Chapter 1759: Two Divine Abilities, One Method
Lan Yutian charged into Empress Dowager's domain in a single step. It was a terrifying domain formed by the Dao of Return to Nothingness. Everything around her was falling into the Empress Dowager's domain—continents, mountains and rivers, even the sacred mountains of the Ancestral Court were disintegrating as they fell!
What was terrifying was that the sun, moon, and stars in the sky were also falling downward. As the stars and all things descended, it was faintly visible that the Empress Dowager's Return to Nothingness domain was divided into thirty-six layers. The first to eighth layers were merely simple falling; the ninth to sixteenth layers were destruction and shattering; the seventeenth to twenty-fourth layers were heat death, a heat death that would disintegrate even the Great Dao.
By the twenty-fifth layer, even light could not escape. All matter within was transformed into chaotic qi.
Upon reaching the Empress Dowager's lotus platform, everything was reduced to chaos, sprayed out from the lotus seedpod of the platform, connected to the Empress Dowager, and turned into her cultivation!
This was the complete Dao of Return to Nothingness.
Since the First Universe Era, only one person had cultivated the Dao of Return to Nothingness to completion, and that was Second Young Master Wuji. Now there was one more—the Empress Dowager!
After she devoured Xie Wuqi, the last vestiges of familial affection vanished, and she ultimately became the true Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden.
As early as when the Empress Dowager achieved the Dao, she had known that familial affection was a limitation for her.
At that time, she suddenly felt an uncontrollably intense mother-son bond with Xie Wuqi, an urgent desire to see her own son. That was why she made the trip to Yankang to meet Xie Wuqi.
This kind of mother-son emotion, this parental love, seemed very normal, but for the Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden, it was an absolutely unnecessary emotion.
From that moment on, she realized that if she wanted to advance further, she had to eradicate this feeling.
You Tianzun brought out Xie Wuqi, intending to have her retire with him and enjoy the happiness of family life. However, this only solidified the Empress Dowager's resolve.
With this step taken, the Empress Dowager had no more weaknesses!
You Tianzun, the Black Emperor and Martial Emperor, and Lang Huan were the four closest to her. When the Empress Dowager's Dao heart was perfected, the four of them also fell into her Return to Nothingness domain, tumbling inward from the outermost layers.
Even though they were among the most powerful people in the world, they could not resist the power of Return to Nothingness. In the blink of an eye, they had fallen to the sixteenth layer of the Return to Nothingness domain!
Once they reached the seventeenth layer, even Dao achievers could not fly out. They could only irreversibly fall toward the Empress Dowager, their Dao techniques disintegrating into chaos, becoming nourishment for Return to Nothingness.
The four of them exerted all their strength to unleash divine abilities. The Black Emperor and Martial Emperor were both injured. Among them, the Martial Emperor was first wounded by the joint assault of the Heavenly Court's Throne Seat powerhouses, then severely injured by the Empress Dowager. Her injuries were more serious, making her the weakest link, and she was the first to fall toward the seventeenth layer of heat death.
The Black Emperor reached out, straining to grab his wife. He surged all his primal qi, mobilized the Ancestral Land, and tried to fly outward.
The Black Tortoise Great Marsh flew over and landed beneath his feet, but even this most famous sacred land was now collapsing and disintegrating within the Return to Nothingness!
This disintegration was the collapse of the Great Dao itself.
"Let go!"
The Martial Emperor struggled violently, but the Black Emperor refused to release her no matter what. The Martial Emperor was furious and shouted sternly, "I've been tired of you for a long time! Let go, and you'll be rid of me! I beat you every day. Without me, you'll be free!"
The Black Emperor stubbornly refused to let go, smiling as he said, "We were born together. If you die, there will be no more Black Tortoise."
The Martial Emperor was enraged. Her burning wings spread open and slashed toward her own wrist that the Black Emperor was holding. The Black Emperor reached out with his other hand to block the strike, and his palm was severed by her.
The Martial Emperor wept loudly, "I used to hit you all the time..."
Boom!
The Black Tortoise Great Marsh suddenly split apart and fell into the seventeenth layer of the Return to Nothingness domain. The sacred land that gave birth to the Black Emperor and Martial Emperor was swept by the wind of heat death, instantly igniting, shattering, and breaking down into the finest particles.
The Black Emperor lost his footing and followed the marsh as it plunged toward the seventeenth layer of Return to Nothingness. With his remaining arm, he strained to embrace the Martial Emperor.
The husband and wife burned fiercely in the heat death, falling into deeper layers. The Martial Emperor leaned against his chest, and the Black Emperor savored this rare moment of tenderness, whispering, "I once cast a divination. This journey is greatly auspicious—dangerous but without peril."
"When has your divination ever been accurate?"
The Martial Emperor laughed and said, "But at least Youming went to the Southern Heaven. He's safe..."
Just then, You Tianzun's unparalleled primordial spirit reached out a massive hand from behind, grabbed the two of them, and pulled outward with all his might, shouting, "Honored couple, activate your magical power with me to resist the Empress Dowager's domain!"
Lang Huan flew over. Her thirty-five-layer Divine Consciousness Domain erupted, attempting to sever the Return to Nothingness domain, but her domain barely collided with the Empress Dowager's before it directly disintegrated.
You Tianzun's Youdu domain also collapsed at the slightest touch. His primordial spirit's hand reached into the seventeenth layer of the Return to Nothingness domain, but even the primordial spirit could not stabilize itself and began falling into deeper layers.
Four top-tier Celestial Venerables, yet none could contend with the Empress Dowager's domain!
The Empress Dowager's Return to Nothingness domain was fully developed, leaving her almost without equal!
Lang Huan was also falling toward the seventeenth layer of Return to Nothingness. Recalling the events of her life, her profound arts were suddenly broken, and various emotions surged into her heart, throwing her mind into chaos.
Her robes fluttered as her form plunged into Return to Nothingness. She took out a painting, which depicted another version of herself.
The painting burned in the heat death, turning to nothing.
"Perhaps I can never become the person in the painting..." she thought despondently.
Suddenly, a golden ship roared through the air. On the golden ship stood a massive obelisk. With a thunderous crash, it flew past her and slammed into the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager met the golden ship with both hands. The ship forced her back repeatedly. The obelisk on the golden ship suddenly blazed with light. The Hongmeng runes contained within the stele refined by Eldest Young Master Taishang erupted, suppressing the Empress Dowager's magical power and Great Dao for a moment.
You Tianzun and the Black Emperor and Martial Emperor immediately fled for their lives, taking the chance to charge out of the Empress Dowager's Return to Nothingness domain. Lang Huan also escaped, looking back as she did.
She saw the Empress Dowager board the golden ship, lift the obelisk, and throw it into the Great Abyss, incredibly ferocious.
"My painting..."
Lang Huan steadied her mind, activated her profound arts, turned around, and joined You Tianzun and the others in attacking Heavenly Emperor Hao, casting aside that fleeting moment of emotion.
At the same time, Lan Yutian charged forward. With a heavy thud, he landed on the golden ship. The World Tree roared and expanded. Layer upon layer of Ancestral Court Dao Domains interlocked with the Return to Nothingness domain, colliding, suppressing, and annihilating each other!
The Empress Dowager and Lan Yutian stood on the deck of the golden ship. Without stopping, they clashed with thousands of divine abilities in an instant.
"Yu Tianzun!"
The Empress Dowager was struck by hundreds of divine abilities. Her form staggered, but she quickly steadied herself. She looked up in surprise at this young man.
At this moment, Lan Yutian had indeed regained the bearing and style of Yu Tianzun—calm, wise, graceful, and peerless—no longer the naive Lan Yutian of before.
"You have become Yu Tianzun again."
The Empress Dowager was like a Return to Nothingness itself. Any divine ability that landed on her quickly turned into chaotic qi, becoming part of her cultivation. She smiled contentedly and said, "But unfortunately, you have not yet achieved the Dao. Any attack you make will only become my nourishment. Yu Tianzun, I am no longer the Empress Dowager of those days. I admire you, but I will not hold back from killing you. Within my Return to Nothingness domain, you will grow weaker and weaker, and in the end, you will die here."
The collision of their domains grew increasingly intense. In a short time, Lan Yutian's domain was suppressed by the Empress Dowager, its operation becoming sluggish.
But he did not grow weaker as the Empress Dowager had predicted. On the contrary, his momentum grew stronger!
The Empress Dowager was right. The Dao of Return to Nothingness did indeed restrain the Dao Domain system. However, Lan Yutian's Ancestral Court Dao Domain system was fundamentally different from the traditional Dao Domain system.
The traditional Dao Domain system pioneered by Kaicheng Qin Ye achieved the Dao externally, entrusting it to the void. Although Lan Yutian also cultivated the Dao Domain, his Dao Domain achieved the Dao internally.
If both cultivated the same technique but with different methods of achieving the Dao, there would be little difference in their strength.
However, achieving the Dao externally would be destroyed along with the Ultimate Void, while achieving the Dao internally would not.
When facing a Return to Nothingness Dao achiever like the Empress Dowager, those who achieved the Dao externally would be greatly suppressed. When the Empress Dowager deployed her Return to Nothingness Great Abyss, there was no Ultimate Void within the Return to Nothingness, and the Great Luo Heaven could not gain a foothold, greatly reducing their cultivation and strength.
Similarly, if a Return to Nothingness Dao achiever like the Empress Dowager were pulled into the Ultimate Void, their cultivation and strength would also be greatly diminished.
Achieving the Dao internally had no such hidden danger. The person's Dao Domain was hidden within their divine storage. After achieving the Dao, the Ancestral Court within the divine storage transformed into the Great Luo Heaven, and the World Tree became the Dao Tree. Even when falling into Return to Nothingness, there would be no effect.
Although Lan Yutian had not yet achieved the Dao internally, his Dao Domain was extremely profound. He possessed thirty-five layers of Heavenly Dao Domain, surpassing even Qin Mu's attainment by one realm.
His techniques were the culmination and pioneering work of all ages. The natural sacred lands of the Ancestral Court became his places of enlightenment. Qin Mu single-handedly bore the pressure of the Heavenly Court, giving him the space and time needed to grow fully, allowing his cultivation and strength to advance by leaps and bounds.
His thirty-five-layer Ancestral Court Dao Domain had Five Tai mineral veins suppressing each layer, with dense Great Dao. Various natural sacred lands—such as the Four Heavenly Gates, the Jasper Pool and Jasper Terrace, the Nine Prisons Terrace, the Heavenly Sea, and the God-Slaying Terrace—erupted with Dao resonance. Different Dao resonances formed different phenomena!
He used this to suppress the Empress Dowager's Return to Nothingness domain. The World Tree was equivalent to his Dao Tree. Although he was one Dao realm short of the Empress Dowager, he was equivalent to half a Dao achiever, with the strength to contend with her.
However, compared to the Empress Dowager, he was still far inferior.
His only advantage lay in the exquisiteness of his divine abilities, but his abilities could not inflict much damage on the Empress Dowager.
In this battle, he might die.
Suddenly, another person appeared on the Ferry Worldly Golden Ship.
Xu Shenghua crossed through the layers of domains and landed behind him, his expression still as calm as ever.
His World Tree appeared, and his Dao Domain unfolded, joining Lan Yutian in resisting the Empress Dowager's Return to Nothingness domain.
"Lan Yutian, after you became Yu Tianzun, you lost your composure."
Xu Shenghua said flatly, "You need me, the one who is extremely calm."
Lan Yutian nodded and said solemnly, "Brother Xu, what do you think is the way to deal with the Empress Dowager?"
"Two divine abilities, one method."
Xu Shenghua raised one finger: "The first is the Red String Knot Seal that Sect Leader Qin once used, specifically designed to counter the Return to Nothingness Great Dao."
He raised another finger: "The second is the Reincarnation Great Dao perfected by Sect Leader Qin, to trap the Empress Dowager in reincarnation and confuse her mind."
Lan Yutian stared intently at the Empress Dowager, not daring to relax, and asked, "And the one method?"
"Yun Tianzun's method."
Xu Shenghua stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, saying solemnly, "Send the Empress Dowager to the Ultimate Void and kill her there! But you cannot do it alone, so you and I will join forces. Two divine abilities, one method—use them all together to slay the Empress Dowager!"
—Apologies, there were too many typos in the past couple of days. Zhai Zhu has finally returned home from out of town. These past few days, I will focus on writing and checking for typos.