Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 590 Changsheng Emerges from Seclusion
After killing these messengers, Xiao Ran deliberately used various means to conceal his aura and traces, but left behind some subtle auras that most cultivators could not detect, but that some ancient races that were extremely good at detection could detect through their talent.

This was an opportunity he had been waiting for. Even if the gods and humans were separated, they were still truly of the same race. Those ancient races had always been wary of the gods, fearing they might still have ties with the humans.

Now that he has killed the ancient race's envoy, it will further fuel their suspicion of the gods, thus disrupting any potential contact. This would increase the likelihood of the gods siding with humanity.

Of course, killing just one group of envoys wasn't enough; more needed to be done. So Xiao Ran concealed his identity and used the same method to attack several strongholds of the ancient clan, killing several ancient clan Great Saints and one ancient clan Quasi-Emperor.

The ancient race eventually discovered this, but just in case, they sent another envoy to test the gods' attitude.

Xiao Ran had anticipated this and ambushed the ancient clan near the divine race, killing the high-ranking quasi-emperor. He then intercepted and killed the two groups of envoys sent by the ancient clan.

Finally, the ancient race could no longer bear it and challenged the gods, hoping they would clarify their stance and give them an explanation.

The gods were unaware of this, and as descendants of the Ming Emperor, they, as a top-tier race in the universe, naturally could not back down. Thus, the atmosphere between the two sides was tense and fraught with danger.

Xin Lang, upon learning of this, immediately guessed the truth. However, he couldn't explain the details to the ancient clan.

After all, Xiao Ran is now a top expert of the God Clan and also his brother-in-law. He can neither directly cut ties with Xiao Ran nor make the Ancient Clan believe that this matter has nothing to do with the God Clan. Therefore, he can only choose to remain silent, but at the same time, he secretly searches for Xiao Ran, wants to arrest him and bring him to justice, prevent him from causing trouble again and further escalating the situation, and seek a solution.

Xin Lang was able to suppress Xiao Ran mainly because of the protective array and the inherited imperial weapon, but these two things are now being used to deter the ancient clans from taking action, so Xin Lang had to take action himself.

The two were evenly matched to begin with, and Xiao Ran was determined to leave, so Xin Lang couldn't subdue him. But if Xin Lang wanted to pursue, Xiao Ran couldn't escape either. So the two began a battle in the starry sky, locked in a relentless struggle, but Xin Lang managed to prevent Xiao Ran from continuing to attack the ancient clans and escalating the situation again.

Without Xin Lang, the Divine Clan descended into chaos and turmoil. Amidst this chaos, Xin Lingxiao finally emerged from seclusion.

This son of the Ming Emperor held absolute authority within the divine race, so he directly ended the internal disputes and waited patiently for his decision after understanding the situation.

After that, Xin Lingxiao arrived alone before the ancient clan forces, whose army was pressing in. He single-handedly shattered their nearly complete imperial array, causing the ancient clan to collapse. However, he did not use excessive force.

The ancient clan's army was led by a near-peak ninth-level Dao cultivator, who was captured by Xin Lingxiao in one move and had almost no chance to fight back.

Even a near-peak ninth-level cultivator who is about to achieve enlightenment is as fragile as an infant in front of him. Xin Lingxiao's strength is obviously about to be revealed. He has become the first genius in this human universe to have almost completed his final leap in preparation for the ultimate breakthrough.

The strength in this state is roughly equivalent to the initial stage of alternative enlightenment.

At this moment, the ancient clans remembered that on the ultimate ancient path, this son of the Bright Emperor had not fallen behind like the Prince of Light, but had always been on par with Changsheng and the Beast God. Now it seemed that although he had not made a move in recent years, he had not fallen behind, and might even have been ahead.

So they very politely hoped that the Protoss would give them an explanation as soon as possible, and then they withdrew their troops directly, even leaving the star system where the Protoss was located, in order to avoid arousing their dissatisfaction.

Of course, even though Shen Lingxiao is already so powerful that he can almost trigger the Great Tribulation of Dao Proving, their chances of achieving Dao Proving are still lower than those of the Immortal and the Beast God.

Because he was the son of Emperor Ming, even though Emperor Ming intentionally minimized the suppression he exerted, residual Dao imprints in his bloodline still restricted him, preventing him from directly achieving the ultimate leap. However, this was a common problem for princes; unless their fathers, like the ancient Qilin Emperor of later generations before his death, removed the restrictions on their children, they would all be subject to this limitation. Of course, if they could break through this restriction, their achievements would be even greater.

However, unlike the princes of the Heavenly Emperor, who are suppressed by the Emperor's mark, normal princes do not face such high difficulties in breaking through the restrictions. At least, the restrictions are much smaller than those for proving the Dao through the Undying Golden Body and the Azure Heaven Overlord Body, so there is still hope for them to succeed.

Even so, at least now Xin Lingxiao has indeed become the number one expert in the human universe on the surface.

After intimidating the ancient race, Xin Lingxiao left the ancient star where the gods were located and found Xin Lang and Xiao Ran, who were still entangled with him.

The moment Xin Lingxiao's aura appeared, the two of them froze on the spot, cold sweat pouring down their faces.

Xin Lingxiao said, "Are you going back on your own, or should I take you back?"

Feeling the terrifying aura that was completely beyond their level, Xiao Ran stopped talking and obediently followed behind Xin Lingxiao.

Xin Lang also felt somewhat ashamed. After Xin Lingxiao went into seclusion, he took over the management of the affairs of the Divine Clan, but now things had turned out like this, which was indeed a dereliction of duty.

Upon returning to the Divine Clan, Xiao Ran was immediately imprisoned in the Divine Clan's Heavenly Prison by Xin Lingxiao, while Xin Lang was ordered to reflect on his actions behind closed doors. The situation fell into an eerie calm.

Just then, the human race learned of the series of events that Xiao Ran had caused. Xiao Ran was an old friend of the Human Emperor, and now he was doing these things to undermine the cooperation between the gods and the ancient races for the sake of the human race. Naturally, the human race could not ignore this.

Moreover, if this matter is not handled properly and the gods side with the ancient race, then they will be in a difficult situation.

However, Xin Lingxiao's strength is a level higher than that of Mu Renqing and Cang Yun, who are currently the strongest among humans. They simply do not have the ability to negotiate with him normally.

Now they can only place their hopes on Changsheng. Only when Changsheng has also completed the accumulation before the ultimate leap and possesses strength similar to that of someone who has just achieved initial Dao, can he stand on equal footing with Xin Lingxiao and negotiate a suitable solution.

However, Changsheng is currently in seclusion, and they do not know whether he has completed his cultivation. If they rashly awaken him and cause him to fail to complete his cultivation, then they will lose everything.

Just as they were struggling with their dilemma, Changsheng emerged from seclusion and came to them.

These high-ranking human leaders were overjoyed and said, "Welcome, Human Emperor."

After greeting him, Cangyun couldn't help but ask, "Human Emperor, I wonder if you achieved your goal during this seclusion?"

Chang Sheng said, "I completed my accumulation about ten years ago, but I spent some time sorting out my Dao and Dharma."

"Why are you all gathered here? Has something happened?"

(End of this chapter)