Chapter 1288  Plunder (Finale)

(Unedited Chapter)

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Jia Ping’s pursuer was relentless. A shroud of darkness enveloped the man, allowing him to teleport at an alarming rate. Even with Wang Wei’s power taking him away, it’s apparent that Jia Ping will soon be captured.

‘Shadow Dao?’ Wang Wei thought. ‘Not just that. He’s a member of the Shadow Clan.’ A sudden realization dawned on Wang Wei. The Shadow Clan is a unique race with a miserable history. Their clan is born from the shadow; they can be classified as the spirit clan since they are shadows that have gained form and sentience. However, unlike the spirit clan, whose awakening is random and has few numbers, the shadow clan had a unique world that gave birth to them.

Besides their unparalleled ability to control Shadow Dao, the clan had one unique characteristic called [Ultimate Allegiance]. Once a Shadow Clan member surrenders to someone else, they will be loyal until death. More importantly, a shadow clan with a master is immune to 99% of methods that could force them to betray their masters.

It’s rare for an Everlasting Empyrean’s [Avatar] to betray them, and methods to achieve such a feat are few and between. However, such methods that are usable against members of the Shadow Clan are even rarer. This ability made the Shadow Clan famous throughout the Eternal Ascension World, but it almost led to their extinction.

The Shadow Clan members became a commodity, resulting in countless people hunting them down to train them into their most loyal subordinates. The hunting was so severe that it almost resulted in the clan’s extinction. Luckily, fate did not wholly abandon the Shadow Clan. In the middle of the Golden Era, their clan gave birth to an unparalleled genius called the Shadow Monarch.

He became a peak Boundless Paragon at record speed and sheltered his clan. The man was relentless in saving and protecting his clan members. It did not matter who they were; he would attack them if they captured his clan members — that goes for the Thirteen Overlords.

Ultimately, the world had to compromise and leave the Shadow Clan alone. These top lineages did not care about the Shadow Monarch’s fighting prowess, but they feared his hiding abilities. The man had escaped countless times under the hands of Primal Paragons, and once, he survived the attack of three.

The top lineages feared the Shadow Monarch would assassinate their top talents, so they compromised and left the Shadow Clan alone. However, the Shadow Monarch should have entered Limbo after the Ultimate Taboo, again leaving his clan vulnerable.

The parasites attacked them, killing and capturing many branches. Luckily, the main branch had the means left by the Shadow Monarch and hid themselves from the world.

‘With such a talent, he probably could have been the next Shadow Monarch,’ Wang Wei lamented with a sigh. ‘Damn it, how stupid are these people? Can’t they think for the long term? Even the overlords decided to leave the Shadow Clan alone, but they dared do this to their clan. How were they prepared to deal with the Shadow Monarch? Do they believe the two suns would protect them?’

Anyone with a bit of brain would not know that the Shadow Monarch will one day return, and given how the latter felt about his clan, the first thing he’ll do is probably take revenge. Even if not for revenge, the Shadow Monarch must kill these people to establish his prestige. Otherwise, other people might start lusting after his clan again if he showed weakness.

Wang Wei shook his head. He summoned four Time Clones before disappearing from his place. He did not immediately attack but waited for the right moment for a sneak attack. His intuition warned him that if that person hid himself, he wouldn’t be able to find him in his current state.

Wang Wei controlled the power that was protecting Jia Ping, giving the shadow the sense that it was running out. The latter pounced on the opportunity, trying to catch Jia Ping.

‘Here’s my chance,’ Wang Wei thought. The Shadow had paused and materialized, allowing him to act. The four clones appeared around the shadow and placed their staff around his neck, forming a magic circle that instantly sealed him.

“Lord,” Jia Ping said in relief.

“Go finish your mission,” Wang Wei said.

“Yes, and thank you for your help.”

Jia Ping departed, and Wang Wei observed this shadow. “If only I could convert him into my follower,” he lamented. This was impossible. No matter his method, it won’t work for this person. This shadow hasn’t committed suicide because it still senses Blood Dragon’s Dao Mark. Once that is gone, it will also leave the mortal coil, following his lord.

Wang Wei’s eyes saw the shadow’s Dao Tree. The tree had twelve golden lights, starting from the root to the top, each light releasing an aura similar to Heaven’s Will. Although it appeared that it only took twelve Heaven’s Will to fill this tree, that is a lie. The first Heaven Will will light up the first nine spots, and the tenth spot will release a slight yellow hue. The tenth spot will then turn golden after absorbing countless more Heaven Wills. Then, the cultivator will repeat the process for the eleventh and twelfth spot.

Wang Wei frowned as he observed the Dao Tree. “My conjecture was right. This thing might be a Transcendent Path.” Most people disdained the Heaven Will Path, and with good reasons. However, they also failed to see the uniqueness of this path, and that’s the utilization of the Heaven Will.

What is the Heaven Will? It’s a key that grants direct access to the Grand Dao Source. It allows Tier 9 cultivators to skip over half a hundred large cultivation realms and gain direct access to the Grand Dao Source — the origin of all laws, rules, and Daos in the Chaos Universe. Such power represents the direct authority of Grand Dao.

Wang Wei once asked his Wu Hong whether Paragons could create Heaven Wills, and she answered no. Many have tried, but none have succeeded — including her. He then asked whether Paragons could provide cultivators direct access to the Grand Dao Source, bypassing the use of a Heaven Will.

Wu Hong told him that only Paragons who hold one of the 3800 Main Positions have this power and can only give access to whatever Dao they cultivate. In other words, Wu Hong could only provide access to the Sealing Grand Dao Source.

Emperors cultivated in this manner are called Vassal Emperors because they are essentially slaves to the Paragons who gave them the key. The Dao they cultivate is the Dao of that Paragon, thus limiting their achievements. Vassal Emperors are not popular in most Chaos Worlds because of possible disloyalty, and their training time is as long as regular Emperors. Instead of wasting time on them, most Position Paragons would just use their Gransmist Wheel and train more Creation Lifeforms.

Countless thoughts flashed through Wang Wei’s mind as he observed and analyzed the Dao Tree. ‘The person who created this method has an extreme understanding of the Heaven Will.’ Wang Wei had two theories about the creator of the Heaven Will Method.

First, an Emperor or Empyrean created this method to bypass their lack of talent and reach a higher realm. The other is that a Peak Paragon created this method as their path to transcendence. This idea is that since the Heaven Will is an access key, they could access the core of the Grand Dao Source after absorbing enough of it.

‘If someone could reach the core of the Grand Dao Source, that would mean they had the same level of authority as the Grand Dao,’ Wang Wei theorized. Such access should be enough to make someone step into the realm of transcendence.

‘But even if it didn’t, the creator could still absorb power from the core to nourish their body and soul, thus pushing their strength and maybe realm to another level. I have to say, it’s an ingenious method,’ Wang Wei concluded.

‘I don’t know if this method is feasible, but it’s worth researching,’ Wang Wei thought. This path of transcendence was worth researching once he reached the limit. ‘Even if it’s not possible, the idea is valuable.’ Wang Wei may not be able to enter the core of the Grand Dao Source as a Paragon, but it should be a different story once he’s a Half Step Transcendent and has some means of confronting Grand Dao directly.

‘I can use True Deception Dao with this Dao Tree method to enter the core secretly and even steal some power from Grand Dao.’ This idea had plenty of applications for his future, so Wang Wei was excited. Gu Xun’s Deception Dao might have been a joke before Heavenly Dao and Grand Dao now, but after becoming Half Step Transcendent and transforming from a chess piece to a chess player, this Dao will be truly valuable.

‘I should start preparing for Deception Dao,’ Wang Wei thought. He plans to understand 100% of this Dao. However, Wang Wei also did not want to waste time slowly cultivating it. He thought that maybe Half Step Transcendent could easily understand the Grand Dao Source, so there was no need to rush. However, he needed to prepare just in case.

Wang Wei had two plans for this problem. The first one is to search for another Double Pupil and use it himself to copy the Deception Dao. However, such a method has too many restrictions, especially regarding how challenging it is to awaken the double pupil.

So, he had to put his hope in the second plan. A project he called Dao Seed Planting. He’ll find a talent and mold it into a genius that cultivates whatever Dao that he wishes. Then, when the time is right, he’ll take their accomplished Dao Fruit, allowing him to reach 100% Grand Dao Source. That’s how he plans to cultivate his Professional Dao and his Sub-Daos like Destruction and Soul. Now, he only needs to add Deception to the mix.

‘Hmm?’ Wang Wei sensed a message, so he checked. ‘Red Mask finally took control of the central array hub? Excellent.’