Chapter 53 The way of heaven takes shape

Shenhuang Continent, Eastern Desolation.

In recent days, the living beings of the entire Eastern Desolation have been in a state of extreme panic and distress. It was not because of a Demon Race invasion, nor was it because of punishment from the Immortal Realm, but because—the sky was about to collapse.

Literally about to collapse.

The once clear sky would occasionally split open with pitch-black Void Realm cracks stretching tens of thousands of miles. The earth rose and fell violently like waves, famous mountains and great rivers fractured for no reason, and the waters of the rivers flowed backward toward the heavens. The power of the Laws of the entire Shenhuang Continent was like snapped lute strings, falling into unprecedented Chaos.

And the source of all these devastating disasters was merely because Lin Yuan, who was taking a nap on the throne of ten thousand spirits gold essence in the back mountain of the Taixuan Dao Sect, had turned over quite comfortably.

Nine Heavens Carefree Immortal Palace, Backyard.

"Huu—"

In his sleep, Lin Yuan stretched his back quite casually.

At the very moment his arms extended, the one hundred thousand particles within his body—nearly half of which had already transformed into "Dragon Elephants"—emitted a muffled resonance. This extremely pure physical strength and ultimate blood energy, without Lin Yuan's deliberate restraint, leaked out just a tiny bit!

Crack, crack, crack!

With the Immortal Palace as the center, the Void Realm for a hundred thousand miles around was instantly filled with dense, spiderweb-like cracks. The spatial barriers of the Shenhuang Continent let out a desperate, overwhelmed groan, as if they would be completely crushed into cosmic dust by this terrifying physical pressure in the next second.

Luo Xue, who was sweeping the courtyard, was pressed directly to the ground by this unconsciously released pressure. Her bones creaked throughout her body, and her eyes were full of horror.

And just then, from outside the tightly closed bronze gates of the Immortal Palace, there suddenly came a very slight, even somewhat trembling sound of knocking.

Knock, knock, knock...

"Who is it? Disturbing someone's peaceful dreams in the middle of the day."

The grand butler, Demon Venerable Wanhua, who was wiping plates with a rag in the kitchen, put down his work with extreme annoyance and walked to the gate grumbling.

He pulled open the gate, preparing to use his Mahayana Stage Demon Venerable aura to scare the visitor half to death. However, when he saw clearly who was standing outside, Demon Venerable Wanhua's illusory Soul body shuddered violently, nearly resulting in his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering on the spot!

Outside the door stood an extremely thin, hunched-over old man in gray robes.

The old man's face was full of wrinkles, he leaned on a very ordinary cane, and a small bamboo basket hung from the crook of his arm, containing a few things that looked like wild fruits.

This old man appeared to have no cultivation at all, looking like the most ordinary country farmer in the Mortal World.

But!

In the perception of Demon Venerable Wanhua, an ancient Mahayana Stage Peak monster, the aura emanating from this old man was not human at all! Standing there, he was as if all the mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and stars of the entire Shenhuang Continent had gathered together!

He represented the absolute will of this world!

"The... the Incarnation of the Heavenly Dao's will?!"

Demon Venerable Wanhua was so frightened his knees went weak, and he fell to the ground with a thud. He had once attempted to undergo tribulation for Ascension and had naturally felt the aura of the Heavenly Dao's Lightning Tribulation; this old farmer before him was clearly the physical manifestation of the Shenhuang Continent's Heavenly Dao will!

The Heavenly Dao was a supreme existence that cultivators must revere and obey even if they spent their entire lives trying. And now, this supreme existence was actually standing outside the Immortal Palace, trembling like an old farmer coming to visit relatives?!

"Lord Butler, this old man offers his greetings."

The gray-robed old man bowed very humbly to Demon Venerable Wanhua, a smile that looked worse than crying squeezed onto his aged face. "May I ask... if that living ancestor lying on the golden chair is awake? This old man wishes to request an audience; it is truly a matter of extreme urgency!"

Demon Venerable Wanhua swallowed hard, his mind a total blank. He could only nod dumbly and step aside to invite this "Lord Heavenly Dao" into the courtyard.

As soon as the Heavenly Dao old man stepped into the backyard of the Immortal Palace, his cloudy old eyes immediately went wide.

What did he see?!

A Primordial World Tree rooted directly into the ancestral pulse of the Immortal Realm, frantically sucking blood! Four Immortal Court Heaven-Suppressing Immortal Kings standing there like atmosphere lamps! And that headless giant working diligently as a fertilizer machine under the tree—that was the First-generation Ancestor Li of the Immortal Realm!

The Heavenly Dao old man gasped, his legs shaking.

This was no Lower Realm Immortal Palace; this was clearly the most terrifying nest of demon gods in the myriad worlds! The master living here was simply more unreasonable than the primordial Chaos demon gods!

The Heavenly Dao old man tottered forward with his cane, trotting all the way to the throne of ten thousand spirits gold essence. Looking at Lin Yuan, who had just woken up and was rubbing his eyes, he knelt with a thud, performing a full prostration!

"Old Ancestor! Living Ancestor! I beg you to stay your hand and withdraw your Divine Ability! These old bones of mine really can't withstand your tossing and turning anymore!"

As soon as the Heavenly Dao old man spoke, he burst into a tearful plea; his voice was truly enough to make anyone who heard it feel sorrowful.

Lin Yuan let out a yawn and sat up quite lazily, looking with some confusion at the gray-robed old man wailing at his feet.

"Who are you? Trying to run a scam here at the back mountain of my Taixuan Dao Sect?" Lin Yuan frowned.

"I am not a scammer! I am the Heavenly Dao will of this Shenhuang Continent!"

The Heavenly Dao old man wiped his tears and pointed very aggrievedly at the spatial cracks in the sky. "Ancestor, your current physical power is simply too strong! Just a tiny bit of that Dragon Elephant power within you leaking out is enough to cause a large section of my world's barriers to collapse! Just now, when you turned over in your sleep, three great rifts were forced open in the Eastern Desolation!"

"If you continue to stay here so recklessly, within three days, the entire Shenhuang Continent will be forcibly crushed to the point of exploding by the power of your ultimate Physical Body!"

Hearing the Heavenly Dao old man's tearful complaint, Lin Yuan was slightly taken aback.

He inspected his own body internally. Indeed, as the one hundred thousand Divine Elephant Particles gradually transformed into Dragon Elephant Particles, his physical mass had reached an extremely terrifying density. The Heavenly Dao Laws of this Lower Realm were too weak, like a paper box, while he was now like a fragment of a high-density neutron star; the paper box simply couldn't bear his weight.

"Oh, so you're the Heavenly Dao."

Lin Yuan rubbed his nose somewhat sheepishly. "My apologies, my apologies. I just ate a primordial demon god, so my blood energy is a bit excessive. It wasn't intentional, but you can't exactly expect me to stop breathing, can you?"

"No, no, no! I definitely didn't mean to complain about you!"

The Heavenly Dao old man waved his hands in panic and very flatteringly held up the small bamboo basket.

"Living Ancestor, these are 'Nine Heavens Clear Spirit Fruits' condensed from the Origin of this world; please have a taste."

The Heavenly Dao old man smiled pleasingly and then very cautiously offered a suggestion: "I make bold to offer an idea. Seeing as you must be quite bored staying here in this mountain Immortal Palace, why not... Seal your Heaven-Defying blood energy and cultivation, disguise yourself as an ordinary Mortal with no cultivation, and go down the mountain to wander the Mortal World?"

"As the saying goes, the great hermit hides in the city. If you Seal your aura and go to the Mortal realm to travel, eat, drink, and be merry, it will not only relax your mood but also allow my world to catch its breath. What do you think?"

To get this calamitous star—who could blow up the world at any moment—to leave, the Heavenly Dao old man had truly put in a lot of effort. He even pulled a heavy Storage Pouch from his robes and offered it with both hands.

"This is the travel money I have prepared for you! Inside are a hundred thousand taels of Mortal gold and silver, as well as various Top-Grade Spirit Stones. After you go down the mountain, you can buy whatever you want; I will cover all the expenses!"

Seeing the dignified Heavenly Dao will offering to reimburse even his travel expenses just to beg him to "live in seclusion," Lin Yuan couldn't help but be amused.

However, the Heavenly Dao old man's words did remind him.

Since he had transmigrated, he had always stayed in this Demon Suppressing Death Prison. Although he had transformed it into an Immortal Palace and lived very comfortably every day, staying for a long time indeed lacked a bit of freshness.

Now that he was invincible under heaven, had even dismantled the Immortal Court, and treated primordial demon gods like takeout, there was no power left in this world that could threaten him.

"Disguise as a Mortal and wander the Mortal World? pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger? That sounds like... a pretty good choice to pass the time."

Lin Yuan stroked his chin, his deep gaze falling upon the Heavenly Dao old man kneeling on the ground, carefully observing the hidden structure of the Heavenly Dao Laws and world Origin flowing within him.

In that very instant.

[You observe the Heavenly Dao Origin and gain insight into the principles of world concealment and all Laws returning to mundanity.]

[You have comprehended the Supreme Dao True Explanation—the "Great Dao Return to Mortal Art"!]

Without any exaggerated sound or light effects, a very mysterious aura-concealing technique naturally surfaced in Lin Yuan's mind.

This "Great Dao Return to Mortal Art" was not a simple concealment of cultivation, but a perfect integration of all one's Karma, blood energy, and even presence into this world. Once used, in anyone's perception—even if an Immortal Emperor were resurrected and stood before him—he would only be a pure Mortal without the strength to truss a chicken.

"Interesting."

The corners of Lin Yuan's mouth curled up slightly, and with a thought, the "Great Dao Return to Mortal Art" instantly activated!

Buzz—

In that split second, the Heavenly Dao old man, Demon Venerable Wanhua, Luo Xue, and the others discovered to their horror that the ultimate demon god who had been sitting on the gold essence throne, radiating an aura that suppressed all ages, had actually... "vanished" into thin air!

No, Lin Yuan had not vanished; he was still sitting there.

But the one hundred thousand Dragon Elephant blood energy that was enough to crush the myriad worlds, and those unfathomable cultivation fluctuations, completely vanished in this instant!

His current aura was mediocre, ordinary, and without a single ripple. There wasn't a trace of Spiritual Qi fluctuation, nor the pressure brought by a strong physique. He looked like a weak, even somewhat frail, handsome Mortal scholar!

Hiss—

The Heavenly Dao old man gasped, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

In its Heavenly Dao perception, the person known as Lin Yuan had been completely erased! It could not perceive any of Lin Yuan's Karma or Luck!

"The ultimate return to simplicity! He can even perfectly deceive the Karma of the Heavenly Dao! Just what level of concealment technique is this?!"

The Heavenly Dao old man roared frantically in his heart, his reverence for Lin Yuan rising once again to an incredible dimension. This living ancestor could not only tear the heavens and earth apart by hand, but he could also turn himself into a grain of dust in the world at any time; this kind of control over the Grand Dao was simply hair-raising!

"How is it? Does my Mortal disguise pass muster?"

Lin Yuan stood up, took the Storage Pouch filled with gold and silver from the Heavenly Dao old man, weighed it, and smiled with satisfaction.

"It passes! It's too perfect! Ancestor, if you walk on the streets of the Mortal World now, absolutely no one will be able to tell you are a cultivator!" The Heavenly Dao old man kowtowed repeatedly in excitement because, as Lin Yuan restrained his aura, he felt the spatial barriers of the Shenhuang Continent finally stop collapsing; the world was saved!

"Alright, stop kneeling. Since you've even prepared the travel money for me, I'll treat it as taking a long vacation and go down the mountain to experience Mortal life."

Lin Yuan casually brushed the dust off his purple-gold Dao robes. As the "Great Dao Return to Mortal Art" operated, his flashy purple-gold Dao robes also transformed into an extremely ordinary moon-white Mortal scholar's robe.

He reached out and took down the ancient malevolent sword, zhutian, hanging at his waist. At this moment, under the cover of his concealment technique, all the murderous aura on the zhutian sword was completely internalized; even the scabbard became rusty and mottled, looking like a piece of scrap metal one might pick up from a Mortal blacksmith shop.

"Young Master, you are going down the mountain to travel?"

Tantai Jinyue and Luo Xue rushed over upon hearing the news, their eyes full of reluctance.

"Mhm, just going for a few strolls."

Lin Yuan looked at everyone and gave orders quite lazily: "While I'm away, look after the house. Xiao Bing will continue to be responsible for cooling, Old Wan will supervise those Immortal Kings to keep the courtyard clean, and don't let Xing Tian get fertilizer on the jade slabs when he's manuring."

"Will Young Master not take Jinyue along to serve him?" Tantai Jinyue bit her red lip and asked with some hope.

"Why would I take you? I'm going on vacation as a 'Mortal' this time. If I have a Soul Transformation Stage ice dragon and a Void Returning Stage great demoness by my side, how can I stay low-key? How can I experience the joys of a Mortal?"

Lin Yuan refused quite decisively. "All of you stay home honestly; no one is allowed to follow me."

With that, Lin Yuan casually tucked the rusty iron sword into his waist and put his hands behind his back.

He did not ride the clouds or mist, nor did he tear through the void; instead, he very seriously played the role of a Mortal, taking leisurely steps one by one toward the gates of the Taixuan Dao Sect.

"We respectfully see the Old Ancestor off for his experiential training!!!"

Demon Venerable Wanhua, Luo Xue, Tantai Jinyue, and even the old man who was the Incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, all knelt in a row at the gate of the Immortal Palace, shouting loudly and respectfully toward Lin Yuan's departing back.

In their overactive imaginations,

this supreme taboo who was already invincible under heaven surely wasn't stepping into the Mortal World with his cultivation sealed just for a simple trip. He must be tempering his heart in the Mortal World, performing a supreme Grand Dao cultivation that concerned the ultimate fate of the myriad worlds!

And at this time,

Lin Yuan, already walking on the small path down the mountain, breathed in the fresh air of the forest and stretched quite comfortably.

"Being a Mortal without the strength to truss a chicken... this feeling is actually quite fresh. I hope I run into a few guys who don't know any better, so I can experience that classic 'pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger' trope."

A casual smile hung on the youth's lips as he disappeared into the vast sea of clouds leading to the mundane world of the Eastern Desolation.