CHAPTER 12: HEAVENLY DAO FETUS
In Haochen's inner world, his eyes snapped wide open. His soul form hung suspended in the air, caught by those slender blood-red threads.
He struggled to break free, but it was no use, his powers simply wouldn't respond.
"Senior Gu, what's happening to me?" Haochen shouted, scanning around for any sign of the old man. Nothing. He wasn't there.
Frustration boiled up inside him, all his hopes crumbling to pieces.
Out on the barren plain, the black-and-white hollow bead rose into the air. It floated toward the dwarf clan's lines, stopping at the edge of their formation. Old Gu gave a quick flick of his finger, and the barrier split open just wide enough for the bead to zip right into Haochen's storage ring.
"I'll try using the origin imprint and see if that works," Haochen said under his breath. He activated its energy, a surge of power flooding through him, and he wrenched himself loose from the threads. As the supernatural force began pouring in from above, he drew it close, letting it mend his injuries.
For about half an hour after that, his wounds slowly closed up, and the blood-threads finally let go of his soul.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself tied down tight on top of a tower, surrounded by these short people he didn't recognize. They were all chanting and rushing around the base in a wild frenzy.
"Hey! Get me out of here!" he yelled, but they paid him no mind, too wrapped up in their ritual.
Suddenly, a beam of light shot up from the bottom of the sacrificial tower, just as that crushing supernatural pressure descended.
"At last, our chance to reach the immortal realm isn't some empty dream anymore. God Shura, once we're there, I'll make you and your entire Shura clan suffer every bit of what you've done to us, a hundred times over." The old dwarf growled through gritted teeth.
"Let the heavens accept our sacrifice and revive our divine power!" they cried out in unison. The sky answered immediately, darkening to pitch black across the whole battlefield. Ancient energies and forces, long asleep, began to awaken in the brewing storm. Thunder rolled in from all sides, lightning splitting the air.
"Let the heavens accept our sacrifice and revive our divine power!" They repeated the chant, and a brutal wind tore through the area.
Boom, boom, the sky thundered in response, huge bolts crashing down, lightning ripping through the darkness. In that moment, a Heavenly Dao fetus formed in Haochen's inner world: a self-generating embryo of Universal Dao Law consciousness, where the cosmic laws begin cultivating themselves via a living host, eventually becoming a full god by taking over the body.
From inside the strange arts imprint temple world, Old Gu watched in shock. "A Heavenly Dao fetus only emerges when all the universe's governing laws collide in one place, giving birth to a new world or planet. It's an insanely rare thing across the stars, capable of bending fate and altering destinies." Old Gu muttered to himself, stroking his beard.
"I've heard tales of ancient ways to force those laws to crash together, but I always thought they were just myths."
"That means the Maha clan plans to create a Dao God and rewrite their fate. Haochen's in serious trouble now." Old Gu's voice faded as his form flickered, and he appeared right behind Haochen.
"Senior Gu, you're here at last! If you'd come any later, I might not have made it." Haochen twisted to look at him, fighting against the bindings, his tone laced with worry.
Old Gu scanned the whole area, his hands moving in precise patterns. He murmured a forbidden incantation, and a dark crimson barrier unfolded across the battlefield, hiding them from any watchful gods.
The storm intensified, and the fetus started clawing at Haochen's soul, eager to devour it completely.
"Aah! Senior Gu, save me!" His cry echoed over the field. The pain grew so intense he couldn't take it anymore, sweat pouring off his entire body while blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Haochen felt his soul being ripped apart by the Heavenly Dao Fetus. He pushed back with all his strength, but it overwhelmed him easily. Soon, it began draining the power from his soul.
"Kid, resist it, don't let that thing swallow your soul, or it'll seize your body," Old Gu urged. But Haochen's mind grew hazy, his eyes fluttering closed.
"Here, let me give you a helping hand." Old Gu channeled fragments of imprint power into him. Streams of divine imprint energy flowed through his body and into his soul.
"Have you forgotten why you even came to this battlefield? Don't you want to prove all those who looked down on you wrong? What about the promise you made to your mother?" Old Gu pressed on, his voice urgent, if Haochen passed out now, no god could bring him back.
Right then, Luoxin's face appeared in his thoughts. "Xiao Bao, always look out for yourself first, no matter what. I'll be waiting here for you to return home." His mother's words rang clear in his head, and his eyes flew open, a powerful rush of imprint energy surging forth.
"Oh! The birth of a Heavenly Dao fetus,what a delightful twist. Things are getting exciting. To think this wasteland hides a godlike presence. The heavens never cease to amaze. They've even used a special technique to mask the traces. I believe it's time I visited the human realm." In a hidden realm, a shadowy figure whispered to himself before vanishing into the void.