Hearing this, Xu Ying was greatly heartened. He excused himself to Great Emperor Cangwu and followed the Son of Heaven of Zhou down into the Cangwu Abyss, passing through one of the chasms.
Great Emperor Cangwu watched them depart, muttering to himself, "I too suspected that friend who invited me to visit the Immortal Realm, but he was my friend back then. I had very few friends. Even though I suspected him, I still didn't have much guard up—until over sixty thousand years ago."
He sighed. His emotions surged violently, and across the myriad heavens and worlds, immense bodies rolled at the bottom of abyss after abyss of the Cangwu Abyss, erupting in roars like bulls and dragons.
Abyss Watchers were startled by the roars one after another. They flew above the chasms and brought forth long whips, their thick whip-shadows lashing out toward the restless bodies within the depths.
In every one of the myriad heavens and worlds, there was such a watcher monitoring the abyss's movements. The long whips in their hands were all alike, refined from dragon tendons. Once brought forth, the dragon tendons transformed into azure dragons coiling together, swelling immensely and whipping that flesh until it split open! Great Emperor Cangwu looked somber as he felt the pain radiating from his limbs. "For sixty thousand years, the agony you have inflicted on me..."
In world after world across the heavens, colossal bodies suddenly thrust out from the abysses, towering into the clouds like pillars holding up the heavens! The Abyss Watchers raised their heads, the long whips in their hands going slack. Dazed, they stared at the terrifying scene before them, feeling as though doomsday had arrived. The massive bodies raised high in the sky suddenly slammed down with immense force: BOOM!
Across the cosmic starry sky, world after world shook. The devastation wrought by the colossal slaps was clearly visible even from the stars!
Great Emperor Cangwu stood motionless within the Cangwu Secret Realm, yet across the myriad heavens and worlds, tens of thousands of top masters perished violently at the exact same instant! Whether Primordial Spirit or physical body, all were smashed to smithereens!
Great Emperor Cangwu lifted his head to gaze at the rift leading to the Immortal Realm and said in a low voice, "Sixty thousand years ago, you appeared in the Cangwu Secret Realm, accompanied by many unfamiliar faces. In name, you came as guests. A smile beamed on your face, your white hair seemed so earnest and kind, your shoulders were broad, and your voice was resonant—you left me completely unable to muster any wariness. Yet you were the first to strike a lethal blow against me."
Great Emperor Cangwu wore a look of sorrow. "I cannot understand. I truly cannot understand why. Weren't we brothers just a moment before? Why turn around and stab me in the back the next instant? I simply cannot fathom it."
After a moment, he murmured, "After betraying me, you must have been given high office in the Immortal Realm, haven't you? This time, when I wipe out your orthodoxy in the mortal realm, will you panic? Will you descend to the lower realm in person? I am looking forward to it."
On Mount Jiuyi, Feng Xian'er frowned slightly, shooting a glance at Foolish Ah Fu and pouting. "That woman named Qingzhuang has been here for a long time and shows no sign of leaving. Is she trying to seize our Mount Jiuyi?"
Foolish Ah Fu said nothing.
Feng Xian'er said, "If she wants to establish an orthodoxy on Mount Jiuyi, I won't allow it. I'll have to test myself against her. If I can beat her, all is well; if I can't, you have to fight her for me."
With a blade of foxtail grass dangling from his lips, Foolish Ah Fu said nonchalantly, "Mount Jiuyi was her sect in the first place. We are the outsiders."
Feng Xian'er smiled. "Well, now it's my sect."
Within the Jiuyi Taixu cave-heaven, Qingzhuang sat on the back of an ancient behemoth. Over these past days, she had mobilized immortal fire to burn away her cultivation realms, already refining away her Primordial Spirit and forcibly knocking her cultivation down. Just then, an ascension rosy glow swirled across the sky, shining upon the young woman.
Qingzhuang looked up and saw a white-haired figure appear within the rosy glow. It was an immortal—middle-aged with white hair and broad shoulders. Looking toward Qingzhuang, he smiled and said, "You cultivate my Gourd Heaven Questioning the Immortals Scripture? This Taixu cave-heaven is my Dao domain. You are the only disciple I have left in the mortal realm. Since you cultivate my technique, you are my successor. I am Perfected Yuhu..."
Qingzhuang fixed her gaze upon the white-haired, middle-aged immortal and frowned slightly. *Undue courtesy conceals insidious designs. This man has crooked thoughts and is no good sort.* She suddenly leapt into the air, transforming into a streak of flowing light that shot across the Taixu cave-heaven.
"Hey! Hey!"
Perfected Yuhu hastily raised his hand, but Qingzhuang had already vanished without a trace. Perfected Yuhu stomped his foot and raged, "Insolent wretch! Who ever heard of calling one's patriarch no good sort upon first meeting? Truly an insolent wretch!"
He furrowed his brow and muttered to himself, "Now that even my last disciple is gone, my orthodoxy is bound to go extinct in the mortal realm. Damned Cangwu has actually revived..." Just then, someone poked his head into the Taixu cave-heaven, looking all around.
Perfected Yuhu's eyes lit up, and he called out, "Who are you? I am Perfected Yuhu of the Immortal Realm. Seeing treasure light soaring from the crown of your head, I know you are fated with me, and I intend to take you as my disciple." Suddenly, a girl dressed in colorful clothes came running over, smiling at him. "Immortal Master, he's a fool; he doesn't understand anything." Only then did Perfected Yuhu notice that a gaping hole was cracked in the man's head—there were not even any brains inside, completely empty.
He looked at the colorful-robed girl and laughed. "I thought to myself that with treasure light reaching the skies, a fated person was sure to arrive—so the fated one was you! Kowtow, kowtow quickly, and call me Master!" Just as the colorful-robed girl was about to speak, the fool pulled her down onto her knees, banging his head against the ground in rapid kowtows that rang with loud clangs.
Perfected Yuhu felt reassured. *Neither of these two looks particularly bright. Ah well, my orthodoxy in the mortal realm is gone, and my only disciple claimed I harbor crooked thoughts. I might as well take these two fools as disciples. The scheme against Cangwu will have to depend on them.*
Having finished kowtowing, Foolish Ah Fu held out his hands and chuckled idiotically. "Gift, gift, greeting gift!"
Seeing this, Perfected Yuhu knew that since his lineage was in ruins, he indeed needed to give his newly initiated disciples some meeting gifts. Thus, he said, "Your master was favored by the Emperor and bestowed a gourd of Hunyuan immortal pills. I shall grant them to you." In the ascension rosy glow, wisps of immortal light drifted down from the heavens and landed before them. Feng Xian'er was both shocked and delighted; she hurriedly put away the immortal pills, her heart pounding. Foolish Ah Fu scratched his head and said, "Immortal Venerable, clo... clothes, clothes!"
Seeing that his garments were tattered and filthy, Perfected Yuhu thought, *These two disciples of mine truly cannot be dressed so shabbily. I will give each of them a set of the Galan immortal robes I refined.* Thus, he bestowed the immortal robes upon them.
Overjoyed, Foolish Ah Fu kowtowed repeatedly, miming cultivation movements as he stammered, "Immortal Venerable, tech... technique!"
Perfected Yuhu bestowed a cultivation technique, saying, "This method of mine is even more formidable than the Gourd Heaven Questioning the Immortals Scripture I left behind before my ascension. It is called the Gourd Heaven Dao-Attainment Scripture. Study and cultivate it diligently. Your master still has a task to assign to you..."
"Immortal Venerable, trea... treasure!" Foolish Ah Fu jumped up, giggling foolishly.
Perfected Yuhu frowned, thinking, *My mortal orthodoxy indeed requires a sect-protecting immortal artifact. Other sects all have sect-protecting immortal artifacts; if mine lacks one, wouldn't that bring shame upon me?* After a moment of hesitation, he tossed down a jade gourd. The immortal gourd hovered in midair, seemingly resting with one end in the Immortal Realm and the other in the mortal realm, wondrous beyond measure.
Foolish Ah Fu chuckled while clapping his hands. "Trea... treasure!"
Perfected Yuhu said, "Your master needs you to make a trip to the Cangwu Abyss. Once you arrive at the Cangwu Abyss, toss this immortal gourd into the air, sacrifice it in midair, and shout into the abyss: 'Cangwu, you old bastard!' As for the rest, you need not concern yourselves with it."
The immortal gourd fell from the sky, landing in front of Feng Xian'er and Foolish Ah Fu.
Suddenly, immortal light erupted from Foolish Ah Fu's hand, condensing into the immortal character 'Imprison,' which stamped itself onto the immortal gourd. Perfected Yuhu's eyes widened into saucers, only to see the fool clutching the immortal gourd, taking the Gourd Heaven Dao-Attainment Scripture and the gourd of Hunyuan immortal pills, grabbing Feng Xian'er's hand, and dashing madly outside!
"Insolent wretch!"
Perfected Yuhu flew into a towering rage. He tried to activate the immortal gourd, but his connection to it was gone; he tried to activate the immortal robes, but in the next instant, his connection to them was severed as well—astonishingly suppressed by that brainless Ah Fu! Shaking with fury from head to toe, Perfected Yuhu only spat out a furious curse after a long pause: "Mortal pariahs, daring to swindle an immortal lord's magic treasures! Where is the heavenly justice in this? Don't let me find you, or I will exterminate your entire nine generations!"
Foolish Ah Fu charged out of the Taixu cave-heaven with Feng Xian'er. Feng Xian'er's heart was racing, but then she saw Foolish Ah Fu toss the immortal pills, immortal robes, and immortal gourd to her, before flopping back onto the grave mound to laze about.
Feng Xian'er said worriedly, "We swindled so many treasures from that immortal. What if he descends to the lower realm...?"
Foolish Ah Fu said calmly, "In the Immortal Realm, he is a dragon; in the lower realm, he is a worm. If he dares descend..." A savage glint flashed across his eyes. "...I have a thousand ways to make him unable to live and unable to die."
In the Chuyuan world.
An ancient god sat cross-legged between heaven and earth. His physical body was vast, bearing a thousand heads and a thousand arms.
His thousand heads were arranged like a pagoda: one head at the pinnacle, three beneath it, nine beneath those, stacked atop one another like a sacred tower.
His thousand arms stretched out, each holding various Heavenly Books of Merit. Some books recorded what deeds earned merit, while others recorded what deeds deducted merit.
The remaining Heavenly Books of Merit were blank, without a single word. He was High God Tiande.
Over ten days had passed since this god had descended into the Chuyuan world. He had remained seated and motionless throughout, leading the people of the Chuyuan world to hear that a heavenly god had descended to impart the Heavenly Books of Merit. Over these ten-odd days, countless Qi Refiners had rushed from all directions to pay audience to this god of the Heavenly Dao.
Some lay prostrate on the ground, while those of high cultivation knelt in midair; those of high status knelt within treasure carriages suspended in the sky to listen to High God Tiande's teachings. High God Tiande swayed his heads, glanced at the blank Heavenly Books of Merit, and suddenly spoke. Over a thousand voices overlapped, booming with a thunderous roar that echoed throughout the Chuyuan world:
"All living beings are born sinful!"
His voice was the Dao voice of the Heavenly Dao, reaching people's ears with absolute clarity no matter how far away they were.
"Revere the Heavenly Dao and establish merit to erase your karma! Qi Refiners alone do not revere the Heavenly Dao; they harvest the qi of heaven and earth, seize the fortune of nature, and defy heaven. They possess no merit, no virtue, and no Dao!"
The moment these words were spoken, all the Qi Refiners who had come to pay homage were stricken with shock. In the next instant, the Heavenly Dao runes across High God Tiande's body lit up, and Dao might erupted!
BOOM!
An unimaginably terrifying aura instantly enveloped the entire Chuyuan world, spanning countless tens of millions of li. No matter where one was—be it sacred grounds where immortal artifacts anchored karmic fortune or imperial capitals blessed by the fortunes of heaven and earth—all felt that matchless Dao might of the Heavenly Dao.
Everyone was scared out of their wits. The yuan qi inside them turned chaotic, their Dao images lost all vitality, and nothing remained in their hearts except fear—fear of the Heavenly Dao! High God Tiande's form grew ever more towering, his heads brushing the blue heavens, standing countless tens of thousands of zhang tall as his shadow blanketed the Chuyuan world.
"You are all guilty."
His gaze swept over those Qi Refiners. Instantly, countless Qi Refiners—whether novices who had just completed Qi Harvesting, experts who had formed a Golden Core, or pillars who had forged a Primordial Spirit—burst open. Flesh and blood exploded, and blood-soaked skulls and spines floated in midair as skeletons. Across the entire Chuyuan world, nearly all Qi Refiners died at the same moment, leaving behind only a handful of Ascension-stage Qi Refiners.
These Ascension-stage Qi Refiners had blood-red eyes. The Dao images within them ran amok, yet did not explode. Even so, they all knew that their lives were no longer their own, having fallen under the control of High God Tiande. High God Tiande's many pairs of eyes fell upon them, and his voice drifted over: "You shall assist this high god in building temples among mortals, erecting golden bodies, offering incense, and gathering incense smoke qi to cleanse yourselves of sin." The crowd trembled.
High God Tiande smiled as he looked upon this bloodstained land, thoroughly satisfied. *From this day forth, the hundreds of millions of living beings in this world will worship me. The incense smoke qi will soon grant me supreme divine power... Hm?*
He suddenly saw a black-robed youth walking toward him. High God Tiande's expression shifted, and his face suddenly drained of color: "Xu Ying!"
Just as he was about to rise, he saw the black-robed youth raise his right hand. Instantly, Heavenly Dao runes lit up across the heavens, transforming in a flash into a gigantic Heavenly Dao domain that trapped him and the others within!
Xu Ying kept his hand raised. Behind him, a towering Heavenly Dao avatar slowly stood up. A surging heavenly might pressed down with crushing force, suppressing High God Tiande. The god's muscles bulged under the immense strain as he fought desperately against the pressure, his thousand-plus faces contorting in fury! "I am the heavenly god! Using the Heavenly Dao to suppress me? In your dreams!" BAM!
He was slammed prone onto the ground, his arms bracing against the earth as his body shook. Suddenly, with loud snaps, his arms broke one by one, the shattered bone piercing through muscle and skin to jut into the open air!
"You are merely one of the Heavenly Dao Crowd..."
High God Tiande struggled to speak, divine blood welling from his mouth. He could not quite comprehend it: Xu Ying was clearly using the methods of the Heavenly Dao Crowd, so why was it able to suppress him? Xu Ying lifted his hand, and High God Tiande was involuntarily swept into the air with a whoosh, hovering in the sky.
Across the surface of his body, various Heavenly Dao runes lit up uncontrollably, displaying the variations of the Heavenly Dao.
Xu Ying's eyes gleamed. Looking at these Heavenly Dao runes, the corresponding Heavenly Dao runes naturally surfaced in his mind; even if High God Tiande's runes had errors or omissions, the correct runes would emerge in his thoughts.
Behind Xu Ying, the Heavenly Dao avatar lightly waved a hand, causing High God Tiande to spin helplessly.
Soon, Xu Ying had examined every Heavenly Dao rune and found the matching ones. A few runes did not evoke any memory, likely because he had never learned them in the past. He committed these runes to memory, then turned and walked toward the Cangwu Abyss.
Behind Xu Ying, the Heavenly Dao domain suddenly twisted. The Heavenly Dao runes across High God Tiande's body went out one by one, distorting alongside the domain. Heads popped one after another, arms snapped, and soon he was reduced to a puddle of mush!
"Brother Ji, let us head to the next heaven," Xu Ying said as he passed the Son of Heaven of Zhou and the others.
The Son of Heaven of Zhou and Grand Preceptor Jiang were filled with shock and suspicion. Looking back at High God Tiande, they saw that the high god had already lost all breath, his life snuffed out after his Heavenly Dao runes were erased. "A heavenly god's corpse is a treasure as well. Since Fellow Daoist Xu doesn't want it, we'll take it," the Son of Heaven of Zhou whispered to Grand Preceptor Jiang, then hurried after Xu Ying.
Chapter 291