God King Xuantian's head was pierced clean through from front to back, the exit wound gaping much wider than the entry. The back of his massive skull had been blown completely away alongside Xu Ying.
Even so, he was not dead yet.
He had cultivated for an entire lifetime, possessing vast dharmic power and profound attainment in the Heavenly Dao—far surpassing what the current God Kings of the Heavenly Dao world could muster.
Moreover, following his banishment to the mortal realm, he had painstakingly built his foundation across the Four Desolations world, contemplating the Heavenly Dao. Though he had not mastered all its mysteries, his comprehension was nonetheless extraordinary.
Though he was an artificial god, in some respects he already rivaled a primordial deity.
Flesh and blood churned and grew at frantic speed around the wound in his head. While its vitality fell short of what the Mud Pill Palace cave-heaven offered, it was formidable in its own right.
At the same time, his five great avatars lunged forward, having already deployed the Five Elements Tribulation Formation.
Divine thunder rumbled across the sky, crashing bolt after bolt into the palms of the five avatars. Their palm force surged forth like an overturning mountain and churning sea!
Simultaneously, the surrounding heavens and earth coalesced into a Heavenly Dao domain. Innumerable runes drifted across the sky, manifesting a Heavenly Dao cage as God King Xuantian channeled all his divine power of the Heavenly Dao, preparing to deliver his ultimate strike!
Yet as Xu Ying spun in midair, a flash of sword light had already flared.
It was the glow of the Zhuxian broken sword, carrying a heaven-suffusing deathly intent as it stabbed right into the blasted-open back of his skull.
The deathly intent within the sword erupted!
Across the surrounding sky, countless Heavenly Dao runes snapped and detonated in an instant. The palm forces of the five avatars abruptly collapsed, their divine thunder spiraling out of control.
Even the residual impact of the five avatars' terrifying palm force shook Xu Ying's comparatively tiny frame, showing just how formidable the Five Elements Tribulation Formation truly was.
God King Xuantian's eyes widened, the luster rapidly fading from them.
His physical body, primordial spirit, Great Dao, and divine sense were all severed by the Zhuxian sword intent.
God King Xuantian's five avatars suddenly lost all life, exploding with a deafening boom and turning into billowing clouds of incense smoke qi.
Incense smoke qi was heavy and sank downward, soon plunging into the Nai River with loud, rushing splashes and flowing in all directions.
Xu Ying let out a breath of relief. God King Xuantian's colossal corpse tumbled downward, his vacant eyes filled with confusion. Even in death, he had not understood why he had died so quickly.
"Back then, God King Xuantian was one of the powerhouses who slaughtered Xu Ying and divided his realms. Now he has died at Xu Ying's hands; an appropriate end, and not an unjust one."
Wu Sansi's voice drifted over. Xu Ying turned around to see Wu Sansi taking out a jade bottle and swiftly swallowing several pills. Whatever those pills had been refined from, they gave off an intoxicating fragrance and were wrapped in celestial qi, yielding effects even better than immortal herbs.
Xu Ying calmed his surging breath and smiled. "You were heavily wounded by God King Xuantian, yet I killed him. Who is stronger and who is weaker is plain to see. Why haven't you fled yet?"
Wu Sansi chuckled in disbelief. "Why should I flee? Simply because you killed Xuantian via a sneak attack?"
With a faint smile, he said leisurely, "When Xuantian was stripped of the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains and his five avatars, and struck by surprise to boot, killing him was hardly difficult. Had it been me, it would have been simpler still."
Xu Ying put on a harsh, menacing glare and sneered. "Simple? Do you take me for an ordinary Qi Refiner? To tell you the truth, the reason I could kill him was entirely thanks to the five supreme treasures behind me! These five supreme treasures are equivalent to having five extra realms! The Five Sacred Immortal Mountains are equivalent to an extra Qi Gathering realm, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron is an extra Intertwined Refining realm, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions add a Storyed Mansions realm, the Immortal Dao Jade Pool adds a Jade Pool realm, and the Third Heavenly Pass adds a Knocking on the Pass realm! These were the realms of my first life! Do you know what I was like in my first life? Killing an Immortal King like you was no harder than butchering a dog!"
Wu Sansi let him bluster, leisurely regulating his breath.
He had been wounded by God King Xuantian just moments ago, and even though he had ingested immortal pills, he still needed time to circulate their medicinal efficacy.
"These five realms of mine were each tempered by Immortal King-level beings," Xu Ying continued with a cold laugh. "For over forty thousand years, they tried every means to enhance the power of these treasures, and in the end, it all benefited me! Not only that, but I have also opened three Immortal Realm cave-heavens—an achievement unmatched by anyone! The boost these three Immortal Realm cave-heavens grant me is also equivalent to a major realm! Do you still think my killing of God King Xuantian was a mere sneak attack?"
Wu Sansi smiled faintly. "Putting on such a fierce front when you're weak inside is truly laughable. Xu Ying, I see right through you.
"The Imperial Monarch ordered me to secure the person who opened the Immortal Realm cave-heavens, and he also ordered me to refine you to death.
"Do you honestly think a few words from you will bluff me into letting this opportunity slip by?"
Xu Ying's eyelid twitched. He burst into laughter, though his laugh sounded somewhat shaky. "You're welcome to try! Don't forget, I still have a broken sword that can cleave your master the Imperial Monarch's Purple Nether Saber! And I also have a silver bracelet—"
Wu Sansi sighed and charged forward directly, remarking, "You've exhausted your tricks!"
His aura erupted as his domain unfolded in overlapping layers, rolling forward to crush Xu Ying. It was none other than the signature divine ability of the Imperial Monarch's lineage: the Ninefold Domain!
Pulling Xu Ying into his domain, Wu Sansi flickered across the space and appeared before Xu Ying in an instant. With a move called the Ten Earths Cloud Platform, he thrust a palm forward. Dao chains danced through the air, seemingly bearing the weight of worlds in the ten directions!
Suddenly, Xu Ying broke free from the suppression of the Ninefold Domain. His figure darted like a ghost, both hands a blur as his fingers struck out like lightning, hitting the crucial nodes of Wu Sansi's Dao chains!
*He broke my divine ability?*
Wu Sansi suddenly felt his Dao chains unraveling. Shock seized his heart just as Xu Ying's palm slammed squarely onto his chest.
*Crack!*
Hearing his sternum snap, Wu Sansi immediately shot backward at high speed, trying to open up distance from Xu Ying while switching his technique to Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Guidance, intending to blast Xu Ying to ashes with long-range divine abilities!
The instant he managed to pull away from Xu Ying, a plume of azure qi shot out from the crown of Xu Ying's head. Three Xu Yings materialized before him, whirling through the air as they attacked him together!
The Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Guidance was broken immediately. Wu Sansi was struck squarely on the chest in rapid succession by the Eight Desolations Sun Refining Furnace divine abilities unleashed by the three Xu Yings. Scorching fire flared within him, threatening to incinerate both his physical body and his primordial spirit.
With an enraged roar, his primordial spirit manifested, feet planted atop a great furnace. Leaning downward, its colossal hand channeled the Ten Earths Soul-Imprisoning Palm—every wandering soul and wild ghost within a ten-thousand-li radius was instantly suppressed by this single strike!
Yet in the next breath, Xu Ying's true body caught up. Joining forces with his three Primordial Spirits of Heaven and Earth, they met the palm head-on and shattered his Ten Earths Soul-Imprisoning Palm.
The right hand of Wu Sansi's primordial spirit snapped, bringing excruciating pain! The four Xu Yings whirled about, assailing Wu Sansi in a coordinated assault. Shocked and furious, Wu Sansi parried left and dodged right, but no matter what divine ability he used, the four Xu Yings dismantled it in the blink of an eye!
*Crack!*
His right arm broke, followed by his primordial spirit being pierced through, and then several ribs beneath his flank were shattered.
Wu Sansi was horrified and enraged. Every divine ability, no matter what it was, failed to take effect, completely countered and dismantled by Xu Ying! Wounds piled upon his body, growing heavier and heavier. As the saying went, two fists were no match for four hands—let alone four Xu Yings working in seamless coordination!
*Boom!*
Wu Sansi was blasted right out of the Netherworld. Dazzling light flooded his vision; but just as he caught sight of the mortal sun, the four Xu Yings hammered him all the way back down from the Yang realm into the Netherworld, crashing him thunderously into the subterranean depths.
With a roar of rage, Wu Sansi soared into the air. But no sooner had he risen than a Zhuxian broken sword was leveled straight between his eyebrows.
As he moved to retreat, a Zhuxian broken sword appeared from each of the other three directions: one pressed against his back, one rested against his primordial spirit's neck, and one aimed straight for his primordial spirit's chest.
"What is the meaning of this?" Wu Sansi asked, his voice hoarse.
Xu Ying's expression was indifferent. "Did the Imperial Monarch not teach you the complete Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Demon-Breaking Art?"
Wu Sansi's eye twitched.
Xu Ying remarked, "No wonder your moves were full of subtle flaws."
Wu Sansi gritted his teeth. "I dominated the mortal world for three thousand years before ascending, and after that I strode across the Immortal Realm with few rivals. In all these years, no one has ever uncovered the flaws in my divine abilities! Even if the art taught to me by the Imperial Monarch was incomplete, those flaws are by no means easy to spot! How did you know where the flaws were?"
"Because the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Demon-Breaking Art I received is more complete than yours."
The moment the words left Xu Ying's mouth, the power of the four Zhuxian broken swords erupted, piercing Wu Sansi's physical body and primordial spirit with torrential sword qi!
Wu Sansi roared, rattling his Dao chains in a final bid to resist. But how terrifying was the might of the Zhuxian broken sword? Although Xu Ying was merely channeling a divine ability, his recent close contact with the broken sword's intent had caused the lethality of this technique to skyrocket!
Xu Ying turned around as the three other Xu Yings behind him leaped into the air, transforming into three streaks of azure, yellow, and white pure qi that plunged into the fontanelle atop his head, vanishing from sight.
Behind him, Wu Sansi's colossal primordial spirit crumbled and collapsed, its Dao chains snapping and dissolving one after another as his profoundly vast cultivation dispersed in all directions as dense heaven-and-earth primordial qi.
At that moment, a beam of lamplight shone over. Looking toward it, Xu Ying saw in the distance an old man holding a clear oil lamp, standing hazily amid several imposing figures.
"Fellow Daoist Northern Emperor!"
A smile spread across Xu Ying's face as he walked over, laughing. "Let's forge a good karmic bond!"
* * *
Yuanshou world, the Sun Divine Palace.
Jin Buyi, Yuan Qi, and the big bell fought fiercely as they retreated into the Sun Divine Palace.
This time, the Sun Guard army had failed to suppress their formidable foes, allowing the enemies imprisoned in the Sun Golden Chest to break free. The Sun Guard army of the Monster Race Immortal Court was long dead; those aboard the ships were mere corpses driven by undying obsessions, far inferior compared to the rebels suppressed within the Sun Golden Chest.
Those imprisoned in the Sun Golden Chest were also members of the monster race, who had originally been refined to death in the chest. But with the revival of certain ancient Great Daos in the sun, these dead monster spirits had also revived, seeking to charge out of the sun and take their bloody revenge.
Had the big bell not brought the Brood Mother along to devour countless monster spirits, Jin Buyi and Yuan Qi would likely have perished in the melee long ago.
Even so, when the most ancient Demon Emperor's wraith broke out of the chest, a single roar shattered nearly half of the Brood Mother's immortal insects, forcing them to flee here.
This divine palace was already in ruins, with broken walls and debris everywhere; only a single hall remained relatively intact.
Back in the day, Jin Buyi's mother had cultivated here, building a nest out of golden straw. During Jin Buyi's previous visit, he had also cultivated in this golden hall.
Yuan Qi and the big bell pressed their weight against the hall doors, listening to the roaring tide of slaughter outside as countless monster spirits fought and hacked at each other, turning heaven and earth upside down.
*Boom!*
A terrifying blast of treasure power erupted, the billowing shockwave violently shaking the golden hall and nearly blowing the doors open.
Jin Buyi rushed forward, driving two divine sabers into the floor behind the doors to brace them shut.
Suddenly, Jin Buyi's face drained of color. "Did you hear that?" he blurted out. "There's a voice talking in my ear! This place is haunted again!"
Yuan Qi and the Brood Mother looked around, but saw nothing.
The big bell said, "Lord Jin, what is the ghost saying to you?"
Jin Buyi listened intently, but the voice was faint and muffled. The big bell flew up and inverted itself over him, saying, "Let me help calm your mind. Listen carefully!"
*Dong!*
A chime rang out, suppressing the panic in Jin Buyi's heart. Gradually, all outside noise faded away, leaving only the ghost's voice.
"It's describing a cultivation technique. It seems to be called the Eastern Emperor Heaven-Calming Formula."
Jin Buyi said, "It's actually trying to teach me this technique! It truly doesn't know what it's up against. Ah Ying spent all those days trying to teach me the ancestral method of the six secrets, and I didn't learn a thing. Still, it says that once I master it, I can quell the rebellion outside."
*Thud!* The hall doors shuddered, nearly blasted off their hinges.
"Learn it!"
Yuan Qi, the big bell, and the Brood Mother shouted in unison, their voices sharp and menacing. "Hurry up and learn it! If you can't learn it, we'll kill you!"
Chapter 409