Ning Zhong fell silent for a moment before saying, "There is still one thing I do not understand. Though Your Highness possesses astonishing talent and learning, you should not be the Imperial Monarch's match. Your strength is at most superior to the Primordial Monarch's, but not by much. How did you manage to kill both the Primordial Monarch and the Imperial Monarch?"
The Eastern King smiled faintly. "That is precisely the mystery I discovered while searching into Qingxuan."
Above his head, wondrous Dao voices echoed from the eight cave abysses. The powers of distinct cave abysses were blending into one another, driving his cultivation steadily upward!
This sight was remarkably similar to the phenomenon of the Six Secrets of Nuo.
The Six Secrets of Nuo opened cave heavens to connect to the other shore, angling for immortal medicines from the other side and refining them to strengthen oneself. The Eastern King's method, on the other hand, drew upon the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth within the cave abysses, as well as the explosive bursts of celestial spiritual qi, to empower himself!
Ning Zhong's expression shifted drastically. Such a method had never before appeared in the Immortal Realm!
For an immortal of the Immortal Realm, obtaining a single cave abyss was already worth offering incense of gratitude to their ancestors. As for possessing two cave abysses and studying how to simultaneously absorb their power and mobilize their Great Daos, no one had ever dared attempt it!
Even if someone could conceive of the idea, it would require gathering numerous cave abysses and conducting an immense number of experiments!
"Is this a method pioneered by Qingxuan?" Ning Zhong asked.
"An incomplete method," the Eastern King answered truthfully. "Before Qingxuan could fully refine this technique, he passed away. It was quite primitive, stowed away among dust-covered classical texts and drawing no notice. Later, when I perused it, I was struck with awe, and a plan formed in my mind. The Imperial Monarch was brilliant and peerless; I was indeed no match for him. Even if I deployed the Supreme-grade technique passed down by my father, I would still have suffered defeat at his hands."
While still in the Heavenly Monarch realm, the Imperial Monarch had comprehended and created a Supreme-grade technique—he was an unparalleled genius. The Eastern King had merely learned the Immortal Emperor Supreme's technique; compared to the Imperial Monarch's brilliance, there remained quite a gap.
"However, standing on Qingxuan's shoulders, I gained the possibility of surpassing him,"
the Eastern King said. "The first one I killed was actually Xie Qingshan, Heavenly Venerable of the Water Department, seizing his Xuanzhou. Next, I killed Li Sixue, Heavenly Venerable of the Fire Department, obtaining her Yanzhou. Those two Heavenly Venerables were putting down rebellions in the Ancestral Court. I excel at divine calculation, and within my cave abyss ten thousand immortals assisted my calculations. I had computed their techniques and divine arts thousands of times. Killing them was not difficult—a single lethal strike sufficed. The reason I delayed showing myself during the campaign to encircle Heavenly Venerable Yuan Daohai was precisely to observe the techniques and divine arts revealed while you all fought against him."
Ning Zhong frowned.
During Heavenly Venerable Yuan Daohai's rebellion, all five departmental Heavenly Venerables had taken action in that battle, Ning Zhong included.
The Eastern King had acted only after the Heavenly Venerable died—not to kill him, but to hunt down the Imperial Monarch.
Evidently, he had already thoroughly deciphered the techniques and divine arts of Ning Zhong and the others by that time.
"You obtained Xuanzhou and Yanzhou, combined them with your own Liuzhou, and thus gained complete certainty in killing the Primordial Monarch,"
Ning Zhong said. "So you killed the Primordial Monarch first, took her Changzhou, and gathered the Dao power and spiritual power of four great cave abysses before going after the Imperial Monarch. Am I right?"
The Eastern King said gravely, "The Imperial Monarch was the strongest, and he held two cave abysses—Fenglinzhou and Zuzhou. Killing him was exceptionally difficult. But the Primordial Monarch's strength was also extraordinary, and ordinarily I would have had no opportunity against her either. Yet with my father trapped in the Cosmic Dark Domain, she sought to seize the chance to unify the underworld and elevate her prestige. That gave me my opening. If trouble arose in the underworld, Xu Ying could not possibly sit by and ignore it. In a battle between Xu Ying and the Primordial Monarch, he was bound to stall her until her physical body could no longer hold out."
Ning Zhong deduced, "The Primordial Monarch was injured, and her strength diminished. So you picked up an easy advantage?"
The Eastern King said, "Claiming that advantage was not easy at all. Her paramour, Emperor Changsheng, cared deeply for her and would never allow anyone to touch her. Fortunately, Emperor Changsheng had to block Xu Ying, which presented me with an opening."
At this point, he could not help shaking his head. "That brat Xu Ying actually had the gall to pursue and hunt the Primordial Monarch. Truly audacious beyond measure."
Ning Zhong felt the same. The Primordial Monarch was the head of female immortals. If word got out that Xu Ying had pursued and hunted her, the sheer spittle of the female immortals would have drowned him alive.
"To achieve great things, one must be ruthless,"
the Eastern King continued, as if recalling something. "So the Primordial Monarch had to die, and they had to die as well. This is a grand sacrifice. All living beings, including you and me, are offerings upon the sacrificial altar. Only by offering our flesh and blood to heaven can we alter the injustice of this world."
He was suddenly overcome with emotion, which surprised Ning Zhong. Little did Ning Zhong know that the Eastern King was thinking of the million female immortals within the Changzhou cave abyss.
To prevent the truth from leaking, he had been forced to slaughter every last one of those female immortals, leaving none alive.
With so many lives extinguished by his own hands, even someone as ruthless as the Eastern King needed to fabricate a justification to persuade himself.
"Over the years, I have studied three people: the Heavenly Venerable, the Imperial Monarch, and the Primordial Monarch. My battle with the Primordial Monarch was extremely swift. Her Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Assembly Technique was immensely powerful, so I chose to strike directly at her primordial spirit,"
the Eastern King said. "Her primordial spirit was too strong, even surpassing the Indestructible Primordial Spirit of the Heavenly Venerable. Yet despite appearing so formidable, it possessed a flaw. That flaw lay in the fact that her primordial spirit had not been forged into an Indestructible Spiritual Light, leaving it unable to properly constrain its own power. If the incoming external force was overwhelming enough, it would shatter the binding force of her primordial spirit. At that point, what ruptured would not be her body, but her primordial spirit itself."
Compared to the Imperial Monarch and the Heavenly Venerable, the Primordial Monarch still fell short.
"My battle with the Imperial Monarch should originally have been postponed until after I harvested Guan Tianzun of the Wealth Department and Ji Man of the Grand Luo Heaven. But when I killed the Primordial Monarch, Emperor Changsheng was not far away. He was certain to detect her death,"
the Eastern King explained. "The death of the Primordial Monarch was no trivial matter; it was bound to provoke the intervention of the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens. The first suspect they would turn to was inevitably the Imperial Monarch. If they sought him out, I would have lost my chance to kill him. Therefore, after eliminating the Primordial Monarch, I had to take the risk of eliminating the Imperial Monarch immediately."
Heavenly Venerable Ning Zhong praised, "Your Highness's move was exceptionally risky. You had to kill the Imperial Monarch before the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens arrived. The Imperial Monarch's Nine Heavens Ten Earths Demon-Breaking Secret Art had been cultivated to the point where he could prove the Dao and become a Supreme, and his Twelve Dao Wheels were unmatched under heaven, corresponding to twelve Great Daos."
"Yet he was not in the Supreme realm after all. Although his technique had reached the Supreme level, he had not cultivated to the Supreme realm, meaning he was forever feeling his way in the dark. Feeling one's way forward is like blind men touching an elephant—all one ever grasps are fragments, never the whole,"
the Eastern King said. "My father, however, is a genuine Supreme realm existence, and he passed his technique down to me. The Imperial Monarch was not like me; he lacked a good father. I am not the Imperial Monarch's equal in intelligence or forbearance, but I have seen a true Supreme technique. Looking at his Nine Heavens Ten Earths Demon-Breaking Secret Art, looking at his Twelve Dao Wheels, I could spot numerous flaws. Even so, that battle was exceedingly perilous."
When he fought the Imperial Monarch with four cave abysses deployed at once, he had still nearly failed to suppress him.
"Fortunately, I have a good father."
A look of admiration crossed the Eastern King's face. "I shattered his Twelve Dao Wheels, causing more than four hundred of his avatars to lose control in an instant. Killing him was my most arduous battle. Even though he died at my hands, I still felt a lingering sense that my victory was somewhat unearned."
Ning Zhong nodded slightly. Forcing one's cultivation higher using four cave abysses, and doing so via ambush to defeat the Imperial Monarch, indeed bordered on an unearned victory.
"After the Imperial Monarch died, my next targets were the Wealth Department and the Grand Luo Heaven, with you as my very last,"
the Eastern King said gravely. "I had to be fast. From the moment I killed Xie Qingshan and Li Sixue, I could not pause for a single step. After killing both and seizing their cave abysses, I had to rush straight to the underworld, eliminate the Primordial Monarch, and immediately move on to kill the Imperial Monarch! Leaving the Imperial Monarch's estate, I had to hasten directly to the Wealth Department, then ascend through the nine heavens to the Grand Luo Heaven, without the slightest error or slip-up! This required me to push divine calculation to its absolute limit!"
A single miscalculation could have resulted in being intercepted by the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens, causing everything to crumble.
Ning Zhong remarked, "You rushed continuously along that path, and only upon reaching me did you find room to breathe. That is why you slowed your pace and spoke so much to me."
The Eastern King smiled. "Having done so much, and succeeded so brilliantly, I needed someone to appreciate it. Ning Zhong, you too are a genius; you understand appreciation."
Ning Zhong looked somber.
The Eastern King said languidly, "Furthermore, I need someone to bear witness with me. Once the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens clear each other of suspicion, they will realize that only the two of us remain as survivors. They will rush over to protect us. And at that exact moment, they will witness you, wielding eight cave abysses, viciously trying to murder me."
Ning Zhong froze. He looked up, only to see that of the eight cave abysses above the Eastern King's head, seven had imperceptibly shifted over to hover above his own.
Celestial spiritual qi surged from those seven cave abysses, pouring directly into his body!
The Eastern King drained his final cup of wine and said, "They will witness the battle between us. And you—the true culprit who slaughtered the Imperial Monarch and Primordial Monarch and butchered your peers—will die by my hand."
Ning Zhong gave a cold sneer. "By thwarting my plot and rendering such tremendous merit—with the six Heavenly Venerables reduced to only Old Heavenly Venerable Xu, and the Imperial Monarch, Primordial Monarch, and Heavenly Venerables all dead, leaving the Immortal Court thrown into chaos and precariously unstable—the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens will have to install an Immortal Emperor to stabilize the realm. Aside from you, who else could it possibly be?"
The Eastern King sighed, speaking with a touch of melancholy, "What is more, I am the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. With my father trapped, I am the one most qualified to ascend the throne."
Ning Zhong's face was pale. Draining his last cup of wine, he said resolutely, "Your Highness, strike. I will not sit idly by and await death!"
Admiration shone in the Eastern King's eyes. "All living beings, including you and me, are offerings upon the sacrificial altar. Heavenly Venerable Ning Zhong, safe travels on your final journey!"
The ancestral residence of the Ning clan exploded with a roar, everything around them shattering into dust. From within the pulverized debris, Ning Zhong rose tall, channeling the Shengzhou cave abyss. The Taisui Divine Armor, supreme treasure of the Taisui Celestial Palace, immediately flowed from the cave abyss, growing frantically until it enveloped his entire body in an instant!
The Great Dao contained within Shengzhou was the Dao of Life, bursting with boundlessly vibrant vitality. Possessing this cave abyss alongside the Taisui Divine Armor made him practically unkillable!
His Supreme Profound Origin Jade Hall Great Method was also freed of heavenly Dao flaws. The strike he unleashed at the Eastern King surpassed any previous point in his life!
At this moment, his technique and divine arts attained a new pinnacle!
Yet he knew he could never win—let alone win, survival was an impossibility!
The Eastern King finally struck. Seeing the attack, Ning Zhong's heart turned cold. He noticed a flaw in his own divine art that he had never previously perceived.
And the Eastern King's strike aimed squarely at that very flaw.
Yet when the blow landed upon him, it exerted no force whatsoever.
Ning Zhong was stunned. The Eastern King's second move arrived, again aimed directly at another flaw, yet when it struck him, it remained entirely devoid of destructive power.
The two clashed at lightning speed, exchanging hundreds of moves in mere moments and tearing heaven and earth asunder. Yet Ning Zhong lost every single exchange, his moves dismantled by the Eastern King without suspense.
What the Eastern King picked apart was not merely his divine arts; the flaws in his cultivation technique were exposed as well.
In a brief span, Ning Zhong discovered hundreds of errors in his techniques and divine arts.
He was indeed a genius of supreme aptitude and comprehension. Fighting while modifying his techniques and perfecting his divine arts, after three hundred exchanges his technique approached utter perfection, and the power of his divine arts became truly terrifying!
"Only a Ning Zhong like this is worthy of being the true culprit who murdered the Imperial Monarch and Primordial Monarch!" the Eastern King laughed.
Ning Zhong's battle intent surged. With no retreat left, he resolved to fight to the bitter end. Behind him, a Dao tree swayed—a banyan tree thriving with vitality, countless aerial roots dropping from the ancient trunk to root themselves in his bodhimanda, radiating boundless vigor!
He also possessed a Dao fruit, cultivated through the consumption of a ginseng fruit. At this moment, his combat prowess climbed step by step until it nearly matched that of a Grand Luo Golden Immortal!
The Eastern King smiled. Such a Ning Zhong was precisely what he needed!
Only a genius like this could pass as the ambitious, ruthless overlord capable of ambushing and killing the Primordial Monarch and the Imperial Monarch!
*The Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens should be arriving,* the Eastern King thought. *Now, Ning Zhong's curtain can fall!*
On the surface, Ning Zhong had deployed eight cave abysses to strike lethally at him; clearly, Ning Zhong was the murderer.
After this battle, he himself would become the supreme hero who quelled the chaos!
Channeling the technique taught by the Immortal Emperor Supreme, known as the Ten Extremes Supreme Void Dao Scenery Technique, he finally struck to kill.
Ning Zhong was startled, spotting yet another flaw of his own exposed by the attack, and despair chilled his heart. *He held one back...*
*Boom! Boom!*
The Eastern King's strike pierced through his divine art and struck his chest. The Taisui Divine Armor over Ning Zhong's chest exploded, and the Eastern King jabbed an index finger into his chest.
Ning Zhong grunted, coughing blood as he was sent flying backward!
Shifting his form, the Eastern King flashed forward, intruding into Ning Zhong's bodhimanda, and thrust a finger once again toward his chest. Ning Zhong's heart sank; this strike was certain to sever his heart meridian!
Right at that moment, a halo of light suddenly flew into view. With a crisp *ding*, the Eastern King's seemingly certain lethal strike unexpectedly missed its target, landing upon a jade platter!
"The Returning Dao Jade Platter?"
The Eastern King was shocked and hurriedly withdrew his finger. Back then, this Returning Dao Jade Platter had fallen into his hands, where he had refined it for hundreds of thousands of years. Who could have thought that after Perfected Thousand Illusions took it to the lower realm, it would end up with Ning Zhong's son, Ning Qing?
Back then, he had attempted to reclaim the Returning Dao Jade Platter, only for Imperial Monarch Zhenwu of the Ancestral Court's Zhenwu Temple to intervene and thwart him!
He never anticipated that today, the Returning Dao Jade Platter would appear to block a lethal strike from its former master!
Ning Zhong was equally stunned. Looking up, he saw his son, Ning Qing, holding up the Returning Dao Jade Platter and standing before him.
Ning Zhong stared blankly. "Qing'er..."
A wave of mixed emotions washed over him. Thinking of how he had severed paternal and marital bonds in pursuit of the Dao, he felt deeply ashamed before Ning Qing.
"That wayward father is still my dad. Who dares kill him?"
Young Master Ning Qing took a step forward and said coldly, "Even if I agreed, my four masters would never allow it!"
Behind him, Imperial Monarch Zhenwu stood upon the backs of the Turtle and Snake Divine Generals, holding a whisk in hand and carrying a longsword on his back as he advanced against the Eastern King.
Following right after were Tianpeng Imperial Monarch Cangtian, Imperial Monarch Yisheng Heisha, and Imperial Monarch Tianyou Puhua.
The Four Saints of the Northern Culmen each revealed their true forms. Tianpeng was the Great Emperor Cangtian, foremost among the Four Saints, possessing three heads and eight arms, wielding Heavenly Monarch–grade magic treasures such as an axe, a battle-axe, a bow, arrows, and a sovereign bell as he charged forward.
The remaining two saints were no less formidable. The four imperial monarchs encircled and assaulted the Eastern King. Even with his extraordinary strength, the Eastern King was momentarily overwhelmed by the onslaught!
Among the Four Saints, Imperial Monarch Zhenwu was ranked only second, yet even in a weakened state back then, he had perished together with Heavenly Lord Pingnan, who was second only to Wei Xu in the Immortal Court.
Now, with the Four Saints joining forces, the Eastern King suffered countless strikes in the blink of an eye.
Panic seized the Eastern King's heart; he had not foreseen this scenario.
The Four Saints of the Northern Culmen had been revived and awakened through his use of the Returning Dao Jade Platter. They had fallen into death due to the decline of the Ancestral Court's Great Dao, and it was only because he used the platter to restore the Great Dao around their tombs that they could be revived.
He had never imagined that today, not only would the Returning Dao Jade Platter intervene to ruin his lethal blow, but the Four Saints of the Northern Culmen would turn around to oppose him!
*Who is plotting against me? Who is sabotaging my grand design? Could the Returning Dao Jade Platter have clouded my perception?*
He sought to flee, but for the moment could not break through the Four Saints' encirclement.
*If I don't use everything I have, I will die!*
The Eastern King gritted his teeth savagely and mobilized the power of the other seven cave abysses. The seven cave abysses, including Fenglinzhou and Zuzhou, came whistling forward, resonating with his Liuzhou. Eight Heavenly Monarch–grade cave abysses converged, unleashing Great Daos that poured into his body!
The Eastern King's cultivation and strength skyrocketed, surging in an instant to heights that towered above the Four Saints!
With a wave of his hand, he forced Imperial Monarch Heisha back, struck Imperial Monarch Puhua until he spat blood, clashed head-on against Great Emperor Cangtian, and took a sword strike from Imperial Monarch Zhenwu to the crown of his head that merely nicked the skin.
The Four Saints of the Northern Culmen were greatly alarmed, their expressions turning grave.
Fierce cruelty gleamed in the Eastern King's eyes. Casting a casual glance skyward, he saw long rainbows and glowing clouds blanketing the heavens. The Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens had clearly arrived, though they had yet to reveal themselves.
"I originally intended to inherit the throne on the back of great renown, granting everyone some dignity! Now it seems the Eastern Palace must rebel and slaughter its way onto the imperial throne!" the Eastern King laughed uproariously.
Ning Zhong struggled to his feet, suppressing his injuries, and approached Young Master Ning Qing. "Qing'er, why did you come?"
"Qing'er? I have no father like you!"
Ning Qing glanced at him and said coldly, "My father was the Ning Zhong Heavenly Fiend of Weixu, not you. I have already severed familial affection, leaving that Ning Qing behind in Weixu."
A melancholy sigh escaped Ning Zhong, and he smiled faintly. "Yet how could familial bonds ever be truly severed? I tried severing them once, but they only grew back."
Young Master Ning Qing felt a stir in his heart. He too had severed his feelings for his father, yet upon hearing that Ning Zhong was in mortal peril, he had still been the very first to rush to his aid.
How could family ties ever truly be severed?
Suddenly, Ning Zhong severed his own Shengzhou cave abyss and flung it toward the Eastern King, calling out loudly, "Eastern King, I will no longer be a Heavenly Venerable! If you want Shengzhou, take it—"
The Eastern King captured Shengzhou with his dharmic power. Nine cave abysses droned in harmony, their Dao voices echoing together, pushing his cultivation and strength to heights hitherto unimaginable.
He raised his head, gazing toward the rainbows and rosy clouds in the sky, and suddenly surged upward. "Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens! Today, We shall ascend the supreme throne of the Immortal Emperor! Who agrees, and who objects?"
Above the rainbows and glowing clouds, the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens looked down impassively as he soared toward them.
Chapter 588