Chapter 1 Outside Shouyang Mountain

Outside Shouyang Mountain, travelers were plentiful, with countless people stopping to gaze from afar, yet very few actually approached.

This was naturally not just due to the deterrent of the Daoist Hongxuan, but also because Shouyang Mountain was not easy to climb.

The moment Qiao Mohe stepped onto the mountain path, his heart jolted. He felt an invisible yet immensely powerful force pressing down from the surrounding void.

For decades, he had cultivated the Great Dragon Elephant Strength and the Giant Spirit World-Suppressing Art. His realm might not match those of the Dharma Body experts, but his physique was certainly not inferior.

But at this moment, even with his physique, he felt overwhelmed and couldn't help but activate the Great Dragon Elephant Dharma.

"An array?"

Qiao Mohe's mind sharpened, and he felt a tremor within.

It wasn't surprising to him that there was an array in Shouyang Mountain, but what astonished him was that this array was only active within the mountain.

Before taking this step, he hadn't noticed it at all. Even now, if it weren't for the overwhelming force, he wouldn't have been able to detect any trace of the array.

"The great array has already been activated... Could there be enemies in the mountain?"

With this thought in mind, Qiao Mohe quickened his pace, enduring the immense pressure as he ascended towards the summit.

He couldn't help but be astonished and shaken.

The battle eighteen years ago was enough to shock the world, but his teacher had only used supernatural powers to fight the enemy. Yet now, in the silent Shouyang Mountain, there was actually something that his teacher had to suppress with an array?

"That person actually entered Shouyang Mountain?!"

(Red envelope!)

Meanwhile, down the mountain, the crowd who had been expecting a spectacle burst into an uproar.

They had been lingering here for a long time, not because they didn't want to visit the mountain, but because, in recent years, almost all those who attempted to climb the mountain had been repelled by a great force.

One renowned great cultivator had tried to force his way in, only to have his protective divine power crushed, nearly losing his soul on Shouyang Mountain.

Now, seeing Qiao Mohe ascending the mountain, many were surprised and suspicious. They approached to try themselves, only to be forced back, coughing up blood and wailing.

For a time, it caused even more commotion.

Buzz~

Qiao Mohe's mind was focused, and the light of various supernatural powers flickered behind him as he struggled to move forward.

Shouyang Mountain was only a little over a thousand feet high, not considered a high mountain even for mortals, and easily crossed in a single step by those with some cultivation.

But in Qiao Mohe's eyes at this moment, it seemed like a long and endless journey.

At first, he could manage with ease, but by the time he reached the halfway point, beads of sweat were already rolling down his forehead. After a few more steps, his face was flushed red.

By the time the summit was clearly visible, he had activated his supernatural powers to their limit, and his entire body was covered in a fine layer of blood. He was already forced to stop.

"What kind of great array is this?!"

Qiao Mohe was horrified and found it unbelievable.

In the eighteen years that had passed, he had not only crossed the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm and ascended to the Longevity realm, but he had also changed his divine position and was on the path to ascending to the fourth-tier deity, 'Heavenly Qi Ren Sheng Great God.'

This god understood the changes of Yin and Yang and the mysteries of mountains and rivers. Any array that relied on terrestrial veins and celestial stars would find it difficult to escape his discerning eye.

It was one thing to not be able to see clearly when he first stepped into the array, but now that he had reached the foot of the summit, he still couldn't sense any trace of the array. It was far too strange.

Huff!

As his mind trembled, Qiao Mohe no longer held back and ignited the 'Heavenly Qi Ren Sheng Great God' divine position in the depths of his soul.

Buzz!

In the next instant, Qiao Mohe's eyes flashed with golden light, and his supernatural powers, which had already reached their peak, underwent a transformation, taking a step further.

He forcibly supported his body and crossed the last step of the ascent.

Whoosh!

With just one step, it was as if he had crossed into a different world.

The immense pressure instantly vanished without a trace. The light of supernatural powers, now freed from the pressure, soared into the sky, tearing through the boundless sea of clouds like a dazzling and radiant pillar of heaven.

Countless people down the mountain exclaimed and discussed.

Qiao Mohe, however, fell into a daze. Stepping onto the summit, what appeared before him was not the Daoist temple he had seen from afar while standing at the foot of the mountain.

Instead, it was a boundless, extremely deep, empty, and vast starry sky.

"That is..."

Qiao Mohe's heart trembled, and he stared blankly at the starry sea, with even blood flowing from his eyes.

The starry sky had no end, but at this moment, he saw the other side of that starry sea.

There, there was a 'Great' God sitting in a halo of divine light.

Not 'Great' as in a respectful title, but 'Great' in the true sense of the word!

With just a single glance, Qiao Mohe felt that this god could sever the universe and dominate the starry sea. Even a single strand of his hair seemed capable of tearing apart the Milky Way, and the size of his body was too great to be seen in a single glance.

The starry sea was endless, but the place where he sat, the starry sea behind him, had been stripped of all its brilliance, becoming the most insignificant backdrop.

He strained his eyes to the utmost, but he could not see the whole picture. In fact, just observing a corner of it had already caused his eyes to bleed, and his divine will had been injured.

Compared to this giant god, the Daoist sitting on the Dao platform opposite him seemed infinitely small, and the difference in size between the two was almost impossible to compare.

However, the existence of this Daoist seemed even more impossible to ignore than this giant god, and even more eye-catching.

The Daoist was located in the very center of the starry sea.

His existence was like an invisible dividing line, separating the starry sea into two distinct halves.

And the place where he sat cross-legged was the center of this starry sea's nothingness, the center of everything.

"Teacher."

Seeing the Daoist again, Qiao Mohe couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart, but the void in front of him was endless, and no matter how he traversed it, he couldn't get any closer.

"Senior Brother, don't waste your energy! With our current cultivation, even if we traversed for thousands of years, we wouldn't be able to close the distance by even a fraction. Save your strength."

A quiet voice sounded.

A young man in white robes, with a heavenly and handsome appearance, stepped into the void. Qiao Mohe looked back and recognized him as Yang Jian, his teacher's disciple.

Compared to their meeting in the imperial capital years ago, this Junior Brother was even more unfathomable now. Vaguely, he already had some of the feeling he got when meeting the Emperor.

"Junior Brother?"

Qiao Mohe's heart stirred slightly. Just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed.

"All creation cannot be seen in a single glance! Alas, even an existence as amazing as the culmination of all fortunes and creations, with just one step of difference, has already been reduced to a chess piece of Daoist friend..."

A rumbling sound, like the flow of heavenly music, echoed through the empty and barren starry sky. The giant god spoke, and its sound waves seemed to contain boundless Daoist intent rolling and flowing within:

"Pitiful, laughable, resentful, pathetic..."

Huff~

As he spoke, the starry sea seemed to tremble. Even from an unknown distance away, Qiao Mohe felt a stinging pain in his ears and a splitting headache.

"The battlefield of such existences is not something you and I can set foot in at this time, let's go out, Senior Brother."

Yang Jian sighed helplessly. With a wave of his hand, he ignored the tens of thousands of miles separating them and pulled Qiao Mohe out of the void.

Whoosh!

It seemed as if he had only taken a step back, but the starry sea before him had already vanished completely. The summit, the temple, the grass, the trees, and the rocks also reappeared.

It was as if everything he had seen before was an illusion.

But looking up slightly, he could faintly see two people sitting and playing chess in the Daoist temple.

"Junior Brother, what is this?"

Qiao Mohe wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked at Yang Jian, who was sitting leisurely on the reclining ox rock on the summit, slowly wiping a three-pointed double-edged sword. He was filled with surprise and doubt:

"Who is that 'God'? Is Teacher fighting that giant god?"

Having cultivated to the Nascent Soul realm, Qiao Mohe rarely felt powerless, but at this moment, that familiar feeling of powerlessness arose again.

The gap was so great that he couldn't see clearly...

Huff!

In the breeze, Yang Jian stopped his movements and sighed slightly: "That god came to our door himself, but Teacher seemed to have expected it and trapped that god inside."

He shook his head inwardly, but he didn't say something. He faintly sensed that this god's purpose might be him.

"Teacher foresaw it?"

Qiao Mohe's heart relaxed slightly. Only then did he realize that his face was covered in blood and dirt, and every part of his body was in pain. Sensing it slightly, he realized that there were hidden injuries everywhere within his body.

"That's only something Teacher knows."

Yang Jian shook his head.

In fact, he didn't know much either. Qiao Mohe couldn't watch the battle at this time, and he wasn't much better off.

The Dao was one foot high, and it was already high without bounds.

Not to mention, the two inside were higher than him by who knows how much.

"Junior Brother doesn't know either?"

Qiao Mohe was disappointed. He had come here initially to ask his teacher to bestow a technique to Gautama, but now, he was even more worried.

"Senior Brother is worried about Damo?"

Yang Jian tapped lightly on the weapon in his hand, emitting a dragon-like sword鸣 (ming, sound): "There's no need. Teacher left a message about Damo earlier."

"Please enlighten me, Junior Brother."

Qiao Mohe quickly clasped his fist.

"Teacher seemed to have foreseen it and left a message earlier, telling Senior Brother not to worry. Although Damo's journey has dangers, and he may encounter demons and monsters, there will be no real danger."

"Ah?"

Hearing 'demons and monsters,' Qiao Mohe couldn't remain calm: "What?"

Huff!

Yang Jian raised his hand casually, holding up the three-pointed double-edged sword as straight as a spear. Accompanied by the sound of a dragon's鸣 (ming, sound), he stepped down Shouyang Mountain:

"With me accompanying him, there will naturally be no danger."

Before his voice faded, Yang Jian had already disappeared into the sea of clouds. Even with Qiao Mohe's eyesight, he only saw a flash of his figure before he vanished without a trace.

".......”

Yang Jian's words didn't dispel Qiao Mohe's worries. On the contrary, he became even more worried. For Teacher to send Junior Brother to protect him, it was clear that Damo's journey would not be peaceful.

Seeing that he couldn't see his teacher, he could only grit his teeth, sit cross-legged, and immerse his mind in the Heavenly Net of the Divine Court, wanting to ask some 'Successor Gods' to protect him along the way.

Decades had passed, and more 'stars' in the Heavenly Net of the Divine Court had lit up.

.......

Huff huff~

A breeze passed, stirring up a few fallen leaves and dust.

"Does Your Excellency think that among the gods, Buddhas, demons, monsters, ghosts, and humans in this world, who isn't a chess piece?"

In the Daoist temple, listening to the cold laughter in his ear and looking at the white-haired and white-clothed youth in front of him, An Qisheng's expression remained as usual, and he said lightly:

"Perhaps even you and I are other people's chess pieces, and we don't even know it!"

"Those who scheme against others will surely be schemed against themselves. How can Daoist friend know that They are not chess pieces?"

The white-haired youth casually placed a chess piece, seemingly without any confusion or annoyance at being trapped here. His tone was casual: "What this seat thinks is pitiable is not that little guy, but you and me."

"Oh?"

An Qisheng raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Nothing is certain, who can calculate everything?"

The white-haired youth also raised his eyebrows, a smile that wasn't quite a smile on his face: "For example, right now, does Daoist friend really think you can trap this seat?"

Hearing this, An Qisheng also smiled:

"Why don't you try?"