In the Immortal Court.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme drafted an imperial decree, commanding an immortal official to proclaim it. The decree ordered an investigation into the various evil deeds committed by the Heavenly Venerable, fully exonerated Xu Ying, removed his name from the wanted list, bestowed honors upon Xu Jing, and praised the Xu family as a clan full of loyal martyrs.
Immediately following that, another decree descended upon Kunlun, enfeoffing the Queen Mother of the West as the Venerated God of the Myriad Realms, and conferring titles upon the gods of the mountains, Lu Wu, Kaiming, and others to enjoy the incense offerings of myriad realms. An order was also issued to investigate the case of Immortal Monarch Zitong, clearing her name and vindicating her, while elevating her title to Primordial Monarch Zitong.
Such a flurry of decrees being promulgated left onlookers dazzled.
Curiously, however, there was still no word of any reward for Xu Ying. Yet the discerning figures in the Immortal Realm could tell at a glance that the Immortal Emperor intended to employ Xu Ying in high office; the reason for the delay was simply that the conferment was bound to be momentous, requiring utmost deliberation.
"Perhaps he will confer the seat of the Heavenly Venerable of the Thunder Department upon Xu Ying!" some speculated. "If so, the Xu family will truly be a clan of loyal martyrs—a single house boasting two Heavenly Venerables! What supreme glory!"
Yet inside the imperial palace at this moment, the Immortal Emperor Supreme was not quite so pleased.
"Mingzun, regarding the matter of the Heavenly Venerable, you went too far."
Inside the palace, the Changsheng Emperor sat upright in solemn composure. Behind him, a Dao tree stood rooted within his Great Luo bodhimanda, bearing fresh, verdant Dao fruit upon its boughs. However, there was not just one Dao fruit on his tree, but two.
Having obtained a Ginseng Dao fruit and plucked it, he had refined a second Dao fruit, and his cultivation and strength had progressed at tremendous speed.
Yet aside from him, eight others were present in the imperial palace. Men and women, elderly and young, each possessed a boundless aura and extraordinary Dao resonance.
Behind these eight, Dao trees were likewise rooted within their respective Great Luo bodhimandas, their foundations profound and far beyond the reach of any Heavenly Monarch.
Heaven had nine heavens, and above the nine heavens lay the Great Luo Heaven.
The Changsheng Emperor resided in the first of the nine heavens, the Great Emperor of Yantian. Besides him, there was the Qinghua Emperor of Cangtian, the Caiwei Emperor of Haotian, the Fuyue Emperor of Xuantian, the Quelin Emperor of Juntian, the Luhe Emperor of Biantian, the Jiuyou Emperor of Youtian, the Taixiao Emperor of Zhutian, and the Yanglong Emperor of Yangtian.
These were the Nine Heavens Great Emperors. Each dwelt within their own Nine Heavens bodhimanda, and gathering together like this was a rare occurrence.
Above these nine heavens lay the Great Luo Heaven. However, the venerable masters of the Great Luo Heaven had not shown themselves.
"Back then, the Heavenly Venerable was also one of the founders of the Immortal Court. He rendered great service to the immortal realm's state and accomplished countless heroic feats. To meet an unnatural end over the matter of the Dragon Court will inevitably chill the hearts of those who have rendered meritorious service."
The Taixiao Emperor of Zhutian was a white-haired elder who spoke at an unhurried pace. "In those days, when we rose in rebellion to deliver the common people and overthrow the tyranny of Emperor Ai's Immortal Court, no one in the world believed in us, thinking we were merely seeking our own doom. The Heavenly Venerable, Yuan Daohai, was originally a disciple of the Ancestral God, yet he provided timely aid and joined our righteous army. Later, when Emperor Ai was forced to abdicate, Yuan Daohai took command of the Heavenly Dao and rendered immense contributions. While he was indeed at fault for seeking out the Dragon Court, his crime did not warrant death."
The Fuyue Emperor was a woman enshrouded in hazy moonlight, as though draped in a thin veil. Faintly visible within the moonlight sat a beauty clad in palace furs and a phoenix crown. She spoke, "The Heavenly Venerable entered the Dragon Court solely to break through his realm. What wrong was there in that?"
"Indeed," the Qinghua Emperor remarked with a sigh. "For such a veteran minister to fall like this, and even be branded a rebel after death to leave behind a name that stinks for eternity—it truly chills the heart!"
The Caiwei Emperor, Quelin Emperor, and the others nodded in agreement.
It was no secret in the Immortal Realm that the Nine Heavens Great Emperors served as a check on the Immortal Emperor Supreme. The arrival of the nine heavenly emperors in unison was precisely to hold him accountable for the slaying of the Heavenly Venerable.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme sat upon his honored throne, expressionless. "Yuan Daohai spread false tidings of the Dragon Court's emergence, duping over twenty thousand immortal masters into entering the Dragon Court to meet their deaths. His wolfish ambition was merely to ensure the failure of the dragon primordial spirit's soul possession, bringing the dragon race under his control and even grasping the dragon race's primordial ancestor. He invited the wolf into the fold, believing he could seize my position as Supreme through this! I did not treat him shabbily. Power, status, reputation—I granted him all of it. I even entrusted the Heavenly Dao world to his control with complete confidence!"
He glanced around at the assembly. "The nine of you fellow Daoists ought to know how crucial the Heavenly Dao world is, yet I still entrusted it to him without hesitation. Even though I knew the nine of you stood behind him and backed him, I still allowed him to govern the Heavenly Dao."
His gaze gradually turned chilling. "Yet what did Yuan Daohai do? Fearful that others would achieve success, he used a counterfeit Heavenly Dao to craft Heavenly Dao divine artifacts, heavenly gods, and god kings, deliberately causing ascending immortals to possess flaws in their cultivation methods and divine powers due to deficiencies in the Heavenly Dao—all to keep them under his sway!"
His voice grew tinged with fury, turning cold. "That fiend even had the ascending immortals pay homage to him, venerating him as their teacher! When immortals from the mortal world first arrived in the Immortal Realm, they did not pay homage to me, nor to the Nine Heavens, but to him first! I am the common lord of this universe! Yuan Daohai's wild ambitions were plain for all to see!"
These words rang out with undeniable force. The Nine Heavens Great Emperors each furrowed their brows.
The Jiuyou Emperor remarked sinisterly, "In certain aspects, Yuan Daohai indeed went too far. Yet he was, after all, one of the founders of this dynasty; he cannot simply be slain without rhyme or reason. If you wished to eliminate him, you ought to have consulted us nine heavens first. Slaying him precipitously without our counsel—where does that leave the face of our Nine Heavens?"
"Precisely," said the Luhe Emperor of Biantian. "When the Immortal Court was established, you had no claim to the imperial throne. Those with merit, and those whose merit surpassed yours, were far too numerous. It was we nine who overcame all opposition and gave you our full support to help you ascend to the throne. Ever since, the rule was established that the Nine Heavens stand above the Immortal Court. Your Majesty has not forgotten this matter, have you?"
The Immortal Emperor Supreme nodded slightly. "I have not forgotten. I have always been deeply grateful for the assistance of my fellow Daoists."
The Yanglong Emperor said, "Disposing of Yuan Daohai without consulting us was an overstep, breaching the promise made back then. According to the rules, we nine heavens ought to impart a small disciplinary lesson to Your Majesty."
The Immortal Emperor Supreme let out a faint smile. "The Immortal Court has been established for nearly six hundred thousand years. The rules set down six hundred thousand years ago are long obsolete. I believe it is time those rules were changed."
The moment his words fell, a chilling pall of slaughter descended upon the imperial palace.
The Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens took on grave expressions. Behind each of them, Dao trees drifted, radiating an enduring Dao resonance that began to encroach upon the space-time of the Immortal Court!
Their Dao fruits grew increasingly radiant, piercing the void and causing creation within the void, ceaselessly spawning bizarre immortal-path creatures that polluted the Immortal Court!
The Immortal Emperor Supreme sat upon his honored throne, unmoving. He said indifferently, "Fellow elder brothers, in this current age, the new Dao flourishes grandly, yet you stubbornly cling to outdated conventions, cultivating the Great Luo and cultivating Dao fruits. That system of yours is already obsolete."
At these words, diverse Dao resonances erupted within the imperial palace like great bells and vast chimes. The surging Dao resonance roared deafeningly, shattering the imperial palace to pieces!
The canopy of the palace collapsed, the floor blew apart, and the pillars disintegrated amidst Dao radiance. The Great Luo bodhimandas of the nine emperors unfolded, joining forces to suppress the Immortal Emperor Supreme!
The Immortal Emperor Supreme remained seated in his original place, motionless, paying no heed to the suppression of the nine Great Luo Golden Immortals!
Suddenly, amidst the resplendent Dao radiance, nine silhouettes surged forth in succession, striking toward the seated Immortal Emperor Supreme!
At that moment, the immortal path seemed to boil over. Dao radiance shone through the nine heavens, reaching directly into the various realms of the Great Luo Heaven!
The Immortal Emperor Supreme raised his hand, meeting the attacks of the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens with lightning speed. The Changsheng Emperor grunted, flying backward uncontrollably and landing heavily back in his seat with a dull thud.
He was both shocked and enraged. During the trip to Wuzhuang Temple, he had been seized by the Immortal Emperor Supreme, led by the hand like an errant child back before the Ginseng Fruit Tree, making a fool of him in front of the assembled imperial monarchs and heavenly venerables.
Back then, he had already sensed that the Immortal Emperor's power was terrifying and unfathomable.
Now, with all nine emperors striking at once, the very instant they clashed, he was sent flying back to his original seat. He felt that in this brief span of time, the Immortal Emperor's cultivation and strength had actually advanced yet another level!
He had barely settled when another loud boom rang out. The Qinghua Emperor landed back in his seat, his face flushed, hands trembling, and the webs between his thumbs and forefingers torn open.
*Bang!*
The Caiwei Emperor flew back. Fresh blood trickled from the corner of this youthful-looking female emperor's mouth, her twin hair buns disheveled.
*Bang!*
The hazy moonlight enveloping the Fuyue Emperor was shattered. With an ashen expression and disarranged robes, the female emperor also tumbled back into her seat.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* A succession of explosive blasts rang out. The Quelin Emperor, Luhe Emperor, Jiuyou Emperor, Taixiao Emperor, and Yanglong Emperor suffered heavy blows one after another, each sent hurtling back into their seats against their will.
The nine emperors sat stiffly in their places. The Taixiao Emperor could not hold back a cough of blood, sending a chill through everyone present.
They were Great Luo Golden Immortals, considered to be in the same realm as the Supreme realm. Years ago, when facing the Immortal Emperor Supreme, each of their cultivations had been roughly equal to his. Yet with the passing of these years, who could have imagined that the disparity in cultivation had widened into such an insurmountable chasm!
"I told you long ago not to cultivate the old Dao, yet you refused to listen," the Immortal Emperor Supreme remarked coolly. "Fellow elder brothers, the old Dao has long since decayed, and the gap between you and me will only grow wider. Faced with such a disparity, do the nine of you still insist on upholding the rules set down back then?"
The Changsheng Emperor and the others were shaken beyond measure, each suppressing the trepidation in their hearts.
The Luhe Emperor spoke, "Your Majesty is brilliant and martial. We nine are filled with utmost admiration. As for the death of the Heavenly Venerable, we shall inquire no further."
He stood, bowed, and said, "We take our leave."
The other eight rose as well, bowing and echoing, "We take our leave."
The Immortal Emperor Supreme smiled faintly, rising to his feet. "Allow me to see my nine fellow Daoists off."
"We would not dare," the nine emperors replied one after another. "Please stay your steps, Your Majesty."
The Immortal Emperor Supreme did not insist, watching them soar into the air and depart toward the nine heavens.
Upon arriving above Yantian, the Jiuyou Emperor suddenly let out a sigh. "Who would have thought that in such a short time, his achievements would reach this level—directly matching Qingxuan of back then, wouldn't you say?"
Everyone's expressions changed abruptly. The Taixiao Emperor, looking somewhat pale, said, "Do not mention that name!"
The Jiuyou Emperor's heart trembled.
As the eldest among them, the Taixiao Emperor had also suffered the most severe injuries this time. He said, "Mingzun is the one who truly possesses wolfish ambition. Slaying the Heavenly Venerable this time was merely killing the chicken to scare the monkeys; the Heavenly Venerable was just the monkey he killed to warn us. With our strength, we can no longer keep him in check."
The Fuyue Emperor sighed. "Even if we know he harbors wild ambitions, what can we do? The Supreme realm is simply too powerful. After obtaining the soul fragments of the dragon race's primordial ancestor, he has progressed far too rapidly!"
The crowd fell silent.
Though their clash with the Immortal Emperor had been fleeting—lasting no more than a single breath before they were routed—that brief moment had been enough to reveal the dread and might of the Supreme realm!
The Quelin Emperor said, "Mingzun is no longer someone we can handle. The only recourse now is to ascend to the Great Luo Heaven. Only there can we find someone capable of dealing with him."
The group hesitated. Were they truly going to escalate matters all the way to the Great Luo Heaven?
The Taixiao Emperor said resolutely, "Mingzun was merely a puppet we propped up as a figurehead to manage the Immortal Realm. Now that this puppet seeks to slip from our grasp, our fellow elder brothers in the Great Luo Heaven will certainly lend their full support!"
"Indeed. The fellow Daoists in the Great Luo Heaven also would not wish to see Mingzun break free of control!"
"No one wants a second Qingxuan in the Immortal Court..."
"Do not mention him!"
***
The Immortal Emperor Supreme stepped out from the ruined imperial palace. Behind him, numerous immortal craftsmen of the Immortal Realm began their diligent labors, rebuilding the palace. Though such occurrences were rare, the immortal craftsmen had prepared contingency plans long in advance, proceeding with orderly precision.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme looked downward. The Heavenly Sea had already begun to take preliminary shape, vast and boundless. In the distance, the Heavenly Abyss hazily emerged, still obscured and difficult to behold in its entirety.
That Heavenly Abyss was boundless and vast, swallowing the waters of the Heavenly Sea, its depths bottomless and immeasurable.
Even for an existence such as him, the Earth Immortal Realm still harbored many secrets unknown to him, waiting to be unveiled.
He gazed down at the magnificent, surging Earth Immortal Realm below, emotions surging within him as he murmured, "The Immortal Realm has, and can only have, one Supreme—and that is I! None may interfere with my power, and none may lay a finger on it!"
With such a magnificent realm before him, who would not desire to hold this glorious expanse in their grasp?
*Strange. Why can I not divine Xu Ying again?*
The Immortal Emperor frowned slightly. Lately, whenever he attempted to divine Xu Ying, the results were always hazy and obscure.
He wanted to divine whether Xu Ying had comprehended the profound mysteries of merging the ten great cave-heavens into one, and whether he had sensed the Taiyi Cave Abyss, yet the calculations consistently yielded negative results. At times, his divinations even encountered bizarre interference, resembling static from the depths of the universe or chaotic signals from the chaos—extraordinarily peculiar.
Particularly in recent days, whenever he calculated Xu Ying's whereabouts, the interference grew stronger, leaving him irritable and distracted.
*Could it be that he has a divine diviner aiding him?*
The Immortal Emperor Supreme pondered. *Yet could there truly be someone in this world whose calculating prowess surpasses my own?*
Suddenly, worlds merged down below. The colossal impact caused the Heavenly Sea to churn violently. As the waters surged, an ancient ferry crossing was revealed.
Beneath that ferry lay a colossal dragon head composed of immeasurable immortal spiritual light. The dragon head was unimaginably massive; when it emerged, its spiritual light pierced straight into the Immortal Realm, forming radiant clouds of light that pressed directly beyond the highest heavens!
Within that dragon-head crossing, sunken ships of monumental scale could be seen fading in and out. Their magnitude was astounding!
The Immortal Emperor Supreme could not help but be moved. He hurriedly pinched his fingers to divine the truth, yet he could discern nothing regarding that dragon head!
"Just where does this ferry lead?"
***
In the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court, with the help of the Ancestral God, the Big Dragon gradually mended the fractured parts of his primordial spirit. However, he still could not engage in fierce battles in the short term, lest he risk shattering once more.
Having nothing to do over the past few days, he casually took to tempering the Dragon Bell, whose true form was the big bell. Under his refining, it was growing increasingly powerful.
Unable to bear it any longer, the big bell plucked up its timid courage and barked, "Grandpa Dragon, stop! I am a magic artifact qi refiner cultivating into a treasure immortal! Refining me like this means it doesn't come from my own cultivation—aren't you ruining my progress?"
The Big Dragon replied, "Your frame is frail. If I fight someone and they crack you open, I'll be finished right along with you."
Seeing that the dragon did not dare to harm it, the big bell grew considerably bolder, saying, "I'm cultivating into a treasure immortal, and in the future, I intend to attain the Dao! What you're doing is pulling up seedlings to help them grow, ruining my Dao foundation!"
The Big Dragon chuckled. "You are a treasure immortal, but first and foremost, you are a magic artifact. When I refine you, your cultivation will only progress faster. Once I forge you into a great bell formed of immortal spiritual light, attaining the Dao will be a breeze for you."
The big bell froze, its voice trembling. "Grandpa Dragon, I can also turn into immortal spiritual light?"
The Big Dragon replied, "If I can't forge you into an immortal spiritual body, wouldn't I be vulnerable to being killed at any time? By the way, Xu Ying should have reached the Mortal Realm by now, right?"
The Dragon Bell looked toward the firmament. The speck of light where Xu Ying had flown was flickering, shining much brighter than it had a few days ago.
Chapter 561