The Heavenly Court Cult

Prodigies from the Ancient Era! Immortal Ying Tian had been jealous of their talent! Lord Mi was thoroughly shaken by these two bombshell revelations. With the arrival of the Golden Age, many ancient powerhouses had been awakening. Some hailed from the Dayu Era, while others came from the Daqian Era. These figures began at late Body Integration at the very least, possessing terrifyingly solid foundations and every qualification to step onto the grand stage of the Golden Age to vie for the opportunity of immortality. Yet he had never heard of any cultivators awakening from the Ancient Era. Still, their cultivation stages and combat prowess were impossible to fake. Fighting above their realm from the Golden Core stage against a Nascent Soul stage cultivator was a feat achieved by only a handful of geniuses throughout history, each worthy of having their name immortalized. Judging from their tone, they did not even place the Five Great Immortal Sects or the Great Xia Dynasty in their eyes. And that tone did not sound feigned in the slightest. Was it real or fake? The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became. If true, it was simply mind-boggling—definitely not something a minor Nascent Soul stage cultivator like him could meddle in. Wait, Lord Mi realized something was amiss. The sword qi from before might not have been unleashed by them at all; they were very likely using sword qi talismans left behind by their elders. "Playing mystifying tricks!" Believing he had seen through their bluff, black qi welled from Lord Mi's chest. A cleaver ghost emerged and fused into his body. Lord Mi's aura underwent a dramatic shift. Gripping a bone-cleaving blade like a ghost general, he moved to sweep up all four youngsters in a single net, showing them that he was not someone so easily deceived. This was an extremely obscure cultivation method known as the Five Viscera Ghost-Driving Art. It utilized the shrines of the five viscera to nourish five ghosts. In battle, these five ghosts could possess him or be commanded by him, allowing for both close-quarters and ranged combat. Behind Lu Yang, one of the youths narrowed his eyes and boldly stepped forward, unleashing his full power. He blazed like a radiant sun, subduing all demons, monsters, and wicked entities. *Bang!* The two forces collided with a massive roar, shaking the very earth beneath them. "Long Jingzhou, I leave him to you." Meng Jingzhou burst into booming laughter, looking down disdainfully at Lord Mi. "A bunch of cultists who don't even know the true origins of the Nine Nether dare raise a hand against me?" Raging flames flared across Meng Jingzhou, boiling the surrounding air as if a great sun had risen from the earth. The ghost possessing Lord Mi let out a shrill shriek as its body began to melt away. This was the Pure Yang True Fire granted to every possessor of the Bachelor Spiritual Root—purely unyielding and purely yang, the ultimate bane of all ghosts and fiends. Young Master Qin took one look at the Pure Yang True Fire and felt a searing burn in his eyes, having to muster all his cultivation just to suppress the agony. Anyone fighting Lord Mi for the first time would be unused to this ghost-driving style and end up at a severe disadvantage. Unfortunately for him, he had crossed paths with Meng Jingzhou, a cultivator bold enough to form two Bachelor Golden Cores. Meng Jingzhou's Pure Yang True Fire was the strongest among all possessors of the Bachelor Spiritual Root throughout history. Though Lord Mi remained shrouded in ghost qi, appearing terrifying on the surface, it was actually a sign of his ghost qi hemorrhaging uncontrollably. He had already fallen into a complete disadvantage. Meng Jingzhou's iron fists slammed into the flat of the blade, leaving countless fist imprints across its surface. "Enough," Lu Yang said calmly. Meng Jingzhou tactfully stepped back, sparing Lord Mi's life. His soul thoroughly rattled, Lord Mi hurriedly recalled the cleaver ghost back into his heart to nurse its wounds. In the short term, the cleaver ghost would not be able to fight again. This time, Lord Mi was certain: the youth before him was truly an unmatched prodigy. At the early Golden Core stage, he had forced an early Nascent Soul cultivator like himself onto the back foot. Even though Lord Mi had not exhausted all his trump cards, had the boy truly exerted his full strength either? Looking at how relaxed the youth appeared, it was as if he had not engaged in battle at all. Whether this boy could incite jealousy in Immortal Ying Tian, Lord Mi did not know, but he was certain that even in this current era brimming with geniuses, one could not count ten people with such monstrous talent! "Lord Mi, in truth, we are not enemies. While the Five Great Immortal Sects and the Great Xia Dynasty are indeed vulnerable, the members of our Heavenly Court Cult have not fully awakened, and we are not yet ready to take them on completely!" "Moreover, we share an irreconcilable blood feud with the Dao Seeking Sect!" "The Dao Seeking Sect single-handedly destroyed the Immortal Cult and cut short the chance of the Immortal's revival. The Immortal was our ancient Heavenly Court's Dao Protector, holding immense significance for us!" A deep hatred and murderous intent toward the Dao Seeking Sect spilled from Lu Yang's eyes. "The Heavenly Court?" Lord Mi wore a baffled expression. The youth had been talking about this Heavenly Court from the very start. What was the Heavenly Court? Why had he never heard of it before? Lu Yang explained patiently, "The Heavenly Court was the supreme ruler of the Ancient Era. The myriad stars and all of nature fell within its jurisdiction." "In the era before Immortal Ying Tian and the others rose to power, all living beings revered the Heavenly Court above all else. Regrettably, as Ying Tian and his cohort rose, the Heavenly Court lost its dominance and gradually declined." "The Heavenly Court worshipped the Supreme Grand Heavenly Venerable—Dou Tianzun! Before the Supreme Grand Heavenly Venerable, the radiant stars were no more than insignificant yellow beans, completely negligible." "Dou Tianzun was the very first in this world to achieve immortality! Yet that detestable Immortal Jiuchong, in order to conceal the existence of the Heavenly Court, stole Dou Tianzun's glory and proclaimed himself the first immortal!" Lord Mi was utterly astounded. He had never even heard of Immortal Jiuchong, let alone known that Jiuchong was supposedly the first to attain immortality. From Lu Yang's brief words, he could already sense how brutal the ancient struggles must have been. The Ancient Era had surely been rife with intrigue and deception, sparing not even the immortals! "We are all members of the Heavenly Court. Having awakened from our slumber, we established the Heavenly Court Cult, intending to use the arrival of the Golden Age to restore the Heavenly Court's former glory!" "Those who have awakened from the Ancient Era are not merely the few of us. There are also several elders lying low in various regions, quietly waiting for even more elders to awaken so that we may execute our grand design." Lord Mi thought to himself, *Could it be that the lack of ancient cultivators awakening until now wasn't because none were asleep, but because all of them belong to the Heavenly Court Cult? And that upon waking, they all went into hiding?* Ancient concealment methods being unknown to the Great Xia Dynasty was entirely reasonable. Hidden behind Young Master Qin was a Soul Formation cultivator sent by the upper echelons of the Nine Nether Cult to protect him. He had never anticipated encountering such a situation. Just as he was about to reveal himself and berate Lu Yang for spouting sheer nonsense, Lu Yang casually raised his eyes and met his gaze. How was this possible? His concealment art was exceptionally rare in this world. How could a mere early Golden Core cultivator have detected him?! Unless the other party also had a Dao Protector lurking nearby whose cultivation far surpassed his own! The Soul Formation cultivator quickly realized this and dared not make another move. Lu Yang withdrew his gaze. Just a moment ago, the Immortal Fairy had informed him of the Soul Formation cultivator hiding behind Young Master Qin. Fortunately, a sharp look had been enough to scare him off. Clever people would automatically fill in the blanks as to why they had been discovered, saving him the trouble of coming up with an explanation. "The ties between our Heavenly Court Cult and your Nine Nether Cult are far closer than you imagine, Lord Mi. The Heavenly Court represents the heavens, embodying yang and vigor, governing the realm of the living; Nine Nether belongs to the earth, embodying yin and softness, governing the underworld. The Heavenly Court and Nine Nether were the true rulers of the Ancient Era!" "What?!" Lord Mi blurted out in shock, unable to believe that Nine Nether and the Heavenly Court were so deeply intertwined. Not just Lord Mi, but even the Soul Formation cultivator hiding behind Young Master Qin felt his heart clench tightly. Had the Nine Nether truly originated in the Ancient Era? Seeing Lord Mi lose his composure, Lu Yang shook his head gently, appearing deeply pained by their ignorance. "It seems that with the end of the Ancient Era, many heritages were lost. Even the ancient Nine Nether was not spared, having completely forgotten its connection to our Heavenly Court." "That is why we say there is no need for us to fight to the death. Consider this, Lord Mi: if we were from the Five Great Immortal Sects or the Great Xia Dynasty, why wouldn't we simply wipe you out in one fell swoop rather than waste our breath talking to you here?" "If you still do not believe us, we have further proof." "In the Ancient Era, the Heavenly Court and Nine Nether were close allies. Our elders know certain reincarnation arts, and by utilizing those arts, we have located the reincarnation of your previous Cult Master, Qin Haoran!"