An avatar of Meng Po transformed into an attractive divine lady and hurried to the Dou Department, requesting an audience with Celestial Venerable Xu—Xu Jing.
The Immortal Realm had originally existed independently above the myriad worlds, high and aloft, but now it shared a single world with them, forming the Earth Immortal Realm. In the past, those coming and going through the Dou Department were all immortals, but over the last few years, due to the Three Realms Tide, Qi Refiners frequently dropped by. As a result, Meng Po's divine lady avatar met with little scrutiny when she came to see Xu Jing.
Stating the purpose of her visit, the divine lady said, "The Primordial Monarch has descended to the lower realms to crusade against the Four Emperors of the Underworld. I fear the Four Emperors are in grave danger. They have past ties with Young Master Xu, so I wonder if Young Master Xu could be troubled to lend a hand?"
Xu Jing replied, "That rebellious son isn't at home. He went to visit his mother. Since the matter is urgent, I will go see him. Meng Po, return to the Underworld first to scout for intelligence."
Xu Ying was still a convicted criminal in the eyes of the law. Although he had contributed immensely to quelling the Heavenly Venerable's rebellion, as long as the Immortal Emperor did not pardon him, he remained a condemned criminal. Hence, Xu Jing still referred to him as his rebellious son.
Meng Po's divine lady acknowledged the order and immediately descended to the lower realm.
Xu Jing arrived at Weiyang Palace in the Immortal Court—Xu Ying's mother, Lan Suying, had been adopted as a goddaughter by Immortal Emperor Supreme and granted residence in Weiyang Palace.
Not long ago, Xu Ying had stirred up trouble by killing several immortals who, as it turned out, were disciples of Emperor Jiuyou. He had retreated to Weiyang Palace to lie low, avoiding a retaliatory visit from Emperor Jiuyou.
Yet the palace was named Weiyang, and being here inevitably stirred fond memories of a certain person.
Half a year had passed since his ascension to the Earth Immortal Realm. During these six months, Xu Ying's cultivation had crossed the Human Immortal realm and the Earth Immortal realm one after another, entering the Heavenly Immortal realm.
The Human Immortal realm primarily cultivated the Domain of the Six Immortals, which he had mastered long ago and even expanded into the Domain of the Ten Immortals. He had needed only a touch of refinement at that stage before advancing directly to the next.
The Earth Immortal realm focused on unifying the six domains into one, refining them into a Dao domain. Three years ago, Xu Ying had already unified ten domains into one, refining them into Taiyi.
The so-called six domains referred to vitality, divine consciousness, primordial qi, soul power, yin and yang, and heart power, whereas the ten domains added life and death, Dao power, void, and Hunyuan.
Thus, the Earth Immortal realm had been child's play to Xu Ying.
However, the Earth Immortal realm required refining Dao manifestations into Dao principles—which were immortal Dao laws, or immortal Dao runes—and that held a measure of difficulty.
Consequently, it had taken him four to five months to refine each of his cultivated Dao manifestations one by one into immortal Dao runes before stepping into the Heavenly Immortal realm.
Crossing two major realms—Human Immortal and Earth Immortal—to enter the Heavenly Immortal realm in just half a year was truly shocking.
Now, he was stuck at the step of refining his Dao domain into a bodhimanda, the hallmark of the Heavenly Immortal realm.
He already possessed the Ruyi Great Luo Bodhimanda, but it ultimately belonged to the evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan. Xu Ying needed to refine his own bodhimanda before he could cross this threshold.
Once he crossed this realm, he would become an Immortal King, and the nine realm supreme treasures would no longer be of much use to him.
Over the past six months back in the Earth Immortal Realm, Xu Ying had seen Xu Jing and then visited his mother, Lan Suying, at Weiyang Palace, enjoying an unprecedented inner peace.
For the first time, he had slowed down to savor life.
He had never truly experienced parental affection before, so he treasured this period all the more.
Lan Suying was currently studying Dragon Heaven Mixed Dao Numerology alongside Divine Mother, Gushe, and Yuan Tiangang. This numerological art was extraordinarily profound and arcane, created tens of millions of years ago by Qing Mufeng, the foremost diviner of the Dragon race, capable of deducing the future tens of millions of years ahead.
All of them were master diviners, seeking to derive a divination method capable of calculating the Supreme realm through this practice.
After such prolonged study, their achievements were considerable.
Meanwhile, Xu Ying sat in the study practicing calligraphy with a brush, flanked by two palace maidservants—one holding the paperweight, the other grinding ink.
In his first life, the young master had excelled in both civil and martial arts, proficient in all matters, yet his handwriting in this life was rather lacking. It was rare for him to have leisure to practice calligraphy, so he concentrated wholeheartedly, writing with genuine diligence.
Seeing his solemn concentration, the two palace maids quietly fooled around beside him. One daubed a bit of ink on the other's nose, while the other brushed a stroke across her cheek. In their scuffle, they knocked over the inkstone, ruining Xu Ying's calligraphy. Realizing they had caused trouble, the two maids fled outside in fright, with Xu Ying in hot pursuit.
Chasing them through the corridors, they arrived at a bedchamber. The two palace maids fell backward onto a cloud-soft bed, looking up at Young Master Xu with bashful shyness as they giggled, "The young master has caught us, and there is nowhere left to hide. Whatever shall we do?"
Young Master Xu felt a stir in his heart, but right at that moment, an intuitive premonition struck him. Sensing that Divine Mother and the others were calculating his fate, he instantly shielded his presence from their perception.
Lan Suying's voice drifted in with a chuckle. "Ah Ying, stop teasing them if you don't intend to marry them. Your father is here; if he sees you acting so unruly, he'll break your legs."
Leaving the two palace maids behind, Xu Ying walked out and smiled. "My father won't bother. He can't wait for me to bring him a daughter-in-law."
Lan Suying said, "Fairy Zitong has now been conferred the title of Primordial Monarch Zitong and resides in Tongtian Palace. You need only propose to her. Didn't you kill Emperor Jiuyou's disciples a few days ago precisely because they went to harass Primordial Monarch Zitong?"
Xu Ying smiled and shook his head. "She is not the one I want."
Lan Suying pondered. "Could it be Li Sixue, the Heavenly Venerable of the Fire Department? I heard you two had an affair in the past. She lives in the Tianfu Heavenly Palace of the Fire Department; you could propose to her as well, and she certainly wouldn't refuse."
Xu Ying shook his head again.
Lan Suying guessed further, "Could it be Primordial Monarch Mingxia? I heard you two had a fling before too. Or Primordial Monarch Qingxia? Or her younger sister, Primordial Monarch Zixia? If it's Primordial Monarch Ling Su, that won't do—she has an affair with Emperor Changsheng. Wait, it couldn't be Emperor Caiwei, could it? Emperor Caiwei is off-limits; I can't beat her."
Xu Ying felt a massive headache coming on and quickly interjected, "Mother, stop guessing. Those women are all wonderful, but I do not love them."
Xu Jing hurried over and said urgently, "Ah Ying, Meng Po has come seeking help. She says Primordial Monarch Ling Su has descended to the Underworld to quell a rebellion, and the Four Emperors of the Underworld are in danger."
Hearing this, Xu Ying took on a grave expression. "The Four Emperors are my friends. They have saved my life and nurtured me. Since they are in peril, I must go!" With a stamp of his foot, his figure vanished into thin air, plunging straight down from the Immortal Realm into the Underworld.
Divine Mother frowned slightly, intending to follow him, but Xu Ying was already gone. She could only give up, remarking, "Just now, when I calculated the Immortal Master's whereabouts, I couldn't divine what he was doing. Could the Immortal Master already be a Supreme-level being?"
"He is still far from it," Lan Suying said with a smile. "He was about to kiss those young maidens when your divination gave him a premonition. But taking advantage of the opening created by your calculation, I calculated against him as well. He failed to block me, and a single sentence from me cooled his lust. If he possessed Supreme-level attainment, I wouldn't have been able to divine him accurately either, and he might have succeeded. The Immortal Emperor could have used that chance to plant two spies beside him."
Divine Mother had a sudden realization and smiled. "Though I cannot accurately divine the Immortal Master, I can divine the Primordial Monarch. Her purpose in quelling the rebellion is to build momentum for herself. Now that the Immortal Emperor is absent from the Immortal Court, she still harbors ambitions for the throne and wishes to become a female emperor."
Claiming the emperorship was no child's play.
To claim the throne, one first had to possess the prestige to command it.
If Xu Ying were to declare himself emperor right now, no one would pay him any mind; it would merely be self-aggrandizing talk, raising a banner to crown himself, only to be crushed and turned into a laughingstock.
Immortal Emperor Supreme had inherited the throne with unquestioned legitimacy. As a disciple of the former emperor, Qingxuan, he hailed from an illustrious lineage. In those early days, he had fought alongside Qingxuan, performing meritorious service for the Immortal Court and earning immense prestige. Combined with the recommendations of other veterans who had conquered the realm alongside Qingxuan, compromises across factions, and popular acclaim, he had been able to inherit the throne.
Those who had conquered the realm with Qingxuan also possessed legitimate claims and tremendous renown, but they had been picked off one by one or gone missing, which was how Immortal Emperor Supreme's turn had finally come.
As for the Great Emperors of the Nine Heavens, such as Emperor Changsheng and Emperor Qinghua, they too had contributed to the founding of the Immortal Realm, yet their prestige was insufficient to claim the title of Immortal Emperor; they were granted imperial titles without sovereign authority.
Though the Primordial Monarch enjoyed great fame as the head of the female immortals, her prestige still fell short of Immortal Emperor Supreme's. Claiming the emperorship by force would inevitably invite a siege from all sides. Therefore, she had to build up meritorious achievements for herself.
The merger of the Yin and Yang realms was an orchestration she had directed in secret through Real Person Yuhu. The Primordial Monarch had schemed for over sixty thousand years for this very day, and now was the time to reap her harvest.
Xu Jing said, "The merger of the myriad worlds has cost countless lives among their peoples, and now the Underworld has merged with the mortal realm, creating a tangled mess between Yin and Yang. Every night, wandering spirits and wild ghosts sing and dance in the mortal realm, harming people, terrorizing them, and extorting offerings, stirring up significant public resentment. If the Primordial Monarch can truly pacify the Underworld and restore order, her prestige will soar. With the living beings of the Earth Immortal Realm remembering her favor, she will possess the reputation needed to claim the imperial throne."
Lan Suying added, "Her target is not merely the underworlds of the myriad worlds, but also the underworld of the Immortal Realm and the underworld of the Ancestral Court. She intends to replace gods with immortals, abolishing divine offices and supplanting them with immortals so that immortals govern the Underworld."
Xu Jing was visibly moved. "A bold move indeed. Having immortals govern the Underworld means they will take orders from the Immortal Court rather than follow the Heavenly Dao, bringing the Underworld under the court's thumb. Yet over time, corruption will inevitably fester."
Failing to follow the Heavenly Dao and acting solely on the whims of those in power would invariably foster injustice.
Lan Suying said, "Yet it concentrates immense power in one's hands. That power is precisely what the Primordial Monarch seeks."
Divine Mother chimed in, "Back when the Samsara Female Emperor perished, reincarnation fell under the control of the Immortal Realm, allowing them to arrange rebirths. If a deceased spirit belonged to an immortal clan, they could be placed into a prestigious family, endowed with peak aptitude, comprehension, and foundational bone structure, born as a prodigy. If it was an enemy, they were sent to endure relentless torment in reincarnation. And so forth. Even rebirth lost all fairness."
Lan Suying said, "Once the Primordial Monarch replaces gods with immortals, it will only worsen. Anyone opposing her claim to the throne won't even be granted a decent rebirth! Having consumed a Ginseng Fruit, the Primordial Monarch is already half a Daluo Golden Immortal. Backed by Emperor Changsheng, she is determined to seize the Underworld!"
She chuckled, then continued, "Still, I am not overly worried about Ah Ying's safety. Powerful though the Primordial Monarch is, Ah Ying did not return empty-handed from the Mortal Realm. He should be able to withstand half a Daluo Golden Immortal."
Xu Jing dismissed the attendants and whispered, "Madam, have you noticed that Ah Ying's temperament differs somewhat from before?"
Lan Suying glanced at him. "Whatever his temperament becomes, he remains my son, carried in my womb for ten months."
"I know that," Xu Jing said. "I mean his temperament is somewhat different from forty-eight thousand years ago. With his current cultivation and strength, he should be able to refine Dijun's seal, shouldn't he? Yet he still hasn't recalled his past! Could he have been possessed?"
Lan Suying shook her head. "What is the name of this palace where I reside?"
Puzzled, Xu Jing replied, "Weiyang Palace. Why do you ask?"
"The name 'Weiyang Palace' was chosen by Mingzun, and he was the one who assigned me here. When Ah Ying first came to Weiyang Palace, he stood outside the gates staring at the characters for 'Weiyang', hesitating for a long time," Lan Suying said. "Primordial Monarch Zitong still has entanglements with him; she remains trapped within the tribulation of samsara, and that tribulation will ensnare Ah Ying as well. The one who laid this tribulation was not Dijun. Dijun was merely a chess piece."
Xu Jing realized at once. "You asked me about Weiyang Palace—do you mean the one pulling the strings behind Dijun was Mingzun?"
Lan Suying nodded gently. "Forty-eight thousand years ago, seeking vengeance for my fallen clansmen of Kunlun, I ascended to immortality. Upon reaching the Immortal Realm, I encountered Mingzun. He adopted me as his goddaughter and granted me Weiyang Palace as my residence. Back then, I never understood why he settled me in Weiyang Palace, until Ah Ying stood before it for so long this time. Only then did I divine his love tribulation—it turned out there was a young lady named Yuan Weiyang."
She sighed and continued, "Back then, when Ah Ying descended to the lower realm and was captured in the Battle of the Heavenly Path, his beloved, Primordial Monarch Zitong, was cast into samsara at the same time. One became an ageless immortal whose memories lasted at most ten years, while the other reincarnated continuously, their fates endlessly entwined. I always believed Dijun controlled Primordial Monarch Zitong's destiny, but once I calculated that Primordial Monarch Zitong's current reincarnation was named Yuan Weiyang, I realized it was Mingzun who had plunged her into samsara."
Xu Jing's face shifted drastically. "Primordial Monarch Zitong has recovered all her past memories and is even stronger than before. Are you saying she is still trapped within the samsara trap?"
Lan Suying said, "Not just her. To be precise, Ah Ying is also trapped within the samsara trap; he has never truly escaped it."
Xu Jing paced back and forth before halting. "How can you be sure they are still inside the samsara trap? Shouldn't it have been broken long ago?"
Lan Suying shook her head. "Primordial Monarch Zitong's memories were unsealed by the Queen Mother of the West. Could the Queen Mother of the West crack Mingzun's divine abilities of samsara?"
Xu Jing shook his head.
Lan Suying said, "They cannot even detect that Mingzun once planted a divine ability of samsara inside them. I deduced the forty-eight-thousand-year entanglement between the two: this samsara trap begins with their meeting and falling in love, and ends with the death of one and memory loss of the other, resetting the cycle for the next reincarnation."
"Does Ah Ying know about this?" Xu Jing asked.
Lan Suying replied, "He knows. The Samsara Female Emperor once told him that Fairy Zitong was still bound by the samsara curse—a curse that even she could not unravel." (See Chapter 370 for details)
Xu Jing chuckled. "Since he knows, he must have prepared countermeasures long ago."
"Let us hope so."
The two consoled each other, though a trace of worry lingered in their hearts.
***
In the Underworld, Great Emperor Dongyue and the Golden Crow darted and wheeled across the sky, battling Primordial Monarch Wenxuan. More than five hundred thousand years of mortal worship endowed him with boundless, surging magic power.
Furthermore, having visited the Ancestral God a few years ago alongside the Ten Yama Kings, he had gained insight into the cosmos's mightiest primordial spirit. Following that with exchanges with Senior Brother Tian, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Primordial Monarch Wenxuan was an Immortal Monarch of formidable prowess, yet she found herself steadily forced into retreat against Dongyue.
On another front, the Northern Emperor faced Primordial Monarch Feiyu and held a dominant advantage as well. Mount Fengdu's peerless divine might suppressed Primordial Monarch Feiyu, and their clashing primordial spirits put her on the back foot.
Emperor Cangwu fought Primordial Monarch Mengji; with every gesture, heaven and earth cracked open, leaving Primordial Monarch Mengji nowhere to hide.
Confronting the Samsara Female Emperor was Primordial Monarch Lingshu, who was suppressed beneath the power of samsara within mere moves.
All four emperors had gained insights from the Ancestral God and received guidance from Senior Brother Tian and the God of the Earth. Having severely wounded their respective opponents, they suddenly took to the air in unison, charging straight toward the Primordial Monarch seated within the jeweled carriage!
Thick beaded curtains veiled the interior, concealing the beauty within.
Suddenly, a jade-like palm emerged from the carriage. In the next instant, the sky of the Underworld was blotted out, the Nether Sea lost its light, samsara fell into her grasp, and Cangwu shrank at terrifying speed.
The Four Emperors of the Underworld roared in unison, unleashing their supreme dharma bodies. They expanded to cosmic proportions, their bodies striding across the starry sky and treading upon countless rivers of stars.
Their power even disrupted the workings of the mortal realm, sending the stars across the sky hurtling in disarray!
Yet beneath their feet stretched an immense, boundless palm.
The palm of the Primordial Monarch.
Chapter 583