The Sword-Lotus petal in Jing Qian's hand was the decisive piece on the entire battlefield, the key that broke the stalemate.
A sword-qi capable of killing Gu Lin in one strike could just as easily kill Jing Qian himself.
Such power was no longer something an ordinary cultivator could ever unleash.
The shape of the sword-qi clearly came from the same lineage as Jing Qian's Offering Talismans,
but its power was more than ten times greater.
The mighty Gu Lin, the peerlessly arrogant Gu Son, had his head severed by this sword.
His soul was nearly annihilated, and only a weak ember remained, like a dying candle flame that could be snuffed out at any moment.
And that final thread of soul was deliberately left behind by Jing Qian.
He stepped forward and pinched the last shred of Gu Lin's soul between his fingers.
Gu Lin's consciousness was still clear enough; through his remaining soul, he spat curses dripping with malice.
But nothing could be undone.
Not even reincarnation awaited him; his fate was absolute obliteration.
Pure Yang Heaven had now slain two Gu Sons in succession.
Especially this one, Gu Lin, whose talent was extraordinary and status extremely high among Tuotuo Mountain's Gu Clan.
The grudge between both sides had now reached monstrous proportions.
But for Pure Yang Heaven?
Just another flea on the tiger's back.
Enemies like Tuotuo Mountain?
The void was full of them, so many that they could not be counted.
At this moment, the Old White Ox stepped forward and said:
"Patriarch, the Sword-Lotus Pool is ready."
Jing Qian nodded and added:
"Xiao Mi, have Ghost Phoenix and Ao Hua guard the Grinding-Sword Cliff.
You come with me."
He took Hao Yumi with him, stepping into the Pure Yang Grotto-Heaven, arriving at the edge of the Sword-Lotus Pool.
Several Sword-Lotuses within the pool flickered continuously, sending messages sent by the predecessors.
Jing Qian stepped forward to receive them one by one, pass them on, and synchronize the information.
Before long, he fully aligned his understanding with Ren Chong, Zhu Yun, and Shang Xi.
The three great seniors left him only brief messages:
"Take care."
"You can do it."
"Everything rides on this moment."
Jing Qian's fighting spirit surged; his presence edged like a drawn sword.
He weighed the remnant soul of Gu Lin in his hand, then leapt into the Sword-Lotus Pool.
Hao Yumi followed after him.
The Sword-Lotus Pool was one of Pure Yang Heaven's rare spatial treasures, connecting the myriad worlds and linking countless Pure Yang offspring.
Upon entering it, Jing Qian's spatial powers surged enormously.
Man and corn worked together for a long time inside the pool, refining a long and sturdy fishing line, tying it around Hao Yumi's waist.
Hao Yumi held more than a dozen Sword-Lotus petals
Zhu Yun's lotus was nearly plucked bald.
Then, Jing Qian produced a pitch-black serpent scale and handed it to Hao Yumi.
Hao Yumi extended countless root-tendrils, wrapping around and absorbing the scale.
His collapsed mana surged once again, rising back up to the First Rank.
That scale held the last stored Immortal Qi condensed by the Ghost Origin Hall, a gift Jing Qian had begged for, reserved especially for this moment.
Jing Qian asked:
"Xiao Mi, everything hinges on you now.
How about it? Can you do it?"
Feeling the power rushing through his body again, Hao Yumi's confidence skyrocketed.
He roared proudly:
"I, Hao Yumi
Yanfudao's Number One Super Divine Protector
AM UNDEFEATED!!"
Jing Qian nodded in agreement
and then kicked Hao Yumi straight into the void.
The First-Rank Hao Yumi launched into the convergence of spacetime between the myriad worlds, successfully escaping the Ying Futuo Realm.
He arced beautifully across the skies, soaring westward toward the Western Manglong Heaven, toward Tuotuo Immortal Mountain.
Carrying the remnant soul of their fallen Gu Son,
He went to their doorstep…
…to dance on their ancestors' graves.
It had now grown into a fully mature Void Mother-Tree, increasingly adept at traversing time and space.
At the edge of the Daoyuan Divine-Spindle Universe, it bounced and dipped like a skipping stone over water.
The remnant soul of Gu Lin in its grasp provided precise guidance, leading it straight to the hidden location of Tuotuo Mountain.
Hao Yumi did not slow down at all, like a divine cannonball falling from the heavens; it slammed headfirst into Tuotuo Mountain.
The tremendous impact left it dizzy and disoriented.
Yet it forced itself to stay awake, remembering its mission.
The moment it landed, before even standing firm, it crushed all twelve Sword-Lotus petals in its hands.
Instantly, twelve savage bursts of sword-qi detonated inside Tuotuo Mountain.
The Gu Clan of Tuotuo Mountain was sparsely populated; each child required thousands of years to gestate.
But difficult to birth, easy to kill.
The twelve sword-qi, like mist, like rain, like threads peeling silk, swept through the entire mountain, not sparing even a crevice of stone. Sixty-seven members of the Gu Clan from Fourth-Rank Star-Seizer to Third-Rank Heaven-Mender were annihilated in an instant.
Such was Pure Yang Heaven's style: If a feud is formed, there is no reason to let it last the night.
If conditions exist, act. If conditions do not exist, create them. Thus, the hatred between both sides, already mortal, now ascended into a grudge that could span a hundred lifetimes without resolution.
And this hatred pushed the final survivor of Tuotuo Mountain into utter madness.
"AAAAAH!"
"PURE YANG HEAVEN!" "****!"
The only one capable of surviving the twelve strikes of Zhu Yun was the Gu Clan's progenitor, the First-Rank Ancient Dragon.
Overwhelmed by fury, it unleashed all its power and charged at Hao Yumi. But Hao Yumi was prepared; it rolled itself into a massive ball of roots, rapidly sprouting tendrils to fortify its defense.
The Ancient Dragon's appearance resembled Gu Lin's almost exactly as though carved from the same mold.
Its martial cultivation had reached complete perfection, a true martial saint whose fists shattered all injustice.
It unleashed boundless fist-force upon the root-ball, smashing half of Hao Yumi's defenses in a single volley.
At that moment, the fishing line tied to Hao Yumi's waist snapped tight, dragging her out of Tuotuo Mountain in an instant.
The Ancient Dragon, blinded by hatred, leapt from the mountain and pursued relentlessly. Meanwhile…
The frontlines were locked in ferocious combat, but inside Pure Yang Grotto-Heaven, Jing Qian was equally busy.
He fastened the cause-and-effect fishing line to Ren Chong's Sword-Lotus. The line's karmic force fully disengaged from Jing Qian's body, now borne entirely by Ren Chong's lotus.
Then Jing Qian tossed the corpses of Gu Lin and Blood River into the Life-Furnace within the Sword-Lotus Pool, where they began to be refined. He had only one final task left, and he executed it with complete concentration, without daring the slightest error. In the Great Black Heaven…
Zhu Yun stood atop the corpse of the Shadow Demon Emperor, quietly regulating his mana.
As the pillar of the entire tribulation-breaking plan, he had successfully ascended to Second Rank, earning the five-character title: "Master of the Longevity Tribulation."
His combat power had skyrocketed. After his breakthrough, he scoured the entire Great Black Heaven and slew the already severely wounded Shadow Demon Emperor completely.
This corpse of a First-Rank Demon was the most precious treasure within the entire realm.
But Zhu Yun ignored it entirely, dragging the corpse outside the realm and dropping it in the void.
Without the realm's suppression, the Emperor's aura leaked wildly like a slab of delicious roasted meat displayed in open space. At that moment… Ren Chong suddenly opened his eyes. A golden eye at his brow opened as well. The motion startled a mysterious presence.
The billions of supplicants surrounding him reacted in panic, prostrating and chanting fervently, pouring out their faith power.
Ren Chong spat out a Sword-Lotus petal no one knew when he had acquired it. He bit it apart, unleashing Zhu Yun's sword-qi, slaughtering a vast number of supplicants and clearing space around him.
But immediately afterward, the thorny brambles binding his body constricted violently, tearing open countless bloody wounds.
Ren Chong spoke suddenly: "Fellow Daoist Ye, you've dragged this out long enough. My sect's seniors have already locked onto my location. If you still can't kill me, I'm going to call people over."
A holy voice echoed across the entire domain: "Sword Seed."
Upon hearing it, the billions of worshippers chanted as one:
"Sword Seed!"
"Sword Seed!"
"Sword Seed!"
The chorus was like a soul-eroding demonic hymn, wearing away at Ren Chong's body and mind.
But Ren Chong had long grown immune. He spat to the side and said, "Fellow Daoist Ye, this internal tug-of-war is nothing but a petty grudge. It benefits neither of us."
"My mana is wasted, my cultivation stagnates.
Your divine body is hacked apart by me, you're down to half a godhead and barely hanging on."
"Lend me those thorn-vines. I'll reel in two 'fish' from the outside world. We split them evenly and at least recover some strength.
How about that?"
The holy voice fell silent for a moment before replying: "You guide the direction. I will control the vines."
"I swear upon my godhood that whatever prey we catch, we will share." Ren Chong nodded.
"Fine. You faith-cultivators only know how to squeeze your own believers. If you never harvest from the outside world, how do you expect to ever attain the Dao?"
"Now follow my guiding beacon."
The thorny vines binding him suddenly extended outward, splitting into two tendrils that pierced into the depths of the void, hooking and locking onto something far away.
...
Outside the Great Black Heaven, Zhu Yun and Luo Tian stood facing each other, both having successfully ascended, both now Second-Rank cultivators.
But one bore the five-character title "Lord of the Longevity Tribulation,"
while the other had only the two-character title "Pot-Bearer."
Their life-tablets differed by three whole characters; their strength differed by hundreds, even thousands of times.
Zhu Yun said calmly:
"Luo Daoist, the divine kingdom we're heading toward is extremely dangerous.
If you truly intend to come along, think very, very carefully."
But Luo Tian didn't care at all. He said:
"I haven't seen Elder Chong in so long.
Even if it kills me, I'm coming.
Don't worry about me, go do what you two need to do.
I'll handle the pots and stoves. When you return laden with trophies,
I'll show you my newest cooking techniques."
If Zhu Yun was a "10" in Luo Tian's heart, then Ren Chong was "20,000."
This blind, near-idolatrous devotion came from witnessing every step of Ren Chong's rise as someone who grew up in the same realm and saw it with his own eyes.
Following these two Pure Yang brothers meant having meat to eat, and for this newly ascended Pot-Bearer, this was the guiding star of his Dao-heart.
Even if mountains crumbled and the heavens collapsed, he would never regret it.
Seeing that he could not dissuade him, Zhu Yun simply let him follow.
A single black cauldron descended over the two friends,
and they slipped into the corpse of the Shadow Demon Emperor.
Not long afterward, a blood-red thorn vine descended from the heavens,
wrapping once around the corpse of this First-Rank great demon.
The entire Great Black Heaven fell into complete stillness.
Under the sweep of great cultivators' power, every living being inside had already been erased, leaving only the blazing suns on the yang side and the endless shadows on the yin side.
And then, from a hidden crevice, a tiny girl-ghost crawled out, stretching lazily.
"I, Mo Piner!
Blessed by heaven, destined to become Lord of the Great Black Heaven!"
The gates of Pure Yang Grotto-Heaven were wide open, welcoming all.
Jing Qian stood inside the Sword-Lotus Pool,
the Three-Lives Eye gazing far into the distance, sensing a monstrous pressure charging toward him.
In his sight, the Ancient Dragon was chasing Hao Yumi,
heading straight toward Pure Yang Grotto-Heaven.
With the current level of the "retirement home and kindergarten" cultivators of the Ying Futuo Realm,
None of them could survive even a single punch from the Ancient Dragon.
Jing Qian activated every ounce of his spatial power,
reeling in the fishing line at top speed.
He was dragging a world-ending catastrophe toward his own home.
If other Dao-lineages learned of this reckless act,
they would collectively vomit blood and collapse.
But matters had come to this point; words were useless.
Jing Qian had to unleash every bit of potential he had if he intended to scam and cripple this First-Rank Ancient Dragon in a single stroke.
A terrifying pressure surged closer.
The enraged Ancient Dragon crossed billions of miles in a straight dive.
Jing Qian was no longer "dancing on a knife's edge."
What he was doing
Only Pure Yang cultivators or Xuanyuan cultivators would dare attempt it.
Even Shenxiao cultivators didn't have this level of insanity.
As the Ancient Dragon plunged into Northern E'E Imperial Wuji Heaven,
drawing ever closer to the Ying Futuo Realm,
the spectacle became impossible to hide; every great cultivator in every nearby realm could see it.
Inside the realm, Ying Kun's face turned pale,
but he didn't dare move a finger.
Everyone in the entire Dao-Spindle Cosmos knew who the Ancient Dragon was.
Never mind Ying Kun, even if he dug up the entire Ying Clan's ancestral tomb and resurrected all its forebears,
none of them could withstand two punches from the Ancient Dragon.
In the High-Tower District, countless lights flickered on.
Several gifted Great Spirit Officials used their divine senses to observe the Ancient Dragon's rampage
and shared the vision with their colleagues.
A quick analysis made it obvious:
This was another disaster caused by those troublemakers from Pure Yang and Yanfudao.
A familiar consensus rippled among the Great Spirit Officials:
"Expel these Middle-Heaven pests,
cleanse Northern Heaven once and for all."
But none could defy the Empress.
After crushing the remnants of Pure Yang and Yanfudao,
she was the one who personally allowed their entry into Northern Heaven.
To expel them, one would first need to persuade her.
In her serene residence, the Empress E Gao Shangdi, clad in a thin white gown, sitting cross-legged on a jade bed,
watched the Ancient Dragon charge into the realm with interest.
To her, the entire Northern Heaven contained only one cultivator with real entertainment value:
Pure Yang Zi.
Far more amusing than the sneaky little Yanfufu child.
A Sixth-Rank punk scamming a First-Rank powerhouse, you couldn't see a performance like this even once in ten thousand years.
She knew the Ancient Dragon.
That stubborn, muscle-brained martial maniac was someone she had dealt with before.
Seeing Pure Yang Heaven scam him so thoroughly?
She would definitely reward them heavily.
But before that, she had a trip to make.
The Empress stood, changed into a dragon-phoenix robe,
painted her brows, touched up her face,
and walked out of her palace looking radiant.
As the Ancient Dragon drew closer, Jing Qian felt the lethal pressure clearly.
Yet he felt no fear, only a primal, electrifying excitement rising from tailbone to scalp.
The Ancient Dragon was less than 100 million li away.
He began counting down in his heart.
10…
9…
8…
At some point, a single petal on Ren Chong's Sword-Lotus
had turned blood red, covered in thorns.
When Jing Qian reached "5,"
He plucked the petal and crushed it.
A hair-thin blood-colored vine emerged from it, shot upward, and collided head-on with the Ancient Dragon.
There was no explosion, no fluctuation.
Only a void wormhole silently opened.
Distant observers could not see what happened within
But Jing Qian, with the Three-Lives Eye, saw it clearly:
The blood-red thorn exploded into threads,
wrapped around the Ancient Dragon,
and dragged it into the wormhole and away.
The annihilation-level catastrophe vanished because the catastrophe itself had been reeled away like a fish on a hook.
Thus, the great tribulation-breaking plan formed by the four Pure Yang cultivators, old and new, reached its final stage.
Chi Miao broke her tribulation, awakening into a stronger rebirth.
Jing Qian broke his tribulation, devouring Three Poisons and Blood River, and scamming Gu Lin to death.
Zhu Yun broke his tribulation, cleansing the Great Black Heaven and ascending to Second Rank as the Longevity Tribulation Lord.
Now, only Ren Chong remained
to face his own life-defining catastrophe.
Pure Yang Heaven had spent unimaginable effort, resources, and scheming, even tricking a First-Rank Ancient Dragon into being dragged away.
Now, with the Gu Clan annihilated except for the three brothers traveling outside the heavens…
Ren Chong's final tribulation battle
in that mysterious divine kingdom
was about to begin.
Only one party would walk out alive.
The outcome was unknowable.
But whatever happened, it was no longer Jing Qian's concern.
He had already done everything within his power.
And for all he had contributed, he had received benefits beyond imagination.
All of this now requires time and patience to fully settle and digest.
He urgently needed a long period of secluded cultivation to tidy and refine all the gains he had accumulated.
Yet he did not rush.
First, he carefully organized every part of Pure Yang Grotto-Heaven, putting everything in proper order.
Only then did he leap out.
He said to the Old White Ox:
"Ox Senior, everything inside the realm has been properly handled.
I'll be entering seclusion for quite some time.
You may stay in Hun Continent for a long rest, or make your own arrangements as you wish."
The Old White Ox shook its head and said:
"You people have done something far too big.
You don't even know how enormous the karmic backlash will be."
"I'm not involving myself in this mess. Ignore me, go cultivate in peace."
"If news comes from the Sword-Lotus Pool, I'll have your little ghosts notify you."
Jing Qian nodded.
"Many thanks, Ox Senior."
He watched the Old Ox walk away, the Grinding-Sword Cliff on its back.
At this point, Jing Qian felt only growing respect for this beast.
Though the ox was merely a weak, frail Fifth-Rank Earth-Fiend cultivator, weak, frail in battle, its wisdom was divine,
its discerning eye flawless,
its judgments never once wrong.
In terms of danger sense and survival instinct, it was the complete opposite of the reckless Pure Yang cultivators.
This treasure of a white ox was truly one of Pure Yang Heaven's greatest assets.
After sending it off, Jing Qian still did not immediately begin seclusion.
His Three-Lives Eye spun wildly, rapidly deducing an even more comprehensive development plan.
After Worldly Insight advanced to Heaven's Mandate, the reasoning ability of his divine eye had reached unprecedented heights.
Information flowed effortlessly into place, and soon a complete, efficient system formed in his mind.
At this moment, Jing Qian had substantial influence and manpower at his disposal.
He could go into seclusion without leaving his "workforce" idle.
Orders flew from him rapidly.
A development plan covering the Hun Continent, the Void Realm, and the Great Black Heaven was deployed in full.
And with ten thousand brilliant ghosts each bearing the Worldly Insight Heavenly Mandate leading the project,
its efficiency would naturally be terrifying.
Only after all arrangements were made did Jing Qian decisively slip into the Void Realm, beginning a seclusion deeper and longer than any since he first stepped onto the cultivation path.
With external pressure temporarily lifted, he no longer needed to rush forward like a hunted dog, desperately increasing strength at all times.
Slowing down, alternating tension and ease, this too was a form of cultivation.
...
Though still vibrant with spiritual energy, it was still a peerless land of cultivation; not a single living creature remained.
At that moment, a young girl in a dragon crown and phoenix robe appeared at the foot of the sacred mountain.
She stepped inside.
The tight seals barring all entry meant absolutely nothing to her; they didn't hinder her in the slightest.
She wandered leisurely, examining the former territory of the Gu Clan.
She looked in a good mood despite dressing formally; she moved with a playful bounce, light and cheerful.
Everywhere her gaze passed, cultivation treasures instantly vanished,
quietly taken away.
Even the pure essence of the mountain was being siphoned rapidly.
Her household was vast and prosperous, yes, but financial deficits were also common,
and the Minister of Revenue constantly nagged her.
Thus, when it came to "collecting stray wealth,"
She was extremely thorough, a true expert in household management.
As she ventured deeper, she soon reached
The important core of the Gu Clan, the birthplace of every Gu Son,
the very origin of the Gu bloodline.
Breaking in violently, her eyes lit up.
Surprise and delight sparkled in her gaze.
She was the only outsider who knew the Gu Clan's hidden secret, and she had no intention of sharing it.
She released a beam of divine light, wrapping the treasure completely,
as if preparing a cherished gift.
Under her power, the treasure compressed until it was as tall as a person but no smaller.
She frowned slightly, annoyed, but there was nothing more she could do.
So she stepped forward, picked up the treasure, looking for all the world like someone lugging a tree stump, not very elegant.
But thinking of the treasure's value,
even she felt the trip was worth it.
Just as she prepared to leave, her brow twitched.
She muttered a soft curse.
Then she walked back out of Tuotuo Mountain.
Above the mountain, a flawless nine-clawed jade dragon descended.
It roared once, then spoke:
"Empress, Tuotuo Mountain belongs to our Western Manglong Heaven.
How can you commit theft here?"
"Put down what you have taken and return to Northern Heaven."
The girl glanced at the jade dragon, pouted, and replied:
"Dragon Mother, your Ancient Dragon barged into my territory
and tried to kill my citizens.
Charging a fine is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"
"Besides, Northern Heaven helped you by removing this great threat.
We never even asked you for compensation.
Isn't that kindness enough?"
"And you dare lecture me?
You're not even my match.
Send your spouse instead if you want to talk properly."
"I'm going now, let's have tea another day!"
With that, she turned into a streak of golden light and vanished.
The jade dragon watched silently but did not intervene.
After all, it truly was no match for E Gao Shangdi.
Then the Longevity Dragon Mother descended as well, diving into Tuotuo Mountain.
Although all the treasure had been stripped clean, the sacred mountain itself could not be moved.
Since they had expended no effort and now gained ownership of Tuotuo Mountain, the Heavenly Dragon Plateau still considered this a fortunate outcome.
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