Chapter 822: Living to the Second Life
Blood Lightning, Nether Darkness, and Scorching Sun, three Ancestral Kings, moved simultaneously, pressing the White-Robed Divine King in an instant. The remaining dozen or so Ancient Kings also stepped forward at the first moment, surrounding the Divine King at the center.
There was no blood, no bone fragments—only a cold, legendary holy garment, gleaming brightly. Teng Qing had died in battle, his form turned to dust, leaving nothing behind but his battle robe.
"How could this be? What kind of strike was that?!"
This was the question on many minds. All the Ancient Kings felt a sense of alarm, staring at the White-Robed Divine King at the center of the field. Crystalline petals danced and drifted down endlessly. He was like a deity, transcending the mortal world.
"The Sigh of a God!" said Nether Darkness Ancient King, his bat-like wings flapping behind him, demonic energy surging to the heavens. He was tall and imposing, like a god of the underworld.
In ancient times, when someone performed the Divine Melody, they could also emit the Sigh of a God, more terrifying than a heavenly sword, killing in an instant—but it also came at a considerable cost.
Ahead, a trace of blood seeped from the corner of the White-Robed Divine King's mouth. Though it was faint and minimal, and he still smiled calmly, it filled all the human cultivators with worry.
Yet the Ancient Kings became even more cautious, all showing solemn expressions, as if facing a great enemy.
"We were wrong, all of us. This man hasn't just stepped onto the path of sainthood, nor is he merely catching up to us. He is a true Saint King, with few rivals under heaven, capable of fighting to the death with the likes of us!" From behind, the Blood Lightning Queen spoke, her voice dark and eerie, killing intent soaring to the skies.
Everyone was stunned, then felt a chill run down their spines. The various Ancient Kings, in particular, changed color.
The White-Robed Divine King wiped away the trace of blood at the corner of his mouth and stood up. He walked amidst the crystalline rain of flowers, causing the Ancient Kings to involuntarily step back. This unparalleled bearing of facing the kings alone left people both awed and anxious, unforgettable forever.
"That's right. He has long since walked far down this path, not much inferior to the three of us," nodded Scorching Sun Ancestral King, his body radiating boundless divine light, like the reincarnation of the Sun God, surrounded by halos, impossible to look at directly.
Many human cultivators were bewildered, not understanding. Only Ye Fan and a few others knew, having vaguely guessed it before. He still clearly remembered a scene from the past.
In the Divine City of the Northern Domain, the Night Lord, clad in a legendary holy garment and wielding an unmatched golden war spear, had used everything he had learned in his life, only to be slain by the dying Divine King.
One must know that the Night Lord had been a Greatly Accomplished King four thousand years ago. After so many years, who knew what realm he had reached? No one could say.
Moreover, that night, the Divine King was truly on the verge of death. Having escaped from Purple Mountain, his life force was nearly severed, his divine power long dried up. Even living a moment longer was a luxury. What kind of power was it that pierced through the Night Lord, armed with a legendary holy weapon?
The most crucial point was the Night Lord's dying words: "Jiang Taixu, you... were sealed in Purple Mountain, your lifespan nearly exhausted. How could you have broken through to this realm?"
Looking back now, everything was clear. Before leaving Purple Mountain, the Divine King was likely already a Saint, but people had overlooked it, never thinking deeply.
Afterward, the dying Divine King, carrying Caiyun Fairy's corpse, walked into the great wilderness. He was gone for over a decade. According to Black Emperor's speculation, only by placing himself in a dead end could he find rebirth—like wildfire burning sick grass, waiting for spring to bring another life!
By then, the Divine King would begin his second life, sublimating at the end of the Dao, becoming even stronger!
"It's him... it's actually him!" Among the crowd, the two Ancient Kings beside the Celestial Prince showed expressions of shock, then their faces turned grim.
The Divine King had been trapped in Purple Mountain for four thousand years, fighting against various ancient beings, forced into strange stone walls, suffering torment and tasting every bitterness.
"Back then, when we occasionally awoke, we struck at him. Blocked by the strange stone wall, our divine thoughts couldn't fully enter, but we nearly ground him to dust," said one Ancient King. They were descendants of Immortal Emperor's subordinates, ordered by their ancestors to guard Purple Mountain, sealed in Divine Source.
Yet when they awoke again, that dying human had become a Saint. The awakened Ancient Kings struck together, pushing him further to the brink of exhaustion, but ultimately failed to kill him.
"At that time, it must have been that person under Wu Shi's Dao Platform who acted. I think he deliberately tempered this man's heart, forging his will as hard as iron. Otherwise, we would have had a chance to kill him," said another Ancient King, speaking of that person with extreme caution.
"Is it that man surnamed Gu, guarding the tomb for that old geezer Wu Shi? Calculating the time, he should have died years ago!" The Celestial Prince sneered coldly.
"Truly unexpected. He lived until now. After escaping from Ancient Emperor Mountain, he has grown to this realm, his very origin aura completely different, as if he were a different person," the two Ancient Kings said, both showing strange expressions.
Ye Fan's ears twitched slightly. Since his primordial spirit reached the Great Perfection of the Second Heaven of the Immortal Platform, though he hadn't yet crossed his heavenly tribulation, some divine abilities had already manifested. He had achieved the Wind-Hearing Ear, rare through the ages, even rarer than the Heavenly Eye.
This ability allowed him not only to hear voices from afar but occasionally to capture divine thought transmissions. At such a close distance, he caught all three of their thought waves.
"How could you understand? The Divine King cut away his own origin, like the undying grass roots beneath the frozen soil of winter. When the cold ends and spring comes, he is reborn. He has begun the second life, something few in history have achieved!" Ye Fan murmured to himself.
"We should go forward too, to assist them." The two Ancient Kings could no longer hold back. They strode into the field, entering the standoff.
"Boom!"
At that moment, the Divine King launched an attack. He became like a dreamlike shadow, turning into a streak of white light, charging and striking. No one could stop him!
"This is the Divine King's Heaven-Spanning Step. Everyone be careful!" An Ancient King, surprisingly knowledgeable about humans, shouted this warning.
But the White-Robed Divine King was too fast. He broke through the restraints of Blood Lightning, Nether Darkness, and Scorching Sun, the three Saint Kings, and charged out, unstoppable.
The Battle Saint Art, unmatched in the world, made him domineering and unparalleled in this moment. No longer ethereal and airy, the White-Robed Divine King let out his first great roar, shaking the nine heavens.
His right hand transformed, becoming a heaven-splitting sword, unmatched in sharpness, as if it could cut through all ages and heavens. It was the Extreme Imperial Weapon of the Central Province—the Supreme Emperor Sword!
"Pfft!"
The peerless heavenly sword slashed down, cleaving one Ancient King from the crown of his head down to between his legs. His primordial spirit was annihilated, his body split in two, and a torrent of blood poured out.
The White-Robed Divine King let out a long cry. His left hand transformed into an ancient tower of Immortal Tear Green Gold, with astonishing defensive power, yet it also shook the nine heavens and ten lands, as if it could suppress past and future. It was the Western Emperor Tower!
"Pfft!"
Another flash of weapon light burst forth. The tower formed from his left hand crushed an Ancient King into a mess of blood and shattered bones, his soul turned to ash.
Too fast. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. No one could stop it. Blood Lightning, Nether Darkness, and Scorching Sun, the three Saint Kings, roared, evolving various great Daos to trap the Heavenly Platform again.
"You..."
The two Ancient Kings who had come from the Celestial Prince's side were greatly alarmed. The White-Robed Divine King's true target was them. They had just entered the field and were already marked!
"Dong..."
A bell tolled, the Heavenly Dao harmonized, all things stirred, and heaven and earth seemed to turn upside down. The deep bell sound spread across tens of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers.
The White-Robed Divine King clasped his hands together, transforming them into a great bell. On it were imprinted the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers—millions of miles of land, flowers, birds, fish, insects, flying beasts, stars of the heavens, and even deities kneeling in worship. It was ancient and grand, evolving the secrets of the beginning of heaven and earth.
Was this the Primordial Bell? Everyone was shocked. The bell was incomplete, clearly the Divine King had never seen it clearly either.
But its power was sufficient. With one toll, vast and majestic, the Divine King's hands, turned into the bell, pressed down, crushing all resistance.
"Ah..."
The two Ancient Kings screamed, exerting all their strength to resist, but it was useless. Their bodies shattered in an instant, turning into blood mist in the bell's waves, body and soul destroyed!
Such was the strength of the Peerless Divine King. In his youth, he had exhausted his divine blood to save Ye Fan, then cut away his own origin to save Little Tingting. In his twilight years, dying, he had sorrowfully carried Caiyun Fairy's corpse into the great wilderness, gone for over a decade, and achieved ultimate sublimation.
The Divine King slaughtered in all directions, unstoppable, striking fear into the hearts of the ancient clans. Even the Ancient Kings on the field felt their hair stand on end. This invincible posture shook everyone.
"Enough!" Blood Lightning, Nether Darkness, and Scorching Sun, the three Saint Kings, shot three pillars of blood from their crowns, piercing the sky. Each radiated boundless light, sealing the Heavenly Platform.
"Kill!" The other Ancient Kings also struck, unleashing various divine principles, completely trapping the front, preventing the Divine King from breaking out.
The White-Robed Divine King stood alone at the center, his white robe rustling in the wind. A trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth—the price for killing four Ancient Kings in an instant.
In battles between Saints, sometimes when one gathered all their life essence and released it, life and death could be decided in a single move. That was what he had just done, but it had also injured him.
In the distance, the human cultivators were all exhilarated. The Divine King's unmatched valor was the best news for them.
Ye Fan remained silent, deep in thought. He felt a hint of worry, but also gained much. The Battle Saint Art's evolution of various imperial weapons touched him deeply, revealing wondrous insights.
"You have no chance!" Nether Darkness Ancestral King said coldly.
To have the Divine King slaughter so freely under the noses of three Saint Kings, instantly killing four Ancient Kings, was a humiliation for them, a blow to their pride.
"This battle, let's see how you defy heaven!" Though Blood Lightning Queen was female, her killing intent spread across the land.
Scorching Sun also stepped forward. The three experts set up a deadly formation, sealing the front, while the other Ancient Kings displayed great divine abilities, imprinting them into the void, trying to refine the White-Robed Divine King alive.
The White-Robed Divine King withdrew his battle intent, calmed down, and sat cross-legged before the ancient zither. All killing aura vanished. When moving, he was like a god of slaughter; when still, like an orchid, once again shrouded in a rain of flowers.
"If you want to kill me, unless two of you Saint Kings are willing to die, or all those behind the three of you perish."
These plain words were earth-shattering! They stunned everyone present, making heaven and earth fall silent. No one dared to breathe.
"You won't kill a single one!" Scorching Sun Ancestral King said coldly.
At that moment, all the Ancient Kings acted together, transforming into boundless divine principles and striking forward, trying to refine the Peerless Divine King, trapping him in a small world.
Within this tranquil pure land, petals drifted, each stained with blood, shining like crystal, like teardrops falling, a scene of poignant beauty.
The Divine King plucked the zither strings with his hands, playing the true Divine Melody with his heart. This was his understanding of the Dao, the sublimation after cultivating to the extreme.
It was a breathtaking scene. The Divine King sat cross-legged in the void, his snow-white robe fluttering in the wind, surrounded by crystalline rain of flowers, untouched by the dust of the mortal world.
"Pfft"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining his white robe, shocking to behold. But at that moment, a killing sound that could move heaven and earth and make gods weep burst forth! It cut through the sky, breaking out of this small world prison.
"Zheng!"
A soft sound, like a divine sword unsheathing, cutting into the heavens. Heaven and earth fell silent.
"You..."
Ahead, Scorching Sun Ancestral King's forehead cracked, blood trickling down. His face was filled with disbelief. Blood stained the Dao platform, and then he fell backward, crashing to the ground.
"If you want to kill me, trade your lives for it."
The White-Robed Divine King, blood still at the corner of his mouth, began to play the zither again. He was ethereal as a deity, peaceful and calm.
Heaven and earth were very still. Only the falling flowers drifted, sparkling, one after another, shining with crystal light, their fragrance spreading. The Peerless Divine King, at this moment, seemed to have transcended beyond the mortal world.