Though the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture was created by Perfected Jade Pot, the one who employed it with the greatest finesse had never been Perfected Jade Pot, but Xu Ying.
The Ancestral God's chamber pot soaring in from beyond the sky was precisely the work of Xu Ying circulating the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture, utilizing spatial divine powers to unleash the treasure's might thousands of times over!
The Ancestral God's chamber pot was an artifact used to hold the Ancestral God's Dao injuries, and its power was inherently terrifying. However, Xu Ying's cultivation had been insufficient; normally, he could only deal with a handful of people at a time. If there were too many targets, or if the opponents were too powerful, they could potentially escape the chamber pot's area of capture.
Yet magnified by the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture, the massive wooden tub beyond the firmament now covered nearly half of the Demon Ancestral Court. Golden light poured down like a tidal wave, bringing the entire Ancestral Court within reach of the chamber pot's might!
Wherever that golden light shone, whether it was the Great Sages' golden bodies summoned by the various clans, the experts of each race, or the two living Great Sages—Demon Sovereign Han and Demon Sovereign Kun—all were caught by the pot's golden light. Involuntary and helpless, they tumbled toward the colossal opening beyond the sky!
"Don't even think about it!"
Furious roars erupted one after another. Sucked into midair, the crowd struggled relentlessly, each revealing their true forms—transforming into primordial exotic beasts of immense size. Some beat their wings to break away, some swam through the sky, and others channeled Dao arts, flying desperately in an effort to escape the chamber pot's engulfing reach!
The golden bodies of the Great Sages were even more colossal, resembling planetary spheres. Cultivators of the various clans clung to these golden bodies, steering them in a frantic flight outward.
Yet back then, when Demon Sovereign Han, Demon Sovereign Kun, and Demon Sovereign Feng were locked onto by the chamber pot, not even they had stood a chance of escaping—let alone this crowd!
No matter what tricks or techniques they brought to bear, none could stop their bodies from plunging into the tub.
Atop the Ancient Fusang Tree, the Demon Ancestor stared blankly at the scene. The Ancestral God's chamber pot seemed poised to sweep the entire Demon Ancestral Court in a single haul—as if so long as Xu Ying willed it, he could suck every last demon besides himself into the tub!
"Imperial Son Jin Buyi certainly found himself a fine ally."
The Demon Ancestor looked toward the immortal light left behind when Mansion Lord Changqing fled, and a smile appeared on his face.
He had originally wavered on whether to defect completely to the Immortal Realm. The Immortal Realm had also been trying to bring the demon race under its sway and make them its subordinate power.
Yet yielding to the Immortal Realm would mean the demons would forever lose any chance of a resurgence, becoming mere lapdogs of the Immortal Realm and severing ties with all factions of the Ancestral Court!
To tread that path was never what he desired.
Yet circumstances were stronger than men. If they did not submit to the Immortal Realm, they had to choose a formidable Demon Emperor and secure a powerful alliance as backing.
In the Demon Ancestor's eyes, the three Demon Sovereigns—Han, Kun, and Feng—scheming to ride the coattails of a new Demon Emperor as founding ministers was short-sighted, petty squabbling, and not worth mentioning.
Only a Heavenly Venerable of the Immortal Realm carried genuine weight.
If no other option remained, the demons could only elect a Demon Emperor obedient to a Heavenly Venerable, and he, the Demon Ancestor, would have had to accept that outcome without second thought.
Xu Ying's appearance had offered him fresh hope.
"Compared to the might of the Immortal Court, Xu Ying's strength is negligible; betting on him should by all accounts be a mistake. Yet compared to the overall might of the demon race, his power was equally negligible—and hasn't he turned the tables nonetheless?"
The Demon Ancestor mused silently.
What the demon race needed was a chance to rise again. Surrendering to the Immortal Realm meant forfeiting that chance forever. Allying with Xu Ying was a slender hope, but hope remained!
"So long as a single breath remains, an opportunity endures!" he told himself.
As the powerhouses of the various demon clans fell into the chamber pot, a foul, rank stench assailed their senses. In an instant, their Five Qi shut down, their Three Passes became blocked, their Many-Storied Towers sealed, their Jade Pools polluted, their bodhimandas closed, and their Dao trees withered. Their God Bridges rusted over, and their Jade Capitals became wretchedly foul, dropping them from demon immortals down to mere mortals.
This chamber pot was filthy beyond measure.
The Ancestral God had fashioned it merely to store his Dao injuries. Initially, he had simply refined a vessel at whim to hold them, giving it minimal refinement since it did not need to be exquisite. Yet unintentional planting often yields the thickest willow shade: the Ancestral God had been grievously injured, and what he excised and dumped into the tub were the most foul, corrupt fragments of the cosmos.
The Ancestral God's true form was the Primordial Spirit of the cosmic void—immeasurably vast. Naturally, the parts of his Dao injuries he severed carried extraordinary power. Over time, as this foul corruption steeped into the wooden tub, it turned into an exceptionally lethal treasure.
Anyone drawn into the pot found their cultivation contaminated and their Dao heart invaded by grime. Once inside, any possibility of escaping vanished.
Only when dumped out would they recover.
One after another, the crowd tumbled into the pot, shorn of all resistance. Even Demon Sovereign Han and Demon Sovereign Kun, two Great Sages, failed to get away and fell in successively.
"Do not panic, everyone!"
Demon Sovereign Kun raised his eight arms to gesture for everyone inside to keep their composure, saying in a deep voice, "Brother Han and I have been through this before. The moment we leave this pot, our cultivation will instantly return. When that Xu Ying dumps us out, we can strike him completely off guard!"
Demon Sovereign Han said, "Brother Kun speaks the truth. Get yourselves ready, everyone. Prepare to strike at a moment's notice."
Xu Ying netted them all in a single pot and recalled the Ancestral God's chamber pot. His three Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits collapsed one after another, turning into wisps of pure vapor that returned into his body. Xu Ying and his Primordial Spirit felt utterly drained of cultivation; even with the backing of six great cave-heavens, his strength had hit rock bottom.
Using the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture to deploy the Ancestral God's chamber pot consumed cultivation at an astronomical rate. With his current level of cultivation, even supplemented by the nine great magic treasures serving as external realms, he could hardly sustain it.
Had Demon Sovereign Han and the others held out for just one more breath, Xu Ying's cultivation would have run completely dry, leaving him powerless against them. Unfortunately, they could not last.
Xu Ying recalled his Primordial Spirit and channeled his six cave-heavens, continuously restoring his cultivation. By the time he returned to Daoji Palace, his power had already recovered to its peak.
"Master Qi."
He summoned Yuan Qi, dragged the cat demon that had swallowed the Diamond Snare out of the pot by the scruff of its neck, and asked, "Is this the beast that ate the Diamond Snare?"
Recognizing the coat of the large civet cat, Yuan Qi quickly said, "That's him! Spit it out!"
The cat demon bared its fangs and snarled at him, looking exceedingly fierce.
Ling Siyi hurried over and said, "This is a cultivator of our demon race's Civet clan, named Li Gangze. He possesses an unyielding temperament and yields to neither soft words nor hard threats. Let me persuade him to spit out the Diamond Snare."
Xu Ying shook his head. "Why bother with such trouble? Just kill him, slit his belly open, and take the Diamond Snare out."
The cat demon Li Gangze immediately cried out, "Wait! I surrender!" With that, he obediently spat out the Diamond Snare.
Yuan Qi retrieved the Diamond Snare and asked quizzically, "Miss Ling, what did you say his temperament was again?"
"Un... unyielding..." Ling Siyi stammered, sounding rather unsure.
Yuan Qi pressed, "And yields to neither what?"
Ling Siyi knew he was mocking her; she glared fiercely at him and turned her head away.
Yuan Qi chuckled incessantly.
Inside the pot, Demon Sovereign Han and the others craned their necks, eagerly waiting for Xu Ying to tip them out so they could reverse the tide and knock Xu Ying flat on his back.
Suddenly, a Great Sage's golden body was drawn out of the chamber pot, followed by another Great Sage's golden body flying out.
Witnessing this, the crowd grew secretly anxious. A Zhu clan elder shouted, "Two Demon Sovereigns, Xu Ying is cunning! He is taking away the golden bodies of our clans' Great Sages first so we have no strength left to fight him!"
Demon Sovereign Han chuckled. "Though the lad has a few petty tricks, playing games before me is still child's play. His cultivation and strength fall far short of ours, so sooner or later he must dump us out. Just watch how I take him down!"
Before long, Xu Ying had removed the Great Sages' golden bodies from the pot one by one.
Then came the clan elders and experts of each race, who were drawn out of the chamber pot one after another by a beam of light. They vanished without a trace—no screams could be heard, nor any curses.
Gradually, fewer and fewer demons remained in the tub. Seeing this, Demon Sovereign Han murmured anxiously to himself, 'What on earth is Xu Ying playing at? No, I must stay calm; he can do nothing to me. Last time, he managed to toss me into the cosmic waste dump, but this isn't the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court!'
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a beam of light descended like a cord, winding several loops around him.
Demon Sovereign Han's eyes gleamed as he sneered inwardly, 'Binding me with such a paltry divine power? In his dreams! The moment I get out, I will—I will—'
Right as he thought this, the rope yanked him out of the chamber pot. Facing him outside stood Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit, holding a big bell. The moment it saw him, it brought the bell slamming down over his head!
Demon Sovereign Han was trapped beneath the bell. Across its surface, sixteen Immortal Dao runes danced, swooping down with a rush to brand themselves onto him, instantly sealing his Primordial Spirit, physical body, and vital essence!
Before Demon Sovereign Han could even muster resistance, he was thoroughly sealed.
Beside him stood a fair, plump youth who kicked him in the back of the knees, sending him crashing to his knees.
Only now did Demon Sovereign Han notice that everyone from the prominent clans was kneeling just like him in neat rows. Evidently, as soon as each person exited the chamber pot, they were stamped like a seal under the bell and bound, which was why they were behaving so submissively.
Xu Ying followed the exact same routine, hauling up Demon Sovereign Kun in binds. Once the seal was applied, Yuan Qi delivered a kick, forcing Demon Sovereign Kun to kneel as well.
By the time this ordeal was finished, the night had passed, and daylight broke bright and clear.
"Master Jin, if you wish to become the Demon Emperor and unify the demon race, how can you do so without establishing your prestige?"
Xu Ying walked up to Jin Buyi and said, "You are an Imperial Son, born of imperial blood, and you recovered the imperial clan's long-lost technique, the Eastern Emperor Leveling Heaven Art. You have done immense service for the demon race. By all rights, you should become the Demon Emperor, transform the demons' fractured and enfeebled state, and lead their resurgence. Yet these clansmen of yours not only refused to support you as Demon Emperor, they repeatedly attempted to murder you, coerce you into surrendering the Eastern Emperor Leveling Heaven Art, fracture the demons, and even colluded with foreign enemies without hesitation."
His hand rested on Jin Buyi's shoulder as he said, "Master Jin, when decisive action is needed, hesitate not! Why not strike while the iron is hot, execute all these rebels, and harness that momentum to bypass the contest for the throne and proclaim yourself Emperor directly?"
Brimming with heroic fervor, he laughed, "Three thousand great demon heads suspended in the sky—with such terrifying majesty, who would dare challenge you?"
Stirred to boiling blood by his words, Jin Buyi gripped the Purple Nether Saber and stepped forward. Approaching Demon Sovereign Han, Demon Sovereign Kun, and the others, he strolled slowly past the kneeling demons with the violet blade in hand.
Known as a demonic blade, the Purple Nether Saber was an evil instrument crafted by the Imperial Monarch, saturated with heavy murderous aura and baleful energy. Otherwise, it would never have provoked the Zhuxian broken sword's competitive spirit to clash against it.
At this moment, baleful vapors wafted from the purple saber. Everywhere Jin Buyi walked, that malevolent energy swirled around the necks of those kneeling on the ground, as if a few more turns would sever their heads!
The elders of the various clans trembled in terror; the stench of urine even rose from the crowd.
A terrifying saber intent faintly emanated from Jin Buyi's Purple Nether Saber—a saber intent tempered over myriad years of fighting side by side with Xu Ying, forged in blood against the Immortal Realm and Heaven Realm.
This saber intent could tear apart soul and spirit, sever a person's will, and crush their Primordial Spirit!
His saber had entered the Dao.
Every footstep he took upon the earth felt like a stomp upon their hearts; they could feel death drawing nearer with each stride.
Suddenly, Jin Buyi stopped in his tracks. He raised his head and looked around at the Demon Ancestral Court, only to see devastation everywhere. The grand Immortal Court of antiquity was shattered into fragments, parcelled out and occupied by various demon clans that established their respective lineages.
Though the prominent clans lived in comfort, the demon race as a whole was withered and declining.
Though the morning sun was just rising, the Demon Ancestral Court felt like the sun setting in the west, fully revealing the desolation of a once-great race in its twilight years.
All of its glorious history could not veil the misery of the present.
A flame leapt within Jin Buyi's chest, burning his heart crimson, boiling his blood, and heating his ancient bloodline like refined gold in a furnace, glowing bright scarlet!
His Primordial Spirit rose from the earth—ten thousand zhang tall! The three-legged golden crow spread its wings, releasing boundless demonic power that radiated in all directions, unleashing infinite fiery might that painted the sky crimson, outshining red blooms and eclipsing the blazing sun!
"For how many myriad years has the tragedy of the demons lasted? How many Great Sages have walked this land? How many demon heroes has it nurtured? When the wings of the demons once covered the heavens, was it merely the sky of the Ancestral Court?"
Jin Buyi lifted his head to the sky. His voice was low, yet possessed immense penetrating power.
"The ancestors of the demons left their footprints across the cosmic stars. Their wings soared through the firmament, blotting out the brilliance of the sun. They were once the mightiest cultivators, the proudest race, possessing the most resplendent civilization. In the Immortal Realm beyond the reach of mortals, they founded an Immortal Court. Their palaces floated in the heavens!
"They possessed the strongest physiques, the most exquisite Dao arts, the divine powers closest to the Dao! They were the scholars of this universe, its lords, its mentors! Not the useless trash kneeling on the ground today!"
The imperial bloodline within Jin Buyi surged, the ancient Dao power dormant within his veins steadily awakening. His vital essence soared, manifesting around him as crow-shaped flames flitting to and fro.
"I am of imperial blood, having arrived bearing the Demon Emperor's heritage! Yet you repeatedly insulted and bullied me, tried to force me to surrender my art, and ambushed me with cowardly assassinations. You regarded me as an outsider, wanted to kill me, sought to control the imperial clan, and plotted to groom a puppet Demon Emperor you could manipulate! Yet under your hands all these years, the demon race has become an utter mess!"
His voice was filled with grief and indignation. He abruptly shook the blade, and a clear, resonant chime vibrated through the heavens, sweeping away the clouds and haze.
As that surging murderous intent rolled over them, Demon Sovereign Han and the others hung their heads in shame and guilt, yet were gripped with terror, dreading that a flash of the blade would send their heads rolling.
"You are muddleheaded and lust for power, oblivious to the fact that the demons' territory has dwindled to nothing more than this Ancestral Court!
"You are incompetent, inviting enemies to meddle in the internal affairs of the Ancestral Court, taking pride in what should be your greatest shame!
"You show no mercy to your own kind, resorting to threats, coercion, ambushes, and petty schemes—yet before foreign enemies, you act like cowering sycophants!"
His voice sounded like a demon, carrying a chilling demonic nature, yet also like a god, imbued with sacred majesty.
"I want to butcher every last one of you treasonous, rebellious subjects, hang your heads in the sky as sacrificial offerings to the ancestors of antiquity, and pave my road to the throne with your bones!"
His suffocating pressure peaked as he declared chillingly, "I will never bow or scrape before enemies, nor will I turn my blade against my kin! I will do far better than any of you ever could! You are the scum of the demons, the dregs of our race!"
A demon burst into tears; recalling his past deeds, he was overcome with mortifying shame.
Demon Sovereign Han and the others remained silent. Looking back upon the deeds of their lives, they felt only absurdity and disgrace, thinking to themselves: 'Enough, enough. If we die by his blade, it will be no more than we deserve.'
"However, I pardon you."
Jin Buyi's vital essence and blood surged even more fiercely, his voice impassioned. "You are dregs, you are scum, you deserve death ten thousand times over—yet I pardon you! I grant you a chance to redeem yourselves!
"I need you dregs to rouse your spirits before the demon race's doomsday, to wake even more of our slumbering clansmen!
"I need you scum to protect our kin in the coming bloody war, to teach our kin, to pass down the will of our forebears and carry forward an inextinguishable spirit!
"I need you to live as our ancestors lived! I need you to stand with me, so that your descendants may live as our ancestors lived—to be upright, honorable demons, not fawning, obsequious beasts!
"I pardon you!"
In the distance, at the Feng family estate. Beside Demon Sovereign Feng, Jin Lan's face was pale as he whispered, "Sovereign, I have failed your expectations. It is no longer possible for me to defeat him and seize the imperial throne."
Demon Sovereign Feng gave a slight nod and said with a smile, "Yet has not the demon race gained a promising, great Emperor? Is that not wonderful?"
Chapter 480