Da Xuan Martial Saint Chapter 1509: 724: Spirit of the Fallen Venerable (2)
Even though a full mystical artifact might aid in forging top-tier treasures to boost personal power or facilitate understanding of diverse Great Daos for enduring additional cosmic cycles... it still counts as an outside item in the end. Trading the risk of surviving one fewer cosmic cycle for multiple such artifacts simply isn't worth it, since owning them doesn't ensure any real breakthrough in comprehension.
Furthermore,
nobody in their group has gone through the three cosmic End of Tribulations yet, where the ego gets almost totally worn away by the Origin Dao, plunging them into utter desperation. They're all tackling the cosmic End of Tribulation for the very first time, with plenty of chances still lying ahead, far from the edge of insanity.
Once they all consented, the team promptly chose Wutian Venerable to lead them and pledged oaths to the Origin Dao.
As Dao Venerables from the Creation Lineage, they embody the Creation Dao itself, so their intentions subtly shape it, weaving an unseen binding rule.
After a quick reflection, Chen Mu recited a straightforward vow to the Origin Dao too, yet his command over the Void and Creation Daos meant the oath's rules bound him far less tightly. Breaking it would bring him repercussions much milder than for the rest.
That said,
Chen Mu had zero plans to shatter those rules; he felt no strong urge for these mystical artifacts anyway. By now, he'd already probed the core of the Time Dao via the system panel and stayed immersed in ongoing insights.
Truthfully, it wouldn't take much longer for him to master the Time Dao completely. With three Daos under his belt, mystical artifacts would offer him little benefit—just enough to craft a supreme treasure for a minor power up, which wouldn't make a big difference for someone like him.
Except perhaps a superior Primordial Marvel!
Those elite supreme artifacts, which could help in grasping and merging Daos to tread the road to transcendence, sparked a bit of curiosity in Chen Mu, particularly as the system panel hadn't yet mapped out his full transcendence journey.
While the system panel serves as a Supreme Treasure and can steer beings toward Venerable rank, it might fall short in leading someone beyond the transcendence shore. Likely, the ultimate transcendence path demands his own steps forward.
Naturally,
Chen Mu kept these musings locked away in his mind.
The final pact struck by the group involved pooling efforts to harvest mystical artifact resources and sharing them out evenly based on each person's input.
If luck smiled on them with a Primordial Marvel in their grasp, Chen Mu deserved to take it, seeing as his dual Dao command outmatched everyone else's strength there!
“Let’s go.”
“Move swiftly.”
Post-agreement, the members shared a knowing look; one uttered those grave words, and off they rushed into the Source Sea.
Though sealing the deal seemed to drag on, to them it flashed by in an instant. The Source Sea hadn't even fully taken shape back then.
It happened precisely when the group hit the Source Sea's boundary and plunged in one after another that the expanding glow of the Source Sea halted its outward push, shaping into a vibrant sea of Dao lights sprawled across the emptiness.
Gazing at the heart of this Source Sea revealed a lengthy river cascading down from the Nine Layer Heavens, linking straight to the Source Sea.
That marked the Origin River!
The Source Sea's lifespan proves brief. Once it swallows up all the universe's forces, the Origin River will slowly draw it in and refine it, turning it into pure, structured energy ejected from the Origin River to rebirth the universe.
…
Inside the Source Sea,
Chen Mu sensed an immediate shift the moment he stepped in.
Since ascending to Dao Venerable, he'd evaded any form of suppression—not even in the Source Realm. That realm's unique setup blocked him from grasping it all at once from afar, and once inside, its segmented zones limited him to one section's insights per go.
Yet diving into the Source Sea now shrank his sensing scope to less than a tenth of a full realm's span, dwarfed by his Source Realm probes.
This Source Sea's expanse dwarfed the whole Source Realm by over a hundred times!
“The Void Dao Power faces disruptions here too; peering through the full Source Sea proves impossible... that's to be expected. This place brims almost wholly with primordial power, blended with assorted Daos and their mystical cores. It doesn't crush Dao Venerables outright, but it surely muddles things up a bit.”
Chen Mu probed the Source Sea's nature with keen focus, his thoughts sharp and unclouded.
What folks call the Source Sea fits better as a ‘Primordial Sea,’ flooded mostly with primordial power. Only Dao Venerables can venture and scout its depths.
For Nine Layer Heavens Divine Monarchs—even at Three Veins Perfection—they'd probably shatter in seconds under the raging primordial power, wiped clean from existence.
Right then,
The team kept a measured gap between members, staying silent as they pressed deeper into the Source Sea together.
But soon after covering a bit of ground, an abrupt twist unfolded.
Swish!
A streak of scarlet light burst from the Source Sea's midst. Amid the churning waves, a vague scarlet form darted close at high speed.
This scarlet form mimicked a agile monkey, pouncing at Chen Mu and lashing out with savage force. The burst of primordial power hit Dao Venerable intensity.
“A Venerable-rank Exotic Beast... wait, no, not an exotic beast...”
Chen Mu fixed his gaze on the incoming scarlet form, a shadow of deep gleam in his eyes, yet he showed no fear, forming his fingers into a sword edge and slicing ahead. Instantly, the cosmos cracked, primordial forces ripped apart, and Daos crumbled!
That effortless cut met the scarlet form's assault right in the Source Sea, detonating a thousand miles of waves and melting nearby Dao lights, as primordial surges collided and faded away.
In a single move, Chen Mu held firm without retreat, and the odd scarlet form stayed steady too, their exchange wrapping up in a deadlock.
“Heh heh.”
The scarlet form turned toward Chen Mu, letting out a creepy chuckle.
Chen Mu just regarded it coolly, holding back from another strike, while Wutian Venerable and the others held off on jumping in.
One could tell the scarlet form's outline was fading fast, until it winked out entirely.
“Spirit of the Fallen Venerable.”
Wutian Venerable drew near Chen Mu, murmuring gravely.
In the Source Sea lurk two main dangers: scarce Exotic Beasts rivaling Dao Venerables in might, and those scarlet, ghostly figures like the recent one.
These figures don't stem from primordial power spawning Exotic Beasts but from time-warped remnants of myriad ancient Dao Venerables, fully devoured and twisted by the Great Dao!
Everything in the Source Sea swirls in disorder, with time all jumbled up, so long-gone Dao Venerables melted into the Origin Dao can resurface thanks to the tangled timelines and Daos. Devoid of any sense of self, these past phantoms emerge without true intellect.
Plus,
as mere echoes from bygone eras, they can't linger; usually, they pack just enough for a strike or two.
What makes these Spirits of the Fallen Venerable so perilous is their power mirroring live Dao Venerables exactly, with some ancient holdovers boasting might beyond Three Dao Venerables, even touching the Primordial Palace Master's tier!
Against those exotic beasts, these phantoms pose a deadlier threat!