Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Heavenly Grandmaster Grand Sage, the Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage, and the Shen Dragon King were all injured.
While Xin Longsheng, the Tiangang Swordmaster, and Shi Xingyun were all injured too, their injuries were lighter compared to the three demons. With Gu Jun and the Longevity Lotus Seat leading them, their situation, in face of the three demons, was greatly alleviated.
Shi Tianhao and Gu Jun communicated and then, they decided to stop their pursuit. A light shone from the center of Shi Tianhao’s head. The Origin Holy Light shone down on them and healed them of their injuries.
He fixed his gaze into the void. After thinking for a while, he opened his hand to reveal a talisman shining with red light. On the talisman, one could see the word ‘Yan’.
This was a talisman that Xiao Yan had made specially with much difficulty. There were only a few circulating around, even within the Celestial Sect of Wonders. They could help Xiao Yan and the rest enter and exit the Nether Sea. While the users would still be subject to the power of the Nether Sea, it would be much calmer.
Shi Tianhao broke the talisman, which turned into a ray of red light instantly. The light was dark and appeared almost black. From the light, one could hear heart-chilling cries that sounded like the apocalypse.
The red light opened a crack in the void. Instantly, black rays of lights shot out from the crack like Yin wind. Where the Yin wind touched, heaven and earth froze over instantly. It was the Nine Nether Drought.
Following behind the Nine Nether Drought was the Avīci Infernal Gale that resembled a red fog of light. Then, the noxious and repulsive Blood River flowed out too, followed by the Heavenly Apocalyptic Blaze, the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire, and the River Styx Primordial Water. All of them started to spread out in the void.
Shi Tianhao looked at the tear leading into the Nether Sea and frowned slightly. “It was more chaotic than before. Big Senior appeared to be under much pressure indeed.”
He stepped into it and slowly walked about in the Nether Sea. Everywhere he went was like an invisible tunnel. The tunnel seemed to exist and disappear at will. A vast amount of destructive power seeped out from it and started to attack Shi Tianhao.
This tunnel was much more difficult for Shi Tianhao to navigate, compared to before. However, it was not able to trump him yet.
As he walked forward, Shi Tianhao looked into the distance and saw numerous calamities. The world here was on the verge of continual destruction. Not a single moment of it was calm.
The disasters merged together and formed an extremely chaotic state. Through this chaotic state, one could see a huge red pillar of light that stood erect in the middle of the Nether Sea.
The pillar of light stood unmoving there. It was like the only calm place in the entire Nether Sea. However, it sent chills down the hearts of everyone who saw it and an odd uneasiness. From Shi Tianhao’s perspective, there was an indescribable distance between the red pillar and himself.
As space folded, one could not simply describe the distance between the two as ‘near’ or ‘far’. The red pillar of light appeared to be in its own space in the Nether Sea. Yet, it seemed extremely far from Shi Tianhao too. If not for Xiao Yan’s talisman, he would not be able to reach it even after many months.
As he advanced, Shi Tianhao reached the red pillar. When it was before him, his gaze suddenly paused.
Shi Tianhao knew that the red pillar was the master-less Destiny-level magic treasure in the Nether Sea. It was a manifestation of the power of Catastrophe.
Earlier, thanks to the presence of Catastrophe, there were many worlds within the Netherworld Sea. They were all giant bubbles in the Netherworld Sea, separate from each other. They seemed to revolve around Catastrophe, but in reality, they were all in separate dimensions.
At this moment, these worlds within a world were all stuck together. Together, they formed a world by itself. While one could see barriers that separated them, it was also clear that they had started to merge.
The many worlds around Catastrophe resembled rings on a stick. A red light flashed non-stop from one of them.
Shi Tianhao noticed that there appeared to be a face-off.
One of the people sat cross-legged. He was about 30 meters tall and underneath him, one could see a huge lotus made from different types of fire, which were purplish-blue, pure-gold, milky-white etc. They shone and flashed like a huge torch.
On the person’s head, one could see a black-and-white Taiji Diagram. His facial features resembled Xiao Yan. This was Xiao Yan’s Virtual Entity, which he had formed after he ascended into the Immortal Soul Second Level.
Around his body, indescribable types of light flashed. They shone brightly at first and then dimmed completely. They were like the embers of a dying fire. Even as the fires flashed, they were all eventually extinguished. At times, they would come back to life.
As calamities around Xiao Yan raged, his eyes shone brightly. A fierce, dark red light flashed in an abnormal fashion.
Before Xiao Yan, there were other people on the giant ring.
There was a solitary figure clad entirely in white. Clouds were stitched on his robe, a clear sign that he was from the Great Void Sect.
This was the naturally Wu Mengqi, an elder from the Great Void Sect. With the powers he had inherited from his forebears, he was able to enter the Netherworld Sea to use its powers
However, his expression was serious. His eyes flashed and his gaze alternated between Xiao Yan and the other people. No sign of joy could be seen.
From afar, directly opposite Xiao Yan, there was a person clad in black dragon robes. He wore a crown on his head and he emitted a regal awe.
The person appeared to be 30 years old, but he brimmed with a powerful awe. His eyes, which shone from underneath his crown, gave off a black light.
His gaze was icy-cold but it was extremely dark. Silent and ethereal, it was as if everything belonged to an eternal slumber.
He gave off an aura of death as if he came from Hell itself. However, in the aura of death that he emitted, one could sense a strong, vital energy too. He seemed to possess an understanding of the flow of life and death, which made death appear much less frightening.
While his appearance had changed and he already became a young man, everyone, from Xiao Yan to Wu Mengqi, recognized this person as the Emperor of the Dead.
The last time the Emperor of the Dead revealed himself, it was during the War of the Two Worlds. Since then, he concealed himself almost perfectly.
This time, everything could feel that his powers were stronger than before. It was as if he had returned to his peak in the Antiquity Age.
Since his rebirth, only about 30 years had passed. The Emperor of the Dead Mantra was powerful indeed. Even the two most powerful cultivators of today, Xiao Yan and Wu Mengqi, were in admiration of him.
This was no mere rotation of the Wheel of Samsara. Instead, it was a genuine rebirth.
The Emperor of the Dead was calm. However, his gaze fell onto Xiao Yan. Next to him, there was a middle-aged man who was clad in ancient robes. His expression was calm and expressionless. His gaze was like water and he was emotionless.
Wu Mengqi stared at the middle-aged man with a complicated gaze.
This was because the man was the second leader of the Great Void Sect, Yan Xinghe.
Wu Mengqi claimed descent from Wen Chiyang. Ideologically speaking, he was very different from Wen Chiyang. Wu Mengqi was a leading figure of the Radical Faction of the Great Void Sect. His views were radically different from Wen Chiyang and he was more extreme than Yan Xinghe.
Yan Xinghe appeared to have felt Wu Mengqi’s gaze and identified who he was. He looked over, but his expression did not change.
As the Emperor of the Dead had already cultivated him into an Evil Soul, he was able to face his junior with a calm expression on his face. There was no awkwardness or shame.
When he saw the clouds stitched onto Wu Mengqi’s robes, Yan Xinghe’s expression remained calm. However, Wu Mengqi felt an immense sadness in his heart.
The Great Void Sect was very particular about the robes its members wore. When Yan Xinghe was the leader of the sect, there had already been many regulations in this aspect. Many of them continued until today, including the white clouds that were stitched on them.
Yan Xinghe took note of Wu Mengqi. He nodded his head and then retracted his gaze.
After Shi Tianhao’s gaze had swept over Wu Mengqi, the Emperor of the Dead, Yan Xinghe, he looked in another direction. There, two people stood.
One of them was a handsome young monk clad in gray. That was the Golden Cicada.
The Golden Cicada sat in a lotus position. To his side, there was another young monk clad in black. His body too shone with Buddhist light and his body was as clear as marble. On his head, there were 18 lamps. As the light from the lamps shone, one could see the silhouettes of bodhisattvas and ethereal Buddhist chants.
The young monk was as handsome as the Golden Cicada. However, his skin was paler and under the shine from the marble, he appeared dark too.
While his appearance had changed since he joined the Buddhists, how could Xiao Yan not recognize that this young monk was the Shen Tuze, a descendant of the Emperor of the Dead and a disciple of the Nether Priest?
From the light image that Xiao Yan had provided, Shi Tianhao too had seen the true face of Shen Tuze before. Hence, when he saw him, he recognized him almost immediately.
He had disappeared for many years and it was shocking that he became Buddhists. However, it was still within expectations.
The Emperor of the Dead recognized Shen Tuze too. However, he pretended as if he did not exist. He fixed his gaze on Xiao Yan. Shen Tuze, clad in Buddhist robes, stared at Xiao Yan too.
The two of them were injecting their mana into the giant red ring of light underneath them.
Xiao Yan too was using his supernatural awareness to contact Catastrophe.
Among everyone present, his connection with Catastrophe was the deepest. However, he was unable to fully control Catastrophe and the power of the Netherworld Sea.
If the others allied together, they could destroy Xiao Yan by using the power of the Netherworld Sea. The red ring separated them from the currents of the Netherworld Sea outside, which was becoming increasingly ferocious.
While everyone stood on top of the ring of the light and could see each other, they were still in different dimensions. Only when the different worlds had merged and the barriers between them had disappeared could they come into contact with each other. That moment was fast approaching.
