Above the Boundless Sea of Fire, flames surged like towering billows, as though some gargantuan beast were stirring up trouble deep within the sea. The fire leaped into the sky, scorching the stars beyond the heavens.
Licked by the flames, stars melted directly, turning into balls of fire.
Around the immortal tomb, the fiery waves were fiercer still, surging tempestuously and slamming against the tomb like invisible giants violently battering True Lord Erlang's mausoleum!
Within the tomb, the big black dog said urgently, "Erguo, wake your master! We'll charge out together and see what blind fool dares break into the prison!"
Little Celestial Venerable was solemn and immediately went to wake Xu Ying.
Xu Ying was currently cultivating the Leakless Golden Body, right at a critical juncture. Little Celestial Venerable called out once, but failing to rouse him, hesitated and did not call again. Instead, he lifted Xu Ying with a strand of primordial qi.
He collected his wits. Wei Xu was an entity who had stepped halfway into the Supreme realm; if such a man were rescued, who could match him?
*He was suppressed by True Lord Erlang, so back then he must have been one of the top experts sent to wipe out the Ancestral Court,* Little Celestial Venerable thought silently. *Back in those days, Heavenly Lord Pingnan was also a top Heavenly Monarch. He dueled Imperial Monarch Zhenwu and died in battle at Zhenwu Temple. Yet Wei Xu fought True Lord Erlang and hasn't even died.*
His expression was grave. The big black dog considered very little, but Little Celestial Venerable was meticulous and weighed every factor.
*Wei Xu has been suppressed for so long and refined by the Tushita immortal fire of the Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace for ages; his cultivation and strength must be far diminished from what they once were. Yet his remnant power can still overturn seas and agitate the Boundless Sea of Fire. His strength is likely far more ferocious than Heavenly Lord Pingnan's at his peak!*
The current Heavenly Lord Pingnan was Little Celestial Venerable's right-hand man and one of his strongest subordinates. But Pingnan was already dead; although he had cultivated a Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, he was still vastly inferior to when he had lived.
Little Celestial Venerable considered himself inferior to Pingnan; even having cultivated the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art now, he felt he was still no match for Pingnan.
The reason Wei Xu was creating such an uproar was to prove to the Immortal Realm that he still held value, urging them to come quickly and rescue him!
*After being refined for so long, he can still retain such immense power. Just how is the Supreme realm cultivated?* Little Celestial Venerable wondered inwardly.
Taking the lead, the big black dog opened a passageway and sped downward into the earth. The big bell and Little Celestial Venerable followed close behind, while Xu Ying, standing atop a cloud of qi, trailed them.
This passageway led straight to the depths below, to the core of the Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace.
Following the big black dog to the bottom of the passage, Little Celestial Venerable saw thick Dao chains intertwined with one another. Strangely, there were no flames here, only Dao chains extending in every direction and a vast, sprawling space.
This place formed a world of its own, where the crisscrossing Dao chains bound a tall, imposing figure.
Beneath that figure was an alchemy furnace spanning more than ten mu. On the furnace walls were eight vents, corresponding to the eight trigrams.
However, this furnace was not a physical furnace; it had form but no substance. It was the furnace soul of the Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace, using furnace fire to refine the prisoner chained within.
Chains passed through the eight vents, suspending the man inside the furnace.
"The person inside the furnace is the half-step Supreme, Wei Xu!"
Little Celestial Venerable's gaze fell upon Wei Xu. Suddenly, Wei Xu jerked his head up, locking eyes with him amidst the raging fire. In that instant, Little Celestial Venerable felt as though he had been targeted by a peerless savage beast, his body stiffening for a moment!
Little Celestial Venerable was shocked. Wei Xu was not at all as they had imagined; having been refined by the furnace soul for hundreds of thousands of years, he was not frail and withered in the slightest, but still possessed earth-shattering combat prowess!
Little Celestial Venerable was a veteran of countless battles. In recent years, because of his success in mending the heavens, his cultivation and strength had grown immensely, and his recent cultivation of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art had brought rapid progress. Yet a single glance from Wei Xu was enough to daunt him—one could only imagine how formidable Wei Xu's strength truly was!
*Even in a dying state, True Lord Erlang could suppress such a ferocious monster?* he thought inwardly.
Suddenly, this patch of heaven and earth tore open, and billowing flames poured into this bizarre spacetime like a torrent of molten slurry!
Imperial Monarch Zhongyi, Chen Chaosheng, and Emperor Changsheng walked forward, followed by several Immortal Monarchs. Chen Chaosheng wore a beaming smile, while Emperor Changsheng appeared somewhat depleted of qi and blood, evidently injured by True Lord Erlang earlier.
Little Celestial Venerable's heart sank. With the strength of Chen Chaosheng and Imperial Monarch Zhongyi, they could not have damaged the immortal tomb, yet cracks had appeared in it—it must have been Emperor Changsheng himself who made a move.
Emperor Changsheng must have realized that the one who wounded him was not True Lord Erlang, but Daoist Wukong. Once Daoist Wukong left, he returned to the immortal tomb, forcibly breaching it to rescue Wei Xu.
Little Celestial Venerable cursed inwardly. Even severely wounded, Emperor Changsheng remained a Daluo Golden Immortal, possessing invincible combat strength. They were no match for him whatsoever.
Just then, the big black dog let out a roar and lunged toward Emperor Changsheng and the others.
Emperor Changsheng paid him no heed. Lightly pinching two fingers together, a plum blossom materialized. Spinning and fluttering, it drifted toward Wei Xu, who was sealed and suppressed within the furnace soul.
One of its petals quivered slightly, detached from the plum blossom, and flew toward the big black dog.
The big black dog roared in fury. In mid-charge, he abruptly revealed his true form, transforming into a colossal behemoth tens of thousands of li long, capable of swallowing the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers. When he opened his gaping maw, even space itself fell toward his throat!
He was an ancient beast of the demon race, born divine, had cultivated into a Heavenly Monarch, and his physical body had achieved nine revolutions. Such combat prowess made him more than a match for ordinary Heavenly Monarchs!
Yet the drifting petal grew ever larger, actually becoming even more gargantuan than his true form. With a whoosh, it trapped the big black dog, sending him tumbling from the air.
Such was the Dao flower of a Daluo Golden Immortal; merely a single petal was enough to capture a demon Heavenly Monarch like the Howling Celestial Dog.
Little Celestial Venerable's heart jumped. He rushed forward to rescue Xiaotian, but just then, he saw the spinning plum blossom sweep past, slicing through thick Dao chains one after another.
The Dao chains clanged crisply and snapped in succession.
Little Celestial Venerable's heart sank. He chose to save Xiaotian first, yet before he could reach the dog, a petal came drifting toward him.
The petal grew larger and larger, blotting out his entire field of view. Little Celestial Venerable struck out wildly around him, but every divine ability that struck the membrane-like wall of the petal proved utterly useless, having no effect at all.
*The disparity is too great.*
Despair welled up in Little Celestial Venerable's heart. Just as he was about to be captured by the petal, a landscape suddenly reflected across the surface before his eyes.
Immediately afterward, the petal shattered into fragments.
Shocked and overjoyed, Little Celestial Venerable saw the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler fly in at some unknown moment, shattering the Dao flower entangling him before descending onto the petal binding the big black dog!
Although that Dao flower belonged to Emperor Changsheng, a Daluo Golden Immortal, it could hardly withstand a Supreme treasure like the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler—it shattered at a single strike!
Having rescued the man and the dog, the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler was about to fly back when Emperor Changsheng suddenly burst into laughter. Soaring forward, he reached out to snatch the ruler, laughing, "Mingzun, you can hardly blame me now, can you?"
He had waited a long time for the chance to see Xu Ying summon the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Seeing the ruler summoned now, he was naturally overjoyed!
Yet the instant his hand was about to seize the ruler, another slender, large hand grabbed it first.
A golden bridge abruptly surfaced beneath Emperor Changsheng's feet, holding him aloft. At both ends of the long bridge, Xuanhuang qi permeated, forming the magnificent scene of a Xuanhuang Taiji Diagram.
Above his head, primordial chaos was like heaven and earth newly separated, undivided and infinite—precisely the image of a Hongmeng Wuji Diagram!
And the owner of that slender, large hand was none other than Xu Ying! Setting foot upon the Taiyi Golden Bridge, he seized the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, swung around, and struck toward Emperor Changsheng!
As the ruler struck downward, countless shadows of the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler unfurled before Emperor Changsheng's eyes, striking him simultaneously!
Emperor Changsheng chuckled, his long sleeves fluttering as he met the ruler. He laughed, "You dare raise your hand against me, even showing off such crude divine abilities? You truly know not the height of the heavens! Mingzun, with your divine calculations, you should know that it's not that I refuse to give you face, but that this brat has crossed the line!"
With a sweep of his sleeves, he brushed away the barrage of ruler shadows. The two clashed upon the golden bridge; no matter how extraordinary the power of the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler was, it could not touch Emperor Changsheng in the slightest!
After eight exchanges, Emperor Changsheng's expression darkened. Within eight moves, he had actually failed to capture Xu Ying—an utter disgrace to his face!
Even though he had been gravely wounded by Daoist Wukong and his Dao tree nearly destroyed, it should never have come to this!
Suddenly, he closed the distance. His Dao fruit flew out, shooting a beam of Dao light toward the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Xu Ying's arm went numb and aching, and the ruler flew from his grasp.
With a cold snort, Emperor Changsheng swept past Xu Ying, his sleeve brushing against Xu Ying's back. He said indifferently, "Mingzun has chosen a fine sacrifice!"
With that brush of his sleeve, he did not intend to kill Xu Ying, but he certainly aimed to wound him severely, ensuring he could not recover his vitality for decades or even a century!
Catching the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, Emperor Changsheng landed lightly. Glancing back, he saw Xu Ying tumble from the Taiyi Golden Bridge, coughing up blood, his face pale and sickly.
Emperor Changsheng sneered and flew off, murmuring, "A little lesson for you."
Yet the moment he flew away, Xu Ying sprang up like a leaping fish, radiant and vigorous—his injuries had completely healed in an instant!
Emperor Changsheng was horrified inwardly. *How did he recover so quickly?*
Although that brush of his sleeve had not carried full force, if landed upon a Heavenly Monarch, it would have been enough to claim their life. Yet landing on Xu Ying, it had only made the boy cough up a mouthful of blood.
*Mingzun, oh Mingzun, this kid grows far too quickly. Be careful not to capsize in a ditch!*
Emperor Changsheng shook his head and did not follow up with another strike. He held himself in high regard; since Xu Ying had survived a strike from him, he would let the matter rest.
Having achieved his objective for this trip, he paid no attention to Imperial Monarch Zhongyi and Chen Chaosheng, nor did he care about the newly freed Wei Xu. He soared into the air, flying out of this spacetime, breaking through the Boundless Sea of Fire, and heading toward the Immortal Realm.
"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, greetings from this humble Daoist."
Just as Emperor Changsheng was about to return to the Immortal Realm, an aged voice suddenly reached his ears. Following the sound, he saw a white-haired old man walking upon the sea of fire with a beaming smile, offering him a Daoist bow.
Emperor Changsheng stopped and returned the courtesy. "Greetings, Daoist. What is your purpose in stopping me?"
The old Daoist smiled. "Fellow Daoist Changsheng, the ruler in your hand belongs to someone else. If you take it by force, I fear calamity will befall you, which is why I speak up to advise you. For your own safety, Fellow Daoist, you should cast aside this ruler and return it to its original owner."
Emperor Changsheng raised his brow and sneered, "Old man, the ruler in my hand is called the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, a Supreme treasure that I refined for four hundred thousand years. If I cast it aside just because you tell me to, wouldn't I lose all face? If you want my ruler, then show me your real strength!"
The old Daoist hurriedly smiled. "It is not that I wish to snatch the ruler, but that its original owner is unwilling to give it to you. Since Fellow Daoist refuses to let go, then this Daoist will say no more. Suit yourself, Fellow Daoist."
Emperor Changsheng snorted, scrutinized him twice, and was about to summon the ruler to strike the old Daoist dead when the old Daoist suddenly sank into the Boundless Sea of Fire and vanished without a trace.
"Lucky you slipped away quickly!"
He flew toward the Immortal Realm when suddenly, the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler in his hand erupted with terrifying power, wrenching free of his grasp. Four of Emperor Changsheng's fingers snapped, the web between his thumb and forefinger dripped with fresh blood, and the ruler gave him a strike straight to the head, instantly leaving his face covered in blood and his mind dazed.
Panic seized his heart. After striking him, the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler whistled away and vanished into the sea of fire.
"Xu Ying ambushed me?"
Just as he was about to give chase, he suddenly halted, covered in cold sweat.
*No, Xu Ying doesn't possess the magic power to injure me. The one who attacked wasn't Xu Ying. Then who else could it be?*
Emperor Changsheng could not help shivering. Abandoning all lingering desire for the ruler, he darted away.
*The original owner of the ruler is still alive! That strike was a warning to me!*
Deep unease gripped him. *This ruler is still under its original owner's control. My very life was nearly in their hands! Wait, what was the origin of that old Daoist just now? How did he know about this?*
Beneath the Boundless Sea of Fire, within the mysterious spacetime laid down by True Lord Erlang, billowing flames rushed ceaselessly, swallowing the earth.
From within the furnace soul, a tall figure suddenly took flight, soaring skyward dragging Dao chains behind him and speeding away from this place!
Imperial Monarch Zhongyi, Chen Chaosheng, and the few surviving Immortal Monarchs hurried to follow him. Chen Chaosheng called out loudly, "Brother Wei Xu! My master comes from the Great Luo Heaven and invites you there for a meeting!"
The moment this realm was breached by Wei Xu, immortal fire poured down from the sky, sweeping across everything like a deluge!
Xu Ying, the big black dog, Master Bell, and Little Celestial Venerable quickly retreated, pulling back into the immortal tomb.
No sooner had they stepped back than the old Daoist who had blocked Emperor Changsheng arrived—none other than Daoist Taiqing of Tushita Palace in Lihen Heaven.
Paying no heed to the raging Tushita immortal fire, Daoist Taiqing beckoned casually to summon the furnace soul, smiling. "Fellow Daoist, we haven't seen each other in six hundred thousand years. Now, you can finally return."
He took flight. Amidst violent tremors, the Boundless Sea of Fire slowly rose into the sky, floating between the Ancestral Court and the myriad heavens and realms. At this moment, whether in the Netherworld or the myriad heavens and realms, one could see boundless light and an enormous Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace!
The alchemy furnace shrank rapidly, and soon that earth-shattering phenomenon vanished from the sight of mortals and immortals alike!
At the same time, Xu Ying, Little Celestial Venerable, and Master Bell rushed out of the immortal tomb behind the big black dog, only to see the tomb floating in the void, touching neither heaven nor earth, devoid of any support.
While they were still marveling, a streak of light suddenly flew toward them. Without a second thought, Xu Ying raised his hand and caught it—only to see the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler return to his grasp!
"What is going on?"
Xu Ying was thoroughly bewildered. "Could it be Emperor Changsheng saw that I'm extraordinary and gifted this Supreme treasure to me?"
Chapter 534