Although the Ying Futuo Realm lies somewhat off the central axis of the Wuji Celestial Dynasty, the Human Emperor of the Ying Clan still descends from the pinnacle bloodline of the tower; his background is illustrious.
This title of Human Emperor was personally granted by the Empress. Its rank corresponds to a First-Class High Official of the Celestial Dynasty, one of the Great Spirit Officers, a position of tremendous authority.
In addition, their ancestor Ying Tian once spent the night in the Empress's personal palace, gaining entry into the Lingxiao Pavilion, and was granted the noble title of Duke Ying. Though not hereditary, this rank was equal to a naturally bestowed First-Class martial official, another Great Spirit Officer.
With two First-Class Spirit Officer titles within the same family, the Ying Clan is considered an elite aristocratic house even by the standards of the Wuji Celestial Dynasty.
Although they seldom appear in Tianjing and have little interaction with other major families, their foundation is solid, and they have no reason to fear the Feng Clan supporting Feng Yu.
Facing Ying Kun's questioning, Feng Yu replied calmly:
"Human Emperor, do not doubt it. My visit today has passed through the proper court procedures. Duke Ying himself is aware of it."
"If your Ying Clan does not wish to play the villain, then let my Feng Clan take on that role."
"If you have doubts, submit your inquiry to the court. But for now, I must ask the Human Emperor to cooperate with the Empress's decree."
Ying Kun fixed his gaze on Feng Yu. His imperial power surged outward, attempting to crush him.
Feng Yu was merely a Fourth-Rank Star-Seizer cultivator, yet he did not budge at all.
Behind him, Gu Lin stepped forward. One punch shattered Ying Kun's unleashed power and sent the ruler of the Ying Futuo Realm flying hundreds of miles.
Though both were Third-Rank Heaven-Mending cultivators, their actual combat power differed enormously.
To suffer such humiliation at one's own doorstep… to bow would violate the dignity of the Human Emperor's lineage.
Ying Kun raised his hand and struck the Human Emperor's Bell. A torrent of power poured onto him. A Second-Rank Spiritual Machine fused perfectly with his Imperial Dharma Body, elevating his strength straight to the Second-Rank Monolith Realm.
But Gu Lin flashed in front of him in an instant, another punch shattered the Dharma Armor, and a second punch hammered the Second-Rank Human Emperor's Bell deep into the realm's core.
The mighty Human Emperor of the Ying Clan was reduced to a punching bag!
Gu Lin had personally descended upon the Ying Futuo Realm for one purpose: to suppress all dissent with overwhelming force.
If no great Dao Child-level experts appeared, then even Second-Rank defenders were nothing more than sandbags to him.
At this moment, Feng Yu spoke again:
"Human Emperor, Realm Master Gu Lin has already joined hands with our Feng Clan. We are not here to target your Ying Clan. Why place yourself in our way?"
"Listen as I relay the Empress's decree!"
"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Empress proclaims"
The Empress's Edict
"The Way of Heaven is clear.
With martial force, end the conflict.
Through battle, resolve karma."
"Henceforth, let the Gu Clan, Pure Yang lineage, and Yanfu lineage each send their chosen elites to hunt within the Ying Futuo Realm."
"The victor shall follow Heaven's will and resolve their karmic debts.
The defeated shall submit to fate and extinguish all hostilities."
"Let this battle decide all grudges. Life or death by destiny.
Once concluded, all enmity is erased before Heaven."
"Any further private conflict shall be deemed rebellion.
The Royal Army will strike without mercy."
After delivering the edict, Feng Yu added:
"Human Emperor, you and I are mere witnesses. Let Dao-friend Gu Lin settle his matters."
Only now did Gu Lin speak. His voice was like clashing metal, sharp and domineering:
"Ying Clan! 'Eyeless' gouged out my sister's eyes, and 'Yuanyang' severed my nephew's true soul!
My Kutuo Mountain Gu Clan and the Pure Yang and Yanfu lineages are irreconcilable!"
"Three thousand years ago, I intended to annihilate your Ying Futuo Realm.
Only because your ancestor Ying Tian personally begged for the Empress's decree did I stay my hand."
"For the Empress's sake, I endured three thousand years.
Yet Pure Yang and Yanfu have grown even more brazen."
"Now, with the Feng Clan's mediation and the Empress's approval, step aside."
"Let me cleanse the remnants of those two lineages first, then I shall settle matters with you."
"Blood River, Three Poisons lead the way."
He punched again, blasting a huge hole straight through the realm membrane, preparing to dive through.
At that moment, however, a youth riding a white ox drifted lazily out of the opening.
Before he even spoke, his sword intent erupted violently.
It glanced across Feng Yu's neck, stabbed into Three Poisons' brow, burst against Blood River's face, and finally landed on Gu Lin's eye.
Gu Lin feared neither Heaven nor Earth, yet under this sword intent, even his eyes stung.
Even before he introduced himself, everyone knew:
The Pure Yang Child had arrived in person.
Gu Lin glanced him over, noting he was only at the Spirit-Subduing Realm, and scoffed:
"Boy, you put on quite the act.
But this matter is beyond you.
Where is your elder?"
The youth, Jing Qian, sneered back:
"Save your breath, Gu Lin!"
"You only dare bark at my doorstep because my elders aren't here."
"If I actually called one of them out, they'd beat the crap out of you.
What would you do then?"
"I'm only talking to you because my cultivation is still low."
"When I ascend to the Star-Seizer Realm, I'll smash your head myself!"
His few casual sentences left everyone stunned.
This newly ascended Pure Yang Child
Had he gone mad?
How could he be this arrogant!?
In the entire Northern E'Er Immortal Heaven, Gu Lin was renowned as a war god.
In battles where he fought above his rank against Second-Rank powerhouses, he routinely fought ten opponents at once. His battle record was well documented.
Across the entire Wuji Celestial Dynasty, the only ones who could truly face Gu Lin head-on were a few Dukes of the Lingxiao Pavilion and the four Great Divine Generals of the military hierarchy.
The remaining Great Spirit Officers, even including ministers of the Two Courts, though they were Second-Rank in cultivation, were utterly incomparable to Gu Lin in true combat power.
The strength of the Wuji Celestial Dynasty lay in its system, not in individual might.
Thus, Gu Lin had long stood as a combat ceiling, dominating the northern heavens.
Even three thousand years ago, when the six Second-Rank great demons of the Ancient Gu Lin Sea were jointly slain by three cultivators below the Third Rank of the Ying Futuo Realm, it was a tremendous humiliation, but only because Gu Lin had not acted personally.
Now his true body had arrived in the Ying Futuo Realm, and he had even given the current Human Emperor a brutal lesson.
Yet this Pure Yang Child, only at the Sixth Rank, still dared speak rudely to him. Everyone was stunned.
Facing Jing Qian's provocations, Gu Lin remained expressionless and said:
"Boy, since you've shown yourself, you've forfeited any chance of survival.
Stand aside and wait for death."
Then the demon saint son broadcast his voice across the entire realm:
"Where are the people of Yanfudao?"
A moment later, Ying Hao, mounted atop the Flame Demon Lord, stepped forward and replied:
"I am the current true heir of Yanfudao.
What instruction does the Realm Master have?"
Gu Lin glanced at the two young men before him, hardly a hundred years old combined, and shook his head.
"You claim to be the descendants of the Dao Ancestor's lineage, with great heritage and backing, but it's all empty bluster."
"Your enemies have come knocking, yet not a single real authority has shown up."
"The two of you together aren't even a hundred years old.
How much power could you possibly have saved up enough to fart?"
Then he turned to the other spectators:
"Fellow Daoists, bear witness.
Today I am severing my karmic ties with Yanfudao and Pure Yang.
I will be taking the Ghost Origin Hall from the Pure Yang Grotto-Heaven and the Ten Palaces of the Yanfudao Underworld."
"Should anyone from these two lineages refuse to accept it later and seek trouble
I will accompany them to the very end."
With that, Gu Lin wasted no more time and struck!
A single punch thundered out.
An unimaginable wave of power erupted, blasting straight into the core of the Ying Futuo Realm.
The mighty mountain-world's qi web was blown apart by that punch, revealing a direct void tunnel into the realm's qi core.
Gu Lin's might could pierce spatial barriers and shatter all defenses.
The entire Ying Futuo Realm cried out painfully as a massive torrent of primordial qi spilled forth. This was the realm's lifeblood.
Within the qi core, the target Gu Lin had selected the Ghost Origin Hall, which was exposed for all to see.
Gu Lin raised his hand again, sending a fist-gang to seize it.
The Ten Underworld Palaces of Yanfudao were all First-Rank ultimate treasures of immeasurable value.
The other nine were guarded by great cultivators and were difficult to take.
Only the Ghost Origin Hall was ownerless, making it the one Gu Lin intended to steal.
"Junior, how dare you!"
Two great stove spirits emerged from within the Ghost Origin Hall, furious, unleashing a massive Yin–Yang barrier to block Gu Lin's strike.
The Black Serpent and White Serpent were both Second-Rank stove spirits with extraordinary foundations.
But they were logisticians, not warriors.
Their barrier was shattered instantly beneath Gu Lin's punch; it didn't even last a heartbeat.
Just as the punch was about to hammer the two serpent spirits, a void rift suddenly tore open and swallowed the fist force whole.
The power of the Sumeru dimension revealed itself.
Gu Lin's punch was absorbed into a Sword Ring, beginning to circulate endlessly.
One punch swallowed another punch formed!
Gu Lin gave the enemy no chance to breathe.
Punch-gangs surged forth like mountains and seas
Yet every punch was intercepted by a newly formed void rift.
Jing Qian's figure had already stepped before the Ghost Origin Hall.
His Three-Lives Eye opened at his brow. Wherever his gaze pointed, not a single punch of Gu Lin escaped his lock; all were absorbed into the Sumeru dimension.
This was a perfect fusion of a First-Rank divine eye and spatial powers.
He then said:
"Uncle Snake, please activate the Yin-Year force.
Thank you for carrying this burden all these years."
"Your Holiness, you flatter us!"
Avoiding Gu Lin's assault and with Jing Qian standing guard, the two serpent spirits dove back into the Ghost Origin Hall.
A jet-black divine power soon radiated outward, infusing into the realm's qi core.
This was the Immortal Qi painstakingly refined by the Ghost Origin Hall, a genuine First-Rank divine power, and the source of the entire realm's Yin-Year cycle.
As soon as this Immortal Qi diffused, Yin energy erupted throughout the realm.
The Yin-Year, dormant for many years, was instantly reactivated.
This was the trap Jing Qian had prepared long ago.
He raised his hand, summoning Hao Yumi, Ghost Phoenix, and Ao Hua.
The Ghost Origin Hall released another dense wave of Immortal Qi, falling upon all three great demons, with Hao Yumi receiving seventy percent of it.
Their auras surged violently, and the three soared into the sky to face the three enemies above.
One dragon and one phoenix lunged toward Blood River and Three Poisons, while Hao Yumi charged straight at Gu Lin.
During the Yin-Year, corpses and monsters empowered by Yin ghosts could instantly rise a full realm.
The cause was precisely this Immortal Qi of the Ghost Origin Hall.
This was the core inheritance of the ghost-driving Yanfudao lineage.
Under its blessing, every guardian spirit and ghost servant could instantly ascend by one realm below the First Rank.
Now, the three demons had been temporarily elevated
Hao Yumi had become a First-Rank powerhouse,
while Ghost Phoenix and Ao Hua, with their deep foundations, had reached Second-Rank Monolith Realm.
By relying solely on Yanfudao methods, Jing Qian had temporarily stabilized the battlefield!
The Immortal Qi of the Ghost Origin Hall was rare; it took many years to accumulate enough for a single use.
This reserve had been stored specifically for this enemy encounter.
Had Gu Lin not come personally, then Blood River and Three Poisons alone would have been completely trapped and unable to escape beneath the Ghost Origin Hall.
Those two traitors at least understood their situation without clinging to a big thigh; they wouldn't dare appear.
High in the sky, the temporarily ascended Hao Yumi experienced for the first time a power surpassing even its father, becoming intoxicated by it.
Transforming into a thousand-zhang giant corn, it unleashed endless roots to bind Gu Lin, shouting nonstop:
"I'm amazing! I'm taking off! I'm invincible!"
Gu Lin, like a cannonball, smashed through the roots, punching through them easily, yet the roots were endless, constantly regenerating and binding him, preventing him from breaking free.
Empowered by the Ghost Origin Hall's Immortal Qi, Hao Yumi was temporarily fighting Gu Lin to a standstill.
Though the Immortal Qi was limited and would not last long, it dramatically changed the tide of battle.
...
A hundred million miles beyond the boundary of the Floral Spirit Sea, Shang Xi had just ended his entanglement with three Second-Rank powerhouses, fully escaping from the realm's territory.
This battle had lasted a full six months, shattering heaven and earth, and was an utterly satisfying war.
Shang Xi had slain seven Second-Rank great experts' present bodies in succession, displaying a combat power far beyond imagination.
The five Second-Rank Spiritual Constructs under his command were wielded with unimaginable mastery, their synergy perfect, their system flawless.
This was the true standard of a Dao Child whose system had reached perfection.
Beside him, Mother Yaksha and Hanba were tightly guarding a Sword Lotus, within which sat a baby, a little over one year old, cross-legged, cradled gently by the lotus petals.
After absorbing the immense primordial qi of the Floral Spirit Sea, Zhenmiao had finally been reborn, gaining a new life.
However, she still had a long way to go before completing the full rebirth process and forging a foundation stronger than in her previous life.
At this moment, she suddenly opened her eyes, her bright gaze flickering with spirit, and said:
"Master, where are we going next?"
After her rebirth, Zhenmiao stubbornly refused to be treated as a senior any longer. She renamed herself Chimiao and forcefully worshiped Shang Xi as her master.
Across two lifetimes, Shang Xi had been the one who raised her; she already saw him as both teacher and father.
Shang Xi replied:
"We will wait here for your senior brother to deliver a few things, then we will depart."
They waited only a short while before a spatial ripple appeared. A formation-nail fishing hook tore through space and materialized before them.
It was Jing Qian who had traced his master's qi through the method of fishing the void.
This was a spatial technique he had only mastered after his Three-Lives Eye ascended to the First Rank void delivery, wondrous and mysterious.
Once the formation nail appeared, the ghostly shadow hooked onto it and slowly manifested the Shēngjī Priestess.
Her aura surged wildly, difficult to fully restrain; she too had obtained a portion of the Shadow Demon Immortal Destiny Stew, acquiring a powerful Heaven-Mandated Fate, and successfully broke through the boundary to ascend as a Fourth-Rank Star-Seizer Great Ghost.
As soon as Shengji appeared, she slashed open a void rift and pulled out a jade bottle from the Sumeru dimension. Inside were four portions of the Immortal Destiny Stew, which she handed to Shang Xi.
Shang Xi uncorked the bottle, split three portions for Chimiao, Lingling, and Huohuo, and swallowed the last portion himself.
In an instant, the four of them surged with power; their Heavenly Destinies were completed.
Chimiao, having reincarnated anew, still entered the Dao innately. Half of her past-life Heavenly Destinies awakened automatically. With this single mouthful of immortal stew, her White-Fang Life Essence skyrocketed to an outrageous 300,000 strands.
Her current foundation was ten times stronger than in her past life.
And this still was not her limit because she maintained her rebirth state; she could continue devouring external resources to further strengthen her innate foundation.
It would not be long before she reclaimed the title of Greatest Talent of Pure Yang Heaven.
The four digested the stew quickly; within less than an hour, they had fully absorbed the Immortal Destiny.
Shang Xi said:
"We are ready. Dao-friend, you may begin."
Shengji nodded. The shadow beneath her feet quietly stood up, separating from her, becoming a perfect shadow clone.
This was the power of the new Heavenly Fate she had acquired.
She left the clone behind, while her true body turned into a ghostly shadow and wrapped itself around the formation nail once more.
Then, Hanba unleashed a burst of power that condensed into a realm beacon.
The formation-nail hooked onto the beacon and dove into the depths of the void.
Moments later, Shengji's clone raised her hand, opening a massive void rift.
From where they stood, the four could clearly see the opposite side of the rift, the exit created by Shengji's true body.
She had already used the formation nail to cross into their next destination.
Without hesitation, the four passed through, using the advanced application of the Sumeru dimension to leap across vast distances and descend directly into the heart of the Ancient Gu Lin Sea of Demons.
At the very moment Gu Lin brought Blood River and Three Poisons to the Ying Futuo Realm, Shang Xi, accompanied by Mother Yaksha and Hanba, likewise descended into the Ancient Gu Lin Sea.
Shang Xi said:
"Chimiao, I will send you into the primordial core of the Ancient Gu Lin Sea so you can complete your reincarnation there."
"You must dig out the split-soul Gu Lin planted within it. I will slice it apart."
"If you replace it, you will become the new master of the Ancient Gu Lin Sea."
"With Gu Lin gravely wounded, Chixiao's side will also face less pressure."
"The remaining great demons in the Ancient Gu Lin Sea are few. Lingling, Huohuo, and I will clean them out and dump all their soul-power corpses into the primordial core to nourish your rebirth."
"We're going all-in. Let's see how far you can go!"
Chimiao's little face grew solemn, and she said:
"Don't worry. In this life, I will definitely not be mischievous and disobedient like last time.
I will cultivate properly!"
...
Within the Great Black Heaven, taking advantage of the brief window when the Shadow Demon Emperor was gravely wounded and hiding, Zhu Yun finally let go of all restraint and began a vast and earth-shaking massacre.
During the several thousand years he was sealed inside the outer face of the Sun, he had been endlessly bored. With all his spare time and slowly recovering mana, he occupied himself by crafting Offering Talismans.
Even though he wasn't particularly skilled in talisman-making, needing three full years to produce just one, he had still accumulated well over a thousand of them.
Now, Zhu Yun activated all of his over a thousand bamboo-leaf-shaped Offering Talismans at once. In the shadowed side of the Great Black Heaven, a thousand terrifying sword-energies formed.
These sword-energies twisted like rain, scattered like smoke, and began a frenzied slaughter that swept across the entire Great Black Heaven.
Although the Great Black Heaven was much smaller than the Northern E'Er Imperial Wuji Heaven, barely one percent of the north's territory, it was still a top-rank realm among the heavens, its size more than a thousand times greater than the Ying Futuo Realm.
No one even knew how many Shadow Demons lived inside it.
Just the number of Second-Rank existences exceeded one hundred.
Yet at this moment, all of these Shadow Demons were becoming ghosts beneath Zhu Yun's sword.
His sword-qi was omnipresent, entering every crevice, stripping through every barrier like a solar storm blazing across the entire realm at impossible speed.
Shua, shua, shua!
With the power of a Heaven-Mender, a single man was wiping out a realm.
Everyone below the Demon Emperor level was nothing but livestock.
Zhu Yun had unleashed the true style of a Pure Yang Butcher.
He knew very clearly that the path to the Second Rank was now right before his eyes.
With his foundation, if he had aimed only for a Two-Character or Three-Character Fate Stele, he could have achieved it easily long ago.
But until today, he had lacked the final tempering needed to achieve what he desired.
For a Pure Yang Child, only a Five-Character or higher Fate Stele was worth spending decades or centuries to pursue a crucial foundation that defined all future cultivation.
Fortunately, the missing piece had finally been filled.
He had followed almost every step that a Pure Yang Child must undergo on the path to ascension:
Sacrificing an entire outer heaven and forging his staircase to the heavens through endless slaughter.
Behind Zhu Yun, half-healed Luo Tian followed closely, carrying his giant cooking pot, collecting the corpses of Shadow Demons, and refining them into nourishing medicines.
For him as well, the accumulation needed to ascend to the Second Rank and inscribe a Two-Character Fate Stele was complete.
As for a third character, there was simply no hope.
Limited by his inheritance, this was already the best achievement in the entire history of the Stove King Shop.
At this moment, he too was cooking one last pot of divine porridge for the coming breakthrough.
When it was ready, the two Third-Rank Heaven-Menders Zhu Yun and Luo Tian would climb the Mountain of Immortal Qi together within this very realm, completing the most important ascension of their lives.
From that moment on, barring accidents, they would be deathless and undying, impervious to calamity.
...
Outside the Ying Futuo Realm, the battle raged violently.
The power displayed by the six great experts shook the entire realm even more spectacularly than the scene when Shang Xi had ascended.
And yet the one who had triggered this entire proxy war, Jing Qian, still hadn't made a move.
He simply observed.
He suddenly appeared beside the Human Emperor and asked:
"Your Majesty, that causality involving the Feng Clan's envoy can the Ying Clan shoulder it for me?"
The Human Emperor narrowed his eyes and replied:
"Dao Child, act as you wish. We will bear the karmic consequences."
Jing Qian nodded, flashed once, and stood beside Feng Yu.
Under the Three-Lives Eye, every strand of Feng Yu's mana circulation was laid bare.
The Sumeru Pure Yang Immortal Sword-Embryo turned into a formless sword-light and silently pierced through all defenses, cutting down the overly arrogant imperial envoy with a single strike.
The Feng Clan dared to provoke the Ying Clan because their backing was immense.
Their family held both a First-Rank Duke of the Lingxiao Pavilion and a Conferred Celestial Capital Star Governor, a powerful high-ranking Spirit Officer of the First Sub-Rank.
In terms of official standing, the Feng Clan was even stronger than the Ying Clan.
Two Dukes were equal in rank, but the Celestial Capital Star Governor, though nominally First Sub-Rank, held authority far exceeding that of a mere Human Emperor of the Ying Futuo Realm.
That the Feng Clan served in this position meant the Empress trusted them deeply.
However, within the Lingxiao Pavilion, the court politics between the Dukes were vicious.
Duke Ying and Duke Feng had long been mortal enemies.
This time, the Feng Clan had joined forces with Gu Lin to stir up chaos in the Ying Futuo Realm, another round in the long struggle between the two Dukes.
But in Jing Qian's eyes, a Feng brat daring to cause trouble in front of him had already chosen the path of death.
After killing Feng Yu, Jing Qian turned his gaze toward the Three Poisons.
This three-headed ghost monk had made Jing Qian wait a very long time.
Now that they had finally met, it was like long-destined lovers and enemies colliding.
For Three Poisons, the World-Release Fate was his innate original Life Fate, the foundation of his entire cultivation.
But after several thousand years, he had never found the opportunity to elevate it to the Heaven-Mandated level.
If he could steal Jing Qian's World-Release Fate today,
his cultivation would advance greatly,
perhaps even allowing him to inscribe a second character upon the Mountain of Immortal Qi.
But from Jing Qian's perspective, the World-Release Fate, a Fate that enhances comprehension and spiritual clarity, was extraordinarily rare and vital to his cultivation.
After embedding it into the Three-Lives Eye as its core intelligence, it had become utterly irreplaceable.
He eagerly looked forward to killing Three Poisons and reclaiming the last missing World-Release Fate.
For Second-Rank cultivators, Life Fates below the Heaven-Mandated level could not be carried up the Mountain of Immortal Qi nor inherited through revival.
As long as Jing Qian destroyed the Three Poisons' present-world body, the World-Release Fate would be liberated and become his.
He had prepared for this moment for a long time.
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