Liu Guanyi gazed at Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan with a complicated look. After a moment, Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan chuckled and said, "Well, you're already here. Why not come in and sit a while?"
Liu Guanyi walked forward and bowed deeply to the ground. Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan helped him up, laughing. "I'm not Emperor Qingxuan. Just treat me as a friend."
Liu Guanyi straightened his posture, tears streaming down his face.
He knew this was not the true Emperor Qingxuan. The real Emperor Qingxuan would never be so indolent, untidy even in his personal grooming; he would not be so gluttonous, piling so many beast bones outside his door; nor would he be so lustful, with women's clothes hanging in the courtyard.
This Qingxuan had no lofty ambitions or astounding aspirations. What he excelled at most was eating his fill and lying flat.
This Qingxuan was merely the stray desires severed from Emperor Qingxuan—a good-for-nothing who simply shared his face.
A short while later, Liu Guanyi and Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan each lay on a rocking chair, robes open and bellies bared to soak up the sun, every bit the slackers.
Liu Guanyi was originally known as the Heavenly Monarch of Ten Bests and Worsts, and when he indulged in despondency, he could be even more decadent than Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan.
As the two spoke of their embarrassing blunders from the old days, they could not help bursting into hearty laughter.
It was as if they had endless words to exchange and countless memories to recount.
After talking and laughing for a long time, Liu Guanyi sighed with emotion. "Before you severed your own self, you were just this lighthearted. Together we fought to win the world, discussed cultivation arts and divine powers, talked about women's behinds and breasts, and harbored secret crushes as we pursued Fairy Qiongtai. We fought battles together, charged the front lines together, deliberated on the livelihood of the realm's common folk, and dreamed together of what the future held."
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan smiled and asked, "And what happened later?"
Liu Guanyi fell silent for a moment before saying, "Later, you became Emperor Qingxuan, and you grew distant from us. We no longer saw your smiles, nor could we boast and joke with you. Visiting you had to be called an audience with the sovereign. Your ideals and ambitions grew ever grander, your image ever more towering, yet utterly unapproachable. You rarely had any self left. You stopped discussing women's behinds and breasts with us, gave up pursuing Fairy Qiongtai, and spoke of nothing but the realm's livelihood and the future."
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan pondered this, then said, "That was precisely the me I had hoped to become."
Liu Guanyi said, "You had little selfishness, but people in this world are always selfish. You wished to be a sage, but others could not accompany you in being sages."
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan's eyes brightened. "Is that why I died?"
"Most likely," Liu Guanyi replied, though he could not say with absolute certainty. "Had you not severed your stray desires, you should have first married Qiongtai, won over the Twelve Wonders, and waited tens of thousands of years. Once you possessed absolute power, you could have deposed the other four Supremes one by one and seized absolute rule over the world. By then, the Twelve Wonders would have obeyed your every word, never daring to resist. You could have stripped their authority, reclaimed all the Supreme cave abysses, and then implemented your new policies—it would have been far easier."
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan nodded gently and asked, "By severing my human nature to become a sage, did I bring about my own defeat instead?"
Liu Guanyi said, "When you severed lust, you lost the means to win Qiongtai over. Severing your desire for power, you lost the leverage to recruit the Twelve Wonders. Severing malice, you ceased being on guard against others. Severing ruthlessness, your methods lacked sufficient bite. Severing indolence, you ended up attending to every detail in person. Severing pettiness, you made others lose their fear of you. Having severed these facets of human nature while keeping only a sage's disposition, you were unfit to be the ruler of the Immortal Realm. Surrounded by a pack of wolves, how could a sage not fall?"
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan came to a sudden realization.
Liu Guanyi's gaze grew fervent as he said, "However, there is still a chance to remedy this! I have found your tomb. Your corpse has not been completely destroyed. Though your physical body and primordial spirit are dead, your Dao landscapes remain. You need only return to your body and recall those Dao landscapes, and there is still great hope!"
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan cut him off. "The dead cannot return to life..."
"They can!" Liu Guanyi said resolutely. "The dead can be revived! Xu Ying died once, yet he returned to life! His situation was similar to yours: after being harvested, his primordial spirit died, his Undying True Spirit was reduced to a mere remnant, and only his consciousness remained. Even so, he rose from death! If I go consult him, I will surely be able to revive you!"
Excited, he continued, "We can return to how things were, turn the tide, slay the Holy Venerable, execute Creation, and reclaim supreme power! We can fulfill all those ambitions of yours and realize your unfinished ideals!"
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan looked at him with a smile. After Liu Guanyi finished speaking with impassioned fervor, Qingxuan waited a moment before saying, "But that is not what the present me wants."
It was as if Liu Guanyi had been puffed full of air only to be pricked by a needle, and he instantly slumped in dejection.
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan chuckled. "I am just a good-for-nothing. Those ideals and ambitions are Emperor Qingxuan's, not a good-for-nothing's. All I want is to live a carefree life, eat delicious food, look at pretty women, and lie down to soak in the sun. I am content and at ease. What do the life-and-death struggles outside have to do with me?"
Liu Guanyi stared at him. Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan paid his gaze no mind, saying, "Heavenly Monarch of Ten Bests and Worsts, I am not Qingxuan. Stop indulging in wishful thinking."
Liu Guanyi turned around and said, "I will go see Xu Ying. I will offer him terms he cannot refuse, and he will definitely teach me the method of resurrection!"
With that, he strode away.
Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan lay back down, gazing faintly at the emerald-green glow shifting beyond the heavens. In a low murmur, he said, "Even if you find the method of resurrection, I will not become a second Emperor Qingxuan. I won't be foolish enough to risk my life for some grand righteousness of the world, like Qiongtai..."
Qiongtai was on that emerald-green ship.
More than ten days later, the Immortal Emperor's golden ship finally arrived at the Heavenly Sea Ferry.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme's eyes flickered with calculated thought. When the Holy Venerable and the Ancestral God attacked them, their injuries had not yet fully healed; now, fully recovered and bolstered by Jiugong and Taiyuan, they possessed three Supremes and eight Wonders. Even if the Holy Venerable and the Ancestral God returned to their peak, they could fight them on equal footing!
Creation Supreme and the others, however, were uneasy.
Had this been six hundred thousand years ago, joining forces would have made slaying the Holy Venerable child's play. But now, some among them had been exiled, some imprisoned, and others used to plug ocean eyes, while the Holy Venerable had controlled their resources and cultivated for six hundred thousand years. With their strength diminished and his enhanced, they were far from a match for him.
If the Holy Venerable or the Ancestral God attacked, they truly might not win, and could even suffer a devastating defeat.
Curiously, neither the Ancestral God nor the Holy Venerable appeared. Instead, beyond the heavens within the gelatinous zone, two streaks of emerald-green light were locked in an extraordinarily fierce battle.
Suddenly, they felt the vast, majestic aura of the Ancestral God's Heavenly Dao divine power. One after another, they raised their heads and beheld a divine power formed of indestructible spiritual light piercing through the gelatinous zone.
Even from such a distance, the display remained utterly awe-inspiring.
"The Ancestral God is on that ship!"
The Immortal Emperor and the others were taken aback. What shocked them even more was that the emerald rock attacked by the Ancestral God clearly held an expert no weaker than him, who managed to withstand his assault!
The space where the two clashed instantly turned a murky gray, like drops of ink falling into water, the grayish-black radiance steadily bleeding outward.
"Could it be the Holy Venerable? No, it must be an entity from the Heavenly Immortal Realm! The Ancestral God is stopping the experts of the Heavenly Immortal Realm from descending!"
They suddenly realized.
"That Heavenly Immortal Realm expert is using Emerald Rock divine powers!" Dao Lord Luofu exclaimed in shock. "Could the other shore that the ancient Dao Ancestors journeyed to be the Heavenly Immortal Realm?"
Yaoluo's eyesight far surpassed his. Shaking his head, he said, "The opponent is of the dragon race, practicing divine powers from the Emerald Rock, with strength on par with the Ancestral God."
Creation Supreme stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Ancestral God and his allies are barring the Heavenly Immortal Realm's experts from descending. This is an act of great righteousness. In my view, we should go and assist them."
The Immortal Emperor Supreme shook his head with a smile. "The Ancestral God went to block the descent of the Heavenly Immortal Realm's powerhouses, which offers us the perfect chance to sit atop the mountain and watch the tigers fight."
At these words, Creation, Yaoluo, and the other eight Wonders frowned in displeasure.
Seeing their reaction, the Immortal Emperor smiled and said, "You misunderstand. The only reason the Ancestral God went to stop them is his own craving for power; he fears their arrival will shake his rule. Once he and their experts have inflicted mutual destruction, we will naturally intervene—taking out the Ancestral God on one side and confronting the Heavenly Immortal Realm's experts on the other. Wouldn't that serve both ends?"
He knew Creation Supreme and the others were leaders of the righteous army back then. They had rebelled for the sake of the realm's common folk, and though they later fought over power and fell into factional strife, their original boldness still remained.
If the Immortal Emperor turned a blind eye to the invasion from the Heavenly Immortal Realm and instead struck ruthlessly against the Ancestral God, Creation Supreme and the others would likely turn against him.
The conflict among the Six Supremes and Twelve Wonders was merely internal strife; they could fight one another to the death, but when facing foreign invaders or the old relics of the Ancestral Court, they would still present a united front.
"To resist foreign aggression, we must first secure the interior. If the interior remains unsettled, then while we confront the Heavenly Immortal Realm, the Holy Venerable, Xu Ying, and the rest will stab us in the back, leaving us attacked from both sides," the Immortal Emperor explained, choosing his words carefully. "Senior Uncles, this matter is of paramount importance; we cannot be careless."
The expressions on Creation, Yaoluo, and the others softened slightly.
Fairy Huoling spoke with stern gravity: "Your Majesty, you are the Immortal Emperor, and you hold a seat among the Six Supremes and Twelve Wonders in place of your master, Qingxuan. You must never bring shame upon the Six Supremes and Twelve Wonders! It is one thing if we do not aid the Ancestral God while he fights to the death on the front lines, but we absolutely cannot hold him back!"
The Immortal Emperor bowed. "Martial Aunt Huoling's admonition is well taken."
Only then did Fairy Huoling smile. "We watched you grow up. Employing a few schemes is harmless enough, but principle and righteousness must never be abandoned."
The Immortal Emperor agreed once more.
Creation Supreme said, "Your Majesty, when we rose in revolt to overthrow the ancient era, we stood upon righteousness, and thus we won the world. Today, the Ancestral God stands upon righteousness; we must by no means become sinners."
The Immortal Emperor nodded repeatedly. "Shanming has taken all of your teachings to heart, Senior Uncles."
Creation Supreme smiled. "Your Majesty's readiness to accept counsel and humble open-mindedness befit an Immortal Emperor. As for the Holy Venerable and Xu Ying, there is no need for Your Majesty to fret. I have long studied the Holy Venerable thoroughly. Though he is an unmatched genius, he lacks the magnanimity to tolerate others, unable to endure anyone surpassing him. If anyone exceeds him, he will surely strike against them, determined to eliminate the threat. Yet if you fall far short of him, he can actually tolerate you; even if you go a bit too far, he will not take offense. A man like him could never bear to see Xu Ying achieve greater accomplishments than his own in the future."
The Immortal Emperor's expression shifted slightly. "What does Martial Uncle mean?"
Creation Supreme said, "The Holy Venerable, Yuan Yu, will definitely sever his own cultivation to cultivate the New Dao anew. This is the prime opportunity to slay him! If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may visit Great Luo Heaven. At this moment, Great Luo Heaven is bound to be empty; the Holy Venerable will not be there."
Yaoluo's thoughts stirred, and he said, "Given his temperament, had he not severed his cultivation, he would certainly be sitting in Great Luo Heaven, waiting for us to ascend so he could defeat us all and heap humiliation upon us! If he is not in Great Luo Heaven, then it is truly possible he has severed his cultivation."
Hearing this, the Immortal Emperor Supreme prepared to head for Great Luo Heaven to verify it, but suddenly paused and said with a smile, "May I ask the senior uncles to accompany me?"
The group set out together, ascending to Great Luo Heaven above the nine heavens. Upon arriving, they found the Holy Venerable's Great Luo Heaven in shambles, entirely untended.
Standing upon the ruins of Great Luo Heaven, the corner of the Immortal Emperor's mouth twitched into a smile. In a solemn voice, he said, "Senior Uncles, we shall split into two groups—one to kill Xu Ying, and the other to kill the Holy Venerable!"
Creation Supreme smiled. "I shall accompany His Majesty to slay the Holy Venerable. Who else will come?"
Fairy Huoling, Dao Lord Yuanying, Dan Xuanzi, and Patriarch Boshan stepped forward.
Dao Lord Jiugong and Daoist Taiyuan were utterly terrified of the Holy Venerable; as his former direct subordinates who had only defected to the Immortal Emperor out of necessity, they dared not join the hunt for him. They hastily said, "We will go hunt down Xu Ying."
Yaoluo Supreme said, "Dongshi, Luofu, and I will also pursue Xu Ying."
The Immortal Emperor nodded gently. "Thank you, everyone. Leave none alive."
The factions drifted off in their respective directions.
The Heavenly Frost World had originally been one of the myriad worlds, but having returned to the Earth Immortal Realm, it was now part of it. In the past, it was a harsh and bitter realm where frost and snow were common in spring, autumn, and winter, making crops hard to harvest.
Yet ever since returning to the Earth Immortal Realm, it had gradually become a place of picturesque mountains and rivers, rich with blessed lands, immortal peaks, and spiritual springs nurturing the region.
On this day, while the Holy Venerable was cultivating in seclusion, a woman's voice suddenly drifted from afar, chuckling, "Holy Venerable Yuan Yu, others may not know your origins, but you cannot hide them from me. You hail from Jingmi Town in the Heavenly Frost World. Severing your cultivation to practice the New Dao, you were bound to return to your homeland. As an old friend, aren't you going to come out and greet me?"
The voice approached with fierce momentum, accompanied by a terrifying wave of divine consciousness that swiftly swept across the Heavenly Frost World and pinpointed the Holy Venerable's seclusion grounds directly.
The Holy Venerable's expression shifted slightly, and he moved to rise.
Just then, Lou Mingyu placed a hand on his shoulder. "Master, I am your Dao protector."
The Holy Venerable shook his head. "This person is Fairy Huoling, ranked ninth among the Twelve Wonders. You are no match for her."
"Not necessarily," Lou Mingyu said, walking outside at a leisurely pace. "Master, once the New Dao emerged, those toys you practiced back then truly became mere playthings!"
The Holy Venerable snorted, somewhat displeased, thinking to himself, *The New Dao may be formidable, but the Great Luo Wondrous Realm of the Old Dao is still an apex existence. Let him suffer a setback first; I will use my Dao body's sacred weapon to save him in a moment.*
In the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court, a wisp of incense smoke drifted into the grounds. Catching the scent of incense, the Earth God opened the portal to the Ancestral Court and asked, "Who comes seeking an audience with the Ancestral God? The Ancestral God is not here..."
Before he could finish, a hand reached in from outside, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up.
The head of Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan poked into the Ancestral Court, peering in every direction. He strode inside and laughed, "Earth God, Xu Ying is hiding here, isn't he? Xu Ying! Xu Ying!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, "I saw you arrive here on the golden ship! Come out quickly, someone sent me to deal with you!"
Xu Ying was still cultivating and moved to stand, but Yuan Weiyang stopped him, saying, "Your cultivation is what matters most. Let me handle such a trivial matter."
Xu Ying assented, adding, "The Evil Golden Immortal's strength is not to be underestimated. Be careful."
Yuan Weiyang nodded and went out to meet the Evil Golden Immortal, speaking in a frail, delicate manner: "Evil Golden Immortal, you are being used. The person who sent you here did not know the depth of Xu Ying's abilities, so they dispatched you to test the waters. If you leave now, I will not detain you."
The Evil Golden Immortal tossed the Earth God aside and pounced forward, sneering, "Little lady, Xu Ying incited Daoist Wukong to beat me, stole my Great Luo Heaven, and humiliated me time and again. This enmity is irreconcilable!"
Helpless, Yuan Weiyang mobilized her full cultivation. A bodhimanda arose beneath her feet as she brought forth six Great Daos—Taiyi, Taiji, Wuji, Taicang, Taiying, and Taishang—giving her absolute all.
Taking the very first move, the Evil Golden Immortal groaned, green blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
With the second move, his newly formed bodhimanda was shattered. With the third, Yuan Weiyang breached his Great Luo bodhimanda and cleaved down the Dao fruit upon his Dao tree.
In the blink of an eye, six moves had passed. Yuan Weiyang stepped out from the Evil Golden Immortal's shattered bodhimanda and said, "Using six Great Daos, I have left six Dao injuries upon you. Carry these Dao injuries back to the person who instigated you. When they see the marks upon your body, they will know whether they possess the skill to get past me."
Chapter 652