Translator: CinderTL
Supreme Sage!
A Supreme Sage who hadn't even reached the Dao Harmonization Realm yet had forced all the Dao Venerables, Supreme Sovereigns, and Ultimate Powerhouses of the Nine Great Institutions to treat him as a grave threat?
They had even joined forces to deploy the Heavenly Evolution Forty-Nine Boundless Tribulation Formation to eliminate him?
"I'm afraid... that's exactly what's happening!"
Even Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse found this utterly inconceivable.
Yet, based on the nascent void great dao and his calculations of Li Chunjun's anomalies, all signs pointed to this conclusion.
"The reason he can repeatedly engage us Dao Harmonization Realm Ultimate Powerhouses in life-or-death battles is because he prematurely accessed the power of dao unification through the Source of Time! But those who have truly fought him will realize he struggles to trigger Great Dao Resonance. In other words, he relies entirely on Immortal Artifacts and external tools to unleash the full power of a Dao. His own body has never truly achieved body-soul unification with the Dao."
As the Supreme Powerhouse voiced this hypothesis, he felt his very understanding of reality being shattered.
How could the world possibly allow such an anomaly to exist?
The other Ultimate Powerhouses had also sensed the changes occurring within the great dao river.
A new great dao was indeed being born.
Though they couldn't "see" the location of the void great dao, the violent disturbances in the great dao river proved that a new great dao was about to form.
Especially...
The intensity of the disturbances this dao's formation was causing in the great dao river.
"The void great dao... something's wrong!"
"What's wrong is precisely what's normal. If an unformed void great dao can already clash with the great daos mastered by us Ultimate Powerhouses, imagine how powerful it will become when fully formed, becoming a fundamental law of the Cosmos!"
"If the 'void' world represented by the void great dao is truly the enemy of all 'existence,' then theoretically, the concept it represents... is equivalent to all the great daos of the 'existence' faction combined, meaning..."
Supreme Powerhouse Gui Ling followed the others' train of thought, suddenly feeling a chill run down his spine. "One dao... is forty-nine daos! One dao... is equivalent to the Great Unification Realm!"
One dao... is equivalent to the great unification realm!
This meant that Li Chunjun, the progenitor divine being, was not born from the Dao itself, but rather from the Great Unification Realm!
A natural-born powerhouse of the Great Unification Realm!
"Everyone, the true test has arrived!" Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse declared, his expression grave.
The other Ultimate Powerhouses and Supreme Sovereigns understood the gravity of their situation.
The battle...
was about to enter its Third-Tier!
And this Third-Tier was Li Chunjun's true peak form!
His ultimate manifestation!
Whoosh!
Almost as soon as this realization dawned on the supreme powerhouses and sovereigns, a figure materialized abruptly.
It was Li Chunjun, whom they had previously crushed into dust with the Heavenly Evolution Forty-Nine Boundless Tribulation Formation—theoretically, he should have been defeated and destroyed.
His reappearance was utterly silent.
Even though he stood before them, their Divine Sense, sensory perception, and even attempts to probe with Grand Dao Power failed to detect his presence.
It was as if...
his existence was merely an illusion, a reflection.
Lacking any tangible "truth" or substance.
This anomaly instantly put the seven great supreme powerhouses and forty-two supreme sovereigns on high alert, their mental defenses reaching their peak.
When Li Chunjun reappeared, he showed neither sorrow nor joy.
No emotion could be detected in his expression.
It was as if...
the very concept of emotion had ceased to exist within him.
Only emptiness and nothingness permeated his being.
His gaze swept across the seven great supreme powerhouses and forty-two supreme sovereigns, one by one.
Though it was an ordinary gaze, utterly unremarkable...
when it fell upon these supreme powerhouses and sovereigns, they felt as if they had been stripped bare, their deepest secrets laid naked and exposed.
Several supreme sovereigns who had completely transcended human form, even lacking basic physiological functions, couldn't help but shudder under that scrutinizing gaze.
A bone-chilling dread arose from the depths of their souls.
"How could this be..."
The Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse felt Li Chunjun's single glance nearly shake, even shatter, their perfected, immortal minds, plunging them into an overwhelming chill.
"Li Chunjun... you... you've reached the Great Unification Realm!?"
The Ultimate Powerhouse couldn't suppress his rising panic as he voiced the question.
But as the question was transmitted through Divine Sense, he immediately realized his mistake and corrected himself: "The void great dao... that's the Great Unification Realm, isn't it?"
Li Chunjun's gaze lingered on Tian Wen and the others, his eyes still holding that unnerving, hollow emptiness.
Under this relentless scrutiny, the mental pressure on Tian Wen, the other Ultimate Powerhouses, and even the Supreme Sovereigns grew unbearable.
A bone-chilling dread, originating from the depths of their hearts, threatened to shatter their Heart's Perfection, relentlessly assaulting the stability of their minds.
Under this relentless assault and trembling fear, Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse couldn't help but agitate his Divine Sense once more: "Is it true? Even if our fate today is to be consumed by you and fall into the void, let us at least die knowing the truth!"
If one could hear the Dao, death at dusk would be a worthy end.
Driven by the Supreme Powerhouse's surging emotions and Divine Sense, a faint flicker of focus finally appeared in Li Chunjun's eyes, which had been utterly devoid of emotion.
He seemed to recover from some deep trance.
But everyone knew it wasn't dao transformation.
It was merely the disorientation experienced by beings entering the great dao river for the first time, struggling to adapt to the river's temporal flow, which differed from the outside world's.
Of course, it was also possible that the void great dao was influencing him.
As he wielded the void, he himself was being constantly devoured by it.
After a long moment, Li Chunjun's eyes finally focused, and he turned his gaze back to the Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse.
Under that expectant, yearning, fervent gaze—tinged with a hint of resentment and pain—he slowly spoke: "It's just a foundation."
He said calmly, "The void great dao is merely a foundational vessel."
He paused. "In theory, any great dao could serve as this vessel."
"A foundational vessel?"
The Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse quickly grasped Li Chunjun's meaning. "You used this foundational vessel to transcend the limitations of the mind, allowing you to master all great daos and ultimately attain the power of the Great Unification Realm?"
"The void great dao's ability to return myriad things to void stems from its profound understanding of all things."
Li Chunjun spoke with unwavering calm, his voice devoid of emotion: "In this world, true power has never resided in any particular great dao or force, but rather in the cultivator themselves!"
"True power lies not in any force, but in the cultivator..."
The Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse listened to Li Chunjun's words, his expression dazed.
At that moment, Pan Wu, Boundless, and the other Ultimate Powerhouses finally grasped Li Chunjun's meaning.
Their inability to break through the shackles of the Ultimate Powerhouse realm stemmed not from lacking the void great dao born from the great unification realm, as Li Chunjun possessed, but simply from their own insufficient strength.
Just as Li Chunjun's newly formed void great dao lacked the power to return all things to void.
He first needed to comprehend all things—to fully grasp the forty-nine great daos rooted in the concept of "existence"—before he could truly unleash the void great dao's power and achieve the Great Return.
"The Cosmos itself may be a form of life," Li Chunjun suddenly declared. "Whether naturally formed or created by some greater being, it grows and evolves."
This sudden shift in tone startled the Ultimate Powerhouses and Supreme Sovereigns, who had been deep in thought.
The content of his words was even more earth-shattering.
"The Cosmos grows by evolving various Special Life forms to explore its surroundings, expand into the outer realms, and acquire energy, matter, and even natural phenomena from unknown places. These resources replenish the Cosmos, allowing it to become more complete and perfect."
Li Chunjun seemed to be addressing the Ultimate Powerhouses while simultaneously articulating his own understanding and insights into the Cosmos. "This constant cycle of renewal and expansion is the very essence of the Cosmos's growth and evolution."
"Special Life forms!"
Tian Wen, Gui Ling, and the other Ultimate Powerhouses exchanged glances.
Though Li Chunjun hadn't explicitly stated it, they vaguely sensed what he meant.
These Special Life forms were certainly not humans or humanoid beings like themselves.
Instead...
Innate Divine Beings!
Born from the Great Dao itself, these beings were destined to achieve Dao Unification from birth.
And even...
Progenitor Divine Beings, who stood at the source of the great dao.
"But if these special life forms, once conceived, only consume the Cosmos's own resources without venturing outward to explore, hunt, or gather new information to refine the Cosmos's own life force, it proves that something is fundamentally wrong with this era..."
Li Chunjun continued, almost speaking to himself, "When a mortal's body malfunctions, they develop a fever, activating their immune system to kill the problematic bacteria or diseased cells. The Cosmos..."
At this point, his gaze shifted again, sweeping across the seven great supreme powerhouses: Tian Wen, Gui Ling, Lawful Decree, Pan Wu, Boundless, Heng Guang, and Shouxu.
As they listened to Li Chunjun's words, the seven great supreme powerhouses' expressions darkened.
If innate divine beings truly represented the Cosmos's will, conceived by the Cosmos as a means of self-evolution and growth, then their act of seizing the innate divine beings' paths, refining them to enhance their own cultivation...
Wouldn't that make them akin to viruses within a mortal's body?!
"So... you, the progenitor divine being of the void great dao, were conceived by the Cosmos's will to cleanse us—these viruses that threaten the Cosmos's growth?"
The Supreme Lawbringer's expression was icy, his emotions a tightly suppressed righteous fury.
"That's not it," Li Chunjun murmured. "I wasn't born from the Cosmos as an immune system to eradicate you viruses."
"Then you..."
The Tian Wen Supreme Powerhouse was about to speak again when Li Chunjun continued.
"It won't target specific species or individuals, nor will it descend a powerful Avatar to correct errors or obliterate the wrongdoers, as we might imagine. It will simply... initiate a cosmic metabolism!"
His tone remained calm, yet his words sent a chill deep into the souls of everyone present—Dao Venerables, Supreme Sovereigns, and Ultimate Powerhouses alike.
"It will return all things to void, restarting the Cosmos! As for how many lives perish during this Great Return and restart... It doesn't care."
(End of the Chapter)
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