Xu Ying flew upward between the colossal bull horns, marveling inwardly. *Did I come here during my first life? Who did this pair of horns belong to? Their sheer size is utterly monstrous!*
*At his speed, traveling tens of millions of li in a single day was nothing, yet flying from the base of the horns to the tip would probably take days.*
The Netherworld of that ancient era was vast beyond measure, yet the vaster it was, the more terrifying the owner of those horns must have been. Xu Ying could not begin to imagine how immense that being's true body had been!
*Where did I comprehend the Twelve-Storyed Mansions when I came here last time?*
He circled the horn as he flew, searching along the way, but could not pinpoint the location.
Having been brought into this ancient Netherworld by Xu Ying, the five prefects looked around. Prefect Shengqi could not help chuckling. "This place is so enormous that you might not find it even if you spent thousands of years looking. Rather than wasting your time, why not leave?"
Prefect Sijin smiled. "Indeed, indeed. The Wanshen Thunder Department has come knocking. If we find our eldest brother and leave together, we can shake them off. They don't know the geography here nearly as well as we do."
Xu Ying asked, "Since the five of you know the geography so well, do you know where the Twelve-Storyed Mansions are?"
The five prefects shook their heads in unison.
Prefect Siming said, "It is not that we are unwilling to tell you, but that we truly do not know. This is a ruin from an ancient era. On this single horn alone, there are countless thousands of palaces and halls. There were even people from ancient times who cultivated divergent paths and built heavenly palaces here. These ruins are mostly broken and ruined beyond recognition, so how could anyone tell which structure is the Twelve-Storyed Mansions?"
The other prefects nodded repeatedly.
Xu Ying frowned slightly. As he skimmed along the colossal horn, he indeed saw mountain ranges rising in profusion, and among the mountains and rivers lay unmistakable traces of ancient architecture. Just as the five prefects had said, most of these remnants were shattered, leaving no trace of their original appearance.
Locating the Twelve-Storyed Mansions would clearly require a painstaking search.
Suddenly, the Northern Emperor flew over and shoved the clear-oil lamp into Xu Ying's hands. "Fellow Daoist Xu, this karmic debt is repaid! Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Brother, join me in facing Immortal King Su of the Wanshen Thunder Department so Fellow Daoist Xu can focus on his comprehension!"
He manifested his true form and unleashed Mount Fengdu from the flame of the lamp. The colossal mountain plummeted from the sky, crashing down toward the charging immortals of the Wanshen Thunder Department.
Holding the clear-oil lamp, Xu Ying was about to speak when his vision blurred, and a fragment of memory dragged him forty-eight thousand years into the past.
Fengdu in the Nether Sea was shrouded in dark, dead silence.
Suddenly, a lamp flared to life. Xu Ying saw himself as a youth of seventeen or eighteen, summoning a burst of Nether Fire to light the clear-oil lamp in his hands.
The eerie light illuminated his face.
"Brother Beiyin, let us forge a good karmic bond."
The first-life Xu Ying lifted the clear-oil lamp from the stone wall beside a crypt. Lying within the crystal coffin was none other than the Northern Emperor's corpse.
Xu Ying was stunned. He saw that after his past self ignited the lamp with Nether Fire, a faint glimmer of life seemed to stir within the Northern Emperor's remains.
*So the awakening of the Northern Emperor's Primordial Spirit was connected to me! No wonder he just said he was returning the favor!*
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he saw his past self carry the clear-oil lamp out of the ruined palace, floating over the surface of the Nether Sea.
The youth blew forcefully on the flame. The Nether Fire surged brilliantly, illuminating the void and prying open a portal to another time and space.
The first-life Xu Ying stepped through the portal into the ancient Nether Sea.
Xu Ying followed his past self, flying upward along the titanic bull horns. The two horns rose like mountains thrust directly into the primordial cosmos, unimaginably high.
After flying for a long time, the first-life Xu Ying finally arrived at a jade terrace. Ruins and broken walls covered the area, obscuring the original shape of the structures.
He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes in concentration. After a long while, a look of delight finally appeared on his face. "It is here. In ancient times, the powerful gods who dwelled here possessed cultivation that connected heaven, earth, mortals, gods, and ghosts, forming formidable Primordial Spirits and achieving the pinnacle of godhood. His Dao field formed a divine domain here, and His Great Dao remains branded into this world even after its ruin. But..."
He rose and walked to the edge of the jade terrace, his eyes filled with bewilderment.
Xu Ying followed him to the edge. The ground where they stood reached up to boundless heights, while the Nether Sea below stretched out into infinity.
Xu Ying heard his past self murmur in confusion, "O gods who ruled the Netherworld in ancient times... who was the owner of the horns upon which you lived?"
Hearing this, Xu Ying felt just as bewildered.
*The gods who ruled the ancient Netherworld lived upon these horns, so where did the horns' owner come from? From what era did that entity hail?*
This realization plunged the first-life Xu Ying into perplexity, and filled the present Xu Ying with equal confusion.
The deeper his understanding of ancient history grew, the thicker the fog veiling that era seemed to become.
The first-life Xu Ying buried his doubts in his heart, sat at the edge of the jade terrace, and began to absorb the ancient imprints drifting between heaven and earth. Xu Ying set aside his confusion for the moment as well, assimilating the sudden influx of insights flooding his mind.
These realizations pertained to the divine Dao—the summations of godhood left behind by that supreme ruler of the ancient Netherworld!
Although Xu Ying, as a mortal human, might not be able to use every insight into the divine Dao, they greatly expanded his understanding and enhancement of his Primordial Spirit.
Cultivating his Primordial Spirit in the future would yield twice the results with half the effort!
*This was where I comprehended how to forge the Twelve-Storyed Mansions,*
Xu Ying thought to himself. *After leaving this place, I forged the Twelve-Storyed Mansions and placed them on the other shore of the Nether Sea. Then I returned this clear-oil lamp to Great Emperor Beiyin. Ever since, Great Emperor Beiyin's Primordial Spirit has been recovering. What a wondrous twist of fate.*
Down below, the battle between the Wanshen Thunder Department and the Northern Emperor reached the base of the two horns.
The "Wanshen" in Wanshen Thunder Department meant ten thousand gods, referring to the ten thousand Primordial Spirits of the immortals. These immortal Primordial Spirits stood like primordial deities, towering and massive, possessing peerless divine might.
As the Northern Emperor brought Mount Fengdu crushing down, the Primordial Spirits of the Wanshen Thunder Department's immortals emerged from their bodies. Standing tall in the void, they bellowed in unison, unleashing waves of Dao resonance. They raised their hands to prop up the sky, and Mount Fengdu shuddered to a halt, unable to descend further!
At the same time, the Northern Emperor had already revealed his true form. He was no longer an aged, decrepit man, but an emperor who propped up heaven and earth. A purple-gold crown rested upon his head, bearing a divine shrine formed from the faith of the common folk.
Behind him, divine power coalesced into azure clouds, within which floated Zhoujue Yintian Palace. In that heavenly palace stood countless deities—ghost gods of the Netherworld standing amidst the swirling mists.
These ghost gods had once been formidable mortal emperors or Ascension-stage Qi Refiners across the myriad worlds. Upon dying and entering the Netherworld, they had taken office in Zhoujue Yintian Palace and enjoyed mortal incense, each wielding immense divine power!
Zhoujue Yintian Palace possessed a complete administrative system. Within the palace, ghost gods carried out their respective duties: Grand Tutors, Censors, Left and Right Wardens, Prime Ministers, Right Marshals, Central Protectors-General, Commanders of the Three Offices, Water Officials, Attendants of the Imperial Dawn, Gentlemen-in-Waiting Deacons, Grand Wardens of the Dawn, Middle Wardens of the Dawn, Canopy Bearers, Marquises of the Northern and Southern Quarters, Chiefs of the Heavenly Gates, Chiefs of the South Gate, Wardens of the West Gate, Ghost Officials, and more.
Civil ministers and military generals were beyond count, overseeing all matters great and small throughout the palace and the Netherworld!
During Fengdu's zenith, the netherworlds across the myriad worlds had all been governed by the Six Heavenly Palaces!
The power of these ghost gods was formidable as well. Standing within Yintian Palace, their combined divine power bolstered the Northern Emperor.
With his vast golden body, the Northern Emperor slammed a palm onto Mount Fengdu. His divine power erupted, overwhelming the Primordial Spirits of the Wanshen Thunder Department's immortals, who grunted in pain.
Thousands of immortals fell like raindrops, plunging into the ancient Nether Sea.
Immortal King Su strode forward, praising, "Truly worthy of a wild god who has long enjoyed incense in the Netherworld. Rising from the dead and still possessing such divine power is truly admirable. At your peak, your strength was certainly above mine! Fortunately, I came prepared and borrowed a treasure tailored specifically against you!"
Behind him, an immortal sword shot into the sky. Its sword light instantly illuminated half the Nether Sea, thrusting toward the Northern Emperor like lightning.
Immortal King Su laughed. "Beiyin, do you still recognize this sword?"
The expression on the Northern Emperor's golden body changed drastically. This immortal sword was the very blade that had slain him back then!
Immortal King Su was not the one who had killed him; that man was named Sword Lord Jinhe, a master of the sword path who had reached an extraordinarily high realm, far stronger than Immortal King Su.
This sword was Sword Lord Jinhe's Jinhe Sword. After slaying the Northern Emperor all those years ago, the sword lord had taken it back, but the sword's Dao imprint had remained lodged in the chest of the Northern Emperor's golden body.
Had Xu Ying not brought Jade Pool immortal water, the Northern Emperor would never have revived or broken that imprint.
Yet what the Northern Emperor had shattered before was merely an imprint of the Jinhe Sword. Seeing the actual blade now made his heart seize up, as though he had been impaled by it once more.
Acting decisively, he immediately summoned Mount Fengdu. The divine mountain shrank rapidly until it resembled a black iron seal three feet square.
*Clang!*
Mount Fengdu met the thrusting Jinhe Sword. The instant mountain and blade collided, sword shadows filled the sky, scouring Mount Fengdu like a torrential golden river. The Northern Emperor shrank his physical body at top speed, evading the onslaught of the river of sword shadows.
Facing this sword, he could only focus on defense.
Su Jingyan burst into laughter. Rather than stepping into direct combat, he simply directed the sword from afar, chuckling, "I have long heard of the vastness of the Northern Emperor's Primordial Spirit, and have come specifically to experience it!"
Meanwhile, the immortals of the Wanshen Thunder Department laid down the Ten Thousand Gods Nine Heavens Array, locking down the surrounding space layer by layer. They established a Nine Heavens Dao field, leaving the Northern Emperor no opening to escape!
Bolts of Nine Heavens Divine Thunder struck down one after another across the sky, blasting toward the Northern Emperor, battering his golden body, shaving down his Primordial Spirit, and eroding his divine power.
Su Jingyan's cultivation was already no weaker than the Northern Emperor's. Controlling the Jinhe Sword from outside the array, combined with the power of the Ten Thousand Gods Array, he suppressed the Northern Emperor at once.
In a matter of moments, dozens of wounds covered the Northern Emperor's body.
He struggled fiercely, trying to break out of the Nine Heavens Dao field, but another layer of the Ten Thousand Gods Nine Heavens Array awaited outside. The immortals' Dao power converged into Dao chains far stronger than any Immortal King like Su Jingyan, forcing him back time and time again!
Xu Ying sat motionless. Before and behind him, the five prefects occupied positions in the void, but they were growing increasingly restless, constantly peering down.
Prefect Shengqi said, "If this continues, our eldest brother is done for. I fear the tragedy of his past death will repeat itself."
Prefect Sijin frowned. "Su Jingyan's cultivation and strength run so deep. Even if we charge in, we might not win."
Prefect Siming added, "Besides, that fellow Su Jingyan is cloaked in immortal light, and the Immortal Realm has opened above him. Even the heavenly palace of the Wanshen Thunder Department hangs overhead; reinforcements from the Thunder Department could arrive at any moment. Charging in would be suicide."
Prefect Shengxing chuckled. "We fled once back then; fleeing a second time is no big deal."
Prefect Zonglu said, "Furthermore, that Xu fellow is still here. Our eldest brother is always accumulating good karma; that Xu fellow certainly won't stand by and watch him die."
The prefects fell silent, turning their eyes expectantly toward Xu Ying.
Xu Ying remained seated upon the jade terrace, gradually sinking into a wondrous state, completely deaf to everything happening around him.
The five prefects frowned deeply.
Below, the sword light grew increasingly fierce. Though Sword Lord Jinhe was not present, the power of the Jinhe Sword mounted higher and higher, nearly cleaving the Northern Emperor down multiple times!
Resisting the Jinhe Sword while fighting to break out of the Nine Heavens Dao field, the Northern Emperor charged recklessly against the Ten Thousand Gods Array. Just as he was on the verge of breaking through, Su Jingyan struck with a palm from outside the formation.
Divided between the array and the sword, the Northern Emperor took the blow head-on. Blood seeped from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose as he was thrown back into the formation.
Within his Zhoujue Yintian Palace, one nether deity after another coughed up blood, their auras wilting.
"Unlike Sword Lord Jinhe, I do not leave weeds to sprout again. That is why the higher-ups disliked him and banished him to Weixu. I prefer pulling up weeds by their roots—that is how one secures a firm foothold in the Immortal Realm!"
Su Jingyan said leisurely, "Beiyin, once I smelt you to death this time, I will use your corpse to claim credit before the Heavenly Venerable!"
Seeing this, Prefect Zonglu scowled. "Last time, Eldest Brother didn't die before my eyes, so I could bear it. But if he dies in front of me this time, I cannot stand for it! I'm going first!"
With a roar, he burst from the void, charging straight toward the Ten Thousand Gods Array below.
Prefect Shengqi said, "Last time it was Sword Lord Jinhe who came to kill Eldest Brother, and we were no match for him. But why should we fear Su Jingyan?"
He too broke through the void to assist.
Prefect Siming charged out, laughing. "In the past, Eldest Brother always shielded us from calamity. This time, it's my turn to shield him!"
Prefect Zonglu and Prefect Shengxing had already plunged forward, and Prefect Shengxing laughed. "If you all die and leave me alone, I won't be happy even if I take the Northern Emperor's throne!"
"Well said!"
The other four prefects laughed heartily, chiming in, "If you become the Northern Emperor, the rest of us will be the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Central Great Emperors!"
Prefect Shengqi unleashed Taisha Shizong Heavenly Palace, Prefect Shengxing unleashed Mingchen Naifan Wucheng Heavenly Palace, Sijin unleashed Tianzhao Zuiqi Heavenly Palace, Siming unleashed Zongling Qifei Heavenly Palace, and Zonglu unleashed Gansi Lianwanlü Heavenly Palace.
The scale of these five heavenly palaces was by no means inferior to Zhoujue Yintian Palace. Crowded with gods and bathed in thick incense, they battered the Ten Thousand Gods Array under the five prefects' lead, clashing against the ten thousand immortals!
Prefect Shengqi reached out to grasp the air, and several dozen immortals instantly had their lifespans severed, dying unnatural deaths on the spot while their physical bodies and Primordial Spirits remained lifelike. Prefect Shengxing struck with a palm, and wherever the palm wind passed, the flesh and blood of the immortals rotted and dissolved, reducing them to bare Primordial Spirits in an instant.
Prefect Sijin waved a Hundred Illnesses Banner, its cloth fluttering as hundreds of immortals suddenly broke out with various diseases. Prefect Siming cast out chains to bind souls, dragging souls directly out of Primordial Spirits to claim their lives.
Prefect Zonglu, who oversaw all living beings, wore an official's hat, holding a massive brush in one hand and the Book of Life and Death in the other. Illuminating the immortals one after another, he laughed aloud. "Have you immortals stepped beyond my Book of Life and Death? If you haven't, how dare you call yourselves immortals?"
His brush flew across the pages, striking out the names of each immortal caught in the book's illumination!
Whenever a name was crossed out, that immortal suffered a sudden and violent death!
Each of the five prefects possessed their own strengths, throwing the Ten Thousand Gods Nine Heavens Array into immediate chaos.
Fighting their way through the encirclement, Prefect Shengqi shouted, "Eldest Brother, that Xu fellow can't be trusted! In the end, it's your own brothers you can count on! After you pass away, the Northern Emperor's throne should go to me—once you're dead, I'm the eldest!"
The Northern Emperor's face darkened. Though rescued by them, he did not look pleased in the slightest.
Su Jingyan finally intervened personally, taking direct command of the Wanshen Thunder Department's array. Leading the host to encircle the six prefects, he sneered, "Today, I will send all six of you brothers on your way together!"
With him personally presiding over the array and bolstered by the Nine Heavens Dao field, Su Jingyan stood like an Imperial Monarch or Primordial Monarch. He directed his sword to strike, and in a matter of moments, Shengqi's arm was severed, Shengxing's head was lopped off, Sijin's legs were cut away at the knees, Siming's chains were utterly destroyed, and Zonglu's giant brush was sheared apart!
The six heavenly palaces were nearly all shattered into ruined rubble, leaving the surviving deities no choice but to hover behind the heads of the six prefects.
The six prefects looked deathly pale. Prefect Shengqi sighed and muttered, "I told you we should have preserved our strength."
Right at that moment, a beam of lamplight shone down from above, washing over the six prefects.
Su Jingyan looked up, only to see a tiny figure standing between the two bull horns.
Behind that tiny figure, divine radiance suddenly erupted. Enormous deities, blazing with dazzling light, slowly straightened their backs from the darkness, their divine frames towering between the two horns.
"Xuanming Palace, King Qinguang!"
A deity wearing an imperial crown rumbled in a deep, booming voice.
Another towering deity bowed and proclaimed, "Puming Palace, King Chujiang!"
"Zhoujue Palace, King Songdi!"
"Taihe Palace, King Wuguan!"
"Jiulun Palace, King Yanluo!"
"Mingchen Palace, King Biancheng!"
"Shenhua Palace, King Taishan!"
"Bizhen Palace, King Dushi!"
"Qifei Palace, King Pingdeng!"
"Suying Palace, King Zhuanlun!"
The Ten Great Deities spoke in unison, their voices thundering across the void:
"We thank you, Fellow Daoist, for lending a hand and awakening us!"
Chapter 412