195: Daohai meets again

The lingering resonance of the Breakthrough had not yet fully subsided, and the sense of Perfection in his ten-tenths Dao left Liu Qingtian immersed in an unprecedented feeling of power and clarity.

As he was about to carefully contemplate the mysteries of the Star Plucking Realm and stabilize his brand-new Realm, an unexpected change arrived without any warning.

The surrounding scenery of Chaos blurred and dissipated like a fading painting, and that familiar, boundless Dao rhyme enveloped him once again.

His consciousness, even after the Breakthrough was completed, was pulled by an irresistible force into that boundless "Sea of the Great Dao" once more!

"What is going on?" Liu Qingtian's heart shook violently.

Communicating with the Sea of the Great Dao and bearing the Dao when breaking through to the Star Plucking Realm was an Opportunity that a Cultivator only had once in their lifetime; this was the law of Heaven and Earth! Why was he being dragged back into this place?

Just as he was filled with doubt and uncertainty, his "gaze" was involuntarily drawn to a certain direction deep within the Sea of the Great Dao.

There, the power of the Dao, as if encountering a monarch, spontaneously retreated and submitted. A figure was silently suspended in the center of the Sea of the Great Dao.

That is... Luo Jiuxuan!

At this moment, Luo Jiuxuan's appearance was even more terrifying than when he had last seen him.

Most of his flesh and blood had already faded away, revealing the bones beneath that glimmered with dark starlight, appearing as if they were condensed from countless stardust and the Nirvana.

The remaining flesh and blood, like moss on a dried-up riverbed, were sporadically attached to his star-bones, appearing eerie and terrifying. He kept his eyes closed, his face calm, as if he were in the midst of deep meditation on the Dao.

But the next moment, Luo Jiuxuan opened his eyes.

His eyes were no longer human; they had transformed into two slowly rotating, ultimate whirlpools of Annihilation that devoured all light and hope!

He did not look at Liu Qingtian, but slightly opened his mouth and took a gentle breath toward this boundless Sea of the Great Dao.

This inhalation was not aimed at material objects, but acted directly upon the Origin of the Dao!

Boom!!!

A scene that could not be described in words occurred. With Luo Jiuxuan as the center, within the entire Sea of the Great Dao, all Dao Laws related to "Annihilation"—regardless of whether their form of expression was ending, demise, collapse, nothingness, or returning to void—were now like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, transforming into a visible, ink-black torrent that frantically surged into his mouth!

This was not the triggering and absorption that Liu Qingtian had experienced when "bearing" the Dao earlier, but a more essential, more overbearing... plundering! Devouring!

In just an instant, Liu Qingtian could clearly "perceive" that all the manifested and comprehensible "Annihilation" Dao within this Sea of the Great Dao had been completely devoured by Luo Jiuxuan, reaching the ten-tenths Perfection! This speed was more than a hundred times faster than when Liu Qingtian had arduously borne the ten-tenths Dao!

However, Luo Jiuxuan's actions did not stop.

He opened his mouth again, and this time, the suction was even greater! The target was aimed directly at the... Origin Dao of Annihilation, which was hidden beneath countless manifested Dao Laws, more ancient, more fundamental, and served as the root of all "Annihilation" phenomena!

The Sea of the Great Dao let out a silent wail, as if its very Foundation had been shaken. Strands of the ultimate Power of Annihilation, deeper than darkness, more thorough than nothingness, and containing an aura that could even cause an Immortal Emperor to fall, were forcibly extracted from the very bottom of the Sea of the Great Dao and merged into Luo Jiuxuan's star-bones and his whirlpool-like eyes of Annihilation.

At this moment, his aura became incomparably ethereal and ancient, as if he were the Incarnation of "Annihilation" itself in the mortal world!

After doing all this, Luo Jiuxuan slowly turned his head, and those twin pupils, which were whirlpools of Annihilation, pierced through the barriers of endless Dao Laws and precisely "looked" in the direction where Liu Qingtian's consciousness resided.

Although it was only a projection of his consciousness, Liu Qingtian still felt a terrifying pressure originating from the level of the Dao descend, making him almost suffocate.

Luo Jiuxuan's gaze lingered for a moment on Liu Qingtian's ten-tenths Dao Foundation of Perfection, and in those whirlpool-like eyes of Annihilation, there seemed to be a flash of an extremely faint, almost imperceptible... approval? But immediately, it was replaced by an absolute coldness and scrutiny.

"A hundred years from now, I will wait for you to fight again."

Luo Jiuxuan's voice resonated directly in the core of Liu Qingtian's consciousness; it was flat, without any emotional fluctuations, yet carried an absolute will that brooked no doubt.

But immediately after, his words were like ice that had not melted for hundreds of millions of years, carrying a trace of faint disappointment and warning:

"However, if within a hundred years you still cannot cleanse your Demonic Essence and thoroughly comprehend the Dao you have absorbed..."

He paused slightly; that gaze of Annihilation seemed to have seen Liu Qingtian through from inside to out, seeing the power within his body that, although unified, still carried the plundering characteristics of the Demonic Path, and seeing the essence of his relationship with the ten-tenths Dao, which was merely "bearing" it rather than "thoroughly comprehending" it.

"...then you can prepare to die."

As the words fell, not allowing Liu Qingtian any response, an irresistible repelling force surged from all directions. His consciousness, like a fallen leaf swept up by a gale, was instantly thrown out of the Sea of the Great Dao and returned to his physical body in the Chaos Secret Realm.

"Pfft—!"

The moment his consciousness returned, Liu Qingtian violently spat out a mouthful of dark red Demonic blood, his face turning several shades paler. It was not because he was injured, but due to the massive impact on his mind and the pressure originating from the level of the Dao.

He gasped heavily, and Luo Jiuxuan's final cold words echoed continuously in his mind.

"Cleanse your Demonic Essence... thoroughly comprehend the Dao you have absorbed..."

Liu Qingtian looked down at his own hands, feeling the ten-tenths Dao within his body that was at Perfection but seemed separated by a veil, as well as the Myriad Phenomena Return to Void Demonic Essence that still carried the inherent nature of devouring and plundering.

He understood.

Luo Jiuxuan was not criticizing him for walking the Demonic Path, but rather pointing out his biggest problem at present—his power and his Dao had not yet completely merged into one!

Relying on his Black Hole Level Foundation and the embryonic form of the Myriad Manifestations Returning to Ruin Dao, he had forcibly borne the ten-tenths Dao, but this was like a child wielding a ten-thousand-jin giant hammer; although he possessed the power, he could not bring out its essence, and might even hurt himself. His Demonic Essence and his Dao Heart had not yet fully matched, understood, or mastered this power of the Dao at Perfection.

"Cleanse your Demonic Essence" did not mean he had to abandon the Demonic Path, but rather to refine away the impure and miscellaneous characteristics within the Demonic Essence that were obtained solely through plundering, making it fully transform into a unique Origin power that perfectly matched his own "Myriad Manifestations Returning to Ruin Dao".

"Thoroughly comprehend the Dao you have absorbed" pointed directly to the core. Bearing the Dao only meant he had the "qualification"; truly making it his own, and understanding all its changes, Origins, and derivations, was the key to unleashing its power. Otherwise, having the ten-tenths Dao in name only, but only being able to use it superficially, what essential difference was there from bearing seven-tenths or nine-tenths?

Luo Jiuxuan was telling him that a hundred years from now, the opponent he would face would not be just a Liu Qingtian who possessed the power of the ten-tenths Dao, but one who must perfectly fuse power and Dao Realm, truly stepping onto the road to the Peak!

If he could not do this, then the Thousand Moves Pact would be meaningless, and he would have no value in living.

The pressure was unprecedentedly immense.

But in Liu Qingtian's eyes, after the initial shock, an even more intense, even purer flame ignited.

"Cleanse Demonic Essence, thoroughly comprehend the Dao... a hundred years..." He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and slowly straightened his body. Although his aura was somewhat chaotic due to the impact just now, the Foundation of the ten-tenths Dao at Perfection made him like a divine weapon unsheathed—its sharp edge restrained, yet unstoppable.

"Luo Jiuxuan, rest assured, a hundred years from now, I will certainly not disappoint you!"

"This Demonic Essence, this Dao, I, Liu Qingtian, will naturally smelt them to Perfection!"

He looked toward the depths of the Chaos Secret Realm, where there seemed to be more intense Chaos and more fundamental Chaos surging.

The hundred-year period, from this moment on, began to count down.