Chương 78: The Collapse of the Dao

"ROAR!" The five-clawed golden dragon flew out of the void once more. It circled above the ancient tree's crown, roaring.

"Your Dao is the demonic Dao. You deserve death!"

"ROAR!" With the dragon's roar, a legion of black-armored cavalry emerged from the void. They held sharp swords, their killing intent so fierce it seemed to tear the sky apart.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill them all!" With silent war cries, the black cavalry surged like a tidal wave, charging fiercely at the ancient tree. Rustle, rustle... The ancient tree swayed, its branches dancing wildly. Every human head on the tree opened its mouth and spat out vines. They wrapped around the black-armored riders, tore them to shreds, then dragged them back to their mouths and swallowed.

"Hahahaha..." Su Mu laughed. He (she) opened his (her) mouth, and a golden vine condensed, wrapping around the five-clawed dragon's tail, pulling it closer. The golden vine was covered in tiny mouths, sucking greedily at the energy flowing from the dragon.

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!" The dragon roared in fury, also in terror, struggling in pain. But the more it struggled, the tighter the vine bound it. Slowly, the dragon was pulled to Su Mu's mouth. Su Mu opened wide and swallowed the dragon whole. Crunch, crunch... Chewing sounds came from Su Mu's mouth. He seemed to be grinding the dragon to pieces, then swallowing slowly... Crunch, crunch... Strange chewing sounds echoed. No. I had already eaten the dragon. Where was this chewing coming from?

Su Mu opened his eyes and looked around. Soon, he spotted a red bird-like creature perched on one of his branches. It seemed to be resting, doing nothing. But in the blink of an eye, it flicked out a long red tongue, quickly wrapped it around a human-head fruit, and stuffed it into its mouth, munching happily.

"Lord, our lord! You finally see! Kill this thieving bird!" Countless human-head fruits opened their mouths and cried out for help. Fang Cheng said, "Lord, your lord! I did not steal any fruit! I swear! I really did not! Go back to your business! Crunch, crunch..." Hmph! If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Su Mu smirked coldly and turned his head. He commanded the vines to attack the damned bird.

But the creature seemed to sense danger and instantly shifted positions.

"Lord, your lord! Haha! You cannot catch me! You cannot catch me! La la la... Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!" Fang Cheng let out cheerful bird calls. Yes. Those were bird calls. He had finally evolved! Hahahaha... After chirping, he flicked out his tongue again, wrapped it around another human-head fruit, and pulled it into his mouth.

"Lord, our lord! Save me!" The human-head fruit wailed.

"I command you to die!" Su Mu roared. Just as he was about to send all his vines at Fang Cheng, a dragon's roar came from his torso. More precisely, from his stomach. The golden dragon was still alive. It was the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao. Not so easy to destroy. Su Mu had no choice but to abandon his attack on the bird and focus on subduing the dragon. He channeled holy light through his trunk, preparing to purify it. The dragon did not face the holy light head-on. It roared and dove downward.

It found a weak point. Below. More precisely, between Su Mu's legs. Su Mu sensed it too. He gathered his power to seal the opening. But strangely, no matter how he transformed, the gap would not close.

"Why! Has my law of energy conservation failed?" Su Mu cried out.

"No. It is because Hu Tong's thing did not work." Han'er emerged from the trunk. She continued, "Mu, my love~, you need to find your own thing. Only then can you truly seal the gap."

"You are right. What belongs to others will always belong to others. In this new era, borrowed things will not do. I need to find my own root!" Su Mu did not hesitate. While controlling the holy light vines to chase and trap the dragon, he expanded his divine sense to cover the entire mortal realm, searching for his lost thing. He remembered feeding it to a black dog in the backyard of Han'er's father's mansion in the capital! He quickly sent his divine sense to the old mansion outside the capital.

It was late at night. The silence was deep, broken only by the occasional cry of a stray cat.

"Woof!" A dog barked. Su Mu looked. In the forest of the backyard, a black mutt sat in the grass, looking around nervously, sensing danger.

"No. Not it. Only a faint trace of familiar energy. It must be the black dog's descendant." Su Mu searched again. Finally, under the roots of an old locust tree, he found a large clump of familiar energy. The black dog's body must have been buried there. After years of decomposition, it had been transformed into pure nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, absorbed by the old locust tree.

"Good. Let me eat this tree. Let my true thing return!" Su Mu extended his divine sense into the old locust tree's roots and began absorbing its energy. Suddenly, furious shouts came from elsewhere in the capital.

"Who!"

"A Heavenly Demon!"

"Heh. How laughable. Just a wisp of divine sense, daring to descend into the mortal realm!"

"Enough talk. Let this old man destroy it!"

"Kindness, kindness. Amitabha!" Curses and Buddhist chants erupted. Over a dozen powerful auras appeared at the old mansion. Su Mu's vision went black. His divine sense was forced back.

"Damn it! Damn it! You old bastards! You bald donkeys! Do not let me find you!" Su Mu cursed furiously. But the urgency inside him left no time for anger. Not to mention the damned bird outside, already eating nearly half of his Dao Fruits, his thousands of heads. Gritting his teeth, he commanded the golden vines to pursue the fleeing dragon, wrapping it tightly. Sensing the mortal threat, the dragon let out a roar. A surge of golden light exploded from its body, giving it an unparalleled burst of speed.

It charged toward its hope. Toward Hu Tong's thing. Crack... crack... BOOM! The entire Truth World shook violently. A massive crack appeared on the ancient tree's trunk. It spread like a spiderweb at terrifying speed across the entire tree. Crack! Crack! Crack, crack, crack... Bark flew off, revealing the bloody flesh beneath. The crimson flesh, surrounded by cracks, slowly dissolved into the void.

"NO!" Su Mu wailed in despair. He sent vines frantically to seal the cracks. But it was useless. The Dao had fallen. Su Mu's Dao collapsed. With each crack, bark and flesh dissolved. Finally, with a loud CRACK, the entire tree came crashing down.

"AHHHHHHH!" Su Mu let out one last, bitter roar. In his final moment, he screamed with all his might:"My Dao of Truth was not wrong! It was Hu Tong's thing that failed! It was his thing that really did not work!"