NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 489: Fishing
"When the tree stands out in the forest, the wind will destroy it."
In the depths of the starry sky,
a figure bathed in starlight slowly spoke.
He was a renowned Dao Lord of the Void, famous and well-established.
Having developed intelligence in the Chaos Void, he had endured three thousand years of harsh practice, stepping into the realm of Integrating Dao, and calling himself the Primordial Void Dao Lord.
After twenty thousand years of consolidation, believing his cultivation had achieved something significant, he began to participate in the Dao conflicts, having experienced three such epochs till now.
Throughout the three epochs of Dao struggles, the number of Void Dao Lords defeated by him was no less than five, and he had even relentlessly pursued a Dao Lord who had thwarted his plans, striking him dead.
Hence, this operation was largely overseen by him.
He muttered his assessment of Alkaid while his gaze swept over his surroundings once.
In this starry sky, hidden under a formation, there were eight other figures, each emitting a continuous stream of Void Dao rhyme.
This was the response he received immediately upon calling them, the Void Dao Lords under his command.
You should know, the news that he intended to deal with Alkaid circulated only within a small circle and did not spread throughout the entire community of Void Dao Lords; yet, it managed to draw the response of eight powerful Dao Lords.
From this alone, one could see just how many feared or were wary of Alkaid.
Of course...
It could also be greed.
A character who had become a Dao Lord in just over two hundred years—who would not be curious about the secrets he held?
Even if there were no other secrets, just the fact that he could stand and Integrate Dao was enough to make every Void Dao Lord, and even Dao Lords, expend all their efforts to uncover this secret.
After all, this was akin to nipping a "human calamity" in the bud.
Under such circumstances, the Divine Race planned to trap Alkaid and lure this Dao Lord out, consulting with these Void Dao Lords, naturally agreeing readily.
At that moment, one of the Dao Lords suddenly seemed to receive some news, his brows twitching, "According to the undercover agent from Northern Sea Star, the Penglai Dao Lord has already left the Penglai Immortal Sect."
"Has Penglai left?"
The Primordial Void Dao Lord's expression grew solemn, "Lately, Penglai and Alkaid have been inseparable, having jointly orchestrated several schemes against other Dao Lords. If Penglai has moved, then Alkaid will surely follow, though due to Alkaid being a Void Dao Lord, his movements are very secretive, making it hard for us to capture, Six Realms, is your information accurate?"
The Dao Lord called Six Realms nodded, "I am also interested in how the Penglai Dao Lord became a Dao Lord in such a short period. I planted an undercover agent when she established the Penglai Immortal Sect, who has achieved a significant status. I'm not sure about anything else, but whether Penglai remained within Penglai Immortal Sect has been clearly discerned."
The Primordial Void Dao Lord heard this and harbored no more doubts.
Every Dao Lord is a being that integrates with the Dao.
Unless separated by formations, the presence of a Dao Lord at a close distance is easily perceived.
And although Penglai's cultivation is profound and she controls powerful Dao techniques, she is not well-versed in professions like Artifact Refining, Formation, or Alchemy.
Therefore, many estimate that the fear of her is probably not as great as that of the Supreme Purity Dao Lord of the Three Pure Sanctuaries.
"Notify the Divine Race to prepare for battle, also, our formation here must be activated. Once the Divine Race activates the Dao Artifact capable of setting formations mid-air, we will immediately transport over,"
The Primordial Void Dao Lord said, sneering, "No matter how advanced Alkaid and Penglai's cultivation might be, facing an encirclement and killing by fifteen Integrate Dao beings, including myself and the renowned Chang Tian Dao Lord, I refuse to believe he can escape unscathed."
The mentioned Chang Tian Dao Lord nodded slightly.
However, he did not speak.
Facing two top-tier Dao Lords, he clearly needed to adjust himself to peak condition to ensure that nothing went wrong when he made his move.
...
News from the Void quickly reached the hands of the Divine Race.
In the Divine Race, naturally, the Destruction Divine Venerable led.
The one who cultivated the Core Dao, already having the title of a top-tier Dao Lord, although the title was not very stable due to the decline in strength once the Divine Race left their Divine Nation.
Yet even so, he still had a huge reputation on Northern Sea Star and was an absolute authority among the ten Divine Races.
"The fish has swum over."
the Destruction Divine Venerable declared.
at the same time, he issued an order, "Slow down the pace, wait for the prey to take the bait. Also, keep a watchful eye on the Dao Artifact given by Primordial Void. The moment the fish bites, reel in the net immediately."
"Divine Venerable, about the Four Great Immortal Dynasties..."
A Divine Venerable glanced at him.
He was the Thunder Divine Venerable.
One of the particularly warlike Divine Venerables among the ten Divine Races.
"Don't worry, the reason why I am troubling Destiny is that Destiny has always been cautious. Even if they suspect something, they will prioritize self-preservation. Moreover, the influence of the Four Great Immortal Dynasties cannot compare with the Ten Great Immortal Paths. Under such circumstances, when faced with danger, they are more likely to choose to protect themselves at the first moment,"
the Destruction Divine Venerable paused then continued, "Besides, once the fish takes the bait, the Heavenly Demon Sect will immediately act against Dashang and True Dragon among the Great Immortal Dynasties. Even if they really want to stay in the Extraterritorial Starry Sky to do something, they would have to return to defend their own bases as a priority."
Upon hearing this, the other Divine Venerables felt somewhat reassured.
It's every man for himself.
In this operation, the forces truly making a move were not limited to their Divine Race and the Dao Lords of the Void; the Six Sects of the Demonic Dao...
The Five Sects of Demonic Dao would also coordinate.
With such a vast lineup, other forces' Dao Lords would not dare to interfere lightly.
Even the Four Great Immortal Dynasties, directly involved in this incident, were no exceptions.
The hardest part of the entire plan was to lure the fish out.
Once the fish appeared, with the lineup they had prepared, having fifteen Integrate Dao charging at once to deal with two top-tier Dao Lords, they were almost certain of success.
"Today, Alkaid is doomed. All the secrets he hides, including the rumors that he possesses the skill to refine top-tier Dao Artifacts, will also be unveiled,"
the Destruction Divine Venerable asserted confidently.
...
History is always astonishingly similar.
And the only lesson sentient beings seem to learn from history is that they never learn their lesson from history.
On the other side, Alkaid had already joined forces with the Penglai Dao Lord.
The two top Dao Lords, piloting their Dao Artifact warship, pursued at full speed.
However...
As they observed the seemingly deliberate "traces of progress" left along the way, the Penglai Dao Lord felt that something was amiss.
"I estimate that the action taken by the Ten Great Divine Races this time is a trap, a trap specifically targeting you, and this trap involves two forces—one is the Divine Race, the other being those Dao Lords of the Void Path who fear your strength and talent," the Penglai Dao Lord said in a tone that was hardly speculative.
"No matter."
Alkaid glanced at a few other messaging Jade Talismans in his hand.
The Heavenly Dao Sect, Taiyi Immortal Sect, Three Pure Sanctuaries, Golden Crow Sect...
The Dao Lords behind these forces had sent him messages advising caution after learning that he had left Northern Sea Star in pursuit of the Ten Great Divine Races.
Yet Alkaid ignored them, instead using these forces' channels to understand the movements of other Dao Lords.
As they chased at full speed, messages from numerous Dao Lords were also relayed back.
Alkaid straightforwardly said, "The ones setting the trap also include people from the Five Sects of the Demonic Dao, but the Demon Lord of the Five Sects did not make a direct move, which is unusually cautious. But it makes sense—the Divine Race is also untrustworthy to them, and besides these systematized forces and alliances, what remains are the individual fighting Dao Lords of the Void Path."
He briefly summed up and calculated: "Based on the comprehensive information from various sects and the number of Void Dao Lords from the previous generation, the number of Void Dao Lords lying in ambush for me is between eight and ten. Of course, not excluding some from other Star Domains who rushed over—if that's the case, the number of Void Dao Lords ambushing me would likely exceed ten."
"Ten Void Dao Lords!?"
The Penglai Dao Lord was somewhat shocked: "Isn't that too many?"
"Not just ten Void Dao Lords, the six Divine Venerables of the Divine Race must also be considered," Alkaid said. "When the Destiny Dao Lord and others from the Four Great Immortal Dynasties realize that the Destruction Divine Venerable is actually targeting me, not really aiming to deal with them, there is a very high chance they will stand idly by."
The Penglai Dao Lord frowned.
That probability...
Was indeed very small.
Every Dao Lord who was able to reach such heights was an exceptionally selfish entity.
"That's troublesome," the Penglai Dao Lord said, looking at Alkaid: "Should we retreat?"
"No need."
Alkaid calmly responded: "To me, the ten Great Void Dao Lords are even less troublesome than the six Great Divine Venerables."
His expression conveyed an indescribable self-confidence: "With the advantage of my realm, the Void Dao Lords' full power is, at best, only thirty to forty percent effective in front of me, and having more than half strength is considered exceptionally talented."
"Such a great suppression from the realm?"
The Penglai Dao Lord was surprised.
Her realm in the Origin Dao was also considerably higher than other Origin Dao cultivators, but...
Such suppression was typically limited to ten or twenty percent at most.
Suppressing fifty to sixty percent of fighting power!?
How vast was the difference in their realms!!?
Or rather, to what extent was Alkaid's mastery in the Void Path?
At least...
It must be comparable to that of a True Immortal, right?
After some contemplation, the Penglai Dao Lord said, "If you truly can handle the ten Great Void Dao Lords, then I can perhaps help you block the six Divine Venerables."
"You can block them?"
Alkaid looked at her, somewhat surprised.
"You've been growing over the years, and my progress hasn't been minor either," the Penglai Dao Lord said with a slight smile. "Of course, I can only barely block them. If they abandon fighting me and turn to attack you, I can't hold them all back completely."
"That will do," Alkaid said.
After thinking for a moment, he directly said: "I have a treasure capable of creating a Heavenly Realm that causes major perception distortion to the outside. At that time, we will fight the Void Dao Lords and the six Great Divine Venerables within that Heavenly Realm. To prevent the perception distortion of this realm from affecting you, you should separate a strand of Divine Sense to maintain a divine connection with me, which will better enable us to respond to the enemy."
Separating a strand of Divine Sense...
If Alkaid possessed some special Soul Dao Technique or Curse Dao Technique, he could completely use this Divine Sense to ...
However, considering their several previous battles fought side by side, the Dao Lord only hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
"Alright."
Immediately, a strand of Divine Sense separated out.
The Divine Senses of both quickly intertwined.
In a moment of thought, understanding each other's intentions, the coordination became seamless without any barriers.
Just as the two adapted to this state, ahead in the Void, spatial fluctuations swirled.
A warship belonging to the Divine Race, under the control of the Void Divine Venerable, tore through the space arriving abruptly.