The Eastern King

"The Crown Prince of the Immortal Court, His Highness the Eastern King? Isn't he that old monster who plotted against me, against the Dao Ancestor, and against the Demon Ancestor?" Xu Ying was stunned. Dispelling the Taiyi Divine Bridge, he asked in bewilderment, "Was your Prince Eastern King once a disciple of the Shangqing Dao Sect, bearing the name Qingxuan?" Lan Chengye scrambled to his feet and said, "What Qingxuan? His Highness the Eastern King is, of course, the Supreme Crown Prince! Prepare to welcome his arrival!" Xu Ying's expression flickered between light and dark. He had originally assumed His Highness the Eastern King was the divine schemer who had plotted against him and attempted to seize the Taiyi Cave-Abode through his hands, but unexpectedly, he was not. The Eastern King's divine foresight was already formidable enough. Xu Ying had only managed to step beyond his calculations with the newly comprehended Taiyi Divine Bridge; using any other technique would have left him entirely on the defensive, helpless against his strikes. If he was not the one plotting against him, could there be another divine schemer in the Immortal Court besides him? That schemer was hidden unimaginably deep—as early as six hundred thousand years ago, he had dared to plot against the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits of Taiqing Dao Ancestor, Great Dao Monarch Xuhuang, and the others, and even the Demon Ancestor and the Later Lord of Ziwei had fallen within his calculations! That person was the true mysterious entity attempting to obtain the Taiyi Cave-Abode through Xu Ying's hands. *The Later Lord of Ziwei helped me blind his vision so that he couldn't deduce that I have already comprehended the Taiyi Cave-Abode, but other matters probably cannot be hidden from him,* Xu Ying thought. In the sky, a magnificent beam of streaming light suddenly shone down through the rift between the Ancestral Court and the Immortal Realm, casting its radiance before the Pantheon Palace. A mighty being was attempting to descend from the Immortal Realm along this beam of light. Nowadays, the effects of the Three Realms' tides were growing greater, and the rift between the two realms in the sky was widening, making travel between the immortal and mortal realms increasingly convenient. However, the Eastern King's strength was too formidable. As he crossed through the rift between the two realms, space churned violently, thunder and fire roiled, and the other rifts around it were squeezed shut one after another! Within the streaming light, a tall figure slowly materialized. As he stepped forward facing the brilliance, the other fissures in the surrounding sky were squeezed completely shut, leaving only the single rift through which he descended. That rift seemed to have swallowed the others, expanding to immense proportions, yet becoming unstable because of it, fracturing into countless spatial shards. This rift and the shards shifted as the Eastern King walked, following behind him like translucent colored glass dancing through the air. As the Eastern King approached, thunder and fire surged around the light, blasts of thunder detonating incessantly. Hundreds of peaks throughout Kunlun trembled violently, triggering endless avalanches! Lan Chengye hastily bowed down. "Humbly welcoming His Highness the Eastern King!" "No need for formalities. Rise." An extraordinarily handsome man stepped out from the streaming light. With sword-like brows and starry eyes, he bore an innate noble air. His attire was even more exquisite: dressed in a crimson gauze robe, wearing a three-ridged cap upon his head, an inner garment of white gauze with a black collar, a white skirt-robe, and a white false sash, adorned with a sword, jade pendants, ribbon cords, a leather belt, and dual jade hairpins. A halo shone behind his head, and above his crown faintly hovered a cave-abode, unfathomably deep. Within it, immortal mountains and immortal cities were visible, while a wisp of white immortal qi descended curling like a flood dragon, connecting to his headpiece. Within those immortal mountains and cities, tens of thousands of immortals were equipped with counting rods and other divination tools, regulating cause and effect to perform calculations on his behalf. Witnessing this, Xu Ying felt a stir in his heart. *So this is how a cave-abode is meant to be used.* His Highness the Eastern King's cave-abode was profound, and the immortal spiritual qi produced within it flowed continuously into his body, transforming into his cultivation. Seeing this scene, Xu Ying finally understood how cave-abodes were utilized. *Then the way to use Yingzhou, Penglai, and Fangzhang isn't by standing atop the immortal mountains, but by refining them into the form of cave-abodes. In my first life, being able to steal the three great immortal mountains was also by using this method to transport them down from the Immortal Realm.* The Eastern King's power was simply too overwhelming, weighing upon this world so heavily that space itself tilted. Even his physical movement compelled the Immortal Realm rift to move alongside him; otherwise, the stability of space would collapse! Such cultivation was truly unfathomable. The Eastern King stepped into the Pantheon Palace and bowed politely, greeting Xu Ying, the Queen Mother of the West, and Immortal Monarch Zitong. "Lady Zitong, we meet again," the Eastern King said with a smile. Immortal Monarch Zitong dipped in return. "Your Highness is as magnificent as ever." The Eastern King said, "Back then, when you two were plotted against by the Imperial Monarch and the Primordial Monarch—one wasting away nearly fifty thousand years as a string puppet, the other plunged into samsara and toyed with for fifty thousand years—I could only sigh in lament upon hearing of it." The Queen Mother of the West invited him to take a seat. The Eastern King smiled. "There is no need for courtesy, Your Highness. My descent to the lower realm will not last long before I must return. If I linger too long, I will be targeted. If Celestial Venerable Xu had not alarmed me this time, I would not have taken the risk to come down." His gaze fell upon Xu Ying, and he praised, "In this life, Celestial Venerable Xu is even more remarkable than in his past life, and your methods have grown increasingly brilliant, actually escaping my calculations. My divine divination is peerless under heaven, yet I cannot calculate the Supreme. The Supreme is too powerful, possessing the power to distort cause, effect, and samsara. How did Celestial Venerable Xu escape my deductions?" Xu Ying looked up, glancing toward the phantom of his cave-abode, and smiled. "If I did not have this ability, Your Highness the Eastern King would have had no need to descend. As for how I escaped, I must ask Your Highness to forgive me for not speaking plainly." The Eastern King burst into hearty laughter. "Well said! To cooperate, one naturally needs capital. If you were to tell me your capital, you might end up eaten by me." He already treated Xu Ying as someone worthy of cooperation, not mentioning a single word about Xu Ying escaping his calculations moments ago. Changing the subject, the Eastern King said, "Celestial Venerable Xu was once a legendary hero, achieving the rank of Immortal Monarch in just a few short centuries, ascending to the seat of the Three Perfected of the Dou Department, titled Celestial Venerable Xu and True Sovereign Xu. Later you fell from grace and wasted nearly fifty thousand years, yet I have never believed you would simply stay down and never rise again." He smiled faintly and continued, "I too need an ally to deal with the Imperial Monarch, the Heavenly Venerable, and the Primordial Monarch! These people are wildly ambitious, coveting the throne of the Supreme. Without allies, I could easily be toppled by them. To avenge yourself, you must deal with the Imperial Monarch; to avenge Kunlun, you must deal with the Heavenly Venerable; and to avenge your beloved, you must deal with the Primordial Monarch. Therefore, you and I can join hands." He surveyed his surroundings and smiled. "Kunlun also needs a backer in the Immortal Realm, lest it be reduced to ash when the tide arrives." The Queen Mother of the West smiled. "Your Highness need not speak so alarmingly. The Ancestral Court is now capable of overcoming tribulations to attain immortality. Experts are emerging in great numbers, immortals count in the thousands, and experts from the myriad worlds are arriving at the Ancestral Court to undergo tribulations, bolstering our strength. Furthermore, the Ancestral Court is the bodhimanda of the various Dao Ancestors; the Demon Ancestor and the Ancestral God are both pinnacle powers. Coupled with the Little Celestial Venerable's vigorous governance and the support of mighty figures from all sides, we are not without the power to fight the Immortal Realm." The Eastern King couldn't help but sneer. "How many tens of thousands can the immortals of the Ancestral Court possibly amount to? Not even as many as the immortals I keep. Truth be told, to wipe out the Ancestral Court does not require the Immortal Realm to mobilize an army; it only requires any single Heavenly Monarch to step forward, and that would suffice to sweep clean all the forces of the Ancestral Court you speak of." He said nonchalantly, "Besides, that the Ancestral Court has achieved its present glory is largely thanks to my contribution. If not for my secret machinations, if not for my Returning Dao Jade Platter, the Ancestral Court's strength would be far inferior to what it is today." The Queen Mother of the West frowned slightly and said, "We also have the forces of the Underworld." "For the Primordial Monarch to flatten the Underworld would require nothing more than a flick of her sleeve. There is no need for Your Highness to say more." The Eastern King smiled. "Celestial Venerable Xu, I shall make a wager with you. I will not suppress you with my cultivation level, but rely solely on combat techniques. Within nine moves, I will pluck away the nine great magic treasures behind you." Xu Ying raised his brows. The Eastern King said with a faint smile, "If I can pluck away those nine magic treasures, Kunlun submits to me, and Celestial Venerable Xu becomes my subordinate as well. If I fail, you and I are equals, Kunlun remains yours, and our relationship is an alliance. What do you think?" Xu Ying turned toward the Queen Mother of the West and smiled. "Dao Brother, what do you think?" The Queen Mother of the West knew well the immense power of the Eastern King. With the Eastern King personally descending today, the choice was either vassalage or the annihilation of Kunlun. To achieve an equal alliance was already an extravagant hope. She gave a slight nod. "The lives and fortunes of Kunlun rest upon Fellow Daoist Xu." Xu Ying looked at Immortal Monarch Zitong. The fairy said, "Fellow Daoist Xu may decide for himself; I have no objections." Xu Ying smiled. "Your Highness the Eastern King, please." The Eastern King walked outside, chuckling. "There is not enough room to deploy our moves here; let us go outside." Xu Ying walked outward, calculating in his mind: *If I directly employ the Taiyi Divine Bridge, he won't be able to pluck away my treasures on the first move, but once he sees the bridge, he might deduce a way to counter it. Whether it would still work afterward is unknown.* His eyes flickered. The safest method seemed to be saving the Taiyi Divine Bridge for the ninth move, but doing so would play right into the Eastern King's hands. *The Eastern King only said he would pluck away my nine great treasures within nine moves, but he never said he would pluck only one per move. If he takes all nine in a single move, he won't even need to strike for the remaining eight.* Xu Ying clenched his fists. This was his first time facing an existence on the level of a Heavenly Monarch. The Eastern King stopped in his tracks, gazing toward the towering peaks of Kunlun, and smiled. "Celestial Venerable Xu, are you ready?" Xu Ying said in a deep voice, "Ready!" Suddenly, the Eastern King's figure flickered. He raised a hand and reached out—not attacking Xu Ying directly, but grasping toward the nine great magic treasures behind him! Xu Ying let out a thunderous shout and activated the Dao-Burying Abyss. Instantly, an abyss capable of burying the Great Daos of heaven and earth appeared in the sky, spanning the space between them! This divine art was one Xu Ying had pioneered in his first life, carrying immense momentum capable of burying all Daos under heaven! Yet in the very next instant, the Eastern King's palm passed straight through the Dao-Burying Abyss. Waves of palm force flew out from within the abyss, the single palm dividing into nine, grasping toward the nine great magic treasures behind Xu Ying: the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, the Three Heavenly Passes, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, and the rest! Xu Ying immediately altered his technique. A stream of clear qi surged skyward from the crown of his head as One Qi Transformed into Three Pure Ones, manifesting his Three Pure Primordial Spirits. Each unleashed martial arts, Daoist arts, and the Imperial Monarch's supreme techniques to meet the Eastern King's nine palm strikes! The Yuqing Primordial Spirit unleashed the eleventh method of the Eight Methods of the God of War—Ascension—only to be shattered directly by the Eastern King's first palm strike. The Yuqing Xu Ying was dispersed by this blow, bursting with a bang into a burst of primordial qi that returned to Xu Ying's body! At the same time, the Eastern King's palm force struck the Jade Capital Immortal City, sending it howling away from behind Xu Ying and severing it from his external realm! Xu Ying's cultivation suffered a severe drop. Before he could recover from the disorientation of losing that cultivation, another loud bang sounded as the Eastern King's second palm force shattered Taiji Yuqing, blasting his Shangqing Primordial Spirit apart! With a flick of the Eastern King's finger, the Third Heavenly Pass flew out, breaking its connection with Xu Ying! *Bang!* Yet another explosive detonation rang out as Xu Ying's Taiqing Primordial Spirit blew apart. The Imperial Monarch's Nine Heavens Ten Earths Demon-Breaking Secret Art was shattered by the Eastern King's third palm force, and the Divine Bridge was seized by the Eastern King as well. Having three external realms stripped in rapid succession and his Three Pure Ones technique broken, Xu Ying's Undying Primordial Spirit met the fourth palm strike, only to be knocked tumbling backward! The Immortal Dao Jade Pool fell into the Eastern King's hands as well! As Xu Ying's realm plummeted at breakneck speed, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, the Second Heavenly Pass, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, and the First Heavenly Pass all changed hands, sliced down one after another by the Eastern King's remaining palm strikes! The Eastern King's ninth palm strike shot straight for the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains. Easily bypassing Xu Ying's defenses, his fingers flicked repeatedly, shooting finger force like flying swords to sever the four sacred mountains of the Liver, Spleen, Lungs, and Kidneys! Xu Ying let out an enraged roar. Unable to hold back any longer, he mobilized the Taiyi Divine Bridge. A divine bridge bore down, firmly pinning the Heart Sacred Mountain in place! The Eastern King's final finger strike came whistling in, but before it could even get close, the finger force suddenly dissolved, unable to approach the Taiyi Divine Bridge in the slightest! "That is one move." The Eastern King was rather surprised, though he still smiled. "Eight moves remain." Xu Ying exhaled a breath of turbid air. Ten cave-heavens rotated slowly above his head as he said in a heavy voice, "Make your move." Behind him, only the Heart Sacred Mountain of the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains remained among his nine great magic treasures. With those treasures gone, Xu Ying's cultivation had plummeted directly; where he previously possessed cultivation nearly rivaling an Immortal Monarch, he was now at most an Earth Immortal! Although he still had his ten great cave-heavens bolstering his physical body and primordial spirit, the gap compared to his earlier cultivation was simply too vast. The Eastern King studied the Taiyi Divine Bridge, his eyes flickering with intrigue. He chuckled and said, "Rest assured, my strikes will still not exceed your own cultivation and Dharmic power." Xu Ying stood atop the Taiyi Divine Bridge. The Eastern King took a stride forward, stepping onto the bridge as well. Just as he was about to strike Xu Ying, his expression changed slightly, and he instantly leapt into the air, dropping back off the bridge. In just that brief instant, a considerable amount of his cultivation had dissipated. "Seven moves remain," the Eastern King said in a low voice, exhaling deeply. He quietly deduced the flaws of the Taiyi Divine Bridge. After a moment, he stepped onto the bridge once more and attacked Xu Ying. The moment their techniques clashed, the Eastern King's expression shifted again, and he leapt off the bridge. A moment later, the Eastern King stepped onto the bridge a third time. The two briefly exchanged blows atop the bridge; the Eastern King let out a muffled grunt and tumbled off, landing unsteadily on his feet. Move after move passed. All the way up to the eighth move, the Eastern King was still unable to deduce the flaws of the Taiyi Divine Bridge. Simple though the Taiyi Divine Bridge was, behind it lay the fusion of two Dao Ancestor-level supreme scriptures—the Huangting Scripture and the Shangqing Great Cavern True Scripture. It was not something he could unravel in a mere matter of moments. "Celestial Venerable Xu is truly formidable. Now, I have no choice but to use my father's cultivation methods and divine arts to pluck away your remaining sacred mountain." The Eastern King's technique suddenly changed. A surging, boundless aura poured forth from within him. At this moment, he seemed like an emperor governing the entire universe, the co-ruler of all worlds! The Eastern King stepped onto the Taiyi Divine Bridge. Xu Ying's expression grew solemn; his Taiyi Divine Bridge was actually being suppressed! Just moments ago, he had used the Taiyi Divine Bridge to unify the Huangting Scripture and the Shangqing Great Cavern True Scripture, fusing Taiji Shangqing and Wuji Shangqing into one, which had enabled him to repeatedly suppress the Eastern King. Yet now, upon switching to a different cultivation art, the Eastern King actually managed to suppress even the Taiyi Divine Bridge! Treading upon the divine bridge, the Eastern King strode forward in attack. Xu Ying stood his ground upon the bridge. The instant their techniques collided, Xu Ying felt an overwhelming force crash into him; with a muffled groan, his body was sent drifting backward! Shadowing him like a phantom, the Eastern King placed his hand upon the Heart Sacred Mountain. Yet he merely brushed against it lightly without plucking it away. "Defeating you with my father's methods and divine arts would hardly be a fair victory." The Eastern King released his grip. His expression turned solemn and subdued as he shook his head. "I intended to convince you with my own abilities. If I relied on my father's art, the one who subdued you would not be me, but him. Heh... all my life, I have never been able to step out from under his shadow." Looking forlorn, he said, "Celestial Venerable Xu, let us consider this clash between you and me a draw." Xu Ying's eyes flickered. "Your esteemed father is the Supreme of the Immortal Realm?" The Eastern King nodded and chuckled wryly. "Indeed. The world knows only the Supreme—who knows the Eastern King?" Xu Ying asked, "Your divine foresight was inherited from him?" The Eastern King said, "Yes. But in the Dao of divine foresight, I have long surpassed the master!" Xu Ying's eyes glinted. "Not necessarily!"