising from its seven orifices.

This wisp of mist coalesced into a blurry human figure, its gaze fixed on a coordinate in the distant downstream of time and space.

Suddenly, its blurry figure trembled violently.

An irresistible and incomprehensible force, following the causal line of that "gaze," surged upstream and slashed fiercely at its body!
"Uh……"

A roar, unlike anything a living being could utter, filled with pain and astonishment, rang out from it.

The blurry human figure was instantly cleaved in two!
The black mist that made it up was dissipating wildly, as if it had suffered a severe blow.

The causal connection between it and Xu Ran was completely severed by this chop!
……

Inside the cave.

As Xu Ran uttered the word, all the black mist instantly lost its source and was completely purified by the "Life" domain.

Tu Feng's transparent arm has also returned to its original state.

He collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his body already soaked in cold sweat.

In that instant, he felt as if one of his feet had stepped into the abyss of death. No, that was more terrifying than death; it was utter "non-existence."

"Senior... what... what was that just now?" he asked, still shaken.

"The scavenger on the ancient road to the end."

Xu Ran withdrew his hand, his expression icy.

"Some perished in the ancient era, yet remained resentful. Their true spirits were corrupted by the aura of the ancient road, transforming them into something neither alive nor dead, pitiful creatures that feed by devouring the 'existence' of others." "And this is just the outermost layer of trash, yet it was attracted by the aura of the navigation map."

A hint of apprehension flashed in Xu Ran's eyes.

The ancient road to the end was more dangerous than he had imagined.

While his current strength is enough to dominate the Black Sand Belt, it would probably still be insufficient against the truly terrifying beings on the Ancient Road.

"It seems the plan needs to be changed."

Xu Ran muttered to himself.

He originally planned to stay in Shattered Star City for a while, consolidate resources, and improve his strength before setting off for the Ancient Road to the End.

But now it seems that as long as he possesses this navigation chart, he will be constantly harassed by those strange things.

Moreover, although the "scavenger" had severed his causal ties, he must have already revealed his coordinates to other "things" on the ancient road.

This place is no longer safe.

We must leave as soon as possible!

“Tu Feng.” Xu Ran looked at Tu Feng, who was lying on the ground.

"Yes! What are your orders, senior?" Tu Feng jumped up and stood respectfully.

"How much do you know about the Black Sand Belt, or even the wider star field?" Xu Ran asked.

Although Tu Feng was puzzled, he immediately replied, "Senior, I have been in Shattered Star City for thousands of years and am quite familiar with the distribution of the major forces in the Black Sand Belt. As for the outside world, I have also traveled there, visiting the Sirius Star Region and the Ziwei Star Region, and know some things about it."

“Very good.” Xu Ran nodded. “From now on, you will follow me. I need a guide.”

Upon hearing this, Tu Feng was first stunned, and then a complex emotion of joy and fear overwhelmed his mind like a cosmic tide.

To follow such an unfathomable being is undoubtedly an immense opportunity; to rise to the top in one step may no longer be a pipe dream. However, serving such a ruler is like serving a tiger. This senior's methods are too unpredictable, and his moods are hard to fathom. If one is not careful, one might not even know how one "disappears."

However, this thought was fleeting. He had already struggled on the narrow bridge of cultivation for far too long, able to see the end but powerless to cross it. Now, a divine rope, reaching to the heavens and the earth, was hanging before him. Even knowing that the other end of the rope might connect to an abyss, he had to hold on tightly!
"Yes! Senior! Junior Tu Feng is willing to serve you faithfully, even unto death!" Tu Feng did not hesitate at all, immediately knelt down on both knees and performed a deep salute, his posture extremely humble.

Xu Ran remained noncommittal, his gaze as calm as the unchanging starry sky. He needed neither Tu Feng's loyalty nor cared about his thoughts. All he needed was a "living map" familiar with this star field, a "tool" to handle his trivial matters.

"Get up," Xu Ran said calmly. "This place is not safe to stay any longer. Let's leave Shattered Star City immediately."

"Yes!" Tu Feng quickly stood up and respectfully stood aside, while cautiously reminding him, "Senior, the entire Shattered Star City, and even most of the Black Sand Belt, is probably in turmoil. Countless divine senses are intertwined in the city, all searching for your whereabouts. Are we... just going to leave like this?"

Xu Ran glanced at him and asked, "Otherwise what?"

Tu Feng was speechless. Yes, what else could he be? To this senior, what difference was there between those so-called Dao Ancestors and powerful figures and ants on the roadside? He had truly overthought things.

Xu Ran ignored him and instead turned his gaze to Xue Wuyai, who was casually restrained to the side, unable to move like a mosquito trapped in amber.

At this moment, Xue Wuyai was no longer the arrogant and noble man he once was. His Blood Prison Divine Body's origin had been stripped away, and his cultivation had been almost completely destroyed, leaving him as nothing but an empty shell. His eyes, once filled with tyranny and lewdness, were now filled with nothing but endless fear. As he watched Xu Ran approach, his body trembled uncontrollably, unable to even utter a plea for mercy.

Xu Ran extended a finger and pointed it at Xue Wuyai's brow.

The fingertips did not touch flesh, yet an invisible force, like a brand, was deeply engraved into the depths of Xue Wuya's true spirit.

“Go back and tell the Lord of Blood Prison.” Xu Ran’s voice was soft, yet it seemed to carry a kind of law that made his words law, resounding directly in Xue Wuyai’s soul. “I took his things. I crippled his people. If he wants revenge, I’m ready anytime. But next time, I won’t go to his ‘back garden,’ but will personally raze his Blood Prison Star Sea to the ground.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Ran withdrew his finger.

The binding force on Xue Wuyai receded like a tide. He collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, as if he had just been pulled back from the brink of drowning.

"roll."

A single word, like a thunderclap from the heavens, exploded in Xue Wuyai's ears. He trembled all over, scrambling out of the cave and transforming into a disheveled streak of blood-red light, fleeing Shattered Star City like a madman.

He dared not linger for a moment, nor utter a single complaint. The words imprinted deep within his soul, like an inextinguishable nightmare, would accompany him throughout his life.

Looking in the direction Xue Wuyai fled, Tu Feng felt a chill run down his spine.

This is not just releasing a tiger back into the mountains; it's practically giving the tiger a map, telling it where it is, and then slapping it in the face.

What confidence, or rather, what...disdain!

They didn't take the infamous Blood Prison Star Sea seriously at all.

"Let's go."

Xu Ran took a step and walked out of the cave.

Tu Feng quickly followed, step by step.

When the two stepped out of the cave and back into the main streets of Shattered Star City, the entire bustling interstellar metropolis seemed to have been put on pause.

Countless gazes, some open, some hidden, some filled with awe, curiosity, or greed, converged from all directions. In the void, powerful divine thoughts, like interwoven spiderwebs, enveloped this area layer by layer.

The owners of these divine thoughts were all prominent figures in the Black Sand Belt, and some were even veteran Dao Ancestors of the same level as Blood Elder and Underworld Elder.

They dared not get too close, and could only try to peek at this mysterious and powerful figure who had stirred up the entire Black Death Belt in this way.

Under this overwhelming pressure, Tu Feng's face turned pale, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to his knees. He felt like a small boat in a raging storm, about to be crushed into dust at any moment.

However, Xu Ran, who was walking in front of him, seemed to be strolling leisurely, ignoring everything around him.

Those Dao Ancestor divine thoughts, powerful enough to crush stars, melted away silently like spring snow meeting the scorching sun when they approached within three feet of his body. There was no earth-shattering energy collision, nor any confrontation of laws and Dao rhythms; they simply "disappeared" naturally.

It was as if the space where Xu Ran was located was not on the same "real" level as the rest of the world.

All the prying divine thoughts suddenly retreated at this moment!

From the depths of the void came several suppressed groans.

Those Dao Ancestors who tried to spy on Xu Ran all suffered a backlash, their minds shaken and filled with horror.

"Invisible! Unexplorable!"

"His 'Dao' is self-contained and rejects all other laws! My divine sense only approached it, and I felt that my own foundation of the Dao was about to be assimilated and distorted!"

"Just who is this person?!"

For a time, no one dared to spy on them recklessly.

The entire street was completely silent.

Xu Ran led Tu Feng forward, their destination the interstellar teleportation array in Shattered Star City.

Just as they were about to reach the center of the square, a ripple suddenly appeared in the space in front of them.

A gaunt old man dressed in hemp clothing and carrying a stone knife stepped out of nothingness and blocked their path.

It is none other than the Lord of Tiandao Mountain!
His appearance silenced the entire Shattered Star City. The sharp, piercing intent that seemed capable of cleaving the universe sent a chill down the spines of all living beings.

Tu Feng's heart leaped into his throat. The Lord of Heavenly Blade Mountain was one of the true giants of the Black Sand Belt, his strength even more terrifying than that of Elder Blood and Elder Netherworld combined!
(End of this chapter)