377: Dark Disaster I

After an unknown distance, Xu Qing and the Lord of Stars and Moon finally arrived before a barrier.

This barrier was only a few feet in size, yet it was covered in Dao texts that surpassed the Eternal. Each rune shimmered with brilliant light, as if containing endless Heavenly Might.

The barrier was completely enveloped by Dominator-level Dao, exuding a heart-palpitating pressure, as if even Heaven and Earth would submit to this power.

The Lord of Stars and Moon raised her hand, and a brilliant starlight condensed on her fingertips. She then struck several supreme Dao texts into the barrier.

The barrier trembled slightly, then a ten-foot-tall boundary gate cracked open, and an ancient and mysterious aura emanated from within.

“Follow me!”

The Lord of Stars and Moon said with a complex expression.

She stepped into the boundary gate first, her figure disappearing like a phantom within.

Xu Qing followed closely, a faint excitement in his heart, yet also a hint of vigilance.

The moment he stepped into the boundary gate, the scene before him made his pupils contract sharply, and his heart was incomparably shaken—he saw a vast and boundless Void Realm, where a massive black altar floated.

The altar was entirely black, as if condensed from endless darkness, its surface covered with ancient and complex runes. Each rune exuded a majestic Heavenly Might, as if capable of suppressing all things in Heaven and Earth.

Above the altar, chains crisscrossed. Each chain was as thick as a mountain range, its surface gleaming with a cold luster, as if forged by the power of the Heavenly Dao, exuding a suffocating pressure.

Xu Qing frowned slightly. For some reason, he always felt that these chains were very familiar to him, as if he had seen them somewhere before.

He wondered if it was his imagination, but he always felt that with his arrival, these chains seemed to come alive, erupting with an extremely powerful aura.

And in the center of the altar, an unimaginably huge figure was tightly bound by chains, its entire body shrouded in endless darkness, like a sleeping ancient God and Devil, ready to awaken at any moment.

Three distinct auras emanated from his body, each so powerful that it made one's heart palpitate.

The first aura came from the suppressive force on the chains, a majestic Heavenly Might that suppressed all things, as if even time and space would stagnate under this power.

The second aura was the decaying force that Xu Qing had felt in the giant pit, as if it could decay everything, even the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth would collapse under this power.

The third aura came from the figure's own dark power, deep and cold, as if it could devour all light, plunging people into eternal darkness.

At this moment, these three auras were intertwined. The suppressive force and the dark power combined, attempting to suppress the decaying force.

However, the decaying force stubbornly resisted, like a venomous snake, clinging stubbornly to one spot, refusing to retreat.

“This is...” Xu Qing was shocked and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

The Lord of Stars and Moon looked at the figure on the altar with complex eyes and said faintly, “Before you is one of the calamities of the Dark Era, and also the Dominator who once ruled the entire You deep, Dark Heaven, one of the Nine Heavens!”

“What?” Xu Qing’s expression changed, filled with disbelief.

He hadn't expected that Dark Heaven hadn't died, and had even become one of the calamities that initiated the Dark Era.

He knew in his heart that behind the Extinction Era and the Dark Era, there was a dark hand manipulating things, but he never thought that Dark Heaven, as one of the Nine Heavens, would become a catalyst for this calamity.

“Alas!” The Lord of Stars and Moon sighed, her voice tinged with helplessness and sorrow.

“This matter was not Dark Heaven Senior Brother’s wish either. After the battle of Extinction back then, Dark Heaven Senior Brother escaped from the Eternal Dao Realm and ventured deep into the Chaos Sea, but he was unexpectedly ambushed by the Chaos Race, and eventually fell into a coma due to serious injuries...”

As the Lord of Stars and Moon slowly recounted, Xu Qing gradually understood the truth of the matter.

It turned out that after Dark Heaven escaped from the Eternal Dao Realm, he was ambushed by a Chaos Race—the Decayed Race.

The Decayed Race took advantage of Dark Heaven's severe injuries to summon the soul of their ancestor—the Rotten God and Devil—from the distant past, attempting to possess Dark Heaven.

However, Dark Heaven was an Innate Divine Saint formed from a wisp of dark Origin from the Origin of Darkness at the beginning of creation, his foundation was in no way inferior to the Rotten God and Devil.

Although the Rotten God and Devil successfully invaded Dark Heaven's Sea of Consciousness, he could not completely obliterate Dark Heaven's Dao Soul, only Seal him in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

After the Archaic Era ended, a new era began.

The Rotten God and Devil used Dark Heaven’s identity to seize the opportunity to Seal the will of the heavenly dao and gain control of the Heavenly Dao.

After brewing for dozens of eras, the Rotten God and Devil suddenly initiated the Dark Prelude, sparking a Darkness Upheaval that lasted for hundreds of millions of years.

In that battle, countless powerhouses of all races sacrificed themselves, Heaven and Earth almost collapsed, and finally, the Human Emperor Shi quelled this upheaval at the cost of his own sacrifice.

And the Rotten God and Devil was also severely wounded by the Human Emperor Shi, Dark Heaven seized this opportunity to regain control of his body.

However, after countless years of erosion by the Rotten God and Devil, Dark Heaven's Dao body had been completely polluted by the Decayed Dao.

Coupled with the fact that the Rotten God and Devil had not completely perished and still maintained control over the body, Dark Heaven, in desperation, could only Seal himself and the Rotten God and Devil in his Sea of Consciousness, and suppress himself with the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Before suppressing himself, Dark Heaven found the Lord of Stars and Moon and asked her to guard him.

After being suppressed, he then Sealed his Sea of Consciousness and began a long struggle against the Rotten God and Devil within his Sea of Consciousness.

So many years have passed, and under the combined suppression of the Heavenly Dao and Dark Heaven, most of the decaying force in Dark Heaven's Dao body has been dispelled, with the remaining power shrinking to one area, stubbornly resisting.

This was the reason why Xu Qing saw the three forces intertwined.

“Senior, is the You Ancestor the one you want me to devour?” Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and asked with a frown.

He was puzzled. The Lord of Stars and Moon had a close relationship with the Nine Heavens, so how could she let him devour Dark Heaven? As for the Rotten God and Devil, a problem that even a Dao Ancestor couldn't completely solve, what could he do?

The Lord of Stars and Moon shook her head, a hint of apology in her tone: “Actually, I didn't mean for you to devour him. When I said that back then, it was only because your cultivation was too low, and I was afraid you would be wary and unwilling to come, so I just made an excuse.”

Xu Qing remained silent, just quietly looking at the Lord of Stars and Moon, waiting for her to continue.

Seeing this, the Lord of Stars and Moon no longer concealed anything and said directly: “To be honest, the reason I chose you back then was because I received instructions from the will of the heavenly dao, which is why I came to see you. Otherwise, with your cultivation at that time, would I need to personally intervene? The rules of the Star Moon Grotto-heaven operating on its own would have obliterated you.”

“The will of the heavenly dao?” Xu Qing frowned, a faint guess forming in his heart.

“That’s right.” The Lord of Stars and Moon nodded, “As soon as you arrived, the power of these Heavenly Dao chains suddenly increased, which explains everything.”

Xu Qing suddenly froze, as if he had thought of something, and his gaze once again turned to the altar.

He finally understood why those chains made him feel familiar—the altar and chains before him were all from the hand of the will of the heavenly dao.

And he also had the handiwork of the will of the heavenly dao on him, which was the Heaven and Earth Dao Heart.

If what the Lord of Stars and Moon said was true, then what the will of the heavenly dao was referring to was perhaps his Heaven and Earth Dao Heart.

[Temporarily one chapter, I have something urgent and need to take two to three days off. I will make up for the missing chapters later! Sorry!]