The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

"This chaotic star..."

Above a massive, chaotic star, a man in a green robe with deer antlers stood amidst the chaos, looking down below.

“Here, there is a trace of the ugly slave’s breath left behind before his death.”

The man in the green robe looked coldly, "In my Azure Sky Domain, you dare to touch the Life and Death Dao Lord of my Azure Sky Sect, and even kill him. You are truly audacious."

The man in the green robe with deer antlers on his head was none other than Tian Qingzi, a fourth-step Dao Lord of the Tianqing Sect.

In the Tianqing Domain, Tian Qingzi's position is similar to that of the Great Mo Daojun in the Great Mo Domain; he is an absolute overlord.

It should be noted that among the surrounding major territories, Tian Qingzi ranks first in terms of strength.

Tian Qingzi was also a powerful figure who had touched the edge of the Dao Integration Realm. Now that the Dao Lord of Life and Death in the sect had died and his Dao had dissipated, Tian Qingzi, as the sect leader, naturally could not sit idly by.

The moment the life-binding artifact of the Ugly Slave Daoist was shattered six months ago, they immediately received the news and even tracked it down to the place where the Ugly Slave Daoist had perished.

With Tian Qingzi's strength, it wouldn't be difficult for him to deduce the place of death!

Of course, it is almost impossible to directly deduce the murderer.

Just like when the Northern World God was chased to death by the three divine beasts, Wu Jiao, the Heavenly Cang Palace couldn't deduce that.

To directly deduce the murderer, one must have a highly skilled expert in 'deduction'.

Even more auxiliary factors are needed to reduce the difficulty of 'deduction' and to have a slight chance of figuring out the murderer.

"Time reversal." Tian Qingzi stood in the void and pointed downwards.

Wow~~~
I saw the scene in the air around me changing and time quickly going backwards.

Scenes from the past are constantly replaying in our minds.

One month ago...

Three months ago...

Five months ago...

In this chaos, everything that happened in the past is clearly visible. Until time rewinds to six months ago.

"Huh?" Tian Qingzi was stunned by the scene in front of him.

"Time in this chaos has been completely disrupted? There's no way to go back?"

Tian Qingzi looked at the scene before him, and all he could see was a chaotic mess that was impossible to look at.

"Although I am not skilled in the art of time and space, I am still a fourth-step Dao Lord standing on the edge of the Dao Integration stage, yet even I am unable to reverse time..."

Tian Qingzi's expression was very ugly. "Could it be that Ugly Slave has offended a powerful expert who is skilled in the art of time and space?"

"So that angered that powerful being, who was unwilling to be my enemy Tian Qingzi, so after killing Chou Nu, he completely disrupted this space-time?"

A myriad of thoughts flashed through Tian Qingzi's mind.

He also understood that although the Azure Sky Sect was undoubtedly the overlord of the entire Azure Sky Domain, it was nothing compared to the vast territory.

As for those powerful figures who have the strength to kill Ugly Slave Dao Lord, they are at most wary of him as the sect leader of the Azure Sky Sect. As for the Azure Sky Sect as a whole, it poses no threat at all.

"But if it's a powerful being skilled in the art of time and space..." Tian Qingzi muttered to himself, "This is not someone to be trifled with. I wonder how this ugly servant offended such a being."

In the endless realm, the Dao Lord of Life and Death, who walks the path of time and space, is notoriously difficult to deal with.

Now that it has been discovered that spacetime has been disrupted, even Tian Qingzi himself finds it very difficult, if not impossible, to trace back what happened back then.

Discovering this phenomenon caused Tian Qingzi a great deal of trouble.

"There's no other way, so we can only pay the price to ask Da Mo for help." After pondering for a long time, Tian Qingzi sighed softly.

A Dao Lord who is skilled in the Dao of Time and Space, if his strength is too weak, may not even be as good as Tian Qingzi himself.

However, Tian Qingzi had little connection with those who were too powerful, and the cost of getting them to do him a favor would be considerable.

In comparison, it would be easier for Dao Lord Da Mo, who is more familiar with the Dao and whose 'deduction of the Dao' ranks among the top three among the many Dao Lords in the Endless Territory, to directly ask for help.

……

The Three Realms, the Flowing Cloud Palace of the Universe.

Lei Zhan knew nothing about Tian Qingzi's investigation into the cause of Chou Nu Dao Jun's death, and even if he did know, he wouldn't care.

After breaking through to become a Dao Lord of Life and Death through the ultimate Dao of Time and Space, a Dao Lord at the first step can be as powerful as a Dao Lord at the second step who has fused multiple of the strongest Daos.

Nowadays, there aren't actually many among the Four Steps Dao Lords who can overcome any obstacle.

Of course, none of the four-step Dao Lords who can reach the edge of the Dao Integration stage are simple. Even someone as famous as Tian Qingzi is not someone Lei Zhan would dare to ignore easily.

"Having broken through to the Dao Lord of Life and Death, the power of the Azure Mist has also been re-condensed."

"And my own inner world, now that the Ultimate Time and Space Dao has broken through to the First Step Dao Lord, can also use the Ultimate Time and Space Dao as the core to make the entire inner world more expansive and more stable."

The Huanyu Liuyun Palace was quiet, while Lei Zhan was introspecting within his own body.

Now, with his magical and divine power comparable to that of a second-step Dao Lord, Lei Zhan was carefully observing the blue-and-white space in his sea of ​​consciousness.

“The power of blue-and-white mist,” Lei Zhan observed.

Inside the blue-and-white porcelain space, everything was shrouded in a misty haze.

Drops of water, shimmering with golden light, rolled slowly, surrounded by a faint mist.

When breaking through to the Dao Lord of Life and Death, the surrounding chaotic power is endlessly supplied, and the water droplets in this blue-and-white space are completely transformed at the same time as the breakthrough.

"One thousand three hundred and fifty drops!" This number astonished even Lei Zhan's incredibly strong heart.

The 1,350 water droplets suspended within this blue-and-white space of consciousness each contain incomparably powerful energy, each drop representing the sum of one's own divine power, magical power, and mental strength.

In terms of sheer exhaustion, even a second-step Dao Lord or a third-step Dao Lord is no match for Lei Zhan; they are not even in the same league.

After all, when Qi Zhizun created this method, he referenced countless methods from another chaotic universe civilization, the Sith race, which led to the creation of this secret technique that combines three forces.

"Now the Azure Mist has undergone another transformation, and its power is even stronger than my own divine power and magic power. It is estimated to be comparable to a fourth-step Dao Lord."

The power of the blue-and-white mist flowed between Lei Zhan's bodies. With just a simple clench of his fist, the terrifying power seemed to annihilate the space into nothingness. The effect was simply unbelievable.

“Back when I was a Daoist Master, there might have been some special life forms or races whose power could be stronger than mine. But the power of the Azure Flower Mist is superior in that it can last for a longer period of time in battle.” Lei Zhan nodded slightly.

"but……"

Lei Zhan was thinking in his heart.

"The higher the level of cultivation, the final competition mainly comes down to the power of the 'Dao'... The 'Dao' of the Lord of Life and Death is the fundamental one."

Having brute force alone will only lead to being trampled upon.

Only when one's own path is strong enough, and through one's understanding of that path, can one more easily fight beyond one's level.

Therefore, some of the Heaven-Defying Dao Lords, such as Palace Master Li Xing, Palace Master Xing Yun, and the Myriad Gods Dao Lord, were originally cultivators themselves.

However, it is precisely because of the strength of the 'path' they have walked that they can easily kill powerful beings of the same level, and even kill Eternal Emperors! Like Lei Zhan, who now controls the ultimate spacetime path, and will reach the edge of the Dao Integration in the future, killing an Eternal Dao Lord will be no easier than crushing an ant.

Even now, without using any divine power or magic, the mere presence of the Intent of Space and Time is enough to easily suppress a Three-Step Dao Lord.

With this 'path', his speed can now reach an astonishing thirty times the speed of light.

With this 'path', he can enter deeper dimensions and travel through space at an even more astonishing speed.

This is the 'Tao', the foundation of spiritual practice!

"The Way of Time and Space..." Lei Zhan said softly.

After breaking through to the first Dao Lord level, he has gained many insights into the Dao of Time and Space, which had previously stagnated.

The meaning of shattered stars, the meaning of annihilation, reincarnation, a thousand worlds, and fleeting shadows... The five spacetime techniques I created back then are now bringing many insights to my mind.

Lei Zhan naturally made some deductions about the many mysteries that followed.

"They say the higher you stand, the farther you can see. Now that I've broken through, I can see even further ahead about the 'road' ahead." Lei Zhan had a faint smile on his face.

The higher you stand, the farther you can see.

The Dao Tree growing within the Golden Core space of his body, constantly evolving into the ultimate spacetime Dao, has given Lei Zhan many insights into the path ahead.

Shaking his head, Lei Zhan calmed his mind. In the space between his brows, the 'point' born from the intersection of reality and illusion was also undergoing a massive transformation.

A grain of sand contains a world; this single point contains a world of the heart.

A figure appeared in the sky above this vast world.

The phantom looked both illusory and real, gazing down at the scene below.

In that vast world, there are towering mountains stretching for millions of miles, and all sorts of landscapes including mountains, rivers, and the heavens.

"World of the Heart, expand!" Lei Zhan's voice boomed like thunder.

Rumble~~~
The earth formed and extended in all directions, while the sky began to form and rose continuously upwards...

With the Ultimate Time-Space Path at its core, the majestic mountain peak standing at the center of the Heart World also grew wildly, becoming even more majestic and enormous.

At the same time, the world of the heart also began to continuously draw upon the power of chaos and expand outwards.

……

"Da Mo, even you can't deduce this?"

In a secluded and elegant courtyard deep within the Great Mo Academy, the Great Mo Dao Lord and Tian Qingzi sat facing each other.

Tian Qingzi looked at Da Mo Daojun, his brows furrowing slightly. "Is it because there's too little information about that powerful being, making it impossible to deduce anything, or..."

“Brother Tian Qingzi, I have also met the Ugly Slave Dao Lord in your sect. His strength is quite extraordinary among the second-step Dao Lords. I was naturally prepared for the powerful beings who could easily kill him.”

Daoist Da Mo looked quite helpless. "But we know too little information. Even if you go to the scene, Brother Tian Qingzi, you won't get any useful information..."

"Therefore, my deductions are very vague, and I can't even deduce the general range."

The art of deduction is neither omnipotent nor all-knowing.

Even though Dao Lord Da Mo is already one of the top three Dao Lords in the 'Way of Deduction' in the Endless Territory, it is still very difficult for him to calculate and find out who killed Dao Lord Chou Nu.

Because there are many distractions, fate has many tributaries.

Every disturbance, every twist of fate, represents countless possibilities.

“This…” Tian Qingzi’s expression was solemn; he was well aware of these things.

When one reaches the fourth step of Dao Lord, the edge of Dao Integration, and while not having much confidence in integrating with the Dao, one usually tries to comprehend other Daos, hoping to gain insights from similar cases and increase the chances of successfully integrating with the Dao.

Tian Qingzi, who has some knowledge of the arts of time and space and deduction, naturally knows the difficulty involved.

“Da Mo.” Tian Qingzi looked at Daojun Da Mo, “If you want to deduce the death of Daojun Chou Nu, would the success rate be higher if you had a Heavenly Evolution Jade Tablet?”

"The Heavenly Jade Token?" Daoist Da Mo's eyes lit up.

The Heavenly Evolution Jade Token is a supreme treasure for divination. For a cultivator who follows the path of divination, its importance is unmatched by any number of eternal divine weapons.

Throughout countless ages, every appearance of the Heavenly Evolution Jade Token has been met with fierce competition from ancient, powerful beings who have lived for countless years.

“Yes, the Heavenly Evolution Jade Token. I have one of these in my hand.” As Tian Qingzi spoke, he flipped his hand, and a piece of cyan jade appeared in his palm.

The jade piece floated in mid-air as soon as it appeared. It had mysterious and complex patterns on its surface, and seemed to breathe, with special fluctuations emanating from it.

"Jade Token! It really is the Heavenly Jade Token!" Daoist Da Mo's face lit up with joy.

"If Brother Tian Qingzi is willing to hand over this Heavenly Evolution Jade Token to me, with the assistance of such a supreme divination treasure, it will be much easier to deduce and investigate the death of Chou Nu."

"Okay!" Tian Qingzi nodded gently.

If he hadn't obtained such a treasure by chance, he wouldn't have immediately thought of Daoist Da Mo when he tracked down that chaotic star.

While deduction is not omniscient, with the help of the Heavenly Evolution Jade Token, one can at least learn about the opponent's strength and background.

At the very least, it would let Tian Qingzi know that the real culprit who killed the Ugly Slave Dao Lord was someone the Ugly Slave Dao Lord himself had inadvertently provoked, or someone Tian Qingzi himself was an enemy.

call.

With a wave of his hand, Tian Qingzi caused the azure jade piece to appear directly in front of Daoist Da Mo.

"Da Mo, I'll have to trouble you then."

"It's alright." Daoist Da Mo accepted the cyan jade piece directly.

The Great Mo Dao Lord excels at deduction and rarely goes out on adventures, which is quite different from the cultivation methods of other Dao Lords of Life and Death.

Therefore, Daoist Da Mo himself did not possess many treasures, and with this Heavenly Evolution Jade Token appearing before him, he could not possibly refuse it.

"Brother Tian Qingzi." Daoist Da Mo enveloped the Heavenly Evolution Jade Token with his magic power and refined it. He looked at Tian Qingzi and said, "Please wait for one day. After one day, the results of the deduction should be clear."

"One day? Okay." Tian Qingzi nodded.

The Ugly Slave Daoist has been dead for nearly half a year. Considering the time he has spent traveling back and forth, even waiting for one more day would not be a big deal for Tian Qingzi.

"Hmm." After receiving confirmation, Daoist Da Mo disappeared from the spot.

For ordinary deductions, there's no need for Daoist Da Mo to be so serious. For minor matters, the results can be deduced in a very short time.

However, the results of previous deductions in investigating the death of Chou Nu Dao Jun were already quite vague. Now, with the Heavenly Evolution Jade Token as an aid, Da Mo Dao Jun also needs to make extensive preparations.

Just like refining elixirs and setting up formations, it requires a lot of preparation, a lot of materials, and a lot of mental effort.

Such a level of deduction usually requires a huge price to pay, and may even seriously injure Da Mo Daojun.

However, the Heavenly Evolution Jade Token can be used many times and is precious enough. Even if it comes at a huge cost, it is entirely worthwhile for Daoist Da Mo himself.

……

(End of this chapter)