Chapter 1758: The Reappearance of Imperial Heaven
Ancestral Court, Jade Capital City.
With the Old Man of Endlessness no longer stealing the blood sacrifice energy, the descent of the perfected beings from Miluo Palace became much faster, no longer requiring years to descend as before.
When Moon Heaven, Nether Heaven, the Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors, Lang Wan, Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian, and Jiang Baigui arrived, they saw the twenty thousand remaining defeated soldiers of the Heavenly Court, led by the Empress, the Heavenly Emperor Hao, and the Joyous Hall Master, guarding the place.
Outside Jade Capital City, the scene was one of desolation and bleakness.
The cold stillness wind and the heat stillness wind blew through the city. The Dao trees withered, their groves sparse. Occasionally, these winds would sweep out of this most sacred and ancient city, causing immense destruction to the surrounding areas.
The Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors set foot on the ground. The two ancient gods looked up and saw the ancient laws of the Dao in motion. From the past, streams of pure and terrifying energy surged forth, intertwining and interweaving. Behind the twenty-thousand-strong army of gods and demons of the Heavenly Court, a figure of a perfected being began to take shape.
That perfected being was ancient and powerful. This time, the speed of mass-energy conversion far exceeded before. The perfected being's physical body and primordial spirit formed at a visible rate.
In the past, it took seven or eight years for a Hall Master-level existence to descend. But at this speed, within at most half a month, a perfected being would descend!
The Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors exchanged a silent glance. They knew they themselves could hardly escape this fate, but they still mobilized their divine power in unison, pulling their ancestral lands down from beyond the heavens!
As a couple, they were among the few remaining ancient gods in this world.
If they fell in this battle, then only Taiyi and Taiji would be left among the ancient gods.
As the Black Tortoise ancestral land drew closer, the strength of the two ancient gods surged wildly.
Suddenly, the Empress let out a sharp cry. The Abyssal Chasm descended, appearing before Moon Heaven and the others, devouring the starry void and causing countless stars to tumble into the chasm.
The Abyssal Chasm stretched across the heavens and earth, blocking the path of Moon Heaven and her group.
Heavenly Emperor Hao let out a low shout. The Primordial One Qi shot into the sky, piercing through thirty-five layers of void. Then, thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two precious halls burst open, forming the shape of the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel, cutting into the ultimate void.
He was attempting to achieve Dao through force, imprinting his Dao upon the ultimate void to rebuild the Great Luo Heaven.
Suddenly, the sound of a zither rang out. Moon Heaven played her instrument. Just as Heavenly Emperor Hao's Heavenly Court cut into the ultimate void, it was struck down by the zither's sound.
At that moment, the Joyous Hall Master let out a soft laugh. A Dao tree rose from the ground, shielding Heavenly Emperor Hao's heavenly palaces and blocking Moon Heaven's zither technique, allowing his Heavenly Court to smoothly enter the ultimate void.
Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua stepped forward in unison. Each of them summoned a World Tree, which took root in the Abyssal Chasm, stabilizing its terrifying power. Countless roots from the two World Trees extended, sealing the entrance to the chasm.
The Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors, Nether Heaven, Lang Wan, and Jiang Baigui each stepped forward, landing on the two World Trees.
Moon Heaven's robes fluttered. With a flicker, she landed on one of the World Trees. The thirty-six heavens of the Ultimate Pole Void erupted, enveloping everyone in the domain of the Ultimate Pole Void.
Her Ultimate Pole Void domain was somewhat similar to Qin Mu's Divine Treasury domain. Standing within it, one could see everything around them. Any enemy technique seemed to hold no secrets, and no matter which direction an attack came from, it would always be faced head-on, allowing for calm response and countermeasures.
However, her domain was also somewhat different from Qin Mu's Divine Treasury domain.
Within Moon Heaven's domain, she could fold space, creating multiple versions of herself!
This was something Qin Mu could not do.
"Kill!" Heavenly Emperor Hao said in a low voice.
The Heavenly Court army surged like a tidal wave, rushing toward the two World Trees. At this moment, neither side wasted words. They directly unleashed all their means, fighting to the death!
The Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors roared, activating the Great Swamp. The two of them merged into the giant beast Black Tortoise, charging into the twenty-thousand-strong army of gods and demons. The Black Tortoise Emperor became the turtle, the Vermilion Emperor became the Winged Serpent, wreaking havoc on all sides. Wherever they passed, flesh and blood were scattered in chaos.
The Heavenly Court had only twenty thousand gods and demons left, but those who survived to this point were the elite of the elite. Among them were many at the Imperial Throne realm, hidden within the chaotic army. Even the Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors were covered in wounds after just one clash.
Although the surviving gods and demons of the Heavenly Court were numerous, they belonged to different armies, each with different formations and specialties. This made them difficult to organize, resulting in chaos.
The charge of the two emperors inflicted heavy casualties.
The two emperors held back the army of gods and demons. The Black Tortoise Emperor, in the form of a turtle, trampled and rammed through the various armies, while the Vermilion Emperor, as the Winged Serpent, twisted and transformed in midair, killing the Imperial Throne realm experts hidden among the chaotic troops, sweeping all before them.
They were the most powerful ancient gods born from the sacrifices of the Juyu clan of the Creator race, having experienced various battles in the primeval wilderness. Even when injured, they paid it no mind.
Suddenly, the remaining twenty-plus Imperial Throne experts in the Heavenly Court army formed a formation, surrounding the Vermilion Emperor in the chaos. The formation erupted, and with a single strike, the Vermilion Emperor was knocked off the Black Tortoise Emperor's back!
The twenty-plus Imperial Throne experts were overjoyed and were about to claim the Vermilion Emperor's life when suddenly the world changed. Various illusions appeared before their eyes, and they fell into layers of hallucinations.
Lang Wan's vertical eye on her forehead opened. She drifted down and landed on the Black Tortoise Emperor's head. Using her divine consciousness visualization, various divine weapons and treasures flew out from the bodies of those twenty-plus Imperial Throne experts.
The Imperial Throne experts' bodies convulsed violently as divine weapons burst forth from within, riddling their physical bodies and primordial spirits with holes.
The various armies of the Heavenly Court charged forward, only to be frozen in place one by one. Black sand of souls streamed from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, turning them into soulless corpses that still maintained their charging posture.
From their foreheads, paper boats sailed out, each carrying a netherworld messenger holding a lantern.
Nether Heaven flew over on a paper boat. With a shake of his body, all the paper boats and netherworld messengers merged with him.
He let out a roar, his body rapidly growing young, turning into a youth. Behind him, his primordial spirit expanded greatly, holding a lantern whose light shone directly onto the Empress's face.
The Empress was charging toward them. Struck by his light, her primordial spirit within her body let out a piercing scream, almost forced out of her physical form.
"Nether, you have not yet achieved Dao, yet you dare to act recklessly before me?"
The Empress let out a chuckle. In an instant, she closed in. The Black Tortoise Emperor immediately transformed into a dragon-headed, turtle-backed, humanoid form, blocking and parrying. The Vermilion Emperor coiled around him as a Winged Serpent, striking out fiercely!
At the same time, Lang Wan activated her unparalleled divine consciousness, and Nether Heaven's primordial spirit drove the path of reincarnation and the unparalleled primordial spirit domain of Nether Capital, all attacking the Empress together!
Boom!
An incredibly terrifying tremor came. Their attacks vanished like mud cows entering the sea. Whether it was Lang Wan's unparalleled divine consciousness, Nether Heaven's unparalleled primordial spirit domain, or the combined attack of the Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors, all were completely useless.
Unable to hold their ground, everyone tumbled toward the Empress. The Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors bore the brunt, cut in half by a wave of the Empress's hand, their merged form instantly broken.
The Primordial Beginning Divine Stone in Lang Wan's forehead exploded, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Nether Heaven's physical body ignited, turning to ash in the heat stillness wind!
Just as the Empress was about to deliver a killing blow to the four, suddenly the roots of the two World Trees stabbed wildly toward her, piercing into her body.
The Empress broke free from the World Tree roots and saw Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian walking side by side, blocking her path.
"Both young lords were once men who stirred my heart. The Heavenly Lord Mu sending you to deal with me is quite cunning."
The Empress's gaze swept over Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua's faces. She said calmly, "I truly do not wish to kill you, but I must send you both on your way."
She spun around, causing space to collapse and even the heavens and earth of the Ancestral Court to twist. Moon Heaven's Ultimate Pole Void domain could no longer hold, as the Empress struck at Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua with lethal force!
A perfected being of the Abyss was this powerful!
"Mother."
Suddenly, from amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Xie Wuqi stood up from the pile of bodies, blocking Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua.
The Empress was startled and quickly withdrew her hand, looking at her son. Nether Heaven's primordial spirit appeared behind Xie Wuqi. Lang Wan and the Black Tortoise and Vermilion Emperors immediately escaped the Abyss's control.
Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian struck simultaneously, landing various techniques and divine abilities on the Empress. Caught off guard in that moment of distraction, she was heavily wounded and fell to the ground.
"Empress, if you stop now, you can take Xie Wuqi and leave!"
Nether Heaven shouted, "You can dwell in the Abyssal Chasm, and no one will disturb you and your son!"
Xie Wuqi looked at the severely wounded Empress, stepped forward to her side, and helped her up. "Mother, the Heavenly Court is finished. The power of the world has nothing to do with us. The struggle between Miluo Palace and Yan'kang has nothing to do with us either. Let's just live in seclusion, passing an ordinary life. This world is no longer something we can control."
The Empress looked up at him. Xie Wuqi no longer had a mad expression but had regained his sanity. Nether Heaven must have helped regulate his soul.
"You are my flesh and blood, the one I worry about most..."
The Empress shed tears, raising her hand to caress his face. Xie Wuqi smiled and said, "Over the years, I have endured the karmic flames I created in Nether Capital. I have come to understand. Even if I became the Heavenly Emperor, what good would it do? You and I might not be happy either."
Suddenly, the Empress activated her Abyss technique. The Abyssal Chasm split open, snapping the roots of the two World Trees belonging to Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua.
The smile on Xie Wuqi's face froze. His physical body and primordial spirit collapsed, falling into the chasm and turning to ash.
"You were also my only weakness."
The Empress closed her eyes and murmured, "Then return to your mother's body. Giving birth to you was itself a mistake..."
She opened her eyes and said in a low voice, "Now, I have no weaknesses left."
In the Abyssal Chasm, the Chaotic Sea suddenly erupted. Streams of light surged upward. The twin lotus flowers rose slowly, merging into one.
Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian looked up at the light stream breaking through the sky of the Ancestral Court. Their World Trees swayed unsteadily as their branches and roots disintegrated in the Abyss.
The Empress had extinguished her last trace of familial affection, allowing her Abyss Dao to advance further!
Her lotus merged, giving birth to a lotus platform.
"Can we survive this battle?" Xu Shenghua asked solemnly, his voice low.
"Not necessarily."
Lan Yutian's expression was calm. "At this moment, I want to become Imperial Heaven."
He suddenly lifted his left foot and stomped heavily. Then he lifted his right foot, sinking his body, and stamped both feet onto the ground of the Ancestral Court, roaring, "Ancestral Court Dao Domain!"
Boom, boom, boom!
A series of explosions rang out. His body rose section by section, and layer after layer of the Ancestral Court Dao Domain erupted. At this moment, the childishness on his face vanished, replaced by the unique fortitude and decisiveness of Imperial Heaven!
Lan Yutian roared. Within the Ancestral Court Dao Domain, the five-tai mineral veins surged wildly, supporting the World Tree. Lan Yutian leaped, charging toward the Empress!