Lin Mohan's reasoning left Calamity Supreme Purple Star with nothing to refute. Whether she succeeded or not, it would still be an accident outside Calamity Supreme Tianzai's layout. Ever since learning Tianzai's true intent—treating all who once walked with him as chess pieces—Lin Mohan had been simmering with anger. Purple Star knew Lin Mohan's temper and also knew Lin Moyu's nature, so she wasn't surprised by this decision. She said nothing more—she understood that whatever she said would be useless.
Lin Moyu said to Purple Star, "Please continue looking after my eight wives. Their injuries will need a bit more time to heal completely." Purple Star frowned and did not agree, but Lin Moyu didn't care whether she agreed or not. She had no choice now; if she dared refuse, she would learn the consequences. As he prepared to leave, Lin Moyu added, "By the way, the passage back to the Chaotic Ancient Wilds has been sealed by me. I'll unseal it when I return." He had locked the way home with formations. In the Chaotic Ancient Wilds, Purple Star could break any formation in short order. But here, Lin Moyu's formation could hold her off for a year or half a year without issue. Purple Star's face grew even uglier. Lin Moyu had never trusted her—he had even planned for this. And to be fair, she had indeed had similar ideas.
Still uneasy, Lin Moyu flicked out strings of sigils that settled on Ning Yiyi and the others. If anything abnormal happened to them, he would sense it at once. He didn't care what Purple Star thought; here his fist was biggest—agree or not, she had to accept it.
"Come on, Sis—let's gamble," Lin Moyu said, shooting out from the Divine Lotus toward the distance. Lin Mohan rose on her sword and followed. In an instant they had flown far; the Divine Lotus vanished from sight.
"Say it—what are the odds? If it's too dangerous, I'm not doing it," Lin Mohan said at last.
Lin Moyu chuckled. "Ninety percent."
Lin Mohan blinked. She knew him—if he said ninety percent, it was basically nailed down. He had lowballed earlier because he didn't want Purple Star involved. She had seen it and played along.
"What's the method?" she asked.
Lin Moyu said, "Back then the Divine Lotus Lord, Supreme of the Divine Lotus World, didn't die. He scattered his consciousness across every monster here. When the monsters die, that consciousness reconverges."
"He wants to resurrect?" Lin Mohan was surprised.
Lin Moyu nodded. "Yes—and he's close. If I'd come a few hundred years later, he would have succeeded. Then he'd seize one of you as a host and enter the Chaotic Ancient Wilds. If that happened… I can't say what would befall the whole world."
He felt the gravity of it. "Luckily he hasn't succeeded yet. Instead, we can use the consciousness he's already gathered—it's the best nourishment. With Primordial Dawn Qi, it's entirely possible to push you through to Calamity Supreme."
What he said exceeded Lin Mohan's prior understanding. Lin Moyu continued, "Do you know how Calamity Supreme Tianzai broke through?"
"How would I know? If you do, spit it out," she snorted.
"He obtained a Time Crystal, split it into four, pulled a former version of himself from the past, fooled Dao and the rest into thinking he'd fallen, and then fused with that former self. Together with Primordial Dawn Qi he broke into Calamity Supreme. But since the Great Calamity hadn't yet arrived, he could only reach Calamity Supreme, not Supreme. Once you break through this time, you'll be at the same tier he is. When the Great Calamity peaks, you might become a Supreme."
"So that's it… Xiaoyu, don't you want to be a Supreme?"
"I do—but I have my road. Becoming a Supreme isn't the only path."
She knew his path differed from everyone else's—Heaven-Fate Venerable had said as much during the fate-divination. "But to break through Calamity Supreme, we need Primordial Dawn Qi. What I've harvested here may not be enough."
"Those crystals are too turbid—useless. Toss them. I have Primordial Dawn Qi; don't worry," Lin Moyu said.
She remembered he had been to the deepest reaches of the Ancient Wilds and assumed he got it there, so she didn't ask further—she could never have imagined he possessed another world with endless Primordial Dawn Qi.
They flew fast; in a blink they'd crossed a million li. A mass of auras surged—monsters charging from all directions.
The Primal Chaos Gem warned, "Avoid killing if you can. In case he's just a few short…" Lin Moyu understood—unlikely, but better safe.
"Don't strike, Sis. Don't kill these," he said. His will moved; undead servants rushed out to engage the monsters. Their combat power wasn't extreme, but their bodies were tough; by sheer numbers they pinned the creatures down. More monsters came; Lin Moyu sent more undead servants to bog them. Battlefields spread along the route, but not a single monster died—the undead encircled without killing, pinning each one in place. The monsters had little wit; they only attacked whatever stood before them—easy to handle.
After ten million li, a lake appeared—vast, ringed by dense hordes. At its center a seven-colored lotus bloomed. Within the lotus a mote of light rotated, brimming with exquisitely pure soul-force; at its heart a tiny delicate lotus bud was about to open.
Lin Mohan had never been here; before, she had stayed within a few hundred thousand li of the Divine Lotus. Many existences here could have killed her.
Lin Moyu flipped his hand and produced a great mass of Primordial Dawn Qi—by count, over a thousand threads, more than ten thousand wisps.
"So much?" Lin Mohan was startled. After years of hunting, she hadn't refined even a single wisp; he casually offered thousands of times that—each wisp absurdly pure.
"Good thing his consciousness hasn't recovered," Lin Moyu said. "Refine it freely; I'll handle the rest."
Lin Mohan took the Primordial Dawn Qi, a bright smile on her flawless face. "Then I'll trouble you, little brother."
"With me? No need for politeness. Let's begin."
His will stirred; the army of undead servants surged. The placid lake boiled; monsters on the shores awoke and charged, and countless more erupted from the waters. Lin Moyu, Calamity Scepter in hand, flew forward.
"Big Sis—your little brother will help you attain the Dao!"
A clear sword-song rang through the heavens. Lin Mohan, clad in blade-light, followed. Having decided, she would not retreat; her Sword Dao is ever-forward. Whatever blocked the path—man or thing—she would cleave with one sword. Even a former Supreme would not make her hesitate.
The undead servants opened the way, carving a corridor through the horde to the lake's heart. The lotus there trembled, sensing danger—buzzing, raising titanic waves into walls of water studded with unblinking eyes; from the walls, gigantic fists thrust out and smashed toward Lin Moyu. The punch's might was vast; monsters and undead were blasted away by its aftermath. In sheer momentum it was no weaker than a Calamity Supreme strike.
Calamity Supremes of the Chaotic Ancient Wilds cannot exert full power here; at best they might slightly outstrip a top Chaos-Realm Consummate. But this punch truly bore Calamity Supreme might. Lin Mohan could not block it; neither could Purple Star. Lin Moyu, however, didn't care. He swung the Calamity Scepter; it swelled and crashed down. The seemingly mighty fist shattered on impact like tofu.
Lin Mohan's eyes shone. "The Calamity Scepter is indeed formidable."
"Later I want to ask how much you know about it," Lin Moyu said.
"No need—it can be said in one line: it's truly strong. Even after getting it, Calamity Supreme Tianzai couldn't refine it. He said it wasn't his to have. Seems it belongs to you," she replied.
What Lin Moyu knew matched her words. After Tianzai got the scepter, he tried to refine it and failed. Heaven-Fate Venerable divined that the scepter was not fated for Tianzai—at least at that time. It had a true destined owner. Later, in battle with Dao, the scepter wounded Dao and deliberately shattered—not because Dao broke it, but because it was too strong for the world to bear, and had to break itself to adapt.
Lin Moyu smashed through the giant fist and then the water wall, pressing on toward the lotus at the lake's heart. "Before he obtained the Calamity Scepter, what was Tianzai's name?" he asked.
"He was Daoist Tianyu," Lin Mohan said.
"Tianyu… then he specialized in Time Dao, didn't he? In cultivation, 'yu' marks time. If he named himself for his Dao, it fits."
"Yes—Time Dao. He also practiced Space Dao, but weaker. Looks like the small world really was taken by him," she said.
Lin Moyu's guess firmed. When the small world was taken, time–space power flooded it, seeped into the domain, located the original continent within the domain, then through the grand world to the small world, and stripped the small world out. This defied the Chaotic Ancient Wilds' operating rules and would provoke a backlash. Tianzai had to hide it from Dao, so he could not use overwhelming power. Thus the removal was slow—it took a very long time to complete. By now the small world was surely tucked into Tianzai's domain. Finding it would be hard—but if Tianzai thought to use it to leash Lin Moyu, he was dreaming.
The lotus at the lake's heart trembled more violently. Several times it condensed into a giant to block Lin Moyu, and each time the Calamity Scepter smashed it apart. In moments Lin Moyu and Lin Mohan stood before it. The lotus flashed; a little figure condensed within the light—exquisitely formed, immense in aura, but its eyes lacked spirit.
"Good thing we came early. A few hundred years later and his consciousness would be back," Lin Moyu said. "Whether this works depends on you—please, Sister, take your Dao-heart as your sword and cut him down."
Lin Mohan frowned. "I can feel his power—it's strong. Even with just a bit over twenty percent of his consciousness restored, it's a Supreme's twenty percent—stronger than a Calamity Supreme." Lin Moyu had claimed ninety percent confidence, but now it didn't look so simple.
"No matter. His current strength won't exceed yours," Lin Moyu said.
On the Calamity Scepter, the Balance Gem flared, shrouding both the undead servants and the lotus. No longer merely area-targeted, Lin Moyu could now select precise targets to balance. The Divine Lotus Lord's twenty-plus percent consciousness was balanced against tens of thousands of undead servants. The servants' auras surged skyward; the Divine Lotus Lord's aura plummeted. The soul aggregated from that portion of consciousness had the same total, but its usable power was completely suppressed—now weaker even than Lin Mohan.
Cracks rang from the undead servants—their bones were breaking; the power was too immense to bear. A Supreme's consciousness was indeed hard to withstand. Lin Moyu summoned more undead to share the load.
"Your turn, Sis," he said.
Lin Mohan understood. Her beautiful eyes closed; her soul flew out and became a sharp sword, chopping toward the lotus at the lake's heart.
"Impudent!" a furious shout boomed from the void—the Divine Lotus Lord, stung by the assault, roared instinctively. He was the master of this world; who dared attack him? The scolding fused with the world's voice and thundered down.
Lin Mohan's soul-sword didn't tremble; its momentum only swelled. The stroke fell. Lin Moyu smiled—how could her Dao-heart be shaken by a mere shout? Not to mention this was only a mutilated consciousness; even at full strength, if a Supreme stood there, Lin Mohan would still dare to draw her sword.
Her soul-sword, wrapped in peerless sword intent and an indomitable Dao-heart, cleaved onto the lotus. The lotus erupted in world-shocking radiance; countless rays became bolts, tearing the void. Then soul-flame surged within the lotus—and on Lin Mohan's sword as well.
It should have been a grinding duel: Lin Mohan striving to refine and absorb him, the Divine Lotus Lord instinctively striving to refine her soul and seize her body—his last chance. Otherwise all his scheming would dress another in success. He had once been a Supreme; his will was no weaker than Lin Mohan's. Refining and devouring him would not be easy.
Indeed, not easy—if Lin Moyu didn't act. Without him, she would never have reached this place; her chance would have been zero. Even now, without his hand, her success rate wouldn't top ten percent.
Flames rose in Lin Moyu's palm—the World-Burning Flame—and drifted down onto the lotus.
In an instant, a scream split the heavens, and the entire realm-ruin shuddered violently.