Chapter: 4131 - Burning Out the Sunset, Ancestor in the Mist

Chapter: 4131 - Burning Out the Sunset, Ancestor in the Mist

The might unleashed by the Fourth Confucian Ancestor and Hao Tian was both overwhelmingly powerful and domineering—one was a peak spiritual power Half-Ancestor, the other a peak martial Half-Ancestor.
Together, their combined strike could crush anything beneath the Ancestor level.

Meng Huangni stood serene and natural, the righteous qi and heavenly punishment divine light stirring not a single ripple in her eyes. She pointed a finger toward the sky.
The Ancestral Dragon, formed from the waters of the Nether Sea, broke free from the Fourth Confucian Ancestor's control and turned to attack Hao Tian.

"Boom!"
The Nether Sea Ancestral Dragon's claw clashed with the Xuanhuang Halberd. The dragon's body shattered, scattering into a rain of ghostly droplets falling everywhere.

San Yingtian said coldly, "The Nether Sea is part of the Nether Ancestor's Ancestor Realm. Using its waters to attack the Nether Ancestor himself—the Fourth Confucian Ancestor is far too naive."

Lan Shi Shen looked grave. "The Fourth Confucian Ancestor has fused righteous qi with spiritual power, stepping into the ninety-fourth-level peak. He is second only to Yan Tingqiu in the history of the Confucian path. A figure like that naturally has absolute confidence in his own strength. Unfortunately, he faces the Nether Ancestor!"

Qiandapo said, "Even Yan Tingqiu wouldn't dare use Nether Sea water against the Nether Ancestor. The Fourth Confucian Ancestor is too arrogant. However…"

She left the second half unsaid.
She wanted to say,
It wasn't entirely the Fourth Confucian Ancestor's fault for being arrogant. After all, the Nether Ancestor was merely a Nether Soul projection.

A single Nether Soul projection, so terrifyingly powerful—it exceeded not only the Fourth Confucian Ancestor's expectations but also shocked Qiandapo herself.
Her spiritual power mastery was among the best in the universe's billions of years of history, second only to those spiritual power Ancestors.
She naturally shared the same pride and confidence as the Fourth Confucian Ancestor, occasionally even entertaining the thought that once she stepped into the Ancestor realm, she might challenge the Nether Ancestor.

This scene before her dealt a heavy blow to her confidence.

Nether Sea water poured endlessly from the formation world, mist spreading and overlapping with the "Nether Sea Strange Scene" manifested by Meng Huangni.
She stood atop the surging Nether Sea, slowly spreading her arms.

"Withering Death Art!"

She did not speak these three words aloud, but they appeared simultaneously in the ears of every cultivator present.

The Fourth Confucian Ancestor, with the keenest perception, sensed the terrifying curse landing on him—like a parasite clinging to bone, impossible to isolate or resist.

"Go! Leave this place immediately!"
The Fourth Confucian Ancestor shouted to Hao Tian and immediately fled away from Meng Huangni.

At this moment, the Withering Death Art was still mild. The Fourth Confucian Ancestor was confident he could dispel it.
Hao Tian, protected by the Heavenly Punishment Divine Armor, had yet to feel the curse's invasion. But he understood the Nether Ancestor's strength better than anyone.
Could the Heavenly Punishment Divine Armor truly block a curse personally cast by the Nether Ancestor?
He wasn't even thirty percent sure.

Moreover, those afflicted by the Withering Death Art curse were not just him and the Fourth Confucian Ancestor, but also Shang Tian, Huang Tian, Meng Naihe, and many others.

In the distance, the Fourth Confucian Ancestor was intercepted by Erjun Tian and couldn't break free.

"Today, no one is leaving!"

Atop Qing Mountain, Qiandapo raised her wooden staff, summoning three thousand divine formations hidden underground. The formation light blazed brilliantly, like three thousand stars, like a blazing sea of stars.

"This battle is no longer winnable. Head to Biluo Pass—there may be a variable there." Yan Huanyu's voice reached Hao Tian's ears.

Hao Tian shot one last glare at Meng Huangni, lifted his halberd, and headed out of Qing Mountain.
Shang Tian, Huang Tian, Meng Naihe, Baozhu Dizang, and Tantuo Dizang followed.

At this point, even self-destructing their divine sources would be useless. At most, they could kill one of the Nether Ancestor's projection clones, but they couldn't end the Minor Calamity.
If the Withering Death Art cursed all cultivators, their combat power would plummet severely. Facing Qiandapo and Erjun Tian, they wouldn't even be able to self-destruct their divine sources.

Retreat first, wait for an opportunity.

Would the Nether Ancestor let them leave?

"Slap!"
The lotus mark on Meng Huangni's brow burned, then shattered.
Where the lotus mark broke, a fist-sized hole appeared in space.
The spatial hole rapidly expanded into a black vortex. Inside, it was vast and hazy, colorful like nebula dust, leading to an unknown distant place.

At the end of the spatial hole, a figure appeared.
The figure was wrapped in Nether light, its features unclear. But the moment it appeared, every cultivator on Qing Mountain felt as if struck by lightning, trembling inside.
Even Qiandapo, Erjun Tian, Hao Tian, the Fourth Confucian Ancestor, Yan Huanyu, and the Nether Envoy—all peerless Half-Ancestors—were no exception.

This aura was far more terrifying than Meng Huangni's earlier presence. Hao Tian and Yan Huanyu knew it all too well.
For hundreds of thousands of years, this aura had been their nightmare, the deepest fear in their hearts—like an indelible nail driven into their souls.

The Nether Ancestor's true body!

With the true body's arrival, the power of the Withering Death Art curse multiplied…

The Fourth Confucian Ancestor and Hao Tian joined forces, smashing the starry sky manifested by the Ten Thousand Stars Burning Gold Armor into pieces. Erjun Tian's mouth and nose bled endlessly as he was sent flying backward again and again.
He knew clearly that the Fourth Confucian Ancestor and Hao Tian were trying to open an escape route as quickly as possible.
The more they tried, the more he had to stop them, refusing to let them pass.
As long as he delayed until the Nether Ancestor's true body descended, even if Hao Tian and the Fourth Confucian Ancestor had earth-shattering abilities, they would meet their end in the Gray Sea.

"Towering mountains and rivers, eighty thousand cities; sun and moon, two eyes, shine eternal."

Erjun Tian, knocked flying, held his Heaven-Opening Axe, kneeling on one knee. Blood dripped from his mouth as he recited this line.
The blood stained the soil beneath him, then spread into the gray mist.
His eyes transformed into sun and moon, their light surging.

The star domain manifested by the Ten Thousand Stars Burning Gold Armor had been completely shattered by Hao Tian and the Fourth Confucian Ancestor. But from the embers of the star domain, gray mist rolled in, faintly revealing countless cities within.
The number of cities was incalculable, stretching beyond sight—perhaps truly eighty thousand.

"The Nether Ancestor's true body is using the power of that lotus mark to cross space and descend upon the Gray Sea. It seems we really can't escape today! Let's fight!"

Huang Tian put away his stone axe, divine qi within him flowing like rivers into the sea, surging toward his divine source.
When it came to a fight to the death, no one was more decisive than him.
If not decisive, even a successful divine source self-destruction might not drag the enemy down with him.

"Boom!"
Yan Huanyu struck Huang Tian's chest with a palm, dispersing the divine qi within him and sending him flying hundreds of miles.

"You, a junior, think to face the Nether Ancestor?"

Yan Huanyu's wrinkled face turned toward the increasingly massive spatial hole in the distance, and the figure radiating Nether light deep within it.
His gaze shifted from cold determination to weariness and nostalgia.

Then, he strode forward with swift steps, the divine flame on his body growing brighter and brighter. "Junior, take care of the Yama Clan for me from now on! This path… I will walk!"

In Yan Huanyu's vision, the passage within the spatial hole overlapped with the road he had taken to the Void Exhaust Sea all those years ago. Figures like him appeared around him, each burning with fire, yet all so resolute.
Two times and spaces stood before him.
Everyone was still as they had been back then.

"Heavenly Venerable, Old Dragon Emperor, Hall Master… You said that death is the easiest path, that the living bear the heavy burden, carrying all pain and hardship. You were right. Today, I too play the deserter, choosing the easiest path! The rest… I leave to Hao Tian!"

With every step Yan Huanyu took, the light on his body brightened tenfold, then a hundredfold, then a thousandfold…

Qiandapo activated three thousand formations and released all her spiritual power, trying to suppress Yan Huanyu's will to self-destruct his divine source.
He was only an early-stage Half-Ancestor. She didn't believe an early-stage Half-Ancestor could self-destruct in her presence.

But she was wrong!
Yan Huanyu wasn't using divine qi to trigger the self-destruction.
Instead, he was executing a secret art he had studied for hundreds of thousands of years—Burning Out the Sunset.

"Burning out the sunset returns to eternal night, no more daylight, no more self. I know I will never cultivate to the Ancestor realm, nor can I ever advance as swiftly as Hao Tian and the others. I can only abandon the pursuit of realms and instead cultivate a divine ability of mutual destruction."

"My blood qi has severely declined, and I am constantly decaying. I may not be able to defeat any Half-Ancestor in direct combat, but with this divine ability, no matter how strong a Half-Ancestor is, they will be taken by me."

Yan Huanyu's voice was resounding and powerful, echoing across Qing Mountain.

Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from him, all cultivators on Qing Mountain panicked, including Qiandapo. They couldn't suppress it—couldn't suppress it at all!
This old bastard Yan Huanyu was going to take her with him.
More precisely, he was going to take everyone on Qing Mountain.

Yan Huanyu did not enter Qing Mountain. He only cast one last cold glare at Qiandapo, then resolutely flew toward the spatial hole, charging at the Nether Ancestor's true body.

"Boom!"

All divine might and power exploded inside the spatial hole, like the Big Bang of the universe.

Erjun Tian's eighty thousand cities had been flattened by Hao Tian and the Fourth Confucian Ancestor, leaving only ruins. Everyone crossed the ruins and fled.
He was covered in blood, hair disheveled, standing amidst the wreckage. He turned to look back.

Yan Huanyu had burned out his divine soul, and his divine source had also self-destructed.
The destructive storm tore through space, light engulfing Qing Mountain, destroying the three thousand divine formations one by one, raising endless dust that rushed toward his face.

…

A Half-Ancestor's self-destruction was terrifyingly destructive, capable of erasing all matter in a star domain.
Even in the Gray Sea, space cracked inch by inch, spreading toward the sea.

Hao Tian, the Fourth Confucian Ancestor, Meng Naihe, Huang Tian, Shang Tian, Baozhu Dizang, and Tantuo Dizang fled countless miles across the Gray Sea before the destructive storm finally subsided.

Standing on the Gray Sea's surface, everyone was silent.
Their minds were strong; none were weaklings. They could suppress their grief, not letting the vulnerable side of their hearts show to others.
Death itself was their final destination.

Hao Tian closed his eyes, sensing. "He succeeded. The Nether Ancestor's true body couldn't cross space. He bought us enough time. Let's go! Counterattack!"

Yan Huanyu's use of "Burning Out the Sunset" was not only to stop the Nether Ancestor's true body. The aftermath of the destructive storm would surely severely wound Qiandapo and Erjun Tian.
People like Qiandapo and Erjun Tian wouldn't flee alone. They would do everything to protect the Eight Divisions Followers army.
Thus, their injuries would be severe.

But when Hao Tian and the others returned, the place was already empty. Qing Mountain was gone, leaving only endless ruins and broken land.
Qiandapo and Erjun Tian were both exceptionally intelligent. How could they not know that Hao Tian and the others would come back?

Meng Naihe's heart was heavy with frustration. He wanted to personally kill the enemy, but looked around in confusion, not knowing where the enemy had gone.
He only regretted not going with Yan Huanyu.

"The shattered space has recovered so quickly. The Gray Sea's spatial structure surpasses even the Heavenly Court's," Shang Tian remarked.

The Fourth Confucian Ancestor said, "The Heavenly Court originates from the Truth Great Emperor, while the Gray Sea originates from the Nether Ancestor. It's hard to say who is stronger between the Truth Great Emperor and the Nether Ancestor. But since the Nether Ancestor is still alive, the Gray Sea is certainly more stable than the Heavenly Court realm—the highest-order realm in the universe. Otherwise, how could the Eight Divisions Followers have so many experts?"

Hao Tian used his divine soul to sense and calculate, but the curse power of the Gray Sea constantly interfered, and Qiandapo's spiritual power masked the heavenly secrets.
Unable to calculate, Hao Tian asked, "How does the Gray Sea compare to the God Realm?"

The Fourth Confucian Ancestor knew what Hao Tian was asking.
If the God Realm's rank was as strong as the Gray Sea, wouldn't that mean the God Realm also hid a terrifying existence like the Nether Ancestor?

"The God Realm and the Gray Sea are different… Who?"

The Fourth Confucian Ancestor pointed a finger, sending a beam of righteous qi flying from his fingertip, clearing a thousand-mile path through the gray mist.
At the end of the path, a thousand miles away.

Saint Si Daoist stood there, carrying Meng Huangni on his back.

Seeing Meng Huangni, everyone gasped, clearly traumatized by the Nether Ancestor. Like someone afraid of ghosts, even seeing a corpse would terrify them.
They couldn't suppress this fear.

"Daoist, you're not dead!"

Baozhu Dizang was the first to rush over, joy on his face.

Tantuo Dizang, still shaken, asked, "You… how are you carrying the Nether Ancestor…"

Zhang Ruochen shook his head gently. "She is not the Nether Ancestor. She is Meng Huangni, the eighth among the Meng family deities."

Earlier, when the lotus mark on Meng Huangni's brow burned and shattered, her body had fallen from midair. Zhang Ruochen caught her and fled Qing Mountain.

Meng Naihe suppressed his heavy emotions and took Meng Huangni from Zhang Ruochen's back.

Zhang Ruochen's heart ached terribly. He sighed. "Her cultivation was too weak. She couldn't bear the Nether Ancestor's Ancestral Soul mark. Her divine soul has already burned out, leaving only an empty shell. I brought her to the Gray Sea. She was meant to be my guide, and now she has ended up like this."

"Brought alive, but cannot be taken back alive. Karma, karma—this karma I must bear!"

The Fourth Confucian Ancestor and Hao Tian were both secretly pondering the identity of this Daoist!
This Daoist's courage surpassed everyone present. He was the first to dare swing a sword at the Nether Ancestor, and even dared to carry Meng Huangni's corpse.
Such a figure could not have appeared out of nowhere.

Zhang Ruochen asked, "Neither the Confucian Ancestor nor the Heavenly Venerable can calculate the direction of the Eight Divisions Followers army's escape? Now is the perfect opportunity to seize the Bosi World, the Blissful World, the Book of Life and Death, and the Lamp of Life and Death. We cannot wait any longer."

"Although the Nether Ancestor failed to cross space, with His cultivation, even if He takes the Santu River back to the Gray Sea, it won't take much time."

Hao Tian's gaze fell on Meng Naihe. "Before Clan Leader Yan used Burning Out the Sunset, he said the variable might be at Biluo Pass. What did he mean? How did you and he escape from the Book of Life and Death?"

Meng Naihe looked at Baozhu Dizang and Tantuo Dizang, about to speak.

"We finally found you!"
"Is the battle over already?"
"How so fast?"
"Is that the Buddha Mother? It really is the Buddha Mother."
…

From within the mist, several childish voices rang out, chattering.
Some ran quickly, others flew in midair, all delighted, surrounding Baozhu Dizang.
They were the Nine Spirit Buddha Children who had sat at the same table as Zhang Ruochen and Fan Chen on the Tianlong.

They looked like children, but each was a Great God, cultivating a childlike heart, preserving eternal innocence.

"How did they appear in the Gray Sea?"

Doubts arose in Shang Tian's and Huang Tian's minds.

Zhang Ruochen, however, suddenly understood. A bitter smile crossed his face. He finally knew who had saved Yan Huanyu and Meng Naihe, understood why Baozhu Dizang had come to the Gray Sea, and understood all her previous strange behavior.

From start to finish, Baozhu Dizang had only told one lie—the death of Dizang Wang.
She hadn't come to Tianhuang alone.
She was just the one walking in the open.
The one who came with her, walking in the shadows, had already gone to Biluo Pass.

"Pfft!"
A massive snort sounded.

In the gray mist, a beast shadow as massive as a mountain appeared, very intimidating.
Hao Tian, the Fourth Confucian Ancestor, and Zhang Ruochen all looked over. On the giant beast's head, they saw a figure—an old monk in a linen robe.

"Ancestor!"
The thought arose simultaneously in the minds of all three.
Because before this old monk appeared, with their cultivation levels, they hadn't sensed him at all.
Other than an Ancestor, there was no other possibility.