The Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron had been forged by Dao Lord Luofu after he killed the Last Lord of Ziwei, extracted and refined from the Last Lord's cultivation base.
Originally, the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron had four legs. However, back when Dao Lord Luofu was injured, he had been besieged in the Ancestral Court by the Last Lord of Ziwei and others, resulting in one of the cauldron's legs being severed by the Glazed Lamp.
The magic power within that cauldron leg had been reclaimed by the Last Lord of Ziwei, greatly reducing the cauldron's might compared to its past peak.
Even so, this treasure's might remained extraordinary.
As the cauldron was unleashed, purple qi cascaded down and bolstered Dao Lord Luofu, causing his magic power to surge continuously until it more than doubled!
Dao Lord Luofu strode forward in a single step, appearing right before Xu Ying. He swung his palm in an attack toward Xu Ying, and with a twitch of his palm, a divine power formed at blinding speed within his hand, sharp as a blade!
Xu Ying raised a hand to meet it. One wielded minor divine powers while the other relied on the martial Dao; at the instant of collision, all physical force and Dao methods annihilated each other within that brief contact!
Xu Ying felt that his opponent's palm force was terrifyingly powerful, forcing him back a step. Dao Lord Luofu pressed forward with large strides, his fingers and palms shifting like a thousand-armed god or fiend as he attacked, engaging him in close-quarters combat!
Before Xu Ying's eyes, all manner of minor divine powers erupted from Dao Lord Luofu's fingertips, knuckles, palm strikes, sleeves, mouth, eyes, and even nostrils—incredibly succinct and incomparably swift!
In an instant, Dao Lord Luofu's attacks came crashing like a torrential squall, threatening to drown him completely.
"This method of combat... is the way of the martial Dao..."
Xu Ying was astonished. Jolted backward repeatedly, a sudden wave of inexplicable exhilaration surged through him. The ultimate intent of the martial Dao erupted from his martial Dao cave abyss. In an instant, with Xu Ying as the focal point, countless figures of Xu Ying seemed to split off, meeting every single attack from Dao Lord Luofu!
Both met speed with speed, moving faster and faster as they fought their way higher into the air.
Suddenly, Dao Lord Luofu snorted. Two beams of white light shot from his nostrils, like flying swords slashing at Xu Ying's primordial spirit, while golden light beamed from his eyes, crossing to shear across Xu Ying's neck!
Caught off guard, Xu Ying was struck by the two flying swords and sent flying backward. The two beams of golden light swirled around his neck with sharp whistling sounds, like rapidly spinning hoops.
As he flew backward, Xu Ying flicked the five fingers of his right hand in rapid succession, turning them into five Immortal-Slaying Fingers that thrust toward Dao Lord Luofu.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!*
A series of crisp rings echoed out as streams of purple qi cascaded from the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron, blocking his five Immortal-Slaying Fingers. The purple qi manifested in the shape of a massive three-legged cauldron, its surface rippling with the structures of various immortal Dao runes as a grand, echoing resonance rang out.
"Emperor Haocang was truly extraordinary in his lifetime!"
Xu Ying could not help praising with a laugh. "Even after his cultivation was eroded by the Dao weeping and then battered by Qingxuan, the Holy Venerable, and the rest of the Six Supremes and Twelve Wondrous, he still possessed such immense magic power. No wonder he was hailed as foremost since ancient times!"
Resentment flared in Dao Lord Luofu's heart as he gave chase. Yet he knew Xu Ying spoke the truth—when Emperor Haocang fought the Six Supremes and Twelve Wondrous back then, he truly had not been at his peak.
When the Dao weeping erupted, Emperor Haocang used his physical body to block the Haocang cave abyss, suffering the assault of the cave abyss's Dao weeping. As a result, his own Great Dao had remained constantly in a state of Zangification, burdened by lingering injuries and ailments.
After Emperor Haocang was defeated by Qingxuan, the Holy Venerable, and the other members of the Six Supremes and Twelve Wondrous, he was forced to abdicate, taking the title of Last Lord of Ziwei.
By then, his injuries were even more severe, and he had been forced to surrender the Haocang cave abyss. Without a cave abyss to heal his wounds, his cultivation and strength deteriorated day by day.
That was why Dao Lord Luofu had been able to lead his followers into Emperor Haocang's secluded retreat, violate and murder the consorts, imperial concubines, and empress, hound Emperor Haocang to death, extract his cultivation base, and refine the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron.
Thanks to the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron, he was ranked fourth among the Twelve Wondrous.
Had Emperor Haocang been in his prime back then, the Six Supremes and Twelve Wondrous would likely have suffered over half their number dead or wounded before defeating him, and he would never have died humiliated at the hands of Dao Lord Luofu.
Xu Ying shattered the two beams of white light. The two beams of golden light spinning rapidly around his neck also exhausted their power, leaving only a faint white mark on his neck without severing his head.
As Dao Lord Luofu closed in, Xu Ying leaped and vaulted beyond the heavens. Dao Lord Luofu pursued him into the void.
Stabilizing himself, Xu Ying watched as six more great cave abysses emerged behind him one after another, various Dao sceneries drifting faintly within them.
"The Last Lord of Ziwei is still on the emerald rock tiered ship, battling enemies with his life or death unknown. You refined his cultivation base into this cauldron—does that mean he died by your hands?"
Xu Ying's gaze fell upon the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron above Dao Lord Luofu's head. He said, "Do you know that the Last Lord of Ziwei was like half a master to me? If he had not imparted the Taiyi Enlightenment to me, I certainly would not have achieved what I have today."
Dao Lord Luofu slowed his pace, walking over unhurriedly with a sneer. "Taiyi Enlightenment? I have the Taiyi Enlightenment as well, and I have studied the Emerald Rock inscriptions too. Xu Ying, you are not unique!"
He smiled proudly. "Together with eleven supreme experts including Mingzun, Creation, and Yaoluo, I studied the Taiyi Enlightenment and contemplated the Emerald Rock inscriptions. Although it was not for long, our gains were immense. Xu Ying, you want to avenge the Last Lord of Ziwei? Do you have the ability?"
He said coldly, "Back then, Qingxuan was muddleheaded; he spared the Last Lord of Ziwei's life instead of killing him. Knowing that leaving him alive would spell disaster, I led troops into the Last Lord's palace, locking down space with an inescapable net so the rebels and traitors had nowhere to flee. The imperial concubines kept by the Last Lord were each of national beauty and heavenly fragrance, so the brothers following me enjoyed a feast."
Xu Ying's expression shifted slightly. He had never imagined that the Last Lord of Ziwei's final years were so tragic.
Dao Lord Luofu said leisurely, "I also needed those concubines to disturb his Dao heart and plunge his mind into chaos. Killing him was the greatest accomplishment of my life! After slaying him, my brothers left the empress and several princesses for me. They tasted quite delightful."
He glared at Xu Ying and laughed heartily. "Have you ever seen the looks on their faces as they struggled beneath you? Have you ever seen their despair as they stared at the Last Lord's corpse? Once I was satisfied, I bestowed death upon them. Not handing them over to my brothers could be considered merciful of me."
Xu Ying exhaled a breath of turbid air. His expression turned icy as he began circulating his cultivation technique.
The technique he cultivated now was no longer the Taiyi Indestructible Scripture. The Taiyi Indestructible Scripture was founded upon the Taiyi cave abyss and the Great Dao of Taiyi, but he now practiced as many as six Great Daos that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Great Dao of Taiyi.
More importantly, he possessed another Great Dao that, while concealed, had already begun to take shape: the divine Dao of the Dao Ancestor. It was the power of incense offered in reverent homage to the Dao Ancestor by the Qi Refiners and immortals cultivating the New Dao!
The more people cultivated the New Dao, the stronger this incense power became!
This was the divine Dao.
The Taiyi Indestructible Scripture was no longer capable of governing so many Great Daos. Thus, over the past year, Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang had continuously meditated, refined, and revised their methods in an attempt to unify their respective Dao techniques.
The technique Yuan Weiyang originally cultivated was called Yuan Dao Heavens Induction, which was likewise no longer sufficient. Her current cultivation technique was named the Dao Ultimate Mind Scripture.
This technique placed exceptionally high demands on one's disposition and state of mind. Though the Great Daos she and Xu Ying cultivated were similar, the operation of her technique was entirely different—far more intricate and nuanced.
Xu Ying's technique, however, was rooted in the martial Dao, and was thus called the Martial Ultimate Attaining the Dao Scripture.
—Xu Ying had originally planned to name it the Eight Dao Heavenly Cultivation, meaning that he cultivated eight Great Daos and each one was immensely formidable—sky-high formidable—hence Heavenly Cultivation. Moreover, "eight Dao" sounded like "overbearing," which he liked very much.
Yet Yuan Weiyang deemed it too crude, so she changed the name to "Martial Ultimate Attaining the Dao."
This was the first time Xu Ying had ever activated Martial Ultimate Attaining the Dao before another person.
He had originally planned to unleash Martial Ultimate Attaining the Dao only during his showdown against the Immortal Emperor; had Dao Lord Luofu not provoked him with such words, he would not have deployed this technique!
"Originally, I had no intention of killing you," Xu Ying said indifferently.
Within his body, with the martial Dao as the foundation, the other six Great Daos began to circulate, linking with each great cave abyss and binding person, spirit, cave abysses, and Great Daos into an undivided whole!
The martial Dao played a crucial role—the martial Dao was the fountainhead of all Dao methods. Daos such as Taiyi, Wuji, and Taiji poured into the martial Dao, blending all his various Great Daos into seamless unity!
Dao Lord Luofu's heart skipped a beat, sensing that Xu Ying was different now.
"No matter how formidable your technique is, you can never be my match!"
He spurred the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron and charged forward. With a shift of his body, he appeared to possess a thousand arms and hands, unleashing all sorts of minor divine powers as he once again engaged Xu Ying in close combat!
Xu Ying met him head-on. The ultimate intent of the martial Dao erupted, and in an instant, his figures were everywhere, charging boldly against Dao Lord Luofu's minor divine powers with unstoppable force. He crushed those myriad minor divine powers entirely through sheer might, displaying the overwhelming stance of shattering ten thousand methods with pure strength!
*Bang, bang, bang, bang!*
A dense barrage of explosive blasts resounded. Xu Ying had already closed in before Dao Lord Luofu and thrust out a fist. His seven great cave abysses revolved, focusing boundlessly majestic Dao power onto his fist!
*Clang!*
The Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron erupted with a deafening crash. The purple qi draped from the great cauldron formed an immensely thick barrier, immortal Dao runes cascading across it like a waterfall.
Yet in the next instant, the barrier was blasted through by Xu Ying's single punch!
Seeing the sinister momentum of the incoming fist, Dao Lord Luofu dared not take it head-on. He flipped backward violently, head down and feet up, thrusting both palms forward—unleashing a grand divine power!
Minor divine powers were no longer sufficient against Xu Ying's martial Dao divine powers, incapable of even scratching him, forcing him to employ a grand divine power.
This divine power was called "Swallow Does Not Return." Though it possessed no extraordinary subtlety, it integrated the Great Dao he cultivated, combined with the boundless magic power of the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron, making its might immense!
In the Daming Palace of the Holy Venerable's Great Luo Heaven, he had used this very move against the forest of Dao trees.
*Boom!*
Fist met palms. Behind Xu Ying, the seven great cave abysses surged to their absolute peak in an instant, while the aura of incense diffused to reinforce this strike!
Dao Lord Luofu grunted, his blood and vital qi roiling. He felt an incomparably pure force travel up both his arms; the sixty-four arm bones within them actually crackled violently and fractured with lines of cracks!
The two parted the instant they clashed. Xu Ying was also thrown back by the immense magic power, but he charged forward again immediately, punching right through the defense of the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron with another resounding clang and striking straight toward him.
Dao Lord Luofu braced himself to block this blow, but his arm suddenly exploded with a sharp snap, countless bone fragments piercing through his flesh and skin to shoot outward in every direction.
Xu Ying spun and whipped a kick across his face. Dao Lord Luofu spun through the air like a top with a whistling rush, filled with terror.
Xu Ying pursued him. Shifting his form, the ultimate intent of the martial Dao manifested once more. In an instant, countless figures seemed to dart forward, each striking Dao Lord Luofu from a different angle!
Crackling snaps resounded continuously as the bones throughout Dao Lord Luofu's entire body were shattered one by one!
Dao Lord Luofu spurred the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron. The massive cauldron hurtled toward Xu Ying as the boundless purple qi of an ancient emperor filled the starry sky. Everywhere it passed, the celestial void shattered and collapsed, falling into the cauldron to fuel its might!
The purple qi inside the cauldron formed a colossal vortex that swallowed the stars, disintegrating them within the purple mist.
Even before the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron drew near, the region of space where Xu Ying stood had completely collapsed. The Great Dao ceased to exist, leaving nowhere to hide and no way to evade.
Xu Ying stamped his foot. The Taiyi Golden Bridge manifested, spanning the starry sky and erecting a bridge across the Dao-less void. Xu Ying raced along the bridge, but the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron was already bearing down on him, expanding until it filled his entire vision, completely blotting out everything ahead.
Xu Ying roared. Pushing Martial Ultimate Attaining the Dao to its utmost limit, the realms within his body—Qi Gathering, Hidden Scenery, Golden Core, Cave Abyss, and the rest—connected into one seamless flow. He rallied all his magic power, and even the seven great cave abysses behind him blazed with brilliant light, pouring out continuous waves of Dao power like an endless tide!
Xu Ying thrust both palms forward to meet the oncoming cauldron!
*Clang!*
Xu Ying's clothes fluttered wildly and his aura surged violently. Beneath the bridge, the two polarities of Taiji collapsed and dissolved, and the dual qi of black and yellow turned into a ceaselessly rushing torrent, no longer retaining the semblance of the Taiji Diagram!
Above his head, Wuji spun, madly bolstering his physical body and acting upon the black and yellow qi in an attempt to stabilize the situation!
Xu Ying was pushed steadily backward by the terrifying force of the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Cauldron, and the golden bridge beneath his feet crumbled and collapsed continuously under its crushing weight.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. The Dao sceneries within his seven great cave abysses pushed their Dao power near the absolute brink. The immense pressure exerted by the Demon-Subduing Cauldron even gave him a fleeting glimpse of the portal to the next realm!
The Supreme realm!
Yet in the next instant, the sensation dissolved, and the portal to the Supreme realm vanished from view.
He had blocked every bit of the Demon-Subduing Cauldron's power.
With a thunderous shout, Xu Ying's fists flew and his legs swept out. In an instant, countless shadows of punches and kicks rained upon the Demon-Subduing Cauldron, hammering the massive cauldron back toward Dao Lord Luofu at a speed even greater than when it had come!
Dao Lord Luofu summoned his Dao tree and Dao fruit, madly driving his magic power. Dao flowers even detached from the Dao tree, transforming into pure Dao power that flooded into the cauldron!
"Luotian bodhimanda!"
He roared fiercely. His Dao fruit spun, instantly forming an incomparably pure world of the Great Dao that reinforced the crashing Demon-Subduing Cauldron.
With a colossal boom, the Demon-Subduing Cauldron smashed straight through his Luotian bodhimanda, rocking his Dao fruit precariously, twisting the Great Dao within the bodhimanda, and blowing the canopy of his Dao tree backward!
With every bone in his body broken, Dao Lord Luofu summoned his primordial spirit before him, pressing both hands against the oncoming cauldron.
"Earth Immortal Seal!"
Xu Ying overturned his palm and stamped down a seal, as if the Earth Immortal Realm itself slammed violently into the cauldron wall, caving the massive cauldron inward.
On the opposite side of the cauldron, Dao Lord Luofu's primordial spirit could not hold its footing and crashed back into his physical body, sliding backward under the crushing, turbulent force!
"Mortal Realm Seal!"
Xu Ying unleashed another seal against the Demon-Subduing Cauldron. Dao Lord Luofu's primordial spirit cracked from the shock, his divine sense scattering.
Right at that moment, hearty laughter rang out: "Fear not, Dao Lord Luofu! The Five Supremes and Twelve Wondrous always provide help in dire need—I have come to aid you in subduing Xu Ying!"
Joy surged in Dao Lord Luofu's heart. *It is that old bastard Dongshi! He must have been drawn by the commotion of my battle with Xu Ying, rushed over, and hidden nearby!*
Among the Five Supremes and Twelve Wondrous, there was indeed an unspoken practice of providing help in dire need. Back then, when the Immortal Emperor had been beaten half to death by Xu Ying and was on the verge of being slain, Creation, Luofu, and the others had stepped forward to rescue him.
Even Creation Supreme had once received such timely aid.
Mister Dongshi rushed forward with a smile, but just as he arrived, he saw Xu Ying's third seal, the Heavenly Immortal Seal, already crashing upon the Demon-Subduing Cauldron. He called out with a smile, "Hold on, Dao Lord Luofu!"
*Boom!*
Dao Lord Luofu's primordial spirit and physical body exploded together, splashing gore and bone fragments across the Demon-Subduing Cauldron!
Lifting the cauldron with both hands, muscles bulging across his entire body, Xu Ying slammed the Demon-Subduing Cauldron downward upside down. His expression was ferocious and savage as he spurred the cauldron's power, sweeping outward in a roaring vortex to pull every fragment of Dao Lord Luofu and his Luotian bodhimanda into the cauldron!
Xu Ying's seven great cave abysses spun furiously as the purple qi inside the cauldron raged, grinding everything within into dust!
Mister Dongshi's heart lurched. He spun around and fled immediately, panicked: *Crap! A step too late to provide help in dire need! This kid strikes too fast!*
Chapter 657