413: Chapter 404 The Sixth Incarnation: Heavenly Venerable (Ninety-Two)

As Dao Lord Shang Qing let out a final roar of unwillingness, his silver-white body completely dissolved into countless tiny streams of Karma, which, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, irresistibly merged into that increasingly solid withered bone.

The final marks of his existence, his insights into Karma, and his mastery over Heavenly Mandate all melted away, becoming nourishment to sustain that ancient existence.

Dao Lord Yuqing appeared much quieter; she merely took one last deep look at the withered bone, the myriad phenomena of the Mortal World in her magnificent eyes ultimately returning to a deathly void. Subsequently, her entire being shattered like a bubble, transforming into fragments of Karmic Affinity and Mortal World drifting across the sky, imbued with the Aura of love, hatred, joys, sorrows, and the arising and ceasing of affinities, all of which were likewise completely absorbed by the withered bone.

Two Incarnations that had spent eternal ages, endured countless tribulations, and finally reached the Peak of Dao Lords were, right before everyone's eyes, "reclaimed" with ease and thoroughness by their shared source—who had long since "fallen"—much like absorbing one's own dissipated water vapor.

"Hum, hum, hum—"

Having absorbed all the "nourishment" from Shang Qing and Yuqing, the withered bone underwent an earth-shattering transformation!

On the grayish-white skeleton, those cracks in the dao patterns suddenly erupted with a brilliant gray light. This light did not illuminate; instead, it seemed to devour the surrounding light, causing the radiance of the Heavenly Staircase and the throne of the dao to dim slightly.

The bone itself began to emit a warm, jade-like luster, yet it also carried the cold texture of metal.

Immediately after, under the "gaze" of the Nine Most Ancient Dao Lords, a shocking scene unfolded—

Upon that crystalline skeleton, countless intricate and complex gray dao patterns, seemingly containing the supreme truths of heaven and earth and the trajectories of destiny, began to weave, spread, and intertwine on their own, like silk threads in the hands of the most skillful weaver girl!

They were not created out of thin air, but rather "grew" naturally from the deepest parts of the skeleton, from the "destiny" Dao Rhyme within those cracks!

Flesh and blood sprouted under the intertwining of the dao patterns!

It was not ordinary flesh and blood, but something manifested from the purest, most condensed "destiny" Law!

They presented a chaotic gray color, yet seemed capable of reflecting the infinite Light and Shadow of all living beings across the myriad worlds, past, present, and future. The meridians were like threads of destiny, the Bloodlines like branches of the long river of time, and the organs were miniature "destiny" Universes that constantly underwent birth, death, and Reincarnation!

The skin that covered it was likewise neither skin nor flesh, but a layer of "Dao Garment" that flowed with the Aura of eternal destiny, translucent and seemingly composed of countless dense destiny runes!

This "Dao Garment" moved without wind, with Light and Shadow circulating upon it. At times it displayed the birth and death of stars, at times it reflected the rise and fall of civilizations, at times it outlined love, hatred, joys, and sorrows, and at times it enacted the cycles of Karma and Reincarnation. It was as if the destiny trajectories of all living beings in the heavens and myriad worlds, throughout time, had been miniaturized and woven into this single garment!

The silhouette of a man was reshaped and filled out at a speed visible to the naked eye upon that cross-legged withered bone.

His figure was slender, not burly, yet he gave people a sense of heaviness, as if he could prop up the eternal firmament and bear the destiny of trillions.

His face was shrouded behind a layer of hazy gray Dao Rhyme, making it unclear. One could only vaguely sense that the contours of his features were so perfect they were nearly the dao patterns themselves, carrying an ancient and majestic air that looked down upon all living beings and oversaw Reincarnation.

Finally, there was that long hair; it was not disheveled but hung down naturally. Each strand seemed to be a tiny, surging tributary of the long river of destiny, shimmering with an obscure and profound gray halo.

The moment the flesh and blood were completely sprouted, the Dao Garment donned, and the silhouette complete—

The man, or rather, Dao Monarch of Destiny, slowly opened his eyes, which had been tightly closed all this time.

There was no earth-shattering burst of divine light, no Aura erupting to shock the Universe; there was only a grayish Chaos, profound to the extreme, seemingly capable of containing all possibilities, all endings, and all trajectories of destiny.

Within those eyes, the rise and fall of the long river of time were reflected, the intertwining of the Karma network was reflected, the changes of the vast Mortal World were reflected, and even more so, the past, present, and the endless "future" interwoven with billions of possibilities of each Dao Lord present were reflected!

Swept over by these eyes, even those like the Dao Lord of Death, Time, and Order, who were Most Ancient Dao Lords and had seen the winds and waves of eternal ages, felt a tremor originating from the depths of their Souls and the Origin of their Dao Foundation!

It was as if all their secrets, all their choices, and the trajectory of their entire destiny were laid bare before these eyes, with nowhere to hide!

Then, the new, slightly dry, and ancient-rhythmed voice of Dao Monarch of Destiny slowly sounded. It was not a roar, nor a declaration; it was more like a whisper stating a fact, a revelation of truth, yet it echoed clearly in the depths of every existence's Dao Heart, as if the sentence itself were an irresistible "destiny":

"With Karma as the thread, and Karmic Affinity as the shuttle, the eternal heavens are but the warp and weft in my palm."

"destiny lies with me, the great trend is determined by me. Only through self-slaughter and Nirvana, do I know... I am the Heavenly Mandate."

The moment the words fell, a grand "rhythm," intangible and formless yet undeniably real, erupted from him as the center and spread out!

This was not an impact on the level of power, but a "field" of a higher level, concerning "destiny," "fixed numbers," and "inevitability"!

Within this "field," the originally solidified "eternal instant" began to loosen and disintegrate. The immeasurable killing tribulations entwined around the nine Ancient Venerables seemed to be suppressed by some higher-ranked force, becoming sluggish and dim. Even the radiant "throne of the dao" at the end of the Heavenly Staircase seemed to have its emitted Dao Rhyme resonate more deeply with the Aura upon him.

He slowly stood up, his movements natural and coordinated, as if this newly born body had already been used for billions of years.

His Dao Garment swayed slightly, his long hair lifted gently, and his gray eyes calmly swept over the Nine Most Ancient Dao Lords below, who were struggling in the killing tribulations but were now frozen in dullness and horror due to his "resurrection."

Finally, his gaze landed on that "throne of the dao."

In his eyes, there was neither joy nor sorrow, only a calmness that seemed to take it for granted, as if he were looking at his own possession.

"destiny... you... have you really returned?!"

Dao Lord of Death's voice was strained, filled with disbelief. He had deduced countless possibilities, even speculating that destiny might have remnants of a Soul left, or some earth-shattering trump card, but the scene before him—"devouring one's own Dao, reversing self-slaughter, and fully resurrecting with the help of the suspected power of Soul Transformation"—still completely overturned his understanding!

This was not merely a resurrection; it was more like a kind of... Nirvana!

A return that transcended the past, fused the divided Dao fruit, and seemed to have gone even further!

"Using the Dao fruit one severed as fuel, using the opportunity of Soul Transformation as the catalyst, to reignite oneself... destiny, you are even crazier, and even more... terrifying than I imagined!"