At the foot of the Five-Colored Mountain, Li Xiaoke and the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court cursed incessantly, entirely devoid of poise. But the ghost king was long gone and could not hear their insults.
After a long while, Li Xiaoke and the Son of Heaven exchanged a look. Li Xiaoke coughed and said, "Back then, we obtained that door from the mountain. If we could get it before, we should be able to get it now."
The Son of Heaven smiled. "Back then, we were not particularly formidable. Now that over three thousand years have passed, we have grown very strong."
Li Xiaoke looked at the other's corpse and said nothing.
The Son of Heaven looked at Li Xiaoke's pale face, and both felt a chill of desolation in their hearts.
As they were now, they might not be much stronger than they had been three thousand years ago.
Li Xiaoke asked, "Who was that fellow with the venomous tumor on his head?"
The Son of Heaven shook his head. "I do not know. But judging by the radiance bursting from his soul, he should be an old acquaintance of mine. Still, he shouldn't have appeared here."
His expression was peculiar. Remembering the various mystical anomalies of Xu Ying's soul, he found the matter utterly incomprehensible.
Li Xiaoke said, "He also reminded me of an old acquaintance. My injuries are connected to him."
His face darkened, and he said coldly, "Qing Nang hunting me down is one thing, but to think even that wretch dares pursue me! Insolent brat!"
He was deeply incensed. Since antiquity, Xu Ying had never been any sort of powerhouse, always remaining at the mercy of others, bullied and trampled.
Though Xu Ying bore the title of the ageless immortal, he was ultimately just a mortal with no real strength. Every time Li Xiaoke saw him, he was being slaughtered like fish or treated as prey.
Back then, Li Xiaoke had also secretly captured Xu Ying to conduct experiments on immortality. Who could have expected Xu Ying to set a trap for him in the Land of Heavenly Dao, reducing his three-thousand-year foundation to ruins, destroying his reputation, and severely damaging his cultivation!
And now, Xu Ying actually dared to hunt him down here!
The Son of Heaven led his entourage up the mountain and said, "Brother Xiaoke, once we find the immortal medicine later, let me take it first. If the wounds on my physical body can be healed, I can return to my flesh. With my strength as an immortal, I will surely be able to lead you in carving a path out of here."
Li Xiaoke shook his head. "If you could fight your way out alone, you would have done so three thousand years ago instead of relying on me to carry you out on my back. Your Majesty, my cultivation and strength are greater; I was merely gravely injured by Qing Nang and the others and hard-pressed while fleeing for my life. If I can recover with the immortal medicine, I can certainly escort Your Majesty safely away!"
The Son of Heaven laughed heartily. "We are still far from obtaining the immortal medicine, and there might not even be any on the mountain."
Li Xiaoke's eyes flickered, and he smiled. "Brother Dao speaks the truth. How precious is immortal medicine? This is merely a grand tomb; how could there be any? If there truly were medicine that could grant immortality, wouldn't the tomb's master have taken it himself?"
The two looked at each other and laughed aloud.
Xu Ying sat beneath Wu Tianzun's corpse, motionless for a long time. Suddenly, the Five-Colored Mountain shook violently once more.
Xu Ying's heart stirred. Looking from afar, five-colored qi surged and billowed, pouring down from the mountain, making the vegetation across the slopes grow ever more lush. At the summit, five-colored light steamed, and colossal chains were drawn out from the body of the mountain like the bodies of dragons, winding around the mountain and gradually tightening.
Looking into the distance, Xu Ying vaguely saw a jade coffin rising from the place where the radiant flames surged. He could only see the top of the coffin, unable to view it in full. Above the coffin, the reviving immortal corpses grew increasingly powerful, their formation churning, seemingly suppressing the corpse within the coffin to keep it from coming back to life!
Around the coffin, the massive seal formed by Immortal Dao runes hummed and droned, the Great Dao roaring, causing even more five-colored qi to pour forth!
*Could this coffin belong to that legendary Great Emperor buried in Mount Jiuyi?*
Xu Ying was filled with doubt and astonishment. Legend had it that when that Great Emperor was laid to rest, the peaks of the Hundred Thousand Mountains tilted toward his burial site, creating the spectacle of the Hundred Thousand Mountains honoring Jiuyi!
Could it be that the Great Emperor was not buried in Mount Jiuyi, but in the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain beneath it?
Moreover, this manner of burial did not look like a normal internment. Instead, it seemed that after the Great Emperor died, those who buried him feared he would return to life and suppressed his corpse for eternity!
To suppress him, they had not even hesitated to deploy the corpses of so many immortals!
"I can't wait any longer!"
Xu Ying gritted his teeth, hoisted the broken door onto his shoulder, and walked straight toward the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain. He murmured, "The appearance of the emperor's coffin means it will definitely be suppressed again, which indicates it has gathered strength in an attempt to break through the suppression. The iron chains tightening around the Five-Colored Mountain and the immortals floating in the sky show that the struggle between both sides has reached its limit!"
He strode to the foot of the mountain and muttered to himself, "They must have clashed countless times. If the emperor's coffin fails to break through the suppression this time, it will be driven back into the mountain and sink into silence again. Then the five-colored yuan qi will likely return into the mountain, and these exotic plants will probably wither as well."
He had to seize the moment during their struggle to harvest the immortal medicine on the mountain!
Xu Ying rushed to the base of the mountain, set up the broken door across the gale wall, pushed it open, and stepped into the Five-Colored Mountain the next instant.
Inside the mountain, the five-colored yuan qi was unfathomably dense. Xu Ying inhaled deeply, and the hair across his entire body suddenly grew wildly, turning him into what looked like a savage in a breath.
*What kind of yuan qi is this? The power contained within is so immense and pure!*
Xu Ying was both shocked and overjoyed. Nourished by this yuan qi, even without practicing any mental technique, merely breathing it in could strengthen the body, granting dozens of times the physical power of an ordinary person!
If one knew how to cultivate, it would be like a fish taking to water!
*Could this be the heaven and earth yuan qi of the Taichu World? The Taichu World's heaven and earth yuan qi shouldn't be so concentrated; someone must have gathered it, refined it into five-colored qi, and sealed it here.*
Xu Ying pushed the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique to its absolute limit. His movement speed instantly broke through the sound barrier, reaching over ten times the speed of sound as he dashed up the Five-Colored Mountain!
Behind him, the withered bones nourished by the five-colored qi sprouted even more flesh and blood, giving chase, but they could not even come close to catching him.
*Wait, I forgot to shut the door!*
Reaching a mountain col, Xu Ying suddenly realized the portal was still open. But an immortal plant caught his eye ahead; unable to stop and think, he sprinted straight toward it.
At the foot of the mountain, five-colored qi surged and poured out through the broken door.
The gale wall encircling the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain served not only to keep intruders out, but also to prevent the mountain's five-colored qi from escaping.
Yet no one could have anticipated that Xu Ying would place the door here, opening a breach in the gale wall.
As the five-colored qi spread, the withered bones collapsed around the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain rattled and stood up one by one wherever it passed, moving like marionettes. Some picked up their arm bones from the ground and fitted them onto themselves; some grabbed the bones of other skeletons to attach to their own frames; and some skeletons brawled and wrestled over a single bone.
The five-colored qi drifted further away. Wherever it reached, all things revived; the originally barren and desolate primordial battlefield turned lush and green, with stands of trees rising and vibrant grasses flourishing.
Even the white bones of birds burrowed out from beneath the ground, flapping their skeletal wings, which gradually grew flesh and sprouted feathers. After a short while, the birds spread their wings and soared, filling the surroundings with birdsong and fragrant blossoms.
The five-colored qi expanded across an ever wider expanse, gradually reaching a pair of feet.
Suddenly, the feet moved.
Before the broken door, a skeleton that had sprouted flesh and blood poked its head out, peering around with lidless eyeballs. Right then, a large hand clamped onto its face and hoisted it up.
Behind the door, the other skeletons backed away in sheer terror at the sight.
Wu Tianzun's face was calm as an ancient well. Exerting a slight force on the skeleton's face, the skull burst with a pop, splattering blood and gore.
The other skeletons shrieked in horror and scattered in all directions.
They were the withered bones of Qi Refiners who had ventured here in search of treasure, only to die after failing to breach the gale wall. The five-colored qi had not truly resurrected them; their souls and divine senses had long since dispersed. Even if they grew flesh and regained heartbeats, they were merely walking corpses without self-awareness.
Influenced by the Netherworld and the primordial battlefield, they knew only slaughter and the theft of others' souls and yang qi. Now encountering someone even more ferocious, they fled in terror.
Wu Tianzun strode through the broken door, a low murmur issuing from his throat.
"Xu Ying."
He uttered the simple syllables, raising his head toward the mountain peak.
Xu Ying arrived at the col and saw an immortal tree radiating streams of auspicious vapor, with several red fruits hanging among its branches and leaves. Beneath the tree lay several gigantic corpses, one of which was human—judging by his appearance, a disciple of Li Xiaoke.
Half of his body had expanded rapidly while the other half had not, causing him to burst and die. Yet the enlarged half was exceptionally powerful, possessing the Dao image form of an ancient behemoth!
*The energy in these immortal fruits is too terrifying, and the power of the Dao images is too strong. The physical body of a Qi Refiner or ghost god couldn't bear it and exploded,* Xu Ying thought as he examined the other corpses.
Natural Dao images flowed within the red fruits; consuming this immortal medicine would naturally allow one to comprehend the divine powers within.
Within one of the fruits, thunderbolts churned, and inside stood a figure with a bird's head, human body, and wings on its back. This was a Dao image; consuming this fruit would allow one to transform into a god with a bird's head and human body, possessing extraordinary divine power and commanding thunder.
*This innate divine power cannot be voluntarily controlled. Once transformed, one probably can't change back.*
Xu Ying hesitated. To harvest the fruit, he would first need to break through the auspicious vapor before he could approach the immortal tree.
Just then, rumblings echoed from up the mountain. Iron chains clattered loudly, and the mountain trembled violently. Xu Ying looked up to see five-colored light erupting once more at the summit, shooting into the sky like a volcano!
The jade coffin had risen even higher, half of it now visible! Vaguely, a figure could be seen lying within!
In the sky, the light radiating from the immortal corpses pressed down so heavily that fissures cracked across the heavens, shocking to behold. Through those cracks, another world could faintly be seen!
Even beyond the heavens, in that other world, Xu Ying could see towering figures shrouded in immortal light, channeling immortal power and driving a bizarre technique, casting magic across a world to suppress the jade coffin!
A strange bird call echoed in Xu Ying's ear, like countless birds chirping. His divine sense, yuan qi, and Golden Core instantly fell silent, showing no signs of activity.
Any images of the Great Dao he had comprehended grew dim and obscure. His six secret depositories also closed one by one, yielding not a trace of immortal medicine!
*Powerful figures from another world are personally driving Immortal Dao runes to seal that jade coffin!*
Xu Ying understood at once. Looking up, he saw that he wasn't the only one whose yuan qi and divine sense were suppressed—the Nether Court's judges and ghost kings also had their magic suppressed, unable even to tap into incense smoke qi, plummeting from the sky!
Li Xiaoke's disciples were also falling into danger; without yuan qi, divine sense, or Golden Cores, their strength was mediocre.
Li Xiaoke and the Son of Heaven weren't faring well either. The Son of Heaven had opened his coffin and entered his corpse, using this immortal corpse to resist the suppression! Behind Li Xiaoke, cave-heavens of various sizes opened, yet flickered erratically, some being suppressed from time to time!
"Look at the jade coffin!" the Son of Heaven cried out in pleasant surprise. "Is that immortal medicine?"
Xu Ying looked toward the jade coffin and indeed saw a purple immortal plant growing in the crevices of the jade coffin. It had no flowers or fruit, only a few sparse leaves.
"Want to suppress my cultivation? The Martial Dao cannot be suppressed!"
Xu Ying roared, surging his vital blood to fill his whole body. Instantly, an immense power erupted once more. Channeling the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique, he turned into a streak of flowing light, heading straight for the jade coffin at the mountain summit!
The martial essence he had honed and comprehended over several months could finally be put to use!
Li Xiaoke and the Son of Heaven possessed the highest cultivation and had long abandoned their disciples and ghost gods. The two were almost neck-and-neck as they rushed toward the peak. Suddenly, they heard a strange whistling sound. Looking back, they saw Xu Ying tearing through layers of sonic booms, like a humanoid dragon barreling straight toward them!
The two were both shocked and overjoyed. "The little bastard delivered himself right to our doorstep!"
Without hesitation, Li Xiaoke gathered his remaining magic power into sword qi. With a flick of his wrist, sword qi filled the sky, raining down from above and shooting toward Xu Ying!
He laughed aloud, "Xu Ying, even if I am suppressed by the Immortal Dao, even if I have yet to recover from grave injuries, killing you is still child's play!"
Before his voice faded, cracking explosions rang out without end! Xu Ying stepped through the empty air, unleashing a flurry of fists and kicks, generating bursts of thunderous sound as he shattered the sword qi piece by piece! The next moment, Xu Ying was right before him. With a single move of the Dao-Returning Method, ten thousand Daos joined as one, turning into an earth-shaking palm print that struck straight at Li Xiaoke!
Li Xiaoke's shock and joy turned into pure terror. Unable to change his move, he frantically gathered his remaining cultivation to meet it. Immediately, he felt a bizarre power within his opponent's body—like pure vital blood mingled with an unyielding spirit and mind, impervious to the suppression of the Immortal Dao!
This power smashed into him like a hundred thousand brutal dragons!
His vision spun, and he flew backward, crashing into the cliff face with a thunderous boom, dust rising on all sides. His mind went blank: *How is he not suppressed by the Immortal Dao?!*
Blasting Li Xiaoke away with a single blow, Xu Ying charged at the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court.
He roared, the sounds of the Martial Dao echoing within him as his muscles and bones resonated in unison. His oppressive aura bore down, his figure towering, possessing momentum capable of slaying heavenly gods!
"Your Majesty, have you ever witnessed the realm of the Ninety Thousand Folds of Xiantian in the Martial Dao?"
Chapter 186