408: Chapter 399 The Sixth Incarnation: Heavenly Venerable (Eighty-Seven)

However, Dao Lord Shang Qing's purpose in burning the Six Paths and detonating Karma had been achieved—he successfully bought that crucial sliver of an opening for himself and Jade Clarity!

At this moment, the two of them had already stepped onto the first step of the "ascension heavenly ladder"!

"As expected of the Most Ancient Venerables, to slaughter the heavens and carry such Karmic burden, yet still be able to suppress and adapt to it in a short time; the steadfastness of your Dao Hearts is indeed no empty boast."

Standing on the first step of the ladder, Dao Lord Shang Qing looked back at the nine figures behind him who remained towering amidst the tide of resentment and the Heart Demon's tribulation fire, reconsolidating their terrifying offensive. On his pale face, there wasn't much surprise, but rather a hint of indifference that bordered on admiration.

By burning the Six Paths and triggering Karma, he never expected to truly severely wound or even eliminate these nine opponents who had existed for endless eons.

Their indifference, their transcendence, and their absolute disdain for "ants" had long been etched deep within their Dao Foundations, becoming almost instinctual.

"However," Dao Lord Shang Qing's tone shifted, the silver-white light of Karma and Heavenly Mandate in his eyes cold as frost, "Karma is merely an anchor."

"An anchor?"

Dao Lord of Time's heart skipped a beat for some reason; a sense of unease far exceeding what he felt when he was backlashed by Karma suddenly surged.

Before the Ancient Venerables could think further, Dao Lord Yuqing, who had been standing side-by-side with Shang Qing, controlling the Dao Rhyme of Karmic Affinity and Mortal World to continuously trigger and amplify their Heart Demon tribulation fires, suddenly let out a light chuckle. That laughter was ethereal and pleasant, yet it carried a compassion that saw through the world's affairs and the rise and fall of civilizations... and a certain cruelty.

"Anchoring you all is for the sake of guidance."

Within Dao Lord Yuqing's beautiful eyes, the magnificent and ever-changing halo of the Mortal World suddenly contracted and collapsed, eventually turning into two points of profound light that seemed to reflect the starting point of all tribulations in the myriad heavens and realms.

She raised her delicate hand, and it seemed as if hundreds of millions of Mortal World threads and infinite tribulation runes were flowing and reorganizing at her fingertips, forming a Dao seal so complex it was beyond description, as if it exhausted the Profound Truth of "Tribulation."

"The true killing move arrives now."

Her red lips parted slightly, her voice not loud, yet it resounded clearly in the depths of every Ancient Venerable's true spirit, carrying a rhythm that heralded the end.

"Using Karma as the thread to pull your supreme Karmic power. Using the Mortal World as the guide to ignite your... Immeasurable Killing Tribulation!"

The moment her voice fell—

Buzz!

The sky-high Karmic power and tide of resentment entwined around the Nine Most Ancient Dao Lords—which they had barely suppressed, adapted to, and even begun trying to absorb and transform with their respective Divine Abilities—suddenly underwent a qualitative change!

It was no longer a scattered impact and erosion filled with negative emotions.

Under the guidance of Dao Lord Yuqing's mysterious "Karmic Affinity and Mortal World Dao Seal," and precisely positioned and connected by Dao Lord Shang Qing using "Karma" as an anchor, the resentment originating from the countless blood-sacrificed living beings, the wails and backlashes from the destruction of the myriad heavens and realms, the extreme pain, despair, hatred, and curses of trillions upon trillions of beings before their deaths—beings the nine Ancient Venerables viewed as mere ants and dust... all these negative forces were instantly gathered, refined, and sublimated by an invisible giant hand!

They were no longer merely "resentment" or "Karma," but resonated with a grander, older, and more irresistible Laws of Heaven and Earth in the unseen—that was, "Tribulation"!

The Tribulation of Slaughter! The Tribulation of Destruction! The Tribulation of Sin! The Tribulation of Backlash! The Tribulation of Ending!

With the fall of endless beings as the "cause," the Blood Sacrifice of heaven and earth and the reversal of Yin and Yang as the "trigger," and Shang Qing and Jade Clarity using the legacy of fate and the newborn Dao as the "bridge," this terrifying Karmic power—detonated, gathered, and sublimated—finally transformed into a "Exclusive Immeasurable Killing Tribulation" targeting these nine slaughterers and destroyers!

"What?!"

Dao Lord of Death's expression changed for the first time!

He felt that the resentment, which originally only made him feel "troubled" and "annoyed," had suddenly changed in nature!

"A tribulation?! How is this possible?! How can they trigger a killing tribulation of such scale targeting us?!"

"Not good! Karma as the anchor, Karmic power as the fuel, the Mortal World as the guide—this is meant to trigger our own 'Dao Tribulation'!"

The group of ancient Dao Lords instantly understood Shang Qing and Jade Clarity's true killing move!

The Karmic backlash was only the appetizer, a lead to "anchor" them. The true killing move was Jade Clarity using the Dao of Karmic Affinity and Mortal World to ignite and sublimate this terrifying Karmic power, turning it into an "Immeasurable Killing Tribulation" directly targeting their respective Dao Origins, Dao Hearts, and even their existence's Foundations!

Boom boom boom boom boom—!!!

As if to confirm this, an unprecedented aura of terrifying disaster erupted from the Nine Most Ancient Dao Lords simultaneously!

The Immeasurable Killing Tribulation had completely broken out!

This was no longer the harassment and stinging like "fine steel needles" from the previous Karmic backlash, but a true life-and-death tribulation capable of shaking the source and incinerating the Dao Foundation!

Dao Lord of Death was swallowed by the endless "Tribulation Fire of All Beings' Extinction." That black flame seemed capable of incinerating all existence and concepts, frantically burning his death Dao Origin.

He originally controlled death, yet now he had to personally endure the fire of ending transformed from the "deathly resentment" of trillions of beings. His own Dao Rhyme was wailing and dissipating, and the gray divine light of death dimmed at a visible speed. He let out a roar mixed with pain and anger, forced to exhaust all his strength to mobilize his death Origin to counter this "Tribulation of Ending" originating from himself.

Within Dao Lord of Chaos's Chaos Domain, those hate-filled "chaotic consciousnesses" catalyzed out were like billions of frenzied worms, backlashing against Chaos itself, trying to drag him into a state more disordered and manic than Chaos.

He roared repeatedly, his Chaos Qi surging violently, attempting to assimilate and crush these consciousnesses, only to find that these "tribulation power consciousnesses" were like maggots on a bone, tightly entangled with his Chaos Origin and difficult to remove. Instead, they were constantly eroding and polluting his Dao Foundation, causing his control over Chaos to become sluggish and disordered.

...

For a time, every Ancient Venerable fell into an "Immeasurable Killing Tribulation" that was closely related to their own Dao attributes and was ferocious to the extreme.

This killing tribulation used the boundless slaughter they had committed as "fuel," Shang Qing's Karma as the "fuse," and Jade Clarity's Karmic Affinity as the "spark," igniting the "Karmic fire" of their own Dao Foundations, aimed directly at the root of their existence!

Even with their status as the most ancient roots and pillars of the world, they felt unprecedented pressure and... crisis at this moment!

Dao Hearts trembled, Daos wailed, and Origins were shaken!

"Bastards! This killing tribulation... can actually erode my Dao Origin!"

"What a method! What a scheme!"

"But, to trigger such an Immeasurable Killing Tribulation, aren't you afraid... of disaster befalling yourselves?!"

Dao Lord of Death roared within the black tribulation fire, his voice carrying pain and a cold mockery as he stared fixedly at Shang Qing and Jade Clarity on the ladder, whose auras were also fluctuating violently.