The Death of the Far Ancestor

"Old Six!" Seeing the rising Golden Seal-Script Immortal Talisman in the distance, Xu Ying was shaken to the core. His consciousness rushed toward the passage of indestructible spiritual light within his sea of consciousness, shouting, "Master Dragon, take cover! An Old Six from the Immortal Realm is attacking!" Lan Suying had called herself Su Yeqing and claimed to be ranked sixth, which had led Xu Ying to assume Lan Suying was the Immortal Emperor Supreme. As a result, he referred to the Immortal Emperor as Old Six. The moment he saw Zulong invoke the Golden Seal-Script Immortal Talisman, the entire truth flashed through his mind like lightning, prompting him to call out a warning so the Great Dragon on the other end of the passage would be on guard! Then, a small boat rapidly expanding in size came into view. An immortal sword sped past the vessel, bursting with radiance that illuminated the branches of a Dao tree. "The Immortal Emperor Supreme! Dao Lord Jiugong! Daoist Taiyuan and Saint Luo! That bunch of Old Sixes!" In an instant, Xu Ying understood the causes and consequences behind the Dragon Court's reemergence into the world. The Heavenly Venerable had set his trap in the Dragon Court, but the Immortal Emperor, Taiyuan, Jiugong, and the others must have noticed long ago. They had let the Heavenly Venerable make his moves because their target was never the treasures of the Dragon Court, but the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit. Thus, they had been more than happy to ride the current and play along! The Heavenly Venerable thought his scheme had succeeded, completely unaware that in the eyes of these beings, it was as laughable as a child's game. "The Immortal Emperor is currently the only overt existence in the Supreme realm, while Taiyuan, Jiugong, and Saint Luo are Great Luo Immortals Above the Nine Heavens. They are rivals, but also partners!" Xu Ying surged his divine consciousness, sending his voice through the passage while thinking, "Saint Luo sent someone through great hardship to rescue Wei Xu just to deal with the Immortal Emperor Supreme, only for the Immortal Emperor Supreme to ambush them halfway and abduct Wei Xu. Their relationship is hardly amicable. Yet when facing an incomparably mighty existence like the Dragon Race's Far Ancestor, their interests align, allowing them to cooperate closely to deal with the Far Ancestor together!" His shouts carried across the passage, but whether the Great Dragon heard him remained unknown; no response ever came from the other side. Xu Ying's heart sank. He could not help recalling when he had searched for the Great Dragon inside his sea of consciousness—it had taken him a long time to finally locate him. The Far Ancestor's consciousness was a collective consciousness. The Great Dragon was the head, but besides him were the consciousnesses of countless dragon immortals. Such a swarm had tremendous benefits, capable of forging an incomparably powerful collective, but it also carried a fatal flaw: even if other dragon immortals received a warning, it was difficult to transmit it to the Great Dragon's mind in time. Xu Ying gritted his teeth. He suddenly surged all of his divine consciousness and plunged headlong into that passage of indestructible spiritual light. This channel was the conduit through which the Great Dragon had descended into his mind; but since the Great Dragon could descend, he would surely return to his own body, which meant the passage had to be bidirectional. Otherwise, once he arrived, he would never be able to go back! "You saved my life; I will repay you with mine!" All consciousness abruptly emptied from Xu Ying's physical body, leaving behind only an empty shell, while his divine consciousness sped straight through the channel of spiritual light toward the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit's brain! Inside the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit, countless dragon immortal consciousnesses were either soaring and swimming about or lying down dozing off. Some were frolicking and playing with one another; two dragon immortals sat facing each other, exhaling and inhaling a dragon pearl back and forth in playful amusement. The Great Dragon, meanwhile, lay sprawled there lazily, too indolent to even stir his spirit, while hundreds of dragon immortals groomed his mane, picked his teeth, and polished his scales. Just then, spiritual light flashed in the sky, and Xu Ying descended from above, landing within his universe of consciousness! The Great Dragon hastily raised his head and shouted, "Human, are you here to possess me?" He was inexplicably thrilled, as though tens of thousands of lively young dragons were leaping about in his heart. "I've never played this trick before! We can give it a shot!" Xu Ying shouted at the top of his lungs, "Master Dragon, an Old Six is ambushing your Primordial Spirit! Dodge, quickly!" The Great Dragon laughed. "Ambushing my Primordial Spirit? My Primordial Spirit is the greatest under heaven! Who could possibly harm—" Before he could finish, the universe of consciousness shuddered violently. Heaven collapsed and earth cracked as terrifying ripples tore through the sea of consciousness, turning into brilliant rays of rosy clouds. Wherever the rays swept, dragon immortal consciousnesses were obliterated into ash and smoke! The sneak attack had begun. In the sky of the Ancestral Court, the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit had plunged its head into the Abyss Sea. The timing of this moment was exquisitely chosen. In the Dragon Court, there was no one left who could pose a threat to the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit; even the strongest, the Heavenly Venerable, had been swatted away by his tail. He could safely return to the Abyss Sea. Summoned by the dragon immortals of the Dragon Court, he had descended into the Dragon Court without much wariness. After all, he was invincible—surveying the world, past and present, he had no equal. Moreover, having no physical flesh, he could experience no foreboding whim of the heart or divine the future. He was eager to return to the Abyss Sea before his Primordial Spirit collapsed. Yet the ambush struck at this very instant. The Immortal Emperor Supreme's Golden Seal-Script Immortal Talisman rose into the air and suddenly burst into flames. Out of the raging immortal fire flew a gigantic hand. Its five fingers twitched and leaped; in a single instant, it seemed as if tens of thousands of fingers had sprouted, conjuring various hand seals before slamming brutally into the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit with burning immortal fire! When this strike landed, the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit's immense dragon body shuddered violently in agony. The force invading his Primordial Spirit sliced through his form without restraint, seeking out every gap to ravage his body! At the same time, Daoist Taiyuan's Dao tree branch spilled ten thousand rays of rosy light like silver fish, slicing inward along the scales of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit. An immortal sword came flying right behind, piercing into the body of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit with unstoppable momentum. Slicing through his flesh and traveling along the grain of his tissues, it headed straight for the Primordial Spirit's brain! Meanwhile, the three-inch boat from Chen Chaosheng's forehead had expanded into a ten-thousand-li tower ship. At the prow stood an indomitable giant who drove the vessel to crash viciously into the Far Ancestor's colossal body, twisting the Far Ancestor's form with the impact! The Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit struggled. A sweep of his dragon tail struck the ten-thousand-li tower ship with a resounding boom, shattering its exterior and sending tower after tower collapsing into ruin. The giant perched upon the vessel vaulted into the air and landed upon the dragon's back, shouting, "Do not let him enter another space-time! We must shatter his Primordial Spirit first!" The Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit reached out with sharp talons toward the Dao tree branch while swimming vigorously toward the mouth of the Abyss Sea. When he seized the branch, it suddenly grew and stretched infinitely, creeping along his limbs to bind his body tight. The Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit jolted his body, attempting to snap the Dao tree branch. The wildly growing mane behind his head turned into tens of thousands of razor-sharp sword rays, forcing the indomitable giant onto the defensive and compelling him to retreat! At the same time, surging Dao light inside his body forced the immortal sword out of his Primordial Spirit, stopping it from inflicting further devastation! Even though they held the initiative, and even though the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit's head was already entering the Abyss Sea, the Far Ancestor could still effortlessly repel them! Right at that moment, the giant hand formed from the Golden Seal-Script Immortal Talisman turned into a sky full of palm force and slammed into the lower abdomen of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit. *Dong!* This strike arched the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit upward, leaving him unable to resist the other three treasures. The immortal sword seized the opening to plunge into his abdomen; the Dao tree branch grew wildly, locking him down completely; and the giant drove both hands into the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit to rip out his dragon tendons! The Dragon Court shook as mountains trembled and the sky collapsed, a scene of apocalyptic destruction. Seeing the Far Ancestor ambushed, dragon immortals soared into the air one after another to aid him. Yet before they could draw near, the shockwaves unleashed by the clash of these supreme existences shattered them to pieces! Suddenly, Daoist Taiyuan's Dao tree branches snapped one after another! The immortal sword of Dao Lord Jiugong let out a mournful wail as it flew out of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit, only to be caught by a dragon claw and twisted into a mangled braid! That giant was Saint Luo's Dao Body; impaled by the Far Ancestor's mane, it was riddled with gaping wounds. His Dao-bearing tower ship was also struck by the dragon's tail, crashing from the sky and bursting into raging flames! Just as the Immortal Emperor Supreme's giant hand prepared to deliver another fatal strike, a dragon claw intercepted the attack and crushed it into dust! The coordinated ambush of four paramount existences had been completely swept away by the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit in mere moments! Above the Nine Heavens of the Immortal Realm, Great Luo Heavens unfurled, propping up this highest celestial realm. Within one of those Great Luo Heavens, Saint Luo looked dejected and shook his head. "The primordial dragon race's Far Ancestor is peerless after all, even without a physical body." His Dao-bearing tower ship and Great Dao Body had crumbled before the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit, leaving him disheartened. In another Great Luo Heaven, Dao Lord Jiugong sat beneath his Dao tree, his face pale and silent for a long time. His Nine Extremities Immortal-Slaying Sword had actually been twisted into a pretzel by that great dragon's Primordial Spirit. This sword was his treasure of Dao attainment. Controlling it from Above the Nine Heavens was no different from wielding it face-to-face, yet it had still failed to slay the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit. Daoist Taiyuan also let out a sigh, looking up at his Dao tree, only to find it dim and lackluster. He had snapped a branch from his Dao tree and given it to the Master of Mud Pill Palace. While it looked like an ordinary branch, he had concentrated over half of his cultivation into it, believing it would be enough to bind the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit. Yet now, that branch had blown to pieces, beyond any hope of recovery! *This dragon's cultivation realm is at least one full realm above ours,* Daoist Taiyuan thought silently. *And yet, there should be no path beyond the Wondrous Realm...* In the Immortal Court, the Immortal Emperor Supreme stood with his hands behind his back, gazing down at the mortal dust below. He murmured softly, "We have won." A grim chill hung over the Dragon Court. The Dao-bearing tower ship had crashed down, burning furiously. The giant plummeted to the ground, blood hissing and spurting from countless wounds. The Nine Extremities Immortal-Slaying Sword spun through the air, trying to flee, but its bent blade wobbled and tumbled haphazardly. The Dao tree branch was destroyed, the Golden Seal-Script Immortal Talisman shattered; only the Far Ancestor's gigantic form remained in the sky, radiating overwhelming might. Suddenly, crackling pops echoed from within the Far Ancestor. Maintaining such a gargantuan Primordial Spirit had already been an immense strain, and now, after undergoing an intense battle, he could sustain it no longer! *Boom!* Explosions echoed within the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit. Boom, boom, boom—the detonations grew denser by the second. Because this supreme Primordial Spirit had possessed others too many times, it was rife with disparate primordial spirits, disparate souls, disparate divine consciousnesses, and conflicting mana. At last, it could bear the burden no longer and began to crumble! Space began to cave in, plummeting alongside the colossal dragon body as it fell. As the Dragon Court crumbled, space whimpered like the mournful wailing of countless divine dragons. This most ancient of existences seemed unable to escape the great catastrophe that had annihilated the Dragon Court era after all—caught up by that cataclysm at last, he succumbed to his tribulation and perished right here! The shattering fragments of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit fell from the sky. The millions of other dragon immortal primordial spirits subsumed within his form crumbled alongside him. Their souls drifted apart; their consciousnesses dissolved. Suddenly, as if guided by an invisible pull, those shattered Primordial Spirit fragments flew off in several directions! One streak flew toward Zulong, howling as it drilled into his body. Another streak flew toward Yan Kongcheng, sinking into him. A third surged toward the Son of Heaven of Zhou, and the final streak hurtled toward the Master of Mud Pill Palace, who was wearing the guise of the Immortal Master of Rampart City! They were people of Yuanshou, and their natural affinity drew the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit fragments to them automatically! Torrents churned in the sky while mountains shook and the earth trembled. Expanses of immortal palaces collapsed and shattered, like the doom of an entire era. Amidst this cataclysmic scene, a small silhouette with a dragon head, human body, and dragon tail darted through the crumbling world. That silhouette was none other than Xu Ying. Leaping from the altar, he dashed through the crumbling rubble, his form weaving to evade the world-ending shockwaves as he sprinted toward the Dragon Abyss! Liu Ruyi hurriedly summoned an immortal cloud carrying the Son of Heaven of Zhou and the women, rushing toward the Dragon Abyss as well. On the other side, Wei Xu suppressed his injuries, hoisted Zulong onto his shoulder, and sprinted for the Dragon Abyss. Chen Chaosheng lifted Yan Kongcheng, fleeing madly toward the Dragon Abyss, while the Master of Mud Pill Palace bolted toward it alone. Above the heads of the four, tens of thousands of dragons danced before diving into their crown acupoints, while behind them lay a horrifying scene of heaven and earth annihilating and Great Daos going extinct! The death of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit thoroughly destroyed the Dragon Court! Xu Ying took the lead, rushing out of the Dragon Abyss, parting the waters of the Heavenly Sea, and soaring into the sky. Right behind him, Wei Xu carried Zulong out of the seabed, followed by the billowing immortal cloud that rose from the sea and surfaced. One Dragon Abyss after another collapsed in thunderous roars. Just as the final Dragon Abyss disintegrated, the "Immortal Master of Rampart City" barely managed to escape. Vast expanses of the Heavenly Sea evaporated. The Dragon Court was thoroughly buried, never to exist again. The crowd retreated repeatedly to avoid being swept into the great space-time annihilation, lingering dread clutching their hearts. Had they been any slower, they would have been swallowed by that great space-time annihilation and buried within. Although Zulong, the Son of Heaven of Zhou, Yan Kongcheng, and the Master of Mud Pill Palace had absorbed many fragments of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit, they had secured less than half of them at best! Most of the Far Ancestor's Primordial Spirit fragments were destroyed in the great annihilation. "Congratulations, Senior Brother," Liu Ruyi said with a smile to the Son of Heaven of Zhou. The Son of Heaven of Zhou shook his head. "My Far Ancestor fragments will likely be handed over to Dao Lord Jiugong, won't they? Where is the cause for joy?" Liu Ruyi smiled. "Precisely because of that, I congratulate Senior Brother. Having achieved such merit, you will surely be heavily favored by the Dao Lord. Of course it is an occasion for great joy." The Son of Heaven of Zhou nodded gently and smiled. "Now that Ruyi puts it that way, my mind is at ease." Wei Xu looked at Zulong and asked, "Are your Far Ancestor fragments collected for my senior brother as well?" Zulong's expression remained impassive. "Indeed." Wei Xu sighed, remarking bleakly, "Once he gains the Far Ancestor fragments, he will likely ascend to another level, growing even stronger, even more invincible." Zulong remained silent. He was never one for excessive words. Inside his sea of consciousness, numerous dragon souls shivered in terror, looking outward in dread. These dragon souls had entered his body because he had actively drawn them in. In the past, when he reigned as the Great Emperor of Shenzhou, he had channeled the world's dragon veins and gathered dragon qi into his body for cultivation. Among the four, his dragon qi was the densest and uniquely blessed, allowing him to attract the most Far Ancestor Primordial Spirit fragments, as well as drawing many dragon souls into his sea of consciousness. *The knowledge contained within these dragon souls is the true treasure!* he thought silently. "What a pity that Celestial Venerable Xu gained nothing and even turned into a monster." Liu Ruyi looked at Xu Ying with ostensible goodwill, giggling sweetly. "If Celestial Venerable Xu is willing, this humble one can introduce you to the Dao Lord. We could ask the Dao Lord to help dissolve the dragon qi and ferocious aura clinging to you." "Not willing, not interested." Xu Ying waved his hand and chuckled. "Farewell, everyone!" With that, he turned to leave. "You still have a tail!" Liu Ruyi called out helpfully. "None of your damn business!" Xu Ying spun around, snarling viciously, "Little wench, hit me if you've got the guts!" Fury flared in Liu Ruyi's chest. Without another word, she charged at him, barking angrily, "You bastard Xu, I've put up with you for far too long! I'll be more than happy to grant that wish of yours!" The other women on the immortal cloud charged forward aggressively as well. Though their cultivation and strength fell slightly short of Liu Ruyi's, the difference was small. Surrounding Xu Ying, they had him on the receiving end of a beating within a few rounds, pummeling him soundly. After quite some time, Xu Ying's body gradually shifted from a dragon head and human torso back into a human head and human body. Suddenly, he shook the women off, lashed out with a kick to Liu Ruyi's chest, and took off into the distance, laughing heartily: "Many thanks, dear sisters, for helping me disperse my dragon qi!"