Da Xuan Martial Saint Chapter 1481 - 711: Death Like Dust

"Hmm?"

While the Demon Ancestor and Ming Fan's group pressed deeper into the Abyss of Eternity, Kong Huan—a Ninth Layer Heavenly Divine Monarch leading the party—suddenly skidded to a halt, a flicker of bewilderment crossing his features.

Following his lead, the five other Ninth Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs, the Demon Ancestor included, ceased their movement. Each of them stared into the forward void, their expressions clouded with doubt and wariness.

What they witnessed was strange.

Within the distant, pitch-black nothingness, a shadow had materialized unnoticed. Though it was a mere silhouette with no defining features, simply gazing upon it triggered an instinctive, heart-pounding dread.

Curiously, despite being visible to the naked eye, the figure was a ghost to their spiritual senses. Whether they tried to detect life force, soul signatures, or karmic threads, their sensory techniques returned the same void: there was nothing ahead but nihility, devoid of any living presence.

"What is the meaning of this?"

One of them spoke, his gaze heavy and his posture defensive.

They were in the heart of the Abyss of Eternity, a place known for its hostility. Even as Ninth Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs, this inexplicable anomaly bred a deep caution within them; for a moment, none dared to make a move.

"Invisible to the senses yet clearly present—what sort of bizarre power is this? Could it be a rare breed of Abyss Beast?"

"Friends, perhaps we should take a detour?"

Kong Huan was the first to suggest a change in course.

Normally, the six of them together would fear no Abyss Beast and would never bother to avoid one. However, the sheer eeriness of this encounter was beyond their comprehension, making the instinct to retreat feel like the only logical choice.

Yet, before a consensus could be reached, the mysterious shadow began to solidify. It transformed into a young man clad in a simple long robe, his indifferent eyes scanning the void as he stepped forward.

"It's you!"

The Demon Ancestor gasped, momentarily stunned before his eyes sharpened with a murderous glint.

Beside him, Ming Fan’s gaze also turned icy. He sneered, "Chen Mu, I never expected our paths to cross here. Have you, the one who reached the Divine Monarch rank through the Void Lineage, also failed to find an exit from this Abyss?"

Given that Chen Mu was a reincarnated Supreme Divine Monarch, it wasn't shocking that he had reclaimed his Ninth Layer Heavenly Cultivation so swiftly. Ming Fan and the Demon Ancestor knew they likely couldn't defeat him individually. However, as Ninth Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs backed by a powerful alliance, they felt no fear.

"..."

Chen Mu merely looked at the Demon Ancestor and Ming Fan. He had originally intended to exchange a few final words with these old enemies, considering the Demon Ancestor had once brought the Da Xuan World to the brink of ruin.

But as he stood there—having easily bypassed the laws of the Abyss of Eternity to manifest his avatar—the urge to speak evaporated. He felt only a cold indifference.

"Causality and creation, without beginning or end, all shall return to the dust."

Chen Mu sighed softly, his hand making a casual, forward wave.

No world-shaking energy erupted, nor was there a display of overwhelming might. Instead, it was as if he had simply plucked invisible threads woven into the fabric of reality.

Zheng!

A sound as faint as silence echoed.

The Demon Ancestor’s sneer froze. Starting from his feet, his entire form began to crumble, turning into fine dust inch by inch. His life seal and his vast Qi vanished instantly, offering no resistance.

It wasn't just this Divine Power True Body that shattered; even the avatars he had stationed in the upper layers of the Abyss collapsed and disintegrated at the exact same moment.

"This..."

In his final breath, the Demon Ancestor was consumed by sheer shock.

He hadn't seen Chen Mu attack, nor had he felt any hostile energy. Yet he, a Ninth Layer Heavenly Divine Monarch with a Supreme Divine Body, was being erased alongside his very Life Mark. It was incomprehensible.

What kind of technique was this?

What power had Chen Mu wielded?

With these unanswered questions, his consciousness was snuffed out, returning to the void.

Ming Fan suffered the same fate. As his divine body dissolved, his eyes bulged in terror. He tried to struggle, but his Cultivation refused to manifest. It was as if he had been stripped of his divinity and reverted to a mere mortal; his Qi was useless, decaying into nothingness.

"This is impossible..."

Ming Fan’s mind reeled.

He knew Chen Mu must have grown stronger, just as they had. But they were all at the Ninth Layer Heavenly rank. They shouldn't be erased with a single gesture—especially one they couldn't even perceive.

In his final moment, a terrifying realization dawned on him. This wasn't the power of a Divine Monarch; it was a transcendent force that surpassed the divine realm entirely.

In the vastness of the universe, only one type of being held such power: a Dao Venerable.

In such a short time, had Chen Mu already walked the Immortal Road, crossed the threshold of the God Realm, and ascended to the rank of Dao Venerable?

Wrapped in doubt and disbelief, Divine Monarch Ming Fan’s soul also faded into oblivion.

On the battlefield,

The remaining four, including the Illusory Divine Monarch, watched in horror as their companions turned to ash. They trembled violently, their faces pale with disbelief.

They had sensed no fluctuations of Qi or Dao from Chen Mu, yet two experts of their own rank had been utterly extinguished in a heartbeat.

Such power...

One of them looked at Chen Mu, his eyes wide with dawning realization.

"Illusory greets the Venerable!"

The Illusory Divine Monarch was the first to bow, his hesitation replaced by profound reverence as he lowered his head before Chen Mu.

Even among Ninth Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs, there is a hierarchy. A peak expert with the Great Perfection of the Three Veins could kill Ming Fan or the Demon Ancestor, but they would still need to exert divine power to do so. To erase two such masters so effortlessly was a feat only a Dao Venerable could perform!

The young man standing before them was a supreme Dao Venerable!

"Greetings, Venerable!"

The other three followed suit instantly, bowing low in the void, too terrified to even look Chen Mu in the face.

Though they were Ninth Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs who dreamed of the Dao Venerable path, they knew the distance was vast. One needed to reach the absolute Perfection of the Ninth Layer just for a minuscule chance at the Dao.

Throughout the endless universe, among billions of Ninth Layer experts, barely a hundred ever achieve the status of Venerable.

It is a status of true rarity.

Upon becoming a Dao Venerable, one transcends the universe itself. Even if the universe falls into silence, they persist alongside the Origin Dao, capable of surviving the cycle of reincarnation and witnessing a new Creation.

The four Divine Monarchs remained bowed for a long time. Finally, one cautiously looked up, only to find that Chen Mu had already vanished.

"He is gone."

The Illusory Divine Monarch stood up, letting out a long breath of relief mixed with melancholy.

A Dao Venerable...

The peak of the universe. In truth, they were already at the foot of that mountain, but the climb was so treacherous that few among billions of Divine Monarchs ever reached the summit.

While they struggled to find an exit from the Abyss of Eternity, a Dao Venerable could enter and leave with a single thought, completely unbound by its laws.

The Illusory Divine Monarch looked at the spot where the two had died and shook his head.

From their earlier words, it was clear the Demon Ancestor and Ming Fan had a grudge against this Dao Venerable from before his ascension. Had he remained a Divine Monarch, they might have stood a chance. But against a Dao Venerable, there is no hope.

Offending a Dao Venerable is, in its own way, as rare a feat as becoming one.

...

With the deaths of the Demon Ancestor and Ming Fan, the old debts of karma were paid in full.

Chen Mu stood alone in the depths of the Abyss. He felt no more enmity toward the living; he simply observed the Abyss, seeing the countless fallen and the others, like the Illusory Divine Monarch, searching for a way out.

He was actually still standing right in front of them, but because he did not wish to be seen, they could not perceive him at all.

"Without beginning or end."

"This Abyss of Eternity is indeed a miniature of the universe—a unique prison, but nothing more."

After a moment, Chen Mu shook his head.

He had once been trapped here, surviving and studying the void to master the Void Dao.

Now that he had reached Perfection and merged with the Great Dao, the secrets of the Abyss were laid bare. Its construction and its power held no more mystery for him.

The Abyss was formed from Dao power mixed with low-grade Primordial Power—the very rules that kept the Ninth Layer Divine Monarchs trapped.

But to the current Chen Mu, these powers were crude and offered no value for further study, being far inferior to the beasts found in the Source Realm.

Furthermore, he wasn't ready to focus on Primordial Power yet. He first needed to master the Great Daos of Creation and Time before he could attempt the Fusion Path and achieve true transcendence.

Swish.

Silently, Chen Mu vanished. Aside from the few who witnessed his arrival, no one knew he had been there. No one would ever know the truth behind the disappearance of Ming Fan and the Demon Ancestor. Those two, who had survived countless trials to reach the Ninth Layer, had vanished like specks of dust in a river.

No one knew, and no one cared.