Chapter 1592: The Battle of Netherworld
That palm struck the Book of Life and Death, its immense power nearly tearing apart this supreme treasure of the Netherworld. Netherworld Sovereign raised his head, gazing beyond the heavens, while the demonic light radiating from his primordial spirit behind him made him appear as if ablaze.
Beyond the Netherworld skies, Void Sovereign seethed with rage. Behind her, the celestial palace manifested, forming a Heavenly Court, with twenty-six treasured halls standing guard around it. She struck a second blow, intending to completely erase the imprint within the Book of Life and Death and claim it for herself.
However, she clearly did not know that there was no imprint within the Book of Life and Death at all. Instead, the Netherworld Great Dao chose its master autonomously, requiring no imprint from the one who controlled the treasure.
If the Book of Life and Death selected its master, no imprint was needed to unleash all its power. And the Book’s choice of master was akin to how Netherworld Sovereign had tested Qin Mu and Qin Fengqing with it.
Qin Mu could resist the demonic nature of the Book, thus he could wield a portion of its power.
Qin Fengqing was utterly unmoved by the Book’s demonic nature, so the Book chose him as its master, and he could unleash all its abilities.
Void Sovereign, unaware of this, took the initiative to seize the treasure. Yet she did not realize that even if she could claim the Book through sheer overwhelming force, whether it would bring fortune or calamity remained uncertain.
More likely, the Book would awaken her demonic nature, turning her into a heartless demon rather than allowing her to control it.
Behind her, Ancestral God King controlled the Heavenly Lord’s physical form, his massive face blocking the sky, ever ready to invade the Netherworld.
Invading the Netherworld was no easy task for him. The Celestial Way of the Mystic Capital clashed with the Netherworld Great Dao. Leaving the Mystic Capital would weaken the Heavenly Lord’s physical form and diminish the power of the Celestial Way.
But if Void Sovereign absorbed the Netherworld Great Dao and took control of the Netherworld, the pressure of invading it would be greatly reduced for him.
At that moment, Ancestral God King frowned deeply, still unable to accept that Earth Lord had died.
“How could Earth Lord have died so silently?”
In the battle of the Mystic Capital, how difficult had it been to kill the Heavenly Lord?
The Ten Sovereigns had almost all been mobilized, with the assistance of the Taichu Ancient God, yet slaying the Heavenly Lord had required great effort. Countless Heavenly Court soldiers had died, and many participating sovereigns had been wounded before they finally killed him.
Although the Heavenly Court’s sovereigns were now far more powerful, killing Earth Lord, who was as renowned as the Heavenly Lord, was no easy feat—unless Hao Sovereign or Taichu, both who had attained the Dao through sheer force, intervened.
Moreover, this time Hao Sovereign aimed not only to kill Earth Lord but also to encircle and eliminate Kaihuang Qin Ye, Ling Sovereign, and Moon Sovereign!
Yet, contrary to Ancestral God King’s expectations, Earth Lord had died just like that!
Had all their preparations been in vain?
Who had killed Earth Lord?
Why had Earth Lord died so silently?
“Void Sovereign’s lifelong dream was to kill Earth Lord and become Earth Lord herself. Faced with this situation, it’s no wonder she lost her composure and panicked,” Ancestral God King thought to himself.
Suddenly, Netherworld Sovereign’s primordial spirit rose, piercing through the Book of Life and Death to meet Void Sovereign.
Ancestral God King burst into laughter. Above the dark Netherworld, countless stars and constellations suddenly appeared, a brilliant galaxy hanging across the sky, dispelling the Netherworld’s darkness. The Heavenly Lord’s physical form descended with a roar, blocking Netherworld Sovereign.
“Heavenly Equal Benevolent Sage King, did you kill Earth Lord?”
Ancestral God King praised, “Earth Lord raised a tiger that brought disaster upon himself. He never expected to fall not to his daughter Void Sovereign, but to you! I greatly admire your decisiveness. Now that several seats among the Ten Sovereigns are vacant, Hao Heavenly Emperor awaits the worthy. Surrender to the Heavenly Court!”
Netherworld Sovereign was the culmination of the Netherworld’s demonic path, while Ancestral God King was the culmination of the Mystic Capital’s Celestial Way. The Mystic Capital and Netherworld were irreconcilable, as were their respective Great Daos.
The moment they clashed, both felt they had met their nemesis. Their internal Daos boiled over, Dao sounds thundering, driving them to eliminate their opponent and eradicate the other’s Dao!
“Netherworld Sovereign, though you possess the strongest primordial spirit, your skills are outdated!”
Ancestral God King roared, channeling the Heavenly Lord’s physical form. The light of countless stars and constellations erupted, merging into the Heavenly Lord’s body. Behind the Heavenly Lord’s head, thirty-five celestial palaces formed a Grand Heavenly Court, his power rivaling the Heavenly Lord’s peak!
“Let me show you the true might of the Grand Heavenly Court!”
The Heavenly Lord struck down, and Netherworld Sovereign’s primordial spirit was knocked backward. His primordial spirit was not inferior to ancient gods like the Heavenly Lord or Earth Lord, but his physical body was far weaker.
Against the Heavenly Lord’s physical form combined with Ancestral God King’s power, even his primordial spirit could not withstand it.
Especially since Ancestral God King had gained immense benefits in the Ancestral Court, cultivating thirty treasured halls, making Netherworld Sovereign even less able to resist.
Although Netherworld Sovereign had absorbed much knowledge from the Eternal Peace reforms, Ancestral God King also had a reincarnated body walking in Eternal Peace, so in terms of divine abilities, he was not far behind.
Now that Earth Lord was dead, the Netherworld Great Dao was weakening and choosing a new master. Even in the Netherworld, his home ground, Netherworld Sovereign held no advantage.
With Ancestral God King’s aid, Void Sovereign could now unleash her full power. She immediately suppressed the Book of Life and Death, which shrank rapidly until it returned to its normal size.
Just as she was about to claim the Book, a zither sound rang out, crisp and clear. She found the distance between her and the Book growing ever wider.
Between her and the Book, it seemed as if infinite space was expanding, preventing her from ever grasping it.
“Moon Sovereign!”
Void Sovereign followed the sound and saw a woman sitting in the void, casually plucking at zither strings.
Void Sovereign snorted coldly. Her primordial spirit materialized and surged forward, reaching for the Book of Life and Death. But the zither music suddenly turned playful and lively, causing space to warp—now large, now small, now long, now short, layered and stacked, leaping up and down, left and right!
Void Sovereign sensed danger. Moon Sovereign’s zither notes were like countless spatial blades, slashing at her primordial spirit, damaging it and nearly tearing it into countless fragments!
“Fire!”
Void Sovereign roared. As her words fell, layers of space twisted behind Moon Sovereign, rings of Dao fire spinning through space, forming twenty-eight layers of Heavenly Dao realms, preventing the zither notes from breaking through the twisted Dao fire.
Fire Sovereign appeared behind Moon Sovereign. The twenty-eight twisted Dao fire rings formed an elliptical wheel of fire, trapping Moon Sovereign within!
The moment his form appeared, a hand reached out from the thirty-fifth layer of void, pulling Moon Sovereign into that layer and freeing her from the Dao fire.
The wheel of Dao fire spun, annihilating everything, but Moon Sovereign had already escaped, leaving Fire Sovereign’s attack empty.
Fire Sovereign spun around and saw a cold, aloof woman standing before him. A vertical eye on her forehead opened, revealing a piece of Taichu divine stone.
The stone’s light burst forth, and Fire Sovereign felt a blinding white light engulf him.
When the light faded, he found himself back at the Yao Pool Gathering a million years ago. He stood in the winding corridors, seeing Hao Sovereign, Yin Heavenly Lord, and Yu Sovereign.
He saw Yin Heavenly Lord suddenly strike, using the Netherworld Dao to seal Yu Sovereign’s primordial spirit. At almost the same moment, Hao Sovereign’s attack landed on Yu Sovereign!
The two joined forces, killing the unsuspecting Yu Sovereign in the winding corridors!
Fire Sovereign’s body trembled violently: “Brother Yu… I must avenge Brother Yu, kill the murderer… No! This is Langhuan’s illusion!”
Suddenly, Hao Sovereign turned around, as if seeing him. His expression turned cold, and he barked, “Kneel!”
Fire Sovereign’s knees went weak, and he prostrated himself. Then he heard Moon Sovereign’s zither music and snapped awake: “This is an illusion! The Creator God King, trying to destroy my Dao heart with mere divine consciousness illusions—how laughable!”
Boom—
The entire Yao Pool Gathering burst into flames. Everything was consumed by Dao fire, like a burning scroll.
Fire Sovereign leaped up, about to attack Langhuan, when the scene shifted again. He saw the blazing Xiao Han Heavenly Court!
He saw another version of himself, alongside Hao Sovereign, Langxuan, Ancestral God King, Ming Fangyu, and Palace Sovereign, surrounding Cloud Sovereign!
He saw his own hand plunge into Cloud Sovereign’s chest, tears streaming down his face as he said to Cloud Sovereign, “Cloud, you should understand me, shouldn’t you?”
Moon Sovereign’s zither music came again.
Fire Sovereign snorted angrily. Dao fire blazed, burning away this scene, but as one illusion vanished, another took its place.
In this new illusion, he was killing Ming Emperor. The human Ming Emperor led a great army to attack the Heavenly Court, reaching the starry sky outside the Southern Heavenly Gate. Fire Sovereign personally led the campaign but could not win after a prolonged battle.
Hao Sovereign arrived, and Fire Sovereign saw another version of himself bowing to Hao Sovereign with a fawning smile: “It’s not that I am incompetent, but this beast’s creation divine abilities have tempered his body to indestructibility. Yet in our fight, I found one place he cannot train—his primordial spirit! I recommend Yin Heavenly Lord to destroy this beast!”
Fire Sovereign’s face darkened. No matter what illusion it was, he shattered them all.
The zither music was melodious and pleasant.
Subsequent illusions showed him ambushing Moon Sovereign, campaigning against Kaihuang, attempting to kill Lan Yutian on the Heavenly River, and enslaving the Southern Heaven human race.
Fire Sovereign paid no heed, directly using his immense power to shatter every illusion. Finally, he saw Langhuan and attacked without hesitation!
His power far exceeded hers. Though she was a physically powerful Creator, the last remaining master of divine consciousness after the death of Tai Emperor and the fall of Gongjun, Langhuan’s divine consciousness was unmatched in the world.
But her power was far inferior to Fire Sovereign’s. Among the sovereigns, Fire Sovereign’s power was second only to Hao Sovereign and Taichu!
Under this strike, Langhuan’s expression changed drastically as she raised her hand to meet it.
A thunderous crash echoed, and Fire Sovereign’s blood surged in shock. This Langhuan’s power was not far behind his!
Without hesitation, he pressed forward, Dao fire blazing, delivering a killing blow. The opposing Langhuan countered with a flurry of divine abilities, her techniques exquisite!
Both were wounded, but then Fire Sovereign’s heart stirred. The Langhuan before him seemed to recall something as well. They spoke in unison: “The three rooms at the Void Bridge!”
In the Netherworld, within the thirty-fifth layer of void, Moon Sovereign sat, plucking her zither strings, her gaze fixed on her dancing fingers. Langhuan stood behind her, the divine consciousness in her brow erupting.
Meanwhile, in the Netherworld, Fire Sovereign was locked in a deadly struggle with Void Sovereign.
The three rooms at the end of the Void Bridge in the Great Void had originally been jointly created by Moon Sovereign and the Creator clan’s chieftains and elders. Fire Sovereign and Void Sovereign had once been trapped there, barely escaping with their lives.
At the same time, above the Ancestral Court, Hao Sovereign rose, a look of shock and doubt on his face. His gaze pierced through the Ancestral Court’s Netherworld as he descended from the Heavenly Court.
Beneath the World Tree, Kaihuang stood tall, his robes rustling as he strode out of the Blackwood Sacred Land.