In the boundless void, a spaceship streaked swiftly across the expanse—only to quickly retreat and turn back.
Standing on the deck was a handsome young man with long hair, his eyes alight with excitement as he pointed eagerly at a massive Cosmic Cocoon ahead. "Uncle Hong, that's an extraordinary treasure..."
An elder with a pale, beardless face landed on the ship's deck as well, his own expression equally animated. Dao Rhythms swirled atop the Cosmic Cocoon, so profound that even divine sense could not penetrate it.
"Let me take a look." Without waiting for the ship to draw closer, the handsome youth leapt forward, reaching out to seize the Cosmic Cocoon.
Boom! A tremendous force swept over, sending the youth flying.
At this moment, the elder landed beside the youth, his voice trembling with excitement. "Young Lord, you weren't mistaken—this is truly an extraordinary treasure of heaven and earth. Its defenses are natural, so all we need to do is set up a grand array and slowly work to claim it."
"Understood." The youth snapped out of his excitement, taking out array flags and beginning to arrange a trapping formation.
......
Joe Di drifted in and out of consciousness, struggling to open his eyes. Yet a voice echoed ceaselessly within his sea of awareness, reminding him that his Dao was not yet fully formed—he still needed to continue evolving his own Dao principles.
It felt as though his essence, energy, and spirit were being drawn out, endlessly refining his Dao. The Cosmic Cocoon enveloping him grew ever more resilient...
Yes, the Dao—his Dao was everything. He stopped struggling to open his eyes, realizing he should continue absorbing the infinite laws of heaven and earth, merging them into his own Dao, and thus forging his unique Dao techniques.
No, his Dao was only a part of him—his life was not just about the Dao. He still had Nora Xiu. Yes, Nora Xiu—how was she now?
Regardless of whether he needed to evolve his Dao, he had to see Nora Xiu as soon as possible. Why had he left her in the first place...?
Joe Di tried hard to recall—and finally, he remembered.
He had left Nora Xiu because he wanted to reach the Immortal Emperor realm and seek out the Void Tribulation. By now, how many years had passed since he began evolving his Dao? How was Nora Xiu on Earth?
Joe Di grew increasingly restless—he absolutely could not keep pushing forward like this. If he continued, tens of thousands of years might slip by unnoticed.
Stop—he had to stop.
Yet his Dao continued to evolve, forming layer upon layer of Dao patterns. The Dao Cocoon surrounding him kept growing more complete.
Deep within his will, Joe Di finally sensed something was wrong. The Dao was his—if it belonged to him, then he should be able to stop whenever he wished. Yet now, he couldn't control his Dao's evolution at all. That was definitely abnormal.
But then, the vast and boundless Dao aura once again flooded Joe Di's consciousness. As long as he perfected his Dao and forged his own rule, he would stand at the very pinnacle of the universe—no one in all creation could touch him...
If Joe Di hadn't tempered his body countless times, enduring agony to the brink of death and forging an unbreakable will, he might truly have given up struggling by now.
But sensing something amiss, Joe Di's remaining shred of willpower refused to allow this Dao to keep evolving unchecked.
The evolution of his Dao was his own business—if he couldn't even stop it, why would he want such a Dao?
Stop—stop, I command you.
Joe Di tried to control his starry meridians, his sea of consciousness, even his will itself—refusing to let the evolution continue.
Yet deep within his sea of consciousness, a golden principle continued to radiate layer upon layer of golden rule patterns, wrapping around Joe Di's entire body and urging the Dao Cocoon to keep evolving and condensing.
Joe Di was dismayed to find that, no matter how strong his will, he still couldn't stop the golden principle from evolving its rule Dao.
Was he destined to become a puppet?
The Ninth Prime Law had helped him countless times, but now Joe Di realized it was no blessing. Perhaps, from the very moment he saved it, it had intended to use him—making him the flesh vessel for the law.
All things have their advantages and disadvantages. Now, Joe Di only wished to grind away this golden principle or drive it out—even if it meant never advancing again, he would never allow the principle to control his will.
Boom! The golden principle seemed to sense Joe Di's formidable will, unleashing wave after wave of rule patterns to suppress his faint efforts within the sea of consciousness.
No—he was still trapped in a haze of consciousness and could not let things go on like this. If it continued, once the Ninth Prime Law's rule was fully formed, he would only exist beneath its dominion.
He had to seek outside help.
The only thing that could help him lay within his sea of consciousness—the World Tome?
Unfortunately, he had never refined the World Tome; in fact, its presence in his sea of consciousness was mostly due to the Ninth Prime Law's attraction.
Even if he did refine the World Tome, it might not be able to help him halt the Ninth Prime Law—because the law didn't intend to kill him, only to control his Dao.
A clear message landed deep within Joe Di's sea of consciousness—a message from the Ninth Prime Law.
If Joe Di used this opportunity to perfect his own rule Dao, he would one day be the equal of the Cosmos Lord. Completing his rule Dao would only bring endless benefits, and no harm at all.
Joe Di suddenly understood—the golden principle refused to remain in the background; it wanted to become the master, the main force. If he followed its message, no matter how powerful he became, he would still be nothing but a puppet of the law.
He, Joe Di, could die, could vanish—but he would never be a puppet!
Joe Di frantically mobilized the Sacred Yin Pearl, which would never heed the Ninth Prime Law. The moment he activated it, primal yin essence surged through his sea of consciousness, fusing with his will and instantly blocking the further spread and condensation of rule patterns.
(Irrelevant passage skipped.)
Once the rule patterns ceased forming, the Dao Cocoon stopped condensing, and Joe Di's mind gradually grew clear.
An urgent message came from the Ninth Prime Law: if Joe Di continued like this, the Sacred Yin Pearl could very well collapse.
Joe Di sneered inwardly—even if the Sacred Yin Pearl collapsed, he would never let the Ninth Prime Law have its way. This was his domain; he was the master. When had a law ever been the master over him?
Using the Starry Sky Art, he condensed the primal yin essence from the Sacred Yin Pearl, beginning to devour the rule pattern aura unleashed by the Ninth Prime Law, one wave after another.
The Ninth Prime Law within Joe Di's sea of consciousness seemed to realize that, after he mobilized the Sacred Yin Pearl, it could no longer force him to shape his rule Dao according to its will.
It could only slowly withdraw wave after wave of golden rule patterns. At the same time, Joe Di received a message: forcibly halting the formation of the rule Dao Cocoon would greatly harm his Dao.
Growing ever clearer in mind, Joe Di sneered inwardly. He cultivated the rule Dao, and that would be his path in the future. But his rule Dao would be his own—not the Ninth Prime Law's.
The Ninth Prime Law thought that, just because it had helped him so much, it could control everything about him—what a joke. He still had his indomitable will, and the Sacred Yin Pearl. The reason he failed to cross into the Immortal Emperor realm, even after surviving the terrifying tribulation, was likely the Ninth Prime Law's doing. It must have taken advantage of his weakness during the tribulation, subtly seizing control of his rule Dao while he believed he was simply comprehending the Dao.
If not for the thought of Nora Xiu waiting for him alone on Earth, he might have unknowingly fallen under the Dao's control. No—something still wasn't right.
......
"It's primal chaos essence—truly primal chaos essence!" At this moment, both the young man who attacked the giant cocoon and the beardless elder gazed at the Cosmic Cocoon in excitement. Just now, they had clearly sensed the presence of pure, ultimate chaos essence within the cocoon. Even a mere trace of it outside the cocoon had loosened the bottleneck in their cultivation.
The two intensified their attacks, unleashing magical treasures in a frenzy against the massive Cosmic Cocoon.
......