Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 938: Battle at Heavenly Wolf Mountain (1)

Not counting the more distant regions influenced by the Dao Realm's essence, the Creation Dao Realm spanned nearly ten billion light-years, defined by the area enveloped by the Creation Astral River.

While the Creation Dao Realm's domain might seem comparable to a macrocosm, macrocosms operated according to rules as cradles of life, with most areas being quite safe. Places dangerous enough to threaten an Astral Monarch were rare.

The Creation Dao Realm was different. Its internal space was exceptionally stable, and countless exploration sites were scattered across it. Some of the most perilous locations posed a threat to Overlords, let alone Astral Monarchs.

Heavenly Wolf Mountain was one such famous exploration site. In terms of danger, it ranked only above average among the Dao Realm's many hazardous locations, not threatening to Overlords. Its renown stemmed from being a crucial place within the Dao Realm. Here, hundreds of spatial passageways lead to different regions across the Dao Realm's vast expanse.

A mountain over ten thousand light-years tall? Wu Yuan gazed at Heavenly Wolf Mountain, marveling inwardly.

Only in a Dao Realm created by a Dao Master could such wondrous and mystical phenomena exist. The universe would rarely produce such an immense celestial body naturally.

Let's go! Wu Yuan's form flickered as a pair of black wings materialized. Unfurling, they propelled him to ever-increasing speeds.

Adventuring in the Dao Realm meant facing danger at any moment, so he constantly maintained his Beast Fusion state.

One hundred times light speed, two hundred times light speed... Wu Yuan advanced at an astonishing pace.

This was the norm when traversing the universe. There were countless mysterious exploration sites in the boundless cosmic sea as well as within individual universes. Most required at least Astral Monarch strength to explore safely. Archimmortals and Archdeities were too weak, rarely leaving their home macrocosms.

Many powerhouses spent thousands or tens of thousands of years just traveling within certain cosmic exploration sites, unable to enter higher spatial dimensions due to spatial restrictions.

For Astral Monarchs with near-eternal lifespans, ten thousand years wasn’t much.

At last, after nearly a month, Wu Yuan drew close to the surface of Heavenly Wolf Mountain.

"Heavenly Wolf Mountain." Wu Yuan surveyed the rugged mountainside below.

What appeared smooth from far away was actually pockmarked with craters millions of li in diameter.

At first glance, Heavenly Wolf Mountain's surface was a landscape of towering peaks and canyons, all a uniform grayish-white. There were no signs of life. Occasionally, one could spot cracks in the mountain's surface.

I'm still near the base now. Following the surface around to the back will bring me closer to the spatial passageways. Wu Yuan mused. He glanced skyward, shaking his head slightly. Once I reach the mid-section, I won't be able to fly too far from the surface.

Heavenly Wolf Mountain harbored many dangers which fell into two main categories. First were the numerous fissures on the mountain's surface, leading to its interior. Many rare treasures spawned in its interior, but it also held numerous dangers. The second type of danger was found in the surrounding space.

The expanse of outer space surrounding Heavenly Wolf Mountain's mid-section was filled with numerous invisible arrays. Trespassers would trigger random lethal traps, such as lightning or heavenly fire.

Over the long years, numerous Sovereigns had fallen to both the mountain's internal dangers and the external arrays.

Of course, for those like Wu Yuan who merely sought the spatial passageways, moving along the mountain's surface posed little risk of encountering danger.

Hopefully, I won't run into powerhouses from other factions, especially the Immortal Court. Wu Yuan thought to himself.

On his journey through the Creation Dao Realm, Wu Yuan had encountered several powerhouses and engaged in combat a few times, but Wu Yuan had always shown restraint, never dealing fatal blows.

At the very least, based on the intelligence Wu Yuan had gleaned through the Eldritch Court Voidrealm, news of his arrival in the Creation Dao Realm should not have spread yet.

Firstly, though Wu Yuan's reputation was enormous, with super powerhouses across the universes generally aware of him, he was known as an 'extremely young monstrous prodigy' rather than a Sovereign-level powerhouse.

Secondly, Wu Yuan had altered his appearance. Others only viewed his past battle footage, making it difficult to recognize Wu Yuan unless one had seen him before.

However, in the past few decades, I only revealed late-stage Astral Monarch strength in the handful of conflicts I’ve been in. It's normal for a new powerhouse of this caliber to emerge suddenly in the boundless megaverse.

If I were to unleash the power of a Supreme Astral Monarch, exposure would likely not be far off. Wu Yuan pondered.

In the entire Long Shan Universe, there were only a handful of Supreme Astral Monarchs. The abrupt appearance of a new one would certainly draw the attention of various major factions.

At that point, with multiple parties focusing their attention on him and employing various methods of investigation, it would be difficult to maintain the disguise.

For Wu Yuan, the longer he could hide his identity, the better. If the Immortal Court only learned of his presence after he was deep within the Creation Dao Realm, it would no longer matter. At that point, even if the Immortal Court dispatched Overlords to hunt him down, it would take them at least a thousand years to arrive.

Let's go! Wu Yuan transformed into a streak of light, maintaining his speed as he continued along the surface of Heavenly Wolf Mountain.

…

In the vast universe and boundless outer space, time was the one thing that was never in short supply. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed.

Indeed, Wu Yuan had spent over a decade just traversing the surface of Heavenly Wolf Mountain, covering several thousand light-years. During these ten-plus years, he had encountered another astral beast, which he slew effortlessly. He had also faced several dangers, all deadly traps unique to Heavenly Wolf Mountain.

However, Wu Yuan was extremely cautious, staying close to the mountain's surface. As a result, the lethal traps from the void were quite weak, and he could easily ward them off.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan continued to advance at an incredible speed. He could move even faster, but the vital ether consumption would be too high.

At his current flight speed, his ether consumption rate was perfectly balanced with the ether generation rate of his internal world. Wu Yuan had calculated this with great precision from experience.

Boom! Waves of incredibly powerful fluctuations swept over, the source beyond the reach of Wu Yuan's Soul Will and divine eye.

The mountain's surface was rugged, with occasional areas stretching millions of li high, so many regions were obscured from his vision.

Hmm? Such intense battle fluctuations. Wu Yuan's eyes narrowed. The distance... should be only tens of billions of li from me. I’m nearing the spatial passageways. A battle? Is it over some treasure?

At the convergence of spatial passageways, with hundreds of passages intersecting, priceless artifacts occasionally surfaced over the long years.

Moreover, many super powerhouses who ventured into the Creation Dao Realm to raid others often waited at such spatial passageway intersections.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan employed the Law of Space, maintaining his speed while striving to minimize his own spatial fluctuations, swiftly heading towards the source of the battle.

A distance of tens of billions of li was greater than the length of an immortal continent’s mainland. But for someone of Wu Yuan's level, flying at full speed, he could cover millions of li in a single flash.

Thus, within macrocosms, the countless mortal lifeforms rarely witnessed battles between Astral Monarchs, or even Archimmortals and Archdeities, because they weren't suitable battlegrounds.

Cosmic exploration sites like the Creation Dao Realm were where super powerhouses truly engaged in combat.

In just a few dozen breaths, Wu Yuan had silently approached, arriving atop a mountain peak.

Gazing down below, he saw a crater billions of li in diameter, with a depth of over a hundred million li. There, a great battle was unfolding.

Ten Astral Monarch powerhouses were engaged in fierce combat, loosely divided into two camps. One side comprised three qi refiner Astral Monarchs, the other was composed of one body refiner Astral Monarch and six qi refiner Astral Monarchs.

Among those three qi refiner Astral Monarchs, two of them are late-stage Astral Monarch powerhouses. No wonder they can fight seven with just three.

Eighth-stage Astral Monarch combat power was quite impressive. With a second-degree immortal root, even if one's Dao comprehension reached the peak-stage Astral Monarch's level, this was often the extent of their strength.

However. Wu Yuan's gaze fell on the center of the deep crater, where a divine sword hovered, surrounded by dense spiritual qi that made one's mouth water.

The combatants wielded powerful Dao Instrument artifacts, clashing in the void. Each side was going all out to prevent the other from approaching. Moreover, a newly spawned high-grade Dao Instrument artifact was inherently difficult to subdue. Thus, for the moment, neither side could claim it.

A Space-type high-grade Dao Instrument flying sword? Wu Yuan examined it closely, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. Could this be providence?

What he needed had appeared right before him.

During the Megaverse Crossroads, the Heavenly Domain Emissary once said that seizing a Saintcrest would bring great providence. Now, Wu Yuan was increasingly understanding what providence truly meant. Of course, providence helped Wu Yuan encounter opportunities, but could he actually seize them?

That depends on strength.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan's form blurred into motion. He charged into the fray, slowing to about a hundred times light speed as he dove towards the center of the deep crater.

…

Within the crater, the battle raged on.

"Shi Zhu, I said I'll compensate you with ten mid-grade Dao Instruments. Let me have this divine sword. I’m even willing to swear an oath, why won't you believe me?" The late-stage Astral Monarch clad in black battle armor transmitted repeatedly.

His form was towering, and his nine long spears tore through heaven and earth. Behind him stood six qi refiner Astral Monarchs, some casting arcane arts in support, others attacking with artifacts.

"Ten mid-grade Dao Instruments? Qu Ye, get lost! We had to wait hundreds of thousands of years at Heavenly Wolf Mountain before a single high-grade Dao Instrument appeared. You’re just passing by, you think we’ll let you snatch it?" The elderly man with snow-white hair snarled.

"Forget ten mid-grade Dao Instruments. Even if it's twenty or thirty, I don't want them." The white-haired Astral Monarch Shi Zhu's eyes blazed crimson.

He wielded a set of flying sword artifacts – a sword array composed of one mid-grade Dao Instrument flying sword and eight low-grade Dao Instrument flying swords, suppressing Astral Monarch Qu Ye.

For Astral Monarchs, their mana and ether bodies typically wielded low-grade Dao Instruments. Even if they perished and lost their artifacts, it wasn't too painful.

Only late-stage Astral Monarch powerhouses, whose strength couldn't be fully unleashed with low-grade Dao Instruments, would usually carry one or two mid-grade Dao Instruments.

In terms of strength, Astral Monarch Qu Ye and Astral Monarch Shi Zhu were evenly matched, but with six allies at his side, Qu Ye naturally felt more confident.

"Want to fight to the death? Fine, then die!" Astral Monarch Qu Ye swung his spear, growing increasingly frenzied.

Being a body refiner and holding the advantage in numbers, he wasn't afraid of a prolonged battle. However, this place wasn't too far from the spatial passages. Occasionally, other powerful beings would pass by. He worried that if the fight dragged on, it might attract other late-stage Astral Monarchs or even Sovereign powerhouses. Yet, with both sides so closely matched in strength, victory remained elusive.

"Watch out, someone's coming." A black-robed Astral Monarch allied with Astral Monarch Shi Zhu suddenly frowned.