Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor
chapter-1163

1163 Old Man Nether's Past

'Use whatever means necessary to buy me enough time,' Old Man Nether, and upon his words, these creatures rushed toward Wang Wei like a moth to a flame. So, he started slaughtering them with great efficiency.

Old Man Nether gritted his teeth as he watched this unfold. These life forms represented years of work and a unique opportunity he received. Their purpose was to one day serve under him once he ruled Samsara. But now, he had to watch his foundation being rapidly corroded.

He activated Yin Energy to calm his uncontrollable rage before pointing at the Nether Hell. The entire dimension slowly transformed into a long, dark sword with bones for the hilt and red veins running down the blade. Old Man Nether was sweating by the time the transformation ended, but this was just the beginning.

The activation process was even more arduous. Old Man Nether felt his soul power rapidly diminishing with every passing second, and he knew the consequences of making the slightest mistake. The process took him some time, and he sighed in relief that he had succeeded and nothing went awry.

Old Man Nether focused on Wang Wei, who was not looking too good due to the number difference. However, he had now killed more than a hundred of his servants, ruining billions of years of work. However, according to Old Man Nether, this was not his greatest crime.

'I've spent years cultivating that sword. Once the time was right, I could use it to invade Samsara and cut off a piece while preserving its authority. Then, I only needed to run away from the Yama Kings and rule over the stolen piece. With it, I can acquire the partial authority of a Yama King, allowing me to become a Paragon at the fastest speed, even changing my Dao to Samsara without much repercussion.

'The next step would be to return to Samsara and take the remaining authority once my strength reached its peak.'

An intense madness, hatred, and anger flashed in Old Man Nether's eyes.

'But now, everything is ruined. I'm forced to use the sword's power to kill that disgusting ant, which also means alerting Samsara and the Yama Kings. Even if I can start over, the plan's success rate will drastically decrease, and that's not mentioning True Heavenly Dao's intervention.'

Old Man Nether clenched his fists, thinking how far he had come to get to this point. He was a regular cultivator born in the upper dimension with above-average talent. He tried seven times before finally proving the Dao, and he was only Second-Class.

Only after years of preparation and luck did he pass his tribulation to become an Empyrean. Even then, no one believed he would have succeeded. However, after entering that realm, Old Man Nether discovered the limit of his talent. Cultivation was so slow that it was maddening. He knew then that he had reached his limit. However, he was not willing to admit that.

He searched for ways to improve his talent, but such rare resources were controlled by powerful clans, sects, religions, cults, or races. It was not something a loose cultivator like himself could get his hands on, and if he did, he would need to be quiet less the information was revealed, and he was hunted down.

Despite these hardships and failures, Old Man Nether never stopped finding a way forward, even participating in myriad expeditions in dangerous areas of the Eternal Ascension World or the Source Qi Space. Sadly, Old Man Nether's luck seemed to have run out as all these endeavors proved futile. As such, he was about to give up until one of his associates mentioned a secret realm somewhere in Primordial Chaos.

Reluctant at first, Old Man Nether eventually decided to participate as this might be his only opportunity, and he was never as right in his life. After a perilous trek, his group reached the secret realm. Then, after a gruesome process of killing and betrayal, Old Man Nether reaches the core to find a few things.

The first was a recording of a man clad in a black robe with pitch-black long hair invading Samsara and fighting against countless Yama Kings. The man defeated and killed every single one of them before taking over. The recording ends with the man trying to fuse with Samsara, and for a brief moment, he achieves a power that seems beyond any Paragons before failing at the last moment and dying.

He was shocked by what he saw before becoming elated. This was a great, fortunate encounter. He knew his future was bright as long as he could recreate whatever method this man created, and thus, he started his journey.

Old Man Nether left the secret realm with the recording, a black rock of unknown origin, and a rare and valuable Creation Seed, which would allow him to create his life form and train them to the standard of passing the Creation Tribulation.

Once he returned home, he spent all his time studying the recording and, based on the aura and Dao Rhymes, trying to recreate that technique. Old Man Nether abandoned his cultivation, focusing on recreating and perfecting the recording's method. After years of effort, he created a half-baked method in the form of the Nether Monarch Hell.

Old Man Nether was not confident in his plan, but he knew something - it was his only way to become a Paragon. As long as the first step succeeded, he would break the limit of his talent and even acquire an Outlaw Dao with little to no cost.

Sadly for him, this plan had a major flaw- how to condense the sword under the eyes of these Paragons that stood above Heaven and Earth. Old Man Nether was lost for a while until he heard of an opportunity to descend to the lower dimension. It was the perfect place since these top powerhouses cannot easily intervene, and dealing with the Samsara Branch in the lower dimension would be easier than the scary one here. With this in mind, Old Man Nether sprung to action.

The Innate-Acquired Life was at its peak, and the upper dimension planned on playing dirty by sending an Empyrean down there to end everything. However, this was a task with a high fatality rate. True Heavenly Dao was neutral in the war, but it would not allow Tier 11 above to interfere. So, the Acquired Side wanted to use much merit to send an Empyrean who would quickly end the war and return. They knew the danger and chose to hire mercenaries and loose cultivators instead.

Old Man Nether knew this plan was a trap. No one would be able to return even if they survived the journey. Regardless, he signed up and was the only one who barely survived out of sheer luck. Then, as expected, True Heavenly Dao intervened. Luckily, Old Man was prepared.

He offered the black rock from the secret realm in exchange for permission to be sealed in the lower dimension. After years of research, he knew this thing was valuable, but he could not decipher what it was or gauge its true value. As such, he did not hesitate to exchange it for the plan.

True Heavenly Dao agreed, and after choosing one of the three worlds with the most gathered luck of this war, Old Man Nether created the Nether Hell to start his plan.

At first, gathering Yin Energy/Power for the sword was difficult as he could only use proxies or other methods not involving direct intervention. The one he gathered in the upper dimension was barely enough. Then, another opportunity presented itself. The Innate Demon Gods in the upper dimension retaliated for losing the war by attacking the history of the lower realm and, in the process, turning the River of Time chaotic.

Old Man Nether took this opportunity to gather Yin Energy/Death Energy from the past, present, and even the future. That acquisition was his greatest grab before the recent exchange with the Abyss Gap. That thing had existed before his descent; before now, he stood away from it. But now.

However, recent situations forced his hand. Old Man Nether sensed that he might die under Wang Wei's hands. Although he did not want to admit it initially, all signs showed this might be an eventuality. Adding to his desire to escape and get his hands on the latter's Samsara Dao, he agreed on an alliance when these people contacted him.

'Even if I swallow this bastard, it won't make up for my loss.' Old Man Nether felt a deep pain in his chest, thinking how much he sacrificed to get to this stage. Now, everything was ruined. He might get a second chance, but that was unlikely.

'Alright. Isn't it only starting from scratch? I only need to leave the Eternal Ascension World and find a more suitable place. I am immortal and have all the time in the world.' As long as he can fulfill his plan, he will be a Paragon, at the very least. So, he can take as long as needed since he now has hope.

Wang Wei, whose body was full of injuries that could not heal due to these people using obsession and resentment to replace Dao Will, calmly looked at the sword above him.

'That sword's power has reached over 80% Grand Dao Source. There is no way for me to block it successfully.'