458: Taoist Temple

Nine Water Giants stood majestically, each a million zhang tall, entirely condensed from the purest Water Dao, with dark blue Dao patterns flowing across their bodies, as if carrying the will of this sea world.

Their aura was boundless, far surpassing Half-Ancestors, already touching the level of Dominator-level Dao; their mere presence caused the entire Void Realm to wail.

They had clearly reached the cultivation of a Dao Ancestor.

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed slightly, and the power of Dao surged around him, but it disintegrated inch by inch under the pressure of the nine Water Giants.

His many Daos were suppressed; as expected of Dominator-level Dao, beneath a Dominator, even the Supreme Dao had to be suppressed.

"Beyond Chaos, Myriad Daos are void."

Xu Qing whispered, Chaos Qi swirling around him, transforming into a gray, hazy Divine Dragon that spanned heaven and earth. As its Dragon body coiled, even the Dominator-level Water Dao was forcibly pushed aside.

The Chaos Divine Dragon coiled behind him, its Dragon eyes cold, confronting the nine Water Giants.

"Boom!"

The first Water Giant moved. It held a war spear condensed from endless Water Dao. With a single thrust, the Void Realm shattered like a mirror, and billions of water blades swept forth, each capable of annihilating a Half-Ancestor!

Xu Qing did not retreat but advanced. The Chaos Divine Dragon roared, its Dragon claws sweeping across the sky, directly clashing with the war spear!

"Clang—!"

A colossal clang, like metal striking metal, reverberated through the sea. The collision of Chaos and Water Dao caused the entire sea world to tremble violently.

The seawater rolled back, the Void Realm collapsed, and Xu Qing's figure was sent back a million li by the Water Giant's attack, but the Chaos Divine Dragon was unharmed, its Dragon eyes growing even colder.

"Nothing more than this!"

After the initial probe, Xu Qing had already discerned the strength of these Water Giants.

They had just barely reached the Dao Ancestor realm. With a slight curl of his lips, Chaos Qi surged, and he once again manifested eight more Chaos Divine Dragons. Each was entwined with different Chaos Dao Rhythms, some devouring, some annihilating, some evolving... Nine Dragons emerged simultaneously, charging directly at the nine Water Giants!

"Roar—"

The Water Giants roared, their war spears, giant axes, long halberds... nine weapons formed by Water Dao erupted simultaneously, battling the Chaos Divine Dragons.

At this moment, the great sea world completely boiled over!

The Dao was chaotic, the Origin shattered, and the entire sea seemed to return to the scene of Chaos's beginning... A month later.

Xu Qing stood in the center of the battlefield, his robes fluttering, his eyes like lightning.

Even the weakest of the nine Water Giants possessed Dao Ancestor strength, so this great battle lasted a full month before concluding.

Suddenly!

"Dong—"

A bell chime, as if from ancient times, came from the depths of the firmament.

Xu Qing suddenly looked up, only to see the ancient palace suspended atop the nine pillars suddenly tremble violently, the bronze chimes hanging from its eaves swaying without wind.

Each bell toll caused golden ripples to spread through the Void Realm. These ripples intertwined, actually outlining a primeval star map across the sky.

"Boom!"

The moment the main gate of the palace opened, billions of immortal lights poured out like a celestial river.

Wherever the light passed, the solidified seawater began to flow again, but it transformed into inverted waterfalls flowing upwards.

This was a rainbow bridge, condensed from the purest Innate Dao Rhythm, with the water patterns of the River of Time flowing across its surface.

Xu Qing did not hesitate in the slightest and stepped onto the rainbow bridge.

The moment he stepped onto the rainbow bridge, the dark blue seawater beneath his feet suddenly solidified, and the rainbow bridge coiled up like a living thing, carrying him towards the sky.

The palace, which seemed close at hand, revealed its true distance the moment the rainbow bridge extended—its majestic silhouette floated in the upper reaches of the River of Time, and each sway of the bronze bells hanging from its eaves sent out ripples spanning across eras.

"Whoosh—"

Time and space scrolls suddenly unfolded on both sides of the rainbow bridge.

In the first scene, tens of thousands of races, led by their respective powerhouses, ascended to the heavens on auspicious clouds. The specks of light they transformed into obscured the sky of an entire era.

Xu Qing reached out to touch it, but his fingertips passed through the phantom, leaving only a wisp of long-dissipated sacrificial music—that was the scene of Myriad Races ascending to the Ancient Land of Dao in the ancient era.

The second scene followed closely.

Darkness swallowed up the great worlds and Star Domains like a tide, and powerhouses of Myriad Races built a wall of flesh and blood in the Void Realm.

True Dragons used their spines as pillars, Phoenixes used their wings as screens, and even the weakest plant spirits burned themselves into illuminating lamps, countless beings threw themselves into battle, just to protect the unpolluted distant lands.

The rainbow bridge suddenly trembled violently.

It was another era, on scorched earth, Human Race ancestors fought against Myriad Races of heaven and earth with bones as spears and blood as talismans.

A one-armed elder held a broken sword, and wherever the sword's edge pointed, primeval Vicious Beasts fell in droves.

The chaotic flow of time and space grew more urgent, and another scene appeared: heaven and earth shook, a powerful Demon Ancestor tore open the boundaries of heaven and earth, attempting to shatter the vast immortal land above the firmament, but was pierced through his demonic body by a blue divine spear flying from beyond the heavens.

The giant holding the spear glanced back, his gaze penetrating through all ages and briefly meeting Xu Qing's. Xu Qing saw a thoughtful look in the giant's eyes.

The scene shifted again. A boundless immortal land floated above Chaos, with thousands of immortal palaces and pavilions appearing and disappearing amidst the surging sea of clouds.

Steps of gold and jade, tiles of glazed glass, each palace flowed with an Eternal Dao Rhythm, and the bronze wind chimes hanging from the eaves gently swayed, sending out ripples of Law spanning across all ages.

The Dominator of Nine Heavens sat in the central immortal palace, wearing a twelve-plume crown and an imperial robe woven from stars, with three thousand worlds seemingly born and destroyed in his eyes.

His mere presence caused the Dao of the entire immortal realm to submit, and billions of immortal spirits bowed, not daring to look directly at his true face.

The rainbow bridge surged, and the scene changed once more. On an ancient continent, tens of thousands of towering figures stood in the boiling Chaos Qi, each breath causing the birth and destruction of thousands of Small Worlds.

They were warring against each other. Some powerhouses wielded Chaos Supreme Treasures, and the spatial cracks they cleaved open erupted with supreme clear light. Wherever it passed, weaker Innate Gods and Devils transformed into Dao Origin, feeding back into heaven and earth.

There were also peerless powerhouses forming killing seals. Wherever the Dao seals reached, they were unstoppable, and thousands of beings perished... "Clang!"

The rainbow bridge also reached its end at this moment, and the bronze bells on the palace rang out, making all the scenes of time vanish.

Xu Qing was in a trance, then looked up, and the main gate of the palace slowly opened.

What flowed out of the crack in the door was not light, but a solidified tributary of the River of Time.

Countless projections of time and space converged into a torrent at this moment, finally transforming into a sigh spanning ancient and modern times: "You have finally arrived..."

The torrent dissipated, and at the palace's great gate, a blurred figure leaned against the door, holding a bronze palace lantern that illuminated two ancient seal characters on the lintel, blurred by time: Dao Palace.

Xu Qing's pupils suddenly contracted. This was not what he had expected.

How could it be the Dao Palace? He came for Xuan Tian, how did he find the Dao Palace?

Frankly, he did not want to contact the Dao Palace at this time.

Because this force was too mysterious. From Qing Zhu, he already knew that even the Chaos Race had to obey the Dao Palace's commands, which showed how powerful this force was.

"You came for Xuan Tian!"

The hazy figure said leisurely, and without waiting for Xu Qing to speak, turned and walked into the palace.

"Then come in!"

Xu Qing frowned at these words, but still walked in.

For some reason, upon arriving here, his System actually became hidden. This was a situation the System had never experienced before.