Chapter 823 - 818: Netherworld Daoist Lord
Inside the [Nourishing Life Master].
Lü Yang’s main body was still in secluded cultivation; only his Incense and Candle Avatar had pulled up a chair and dragged Mu Changsheng over to share his perspective, silently spying on the Current World.
All they were missing was a bucket of popcorn.
"Fight! Let them all fight!" he thought.
"The fiercer you fight, the more trump cards you’ll expose, and the easier it will be for me to deal with you later!" Lü Yang pondered in his heart, even feeling a bit resentful toward Ang Xiao.
"Why are you seeking the Nascent Soul so early?" he wondered. "The thousand-year calamity hasn’t even begun yet! Couldn’t you just delay it for a few centuries? That would give me time to properly see what trump cards everyone is hiding before you try for it, wouldn’t it?
"How unappreciative!
"I’ll jot this down in my little black book and settle the score with you in the next life!"
Compared to the relaxed Lü Yang, Mu Changsheng, acting as the live broadcaster, was much more tense. "This spectacle is far grander than mine was back in the day," he said in a low voice.
"Oh?" Lü Yang’s face revealed a look of curiosity upon hearing this. "What kind of spectacle did you have back then, Daoist?"
"Uh, back then... it was actually quite different." Mu Changsheng looked embarrassed. "In all the thousand-year calamities before this battle, Profound Wall, Star Palace, and Immortal Pivot never really fought each other extensively.
"At most, Celestial Mansion attacked Immortal Pivot once, and they didn’t even win.
"Most of the time, each faction just fought its own battles."
Hearing this, Lü Yang was momentarily stunned before realizing what that meant. If each faction was fighting its own battles, who were they fighting? Without a doubt, it had to be the Outer Dao!
"I get it now," Lü Yang laughed loudly. "So the previous thousand-year calamities were just tacit agreements between the factions to sweep clean the Outer Dao Realm Heavens within the Void Sea of Light! They were pooling their strength for this final battle while eliminating any neutral Variables, ensuring that the ultimate victor would emerge from among their few factions, right?"
Mu Changsheng nodded.
"No wonder!" Lü Yang stroked his chin, feeling that this was a highly sensible decision. Killing off the neutral parties before a major war made perfect sense. Since they were the Outer Dao, who else would they bully?
Now that the neutral parties were mostly wiped out, Immortal Pivot, Profound Wall, and Star Palace no longer bothered with flashy tricks. They went straight for the throat, launching into an immediate, fight-to-the-death struggle!
Meanwhile, Overseas in Immortal Pivot.
[Ang Xiao] stood with his hands behind his back. His gaze was vacant, as if his mind had wandered Beyond the Heavens. Only the ink-black light and shadows beneath his feet, originating from the Netherworld, continued to spread unceasingly.
However, a bizarre scene suddenly unfolded. The void fractured all around him as Star Gates forged from starlight violently opened, revealing the massive Qi traces hidden behind them. This change was incredibly abrupt.
One had to know that the present Immortal Pivot was nothing like before. Every faction was under martial law, with Arrays locking down the sky. It was absolutely impossible to break in directly using ordinary methods. Yet, these Star Gates faced zero resistance. With a simple open and shut, they carved out a series of passages right into the currently impenetrable Immortal Pivot! And it didn’t end there.
There were exactly thirty-six Star Gates completely surrounding [Ang Xiao]. Towering stone sculptures stood menacingly behind every single one.
In the next second, all the stone sculptures instantly awakened! Every single sculpture capable of being displayed in the Star Palace was an Ancient Golden Core Cultivator with supreme achievements in the Dao of Arcane Power from the past. Their Cultivation was at the Mid-phase at the very least! The six leading figures among them were uniformly at the Late Stage of Golden Core, holding the Great True Monarch Position!
This wasn’t a testament to the innate strength of the Star Palace, but rather because they hailed from an era before the Pocket World Technique had appeared—a time when all Cultivators enjoyed prolonged lifespans. The Golden Era when the Immortal Dao was wildly prosperous! Even though the threshold for practicing Dao back then was much higher than it was now, the massive population base within the Void Sea of Light still birthed a vast number of powerhouses.
These thirty-six stone sculptures were the elite among them. They were entities qualified to have their vitality sealed and preserved by the Master of Dao of the Dao of Arcane Power using Supreme Magical Power.
At this exact moment, they simultaneously sacrificed a sliver of their lifespans. Yet, in the instant they were unsealed, they erupted with all their Mana. Whether they were circulating their Abilities, activating Artifacts, or unleashing other unique techniques, they constructed a vast expanse of dazzling light that completely engulfed [Ang Xiao]!
"RUMBLE!"
In an instant, all the Perfected Lords paying attention to this area felt their Spiritual perception go blank. It was as if Heaven and Earth had shattered, plunging them into an endless, dizzying darkness. This was the consequence of their Spiritual perception being obliterated alongside the physical attack. At this moment, the area where [Ang Xiao] stood seemed to have transformed into a massive void, Swallowing everything. No Spiritual perception could detect the changes happening within.
It wasn’t until a long time later that this phenomenon finally dissipated. Looking closely again, they saw that the Vast Ocean of this Skyline had been completely reduced to dry land. Even the uneven rocks and mountains had been erased and flattened. The fish, shrimp, and Demon creatures were turned to ash. Within a million miles, there was not a single living creature left.
Seeing this scene, the expressions of all the Perfected Lords from the various factions in Immortal Pivot subtly changed. Even the few Great Perfected Lords, with the exception of Fei Xue, showed grave looks. Was this move exceptionally brilliant? In truth, there was nothing particularly brilliant about it. To put it bluntly, it was just a concentrated barrage of fire. But when a premeditated strike caught someone entirely off guard with such suddenness, who among them could possibly withstand it?
Those at the Early Stage of Golden Core went without saying—they would undoubtedly die. Even those at the Middle Stage of Golden Core, who claimed to be Immortal, would likely have their souls instantly scattered in the face of such a concentrated attack, denying them even the chance of being received by the Netherworld! Even a Great Perfected Lord would be in danger! After all, among the thirty-six stone sculptures striking right now, six were Great Perfected Lords of the Dao of Arcane Power. Their combined forces were no weaker than a Great Perfected Lord utilizing the Pocket World Technique.
Surprisingly, however, as the chaotic imagery vanished and the blinding light faded, [Ang Xiao]’s figure reappeared, completely unharmed and standing exactly where he had been. The terrifying, concentrated barrage from a moment ago seemed to have completely missed him. He simply stood there as the smoke continuously surged around him, making him appear increasingly Piaomiao. It was as if he had already achieved Transcendence beyond the mortal realm and was no longer bound by the three realms. A mocking look surfaced in his eyes.
"Not a bad technique. If it were just a little bit stronger, you might have actually injured me."
—This was a lie.
In reality, he was feeling a bit of panic in his heart. After all, he was currently a far cry from his Peak period, and that attack had actually injured him. But his reaction was fast. The surging and retracting smoke instantly erased his relatively light injuries. At the same time, it helped him project the image of an unfathomable expert, preemptively suppressing his opponents through sheer presence. Of course, this was only enough to fool outsiders like those from the Star Palace. If it were someone who understood him and was still watching the battle, they would likely have already guessed the truth.
........
"Hahahaha!"
Inside the [Nourishing Life Master], Lü Yang forcefully slapped Mu Changsheng’s thigh and laughed. "He’s injured! He’s just putting up a brave front. Who the hell is he trying to fool!"
After laughing, he stroked his chin again.
"But honestly, this inherently evil old ghost... is still quite ruthless!
"What immense audacity!"
Ordinary people might not be able to tell what [Ang Xiao] was actually doing, only knowing that he was seeking the Nascent Soul, but Lü Yang was different. He could see some clues.
"Is this his original plan?" he murmured. "The Immortal Pivot Land is the core of the entire Void Sea of Light, so even if the Fruits of Immortal Pivot are brought to other places, they can still display Profound Mysterious qualities.
"...The same logic applies to the Netherworld.
"In the past, the Netherworld was restricted to the single location of Immortal Pivot. However, things are different now... This old ghost, does he want to sink the entire Void Sea of Light into the Netherworld?"
RUMBLE!
At this moment, the Void Sea of Light suddenly began to violently churn, and the ink-black light and shadows spreading beneath [Ang Xiao]’s feet seemed to have finally reached a certain limit. [Ang Xiao] stretched out his arms and, for the first time, threw his head back and laughed uncontrollably at the sky:
"The Void Sea of Light is falling, and life and death are reversing! From this day forward, all factions shall collectively revere the Netherworld Dao!
"And I am the Netherworld Daoist Lord!"