Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 221 Challenge
At this moment, the Carefree Celestial Venerable had indeed secured the nourishment he needed for his transformation, which meant that his meticulously prepared plan for the transformation was essentially complete. Now, all that remained for him was how to escape.

Clearly, that rift in the world beneath the heavens was his escape route. Although this rift led to an unknown world, and it was difficult to determine what risks it might pose, there was still hope once inside, while remaining in the mortal realm offered no hope at all.

But Liang Yu's actions were indeed faster than he had imagined. Long before Liang Yu began his transformation, the Carefree Celestial Venerable had already realized that the time he had gained might not be enough.

Subsequent developments indeed unfolded as predicted. The Celestial Venerable of Freedom simply refined the Supreme Flesh and Blood Dao Fruit he had collected, neutralized it with the dark power, and then purified it through a sacrificial ritual before incorporating it into his body. Liang Yu had already returned to the vicinity of the Heavenly Realm. While the Celestial Venerable of Freedom's process appeared to involve many steps, under the influence of this sacrificial ritual, it actually took only a very short time.

Liang Yu traversed half the universe, even venturing into an abandoned path to immortality to investigate, yet he still returned in a timely manner, all in such a short time. At this moment, the Carefree Celestial Venerable realized that perhaps he had underestimated Liang Yu.

However, this process also means that the time that Xiaoyao Tianzun bought was only enough for him to start a transformation. As long as Liang Yuyi stopped him, he would immediately fail and die without a burial place.

The Carefree Celestial Venerable had naturally considered what to do if the time he had gained was insufficient to complete his transformation. However, the conclusion he reached was that there was nothing he could do but gamble that Liang Yu would not interrupt his transformation.

However, this was not due to luck. After all, given Liang Yu's fear of dark forces, the transformation process of Xiaoyao Tianzun using dark forces was naturally of great research value to Liang Yu.

As a result, the carefree Celestial Venerable naturally won the bet.

When Liang Yu rushed over, the neutralized and purified dark power had already merged into the body of the Carefree Celestial Venerable. Faced with this irreversible process, Liang Yu did not stop it, but rather wanted to see how it would end. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." Witnessing this strange power now could be considered a precaution for the future.

Although Liang Yu sealed the world rift—his escape route—after arriving here, he still has a chance to break the seal and enter it if he gains sufficient strength after his transformation. After all, even after his transformation, he won't be facing just Liang Yu, but also the Moral Celestial Venerable, the Spiritual Treasure Celestial Venerable, the Underworld Venerable, and the Primordial Celestial Venerable. Staying in the mortal realm would make it impossible for him to contend with them.

However, the Carefree Celestial Venerable hadn't anticipated that Liang Yu's strength far exceeded his expectations. This was the biggest problem with his plan.

It could be said that if Liang Yu had only his second incarnation at that time, the Celestial Venerable of Freedom's escape plan would have had a very high probability of success. After all, even if Liang Yu could have won then, he wouldn't have been able to stop the Celestial Venerable of Freedom, who was skilled in the laws of time, from escaping.

Unfortunately, Liang Yu is now in his fourth incarnation, and has even basically mastered the method to transform into his fifth. Given this still enormous gap, even if the Carefree Celestial Venerable were to make a leap forward, he still wouldn't have a chance.

Therefore, after Xiaoyao Tianzun completed his transformation and met Liang Yu, he knew he was trapped. It can only be said that even the most ingenious plan cannot withstand absolute power. No matter how many schemes Xiaoyao Tianzun devised, Liang Yu could still use his overwhelming strength to ensure he could never recover.

Our future Heavenly Emperor Ye had a philosophy: "I used tricks on you because I wasn't strong enough. Now that I'm the Heavenly Emperor, why bother with schemes and tricks? Take my Heavenly Emperor Fist!" This almost perfectly corresponds to the current situation of the Carefree Heavenly Venerable and Liang Yu.

During the transformation of the Carefree Celestial Venerable, Liang Yu not only sealed the world rift, but he also explored it slightly and discovered that on the other side of the rift, it might really be possible to go to other worlds.

This is indeed a good way out. After all, the Dharma-ending Age in the human universe is still a minority. Even if other worlds don't have much foundation, there should be many with environments better than the current human universe.

However, this made him think that the God Emperor who attained enlightenment in the ancient times of later generations transformed in the Nine-Layered Coffin, then drifted in the universe for countless years until he finally fell into the World Rift by accident and went to other worlds.

So, could the world rift he is seeing now be the one that the future God Emperor fell into?
After all, the Goddess Empress eventually rose to a leadership position within the River of Souls, so the world she fell into could indeed be a bizarre and mysterious place. Furthermore, the rift on the path to immortality that connects to this rift in the world does indeed leak dark power. While the human universe has suffered considerable damage, there couldn't possibly be several such rifts in the world, could there?
However, thinking about it this way, it's necessary to find a way to seal this rift in the world. After all, if one can enter the strange world from here, it means that this world and that world are connected, so it's best to sever this connection.

At this moment, the Celestial Venerable of Freedom had completed his transformation, so Liang Yu withdrew his thoughts and focused on the present.

Looking at the transformed Xiaoyao Tianzun, Liang Yu said, "Fellow Daoist Xiaoyao, do you know that you are walking a path of no return?"

The Celestial Venerable of Freedom did not answer, but said, "Wuji, do you know how I see you? I am grateful to you. You gave me a new life, helped me rediscover my past self, and allowed me to start anew on my broken path. It can be said that without you, I might have fallen step by step like the other Supreme Beings and become a walking corpse."

"At the same time, I also respect you, because your achievements are truly beyond my imagination. Now, I have exhausted all my efforts and I don't even know how I can improve again, but I can only look up to you with awe. I can say that I have reached the end of the road and finally seen the limitless. So you truly deserve the name of the Great Celestial Venerable."

"But I hate you. I hate that you can always do things that I can't do so easily, and that you always make my pride a worthless joke. This sense of defeat reminds me all the time that I am not worthy of your title of 'fellow Daoist'."

“If I joined your plan, I could surely achieve my goal of becoming an immortal step by step, and even gain a broader future. But I’m not used to following others. All that I’ve done is actually just because I’m unwilling to accept that I’m no better than you no matter what.”

"I never imagined that despite all my efforts, I still wouldn't be able to catch up with you."

"Wuji, in this very last moment, I've cast aside all thoughts of the future and any way out. I challenge you."

(End of this chapter)