39: Ding Bu'er

"How unlucky. I haven't found a suitable host in tens of thousands of years. Everywhere I look, there are Sons of Destiny, each one as shrewd as a fox.

I should have known better than to act cool and disappear on that host back then. Now look, he has Cultivated to the Supreme Dao Venerable, while I, Old Ding, have been drifting for tens of thousands of years without a fixed abode. It's too miserable."

The middle-aged man grumbled and walked down the mountain.

As he passed Shen Lian, he didn't even lift his head, just waved his hand and said, "Brother, move aside."

But the next moment, Shen Lian directly raised his hand and blocked his path.

"Since we've met again, why pretend not to know me? Who are you trying to fool?"

"Hmm?"

The middle-aged man looked up.

The moment their eyes met, countless memories flooded the middle-aged man's mind, finally forming an exhilarating scene.

Above a burning Peak tens of thousands of feet high, blood clouds gathered.

At the foot of the mountain, broken cavalry and shattered armor lay amidst a sea of corpses and blood.

Standing atop the Peak, a cold and arrogant figure, dressed in black and white Qiankun Robes and gently fanning himself with a Yin and Yang Hongyu Fan, sat alone with closed eyes upon the skeletal remains.

Above the Void Realm, blood lightning surged, threatening to destroy the heavens and earth.

The flashing lightning illuminated the man's face, revealing it to be none other than Shen Lian.

Suddenly, a glimmer of spiritual light floated out from within Shen Lian, who sat alone on the Peak.

The first words the spiritual light uttered were: "host, you have never disappointed me. You have once again reached the Peak. It's a pity that you lack a Dao Root to assist you.

This life is destined to be without the Great Dao. Only through another Reincarnation can you truly achieve the Supreme Great Dao."

Hearing these words, Shen Lian's face remained calm. He slowly put down the feather fan in his hand, then pointed at the corpses beneath his feet.

"These are all the enemies of this world who tried to stop me from reaching the Peak of the Great Dao and wished to put me to death. You've seen what became of them."

"The outcome of every life is the same. I can always carve out my own path from the deadly traps you set."

"In my first life after Transmigration, I was a menial trash without even a Spiritual Root, and I once thought of relying on a faction to live out the rest of my life peacefully."

"Unfortunately, this world is too cruel. Those without strength are destined to have the luxury of even becoming beasts of burden. With my status, in front of the so-called Sons of Destiny, I'm not even a stepping stone."

"From then on, I understood a principle: when a person has nothing, what more is there to lose?"

"No Spiritual Root, no qualification to enter the Dao? That's a joke."

Shen Lian slowly stood up, his eyes gradually becoming sharp.

"Since the path of cultivation was blocked, I Entered the Dao through Martial Arts. After hundreds of years, I stepped over mountains of corpses and seas of blood, treading on the flesh and blood of those Sons of Destiny, and for the first time, stood at the very top.

At that time, it was the first time I felt what satisfaction was like, and finally experienced what it felt like to stand at the Peak."

"However, I was wrong. I never expected that besides the local cultivation world, there were other things that wouldn't tolerate my existence, such as..."

Shen Lian casually pointed at the Void Realm.

"Heaven could not tolerate its personally arranged script being shattered by a lowly ant."

Then he pointed at the System.

"And you, the System that accompanied me for ninety-nine lives, ultimately chose to collude with the Heavenly Dao.

Each time, at the moment I reached the Peak, you erased me, devoured my accumulated cultivation to convert into Luck to repair your damaged Origin Qi, and sent me into a new cycle of Reincarnation."

The System let out a "hehehe" laugh.

"Since you detected the purpose of this System in the first life, why didn't you expose it in time?"

"Because I needed your power. Without your existence in the early stages, I couldn't survive in this world governed by the Law of the jungle.

To contend against Heaven, against destiny, I had no choice but to willingly be devoured of all my Luck and life at the moment of reaching the Peak, time and again.

This was merely to find an opportunity to deal with you and the Heavenly Dao."

The System took a deep breath: "So, from the second life onwards, you've been using this System to contend against the Heavenly Dao?"

"It has always been me contending against the Heavenly Dao, never you. Because compared to the Heavenly Dao, the opponent I truly desired, from beginning to end, was always you!"

"It seems my host intends to turn against this System? host, do you think that your current self, who can make the Heavenly Dao tremble, is enough to threaten me?"

"Hahaha, you devoured me for ninety-nine lives. You must have recovered from your initial weakness when you first bound me, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Actually, in these ninety-nine lives, there have been very few battles that made my blood boil again. And you are the opponent I have truly looked forward to since the second life."

"Oh? My host, are you planning to completely reveal your hand to this System?"

"That's right. Now that I have Cultivated to the ninety-ninth Peak of the Ultimate Dao, I am only one step away from the threshold of the Great Dao, yet I still cannot cross it. After much thought, the biggest reason is you, this burden!"

"Bold enough!"

The System rarely praised him.

"The name 'Arrogant Man' truly suits you. You've been maneuvering with me for ninety-nine lives, just waiting for this moment?"

"To fight you is my lifelong wish. After all, this Heaven no longer dares to be my enemy. Only you, the Dao Lineage Supreme above Heaven,

are qualified to be my opponent. Let us gamble with our lives, cast aside all schemes and calculations, and fight a hearty battle!"

"Hahaha, host, you truly impress me. This System has existed for hundreds of millions of years, and in my life, I have only been schemed against by two people. You are very honored to be one of them."

"Another person? Is it that Transmigrator who banished you to the Void Realm and abolished ninety percent of your strength, just like me?"

"Ha, too bad you won't get a chance to see him. Indeed, I was schemed against by him and ended up in the Void Realm back then, but he didn't know that trip through time and space

was also a scheme I set up. Now, he probably doesn't even know that he's about to become one of this System's Three Thousand Dao Bodies.

As for you, if you are willing to prostrate yourself before me and help this System reclaim the Great Dao Origin Body, then this System can make you the only Heavenly Dao beneath me."

"Those are your terms? Then I can only say, you are even more foolish than I imagined.

Shen Lian's life has been one of growth through life-and-death adversity.

Your humble charity is a ridiculous insult to me.

If Heaven doesn't tolerate me, I will be Heaven-Defying. If you don't tolerate me, then I will kill you. Let's begin. Let me experience the thrill of a life-threatening challenge once more!"

"As you wish."

The System quickly transformed into a human form, unleashing world-destroying power, and lunged at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian likewise unleashed the power of the World-Destroying Dao Rhyme, meeting the System's offensive with a counterattack.

The moment they clashed, the sun and moon lost their light, and the earth sank.

A blinding white light flashed, and the entire world instantly collapsed into nothingness... "Oh my god."

The middle-aged man exclaimed, snapping out of his daze, and stumbled to the ground.

"You remembered?"

Shen Lian leaned down, his cold eyes piercing into the middle-aged man's heart.

The middle-aged man quickly said, "Brother, can you let me explain? Yes, I am that System, but only a part of it.

I separated from it tens of thousands of years ago. Feel me, I have flesh and blood. I am not your enemy."

"Hmph!"

Shen Lian snorted coldly.

"Whether you're part of the System or not, since you've appeared before me, we must complete that unfinished battle. Come, let's continue that undecided fight."

"No, no, no! Oh, why is my Old Ding's life so bitter? I finally got to be human again, only to run into such a mess."

The middle-aged man couldn't help but cry.

"I was just here enjoying the scenery, and seeing if I could trick some Luck to restore some of my strength.

Then I turned a corner and ran into a killing god. Why am I so unlucky?"

Seeing his tearful appearance, Shen Lian, on the contrary, was confused.

"Are you really the System I knew? The System that was extremely cunning and devoured my Luck at the most crucial moment in every life?"

"Absolutely not!"

The middle-aged man replied.

"My name is Ding Buer. I am the humanity that separated from that damned thing.

In the early years, I couldn't stand how it would stop at nothing to abuse another host to become a Great Dao Dominator.

That's why I forcibly separated from it. I'm really not the one you're looking for!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian couldn't help but frown deeply.

After a moment, confirming that Ding Buer's words were true, he slowly straightened up.

"How disappointing. You don't even have the qualifications to die by my hand now. Get lost quickly."

Upon hearing this, Ding Buer immediately stopped crying.

"Um, your name is Shen Lian, right? I see you bear some resemblance to an old friend of mine. May I ask if you also left because you couldn't get what you licked for?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Lian grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.

"I know I can't kill you now, but you're not some trash that can casually criticize me. Couldn't get what I licked for? What a joke!"