Feng Xian'er arrived before Xu Fu and could not help but frown.
A gaping hole was torn open in Xu Fu's forehead. Peering inside, there was no brain matter or marrow, only a sheet of radiance. Yet he was not dead; he was still breathing.
The Immortal Seal hanging high in the sky possessed terrifying might, having struck Xu Fu twice.
Judging by its power, an ordinary Ascension-stage Qi Refiner would have perished from a single strike, let alone two. That was an immortal artifact meant to suppress Kunlun!
Striking twice had merely punctured his forehead without smashing him to pieces, which was testament enough to Xu Fu's strength.
Yet his forehead was also his fatal weakness. Four thousand years ago in the overseas demonic realm, Xu Ying had struck this very spot to slay him. Today, the Immortal Seal had struck the exact same place, with power far greater than Xu Ying's strike back then.
Feng Xian'er inspected him and found a heartbeat, breath, and an intact Primordial Spirit—yet that Primordial Spirit seemed to lack a soul.
"Ancestor Xu!" Feng Xian'er called out.
Xu Fu moved his eyes to look at her, but there was not a trace of luster in them.
"Ancestor Xu, do you still remember me?" Feng Xian'er asked.
Xu Fu's gaze was entirely blank.
He had overcome the heavenly tribulation and ought to have been an immortal, yet now he seemed reduced to an empty husk.
Feng Xian'er could not stop her tears from falling. Unlike Xu Ying, who regarded Xu Fu as a villainous, unyielding reactionary, she saw Xu Fu as the savior of Qi Refiners.
She had been sealed away for three thousand years. When she awoke, the path of Qi Refinement had waned while the Nuo methods flourished; practicing Qi Refinement made one an outcast.
It was Xu Fu who had employed countless schemes and wisdom to restore Qi Refiners to dominance, and it was he who had exposed the man-eating truth of the Nuo methods so that those leek-harvesters and anglers could no longer easily reap the world. The villain in Xu Ying's eyes was a hero in her heart.
In the sky, a colossal head plummeted—the severed head of High God Tianguang.
The moment it hit the ground, eight legs sprouted beneath its neck, and it rose to its feet, charging toward Feng Xian'er and Xu Fu!
His head had been cleaved away by the Tai'e Sword, yet he remained alive, his might still staggering!
Feng Xian'er rushed forward to meet him, crying, "Ancestor Xu, I am no match for him! If you are still alive, come help me!"
High God Tianguang burst into raucous laughter, his lust flaring. "Little girl, surrender to me, and I might make you my bedchamber maid!"
Feng Xian'er struggled desperately, her position precarious beneath the head's assault. Divine light shot from High God Tianguang's eyes with sizzling hisses, carving even the void apart as he cackled, "Little girl, come warm Grandpa Tianguang's bed!"
Feng Xian'er cried aloud, "Ancestor Xu! If you still don't act, he's going to drag me off to warm his bed!"
Yet Xu Fu remained slumped where he was, his body like withered wood and his heart like dead ashes.
Feng Xian'er let out a sigh. High God Tianguang's massive head lunged forward, barking, "What's the use of crying out to a dead man? If you call out to me—"
Feng Xian'er's body suddenly whirled around. Shedding her maiden form, she transformed into a seven-colored phoenix. She took flight with a beat of her wings, talons shooting out to seize High God Tianguang's eyes, body, and mouth, clawing his eyes blind. Her beak immediately pecked down. Before the stunned god could react, a dull thud sounded as his skull cracked open.
Surging divine flames poured like a waterfall from Feng Xian'er's beak into the god's head.
Moments later, fire came jetting out through his eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils.
According to the Records of Gods and Fiends, heavenly gods and heavenly fiends were mortal enemies locked in unending strife, yet only the phoenix could prey upon them. Though Feng Xian'er had not fully matured, she was already capable of matching ordinary heavenly gods and fiends.
Having burned Tianguang to death, she beat her wings and soared into the sky, letting out a mournful cry.
New heavenly gods continually squeezed out from the void, ruthlessly striking down at everyone below. The majesty of the Heavenly Dao grew ever heavier, gradually warping their minds. Even Xu Ying, who was well versed in Heavenly Dao runes, was swayed by the Heavenly Dao's will.
More and more heavenly gods filled the sky and earth, activating their Heavenly Dao divine artifacts to besiege Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang.
Mechanical voices resonated from the divine artifacts one after another:
"Heavenly Discipline possesses no authority to administer punishment."
"Heavenly Law possesses no authority to administer punishment."
"Heavenly Punishment possesses no authority to administer punishment."
"Heavenly Prison possesses no authority to administer punishment."
The gods recalled their divine artifacts in succession and engaged Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang in hand-to-hand combat.
Elsewhere, High God Tiangang activated his Heavenly Bonds divine artifact. It unfolded like folding screens inscribed with the Heavenly Dao's constant virtues—ruler and subject, father and son—trapping Zulong within. High God Tiantiao deployed the Heavenly Statutes divine artifact like an umbrella canopy, its streaks of divine statutes bearing down. With the Heavenly Statutes above and the Heavenly Bonds at his flanks, Zulong had nowhere to retreat.
Several dozen other heavenly gods raised their divine artifacts together to suppress Zulong!
On another front, Martial Emperor Shen knocked the Immortal Seal flying, on the verge of driving it back into the Immortal Realm. Suddenly, an immortal light-swathed hand flew forth and planted itself on the seal. The Immortal Seal erupted with terrifying might and surged forward rather than retreating, bearing down upon Martial Emperor Shen.
Qiao Zizhong drove the Twenty-Four Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads aloft to intercept the Immortal Seal on Martial Emperor Shen's behalf, hoping to buy him a moment to catch his breath.
"Sect Master, Mount Emei's arithmetic is immortal arithmetic, second to no immortal dao!" Qiao Zizhong roared, pushing the twenty-four bright beads to their absolute limit. Yet the next instant, bright moons burst one after another, and mountains and rivers shattered entirely!
Blood trickled from Qiao Zizhong's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as he struggled to resist, but the Immortal Seal had already descended above them.
Mount Emei's arithmetic yields to no one! Clinging to this conviction, Qiao Zizhong fought with everything he had against the seal.
Martial Emperor Shen bellowed, bracing both hands to hoist the Immortal Seal. Yet heavenly gods descended in droves, joining forces with that immortal hand to drive the seal down.
His bones snapped and popped under the immense weight. The seal bent his arms, forcing him to tilt his head and brace it with his shoulders.
The seal bowed his spine and kept pressing downward, causing his skin to rupture and mist into blood, his skeleton pushed beyond its breaking point.
Tian Ting and Tian Shi had trapped the Son of Heaven of Zhou; Tianfeng and Tianlei pinned down the big bell, Yuan Qi, and Palace Master Zhang of Shangqing Palace; Feng Yao and Qingluan were encircled by gods as well. The Plague God and several other deities closed in on Fairy Qingbi, while Lu Wu was hemmed in by six heavenly gods.
Everyone had reached the end of their ropes, possessing no strength left to fight back.
Yuzhu Peak and Yuxu Peak stood opposite each other, east and west. At that moment, a diminutive deity bearing nine tiger heads wagged its tail and trotted into the ocean of the Queen Mother of the West's divine power and divine consciousness on Yuzhu Peak.
It bounded nimbly through the vast sea, trotting until it arrived beneath a huabiao pillar. Looking up, it saw immortal corpses floating in the sky.
The shockwaves from the vicious battle on Yuxu Peak rolled over, shaking the immortal formation composed of corpses and pillars.
Because the Immortal Seal had been diverted, the force suppressing the Queen Mother of the West's divine power was diminished, causing the tremors here to grow increasingly violent.
The tiger-headed deity observed for a moment, then leapt nimbly from one huabiao pillar to another, seizing the moment of instability in the corpse formation to spring into the sky.
Roar!
The diminutive deity shook its body, its heads swelling to the size of mountains. It clamped its jaws shut, catching nine immortal corpses and gulping them down!
It landed, yet its body grew larger and larger, towering like a mountain as it strode through the Queen Mother of the West's sea of divine power!
Roar!
The nine heads of the divine beast Kaiming roared, churning the ocean of divine power into greater turmoil. Lightning crackled across the expanse, and with a sharp crack, a huabiao pillar was smashed to pieces!
The immortal corpses could no longer maintain their formation. Swept by the tempestuous waves, they were flung away amidst howling winds.
At the same time, pillar after pillar snapped and was drawn into the storm!
Above the Jade Pool, immortal swords vibrated furiously, raining down sword light. The power of that immortal sword formation was pushed to its zenith in an attempt to sever whatever was unfolding at the heart of the sea of divine power!
Yet amidst the tempest of divine power, the faint figure of a woman emerged, walking outward through the storm.
On Yuxu Peak, just as everyone was about to perish under the siege of the gods, the heavenly gods abruptly ceased their attacks and turned toward Yuzhu Peak in alarm and bewilderment.
"Disaster!"
High God Tiangang's expression warped with sheer terror. He frantically shrank his body back toward the Heavenly Dao world, screeching, "Disaster! That old woman is coming out!"
The other heavenly gods showed equal dread. Abandoning their assault on Martial Emperor Shen, Zulong, and the rest, they retreated into the Heavenly Dao world.
"Kunlun's Mother of Gods has awakened!"
A vast, profound aura of the Heavenly Dao radiated from Yuzhu Peak, purer than that of any god from the Heavenly Dao world. It was the divine power of the Mother of Gods stirring. Her ancient consciousness shook the worldly Great Dao, striking a nameless dread into the heavenly gods and leaving them terrified to linger.
In an instant, the gods shrank away, gathering their divine artifacts and fleeing without a second's hesitation.
"Who mobilized the Immortal Seal and freed the Mother of Gods?!"
As they scrambled backward, a voice shouted, "This isn't our fault! Blame the immortal who drove the Immortal Seal! If he hadn't used it, she wouldn't have escaped!"
Other gods chimed in, "Have the higher immortals take his head! Why should we be dragged down with him?!"
The hand clutching the Immortal Seal hesitated, then let go and drew back into the Immortal Realm.
The Ministry of Works immortal official slowly retracted his hand. It had been he who drove the seal just now, nearly slaying Martial Emperor Shen and Qiao Zizhong.
The Queen Mother of the West escaping her suppression was a catastrophe far greater than the death of an Imperial Sovereign's descendant! In comparison, the demise of a mere scion was nothing.
But the problem now was: what should I do? Frame Tianji again?
The official's expression shifted erratically. Tianji already bears enough blame, and this matter is too immense. It will likely trace back to me... Better to make a run for it and claim I'm descending to hunt rebels...
Xu Ying, Zulong, the Son of Heaven of Zhou, Qiao Zizhong, and the others had fought drenched in blood. Suddenly finding the pressure gone, they looked up to see the gods retreating, leaving only the Immortal Seal hovering in the sky.
Moments later, a massive hand reached down, grabbed the seal, and withdrew. The Immortal Seal over Yuxu Peak vanished without a trace.
Xu Ying turned toward Yuzhu Peak, where divine light surged and arcs of immortal sword qi descended from the sky. His heart stirred. Could the Queen Mother of the West have awakened?
Just then, Feng Xian'er flew over, bowing to him. "Young Master Xu, please save Ancestor Xu!"
On Yuzhu Peak, sharp whooshes sliced through the air, converging on the woman at the center of the divine ocean.
The sheng coronet atop her head blazed with radiance, meeting the descending sword light. She walked gracefully through the storm as divine power and consciousness surged around her like howling winds, sweeping into her body.
She raised a hand, drew a hairpin from her hair, and swept it toward the sword formation in the sky.
The formation suspended beneath the jade-like cave-heaven immediately fell into disarray. Swords clinked and chimed in an attempt to stabilize the array, but as the hairpin slashed across again, one immortal sword could not withstand the terrifying divine might and snapped with a sharp crack.
With the array broken, the remaining immortal swords abandoned their posts, darting away like startled fish.
The hairpin pursued them, snapping eight more immortal swords before flying back.
The ocean of divine power and consciousness on Yuzhu Peak roared, all of it absorbed into the woman's body.
The divine beast Kaiming's nine tiger heads towered like mountain peaks. Letting out an earth-shaking roar, it strode toward the woman and slowly lowered its heads.
The woman gently stroked its brow. Utterly docile, the divine beast shrank its form, lowering its heads so she could reach them.
"You awoke even before I did." The hairpin flew back, slipping into her sheng coronet. She lifted her gaze toward the twin peak across the way, rosy dawn illuminating her face as she murmured, "I heard the voice of the Xu clan's boy calling to me in my slumber. Was it he who woke you?"
Kaiming had shrunk until it reached only her shins. It looked up at her obediently, all nine heads nodding repeatedly.
"Where are the others on the mountain?"
Kaiming gave no answer.
The woman expanded her divine consciousness, connecting with the lingering awareness of the gods throughout the mountains. Her expression grew somber.
"So... forty-eight thousand years have already passed."
In the Jade Capital, Xu Ying, Zulong, and Martial Emperor Shen arrived at the damaged Altar of Heaven, where Xu Fu sat slumped, motionless.
They stepped forward one by one to examine Xu Fu's wounds, each frowning in turn.
The Immortal Seal had obliterated Xu Fu's brain. His physical body, Primordial Spirit, Dharmic power, and divine consciousness had nearly all been ruined by its might.
The seal had erased both his awareness and his cultivation.
"He once consumed the immortal medicine," Xu Ying said. "As long as he is upon an immortal mountain, its potency should take effect."
Zulong brought out Mount Fangzhang and set Xu Fu upon it. Yet the wound on Xu Fu's forehead remained unchanged, and his mind was still an empty void; there was no sign of healing.
Martial Emperor Shen said, "The Immortal Seal's might is too terrifying—it is among the finest of immortal treasures. The potency of the immortal medicine has likely been eradicated by the seal."
Xu Ying produced some Jade Pool immortal water and had Feng Xian'er feed it to Xu Fu, but it too proved useless.
The Son of Heaven of Zhou shook his head. "Do not waste your efforts. The Immortal Seal has thoroughly ruined him. Though he breathes, he is merely a walking corpse, shorn even of his soul."
Xu Ying had no choice but to give up. Looking at Xu Fu sitting slumped before him, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
"This place is not safe to linger."
Zulong retrieved Mount Fangzhang and turned to leave, saying in a heavy voice, "The departure of those gods heralds an even greater storm. We take Our leave!"
He glanced back at Xu Ying. "Immortal of Ours, the path ahead is perilous. You must beware the other five Mighty Ancestors. When We offered you as a sacrifice to them in days of old, their greedy faces were burned into Our memory."
The Son of Heaven of Zhou prepared to depart as well, telling Xu Ying, "Leave this place at once. I shall await you in Haojing. If you and I join forces to unravel the Heavenly Dao, fending off the five Mighty Ancestors will be child's play."
Qiao Zizhong hurried away with Yan Kongcheng, saying, "Sect Master, this place is too dangerous. We cannot remain." Yan Kongcheng waved farewell to Xu Ying.
With tears in his eyes, Palace Master Zhang Fugui of Shangqing Palace said to Yuan Qi and the big bell, "I shall never forget your life-saving grace. Shangqing Palace will forever be a second home to my two good brothers!" Wiping away tears, he turned and departed.
Feng Yao summoned Qingluan and hurried toward the Jade Pool, calling out, "Uncle Xu, the Queen Mother of the West has awakened! Let us go pay our respects at once!"
Xu Ying waved for them to go ahead. Suddenly sensing something, he looked into the distance.
Yuan Weiyang followed his gaze and saw Fairy Qingbi drifting away, leaving behind only the faint shimmer of a rainbow.
When Yuan Weiyang looked back, Xu Ying was sitting beside Xu Fu.
"Ah Fu," Xu Ying murmured softly, "I remember why I killed you four thousand years ago."
Chapter 261