Xu Ying arrived before the Palace of Heavenly Gods, only to find the place in absolute ruins. Broken stone statues lay strewn everywhere, and rotting flesh clung to the mountainside.
The area was saturated with the aura of the Heavenly Dao, making bizarre chants echo in the minds of anyone present, threatening to drive them to madness and insanity.
The bronze bell rang out with steady clangs, using the resonant sound of its own Dao image to counter the interference of the Heavenly Dao so that Xu Ying and the others would not have their minds warped by it.
"This looks like the flesh of that outer god from the Land of Heaven's Scourge."
Xu Ying crouched down to inspect a piece of rotting flesh on the ground. It had been struck by a Heavenly Dao divine ability, extinguishing every trace of its life force.
"He was supposed to be a heavenly god who descended to the mortal world. Why would he clash with the Palace of Heavenly Gods?"
Back in the Land of Heaven's Scourge, Xu Ying had captured a pagoda-shaped monster spawned from that outer god's flesh—a pagoda studded with eyes—so he was no stranger to that entity.
That outer god had once been the High God Tianshu of the Heavenly Dao world. Part of the Tianshu runes Xu Ying possessed had come from him, and part from the current High God Tianshu.
To Xu Ying, however, both High Gods of Tianshu were practically illiterate; the Heavenly Dao runes across their bodies were riddled with errors.
"Could it be that the heavenly gods of the Palace of Heavenly Gods captured the outer god Tianshu and brought him here for execution?"
Xu Ying walked through the gates of the Palace of Heavenly Gods. The doors were still there, but only the frame remained.
Inside the hall, this once-magnificent ascension site had been battered into fragments. The sky above looked as if it had been scorched by fire, tinged with crimson blood, and in some places, red flesh could even be seen clinging to the firmament.
The towering divine tree within the hall was snapped in two, its massive canopy collapsed, with countless boulders and chunks of flesh tumbling into the abyss below.
Xu Ying walked down a central path flanked on both sides by sheer precipices.
This walkway had also been shattered into discontinuous sections, forming a series of broken bridges that could collapse at any moment and send someone plunging into the bottomless chasm.
The Heavenly Dao interference grew even stronger here, but the bronze bell was not what it used to be. Its deep chimes rang out, and neither Xu Ying nor Yuan Qi felt the slightest discomfort.
*Lord Bell really is far more formidable than before,* Xu Ying thought admiringly.
From beneath the cliffs on both sides, bright beams of light flashed from time to time. These were flesh pagodas spawned from the outer god's flesh; their eyes shot rays of light, slaughtering the withered bones at the bottom of the ravines.
Those withered bones belonged to people who had died in the Palace of Heavenly Gods.
Driven mad by the Heavenly Dao's interference, they had met violent ends and turned into skeletons, yet they were unaware they were dead and still struggled at the bottom of the cliffs.
Those capable of dying within the Palace of Heavenly Gods were no ordinary folk; they were all Nuo masters and Qi Refiners who, across the ages, had attempted to breach the Netherworld from here. Even in death, their strength remained formidable.
They pounced upon the flesh pagodas, tearing at their flesh and draping the bloody shreds over their own bones.
Yuan Qi shuddered several times in a row and muttered, "What happened here?"
Xu Ying observed their surroundings and deduced, "The gods of the Palace of Heavenly Gods were likely attacked by the outer god Tianshu. Since they couldn't descend in their true bodies, they could only project a portion of their power into the stone statues or manifest part of their forms. Both sides were fairly evenly matched, but the outer god was stronger, wiping out the orthodox heavenly gods to the last. No wonder those heavenly gods haven't come looking for trouble with me lately."
He had previously wondered why things had been so peaceful recently. As it turned out, someone had raided the nest of the Palace of Heavenly Gods, preventing the deities from descending.
Xu Ying praised, "This outer god is quite the lone hero, taking on the Palace of Heavenly Gods single-handedly. Truly admirable."
Little did he know that the outer god Tianshu had originally come only to ransack the palace's headquarters. He never could have anticipated that Jin Buyi had already wiped out the statues of the Zhou Heavenly Orthodox Gods moments earlier.
The orthodox gods had been forced to descend once more into new stone statues through the Palace of Heavenly Gods, only for the outer god Tianshu to arrive right at that moment to sack the place.
When the two sides collided, an earth-shattering slaughter was inevitable.
Xu Ying walked out of the Palace of Heavenly Gods into the mortal world. Sunlight shone down, revealing countless withered trees before their eyes.
The ground was carpeted with dead grass, and animal bones littered the distance. Xu Ying gazed further out, only to find the surrounding mountains stripped of all greenery; everything had withered and died.
"Ah Ying, what is going on?" Yuan Qi asked, alarmed and bewildered.
Xu Ying's face darkened. He leaped into the air, standing aloft to survey the surroundings, only to see that the lands further out were equally desolate and lifeless, devoid of any sign of life.
Distant rivers were dried up, fish and shrimp had perished, and birds and beasts were nowhere to be found.
"The outer god Tianshu isn't dead yet," he said softly.
Yuan Qi flew up beside him, his heart chilling at those words. The outer god Tianshu had once been suppressed in the Land of Heaven's Scourge, where he had used his powerful Heavenly Dao will to establish contact with Li Xiaoke, who was desperate for power, and lured him into making sacrifices.
Following that communion, Li Xiaoke had brought tens of thousands of commoners and countless beasts from around Jiulong Mountain, allowing the outer god Tianshu to amass terrifying power. He then used his own flesh to blanket the descendants of the sinners who had suppressed him, devouring them all!
He had disassembled himself into countless pieces of flesh, blanketing the earth like lichen and devouring almost all the heaven-and-earth yuan qi to restore his strength!
And now, having suffered even graver injuries in the battle at the Palace of Heavenly Gods, he had resorted to the same trick to recover: devouring Shenzhou!
*If the outer god Tianshu keeps this up, he will destroy all of Shenzhou!* Yuan Qi thought to himself.
Xu Ying flew along the trail of desolation, passing over a hamlet. He descended to take a look, finding no livestock, no living humans—only human skeletons.
Judging by the contortions of the bones, they had struggled violently before death, yet had found no escape.
The elderly, women, children—none had been spared.
"A beast like this dares claim mastery over the Heavenly Dao!"
Xu Ying was consumed by rage. With a sudden spring, his body turned into a rainbow streak tearing through the sky. Yuan Qi and the bronze bell hurried to follow, yet they could not match his speed.
Xu Ying pushed the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique to its limits, moving with breathtaking swiftness!
Yuan Qi and the bronze bell gave chase for a good while before spotting the streak of rainbow light left by Xu Ying landing in a city below. They rushed down after him.
The city was dead silent. Not a single living thing moved, not even a rat.
Skeletons lay strewn haphazardly across the streets—bleak and eerie.
***
Bozhou, Longtou Slope.
A father and son were drying grain at the foot of the hill when a rumbling sound suddenly rolled in. They looked up, but saw nothing amiss.
Ever since the Netherworld invaded, earth tremors had become common. Sometimes a massive mountain would appear out of nowhere, and other times a long river would emerge; the two had long grown accustomed to it.
"We've finally had a few peaceful years, and nobody makes you pay imperial grain tax for farming anymore," the father said with a smile. "The only trouble is finding a wife. You have to travel a hundred li to find a girl from another village. Give it a couple more years, and I'll arrange a matchmaker for you."
The young boy had grander ambitions and replied, "Dad, I don't want to start a family yet. I heard there are Qi Refiners over by Tonggu Mountain who live on the high peaks and can fly like immortals. I want to become a Qi Refiner and learn spells."
Just as the father was about to speak, his expression changed drastically. Staring toward Longtou Slope, he saw a flood of flesh tens of zhang high cresting the ridge and flowing toward them!
The torrent of flesh swallowed Longtou Slope whole, rumbling loudly as it advanced, engulfing everything in its path!
"Run!"
Father and son bolted toward the village. Pandemonium had already erupted inside, with men, women, young, and old fleeing into their homes, peering through window frames in terror at the rapidly approaching torrent of flesh.
Before this deluge, their houses were like paper, ready to be crushed to dust without the slightest effort.
"Let's run," someone whispered.
Yet how could they possibly outrun such a terrifying flood of flesh?
As the torrent reached the village and was about to pulverize it into dust, crisp chimes of sword qi suddenly rang out, and a figure descended from the heavens, planting itself firmly into the ground before the village!
It was a youth dressed in black with a red sash. He raised a palm, and crisscrossing sword light flared outward as countless beams of sword qi, carrying the supreme might of the Sword Dao, whistled through the flood of flesh!
The torrent came to an abrupt halt and suddenly fractured, massive chunks of flesh crashing down and shattering into countless pieces!
The flesh still writhed, trying to reconnect, but the sword qi employed an immortal Sword Dao and struck precisely at its vulnerabilities, shattering the Heavenly Dao runes within and severing its vitality.
Soon, every fragment of flesh lost its vitality, stiffening and dying where it lay.
Thousands of dazzling sword rays burst forth from the meat, fanning out like a peacock's tail behind the black-robed youth before snapping shut and vanishing into his body.
The villagers stared wide-eyed as the youth leaped into the air, rising hundreds of zhang high and hovering there.
In the distance, a sheet of flesh spanning a hundred li took to the skies, soaring through the heavens like a giant manta ray.
The black-robed youth threw a distant punch. The sky boomed like thunder, rattling the window frames of the houses below.
Far away, the winged torrent of flesh exploded with a deafening roar.
The black-robed youth sprang forward, transforming into a streak of rainbow light that pierced the sky.
The villagers emerged from their houses and looked up, but the youth was already gone. Just then, a large bell and a giant snake swept past through the air, and the snake could be heard shouting, "Lord Bell, wait! Let me collect some outer god flesh! I haven't eaten an outer god's..."
The villagers stood dazed as the bell and the serpent also disappeared beyond the horizon.
Xu Ying sped onward. Ahead, within the Yungui Hundred Thousand Mountains, clouds of flesh suddenly rose into the air like flying manta rays, all heading toward the same location.
Clearly, the outer god Tianshu had amassed some energy by devouring living beings and had split himself many times. His injuries were severe; after routing the Palace of Heavenly Gods, he had been reduced to a single piece of flesh to escape.
He had used that piece of flesh to feed and grow along the way. Hiding in the sparsely populated Hundred Thousand Mountains, he had managed to recover over several months.
This time, sensing that two pieces of his flesh had been obliterated, he knew a formidable foe had arrived and thus recalled these avatars.
In the air, clouds of flesh whirled and spiraled downward like a vortex.
By the time Xu Ying arrived before it, the last cloud of flesh plunged into the vortex. Ultimately, all the flesh vanished, leaving only a strange-looking man standing there, glaring toward Xu Ying.
Behind him seemed to be countless shadows, as if an innumerable host of himself stood there.
At the same time, popping sounds echoed across the sky around Xu Ying as fleshy orbs descended, each opening into an eye.
The outer god Tianshu.
Xu Ying paid them no heed. Without slowing his pace, he charged forward, sword qi gleaming brightly in his hand.
From a distance, he unleashed a sword technique, thrusting toward the outer god Tianshu. In an instant, countless sword lights streaked through the air, some fast and some slow, assailing the outer god Tianshu with the indestructible might of the Sword Dao!
The Sword Form of the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art!
The outer god Tianshu stood motionless as countless arms suddenly burst from behind him, executing various Heavenly Dao hand seals to meet the sword lights, whether swift or slow!
Both traded lightning-fast strikes, and the outer god Tianshu managed to intercept every single sword light!
Xu Ying's technique shifted into the Dao Form. A boundless circle faintly manifested around him as the heaven-and-earth yuan qi surged furiously, mobilized by him to augment the power of this strike!
The countless figures behind the outer god Tianshu suddenly fused into one, and he raised a hand, jabbing a single finger toward the sword's tip!
Boundless power erupted between the sword tip and the fingertip, yet this force was confined entirely to a single point. Terrifying power surged into both combatants' bodies, instantly shattering Xu Ying's state of unity between heaven and man, preventing him from borrowing the Dao of heaven and earth any further.
Countless copies of the outer god Tianshu appeared behind him, each grunting in succession as blood seeped from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, distributing the force of Xu Ying's strike across innumerable selves.
Xu Ying sidestepped forward, closing the distance to a single sword's length, his sword light shifting to target the outer god's glabella.
The outer god Tianshu's body blurred, manifesting countless versions of himself once more.
Xu Ying's sword tip shook, similarly producing countless rays of sword light before snapping together into a solitary, chilling gleam.
A single point of cold light pierced the outer god Tianshu's glabella.
In that brief instant, he had executed both the Return Form and the Truth Form of the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art.
A bloody line suddenly appeared on the foreheads of every outer god Tianshu. The mark widened, piercing through their brows and bursting out the backs of their heads.
The outer god Tianshu stood blankly, a look of bewilderment on his face.
"Your understanding of Heavenly Dao runes isn't even as deep as mine," Xu Ying said indifferently, dispersing the sword qi in his hand. "Compared to Mount Shu's Founding Patriarch, you fall far short."
All the bodies of the outer god Tianshu fused into one. His frame wobbled, and he collapsed to the ground, quickly rotting away into a mound of putrid flesh.
Yuan Qi and the bronze bell caught up and witnessed this from afar, deeply shaken. *Is an immortal sword technique truly this terrifying?*
Xu Ying drifted away, and the bronze bell and Yuan Qi hastily followed.
A long time passed before the putrid flesh on the ground twitched. A moment later, the rotting meat split open, and an utterly feeble outer god Tianshu crawled out, murmuring softly, "That was close..."
*Swoosh!*
A brilliantly dazzling sword light suddenly struck! The outer god Tianshu's eyes bulged in disbelief, only to see Xu Ying's excited face right behind the sword light!
*Boom!*
The sword light pierced the outer god Tianshu's glabella, unleashing terrifying power that tore him to shreds!
Xu Ying landed, withdrew his sword, and activated a Heavenly Dao divine ability. In the sky above, eyes suddenly materialized, scanning in every direction.
Xu Ying quietly concealed his presence and continued to wait patiently. Behind him, Yuan Qi and the bronze bell did not dare breathe a single breath.
The purple immortal plant also shivered, thinking to itself, *Right, best never to offend this brat in the future...*
Chapter 223