The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Yu Xinghai.

In a remote and mysterious place.

A towering tree, hundreds of millions of miles high, supports this world, where countless creatures thrive and multiply.

These creatures each exuded a unique life force, and their strength varied.

The weakest are at most at the Nascent Soul or Void Returning level in the Three Realms, while the strongest exude the aura of Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal.

Those with strength above the World Realm are separated from these weaker creatures and generally live on those towering trees.

The leaves on the big tree are like small islands, and on these 'islands' are palaces built on the leaves.

At first glance, these palaces appear to be arranged like fish scales, with countless palaces.

The higher these palaces go, the grander and more magnificent they become.

Even at the very top of the tree, a magnificent palace spanning millions of miles floats in the air.

"boom--"

Suddenly, among the millions of palaces on the towering tree, a terrifying flame and blade light shot into the sky from one of the palaces built at an extremely high position.

The firelight and the glint of blades carried a chilling killing intent, their imposing aura overwhelming.

"This...what a commotion!"

"What terrifying killing intent!"

"It's the ancestor's cave! It's the cave of Ancestor Yanming!"

"This overwhelming killing intent, even through layers of arrays and restrictions, still makes me feel a terrifying sense of threat. Who is it? Who has offended Ancestor Yanming?"

"Ancestor Yanming was a fourth-step Dao Lord in our clan who had reached the edge of the Dao Integration stage, and his strength was unfathomable..."

One by one, the creatures cultivating in their caves were awakened by this overwhelming killing intent, and their gazes all turned toward the palace high in the tree.

Yanming Daojun was one of the few powerful beings in their tribe in this era who reached the edge of the Dao Integration stage.

He would occasionally give pointers to the younger generation when he was in a good mood, so the cultivators in the clan were no strangers to this powerful and heaven-defying Dao Lord.

Just then, a beam of fire shot into the sky, transforming into a streak of light that flew towards the largest palace atop the towering tree.

"Damn it! Damn it! This Dao Lord Guiyi is so strong, he even survived the Dao talisman made by the Ancestor..."

Amidst the fiery light, a black-haired old man in a golden robe looked extremely anxious. "My main body is dead, and I'm afraid my second primordial spirit will also perish in the end. Now I can only ask the ancestor for help."

"If I can pay the price to persuade the Eternal Emperor of the clan, or if the Ancestor personally intervenes, my second primordial spirit might still be able to survive."

The black-haired old man in the golden robe exuded the unique aura of a magical puppet, and was the Dharma body left behind by Daoist Yanming within the clan.

Whoop, whoop, whoop.

The distance of billions of miles was covered in an instant, and Daoist Yanming flew directly to the gate of the magnificent palace, which spanned tens of millions of miles.

"Ancestor, Yan Ming requests an audience! Please save my life!" Although he was extremely anxious, Daoist Yan Ming arrived at the gate of the majestic palace with great respect.

"Yan Ming? Come in." A majestic voice came from inside the palace, echoing in Yan Ming Daojun's ears, which made Yan Ming Daojun's face light up with joy.

"Yes." Daoist Yanming replied, and as the palace gates slowly opened, he quickly flew inside.

Rumble~~~
The majestic palace gates opened wide, but quickly closed again after Daoist Yanming entered.

……

Inside the magnificent palace lies a vast grotto-heaven world, at the center of which stands a tall and majestic divine tree.

Not far from the sacred tree lies a lake radiating spiritual energy. Beside the lake sits a cold-looking man wearing a tall crown and a blue robe, who appears as an ordinary person and is fishing.

Wow.

A streak of flame flew swiftly from afar and arrived in front of the cold-faced man.

"Ancestor, please save me!" Daoist Yanming stepped forward and bowed, pleading urgently.

"Save you? Tell me what happened first?" The cold-faced man looked up at him.

“I remember that your main body and your second primordial spirit left the clan territory several dozen chaotic eras ago. Now, your main body and second primordial spirit should be in the Heavenly Wood Holy City. Even I dare not easily make a move in that holy city…”

“Ancestor, my main body and second primordial spirit were hunting down an old enemy in the Heavenly Wood Holy City. That enemy was only a top-tier fourth-step Dao Lord, but he was following a second-step Dao Lord.”

Yanming Daojun said, "Although his master was a second-step Daojun, his strength was too heaven-defying; even my own body perished. He even managed to withstand the talisman bestowed upon me by the Ancestor..."

Daoist Yanming quickly recounted the cause and effect.

There are only two or three Eternal Emperors in the clan, and each one is related to the future of the clan, so none of them should be touched without authorization.

Furthermore, no matter how close one's private relationship is with a certain Eternal Emperor, if one wants to ask the Emperor for help, one must go through the tribal patriarch.

Therefore, the moment Yanming Daojun realized something was wrong when his true form died, he quickly rushed over to see the Ancestor.

But the speed between Dao Lords of Life and Death is incredibly fast, leaving him little time. "Hmm." The cold-faced man nodded slightly. "To be able to withstand the Dao Talisman I crafted, a Second Step Dao Lord must have been lucky enough to obtain some extraordinary opportunity."

"However... I had an agreement with Emperor Jinyu of the Dao Alliance that we should not enter the territory of the eight holy cities where the Dao Alliance is located unless there are special circumstances. Your second primordial spirit should hide in the restrictions within the holy city first. Then I will send Emperor Fuling of my clan to accompany you on this trip."

"Ancestor Fuling?" Daoist Yanming was delighted. Emperor Fuling was one of the ancestors he was most familiar with.

"However, you should know the rules of the clan. There is a price to pay for inviting an Eternal Emperor from the clan..." The cold-faced man glanced at Daoist Yanming and said indifferently.

"Yan Ming knows. Ancestor, I once obtained two Nether Orchid Crimson Flame Fruits by chance..." As Daoist Yan Ming was speaking, his expression suddenly froze!
"A cosmic treasure? He actually possesses a cosmic treasure..." Daoist Yanming looked at the cold-faced man, a hint of resentment in his eyes. "I beg the clan... to avenge me! Those who kill me, return to nothingness..."

call.

Before he finished speaking, the light in Yanming Daojun's eyes vanished, and the fluctuations in his aura also disappeared.

"Hmm? A cosmic treasure?" A hint of doubt and curiosity flashed across the cold-faced man's face. "The Second-Step Dao Lord who killed Yan Ming was named Guiyi Dao Lord? A Second-Step Dao Lord has obtained the recognition of a cosmic treasure as his master. Could he be a disciple carefully cultivated by some old fellow?"

In the endless realms, cosmic treasures are extremely rare. Generally, every Eternal Emperor who has reached the power of a Sovereign can have some cosmic treasures willingly recognize them as their master.

Among those below the ruler level, very few possess and have a cosmic treasure recognized as their master. Yet, a mere second-step Dao Lord of Life and Death directly possesses a cosmic treasure…

"Interesting! Quite interesting!"

The cold-faced man frowned slightly. "I haven't even managed to get a cosmic treasure to recognize me as its master, yet a Dao Lord has already done it. Such a heaven-defying prodigy is quite interesting."

boom!
The stern-faced man casually tossed his fishing rod down, which hit the lake shore with a crisp sound.

"The Dao Lord Guiyi? Although the talisman he bestowed upon Yan Ming was something I casually crafted, even those second-level emperors wouldn't dare say they could easily withstand it. The one who could withstand a talisman I crafted and even kill Yan Ming..."

The cold-faced man's gaze was deep and unfathomable. "It's truly surprising that a mere second-step Dao Lord has already gained the recognition of a cosmic treasure as its master. Sending Fu Ling and the others might not be a safe bet. Since such a monstrous genius has been offended, if we can't befriend him, we'll have no choice but to nip him in the bud."

"Let's take a trip here; it's been a long time since I've left this land."

A soft voice echoed throughout the land.

Wow~~~
In an instant, the cold-faced man's figure vanished.

No one knew that the Divine Banyan Ancestor, who had been dormant in the Yu Xinghai for countless chaotic eras, suddenly disappeared from the clan's territory, all for the sake of a fledgling Second Step Dao Lord.

……

In endless chaos.

A black flying boat traverses time and space, each trip covering half a territory.

Lei Zhan sat casually on the Sky One Heart Boat, sipping fine wine and maneuvering the flying boat to travel through time and space. He only needed to spare a sliver of his mind.

"This eternal kingdom is really far away. It took more than three thousand years just to travel through the endless chaos, and we've only covered a little over half of it." Lei Zhan looked at the distant chaotic void and shook his head helplessly.

While traveling through endless territories, using time-space teleportation arrays can save more than 99% of the distance, there are still some places where you need to fly slowly.

These seemingly short distances can take decades, or even centuries, to fly.

The entire Endless Territory is vast, and the Dao Alliance occupies most of it.

Meanwhile, forces like Mangya Kingdom and Eternal Kingdom occupy certain areas of the endless territory.

These places are vast and expansive, but compared to the entire territory of the Dao Alliance, they are nothing.

Places like the Eternal Kingdom are very far from the Dao Alliance.

Even with our current understanding of time and space, it would take four or five thousand years to reach the eternal realm.

Of course, Lei Zhan intended to kill the Dao Lord of the Eternal Clan, which could be considered as coming to cause trouble, but he did not dare to be so arrogant as to directly enter the Eternal Clan's lair, the Eternal Kingdom.

Lei Zhan was merely searching for targets in the vast chaos outside the Eternal Kingdom, or perhaps hunting down some of the Eternal Clan Dao Lords who had already revealed their whereabouts.

"Hmm? He's broken through?" Suddenly, a smile appeared on Lei Zhan's face. "Now that he's collected all five Heavenly Flower Flags, Yi Feng's understanding of the Dao of Formation is changing every day. Even though I accelerated time within the Cave Heaven, it's only been about 300,000 years, and he's already comprehended the second strongest Dao!"

Wow~~~
Lei Zhan waved his hand, and a handsome young man in white suddenly appeared on the Sky One Heart Boat.

"Master." The Winged Wind World God looked around and bowed respectfully.

"Hmm." Lei Zhan turned to look at the white-robed youth and instructed, "Yi Feng, sit down and drink with me."

"Yes," said the Winged Wind World God.

“Over the past three thousand years, I see that you have also comprehended two of the strongest paths.” Lei Zhan smiled and casually tossed a flask of wine to the World God of Winged Wind. “It seems that it won’t be long before you also forge your own path.”

"It's all thanks to Master's nurturing! If it weren't for Master's help..." Wingwind World God Dao.

"I merely provided some treasures," Lei Zhan said with a shake of his head and a smile.

“I treat Su Qi and Wu Ming the same, but their talents are somewhat lacking. Only Wu Ming has found the strongest way to attack, and Su Qi is still far from comprehending the strongest way.”

"So far, you are the only one who has found the strongest path among many others."

...(End of chapter)