Chapter 874 – Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light

Three years had passed, and the Celestial Profound Realm had been completely transformed.

The spiritual energy that once permeated heaven and earth had nearly dissipated entirely, replaced by active yet peaceful fluctuations of elemental force.

Mages had replaced cultivators as the new symbol of extraordinary power.

After the initial growing pains and period of adaptation, the Celestial Profound Realm’s world level had recovered to Level Three and was still steadily rising.

The Well of the Sky, which had been sealed off by the ascension channel for countless ages, had now begun to open its arms to mages who had reached Intermediate rank and above. Those who had visited other normal cultivation worlds finally understood just how bizarre the Celestial Profound Realm’s former ascension system had been.

Everything was progressing steadily in a direction full of hope.

These three years had not been idle ones for Mo Lan either.

She frequently ventured outside the Celestial Profound Realm’s boundary membrane to practice Magic, successfully elevating all her Witch Spatial Magic to the Seventh Rank.

Through this steady accumulation, the disposable Mana stored in the Book of Cards reached a new high, and her total Mana reserves rose in tandem. However, the higher the rank, the more Mana required for advancement increased tenfold, and the road to the Eighth Rank remained long indeed.

Mo Lan gazed down at the vibrant new world below, a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes.

The Celestial Profound Realm’s transformation was a success. What remained was simply a matter of accumulating time.

There was nothing left here that required her personal attention, and many worlds in this star region still struggled under the Immortal Realm’s exploitation. “It’s time to leave.”

Mo Lan conveyed her farewell to the Celestial Profound Realm’s world consciousness through Star Language.

The world consciousness sent back a wave filled with gratitude and blessings, making no effort to detain her: “The Celestial Profound Realm… will always welcome you back…”

Under Clack’s control, the Starsea Ark silently glided toward the endless void beyond the boundary membrane.

Out of habit, Mo Lan cast her Fortune-Telling Spell to test whether leaving now was auspicious or ominous. The result made her brow twitch:

“Clack, stop!”

The result was ominous. Now was clearly not a good time to leave.

The Ark shifted from full motion to complete stillness in an instant, perfectly concealed near the edge of the boundary membrane.

“Ominous” meant danger, and the most likely source of danger to her right now was a Dao Ancestor sent by the Immortal Realm.

Running into one of them in the void would not end well.

Mo Lan had barely relayed her suspicion to the world consciousness when an enormous, scorching, overwhelmingly oppressive immortal power, like a meteor plummeting from the heavens, rapidly closed in.

A figure wreathed in purple lightning appeared outside the Celestial Profound Realm’s boundary membrane.

His aura was every bit as powerful as Duan Yan’s had been—if not more so.

His sharp gaze swept across the Celestial Profound Realm’s boundary membrane. Separated by the membrane, he failed to detect the Starsea Ark in its concealed state, only sensing that this world seemed somewhat… different.

“It refuses to let me in?” he murmured, then gave a cold snort. “No matter what’s changed, I’ll simply rebuild the channel!”

He raised his hand and produced a golden formation disk. The disk expanded in the wind, emanating an aura identical in origin to the former ascension channel. Forming hand seals, he guided the disk and began pressing it down toward the Celestial Profound Realm’s boundary membrane!

Mo Lan’s eyes hardened. Without a moment’s hesitation, she pressed the Ark’s attack button.

A pre-loaded {Seventh Rank spatial blade} Magic Card was instantly activated. It flew from the Ark and transformed into an enormous silver-white blade that silently and swiftly closed in on the Dao Ancestor cultivator who was in the middle of setting up his formation, slashing viciously toward him!

The instant the attack appeared, the Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light sensed danger and whipped his head around in alarm. But the spatial blade was too fast—one flicker and it was upon him. He barely managed to twist his body aside as the defensive immortal artifact on his person flared with light, encasing him in protection.

“Screech—!”

The silver-white blade struck hard against the protective immortal light that had flared around the Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light, producing a teeth-grating tearing sound.

The defensive immortal artifact that had automatically shielded its master flickered wildly but held firm against the attack.

Just as the Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light was about to unleash his divine abilities to find the ambusher, a second equally ferocious silver-white blade followed like a shadow—arriving almost the very instant the first attack was blocked, flickering into existence with eerie precision. Its target was not the Dao Ancestor himself, but the golden formation disk he had just produced and had not yet had time to activate!

“How dare you!” His eyes nearly split with rage, but it was too late to intervene.

“Crack!”

Before the spatial blade’s power of absolute severance, the precious ascension formation disk was cleaved cleanly in two. Its spiritual light extinguished completely as it turned to mundane iron and tumbled into the void.

“BOOM!”

The enraged Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light erupted with blinding lightning. A bolt of purple divine thunder as thick as a palace pillar, carrying an aura of pure destruction, struck savagely toward the direction from which the spatial blades had come.

Yet that tempest of thunder, powerful enough to shatter mountains and rivers, the instant it touched the Celestial Profound Realm’s boundary membrane, sank into it like a stone dropping into the sea. It merely stirred a series of gentle yet incomparably resilient ripples before dissipating completely without a trace.

From behind the boundary membrane came a derisive little snort from the world consciousness.

Inside the Ark, the corner of Mo Lan’s mouth curved upward.

With an entire world as her shield, she had nothing to fear. One Seventh Rank spatial Magic Card after another was activated without hesitation.

{Seventh Rank spatial blade}, {Seventh Rank Spatial Chains}, {Seventh Rank Spatial Distortion}, {Seventh Rank Spatial Lockdown}…

In an instant, the void outside the boundary membrane became a feast of Spatial Magic.

Invisible cutting forces continuously weakened and eroded the Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light’s protective immortal light. Silver chains coiled upward around him. Space itself began to warp, making the Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light feel as though he were trapped in thick mud, his movements growing ever more sluggish.

In terms of raw power, these Seventh Rank spells alone could not instantly break through a Dao Ancestor’s protective immortal light. But they were like an endless tide, wave after wave, precisely and efficiently draining his immortal power.

At first, the Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light still regarded the assault with contempt: “Hmph, nothing but a Taiyi-realm cultivator relying on tricky spatial techniques for a sneak attack! In a contest of raw immortal power, why would I fear you?”

He was confident that, being two full major ranks above his opponent, his immortal power was vast as the ocean—more than enough to outlast the enemy until they were spent.

Yet as time ticked by, the attacks streaming from the direction of the boundary membrane not only showed no signs of weakening but grew ever more dense and violent, as though the opponent’s Mana were truly inexhaustible.

His own immortal power, meanwhile, was being consumed at an alarming rate. So far from the Immortal Realm, he could not draw continuous replenishment from the Immortal Realm’s Heavenly Dao. Every drop spent was a drop lost. At this rate, his protective immortal light would inevitably shatter.

“No—I must retreat!” The Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light finally resolved to flee. But when he attempted to tear through the void with an escape technique, his expression changed drastically. The surrounding space had been locked down tight as iron plates—break through one layer and another lay beyond it, with no end in sight.

“Damn it!” For the first time, he felt true panic.

What followed became a hopeless war of attrition.

The Dao Ancestor of Thunder Light was like a ferocious beast trapped in a cage, futilely fending off Spatial Magic striking from every direction. Each of his counterattacks was neutralized by the boundary membrane.