343: Chapter 343 The Heavenly Dao?!

Inside a guest room in the Haoran Tower of the Moonshadow Sect, the atmosphere was heavy.

Yu Lingshuang, Yu Linglong, Yu Zhaohua, Shui Wanqing, and Chi Wanhe were all present, their eyes focused on the central bed. Having received an urgent message about Shui Liuli's accident, Ling Hao had rushed back from Tianyuan Capital City as quickly as possible.

"Possession?"

Ling Hao's sword-like brows furrowed as he stared at Shui Liuli on the bed. The young girl's face was rosy and her breathing was steady, as if she had simply fallen into a deep sleep. However, no matter how much they called to her from the outside world, she showed no signs of waking up.

Shui Wanqing was consumed with worry, standing to the side and quickly explaining:

"A sudden anomaly occurred when Liuli was breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage. Her aura turned cold, and she became like a completely different person, referring to herself as 'This Seat' and viewing us as mere ants. She even displayed a vast power of Laws far beyond her Realm. We worked together to seal her, but she suddenly fainted and hasn't woken up since."

"Deputy Sect Master Linglong and Grand Elder Zhaohua have also examined her, but they found no obvious signs of Possession or evil intrusion."

She briefly recounted the shocking events on the Tribulation Platform and their current helplessness.

Yu Linglong added:

"We have checked repeatedly, and the Divine Soul Origin indeed belongs to Liuli without a doubt; she should still be fine. Additionally, to prevent any accidents, we can only take turns guarding this place."

Ling Hao nodded, indicating he understood.

He walked slowly to the bedside and sat down, extending a finger to gently touch the center of Shui Liuli's smooth forehead. A stream of spiritual power, like a trickling stream, flowed from his fingertip into the girl's body, traveling carefully along her meridians and finally probing deep into her Sea of Consciousness.

Upon entering, Ling Hao's spiritual sense felt as if it were in a vast Void Realm. The Sea of Consciousness was wide, and it should have been a projection of Shui Liuli's mental world, but at this moment, it seemed exceptionally empty. His spiritual soul Incarnation stood in this vast emptiness, scanning all directions, finding nothing at first.

"Hmm?"

With a slight thought, Ling Hao's figure flickered, moving left and right with profound footwork. Every step he took seemed to land on a spatial node, causing faint ripples to spread through the void.

After repeating this a hundred times, the emptiness before him was finally torn open, revealing a weak point of light.

Ling Hao stepped into it.

The scene changed abruptly.

Before him was a vast and boundless world of water, with azure waves rippling, deep and unfathomable, with only a few scattered islands of land dotting the expanse.

In the center of this world stood a massive, transparent crystal swirling with seven-colored radiant light.

Inside the crystal, Shui Liuli was curled up in a deep sleep, completely unclothed. Her silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her expression was tranquil; this was her truest Divine Soul form.

Beside the crystal, a woman sat suspended above the void water. Her figure was graceful, her bare feet touching the water, and the ripples beneath her feet actually reflected the birth and death of ten thousand stars.

This woman's figure was translucent, outlined by a deep, mysterious blue glow, appearing both real and illusory.

She wore a gauze dress that seemed to be tailored from the entire starry sky and the deep sea abyss (mysterious profound heaven star veil), and her long hair transitioned from deep blue to transparent, flowing in the void.

Her face was hazy and unclear, with only a pair of silver-white eyes clearly visible.

Those eyes had no pupils or irises, only a cold and pure silver-white. At the center of her brow, a droplet-shaped crack was constantly shattering and then struggling to mend itself.

As soon as Ling Hao's spiritual soul Incarnation came into contact with this woman, a vast and ancient Dao charm rushed toward him, far exceeding that of any Cultivator he had ever seen.

He communicated with the System, spending points to check her information.

[Name: ???]

[Age: 3,601,086]

[Spiritual Root: ???]

[Physique: ???]

[Cultivation: ???]

[Favorability: 0]

What? Putting aside the fact that most of the information was question marks, her age was 3.6 million years? Ling Hao was dumbfounded. How could she live so long? Not even a True Immortal could live that long, right?

One had to know that the lifespan of the Mahayana Stage was only a little over ten thousand years.

Who could outlive someone who had been around for 3.6 million years?

Is she an Immortal?

This was Ling Hao's first thought.

He turned his gaze back to Shui Liuli inside the crystal.

[Name: Shui Liuli]

[Age: 18]

[Spiritual Root: Water Spiritual Root]

[Physique: Yin and Yang Dual Body, Heavenly Water Saint Physique, Nine Nether Saint Physique.]

[Cultivation: First Level of Soul Transformation]

[Favorability: 85]

[Status: Heaven's Grace (Water Element Realm), Heavenly Dao Mark (Three Provinces Realm)]

Shui Liuli's status information, Shui Wanqing's description, and the inhuman sense of vastness and brokenness of the woman before him instantly connected in Ling Hao's mind.

Heavenly Dao?!

From the Water Element Realm or the Three Provinces Realm?

As a Mahayana Cultivator himself, Ling Hao knew very well that this woman's vast and ancient aura... was definitely not something a Mahayana Cultivator could possess!

If she were an Immortal, there wasn't even a trace of Immortal Qi residue.

If she wasn't an Immortal, then combined with the known information, she could most likely only be... the Heavenly Dao!

The Heavenly Dao of the Water Element Realm? Or the Heavenly Dao of this Three Provinces Realm?

While Ling Hao was pondering, the ethereal blue woman also noticed the intruder. Those cold, silver-white eyes turned toward Ling Hao, indifferent and emotionless.

"Who are you?" The two asked in unison, their cold questions echoing over the empty water world.

A brief, dead silence followed.

"You speak first."

"You speak first."

They spoke simultaneously again.

Ling Hao: "..."

Ethereal Blue Woman: "..."

Ling Hao's eyes narrowed, and he attacked directly!

Almost at the same instant he moved his mind, the ethereal blue woman moved as well!

Both were cautious and deliberately restrained their power, precisely controlling the point of impact in the void far from the crystal.

"Suppress!"

Ling Hao shouted softly, and a Law of supreme power instantly descended, freezing time and space, and imprisoning the Origin of all things.

The starlight and water light flowing around the ethereal blue woman suddenly froze.

"You... how is this possible?! You are only at the fourth level of the Mahayana Stage, how could you have comprehended the Proto-Dao of the Path of Suppression?!"

In her understanding, it was incredibly difficult for even a Mahayana Perfection Cultivator with fully converted Immortal power to comprehend a single Law to Perfection. A Proto-Dao? This almost touched the core of the Lesser Dao above the Laws.

Such a Realm was beyond the reach of a perfected Law; it was the threshold of touching the core of the Rules, unattainable without the confluence of great Opportunity, great perseverance, and great Comprehension Ability.

In an instant, some terrifying memory fragments seemed to be triggered, and a hint of fear actually flashed across her indifferent face.

He is so powerful, could he also be here for my Origin?!

Ling Hao also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When he first entered and felt her vast aura, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to suppress her, but it turned out he had overthought it.

As for the Proto-Dao of the Path of Suppression? Was it hard to comprehend?

The corners of Ling Hao's mouth curled into a slight smile.

It might be as difficult as climbing to the heavens for others, but for him...

Difficult? What was difficult about it!

After all, throughout his long immortal journey, he was entangled with the word "suppression" every single day.

Sometimes he needed to strategize and suppress Elders like Huang Yutong and Hua Youyou, turning their complaints into tenderness; or he would be countered by the soft-yet-strong methods of Personal Disciples like Chi Wanhe and Qin Zhaoxue, becoming temporarily restrained and tasting the flavor of "being suppressed" instead.

Day and night, night and day. Days followed nights, and nights followed mornings.

The sun rose and the moon set, stars shifted, and the boundaries between day and night blurred within the embroidered beds of the ladies' chambers. When the first light of dawn appeared, the lingering charm of last night's "Dao struggle" had not yet faded before a new round of "Dao discussion" quietly began.

Dao charm flowed within those small spaces, and Laws intertwined between breaths.

Over a long period, that mysterious true intent of governing all Laws and stabilizing the world was like spring rain soaking in, quietly condensing deep within his Divine Soul, eventually allowing this Proto-Dao of the Path of Suppression to... form naturally.

...Ahem, just kidding.

This was thanks to the effect of "All Streams Return to the Source"; the insights and comprehensions of the various Laws from the Elders and Disciples in the Sect would all be fed back to him.

Even if the quality of a single insight wasn't high, the massive accumulation, supplemented by his own talent and circumstances (cheating), had already allowed him to touch the threshold of the "Proto-Dao" on multiple paths, including the Path of Suppression.

Ling Hao looked at the ethereal blue woman and shook his head. She looked powerful, but he hadn't expected her to be such a weakling; right now, Ling Hao couldn't be bothered to explain anything to her.

He turned his gaze to the crystal. Ling Hao raised his hand, condensed a point of destructive starlight on his fingertip, and gently tapped the surface of the crystal.

With a crisp "crack," the massive crystal shattered, dissipating into a sky full of shimmering points of light.

The young girl's Divine Soul sleeping inside slowly woke up, her silver eyelashes fluttering as she opened her purple eyes.

When she saw the person in front of her, a look of immense joy instantly erupted in Shui Liuli's eyes.

"Revered Master! You've come to save me!"

She excitedly flew over and tightly hugged Ling Hao's spiritual soul Incarnation.