Are Your Eyes Dry?

Within Wuzhuang Temple, the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler embarked on a slaughterous rampage. Wherever it went, it blanked out the sky, and in the next breath unleashed an indiscriminate, apocalyptic onslaught. From the Jade Pool it carved its way downward, tearing through the Thirty-Three Heavens to the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains. Then, the countless landscape scrolls emanating from the ruler snapped back in an instant, restoring the treasure to the form of a single ruler before it tore through the void and vanished. From afar, the Imperial Monarch looked on with a sneer, taking off after the measuring ruler. "No matter who you are, you will certainly show your tail!" he murmured. Only after the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler departed did several figures emerge from beneath the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains. Looking up at the sky, they found no trace of the ruler left behind. One of them said in a heavy voice, "There is no sign of the Heavenly Venerables. They must still be above the Jade Pool—or perhaps they have already entered Yujing, waiting for the Dao tree to descend." Another Daoist wiped the blood from his face and spat resentfully, "They are bold because of their supreme skill. Even in such peril, they stay in Yujing to wait for an opportunity to seize the Dao fruits. What a pity the Dao fruits have nothing to do with us." "Peril? They only deployed avatars and incarnations, so there is not the slightest danger to their true bodies! For all we know, one of them was the very person who unleashed that Supreme artifact! If those Heavenly Venerables weren't crafty old foxes, could they have ever sat upon their current thrones?" Covered in wounds from head to toe, these figures were experts of the Immortal Realm who had concealed themselves within the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, fortunately surviving the great purge of the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Their spirits dampened, they were preparing to leave when they noticed a youth walking forward instead of retreating, ascending toward the heavens. He smiled and called out, "This is precisely our opportunity. Rather than remaining loose cultivators all our lives, why not take this chance to gamble? Who knows, we might just kill that person and seize the Supreme artifact! Even if we cannot claim the Supreme artifact, so many people have died—there are countless treasures left to scavenge." "Blasphemy! Pure treason!" The crowd rebuked him in outrage, yet after a brief hesitation, they quickly followed behind him, muttering, "Though this boy is treasonous, his words make some sense. We won't vie for the Supreme artifact, but that Supreme artifact has slaughtered so many people, many of whom possessed cave abysses. If we scavenge a few, we'll strike it rich!" "Keep up with him! When he dies, we'll scavenge his cave abyss!" "His cave abyss is enormous!" "Yes, it truly is enormous!" That youth was none other than Xu Ying. He stretched his muscles and bones, quietly circulating his modified Taiyi Indestructible Scripture. His thirty-three vertebrae popped and cracked rhythmically. In his Realm of Xiyi, wind surged and clouds roiled across the Thirty-Three Heavens, transforming into a torrent of Dao power that poured into his Primordial Spirit. Silently directing his profound art, he merged his ten great cave-heavens into one and concealed the Taiyi Cave Abyss within the phenomena of Yingzhou. A steady stream of Taiyi qi poured forth, replenishing the depletion caused by the Dao weeping and adjusting his condition. Before long, he returned to his peak. Having comprehended the layout of Wuzhuang Temple, his cultivation had advanced considerably, and his Primordial Spirit had experienced an immense leap. The Taiyi qi circulated through the Thirty-Three Heavens, empowering his Primordial Spirit and causing his attainments in it to progress by leaps and bounds! As he cultivated, he made his way upward along the Heavenly River. The immortals trailing behind him possessed formidable strength as well. They were scouring the surroundings, searching for any treasures left behind by the deceased immortals. They remained wary of Xu Ying. Yingzhou, in particular, made their eyes burn with greed, but once they caught sight of his face, someone recognized him. "It's Old Demon Xu of the Dou Department. Do not provoke him." The group grew jittery. "Why did Old Demon Xu point us toward scavenging treasures? Could it be that he wants us to gather them up so he can kill us and take everything?" "I heard he has another nickname: Old Dog Xu! He must be planning to fatten us up first before devouring us!" "Hush! He can hear you!" Xu Ying walked ahead at an unhurried pace, letting their gossip drift into his ears and treating it as mere slander. Within Yingzhou, Divine Mother was also performing constant divinations, attempting to track the movements of the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler. However, Supreme artifacts were exceedingly difficult to calculate; she could sense danger looming, but could not pinpoint whence it came. "Immortal Master, Ling Wuxin is just ahead!" Divine Mother suddenly warned. Xu Ying advanced, and a shrill, bloodcurdling shriek suddenly rang out ahead, followed by complete silence. He stepped forward and saw Hao Kaiyang drenched in blood, standing atop a mountain beside the Heavenly River. He held a man by the throat, with a pile of corpses strewn at his feet. This "Hao Kaiyang" was none other than Ling Wuxin, the son of Primordial Monarch Ling Su, who had possessed Hao Kaiyang's body. He had scavenged numerous cave abysses of varying sizes from these immortals, within which immortal mountains and palaces radiated dazzling light. "Xu Ying!" Ling Wuxin's eyes flared with sharp light. His grip on the man's neck tightened steadily, and he cried excitedly, "I wore out iron shoes searching high and low, only to find you without the slightest effort! Xu Ying, you nearly killed me last time. Did you ever expect I would still be alive?" The person clutched in his hand was Immortal Monarch Zining, battered and bloody. Immortal Monarch Zining had survived the purge of the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, only to be targeted by Ling Wuxin, who had slaughtered several experts around him and captured him alive. Overflowing with excitement, Ling Wuxin chuckled, "What do you think of this new body my mother found for me? The original owner was named Hao Kaiyang, a man skilled in tempering the flesh. His body was forged through countless trials, and his cultivation was quite formidable. What a pity that his Yindi Cave Abyss was merely defective, capable of supporting his cultivation only up to the Immortal King realm. Yet after I possessed him, I broke through to become an Immortal Monarch in no time!" Xu Ying frowned slightly. Perfected Jade Pot's challenge against the four emperors of the Netherworld had been instigated by Ling Wuxin. Back then, Xu Ying had engaged Ling Wuxin in a decisive battle, fighting all the way to the Immortal Realm and severing his life force. With a single finger strike, Xu Ying had used soul power to bloat his Primordial Spirit and burst his physical body, while also delivering a strike of Zhuxian sword qi to slay his Primordial Spirit. With injuries of that magnitude, the Primordial Monarch could never have saved him! Yet Ling Wuxin had survived, raising doubts in Xu Ying's heart. With a sharp crack, Ling Wuxin snapped Immortal Monarch Zining's neck, lopped off his cave abyss, and laughed, "The current me has completely resolved the flaws of the flesh and emerged far stronger than before. Xu Ying, you are no longer my little father, nor am I the Ling Wuxin of old!" He raised the plundered cave abysses, suspending them behind him. Boundless spiritual energy and origin power instantly flooded out of them toward him! Within those cave abysses—especially that of Immortal Monarch Zining—hid hundreds of immortals who were his retainers. Ling Wuxin crushed them all to dust, causing blood to gush from the cave abyss like a crimson waterfall. Ling Wuxin activated the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Confluence Technique. His flesh and Primordial Spirit fused into a single entity, his body swelling ever larger, muscles bulging and contorting ferociously. Behind him materialized twenty-eight heavens teeming with gods and fiends, where bizarre Daoist chants mingled to empower his form! His Immortal Monarch bodhimanda barely enveloped his colossal frame, and his Dao tree stood only as tall as he was! Towering high above, Ling Wuxin laughed with manic delight. "Xu Ying, you've never witnessed the sight of my body and Primordial Spirit fully fused, have you? Well, now you can witness it!" With a thunderous bellow, he smashed his fist down. The cascading Dao power distorted space, causing the Heavenly River to shudder violently, nearly severing its flow! Terrified by the spectacle, the immortals trailing behind Xu Ying scattered in panic. In the very instant they fled, an earth-shattering blast erupted behind them. Glancing back, they saw a hundred-zhang Primordial Spirit towering behind Xu Ying, raising its hand to meet Ling Wuxin's peerless blow! Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit was already not small. With a cultivation at the Divine Bridge realm, being able to refine a Primordial Spirit to a hundred zhang in size was already of decent caliber, and quite impressive indeed. Of course, that was only when compared to Qi Refiners. Immortals, on the other hand, each commanded a ten-thousand-zhang Primordial Spirit. Those of Primordial Monarch Ling Su's lineage possessed Primordial Spirits of peerless might. Compared to Ling Wuxin's Primordial Spirit empowered by the gods and fiends of twenty-eight heavens, Xu Ying's hundred-zhang Primordial Spirit appeared almost negligible! Furthermore, having possessed Hao Kaiyang's body, Ling Wuxin had unified his Primordial Spirit and physical shell, pushing the might of an Immortal Monarch to the absolute limit! Yet the moment the giant and the dwarf collided, the gods and fiends in the twenty-eight heavens behind Ling Wuxin began to burst with explosive pops! Chunks of flesh on his right arm ruptured, tendons twisted, and shattered bones pierced through his skin! His right arm was unimaginably massive, like a pillar propping up the heavens, but beneath the punch of Xu Ying's hundred-zhang Primordial Spirit, this pillar began to crumble and disintegrate! Horrified, Ling Wuxin immediately shrank his colossal body, collapsing from ten thousand zhang down to three inches in an instant, compressing his flesh and Primordial Spirit to the absolute limit. He tumbled backward, hurtling across the thousands of mountains and rivers within the sixteenth heaven of Wuzhuang Temple. Xu Ying's hundred-zhang Primordial Spirit followed in hot pursuit, traversing mountain after mountain and skimming over water surfaces, whipping up howling gales among the peaks and blasting the waters into spray. "Ling Wuxin, you have only cultivated six kinds of power—flesh, soul power, primordial qi, divine consciousness, heart power, and yin-yang. But I have cultivated ten, and I have fused all ten into one." Xu Ying's voice echoed through the endless mountains and rivers. An instant later, the two collided between two great peaks. The two mountains instantly disintegrated, crumbling along fracturing faults as boulders shot skyward before dissolving into pure white light waves and storming gale. Spitting blood, Ling Wuxin shot into the air. In an instant, he expanded from a three-inch figurine back into a towering giant, sprinting frantically across thousands of mountains that blurred beneath his feet. He bounded wildly from one heaven to the next, a terrifying sight. Terror consumed his heart. The last time, he had still been able to trade blows with Xu Ying head-on; although he had lost, it was not because his cultivation was less profound than Xu Ying's, but because his body was too weak, allowing Xu Ying to seize an opening. This time, however, he had remedied the flaw of his flesh. His cultivation and strength had both skyrocketed, allowing him even to slay Immortal Monarch Zining. Yet against Xu Ying, he could not withstand even a single strike! "Mother's Dao body is also in Wuzhuang Temple! As long as I find her Dao body, I will be saved!" In the next instant, however, Xu Ying's silhouette appeared directly in front of him. "Building upon the foundation of my first life's Undying True Spirit, I have forged an Indestructible Primordial Spirit! The profound secrets of your Ling family's Primordial Spirit are also laid bare before me." Xu Ying paused for a fraction of a breath, lightly tapped his toes, and leaped into the air, thrusting a finger toward Ling Wuxin's glabella. Simultaneously, behind him, the Indestructible Primordial Spirit thrust out a finger as well. Ling Wuxin raised his other hand to shield his face. With a pop, the back of Ling Wuxin's hand ruptured. Xu Ying's finger strike met no resistance, blasting a hundred-zhang hole through his palm. Xu Ying and his Primordial Spirit flew through the breach, their finger force piercing his bodhimanda and penetrating his forehead. Stretching his limbs, Xu Ying landed lightly upon the Heavenly River. Behind him, blood cascaded like a waterfall, dyeing the river crimson. Xu Ying turned his head and said calmly, "My Indestructible Primordial Spirit is not as massive as yours, but I am stronger. This is a Primordial Spirit of the Supreme level, something your Ling family's Divine Confluence Technique cannot match. How did you escape my Zhuxian sword qi last time? Try escaping it again, and I might spare your life." A gurgling sound rattled in Ling Wuxin's throat. His body gradually shrank as strands of sword qi that obliterated all things leaked from within him, severing his Dao chains. His Dao chains shattered continuously, the leaves of his Dao tree withered and fell, and his bodhimanda collapsed. His eyes lost their light, and the vital essence of his Primordial Spirit began to disperse, whistling out through the hole in his crown. By the time his body returned to normal size, his flesh could no longer support its own weight. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground. Xu Ying waited for a moment. Seeing that Ling Wuxin could not neutralize his Zhuxian sword qi, disappointment crept into his heart. "So it wasn't you who neutralized my divine art." Xu Ying flicked his sleeve and walked forward. "I gave you a chance to live, but you couldn't seize it. Do not blame me." Behind him, countless rays of sword qi suddenly burst from Ling Wuxin's flesh, tearing his body and Primordial Spirit into shreds! From the Yingzhou Cave Abyss, the immortals of Penglai flew out one after another to harvest the cave abysses Ling Wuxin had collected, hauling them back into Yingzhou. These cave abysses meant little to Xu Ying, but to them, they were treasures beyond compare. Most immortals who ascended to the Immortal Realm could spend their entire lives without ever obtaining a cave abyss even the size of Fangzhang Immortal Mountain. Xu Ying let them harvest as they pleased and continued his journey toward higher ground. Once the Penglai immortals finished harvesting, they took flight and returned to Yingzhou. Only after they departed did the few immortals from earlier fly over, gazing with shock and uncertainty in the direction Xu Ying had left. "Old Demon Xu even killed the Primordial Monarch's son! He is utterly lawless! Isn't he afraid of the Primordial Monarch's vengeance?" "I heard Ling Wuxin was the son of Old Demon Xu and the Primordial Monarch! Even a vicious tiger won't eat its cubs—Old Demon Xu is truly ruthless!" "Nonsense, Ling Wuxin is far older than Old Demon Xu! I heard that Ling Wuxin was the illegitimate son of the Emperor of Longevity and the Primordial Monarch, and the Emperor of Longevity didn't want to take responsibility..." "Hush!" Above the Jade Pool, the Eastern King's avatar wore a bleak expression as the Imperial Monarch strolled over, calling from afar, "Your Highness, I tracked the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler all the way here, where it vanished without a trace. In other words, the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler must be in Your Highness's hands." The Eastern King's avatar sighed, balancing on his single leg, and said, "I am so heavily injured, yet you think I was the one who unleashed the measuring ruler? Zhou Wu, you disappoint me." The Imperial Monarch's eyes flickered, and he smiled faintly. "Perhaps you used this method precisely to wash away your suspicion." The Eastern King snorted coldly and said with pride, "I am proficient in divine divination. Had I possessed the measuring ruler, I would have tracked down your whereabouts long ago and slaughtered you Heavenly Monarchs one by one. Would I have waited until now? The only reason you want to kill me is that you see how grave my injuries are, and you wish to seize the chance to eliminate me." The Imperial Monarch smiled. "Your Highness is clever." His killing intent flared, and just as he prepared to strike with lethal force to finish off the Eastern King, a voice carried over from afar: "Your Highness Eastern King, Xu has come to lend you a helping hand!" The Imperial Monarch turned abruptly to see Xu Ying striding toward them, the Yingzhou Cave Abyss hovering behind him, radiant and dazzling like an ominous star. In the distance, several immortals followed him stealthily. "Old Demon Xu is going to kill the Imperial Monarch," he vaguely heard those immortals mutter.