# Chapter 4139: Taking the First Step
The Tianhuang Universe was even vaster than the Hell Realm, boundless and endless, difficult even for gods to cross.
The "Minor Calamity of Life and Death" initiated by the Nether Ancestor Faction, combined with the "Clan Extermination Art" unleashed by Gandharva and Meng Naihe, had turned the entire Tianhuang Universe into a true purgatory.
At every moment, billions of living beings withered and died, or were reduced to ashes. As the Clan Extermination Art intensified, countless cultivators of the Meng Clan turned into calamity ash, while the blood-red battle soul in the starry sky continuously solidified, releasing terrifying power.
Bang!
Bang!
Tan Tuo Di Zang pierced through Desolate Heaven's chest, then stamped through Shang Heaven's waist and abdomen, before stopping. He gazed at that blood-red battle soul, his divine voice transmitting through the starry sky: "To fight to this point, what's the point? What meaning is there? Surrender to me, and perhaps the Meng Clan can preserve its lineage, surviving into the new era after the Great Calamity—"
Gandharva stood at the brow of the blood-red battle soul. The surrounding stars dimmed, and the divine light erupting from her body seemed capable of piercing through heaven, earth, and the universe.
Tan Tuo Di Zang said, "How do you know the countless billions of Meng Clan members are willing? This so-called Clan Extermination Art, this so-called clan-wide campaign against the Nether Ancestor, is merely your own wishful thinking."
The aura erupting from the blood-red battle soul was too terrifying, causing even the Nether Ancestor's avatar to be wary. Otherwise, why would He waste so many words with Gandharva?
Gandharva was not influenced by His words. Her heart was as firm as a rock, her voice resolute: "The Meng Clan—I have the final say! Whether the countless billions of Meng Clan members die from the Calamity of Life and Death, or from the Clan Extermination Art, that is also my decision!"
Meng Naihe's heart was filled with pain, his voice like a roar: "And Tianhuang... Tianhuang is decided by the Meng Clan, not by you—"
Meng Naihe understood very well that today, all members of the Meng Clan could only choose between "dying from the Clan Extermination Art" and "dying from the Minor Calamity of Life and Death."
Rather than becoming nourishment for the Nether Ancestor, it was better to burn everything and fight to overturn heaven and earth. Gandharva and Meng Naihe were also members of the Meng Clan. After unleashing the Clan Extermination Art, their bodies too were burning.
It was only because their cultivation was high enough that they had not burned to ashes in a short time.
Boom!
Gandharva, using her spiritual power, firmly locked onto Tan Tuo Di Zang. She controlled the blood-red battle soul and stepped from the starry sky into the River of Forgetfulness.
The blood-red footprints fell like clouds.
The lotus mark on Tan Tuo Di Zang's brow burned. He mobilized the Ancestor Rules and Nether Ancestor Order within the Corpse Bone Plain, striking upward...
Bang!
He could not block it at all.
Tan Tuo Di Zang, along with the Nether Ancestor's projection, all exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
Soon, it burned away completely.
Shang Heaven and Desolate Heaven recondensed their complete bodies. They looked at the shattered Corpse Bone Plain, no longer sensing Tan Tuo Di Zang's aura.
The aura of the Nether Ancestor's avatar projection had also dissipated!
The land was scarred and battered, with earth fissures and spatial cracks coexisting.
The blood-red battle soul spanned across the River of Forgetfulness and the outer starry sky, its momentum overwhelming the heavens. This Gandharva...
Shang Heaven considered himself to be extremely cold and decisive, but compared to Gandharva, he seemed to fall far short.
If he had to decide the life and death of the entire Shang Clan's children in an extremely short time, burning an entire clan just to campaign against the Nether Ancestor, he would definitely hesitate. He would definitely undergo a very difficult psychological struggle.
Once he hesitated, he might miss the opportunity to strike, and would have no more chance to unleash the "Clan Extermination Art."
Crack!
The entire starry sky, like crystal glass, developed countless cracks.
Gandharva, Meng Naihe, Desolate Heaven, Shang Heaven, and the others all changed expression violently, raising their heads to look.
Rumble!
Outside the River of Forgetfulness, space spanning unknown billions of miles collapsed and shattered. It was like a scene of the universe's apocalypse. Terrifying Ancestor energy erupted, destroying all matter and the rules of heaven and earth.
It was the King of Hell and the Nether Ancestor dueling with their techniques, causing the spatial passage to collapse, tearing apart a vast expanse of the real universe's starry sky.
Whoosh!
The waters of the Nether Sea turned into thousands upon thousands of waterfalls, pouring down from unknown space.
In the vision of those at the River of Forgetfulness, the true body of the Nether Ancestor appeared.
His entire body was wrapped in Nether Light, making it impossible to see His appearance clearly.
But just this shadow was enough to make even Heavenly Venerable-rank and Half-Ancestor cultivators' hearts tremble and spasm. Fear, cowardice, weakness, humility—all kinds of negative emotions assaulted them uncontrollably.
Facing the Nether Ancestor avatar that had previously been projected onto Meng Huang Ni's body, one still needed tremendous courage to break through psychological barriers and strike at it.
Now, the Nether Ancestor's true body was right there in the void, having dominated the universe for who knows how many eons. Who would not bow their head?
The King of Hell had lost!
Even after burning his Ancestor Divine Blood and exhausting all his strength, he still could not stop the Nether Ancestor's advance. His golden body was shattered into pieces, falling toward the River of Forgetfulness like a dozen meteors.
"If my injuries had not yet healed, with your mere entry-level Ancestor realm, you would have already been reduced to ashes long ago."
The Nether Ancestor's tone was deep and low, formed from countless overlapping voices. His true body walked toward the River of Forgetfulness, one step per star domain. His finger traced a Nether Light that could split heaven and earth, not giving the King of Hell a chance to recondense his golden body.
"Fight!"
Gandharva roared loudly, controlling the blood-red battle soul, stepping into the shattered starry sky to meet the Nether Light.
Her battle intent was high, unafraid of the psychological pressure from the Nether Ancestor's true body. Every inch of her skin was burned red by divine flames, scattering sparks as she advanced.
Before the blood-red battle soul, a seal of absolute self-time domination, millions of miles in diameter, condensed.
Gandharva understood very well that she must buy the King of Hell a moment's breathing room, so that he could recondense his Ancestor golden body. Only if the King of Hell recovered could this battle continue.
Otherwise, everything would end here and now.
Gandharva's mastery of the Way of Time was profound. She knew too well what a single moment meant to an Ancestor.
She also knew how great the difference in combat power was between a cultivator with a broken body and one with a complete body.
Rumble!
The starry sky shattered further as two forces clashed.
Meng Naihe stood on the Corpse Bone Plain, gazing at the blood-red battle soul colliding with the Nether Light. He knew that Gandharva absolutely could not block the Nether Ancestor.
For some reason, even though divine flames burned on his body and his spirit was in an excited and aggressive state, his heart became unprecedentedly calm.
"Everyone, Meng Naihe will take the first step!"
Chi chi!
He pointed at his brow, and the divine flames on his body burned even more fiercely.
His gaze was firm and blazing. Without hesitation, he flew toward the blood-red battle soul in the starry sky.
As he flew, he mobilized the divine qi within his body, reversing its flow toward his divine source.
"Brother Huan Yu, I'm here. I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I!"
The moment Meng Naihe rushed into the blood-red battle soul, his Heavenly Venerable-rank divine source exploded. The energy scattered in all directions, like a gorgeous firework blooming within the battle soul.
In that instant, the blood-red battle soul's light intensified by more than ten times.
The Nether Light that the Nether Ancestor had struck toward the King of Hell was blocked by Gandharva and the blood-red battle soul. The power of the absolute self-time domination seal reached the level of Ancestor divine abilities.
Using the combined strength of the Meng Clan's countless members, they withstood a single strike from the Nether Ancestor. This achievement alone was enough to become legendary for ten thousand ages.
Shang Heaven and Desolate Heaven did not hesitate. They turned and rushed toward the Gray Sea.
The path in that direction was a path of death!
But if Saint Si Dao could walk it, they naturally dared to as well.
Yan Huan Yu and Meng Naihe had only wanted to stop the Nether Ancestor for a moment, yet they could sacrifice themselves without hesitation, fighting for an infinitesimally small glimmer of hope.
A moment's obstruction, a moment's delay—perhaps it had no meaning, could not change the final outcome. But they could not simply resign themselves to fate, could they?
Fate was meant to be broken.
Rather than dying in fear and panic on the road of escape, it was better to fight for this moment of brilliance.
What if, because of this moment's delay, the battle situation took a turn?
Cough, cough!
Bao Zhu Di Zang crawled out from beneath the shattered Corpse Bone Plain. She was severely injured. Fortunately, she was wearing the Om Mani Robe, which had saved her life in the aftermath of the previous battle.
She watched Shang Heaven and Desolate Heaven disappear into the Gray Sea.
She also saw Heavenly Mother, wielding the Yellow Spring Seal, arriving one step per capital heaven. From a distant star domain, she struck with the Blood Fiend Bell, joining the King of Hell and Gandharva in battling the Nether Ancestor, trying to contain Him.
Had the turning point really arrived?
No!
The key to victory or defeat in this battle lay at Biluo Pass, at the Boundary of Life and Death.
They had to stop the Minor Calamity of Life and Death. They had to interrupt the calamity's progress.
Otherwise, the Nether Ancestor's true body could continuously absorb power from the Santu River, using it to heal injuries and restore cultivation, thus growing stronger and stronger.
Bao Zhu Di Zang could not imagine how terrifying a peak-state Nether Ancestor would be. But even His current state was already enough to make people feel utterly hopeless.
What Bao Zhu Di Zang did not know was that the Nether Ancestor before them was still channeling a considerable portion of His power across space, projecting it onto San Ying Tian, in order to resolve the threat in the Gray Sea and stabilize the situation at Biluo Pass. If not for this, the King of Hell would have been defeated even faster.
Wu Tian's pupils had completely turned gray, losing all luster.
The Half-Ancestor blood within his body was drained dry by the Blood Devouring Curse. His body withered away.
The Profound Yellow Thunder ceased, and the clear radiance gradually dissipated.
The entire Gray Sea fell into silence. All cultivators, regardless of cultivation level, lowered their heads. In the six battlefields, the six groups of cultivators all knelt in prostration, as if seeing the Nether Ancestor's true body.
At this moment, San Ying Tian was no different from the Nether Ancestor's true body.
His aura was too terrifying. With one sword strike, he had pierced through Hao Tian, drained his blood qi and soul, and cursed him into a gray corpse.
Only an Ancestor could be this powerful.
Er Jun Tian stood opposite the gray-haired San Ying Tian, gazing directly at him. He saw that San Ying Tian's right arm, which held the sword, along with the body above the right waist, had turned to sand and flesh, leaving only bone.
Clearly, San Ying Tian's Heavenly Venerable-rank cultivation could not bear Ancestor-level power.
The two sword strikes just now—
Qing Lu Shen Wang stood within the battle city where the Asura cultivators had gathered. He had witnessed those two peerless sword strikes with his own eyes. The first had broken the "Twenty-Four Heavens Diagram," and the—
The second had killed the Half-Ancestor peak cultivator Wu Tian!
To be precise, it had cursed Wu Tian to death.
The Blood Devouring Curse drained his blood. The Soul Devouring Curse drained his soul. The Withering Death Art cursed his body.
His life qi was absorbed by the death vortex in the Boundary of Life and Death.
It was the Nether Soldier.
Qing Lu Shen Wang, after all, possessed an Ancestor's remnant soul. He had even awakened part of the Ancestor "Asura's" memories. His insight far surpassed that of other cultivators.
The Nether Soldier Scroll was one of the eight volumes of the *Nether Book*.
In the Ancestor "Asura's" memories, he had seen the Nether Ancestor's Nether River. The Nether River carried one-eighth of the Nether Ancestor's power. In those memories, the Nether River's battle might far exceeded that of San Ying Tian at this moment.
The Nether Ancestor at that time was undoubtedly at his peak.
He did not even need to act with his true body. The Nether Ancestor could release a Nether River, or manifest a Nether Soldier puppet, or use the Nether City to collect great worlds from the universe...
With just one-eighth of his power, he could crush any threat, and initiate a Minor Calamity, absorbing enough life qi, souls, and blood qi to maintain his state as an Immortal.
"Sigh... Zhang Ruochen is dead, and Xuan Yuan Hao Tian is also dead. The cultivators of this era are truly no match before an Immortal. They are all just great medicine." Qing Lu Shen Wang sighed inwardly, very unwilling to see such a result.
The power of an Immortal made even him, a mid-stage Half-Ancestor, feel somewhat hopeless.
It was like looking up at a towering mountain, unable to touch its might.
He looked at the gray-haired San Ying Tian with great wariness, then at Hao Tian's corpse floating on the surface of the Gray Sea.
"The Nether Ancestor is, after all, the Nether Ancestor! This battle today... all efforts have been in vain..."
What meaning was there?
A single avatar could kill Hao Tian.
A single, simple sword strike could destroy the *Twenty-Four Heavens Diagram* and severely wound him.
How could they still fight?
Facing Ancestor-level power, he probably could not even self-destruct his divine heart!
The terrifying curse continuously eroded within his body.
Er Jun Tian, worried that San Ying Tian would follow in the footsteps of Meng Huang Ni and Meng Huang E, stepped forward and saluted: "Lord Nether Ancestor, could you spare San Ying Tian's life?"
The gray-haired San Ying Tian cast a faint glance at Er Jun Tian, saying, "Xuan Yuan Hao Tian's spiritual will is too strong. It will take some time to refine his blood qi and soul."
Suddenly.
The gray-haired San Ying Tian discovered that his connection with the Nether Ancestor's true body had been severed by an unknown force.
He looked around and found that the Gray Sea, which should have been boundless, was now wrapped in an equally boundless circle. It was this circle that had cut off his connection with the Nether Ancestor's true body.
This circle represented a Dao and technique at the same level as the Nether Ancestor's.
It resembled the Dark Lord's Myriad Forms Formless Seal, but seemed even more profound.
Boom!
Three zhang in front of the gray-haired San Ying Tian, space exploded. Saint Si Dao appeared there out of thin air, thrusting his sword straight at San Ying Tian's heart.
At this moment, Saint Si Dao wielded the Abyssal Divine Sword, like the God of the Sword Dao. His essence, qi, and spirit were unprecedentedly strong.
A moment later, the Abyssal Divine Sword was only one zhang away from the gray-haired San Ying Tian. What Er Jun Tian could not understand was that the gray-haired San Ying Tian stood still, relying only on rules and order to defend, yet could not even block it.
What was going on?
Of course, the gray-haired San Ying Tian could not block it!
Because he had absorbed Hao Tian's blood qi and soul into his body.
Previously, it was the Nether Ancestor's true body's spiritual will, crossing space, that was suppressing the spiritual will contained within Hao Tian's blood qi and soul inside the gray-haired San Ying Tian's body.
Space could not stop the Nether Ancestor from projecting his power and spiritual will.
After Zhang Ruochen used the Wuji Circle to envelop the Gray Sea, cutting off the connection between the Nether Ancestor's true body and the gray-haired San Ying Tian, the gray-haired San Ying Tian now had to face the counterattack of Hao Tian's spiritual will.
If he could not suppress it, San Ying Tian would explode and die.
This portion of the Nether Ancestor's power, having lost its physical vessel and the support of the Nether Ancestor's true body's spiritual will, would have its combat power greatly reduced.
Just as the Abyssal Divine Sword was about to pierce into San Ying Tian's body, Er Jun Tian finally sensed something was wrong. He raised the Heaven-Opening Axe and struck at Saint Si Dao.
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly. The perfect opportunity to severely wound the gray-haired San Ying Tian was right before him, yet he had to give it up.
He swung the Abyssal Divine Sword to block the Heaven-Opening Axe.
Bang!
The moment the Heaven-Opening Axe and the Abyssal Divine Sword clashed, Er Jun Tian discovered that Saint Si Dao had mobilized the power of the entire Gray Sea, gathering it into the sword.
On the sword body, a massive gray circle flashed and disappeared, deflecting the power of the Heaven-Opening Axe, dispersing it into the vast Gray Sea.
Although Er Jun Tian was surprised, he understood Saint Si Dao's cultivation and strength. Even if Saint Si Dao had deflected part of the Heaven-Opening Axe's power, he should still be severely wounded.
Saint Si Dao was indeed sent flying thousands of miles. But soon, a large number of white source particles flew out from the space, like a rain of light, wrapping around him.
All the residual force from the Heaven-Opening Axe was absorbed by these source particles.
Finally, the source particles, like a rain of light, condensed in front of Saint Si Dao into a cauldron.
The Cauldron of Source—the Earth Cauldron!