High Immortal Qingqing seemed unable to believe it, probing repeatedly before finally determining that the many traces left in this water world were none other than the marks of Great Dao Judgments.
These Judgments consisted mostly of Immortal Dao Judgments, but also included Monster Dao Judgments, Fiend Dao Judgments, Buddhist Dao Judgments, and even Heavenly Dao Judgments.
What was going on?
Suppressing the shock and dread in her heart, High Immortal Qingqing asked, "Yunshui... Yunshui... why are there so many traces of Great Dao Judgments here?"
"Hmph, these marks? They were all brought upon by my damned, rotten master! Hmph! Back then, whenever he caused trouble outside, we were the ones who had to bear the brunt for him. What a heartless fellow!"
"You... all of you?"
"Yes, besides me, there were four other siblings. Eldest Brother Zijin, Second Sister Tengmu, I'm the third, then Fourth Brother Chihuo, and the youngest is Shengtu."
"Zijin, Tengmu, Yunshui, Chihuo, Shengtu..." High Immortal Qingqing murmured the names. She could tell they seemed to be named after the Five Phases: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
"Hmph! If it weren't for us five siblings charging into battle for that damned, stinking master back in the day, he would have died countless times over! Little Mistress, you have no idea—that rotten master of ours was the best at stirring up trouble, constantly being hunted down... We five siblings never had a single good day following him!"
"The last time, that rotten master brought down so many Judgments... I nearly died... I don't even know what happened to my other siblings now..."
"What kind of person was he? What trouble did he cause?"
High Immortal Qingqing couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend, and couldn't even imagine what kind of person did what kind of things to incur Judgments from so many Great Daos.
"Hmph, that damned fellow was definitely no good person. As for what trouble he caused... I'm not too clear either. From what I remember, ever since I gained consciousness, I was constantly fighting and killing alongside that fellow, exhausted every single day."
"This..." High Immortal Qingqing couldn't help but take a deep breath, her heart in turmoil, her mind utterly confused.
She knew that the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao normally would not casually deliver Judgments.
Acts like killing immortals, slaying Upper Immortals, and so on—these were merely crimes of disrespect. They wouldn't trigger a Judgment, only a warrant from the Immortal Dao.
Acts like overthrowing an immortal dynasty in one world, massacring an immortal mansion across a celestial domain, engaging in widespread slaughter—these were crimes of rebellion. They similarly wouldn't trigger a Judgment; the Immortal Dao would dispatch powerful experts to eradicate the offenders.
There was only one circumstance under which the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao would deliver a Judgment.
That was when the existence itself had already threatened the Laws of the Immortal Dao, disrupted the order of the Immortal Dao. Only then would the Nine Heavens deliver a Judgment.
The current era was stricter; any influence on the Immortal Dao's Laws or disruption of its order, even the slightest bit, regardless of reason, would draw a Judgment from the Immortal Dao.
However, during the Ancient Times Era, as the Immortal Dao's essence gradually dwindled, to ensure the normal operation of the Great Dao's essence, the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao's Judgment rules were much more lenient. They would avoid delivering Judgments whenever possible.
In other words.
If someone incurred an Immortal Dao Judgment during the Ancient Times Era, then their existence must have severely impacted the Immortal Dao's Laws, and their actions must have gravely disrupted the Immortal Dao's order.
How severe exactly, High Immortal Qingqing did not know.
Now, this water world contained not just Immortal Dao Judgments, but also Monster Dao, Fiend Dao, Buddhist Dao, and even Heavenly Dao Judgments.
During the Ancient Times Era, the essences of the Three Thousand Great Daos were all gradually depleting. Even the powerful Immortal Dao was like this; the essences of other Daos like the Monster Dao, Fiend Dao, and so on were even weaker. As for the Heavenly Dao, it was said to have almost completely vanished by the late Ancient Times Era.
High Immortal Qingqing simply couldn't imagine what terrifying things the master of the Yunshui Sword had done back then to incur Judgments from so many Great Daos, even drawing a Judgment from the Heavenly Dao which was in a vanished state.
Could it be that the existence of the Yunshui Sword's master not only severely impacted the Immortal Dao's Laws and disrupted its order, but also affected and disrupted the Laws and order of the Monster Dao, Fiend Dao, Buddhist Dao, and even the Heavenly Dao?
If that were truly the case...
Then this was simply something Heaven and Earth would not tolerate!
However.
What terrified High Immortal Qingqing the most was this.
According to her knowledge, once a Great Dao Judgment was delivered, regardless of identity, background, cultivation level, or destiny, everything would vanish into mist and smoke. Both body and soul would be reduced to ashes. Since ancient times, few had survived an Immortal Dao Judgment.
Yet this water world possessed over a hundred Judgment traces. Moreover, according to the Yunshui Sword, its master had incurred not just over a hundred, but many, many more back then. It was just that some traces had faded, and some Judgments hadn't left marks.
This also meant that the master of the Yunshui Sword had survived Judgment after Judgment back then.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have incurred Judgments from the Great Dao time and time again.
During the Ancient Times, the number of great powers who incurred Immortal Dao Judgments was not large. Those who simultaneously incurred Judgments from the Monster Dao, Fiend Dao, Buddhist Dao, Immortal Dao, and even the Heavenly Dao were even fewer and far between—without exception, they were all hegemons of the Ancient Times Era, guilty of monstrous crimes.
These existences either ultimately died under Great Dao Judgments.
Or mysteriously vanished, their whereabouts unknown to this day, with no one knowing whether they lived or died.
Including the Ancient Times hegemon who was guilty of the gravest crimes, known as the one who ended the Ancient Times Era—You Di. When Mount Wudao descended, he too was reduced to ashes after igniting the Karmic Flames of Original Sin.
Wait!
Thinking of You Di, High Immortal Qingqing's heart suddenly sank, because she abruptly remembered something about You Di.
It was said that when You Di first entered the Great Wasteland, before he had secured the Nine Nether Emperor's Seal, he once wielded Five-Phase Swords, slaying immortals, demons, and buddhas above, exterminating fiends, ghosts, and monsters below, rampaging in all directions, awing the Eight Desolates.
And just now, the Yunshui Sword said it had four other siblings: Zijin, Tengmu, Chihuo, and Shengtu. Weren't these precisely the Five-Phase Swords?
Heavens!
Could the master of the Yunshui Sword be... You Di?
No!
Impossible!
Perhaps it was just a coincidence.
Just because You Di forged Five-Phase Swords back then doesn't mean others didn't forge Five-Phase Swords.
But was it really a coincidence?
Others could indeed forge Five-Phase Swords, but the problem was, among those Ancient Times hegemons who incurred Great Dao Judgments, only You Di had forged Five-Phase Swords!
High Immortal Qingqing could not believe it, dared not believe it, and still felt this might just be a coincidence.
The more she refused to believe it, the more frightened she became inside, because she then recalled another terrifying matter. She had found the Yunshui Sword in the Tide Secret Realm back then. And according to her knowledge, You Di had once incurred a Great Dao Judgment in the Tide Secret Realm, and that time, it was said that You Di was judged into ashes.
Good heavens!
This can't be true, can it?