Chapter 280 89: Achoo
In a sense, to wear the Supreme Daoist Robe and Supreme Daoist Crown was to embody and symbolize Taiqing the Great Venerable himself.
And the fortune of half the Human World was equivalent to half the world itself.
There were three hundred thousand Immortals. The weakest were Earth Immortals, while the strongest were Upper Celestial Venerables at the [Celestial Realms] level who had evolved the Acupoints in their bodies into entire worlds, projecting themselves throughout the Celestial Myriad Realms until they existed everywhere.
But even so...
How could they possibly endure a bow from half the Human World?
How could they dare endure a bow from the Supreme One?
Under the dumbstruck gazes of countless Immortal Gods, and amid the awe-filled stares of the mortals below, an unprecedentedly brilliant firework erupted among the clouds!
Corpses of the Immortal Gods rained from the sky. Their gilded Armor crashed to the earth with heavy, muffled thuds. A bloody downpour followed, and every single drop of it shone with an astonishing, treasured light!
Amidst this downpour of immortal corpses, the old man in the Daoist Robe and Hat, the one who had just performed the bow, slowly straightened his back. He calmly gazed upon the magnificent spectacle unfolding before him—a sight rarely witnessed since ancient times.
The only one still alive was the Upper Celestial Venerable. But at this moment, he too was plummeting from the heavens, his aura faint. He crashed down upon the mountain of immortal corpses piled high below.
The wind stopped, the clouds stilled, the thunder ceased.
Everything and everyone, every spirit and every immortal, seemed to freeze in that moment. All stared dumbly at the majestic peak built from immortal corpses, watching the endless Immortal Blood drift down from the sky.
Lu Xuan gazed at this magnificent spectacle. In the absolute, deathly silence, he spoke softly:
"It seems you were not able to withstand my bow, after all."
His voice was not particularly loud, yet it exploded in the ears of all the Divine Buddhas in the heavens. Countless dazed Immortals, Buddhas, and Ghost Gods were jolted from their stupor. Their expressions were shaken, their mouths agape, all of them rendered utterly speechless!
"So beautiful..."
Zhao Zheng watched, mesmerized, as the immortal corpses fell one by one from the clouds. He then turned to look at the old man who stood upon the high platform, hands clasped behind his back, facing the rain of corpses alone. Zhao Zheng couldn't help but swallow hard.
"A true hero... should be just like this," he said again.
Duke Mu of Qin and Shang Yang both felt faint. Three hundred thousand Immortals! That was three hundred thousand Immortals!
Just one bow, and they had all exploded into brilliant fireworks!
Li Jing and Venus wore numb expressions. Although they had anticipated this outcome the moment Lu Zi performed his bow,
anticipating it was one thing. To truly witness it with their own eyes still sent a violent tremor through their hearts.
Meanwhile, atop the peak formed by the mountain of immortal corpses, the Upper Celestial Venerable, wretched and on the verge of death and collapse, struggled to get up.
He looked around blankly at the corpses of his comrades. A lump suddenly formed in his throat.
"How could this be?"
The Upper Celestial Venerable voiced his question, but there was no one left to answer.
The Immortal Blood drifted down from the sky, sprinkling upon his body. The Upper Celestial Venerable was silent for a long moment before his head whipped to the side, his gaze locking onto the old man on the high platform in Yong City.
Or rather, the old Daoist.
"You..."
He squeezed a single word from his throat, almost through gritted teeth:
"You deserve to die... YOU DESERVE TO DIE!!"
Lu Xuan calmly met the gaze of the high-and-mighty Immortal, who was letting out a grief-stricken roar. Despite the suffocating feeling under the shroud of his terrifying killing intent, which made the hairs on his skin stand on end,
to the point that every cell in his body screamed a warning, sounding a frantic alarm,
But Lu Xuan remained perfectly calm. Adorned in the Daoist Robe and Hat, he represented more than just himself. He represented his master's honor—he represented his master.
Immediately, Lu Xuan spoke calmly:
"When you slaughtered the people and laid waste to the land as you pleased, you should have foreseen this outcome. Cause and Effect, the cycle of Reincarnation—it was all preordained."
As he spoke, he lifted his eyelids. His eyes shone as brilliantly as two Great Sun Golden Lamps. Within their dazzling radiance, a profound mist of Chaos swirled, and within it, the threads of Cause and Effect from All Realms rose and fell.
Lu Xuan added:
"You survived my bow, which shows your Cultivation is truly exceptional. I can spare your life, but you must walk the Human World for a hundred thousand years, performing good deeds and accumulating Virtue to atone for your sins. Is that acceptable?"
"You. Must. Die!" the Upper Celestial Venerable snarled instead of answering. With bloodshot eyes, he thrust out a palm that grew until it was Covering the Sky and Sun!
"I will slaughter you!" he shrieked, his voice inhuman. The dozens of Acupoints within his palm had already evolved into complete worlds. With the descent of his hand, it was as if dozens of worlds were crashing down upon Lu Xuan!
Before the palm even arrived, its terrifying gravity was already causing ten thousand li of the void to collapse inward. Its immense power enveloped the entire Human World!
Lu Xuan stood calmly in place, gazing at the giant hand that was Covering the Sky and Sun. He remained perfectly still, unmoving and unshaken. The Human Dao Fortune surrounding him stirred on its own, rising to intercept the blow.
In the next moment, the great hand was indeed blocked. But this was, after all, an Upper Celestial Venerable who had reached the very pinnacle of the [Celestial Realms] level, one who had evolved nearly every Acupoint in his body into a separate world.
He let out a furious roar, shaking the nearly three hundred complete worlds that made up his body. At the cost of damaging his own Dao Foundation, he momentarily broke through the barrier of the Human Dao Fortune. At the same instant, however, he suffered a backlash from that very power, and his Dao Foundation began to crumble.
But the Upper Celestial Venerable seemed not to notice, or perhaps not to care. He defiantly brought his palm crashing down, weeping tears of blood as he roared:
"We stand above! To the Human World, our wrath and our favor are both boons! My reward is a gift of grace, and my punishment is a gift of grace!"
"I don't care who stands behind you! Today, you die!!"
In Yong City, some of the soldiers and citizens cried out in alarm. Duke Mu of Qin's face paled as he shouted:
"Lu Zi, look out!!"
But Lu Zi remained standing calmly on the high platform, his Daoist Robe snapping in the gale whipped up by the descending palm.