Above Twin Trees Village, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled; astonishingly, black and white clouds appeared!
Liu Mo soared straight into the firmament, no longer looking old and decrepit, his eyes shining like two miniature suns.
The dense cloud layer churned wildly because of him, spinning violently to form a colossal taiji diagram.
In the night sky, a bloody phantom surfaced and hurtled over at extreme speed—it was the blood kite that had prowled the vicinity for five hundred years.
With a metallic clang, a rust-mottled war spear engraved with divine patterns abruptly emerged from within the distinct black-and-white clouds, falling right into Liu Mo's grasp.
Next, snow-white bones flew toward him. Bone by bone, piece by piece, all resembling mutton-fat jade, they rapidly shrank and strung together, turning into a translucent bone chain.
Liu Mo donned the skin and wore the bones, giving off terrifying fluctuations!
With a deafening boom, the massive taiji diagram exploded as if countless bolts of thunder had pierced through the clouds across the sky. He abruptly vanished from the spot, disappearing into the distance in an instant.
Deep in the vault of heaven, the astral winds raged fiercely. The higher one went, the more dreadful they became, capable of scattering conscious spiritual light.
Above the nine heavens, in certain eerie zones, peculiar astral winds could even snuff out pure yang consciousness.
Liu Mo traveled silently, seeking Sky City.
A city suspended high above the nine heavens naturally had everything to do with a grotto-heaven.
Finally, Liu Mo caught sight of the Golden Palace's gate!
It was thoroughly decayed and dilapidated, amounting to nothing more than the vestige of a grotto-heaven.
All around it, heaven and earth were pitch-black, resembling a dead, silent wilderness.
Liu Mo's gaze grew profound as he stared at the grotto-heaven amidst the night fog. "No wonder you lot have been 'above worldly conflict' all these years," he murmured. "What could you even contend with? Your strength no longer allows it. Shrinking your battle lines—you are merely taking refuge from the world by choice."
The fractured entrance to the Golden Palace glowed faintly, having suffered catastrophic damage.
The so-called heavenly dwellers had all been stirred when they learned that Number Seven and Number Eight had appeared. Earth Immortals had awakened and set out to hunt down the two major fugitives wanted by Yujing.
And at this very moment, Old Liu had arrived!
"Unawares, five hundred years have slipped by. It seems a super-terrifying catastrophe struck heaven and earth. Even the grotto-heavens are broken and half-ruined. No wonder this era has neither Heavenly Gods nor Heavenly Immortals, capping out at Earth Immortals at most."
Witnessing this sight, even Liu Mo felt a tremble in his heart.
A seismic upheaval had brewed and erupted in silence, never spreading down to the earth below.
Liu Mo entered the city above the nine heavens, leaving neither shadow nor trace. Black and white qi materialized in his hand, condensing into a Brush of Yin and Yang, with which he intended to quietly sever certain Dao chains.
"Consider it your lucky day, you brats."
Before him lay a stone book of immense size, resembling a mountain, recording various names within.
"Hm? It was already broken?" Liu Mo was surprised.
He flashed away and vanished from the spot, having sensed someone approaching—someone who seemed to be an outsider as well.
"Could there be another traveler walking the same path?" Liu Mo withdrew into the shadows to watch. In the depths of his eyes, an illusion of stars shifting and Dao rhythms cascading like waterfalls emerged.
"A phantom beast?!" Even Old Liu felt a jolt in his heart. Ordinary people could not see such creatures at all, yet an exceptionally powerful phantom beast—far surpassing its kind—had actually appeared above the nine heavens.
"Fine then. With you providing cover ahead, I shall simply remain hidden."
For Liu Mo, severing his past to achieve a complete New Life was exceedingly difficult; Yujing's influence was far too pervasive, reaching everywhere. He was making his final preparations.
Sending the Dog Sword Immortal into action had merely been a diversion.
He had come here to probe the truth and test the waters, ensuring that when he fell into his weakened state, he would not succumb to total muddleheadedness while awaiting his revival and run into true disaster.
"The heavenly True Tribulation Light left up here is limited in quantity. Over these past five hundred years, I truly missed an appalling, monumental event!"
He grew increasingly certain that across the domain reached by Yujing's influence, there truly were no Heavenly Gods or Heavenly Immortals left.
...
Down on the ground, the night was boundless.
Auspicious clouds swept past, carrying experts through the "gate." Following Yujing's will, the group pursued two wanted fugitives of immense background.
Yuheng looked back and sighed. "How truly the tiger fallen on flat plains is bullied by dogs—even a pack of brats like you dares target us."
Decay emanated from him. Had he still been able to wield the power of a Heavenly God, how would these people have ever dared give chase? They would have been wiped out long ago.
Moyuan spoke up: "In truth, there is an even bigger fish lying low in the mortal realm. You could go hunt him instead."
He wanted to drag Liu Mo into this to draw the heavenly dwellers' attention away.
"Others do not matter!" an Earth Immortal cut him off.
What a joke. Two decaying Heavenly Gods whose cultivation realms had fallen were already troublesome enough; they had no desire to widen the net. Did anyone think they actually wanted to investigate such an "ancient case"? One misstep, and they could end up sacrificing their own lives.
Yuheng unleashed a swath of blinding runes that shattered the pitch-black clouds, barking, "His background is far greater than ours!"
Hearing that, Mu Qinghe and the others became even less inclined to get involved. There was no need to complicate the situation further.
"You two, your bloody crimes from back then are not actually important!" a heavenly envoy called out.
Rumble!
Between heaven and earth, order lightning surged like torrential rivers and seas, casting brilliant light as both sides traded blows even while exchanging words.
"Hm?" Both Yuheng and Moyuan were taken aback by those words.
An Earth Immortal spoke with a solemn expression: "You two, hand over the 'secret items' from back then, and your past crimes can be mitigated. You will be dealt with leniently."
"What nonsense?"
The two decaying Heavenly Gods stared blankly upon hearing this, visibly bewildered. Their hands had certainly been stained with blood back then, but what was this about "secret items"?
They were at first dazed, then furrowed their brows. Was there some sort of misunderstanding?
"Do you truly not know what you took from Yujing?" a heavenly envoy asked in a deep voice.
"No way?!" Yuheng's face paled instantly.
Back then, upheaval had broken out in Yujing, and Liu Mo had seized the opportunity to flee. They had followed in his wake, which was the only reason they had managed to escape cleanly.
Under such circumstances, how could they have had the nerve to steal treasures?
Recalling the past, their eyes widened. Could they have snatched an invaluable treasure in passing without realizing it?
Yet back then, they hadn't taken it seriously at all, tossing aside what they deemed useless and abandoning what they didn't need. Had they missed out on something extraordinary?
Yuheng's breathing grew ragged, and he asked urgently, "What exactly did Yujing lose?!"
"You looted it yourselves, and you still don't know? A scrap of cloth, and a stone," an elderly Earth Immortal replied.
In truth, they did not know what use those two secret items served either, but the orders from above specifically demanded the retrieval of those two things.
"I rubbed shoulders with a paramount treasure of Yujing..." Moyuan felt a suffocating tightness in his chest. What kind of monumental opportunity had they missed back then?
In the past, when chaos had erupted in Yujing, a corner of the Jade Temple had collapsed, sending mountain rocks tumbling down from the clouds. As the two fled, they had merely caught two falling objects in passing and paid them no heed.
When they ambushed Liu Mo, they had hurled that stone at the back of his head. Yet before it even struck, the stone from the Jade Temple had dimmed, its spirituality fading, and shattered to pieces.
"Was there something inside the stone?"
"Could Liu Mo have swept it away?"
Both decaying Heavenly Gods showed expressions of bitter regret. That had clearly been an extraordinary treasure blasted out of Yujing, which they had mistaken for an ordinary foundation stone of the Jade Temple, caught in passing, and thrown at someone's head!
"Heavenly objects conceal their own brilliance. Perhaps... it fell in the territory of Kunling!" A heavenly envoy's eyes shone brightly, temporarily accepting their explanation.
"We will search for it later!" Mu Qinghe resolved that even if she had to turn all of Kunling upside down, she would try to find it.
The several Earth Immortals from beyond Night Province had gleaming eyes. To think such a heavenly object had been left behind near Kunling in the past and remained ownerless to this day!
"What about the cloth?" the elderly Earth Immortal asked.
"Thrown away!" Yuheng fumed, suffocated by regret.
Back then, when he grabbed the drifting scrap of cloth, he realized it was woven from various exotic metals, naturally recognizing it as an extraordinary material.
Though he took it with him, fear crept in afterward. Suspecting it might be a battle robe belonging to some supreme figure, he worried about being tracked down, so he discarded it along the way.
He muttered gloomily, "I felt as though it was drawn away by a small, dilapidated altar down in Kunling."
Though heartbroken, he thought that if being completely open could stop Yujing's pursuit, missing out on the treasure would still be entirely worth it.
In this realm, many small paths led toward Yujing, most of which were now desolate and abandoned.
A few Earth Immortals from heaven felt their hearts stir; two immediately headed toward that desolate secret path to search, hoping for a monumental discovery today.
Yet moments later, they returned with grim expressions. There was no trace of any so-called heavenly object at all.
"You are lying!"
"Subdue them!"
The Earth Immortals struck, seeking to capture the two former Heavenly Gods. This provoked Yuheng and Moyuan into towering fury—having spoken the truth only to be hunted like beasts by juniors truly incensed them.
The pitch-black clouds filling the sky were ignited, turning night into day. Divine rainbows surged into the firmament, blue-black giant hands covered the vault of heaven, and various rare treasures danced across the sky...
The domain turned utterly terrifying. Energy runes resembled a boundless sea of stars blanketing the heavens, presenting an appalling spectacle fit to annihilate all things.
"A battle between Earth Immortals is already like this—what was it like back when Heavenly Gods and Heavenly Immortals walked the world?"
In the earthen city, some bold individuals stepped through the portal and watched the battle across the distant night sky.
In fact, some wanted to fish in troubled waters, hoping to scavenge divine items and fortune from the Heavenly Gods' sanctuary.
Yet this bunch was left dumbfounded. In the immortal lake rippling with golden ripples, let alone golden lotus seedpods, not even a single lotus leaf remained—even the lotus roots had been thoroughly plucked clean!
Not even a single fingerling remained in the lake!
They realized the truth: the Night Province patriarchs' claim of "cutting off their retreat" was never about intercepting the two old monsters at all—it was about raiding the Heavenly Gods' backyard!
It all stemmed from the fact that Night Province had quite a few patriarchs, yet resources were scarce at this stage. Seeking to forge new paths, they had hit a bottleneck of depleted resources, making them exceptionally thrifty and delightfully honest in their customs.
...
The clash between Earth Immortals was extraordinarily terrifying. Grandmasters watching from afar broke into cold sweats; every casual strike carried city-destroying might capable of slaughtering mighty clans, thoroughly striking dread into their souls.
An Earth Immortal was heavily wounded, blood splashing across the night sky.
"Since you remain obstinate and stubbornly defy Yujing's will, we can only resort to supreme lethal armaments!" an elderly Earth Immortal declared.
At that moment, rare treasures appeared in their hands, each gleaming with sacred radiance.
Mu Qinghe held a scroll depicting Yujing, hazy yet sacred, exuding terrifying pressure.
Another person held a miniature Yujing carved from divine jade, resting upon his palm, which burst with myriad rays of rosy dawn like a sun illuminating the world of night fog.
Rumble!
Every rare treasure connected to Yujing now channeled killing tribulation light down from above the nine heavens. Terrifying Dao chains shot forth, descending toward the two decaying old monsters.
"What is going on? The killing tribulation light is far too concentrated!"
"The Dao chains are out of control! The 'reserves' in the Golden Palace above the nine heavens... have poured down completely!"
The Earth Immortals from heaven cried out in shock—not because they worried the power was insufficient, but because they dreaded it was far too overwhelming and consuming too much, threatening to empty their entire stored foundation in a single clash.
"Ah..." Yuheng screamed. He was no longer a Heavenly God after all; pierced through by dazzling Dao chains, his entire body burst into flames.
Promptly, he turned into a human skin, blood steaming away as he was rapidly burned to pieces. Clearly unable to survive, he met his ultimate destruction.
Moyuan fared no better. Shrouded in True Tribulation Light, his true form was gradually laid bare—an aged skeleton bearing a rotting aura, the bones of a Heavenly God drained of their spirituality.
The skeletal body fractured and shattered, on the verge of extinction.
The Earth Immortals were horrified; they simply could not rein it in. The Dao chains descending from above the nine heavens flowed without end, refusing to cease until their reserves were completely drained.
They watched helplessly as the two old monsters were utterly destroyed, leaving not a single survivor.
"Those might not have been their true bodies!"
"Could they really live out a completely new life and throw off Yujing's influence?"
"Withered vines sprout new roots; sick trees put forth new buds. Perhaps the two are not dead, but awaiting New Life. Still, I suspect something went seriously wrong with them. If they truly could break free of the past, they wouldn't have left behind so much power in their former bodies."
Nearby, the night sky was washed clear. The True Tribulation Light slowly dispersed, yet the residual Dao rhythms still illuminated the heavens, driving away the black fog.
Down on the ground, vast stretches of mountains lay shattered in a dreadful scene, the entire area leveled to the ground.
A battle that had suddenly erupted thus drew to a close.
Mu Qinghe and the others wore unsightly expressions. The Earth Immortals from heaven departed in haste, rushing back to investigate what had gone wrong in the Golden Palace.
...
Two days later, the storm gradually subsided.
Those Earth Immortals above the nine heavens did not descend again; something seemed to have occurred up there.
However, many youths, along with a portion of young people, were sent down to the earth below.
An elder addressed them: "In an era where geniuses ascend to the sky and constellations shine bright, everything has only just begun. The path ahead is undetermined; perhaps the Blazing Sun will be born among you."
"Didn't they say that the Blazing Sun of this era might already have been born on the ground?" someone asked.
The elder said, "Which is precisely why you have been sent here to temper yourselves, to interact more with those on the ground, compare insights, and elevate yourselves."
Then he added, "Moreover, there has never been any rule that heaven cannot have two suns. In the distant past, there was even the wondrous spectacle of ten suns spanning the sky."
"You want us to consult the Blazing Sun on the ground?" Evidently, these youths were exceedingly arrogant, arriving full of resentment.
To their minds, a Blazing Sun could only be born in the heavens. Now they had been sent to the ground to hone themselves; such a condescension to consult mortal commoners was truly akin to being banished into the dust.
Although many were dissatisfied, they still obeyed their orders.
Now that things had gone awry in Sky City, they had no choice but to let gods descend into the mortal realm.
Su Moran and Gao Chan were tasked with leading a group of youths to meet some of the formidable figures on the ground.
"Aren't the patriarchs of Night Province going a bit too far? They showed nowhere near enough deference to the Earth Immortals from heaven," one youth remarked, having already learned what happened two days prior.
Someone replied, "All words and deeds are grounded in strength!"
The youths turned to look, only to discover that the speaker was actually a flaxen-haired punk whose tone was rather pugnacious.
Qin Ming and Xiao Wu looked over, finding a flock of greenhorns and young girls, none of them very old.
Su Moran said, "Brother Qin, Brother Xiang, Brother Wu, pardon the intrusion..." She briefly explained the purpose of their visit.
Evidently, she held Qin Ming, Xiang Yiwu, and the others in very high regard, hoping they could give these youths some pointers.
She even sent a secret voice transmission: "It's perfectly fine to knock them down a few pegs."
"Easily done," Wu Yaozu nodded.
"Are people on the ground always this arrogant?" sneered a youth from heaven.
These boys and girls were practically half-grown kids, between thirteen and sixteen years old, and thoroughly indignant. They felt the people before them were barely any older than themselves and were merely ground natives—how could they possibly offer guidance? What a joke!
They were impeccably dressed, carried refined bearings, and clearly possessed extraordinary backgrounds.
Su Moran sent a voice transmission: "This is paid instruction. Feel free to teach these boys and girls a proper lesson."
"These kids truly need some discipline," Wu Yaozu remarked.
A young girl was eyeing him askance with utter disdain and open provocation.
What kind of person was Xiao Wu? He fired back on the spot, having zero interest in being the tail of a phoenix up in heaven anyway, where plenty of problems seemed to lurk above the nine heavens.
Instantly, he seemed to have poked a hornet's nest.
"How dare you speak like that?" The group of boys and girls crowded around.
Wu Yaozu asked Su Moran, "Any kind of beating or discipline is fine?"
Su Moran nodded, feeling these youths genuinely needed a taste of hardship.
Wu Yaozu said, "All right then. Step forward and pay your respects. Call me Master."
The youths erupted at once. Were peers on the ground barely older than them so oblivious to the heights of heaven and depths of the earth? They were even more outrageous than they were!
Immediately, someone hurled disrespectful remarks at Xiao Wu, offering a very unfriendly "greeting."
Wu Yaozu grabbed the most unruly boy by the collar and said fiercely, "Since you came seeking guidance, show the proper attitude! If you won't call me Teacher, do you really take me for your father? I'm under no obligation to coddle you lot."
Beside them, Gao Chan's face darkened instantly—that was a brother from his own clan.
"Let us test your mettle!" Several of them made a move.
In response, Qin Ming expanded his spirit field, suppressing them all at once and forcing them to bend at the waist and bow their heads.
Wu Yaozu said, "This is your Master Qin. If you miss your chance to bow today, even crying 'Daddy Qin' in the future won't do you any good—you'll regret it for the rest of your lives."
Beside them, Su Moran's expression darkened slightly. Her cousin was among them; what was this about "Daddy Qin"? Was she supposed to drop a generation too?
"We are peers. I truly cannot teach you much," Qin Ming said calmly as he withdrew his spirit field.
The others scrambled back, yet one young girl stepped forward and offered a sincere salute, genuinely wishing to take him as her master.
"I was only joking!" Even Wu Yaozu was taken aback; he had only spoken out earlier because he couldn't stand their arrogant attitude.
Yet the girl remained obstinate, her eyes gleaming with resolve as she insisted on taking Qin Ming as her master, making the situation rather abrupt.
Su Moran's expression froze slightly—that was her younger cousin.
The girl's companions were shocked. "Are you out of your mind? He hasn't even reached the Fourth Realm! With your talent, you'll surpass him in a year or two, yet you want to take him as your master? Making this choice, you will surely lose to your rivals—they've chosen Yuan, Jin Puti, and Chunyangzi to help hone themselves. You'll definitely be laughed at by them!"
Chapter 397