Master of the Heavenly Dao

Xu Ying held an immortal descent talisman from the Yuanshou world that he had never used. Activating this treasure would allow him to return to the Heavenly Dao world. He activated the talisman. The jade plaque blazed with brilliant radiance as a beam of heavenly light descended from above, piercing straight between the Heavenly Dao world and the mortal realm. Xu Ying and Jijue flew into that heavenly light, ascending along its path. Before long, they came upon an expanse of void between the Heavenly Dao world and the mortal realm, where a vast river flowed between the celestial realm and the myriad mortal worlds. This river was the Tongtian River, but for some unknown reason it had been concealed, never appearing across the myriad worlds of the heavens. Xu Ying and Jijue flew over the Tongtian River and looked around. The Tongtian River branched out in every direction like the root system of a towering celestial tree, linking the myriad worlds together. Flying along the light, they soon saw an immense ferry terminal in the distance, where immortal skiffs and celestial vessels carved from massive timber lay moored. At this moment, the heavenly gods who had previously charged down into the mortal realm alongside the Four Great God Kings to capture the rebel Xu Ying and claim merit had fled back to the Heavenly Dao world one after another. They were thrown into utter chaos, crying out in agitation, "Now that the four kings are dead and the Heavenly Dao world has no master, we must establish new God Kings!" The crowd of heavenly gods bickered noisily: "I, Tianli, should be God King Xuanli!" "Why should you, Tianli, be qualified to become a God King? Could I, Tianji, not become God King Xuanji?" "This time, it ought to be my turn, Tiantiao, to be God King!" "You, a God King? What would you call yourself—Xuantiao?" While they were still arguing, they suddenly saw Xu Ying and a young monk walking out from the ferry dock. The many heavenly gods froze, dumbfounded. With steady strides, Xu Ying glided among these gigantic, bizarrely shaped heavenly gods, surveying this Heavenly Dao world. The sky of the Heavenly Dao world was like a clear mirror, reflecting all kinds of sights across the myriad heavens and worlds. Many primordial behemoths and ancient rare beasts inhabited this strange, ancient continent. Magnificent, resplendent divine temples stood between heaven and earth, imposing and majestic. Countless members of the Heavenly Dao Crowd moved in and out of those temples—likely mortals who served the heavenly gods. Other temples were even more colossal, with thick, wide stairways of white jade cascading down from the heavens, piercing through the clouds to reach the ground. Thousands of members of the Heavenly Dao Crowd prostrated on those gigantic stone steps, wiping away the dust. Xu Ying drifted among the towering heavenly gods as if no one else were present, looking up at the sky and down at the earth as though inspecting his own domain. The heavenly gods stared blankly at him, itching to attack yet not daring to make a move. They could not help recalling the myriad rumors about Xu Ying—terrifying legends passed down by their fallen comrades. Legend had it that on the now-shattered Heavenly Road, Xu Ying had been like a god of slaughter, cleaving through countless heavenly gods and immortals, chopping them like melons and vegetables all the way from the Immortal Realm down to the mortal realm! Just moments ago, Xu Ying had displayed that very same terrifying might when he slew the Four Great God Kings! With mere gestures of his hands and feet, the Four Great God Kings had been reduced to ashes! Xu Ying continued his appraisal and saw thick bronze pillars towering between heaven and earth. Whether solid or hollow, the lower sections bore subtle bas-reliefs depicting the combat postures of heavenly gods alongside runes of unknown significance. He looked up. The sky corresponding to this grandest temple was the most magnificent of all; the scenery of the Immortal Realm appeared within the firmament, corresponding to an expanse of immortal mountains and palaces. Even across an immense distance, Xu Ying could still make out the inscription beneath the most imposing gate among those palaces: "Thunder and Fire Ministry of Works! That must be an agency of the Immortal Realm, right?" Xu Ying withdrew his gaze and drew a deep breath. The world essence here was far thicker than in the mortal realm. He also noticed beams of ascension immortal light connecting to the Heavenly Dao world, only to be severed right before it, cut as neatly as harvested chives. Judging by the trajectory of the ascension radiance, however, it was supposed to pass through the Heavenly Dao world to connect with the Immortal Realm! Moreover, wisps of immortal spirit qi were drifting down from the sky. It appeared that the ascension radiance was meant to channel immortal spirit qi down from the Immortal Realm, only to be intercepted as it passed through the Heavenly Dao world. "Can anyone tell me what is going on with that ascension radiance?" Xu Ying asked. The gods of the Heavenly Dao stared at one another. After a moment, one of them finally answered, "The ascension radiance is meant to connect with the Immortal Realm. The Immortal Realm showers down immortal spirit qi to allow ascenders to undergo a rebirth. So our Heavenly Dao world skims a little off the top for the gods to cultivate with, and if a high immortal descends, he must also be presented with tribute." Xu Ying said, "You didn't just skim a little—you didn't leave a single scrap." He shook his head. The ascension radiance connected with the Immortal Realm, yet upon reaching the Heavenly Dao world, it was severed cleanly; what trickled down to the lower realm through the light was merely the world essence of the Heavenly Dao world. As far as Xu Ying's eyes could see, the ascension radiance stood crop after crop, just like chives—chives that had been thoroughly reaped by the heavenly gods. "Ascenders brave tribulations and cross between life and death to ascend, only to be exploited by you," Xu Ying said, shaking his head. "You lot truly deserve to die." As soon as he spoke, the expressions of the three hundred and sixty heavenly gods changed drastically. Someone suddenly roared, "Form the Heavenly Dao Great Array! Join forces to refine him!" Before the shout could fade, Xu Ying's Heavenly Dao domain unfurled. Heavenly Dao divine artifacts flew out one after another from the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron. These artifacts had previously been wielded by these very heavenly gods, but now, the imprints upon them were firmly under Xu Ying's control! During his lifetime as Yan Bao'er, Xu Ying had been an adept at forging magic artifacts; altering the imprints on these divine artifacts presented no difficulty for him. What was more, his cultivation and strength already far exceeded these heavenly gods! The Plague God was cleaved apart by the Heavenly Sword. Just as his Primordial Spirit escaped his physical body, the Heavenly Drum thundered, shattering his soul into nothingness. High God Tianli had barely activated his Tianli divine power when the Heavenly Shuttle streaked in the next instant, punching through his forehead! The Heavenly Sabre swept down like a bolt of white silk, lopping off Tiantiao's head. Tianji was drawn into the Heavenly Umbrella and refined into ash. Another god perished within the Heavenly Urn, while Tianshang died beneath the light of the Heavenly Mirror! In mere moments, the Heavenly Dao world turned into a slaughterhouse. Dead heavenly gods littered the ground, while the survivors fled desperately, hurtling toward the Tongtian River. Some gods even tore through the sky directly, intending to violate the heavenly laws and descend straight to the mortal realms below. In the Yongkang Great World, the weather was gentle and sunny, with ten thousand li of clear sky. Suddenly, the heavens split open as the peerlessly massive form of High God Tianfeng tore through the sky, descending straight from the Heavenly Dao world! That high god's body seemed forged of condensed hurricanes—impossibly colossal and immensely powerful. Yet the Yongkang Great World was a Great World after all, boasting ancient heritages from which many Immortal Kings and Immortal Monarchs had emerged. Sacred lands stood like forests here; which of them lacked ten or twenty beams of ascension radiance? Never mind a heavenly god—even if a God King arrived here, he would have to crouch low and tread cautiously. Yet in the very next breath, the people of the Yongkang Great World watched as boundless heavenly fire suddenly poured into that god. Wind fed the flames, which roared within High God Tianfeng's body and incinerated him to ash in an instant, tumbling from the sky! The people of the Yongkang Great World stood dumbstruck. Across the sacred lands, Qi Refiners gaped with open mouths, staring at the drifting ashes in prolonged silence. In the Longxing Great World, another heavenly god suddenly tore open the sky, leaning down into the lower realm in an attempt to escape the Heavenly Dao world. Abruptly, a steel fork thrust out from behind, impaling the god! The colossal fork even pierced the barrier between the two worlds, causing the sky to bleed as divine blood poured down like a waterfall. That heavenly god was not yet dead, letting out shrill screams, but in the next instant, an impossibly massive axe hacked down, severing the god's head. Similar scenes played out in worlds such as Changyang, Xiangzhou, Helin, Yingtian, Pingjiang, and Canglang. Gods fleeing toward these realms were slaughtered by Heavenly Dao divine artifacts before they could even fully descend! Some gods even managed to escape the Heavenly Dao world and reach the lower realms, only to be struck down by Heavenly Dao divine artifacts plunging from the heavens! The spectacle was breathtakingly horrific, the brutality chilling to the bone. "Something monumental must have happened in the Heavenly Dao world!" the people across these worlds speculated secretly, trembling in terror. Before long, all three hundred and sixty orthodox gods of the Heavenly Dao had been wiped out by Xu Ying. As for the other deities who were not orthodox gods, they were mostly earth gods and local spirits of the myriad worlds, not counted among the orthodox ranks. Watching this unfold, Buddhist Child Jijue quietly cast a few beams of Buddha light onto Xu Ying. Seeing no reaction, he thought to himself, *Has he grown immune to my Buddhist arts?* A moment later, he finally reached a conclusion: *Benefactor Ah Ying isn't acting under the influence of the Six-Syllable Great Mantra at all—he's just naturally this vicious!* The myriad primordial behemoths and ancient beasts of the Heavenly Dao world also shuddered in terror, not daring to draw near. Xu Ying walked through the air. His strides did not look hurried, yet his speed was astonishing. Wherever he passed, Heavenly Dao divine artifacts as massive as mountains rose into the air and merged into the celestial canopy. Vast Heavenly Dao runes rippled across the Heavenly Dao world, overlapping and replacing the world's original runes. Xu Ying strolled forward at an unhurried pace. Before long, all the Heavenly Dao divine artifacts had merged into the Heavenly Dao world, becoming one with it, reforging the rules of the Heavenly Dao world and replacing the original ones! Suddenly, Xu Ying's heart stirred, and he walked toward the highest divine temple in the Heavenly Dao world. Buddhist Child Jijue hurriedly kept pace behind him. Countless members of the Heavenly Dao Crowd had gathered inside and outside that temple, guarding it with murderous resolve, as if determined to protect the grand hall with their very flesh, blood, and spirit. Xu Ying walked straight up and gave a casual sweep of his hand. Countless members of the Heavenly Dao Crowd immediately flew into the air, flailing wildly as they tumbled in every direction. Seeing this, Buddhist Child Jijue let out a sigh of relief. He had feared Xu Ying would continue his earlier brutality, going on another slaughtering spree to kill every last member of the Heavenly Dao Crowd. He had not expected that this flick of Xu Ying's sleeve merely swept them aside without taking a single life. Xu Ying strode into the hall. Enshrined within was a jade statue of the Heavenly Venerable. In the statue's hands rested a jade ruyi, radiating a ponderous heavenly might that far surpassed any other Heavenly Dao divine artifact! *A Heavenly Dao supreme treasure that suppresses the Heavenly Dao world!* Xu Ying was startled. When he had reforged the three-hundred-odd Heavenly Dao divine artifacts earlier, he had sensed that he could not completely alter the rules of the Heavenly Dao world—there had to be a central pivot. *It's this jade ruyi that governs the operation of the Heavenly Dao world!* Xu Ying leaped into the air and reached for the jade ruyi. Suddenly, Jijue roared, "Careful!" The young monk shifted abruptly across the space, blocking in front of Xu Ying. "Measureless Golden Body!" Before the two of them, the jade statue of the Heavenly Venerable suddenly opened its eyes. A heavy voice resonated from within the statue: "Impudent!" The Heavenly Venerable's jade statue swung the Heavenly Dao supreme treasure, the jade ruyi, smashing it down. In an instant, the crushing heavenly might bore down so heavily that neither of them could breathe! *Clang—!* Brilliant golden light erupted around Jijue as the phantom of a great bell materialized, whistling in rotation around him, but that bell shattered instantly beneath the jade ruyi! The jade ruyi struck Jijue squarely on the head. A massive dent caved into the young monk's forehead, and two jets of blood shot from his nostrils. The surging shockwave blasted the four walls of the entire divine temple outward with a thunderous roar, leaving only isolated pillars standing! Even Xu Ying deeply envied Jijue's Measureless Golden Body, believing he would have to cultivate the six secret depositories to the ninth heaven before his physical body could rival it. In truth, Jijue's physical form was indeed extraordinary; several Corpse Monarchs in Yingzhou had besieged him without breaching his Measureless Golden Body, battering him for over ten days without inflicting a single scratch. Yet the Heavenly Venerable's jade statue, wielding the jade ruyi, had shattered the Measureless Golden Body with a single strike. Such combat prowess far surpassed that of an Immortal Monarch! Had that blow landed on Xu Ying, it likely would have pulverized both his physical body and Primordial Spirit, leaving behind nothing but his Indestructible True Spirit! And this was merely a jade statue erected by the Heavenly Venerable in the Heavenly Dao world! Xu Ying let out a long cry. His six great cave-heavens opened fully as he summoned his five great heavy treasures to serve as realms, driving the Zhuxian sword qi to clash with the Heavenly Venerable's jade statue! Meanwhile, Jijue had been struck senseless, nearly believing he was going to die. To his astonishment, boundless vitality surged into him from Xu Ying in the next breath, healing his wounds in an instant! Not only that, but having taken a blow from the Heavenly Dao supreme treasure, the jade ruyi, he had suffered severe Heavenly Dao Dao-injuries. This Heavenly Dao differed from his Buddhist Dao; the Heavenly Dao pollution had not only tainted his wound, but also invaded his flesh, corroding his Realm of Xiyi and Primordial Spirit. For him, such Dao-injuries were exceptionally difficult to purge, yet in the next instant, Xu Ying wiped them clean! Jijue was both astonished and overjoyed: *Benefactor Ah Ying and I reinforce each other—he is my Returning Dao Jade Platter!* "Great Compassion and Mercy Hand!" Flanking from left and right, he and Xu Ying launched a frantic assault against the Heavenly Venerable. Xu Ying shouted continuously, while Jijue shouted the name of every technique at the top of his lungs, brimming with imposing grandeur! "Buddha's Radiance Shines Universally!" "Heavenly Flowers Fall in Profusion!" "Beyond All Redemption!" Xu Ying raised the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron and sneered, "I wondered why the heavenly gods were all illiterate fools—who knew it was hereditary!" The great cauldron clashed against the jade ruyi. Both treasures were Heavenly Dao supreme treasures, but one was forged by the Heavenly Venerable while the other was forged by God King Xuankong. The power of the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron crafted by God King Xuankong was slightly inferior to the jade ruyi crafted by the Heavenly Venerable, yet upon collision, the one damaged was actually the jade ruyi! Although the jade ruyi was also a Heavenly Dao supreme treasure imprinted with three thousand Dao characters, more than half of those runes were flawed and missing strokes. Had it not encountered the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, it could have unleashed might that seemed even greater than the cauldron. But against the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, all its flaws were instantly exposed! After colliding a few times with the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, a sharp crack sounded, and the jade ruyi was shattered by the cauldron's force! Without the jade ruyi in hand, the Heavenly Venerable's jade statue faltered immediately. Having just blocked Jijue's staff-strike, it was struck by Xu Ying's Eight Desolations Sun Refining Seal, staggering backward. Before it could regain its footing, it was met head-on by Jijue's Buddhist divine power of Deliverance, blasting it into midair. But waiting in the sky was Xu Ying invoking the Raging Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Guidance—divine thunder descended from the ninth heaven, crashing ruthlessly onto the forehead of the Heavenly Venerable's jade statue! "Initiation of Supreme Wisdom!" Buddha light surged down into its crown. As the Heavenly Venerable's jade statue plummeted from midair, it met Xu Ying's move, Ascension, which pierced straight through the jade statue! Jijue shoved both palms forward. "Beyond All Redemption!" Behind him, a ten-thousand-zhang Primordial Spirit of a Great Buddha appeared, similarly thrusting both palms forward. Boundless karmic fire surged forth, coiling around the Heavenly Venerable's jade statue and dragging it down into the inferno! Xu Ying unleashed the Zhuxian sword qi, slashing down from the crown of the Heavenly Venerable's jade statue straight through to the soles of its feet. The jade statue split apart with a thunderous crack, cleaving in two and toppling slowly to either side. Xu Ying slowly straightened his posture and dispersed the Zhuxian sword qi, heroic pride surging in his chest. "From this day forth, I am the Master of the Heavenly Dao! Don't even dream of ascending!"