Chapter 4751: The Mystery of Meng Anwen
The Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon was entangled, and "Dao" once more looked toward Lin Moyu, coldness filling the giant eye.
"Public enemy of heaven and earth, tribulation's chosen, Heaven and Earth Great Venerate your identity is truly complicated."
"You will become the stepping stone for this Venerate to achieve the Dao."
Lin Moyu's expression did not change, as though he felt nothing at all about "Dao's" words.
His eyes were still glowing red, looking very much like someone whose dao heart had been affected by the great tribulation of heaven and earth.
When acting, the performance had to be complete.
The real show was just about to begin, so how could it end here?
"Dao" struck again, and space surged once more like a giant wave.
But then, suddenly, the wave rolled backward, and space returned to how it had been a few breaths earlier.
This was not spatial chaos; it was that space itself had been rewound to its state a few breaths before.
The Calamity Great Venerate had made a move.
He manipulated time, reversing the flow of time in this patch of void and stopping "Dao."
"Dao" turned his gaze to the Calamity Great Venerate, anger rising.
"Back then you used a few petty tricks to fool this Venerate.
Today this Venerate will cut you down once more."
The Calamity Great Venerate said, "You are indeed very strong, but were you truly only lightly wounded that year?
So many years have passed; it seems your injuries have yet to fully heal."
Back then, "Dao" had been struck hard by the Calamity Scepter.
It had not been a light blow, and the wounds he suffered were not light either.
After countless years, he might not have fully recovered.
But "Dao" would never admit this.
He only said in a low voice, "You will know once you try."
In that instant, countless mirrors appeared in the void, and once again large numbers of ancient beings rushed out of the mirrors, charging to kill the Calamity Great Venerate.
The Calamity Great Venerate took out a fingernail sized Time Essence Stone.
"Time Space Reversal."
Time instantly twisted.
The mirrors were affected, and the time of the imprints inside them was thrown into confusion.
The imprints from ancient times were forcibly erased by the Calamity Great Venerate using the Time Essence Stone, and all the ancient beings replicated by "Dao" dissolved away.
The Calamity Great Venerate said softly, "Your techniques are useless against me."
"Freeze!"
With his techniques broken, "Dao's" killing intent soared, and a giant claw shattered space as it grabbed toward the Calamity Great Venerate.
The Calamity Great Venerate waved a hand, and time stopped for an instant; the giant claw froze with it.
Seizing the opportunity, the Calamity Great Venerate slipped away, then took out another fingernail sized Time Essence Stone.
"Break."
With a low shout, all the ancient beings who were besieging the Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon vanished.
The Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon, full of barely suppressed killing intent, charged straight at "Dao."
In that moment, there was only "Dao" in his eyes.
With his techniques once more dispelled, "Dao" was furious as well, but he no longer had the mind to deal with the Calamity Great Venerate and could only devote himself fully to handling the Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon.
"Driving the tiger to devour the wolf not a bad trick."
Lin Moyu spoke faintly in his heart.
Both the Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon and "Dao" were beings born from heaven and earth after the first great tribulation.
They possessed wisdom, but also shared a common trait: they were easily provoked to act on impulse.
This was especially true for those of the beast race.
The Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon and the Heaven Covering Beast were just like this.
Their power was immense, yet the impulsiveness rooted deep in their souls had never been fully suppressed.
The two were bitter enemies, and once the Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon broke free of his encirclement, the first thing he did was to use everything he had to kill "Dao."
The Calamity Great Venerate was clearly aware of this as well, and he seemed to be enjoying the show.
Seeing that the Calamity Great Venerate had no intention of acting directly, Lin Moyu decided to add more fuel to the fire.
Ignoring the battle, he flew toward the Divine Wood Sea.
He knew that the Calamity Great Venerate would not attack him yet, because Lin Moyu still had value in his eyes.
As the one bearing the backlash of those twelve formations, it was not yet time for him to die.
The Calamity Great Venerate intended not only to kill Lin Moyu, but also to kill "Dao" and the Mixed Heaven Desolation Dragon, and he would not let the Divine Wood Sea go either.
Lin Moyu had seen through the Calamity Great Venerate's thoughts.
Only by doing all this could the Calamity Great Venerate be one hundred percent sure of achieving the Supreme level.
As expected, the Calamity Great Venerate did not act.
He instead took out a formation disk and activated it, causing numerous images to appear.
In those images, Meng Anwen, Bai Yiyuan, and others Lin Moyu had not seen for many years appeared.
They were locked in a great battle with some kind of strange beings.
Seeing the images, Lin Moyu's steps faltered as he came to a halt.
In his blood red eyes, confusion flickered.
He continued to act for the Calamity Great Venerate's benefit, but at the same time he was truly thinking.
In the images, Meng Anwen was no weakling, at least much stronger than he had been in the small world.
Meng Anwen was driving the Divine Summer Pagoda.
The pagoda conjured avatars and turned into numerous fortresses, waging war against an unknown type of being.
Those beings were very powerful, smashing fortress after fortress and destroying every formation Meng Anwen had laid down.
Lin Moyu thought of the ancient battlefield ruins he had seen in the great world, and they were exactly the same as what he saw now.
"So that is how it is."
What he had never been able to understand suddenly became clear.
He now knew why he had seen those ancient battlefield ruins in the great world back then, yet had never been able to find their source afterward.
Even now, having observed the entirety of heaven and earth, he had still not found where they came from.
Now he finally understood, and the cause of it all lay with the Calamity Great Venerate and the Time Essence Stones.
Back then, the Calamity Great Venerate had taken away the small world.
Yet even for him, to remove a small world intact from within a realm without leaving a trace was not easy.
Doing so would violate the rules of heaven and earth, and because he needed to stay hidden, the Calamity Great Venerate would not use his full power.
The Calamity Great Venerate had instead used Time Essence Stones, but Time Essence Stones would cause disorder in time and space.
Because of the temporal chaos, a portion of the events that would take place in the future within his realm were projected into the great world like reflections.
The ancient battlefield ruins seen in the great world were in fact not events that had occurred there, but were scenes from some future point in time that would take place within the Calamity Great Venerate's realm.
With a thought, Lin Moyu entered his own Ten Directions Realm the Origin Continent and dove into the great world.
He saw those ancient battlefield ruins again, and as the rules of heaven and earth flowed, Lin Moyu finally saw clearly that they were truly only projections.
"It was my negligence."
Lin Moyu sighed inwardly.
He had not returned to take another look after that.
If he had, he would have seen something was off long ago.
Still, it was not too late.
It was now certain that the small world lay within the Calamity Great Venerate's realm.
As for whether Meng Anwen and the others were still alive, it was hard to say.
All he could do was hope that they were.
Lin Moyu looked at the images projected by the Calamity Great Venerate and spoke in a low voice.
"Was it you who took my teacher away?"
The Calamity Great Venerate laughed loudly.
"Do not blame this Venerate, Fellow Daoist Lin.
This Venerate only did it to protect them."
Red light shone from Lin Moyu's eyes.
"Is my teacher still well?"
The Calamity Great Venerate said, "Rest assured, they are all alive and well.
Once this Venerate has achieved the Dao, there will most certainly be a reunion for all of you."
There was a double meaning in those words, and Lin Moyu naturally understood it.
If the Calamity Great Venerate was to achieve the Dao, then Lin Moyu would, in eight or nine chances out of ten, have to die.
Once Lin Moyu was dead, Meng Anwen and the others would naturally lose their value, and when the time came to "send them to be reunited," that would mean killing them as well.
Lin Moyu did not expose this, only asking in a low voice, "What do you want me to do?"
The Calamity Great Venerate replied, "Fellow Daoist Lin truly is loyal and devoted.
What needs to be done is simple.
When the time comes, just follow this old man's orders and control those twelve formations."
In his view, Lin Moyu was nothing more than a Great Venerate.
A Great Venerate could not possibly contend with "Dao," and only by waiting for the right opportunity to control the formations would there be a chance.
Lin Moyu hesitated for a few breaths, then nodded.
"Very well.
Those formations were originally laid down by you, and this was our plan to begin with."
He still put on an appearance of trusting the Calamity Great Venerate, all to make him let down his guard.