Follow the path of Dao from infancy Chapter 1910 Chapter 512: Emperor Dao Prototype (3)

Bang!

Shen Jueling's form shot backward through the air as the domain faded and shattered. While he suffered no deep wounds, victory had slipped from his grasp.

"You."

Anger and shock filled Shen Jueling's eyes as he stared at the girl, meeting her blank stare. A sudden coldness gripped him, making him understand that he hadn't unleashed his maximum power, and she hadn't either.

Her command over the Time Dao… it surpassed the Tenth Layer for sure, ascending to that fabled realm!

"How could this be? That stage only comes after unlocking the Emperor Road, yet she hasn't unlocked it—how does she wield it so well? Could she be the ruler who endured the ancient disaster from ten thousand years past?"

Shock overwhelmed Shen Jueling. Within his clan, he had smashed through every barrier and bested countless geniuses, yet defeat brought a wave of hopeless dread.

"Shen Jueling, defeated."

With steady poise, the Star Empress declared the outcome and swiftly transported them away from the combat platform.

Shi Miao arrived near the battle platform. Once her energy restored to full strength, she advanced once more to issue a challenge.

Witnesses noted Shi Miao's formidable presence, and their expressions shifted subtly. Was this young woman set on sweeping through opponents until confronting the reborn Emperor?

Li Hao felt stunned as well. He had recognized Shi Miao's strength, yet it appeared he had lowballed her capabilities. Her might exceeded his expectations.

As Shi Miao issued another challenge, the remaining top ten fighters abandoned their own ambitions and decided to test themselves against her initially, gauging rivals via her fights.

These clashes involved True King ranks and clan benefits, motivated purely by strategy rather than feelings. Fighters would employ every tactic to rise higher.

"So powerful—who is that woman?"

"I heard she's a Quasi-Emperor who made it through the ancient demon disaster ten thousand years back!"

"I recognize this woman; clan archives mention her as the Time Saintess, the top direct pupil of the Heavenly Calamity Immortal Emperor!"

"Heavenly Calamity Immortal Emperor? Rumors say an Immortal Emperor turned against humanity ten thousand years ago—it must have been Heavenly Calamity..."

Ancestors from minor families murmured softly, eyeing Shi Miao with wary puzzlement.

In contrast, numerous elders from major clans—most veterans of the ancient catastrophe from ten thousand years prior—knew that disaster hadn't escalated to current levels then. Many great houses had stayed out of the fray, owing it to those heroic Immortal Emperors who gave their lives.

On the catastrophe's hidden truths, the Southern Domain Venerable had suppressed key details, fooling only lesser clans and common folk. Great clans, of course, grasped the real story.

Watching this young woman battle onward and vie for True King status left their expressions conflicted.

Ten thousand years earlier, alongside her teacher, she had clashed savagely against the ancient demons, almost dying and shattering the Heavenly Calamity emperor line. Reborn now, she returned to the fight.

This round, the decision was entirely hers.

"Perhaps it's thanks to 'fools' like her that the rest of us get to draw breath and smile."

A white-haired elder with a flowing beard let out a sigh, then moved ahead gradually to the cliff's brink. Slowly, his hunched posture unbent, shifting him from aged to mature, then to youthful vigor.

"Survival holds no appeal—better to… battle."

"After 120,000 years of cultivation, I lament failing to forge my personal Emperor Road… yet beyond that lies the path I'm pursuing today!"

Beyond the realm, numerous concealed elders from great clans observed in quiet. Among them were ancient ones, once interred in bronze sarcophagi or as slumbering Quasi-Emperors, roused now.

Oblivious to these developments, Shi Miao targeted the ninth rank, held by the Divine Venerable himself.

"Little junior sister..."

Upon noticing Shi Miao's challenge, the Divine Venerable met her gaze, and mutual recognition dawned in that instant.

"Our soul cores endured unbroken from those days, and reuniting now brings joy."

The Divine Venerable ascended the fighting platform, locking eyes with Shi Miao; the aura radiating from her far outstripped her Immortal King days.

"This link of destiny formed because my reborn form joined your reborn lineage as kin, a tied closeness of fate, yet senior brother, you…"

Calmness lingered in Shi Miao's eyes while she addressed him. Her features first echoed Ying Xiaoxiao from the Divine Clan, next Su Muqing of the Northern Domain Su Family, before settling into Shi Miao's visage with irises of rainbow-hued amber, aloof and ethereal, akin to the time-ruling Empress.

"The teacher perished, the Emperor Dao crumbled—revival out of reach. Would you revisit that hopeless plight?"

With icy tone, the Divine Venerable replied, "I seek only to reclaim the master's possessions; by what claim does that youth seize them?"

"The teacher's treasures go to whomever she bequeaths them. As fellow disciple, why oppose your ally further?"

Chill entered Shi Miao's gaze, as invoking Li Hao struck her deepest nerve.

"Hmph, both you and the teacher dote on him; the youth boasts great aptitude, yet what of it—peaking means only Emperor status! In this disaster, Emperors too will perish; can he rescue the whole True Realm? In this existence, survival is my sole desire!"

Fists tightened in the Divine Venerable, golden holy fires blazing across his frame, while Celestial Star Meridians and manifestations of myriad saints gathered around him.

Coldness deepened in Shi Miao's stare as the domain burst open. Within the Time Dao Domain, a dark whirlpool emerged, harboring dread force like fate's whisper and reincarnation's might!

"You!"

Detecting the pair of veiled forces within the domain, the Divine Venerable's features twisted at once—this went beyond simple Time Dao; had he just witnessed her domain's authentic essence?