Chapter Forty: The Manifestation of the Heavenly Way

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“The Old Mother of the Gourd River hid a sliver of blade-light inside my body.” Xu Zhong had not foreseen this succession of events. “How did she do it?”

Xu Zhong recalled that cup of tea.

“She concealed the blade within the tea, just to strike the Azure Dragon!” Then he shook his head, dismissing the thought. “No, the blade she left was to prevent anyone from usurping my body before she could.”

“Then, is there a second blade hidden within me? A third...?”

A being as formidable as the Old Mother of the Gourd River—every word, every action—might be laying the path for a future that would arrive in but a fleeting moment.

Xu Zhong looked up.

Just in time to see the Old Mother’s blade cleaving Yi Xuanji in half.

Yi Xuanji’s corpse was imbued with vitality, splitting into two, and both turned to attack the Old Mother of the Gourd River.

The others faced a similar fate.

Kill one Yi Xuanji, and two would rise.

Xu Zhong knew then: he had to leave.

Outside, the chaotic currents of the void swept fragments of space along like leaves in a storm, tossed by the winds.

He seized his chance, preparing to leap.

But the Ghost Mother seized him at that moment.

“Are you seeking death?” Her tone was even.

“If I stay, I’ll die just the same!”

“What I mean is, if you jump now, you’re delivering yourself to death.” With that, the Ghost Mother cast her escape technique.

A ray of golden light enveloped them both. The demon gods, including Taotie, tried to squeeze in as well, channeling their magic to make the golden light even more dense and impenetrable.

The Golden Light of Earth Soaring!

The golden light flashed, spanning a thousand miles in the blink of an eye.

Yet, a thousand miles was as nothing compared to the void—merely a palm’s breadth.

The golden light surged, like the crest of waves, each one higher and faster than the last.

Finally, they landed on a fragment of space.

This fragment was vast—tens of thousands of miles across.

Above, nine layers of palace towers shimmered with endless treasures, and all manner of spirit beasts awakened at that moment.

No one knew whose domain this was.

As the spirit beasts saw intruders, they bared their claws and fangs at Xu Zhong and the others.

“How bold!” The demon gods revealed their true forms.

Their terrifying aura suppressed the spirit beasts into silence.

“This is the Sevenfold Heaven of the Ancestor of Souls. He delights in raising spirit beasts and treats us kindly, yet we’d best leave quickly,” said Taowu, flicking his ox tail ingratiatingly.

Then, the four demon gods’ expressions changed dramatically.

Xu Zhong saw the nine-tiered palace transform, becoming a Jade Purity Bottle with nine compartments.

The lower five compartments held the essences of the Five Elements—Metal, Wood, Fire, Water, Earth—each interacting, nurturing and restraining the others.

Above them were the forces of Lunar, Solar, Primordial Qi, and Innate Qi.

“That’s the Ancestor of Souls’ Exquisite Jade Purity Bottle.”

A giant hand reached for the space fragment, taking the Jade Purity Bottle.

Outside, the nine streams of essence within the bottle gushed forth, blending and contending.

Yi Xuanji was swept by the ninefold energy.

The nine energies that composed his life were instantly scoured away, reduced to nothingness.

And the space fragment, now lacking its anchor, began to collapse rapidly.

“Ghost Mother, quickly—use the Golden Light of Earth Soaring!” Taowu was beside himself with urgency.

They had once been mounts, though the Four Emperors rarely rode them, treating them more as ornaments.

The Ghost Mother too sensed the collapse of the space.

Ignoring her depleted reserves, she again cast the Golden Light.

Golden light swept them all up, and they fled that crumbling fragment.

Outside, fragments continued to collapse.

Not only the spaces within the World Tree, but the entire Dragon City Grotto Heaven was imploding.

The Ghost Mother was gasping for breath.

She had nearly exhausted all her power just to bring them from one fragment to another.

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“Not good—we’ve landed in the Ninefold Heaven of the Ancestor of Stance,” said Taowu. No sooner had he spoken than his eyes turned blind, and he began addressing a tree. “The Ancestor of Stance is the Superior Corpse God of the Three Corpses, corresponding to the Spirit among Essence, Qi, and Spirit.”

“Our souls, upon entering here, will all be assimilated by the Ancestor of Stance.”

Xu Zhong observed the fragment of the Ninefold Heaven.

Countless mortals lived there.

All of them bore the exact likeness of the Ancestor of Stance.

Xu Zhong felt himself transforming into a blind man.

His vision overlapped—one perspective his own, the other born of the Ancestor of Stance’s consciousness emerging within him.

Even the words he heard overlapped in twin echoes.

“Ghost Mother, we must go!” Taotie urged.

The Ghost Mother gritted her silver teeth, ignited her vital energy, and cast the Golden Light once more.

They left that fragment.

Moments later, they arrived at the next.

In the boundless void, they had nearly reached the edge of the World Tree.

Just one final step, and they would leave the World Tree behind, standing once more on solid ground.

Outside, the collapse of the Dragon City Grotto Heaven was not yet complete; before it shattered entirely like the Ninefold Heaven, there was still hope of escape.

Yet they had forgotten: it was easy to enter the Dragon City Grotto Heaven, but hard to leave.

“Ghost Mother, you don’t look well,” observed Qiongqi, more attentive than the boisterous others.

He noted how the Ghost Mother now looked haggard, her face ashen, her body gaunt, her vital energy depleted to a tenth, and the remainder barely sustained.

“I’ve drained myself dry,” the Ghost Mother replied irritably.

“I need to rest. Don’t disturb me.”

“But, Ghost Mother, we have now entered the Eighth Heaven, domain of the Ancestor of Breath.”

The Ancestor of Breath was the Lower Corpse of the Three Corpses, corresponding to Qi among Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

A person lives as long as they have breath; without breath, they die.

The Eighth Heaven, where the Ancestor of Breath resided, resembled a miniature afterlife, forming its own cycle of reincarnation.

At its center stood the Ancestor’s divine artifact: the Threefold Reincarnation Disk.

Unlike the Sixfold Reincarnation of the Netherworld.

Now, Xu Zhong and the others stood beneath the Threefold Reincarnation Disk.

It was immense.

Three vortexes spun silently, devouring all vitality.

Xu Zhong felt his very soul being drawn from his body, bit by bit, into the disk.

“Ghost Mother, Ancestor Ghost Mother, if we don’t leave now, we’ll be drawn into the Threefold Reincarnation Disk!”

The Ghost Mother knew the urgency but was utterly powerless—her energy and magic drained to the last drop.

The demon gods could only transfer their blood and energy to her, enabling her to barely perform the Golden Light again.

Stumbling, they finally left the Eighth Heaven.

At last, they emerged outside the World Tree.

The Ghost Mother collapsed.

So did the four demon gods.

Each one was skin and bones, wracked with pain.

Xu Zhong urged the five demon gods to quickly shrink themselves and slip into his sleeve, while he carried the Ghost Mother on his back.

Outside the World Tree, the layered scenery was also beginning to fall apart.

With the disappearance of the thirty-three layers of thunderclouds, the demise of the Dragon City Grotto Heaven had begun.

Xu Zhong borrowed a gust of wind, running atop its crest.

Passing through layer after layer of outer worlds, he saw no one.

“Did the two gods who fled first take everyone with them?”

No time to ponder it; he rushed to escape.

Now and then, he glimpsed ballistae atop watchtowers adjusting their aim.

He feared they might turn on him at any moment.

But, luckily, they did not fire.

Thunder rumbled above.

Xu Zhong couldn’t help glancing up.

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He saw the five partitioned spaces explode in a thunderous blast.

Yi Xuanji, at that moment, had been slain.

Yet, simultaneously, another Yi Xuanji appeared atop the World Tree. The Yuan Yang Sword on Xu Zhong’s body flew from his grasp, landing in Yi Xuanji’s hand.

“That’s... Zhou Jing?” Xu Zhong’s pupils contracted.

Only the true Zhou Jing could claim that sword.

But then Xu Zhong shook his head. “No, it’s Yi Xuanji, who has inherited all of Zhou Jing.”

Zhou Jing had long since died.

The one before him was merely Yi Xuanji, the usurper.

Yi Xuanji, now wielding the Yuan Yang Sword, looked coldly at the five.

“Are you seeking to defy Heaven?” Sword energy surged from Yi Xuanji, countless rays flashing, sword intent rolling out to suppress the Dragon City Grotto Heaven.

Xu Zhong staggered, nearly collapsing.

He could barely move.

Only by unleashing his sword intent could he regain control of his body and press forward.

But his sleeve tore with a sharp rip, the robe disintegrating entirely.

The Ghost Mother and the others, unlike Xu Zhong, were so suppressed they couldn’t move or control their forms, returning to their original, massive size.

Each god weighed over a million pounds.

Xu Zhong glanced at them.

A shimmer of sword-light radiated from him, enveloping the gods and dragging them along behind.

“Yes, we are defying this Heaven!” Bai Zhaoju roared, striking out first.

The others joined in.

The shockwaves from their battle shattered the Dragon City Grotto Heaven completely.

Xu Zhong felt the heavens and earth overturn, his body tossed among fragments of space adrift in the void.

Thunder rumbled endlessly.

The aftershocks of magic intertwined, forming a screen of light.

This luminous veil filled the void; Xu Zhong could only gaze at it.

All that happened beyond, he could only discern by sound.

The battle raged for the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

The layers of light grew ever more dazzling.

Then, in an instant, the light vanished, replaced by endless rain of blood.

Xu Zhong saw a great river collapse across the sky.

The Yuan Yang Sword was broken, its vital energy dissipated.

Yi Xuanji was gone.

Xu Zhong shuddered, his gaze falling upon the only tangible thing left in the void—the World Tree.

At that moment, the World Tree began to wither. Countless leaves fell, and a pall of death enshrouded the void.

Then, a river of blood flowed from the World Tree.

It wound through the fragments of space, linking them once more.

Xu Zhong and his companions rose into the air to avoid the river.

From it emanated an ominous aura, filled with destruction and death.

“They have killed the incarnation of Heaven’s Will.”

The breaking of the World Tree meant the incarnation of Heaven’s Will had been slain.

“So, is the next step to push open the gate to the Heavenly World?” Xu Zhong felt a wave of despair.

For he knew, before that could happen, he would be seized as a key and possessed.

Sure enough, a giant hand reached into this layer of space.

Just as Xu Zhong thought all was lost, the gate opened on its own.

From within the rift, something churned and surged until a hand emerged.

The Old Mother of the Gourd River withdrew her hand, gazing solemnly at the rift.

“Heaven’s Will has manifested!”