Harvesting the Heavenly Immortal Realm

In the other shore, ancient, powerful consciousnesses awoke one after another. "Yinyuanzi, what happened to leave you in such a wretched state?" a grand divine consciousness chuckled. Looking ashamed, Yinyuanzi replied, "The Heavenly Immortal Realm has spiraled out of control. Harvesting it ahead of time will at least net us some interest before complications arise. As for the reasons, I will explain them to you all once the harvest is done." Grand divine consciousnesses locked onto the position of the Heavenly Immortal Realm in the Three Realms across the myriad universes of the Chaos Sea, perceiving every cave abyss connected to them. The harvest had finally begun. In the Heavenly Immortal Realm, Xu Ying did not hesitate. He summoned the Zhuxian broken sword and slashed through the dragon race's Supreme cave abysses one after another, severing the connections between those cave abysses and the dragon experts. Immediately pivoting, he charged toward the outlanders! Emperor Mingdao soared into the air as well, barking out orders: "All dragons, heed Imperial command! Sever the cave abysses you have summoned!" Some dragons obeyed his command and willingly cut off their cave abysses. Others turned a deaf ear, even turning to attack him instead. Emperor Mingdao activated his divine abilities and deployed the Dragon Court Imperial Capital. Immortal palaces, halls, and bridges flew out to suppress them. As he cleaved down their cave abysses, he called out loudly, "Dao Ancestor Xu, kill the outlanders first! You don't need to meddle with the rest!" Hearing this, Xu Ying focused his mind and charged at the outlanders. Over a dozen outlanders remained among Yinyuanzi's disciples. Seeing Xu Ying approach with such terrifying fury—slaying a senior brother in just a few sword strokes—they scattered in panic. Seeing Emperor Mingdao and Xu Ying sever cave abyss after cave abyss in mere moments, the Far Ancestor and Zulong came to their senses as well. Suppressing their injuries, they took to the sky and pursued the dragons, helping Emperor Mingdao cut down their cave abysses. To evade Xu Ying, the outlanders fled from the Netherworld back to the world of the living one after another. When Xu Ying fought his way back into the living realm, he saw that Emperor Mingdao had also returned to the Heavenly Immortal Realm. A resonant dragon roar echoed through the clouds, spreading in every direction. "All dragon people, hear my command! I am Dragon Emperor Mingdao! The situation is dire! Sever the cave abysses you summoned at once!" His divine consciousness surged, rippling toward even more distant reaches! "True Kings of the other shore are about to invade through the cave abysses to harvest your lives! Quickly sever the cave abysses you have summoned!" He shouted repeatedly, carrying his voice into every corner of the Heavenly Immortal Realm. On this day, catastrophe had struck the Heavenly Immortal Realm in rapid succession. First came the violent upheaval of the Heavenly Dao, as a foreign Heavenly Dao revived, interfering with all Dao methods and cultivation. Many dragons situated where the two Heavenly Daos clashed had been warped into bizarre creatures by the conflicting Daos. Next came the ambush against Immortal True King Yinyuanzi by Xu Ying, the Far Ancestor, the Ancestral God, and the others, who had dragged the entire Imperial Capital of the Immortal Court into the Netherworld, causing an immense shockwave. And now, Emperor Mingdao was transmitting his voice to all dragons, telling them to cut down the cave abysses they had summoned and warning that the other shore was about to harvest them, leaving them utterly bewildered. Even so, most dragon immortals held profound reverence for Emperor Mingdao. After all, this dragon emperor had saved the world from peril, led the dragon race out of the threat of extinction, found the other shore, and brought back its holy arts. He was the dragon race's sovereign of revival, its living symbol. Many obeyed his command, severing the cave abysses they had summoned. Yet many others hesitated. A cave abyss was, after all, a sacred ground for cultivation; if they cut it off, wouldn't that sabotage their own progress? Right then, True King Cangzhu's voice rang out: "Emperor Mingdao has betrayed the dragon race and murdered Immortal True King Yinyuanzi of the other shore! All dragon subjects are forbidden to obey Mingdao's orders!" His voice was likewise cast across the Heavenly Immortal Realm via divine consciousness, causing many dragons who had already been hesitating to stop. Furious, Emperor Mingdao immediately began searching for True King Cangzhu while continuing to transmit warnings to his people, exhorting them to sever their cave abysses immediately. Xu Ying, the Far Ancestor, and the Ancestral God took flight to cut down the cave abysses for the dragons. Many dragon experts were unwilling to sever their own cave abysses and fought back against them. The Far Ancestor and Ancestral God were already gravely wounded; forcing themselves to help sever the abysses, they were injured further by the very dragons they tried to save. Meanwhile, as Xu Ying pursued the outlanders, he too was obstructed by numerous dragon experts. Rescuing people in this manner could save only a tiny fraction; true salvation still depended on whether they would save themselves. Emperor Mingdao tracked down True King Cangzhu, and after barely exchanging a word, battle erupted between them. True King Cangzhu had previously been severely injured by Xu Ying and Lu Yiren. Facing Emperor Mingdao's assault, he was soon in dire straits. He barked, "Mingdao, you brat, you're driving our dragon race down a dead end! Defying the immortals of the other shore will bring about our extinction in no time!" Emperor Mingdao roared in fury, "Yinyuanzi has already been slain, and you're still daydreaming! If we don't abandon the cave abysses now, every single dragon will be harvested by the other shore!" True King Cangzhu sneered, "A harvest from the other shore? If anyone gets harvested, it will be disloyal, treacherous scoundrels like you, not upstanding citizens like us! The True Kings of the other shore know of our loyalty. They won't harvest us—they'll only cleanse every last one of you rebels!" Emperor Mingdao shouted, "True King, the cave abysses are the passages connecting the two shores! The True Kings of the other shore rely on them to descend! Destroy them quickly and we can still be saved! Without the cave abysses, they won't be able to come!" Due to his injuries, True King Cangzhu was outmatched and was quickly suppressed. He chuckled, "Mingdao, one must always prepare for both contingencies. You play the rebel, and I'll stay loyal to the other shore. We each take a path, and that way, at least a portion of our clan will survive, won't they?" Hearing this, Emperor Mingdao hesitated slightly. He and True King Cangzhu could hardly be called enemies; if anything, their bond leaned more toward friendship. True King Cangzhu was of his generation. After reaching the other shore, Cangzhu had been awed by its prosperity and flourishing splendor, telling Mingdao that they had to absorb everything the other shore had to offer and bring that knowledge back to the Three Realms. They had competed with each other, studying the other shore's lore with desperate fervor and sparring frequently with wins and losses on both sides. Once their studies bore fruit, they returned to the Heavenly Immortal Realm. At that time, the Heavenly Immortal Realm possessed nothing—only a million years of falling Dao ash snow, waiting for everything to be rebuilt. The new Dragon Heavenly Court needed to choose an Immortal Emperor, putting the two into competition. In the end, because Mingdao was the son of Emperor Ming Xun, he became the Dragon Immortal Emperor. Yet among their clansmen back then, supporters of Cangzhu were by no means few. Had Cangzhu refused to acknowledge him as Dragon Emperor, civil war would inevitably have erupted among the dragons. To avoid splitting the dragon race, Cangzhu willingly submitted as a subject, defusing a civil war before it could start. Later, Cangzhu reached the Indestructible realm ahead of him, leading many to believe that Cangzhu was better suited for the throne. Cangzhu, however, did not seize the opportunity to force Emperor Mingdao to abdicate, but continued to honor him as sovereign. Later still, Mingdao also attained immortality. When faced with the formidable enemy Lu Yiren, it was Cangzhu who joined hands with him to defeat Lu Yiren. There had long been a tacit understanding between the two. They often said that one should play the bad cop and the other the good cop—or prepare two courses of action: one surrenders while the other resists, either way prolonging the dragon race's survival. Through all of this, what Cangzhu was doing now was precisely what they had always done: one dark, one light; one yielding, one rebelling. In the past, whenever they faced any crisis or peril, they had preserved the dragon race using this very method. "Brother Cangzhu, this time is different," Emperor Mingdao urged earnestly as he parried Cangzhu's offensive. "The Far Ancestor and the others have found new dragon patterns that can counter entombment! The other shore will never tolerate such a thing—they will purge us without fail! Playing one black and one white will not work anymore!" Though suppressed, True King Cangzhu smiled. "Even so, the other shore has two choices: eliminate you, or eliminate every dragon! I choose the first option—it can still spare the lives of a portion of our clan!" Emperor Mingdao flew into a rage. "If we sever every cave abyss and cut off all ties to the other shore, we can protect ourselves! Today, we don't need good cops and bad cops! Just listen to me this once!" On another front, Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng, Yuan Bugui, Meng Santong, and others noticed the clash between Emperor Mingdao and True King Cangzhu. Hearing the voice transmissions of the two Indestructible experts, they fell into indecision. "Prime Minister, should we sever our cave abysses?" Yuan Bugui asked. "His Majesty said the situation is critical. If we don't cut off our cave abysses, the other shore may exploit them. We must decide quickly!" Yuan Heng hesitated. "Severing our own cave abysses incurs an immense loss. If we all sever them, how will we resist foreign enemies?" His gaze swept toward Xu Ying, who was flying about cutting down outlanders, and then toward the Far Ancestor and the Ancestral God. He said, "This matter requires careful, long-term consideration. It would be better to step in first and persuade His Majesty and the True King to call a truce. Then we can convene an elder assembly of the dragon clan and put it to a vote—" Before he could finish, within the Dao Realm of a dragon elder who had not severed his cave abyss, the ancient god Primordial Spirit the elder had painstakingly cultivated suddenly stepped forward, and with a sickening crunch, crushed the elder's skull! Without even knowing what had happened, that elder perished, his Dao extinguished. His entire cultivation dissolved into rolling, surging true qi, and his painstakingly tempered Great Dao became the possession of another. That ancient god Primordial Spirit walked out of his eight-layered Dao Realm, claiming even the Dao Realm the elder had diligently cultivated as its own! As for the cave abyss, it hung high behind the ancient god Primordial Spirit's head. Twisting its head, it swept its gaze around, then abruptly leapt into the air and charged toward a dragon who cultivated the same cultivation technique! That dragon expert possessed formidable skills, yet his cultivation technique belonged to another. Although he had severed his cave abyss, his body was rife with flaws, and he was slain in a single exchange by the ancient god Primordial Spirit. Dying would have been terrible enough, but the worst of it was that his physical body and primordial spirit exploded, absorbed into the ancient god Primordial Spirit, while his Dao Realm merged into the ancient god Primordial Spirit's Dao Realm to augment the creature's power! Watching this, Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng felt his scalp tingle with horror. Suddenly, in the distance, more Primordial Spirits strode out from the Dao Realms of dragon experts. The physical bodies of those dragon experts burst open one after another, turning into blood mists that melded into the Primordial Spirits... In mere moments, thousands of dragon masters perished, their Dao destroyed, their primordial spirits becoming vessels for the descent of the other shore's immortals! These dragons who served as vessels of descent were, without exception, those who had not severed their cave abysses! As for those who had cut off their cave abysses, they had not been consumed by their ancient god Primordial Spirits. Evidently, the cave abysses were precisely the conduits through which the immortal wills of the other shore descended! Shaking all over, Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng rasped in a hoarse voice, "Everyone, quickly, cut off your cave abysses..." Before he could finish, Yuan Bugui beside him turned pale. Looking back, Yuan Bugui saw his own new ancient god Primordial Spirit stepping out from his Dao Realm. With a roar of rage, Yuan Bugui unleashed a divine ability against the ancient god Primordial Spirit. But the next instant, the Primordial Spirit's palm slipped straight through the flaws in his divine ability and pierced right through his skull. A master of his generation met his end on the spot. Terror seized Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng. Screaming in panic, he leapt into the air, severed his own cave abyss to evade that ancient god Primordial Spirit, and fled frantically. Looking back in haste, he saw the pride of the dragon race's generation—Meng Santong, Ying Wudi, Long Tingyu, Yuhang Wendao, and others. Some were slain out of nowhere by their own ancient god Primordial Spirits; others had severed their cave abysses, only for the Primordial Spirits to bear down upon them and take their lives in two or three moves. Plunged into dread, Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng scurried away in flight. All around him was chaos. One ancient god Primordial Spirit after another broke free from physical control and rampaged through the vicinity. After devouring other cultivators, these mighty Primordial Spirits grew increasingly powerful, towering ever taller. Their burly forms strode between heaven and earth like the most horrific specters, coldly and methodically harvesting the dragon cultivators. Their harvest was strictly ordered; they harvested only the dragons who cultivated their respective techniques. Those who cultivated other people's techniques were left completely untouched. One dragon expert after another detonated with a booming crash, their bodies turning into swirling crimson mists that dissolved into the Primordial Spirits and Dao Realms, swelling their might. Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng heard his own weeping—sobbing and shrill, like a frightened woman's. He desperately wanted to stifle the crying, but he couldn't. He wanted to fight the enemy to the death like those fearless dragon immortals, but he could not control his legs. As if defying his commands, his legs sprinted forward frantically, fleeing to escape this terrifying hell. "Xu Ying! Dao Ancestor Xu!" Catching sight of Xu Ying locked in combat with two outlanders, Yuan Heng pounced toward him as if grasping at a lifeline, crying out: "Xu Ying, Dao Ancestor Xu, please think of something to save my life!" Fighting two on one, Xu Ying held the overwhelming upper hand. With a hiss, his sword pierced an outlander between the brows; in an instant, sword intent of extinction blasted through the man's brain, tearing all consciousness to shreds. Having cleaved the Primordial Spirit and shattered the Dao Realm, Xu Ying was about to press his momentum to slay the other outlander when Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng charged right into him, breaking his lethal combo. His momentum broken, Xu Ying could not follow up. Furious, Xu Ying kicked Yuan Heng flying with a brutal boot, then transformed into a flash of sword light to chase down the fleeing outlander! Kicked into the distance by Xu Ying, Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng tumbled and rolled across a hundred li before finally skidding to a halt. It was as though he had forgotten he was a cultivator, forgotten that he wielded world-shaking great divine abilities and grand arts—he hadn't even managed to block Xu Ying's kick. When he scrambled back to his feet, all he saw were colossal ancient god Primordial Spirits striding through heaven and earth, hunting and slaughtering everywhere. Enormous hands reached out from swirling clouds to snatch dragon immortals attempting to fly away. Around him, cultivators detonated one after another, collapsing into burst after burst of blood mist. "I have to flee! I... I have to survive!" Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng sobbed as he bolted forward. A place occurred to him that might save his life: the "Heaven and Earth Passage" that Chao Yuandao and other dragon elders were trying to forge—the gelatinous passage between the Heavenly Immortal Realm and the Earth Immortal Realm. That passage was not fully open yet, but it was not far from being breached. If he dived inside, he might be able to force it open, enter the Earth Immortal Realm, and save his life! Flying at lightning speed, he tore toward the breach in the Heavenly Immortal Realm with all his might. Along the way, ancient god Primordial Spirits descended unceasingly, butchering dragon cultivators, while more and more dragon cultivators threw themselves at those ancient god Primordial Spirits in a futile attempt to shake the tree like mayflies, striving for a sliver of hope. Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng saw it all. He too had hesitated and wavered, but the instinct to survive overpowered all honor and duty, driving him to keep sprinting blindly. *I must live. I have to live, even if I have to live like a dog.* He finally reached the Heavenly Immortal Realm's breach and caught sight of the Heaven and Earth Passage carved out by his clan's masters. Though it was not yet completely opened, he plunged straight in. As the chaotic, merciless Heavenly Immortal Realm fell away and the Earth Immortal Realm drew nearer, a smile appeared on Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng's face. "I can survive!" he rejoiced. Just then, at the end of the passage, he saw an ancient god Primordial Spirit crush a dragon expert's skull in its grip. The dragon expert's body turned into blood mist, and his attainment and cultivation transformed into the creature's own, merging into its form. "Someone actually delivered himself to my doorstep? And this kid cultivates my exact technique!" Surprise flitted across the ancient god Primordial Spirit's face. Then it broke into a stride, charging straight at him. Horrified, Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng slammed to a halt and wheeled around to flee upward. In his panic and confusion, a momentary lapse sent him bursting out of the passage and into the gelatinous zone. *Pop!* A soft chime sounded. Like a mosquito flying into wet amber, Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng was encased in the gel. He struggled desperately, yet felt the surrounding gel grow ever thicker, ever heavier. Struggling to turn his head, he saw the smiling face of that ancient god Primordial Spirit looming ever closer. Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng's physical body popped and burst. The Great Dao he had spent his entire life cultivating suddenly became the other's Dao, torn violently from his flesh! *Bang!* His body exploded into a cloud of blood mist. His primordial spirit flew out involuntarily and was swallowed whole as the ancient god Primordial Spirit opened its jaws. The consciousness of Heavenly Prime Minister Yuan Heng fell completely into pitch-black oblivion.