363: Chapter 354 The Sixth Incarnation: Heavenly Venerable (Forty-Two)

"Boom—!!!"

Inside the "heaven refining cauldron," ten-colored Dao Fire suddenly surged, transforming into a Chaos furnace that incinerated all things and refined all Daos!

The remnant consciousness, Dao body, and even the final Origin connection to the "Delusion" Great Dao of Dao Lord Xu Wang melted like snow under this refining power specifically targeted at the Dao Lord level, rapidly decomposing, annihilating, and transforming!

His unwilling resentment, his attachment to the Dao path, and even his madness on the brink of dao transformation became "firewood" for the burning Dao Fire, emitting silent "wails" before finally falling into eternal silence.

The core "Delusion" Great Dao Origin—that blurred and shifting cluster of light—was forcibly solidified, stripped, and Sealed. Along with other refined Law essences, it floated within the cauldron's space. Its color was slightly dim, yet it still radiated the profound Dao Rhyme of "the birth and death of reality and Delusion," becoming a highly valuable part of the "New Heaven's" resource treasury.

From descending and suppressing to seizing and refining... the entire process was breathtakingly fast.

An ancient Dao Lord who had existed for endless years and still possessed unfathomable power even when on the brink of dao transformation was actually crushed like an ant and refined into resources by the "heaven refining cauldron" and several Ancient Lords working together. He failed to raise even a decent resistance, and could not even send news of the ambush beyond his own Dao Realm!

"Delusion has been removed; the Origin has been collected." The thought of the Dao Lord of Death rang out indifferently, devoid of joy or sorrow, as if he had merely completed a trivial task. "The 'heaven refining cauldron' is operating flawlessly. Lock onto the next target."

"Good." The wills of the other Ancient Lords signaled their approval.

The hunt continued.

The bloody feast had begun, and there was no reason to stop.

The eerie light of the "heaven refining cauldron," guided by the precise coordinates of the "Space" Dao Lord and driven in turns by the wills of All Venerables, flickered and opened frequently in the shadows of the myriad worlds like the pupils of a god of death.

Every time it opened and closed, it meant the silent fall of a Dao Realm, the complete demise of a Dao Lord, and the essence of a Great Dao being forcibly stolen and Sealed.

The second, the third...

Targets were efficiently locked, and the hunt advanced coldly.

There was "Dao Lord Heavenly Wind," who commanded the Dao of "Storms" and possessed speed unrivaled in his region, yet failed to escape the suction of the cauldron's mouth; there was "Dao Lord Green Wood," who was proficient in the vitality of "Plants" and whose Dao Realm was filled with spiritual flora, yet was countered by the Dao Rhyme of "death," his vitality completely extinguished; there was "Dao Lord Thunder Punishment," renowned for the ferocity of "Thunder," yet bound by chains of "Order" and killed by the backlash of "Destruction" lightning...

Every Dao Lord had once been a trendsetter of an era, a monarch of a Law, possessing endless Lifespan and majesty.

However, before this "heaven refining cauldron"—forged by several of the most ancient beings specifically to hunt them—and under a meticulously planned ambush without warning, their pride, their strength, and their struggles all appeared pathetically weak.

Suppressing, stripping, devouring, refining.

Like the most skilled hunters, they were harvesting patches of mature "crops."

On the surface, the myriad worlds continued to operate according to their original trajectories: stars rotated, civilizations thrived, low-level Cultivators fought for resources, and Mortal Dynasties rose and fell.

But beneath the heavenly secrets perfectly obscured by the "heaven refining cauldron," in the depths of those remote Dao Realms that had suddenly become empty and where Dao Rhyme was rapidly dissipating, a silent mass extinction targeting the "Dao" monarch class was proceeding quietly with startling efficiency and coldness, spreading rapidly.

Deep within the Source Sea of Laws.

Inside the light cocoon that carried the "Chaos Dao Body" embryo, its surface covered in Chaos dao patterns and floating like a bizarre star, Xu Yuan's original consciousness was in a profound state of gestation and comprehension.

A hundred years of refining the Dao, and Chaos was beginning to take shape.

Most of his mind was devoted to internal reflection, pushing for the final stabilization and fine-tuning of the "Chaos Dao Body," attempting to use the initially formed Chaos Dao Rhyme to reverse-sort and soothe the small range of violent Laws around him in preparation for his "birth."

However, during this relatively "peaceful" gestation period, an extremely subtle yet undeniably real abnormal change began to be quietly transmitted to his consciousness through the light cocoon and through his faint "sorting" and perception of the surrounding Law turbulence.

At first, it was just an extremely faint "ripple," different from the inherent violent rhythm of the Source Sea.

Within this "ripple," there seemed to be mixed the final wails of some Great Dao collapsing, the hollow tremors of authority being stripped away, and the lonely lingering charm of an existence being completely annihilated into nothingness.

It was very faint and was soon dispersed by the inherent chaotic Dao Rhyme of the Source Sea.

But immediately following it was a second, a third... more and more similar "ripples" of various attributes began to be "transmitted" intermittently, yet seemingly with increasing frequency, to the area where he was located, despite the endless distance and chaotic obstructions.

"This is..."

Xu Yuan's core consciousness slightly "raised its head" from its deep gestation. That speck of "Innate Spiritual Light" flickered slightly, revealing a hint of surprise and deep thought.

He carefully perceived and distinguished these "ripples."

They were not direct energy impacts, but rather extremely faint "feedback" or "echoes" affecting the entire Law level, generated after some "Dao" root level experienced a "break" or "severe loss."

"The trajectory of the storm suddenly becomes messy and annihilated..."

"The burst of vitality suddenly withers and stops flowing..."

"The violence of thunder suddenly becomes mute and silent..."

"..."

The "auras" of one Great Dao after another seemed to undergo some abnormal, violent "weakening" or "stripping" within a very short period of time, to the point that discordant, dark waves representing "absence" or "death" were reflected in the "mirror" of the Source Sea of Laws.

"This feeling... is like..."

Xu Yuan's consciousness rapidly deduced. Combining this with the Heavenly Mandate of the Human Dao's vague perception of the world's great trend, a startling speculation gradually took shape.

"Are 'beings' who command these Great Daos perishing one after another, abnormally? And at such high speed, with such short intervals?"

When a Dao Lord perishes, the Great Dao authority they command returns to the world, either dissipating or being inherited. This is usually a relatively slow and natural process that typically wouldn't trigger such dense abnormal "ripples" at the Law level in a short time.

Unless...

"Unless these deaths are being forcibly, efficiently, and on a large scale facilitated by an external force! Furthermore, the process of stripping the Dao Fruit is extremely rapid and thorough, causing the Great Dao Origin to fluctuate violently in a short time, producing this... 'weakness ripple' similar to 'excessive blood loss'?"

Xu Yuan's heart was shaken.

He thought of the terrifying Dao Rhyme manifestations of the Ancient Venerables' recovery a hundred years ago, and of those ancient beings who had awakened.

"Could it be that those ancient beings have begun hunting Dao Lords?!"