The Ancestral God watched the Heavenly Venerable walk out of the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court, knowing full well that once he left, he would likely never return.
Yet he said nothing more, turning instead to the Dragon Bell. "Fellow Daoist, it has been a long time."
Senior Brother Tian's gaze was profound and distant as he looked toward the gateway of the Ancestral Court.
Both the Heavenly Venerable and Xu Ying had already walked out through that portal.
Outside the gate, Xu Jing had already been waiting for a long time. Behind him stood the other Two Perfected of the Dou Department, the Seven Primes, the Six Offices, the Four Palaces of the Eastern Dipper and Five Palaces of the Western Dipper, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stars and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends, and eighty-four thousand immortal soldiers and generals.
The entire army stood in neat, solemn, and lethal formation, primed for battle.
The banners of each palace snapped in the wind.
Standing atop the clouds and looking down, Xu Jing spoke solemnly, "Rebel Xu Ying, as one of the Three Perfected of the Dou Department, I come today not to arrest you, but to capture the rebel Yuan Daohai. This is official business, not a personal vendetta."
Xu Ying looked at Xu Jing. In Xu Jing's eyes flickered the fierce light of hatred.
Xu Ying's memories of the bloodbath at Xujiaping were fragmented and incomplete. He could only recall sky-scorching flames, his clansmen collapsing one after another in the firelight, and those towering figures with hideous, snarling faces.
He also remembered his parents telling him to run. After all, he was only a child back then, crying and screaming as he fled from the inferno.
Yet Xu Jing remembered everything.
Xu Jing had lived through so much. He had spent his life in the Kunlun realm—born there, raised there, coming of age, marrying, fathering a child, living with a happy, harmonious family. After becoming clan patriarch, he was responsible for receiving great emperors from the myriad worlds and leading them in ancestral worship. In his spare moments, he would teach the clan's children to read.
Until one day, the Thunder Department descended, obliterating all of Kunlun. His clansmen, his family, his friends—everything he had ever known—were buried in that catastrophe.
Even now, his family of three had yet to be reunited.
This hatred was irreconcilable under heaven.
He claimed this was official business and not a personal feud, yet he had come solely for personal vengeance!
Xu Ying stopped in his tracks, not stepping forward.
The Heavenly Venerable laughed heartily. "You father and son are nothing more than playthings of the Immortal Emperor—two tools, forever dancing in the palm of his hand! Supreme—"
He threw his head back toward the sky and roared with laughter. "Now I am truly convinced! In terms of schemes and methods, I am far inferior to you!"
He leapt up into midair, charging straight toward Xu Jing.
Xu Jing's expression turned chilling. "All soldiers and generals of the Dou Department, hear my command! In this battle, none of you are permitted to interfere!"
He activated the ancestral method. Six Nuo ancestor cave-heavens hung aloft. The moment they began to rotate, Nuo Masters and Nuo Immortals across the world instantly felt the immortal medicines of the Six Great Other Shores thin considerably!
The immortal medicines from the Six Great Other Shores transformed into surging power, flooding his flesh and Primordial Spirit!
His cave-heavens were ancient and immensely powerful, drawing forth the potency of the six other shores' immortal medicines to the absolute limit. Though not as astounding as Xu Ying's ten cave-heavens, in terms of sheer refinement and subtlety, they were even superior!
He was at the Consummate Immortal Monarch realm. In his first life, Xu Ying had left Yingzhou for him to cultivate within. At that time, Yingzhou was incomplete, only allowing one to cultivate to Immortal Monarch without advancing further.
Yet with the blessing of the six great cave-heavens, his cultivation was by no means inferior to a Heavenly Monarch!
Behind him emerged a verdant Dao tree bearing an azure Dao fruit—the fruit he had refined after consuming the Ginseng Dao fruit.
This Dao fruit signified his entrance into the realm of a pseudo-Daluo Golden Immortal!
Although he had skipped the Heavenly Monarch realm, his strength had already subtly stepped onto the apex of the contemporary world, granting him the capital to contend with Heavenly Venerables!
The Heavenly Venerable was already at the end of his tether, yet his might remained terrifyingly formidable. Prior to this, while heavily injured, he had consecutively inflicted severe wounds on Heavenly Venerable Ning Zhong of the Taisui Department, Heavenly Venerable Li Sixue of the Fire Department, and Heavenly Venerable Xie Qingshan of the Water Department, and had even ripped through the Thunder Department's grand formation, grievously battering many of their soldiers and generals!
Now, only the Heavenly Venerable of the Wealth Department had not yet made a move.
Xu Jing clashed with the Heavenly Venerable. Within three exchanges, the Heavenly Venerable held the upper hand, beating Xu Jing into steady retreat with flesh and blood flying, so fast that even the six cave-heavens could not mend the damage to his body and Primordial Spirit in time.
Had it been any other Heavenly Venerable, they would have retreated by now to preserve themselves.
Yet he was not like them.
Defying death without hesitation, he continued to press the attack with desperate ferocity. To him, this was vengeance, retribution—the fury harbored and hidden for fifty thousand years, a sword honed within his chest for fifty thousand years for his enemies, which had to taste blood!
After the fourth exchange, the Heavenly Venerable's momentum flagged and he coughed up blood. Xu Jing launched his counterattack!
Rage erupted from the depths of his heart. No matter what happened today, he would slay his enemy with his own hands! Even if it cost him the annihilation of his flesh and the shattering of his soul, he would settle this sea of blood!
He was a scholar by nature, and the old foxes of the Dou Department—Huo Changge, Si Chuanzhao, and the Seven Primes of the Northern Dipper—had never thought much of him. But at this moment, he displayed the reckless viciousness of a desperate outlaw, moving even those cunning old foxes to awe.
"The Dou Department is saved! From now on, the Dou Department will remain the first among the six departments!"
The Heavenly Venerable quickly sustained injury upon injury. More and more cracks split open across his Indestructible Primordial Spirit, making it difficult to hold on any longer. Xu Jing was trading blow for mortal blow, but the Heavenly Venerable had no desire to die here like this.
Suddenly, the Heavenly Venerable leaped up, breaking out of the battlefield to flee for his life. Just at that moment, the Heavenly Venerable of Wealth descended from the sky, treading upon a golden ingot. With a resounding thud, the ingot slammed onto the Heavenly Venerable's forehead, sending him stumbling.
"Heavenly Venerable, I, Heavenly Venerable Zhai Cai, shall claim this fortune of yours!"
The Heavenly Venerable of Wealth cast out copper coins one after another, trying to ensnare the Heavenly Venerable's head and drop him straight into the square hole of a coin.
Brimming with fury, the Heavenly Venerable's body exploded into fragments. His Indestructible Primordial Spirit surged dramatically, bursting the copper coins apart.
The Heavenly Venerable's Primordial Spirit regenerated his flesh anew. The two Heavenly Venerables clashed in close-quarters combat. After three exchanges, the Heavenly Venerable of Wealth coughed up blood, his face changing drastically. He leapt back, laughing, "This fortune is a bit too hard to claim. I'll take my leave first!"
Coins spawned beneath his feet with every stride, and he vanished without a trace in an instant, leaving only peck-sized coins floating in the air.
Just as the Heavenly Venerable prepared to leave, Xu Jing caught up. The two engaged in a life-and-death struggle. After three moves, the Heavenly Venerable's body exploded once more. His Primordial Spirit forced Xu Jing back and leapt away again.
Suddenly, an immortal raft pierced through the air, blocking his path.
Flesh sprouted across the Heavenly Venerable's Primordial Spirit as he laughed heartily. "Imperial Monarch, you finally dare to show your face and scavenge the scraps! However, just to deal with you, I saved a breath of life!"
Shouting in fury, he exerted the last shreds of his strength to activate the Supreme Ten Thousand Realms Indestructible Scripture. Illusions of the myriad realms manifested around him, magnificent and splendid.
Suddenly, the myriad realms merged into one, turning into the Dao image of the Earth Immortal Realm.
The Heavenly Venerable bellowed. Power erupted through his entire being, spiritual light spilling in all directions as his palms thrust forward. Aboard the immortal raft, the Imperial Monarch's expression warped. In that moment, he too sensed a despair-inducing aura of death!
This strike of the Heavenly Venerable was a life-forfeiting blow at death's door. The final Earth Immortal Realm Seal was the swan song of his life—his entire lifetime of cultivation and attainment converged between two palms, transforming into an exquisite divine power!
The Imperial Monarch could not afford hesitation. He drove his cultivation to the absolute pinnacle. The Grand Dao wheel behind his head spun, and within the twelve Dao wheels, his twelve external avatars each pushed their techniques and divine arts to the limit!
In an instant, the Purple Nether Extinction Nether Saber transformed into skies of purple qi, surging forward to meet the Heavenly Venerable's Earth Immortal Realm Seal!
At the same time, Xu Jing came charging from behind. From afar came a shout: "Father, catch!"
A ruler's silhouette flew through the air. Without a second thought, Xu Jing caught the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler in hand and leapt high into the air. Pouring every ounce of his power into the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, he awakened the might of this supreme treasure and brought it crashing down!
He was originally a private schoolteacher, and holding this ruler felt as natural as could be, completely effortless.
In his grasp, the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler was like a fish in water, leaving a sequence of landscape paintings trailing through the air as it smashed toward the Heavenly Venerable's head.
At the exact same instant, the Imperial Monarch's body shuddered violently. The webbing between his thumbs and forefingers tore open, his posture forcing the immortal raft backward and plunging rapidly downward. Xiao Xixian struggled to maintain control of the craft, blood trickling from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose from the shockwave!
The Heavenly Venerable's physical body popped and burst apart with gory splatter, leaving only his Indestructible Primordial Spirit—which was itself teetering on the verge of collapse.
Xu Jing swung the ruler down onto his crown. The myriad ruler shadows instantly converged into a single unified whole, crashing entirely into the Heavenly Venerable's skull.
The Heavenly Venerable's Primordial Spirit was still trying to sprout flesh, but this strike sent his head sinking, his knees giving out as he knelt in midair.
He looked up to see Xu Jing raising the ruler for a second strike.
He tried to resist, but suddenly seemed drained of all strength. His physical regeneration ceased, and the indestructible spiritual light enveloping his entire being exploded violently.
Across the sky, streaks of spiritual light galloped forth like dragons, while others hung in the sky like splendid rainbows. Soon, spiritual energy poured like rain, and spiritual light surged like a tide. Rain fell from the Ancestral Court's sky, while tidal waves of light rolled above, forming layered clouds.
Clutching the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, Xu Jing stood amidst the radiant rain, his face wet with what might or might not have been rainwater.
He roared with fury, swinging the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler blindly into the empty air. Yet there was no enemy left.
His mortal foe had been beaten to death.
Xiao Xixian finally steadied the immortal raft. Aboard the raft, the Imperial Monarch's hands trembled. A sweet tang rose in his throat as blood welled up, but he forced himself to swallow it down.
"I wanted to kill him without taking injury, but in the end I failed. Yuan Daohai, you truly lived up to your title as a Heavenly Venerable."
Steeling his mind, he suddenly leaped up and vanished from the raft.
Now that the Heavenly Venerable was dead, his Zuzhou cave abyss became an unowned relic, emerging from the burst of indestructible spiritual light. Xu Jing, currently venting the euphoric release of vengeance, paid no attention to this cave abyss.
The Imperial Monarch rushed forward from afar. Just as he reached out to seize the cave abyss, the surrounding sky collapsed. Giant hands pierced through the shattered firmament, lunging toward him from all directions!
"The four Heavenly Venerables—Wealth, Fire, Water, and Taisui! They were watching this cave abyss too; they never went far!"
The Imperial Monarch snorted coldly. "With the Heavenly Venerable eliminated, beneath the Supreme, I am invincible!"
Paying them no mind, he neither dodged nor deflected the four Heavenly Venerables' attacks. He stirred his bodhimanda; his Dao tree burst with thousands of rays of light, and his Dao fruit shone even more brilliantly.
The divine powers of the four Heavenly Venerables blasted into his bodhimanda, while his hand firmly gripped the Zuzhou cave abyss.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four muffled thuds rang out in rapid succession as the palms of the four Heavenly Venerables breached his bodhimanda and struck the Imperial Monarch's body.
The sweet taste welled up in the Imperial Monarch's throat once more, and the swallowed blood surged back, forcing him to spit out a mouthful of crimson.
He withstood the magic power of the four Heavenly Venerables. Seeing the difficulty, the four Heavenly Venerables immediately withdrew their hands and retreated. Yet just as the Imperial Monarch attempted to refine the Zuzhou cave abyss, the sky tore open once again!
A jade-white, flawless palm reached down from the Immortal Realm, lightly floating toward him in a strike.
Though seemingly gentle and calm, the threat it posed was far more terrifying than that of the four Heavenly Venerables combined!
"Yuanjun, you wish to take advantage of me as well?"
The Imperial Monarch snorted. Clinging to the Zuzhou cave abyss with one hand, he raised the other to meet Yuanjun's fair palm. As their palm forces collided, the Imperial Monarch's robes billowed and ballooned like inflated sails. His face flushed crimson in an instant, as if blood might seep through his skin!
Yet he stood motionless, yielding not an inch. Even Yuanjun's monstrous power could not budge his frame!
The reason he had refused to risk his life fighting the Heavenly Venerable was precisely to preserve his strength for this Zuzhou cave abyss. Naturally, he would not relinquish it now!
*Yuanjun's Primordial Spirit is too strong; her physical body cannot hold out for long!*
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he sensed Yuanjun's force pulling back.
On the other side, Xu Jing, having vented his wrath by swinging the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler in wild flurries, stood panting heavily. Suddenly, the ruler slipped from his grip and flew away.
Startled, he was about to chase after this supreme treasure when a figure streaked through the air, seizing the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler a step ahead of him!
"Ying'er!"
Before Xu Jing could say more, Xu Ying swung the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler with full force and slammed it brutally onto the Imperial Monarch's forehead!
The Imperial Monarch had just forced Yuanjun to withdraw when this strike caught him full-on, drenching his face in blood and leaving his head spinning.
Xu Ying's eyes gleamed with savagery. His arm rose and the ruler fell, exuding an overwhelming aura of ferocity as it crashed down again!
"Magnificent!"
Battered and stumbling, the Imperial Monarch could barely keep hold of the Zuzhou cave abyss, even hearing the sound of his own skull cracking.
Xu Ying unleashed the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler and smashed it down a third time!
The Imperial Monarch's body trembled, boundless light erupting behind him as the external avatars seated within his twelve Dao wheels drew their blades and slashed at Xu Ying!
Paying no heed, Xu Ying drove the third strike down, knocking the Imperial Monarch head over heels. At the same time, twelve blade rays from the Purple Nether Sabers sliced into Xu Ying's body, breaching his Leaking-Free Golden Body and blasting him violently backward!
Blood coated the Imperial Monarch's head and face. The Dao might of the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler had blasted into his body, wreaking havoc inside his skull.
Suppressing his Dao injuries, he cast all else aside, hurriedly grabbed the Zuzhou cave abyss, and leaped away into the void.
Yet the moment he tore through the air, an attack abruptly descended from the Immortal Realm, striking at him.
"Eastern King!"
Vomiting great gulps of blood, the Imperial Monarch traded a brutal blow with the Eastern King and staggered away, boiling with bitter fury. *I have overlooked him all this time—could he have clouded my mind?*
He had anticipated the intervention of the various Heavenly Venerables, and he had anticipated Yuanjun, but he had never factored in an impulsive brute like Xu Ying suddenly popping up to bash him three times with the ruler.
He had also failed to account for the Eastern King.
In the past, he would never have overlooked a formidable rival like the Eastern King, yet this time he had slipped up. It had to be because the Eastern King used divine divination to cloud his mind.
He fled at top speed, yet the Eastern King remained hidden within the void, pursuing him at an even greater speed, causing his heart to sink deeper and deeper.
If he was eliminated, the Eastern King would become the biggest winner!
*Xu Ying, that reckless brute, never lets slip a single chance to plot against me! He truly deserves to die!* Fury raged within him.
Chapter 559