Chapter 1296: The Dharma Spreader versus the Saint Emperor
"The Heavenly Venerate... has returned."
The moment Lu Xichan and the assembled array masters heard those words, they froze, their minds going blank for a heartbeat.
Then, inevitably, a potent dread flooded their senses. They bowed their heads, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Such was the crushing pressure exerted by the Longevity Heavenly Venerate, the being who had dominated the Xuanhuang Realm for millennia and single-handedly forged the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
As Dharma Transmitter Ren spoke, the Saint Emperor's talismans, affixed to the colossal statues of the Dharma Spreader across the Alliance's provinces, began to flutter as if stirred by an unseen wind.
They danced and flapped, threatening to be blown away at any moment.
Beneath the talismans, the stone statues seemed to come alive, vibrating with a subtle tremor.
The Saint Emperor's talismans pulsed with a purple-gold starlight, while the statues of the Dharma Spreader radiated a pure white brilliance.
The two forces clashed, locked in a silent struggle.
The Saint Emperor, as if sensing the change, glanced almost casually toward the sky even as he continued his sermon.
But the Daoist principles flowing from his lips did not cease.
Their pace, however, quickened ever so slightly.
Amidst the strange phenomena gripping the world, some cultivators of the Immortal Alliance had already guessed the truth.
Their faces turned ashen, and cold sweat beaded on their brows. They could no longer focus on the Saint Emperor's words, their bodies wracked by fearful shivers.
Others, however, watched with glittering eyes, listening intently to the Saint Emperor's teachings while praying in their hearts that the Dharma Spreader's return would be delayed just a little longer.
"The old gives way to the new; such is the principle of the Great Dao."
"The Dharma Spreader's law is anathema to the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Today, I have attained the Dao, and I shall endeavor to change it..."
Finally, the Saint Emperor's sermon reached its conclusion.
His gaze shifted completely from the sea of living beings below to the figure materializing in the starry sky beyond the Xuanhuang Realm.
With a slight nod, he vanished from the heavens.
Without the Saint Emperor's protection, a host of terrifying omens descended upon the Xuanhuang Realm.
Rolling dark clouds materialized from nothing, an unbroken canopy that slowly eclipsed the bright moon that was the Great Qi Sage Dynasty.
On the ground, the birds and beasts that had emerged to listen to the sermon scattered in panic, fleeing in disarray back to the safety of their nests and burrows.
Even the flowers and trees were torn asunder, their petals and leaves scattered by the increasingly violent gales.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning tore through the dark clouds.
A torrential downpour followed, lashing against the earth.
Wind, rain, and thunder raged in concert, transforming the entire Xuanhuang Realm into a scene from the apocalypse.
Though the Dharma Spreader's true form had not yet arrived, every living creature in the world was already trembling in his shadow.
Those cultivators from the Immortal Alliance whose hearts had wavered while listening to the Saint Emperor felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over their heads, snapping them out of their feverish delusions.
"What was I thinking! That's the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate! The one who suppressed the Xuanhuang Realm single-handedly for thousands of years! How could I have imagined that the Saint... no, that these bandits would win?"
"The Saint Emperor... the Saint Emperor may be powerful, but he is no match for the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate. Dammit, I must forget this new law at once."
"Heavenly Venerate, please forgive this lowly one for a moment of folly..."
"Once the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate makes his move, everything will be set right!"
The cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance were utterly terrified, their hearts trembling with fear.
As for the soldiers of the Sage Dynasty, the immense disparity in cultivation realms between them and their foe sent a fleeting wave of terror through their ranks as well.
But in the next moment, their eyes hardened with renewed determination.
Some remembered the words the Saint Emperor had spoken to them before the expedition began.
One of them shouted towards the heavens, "The Sage Dynasty will be victorious! The Saint Emperor will be victorious!"
At first, it was just a few scattered cries.
But soon, it spread like wildfire. With no one directing them, the soldiers of the Sage Dynasty began to chant as one, their minds seemingly connected, their voices perfectly synchronized.
The sound grew louder and louder, rising from a chant to a roar, and from a roar to a deafening bellow.
The collective voice of the Great Qi's soldiers rolled like a mighty tide, spreading across the Xuanhuang Realm with the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas.
As if in response to their call, the moon in the sky erupted with a brilliant purple-gold light.
It broke free from the boundless dark clouds once more.
The raging storms of the Xuanhuang Realm actually began to subside under the sheer force of that mountainous, oceanic roar.
Dharma Transmitter Ren heard the distant shouts and sneered. "Nothing more than the struggles of a dying beast."
As if to confirm his words, teleportation gates materialized across the Central Four Prefectures of the Immortal Alliance.
Massive armadas of flying boats streamed out of them, filling the skies of the four provinces in an instant.
At the prow of each vessel stood a Dharma Transmitter.
The Dharma Transmitters looked up at the sky, bowing slightly to the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate in the starry void beyond.
Lu Xichan stole a glance at the scene, her heart pounding in shock. "These must be the cultivators from the personal worlds of the Dharma Transmitters. Now that the Heavenly Venerate has appeared, they no longer need to hide in the shadows."
"Judging by the auras emanating from those flying boats, there are many Dao Integration cultivators among them."
"The hidden power of the Immortal Alliance is even greater than I imagined..."
As Lu Xichan was lost in thought, a voice dripping with scorn echoed from the sky. "You deployed the Dissociation Disc and nineteen Heavenly Profound Sub-bodies, and after all this time, you still haven't broken a simple trapping array."
"Your Array Strategy Hall truly gets worse with each generation. If Lu Xia knew, he'd be angry enough to rise from his grave."
Hearing her master's name and the derision directed at her, a flicker of anger ignited in Lu Xichan's heart. But she recognized the speaker as one of the Dharma Transmitters, Dou, and dared not show the slightest hint of her fury. She simply bowed her head and said, "This subordinate is incompetent."
"Forget it. Have your people stand aside." At Dharma Transmitter Dou's lazy command, a contingent of children floated down from a flying boat in the sky.
They first bowed slightly to the Mirror Holders guarding the Dissociation Disc. After receiving the array data that the disc had analyzed so far, they began to break the formation.
There were thirty-six children in total.
Their faces were completely devoid of expression. Not even a flicker of emotion could be seen in their eyes.
One of them reached a hand into a beam of light from the Moonlight Starlight Array.
In the next instant, his body began to turn ethereal.
From his hand to his torso, he gradually became one with the starlight of the array.
Just as the child testing the array was about to be completely consumed by the starlight, his form vanished, transforming into a streak of light that shot towards another child.
This second child touched the light, then also began testing the array with his body.
This process was repeated over and over.
Finally, just as the thirty-sixth child was about to be transformed into starlight, his body trembled, and he shook out the thirty-five companions he had absorbed, returning to his normal form as well.
The thirty-six children huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.
Then, as if they had reached a consensus, they all nodded in unison.
They split into two groups. One began the work of breaking the array, while the other repeated the process of testing it with their bodies.
The array masters of the Immortal Alliance, who were observing from the side, immediately sensed how extraordinary this group of children was.
At the rate they were working, they would surely tear an opening in the Moonlight Starlight Array in less than half a day.
As the Chief of the Array Strategy Hall, Lu Xichan was more shocked than anyone else.
She stared at the thirty-six array-breaking children, and four words echoed in her mind: "Array Spirit Sacred Body."
It was an extremely rare constitution, as if their bodies were formed from natural arrays. Not only did they have an innate sensitivity and affinity for all kinds of formations, but they could also merge their bodies and arrays as one, dramatically increasing the power of the formation.
Like an artifact spirit to a magic treasure, they could become the spirit of an array, causing it to undergo a sublimation, a metamorphosis.
The Array Spirit Sacred Body was a phenomenon seen only once in a century.
Lu Xichan's master, Lu Xia, had spent his life searching for a cultivator with this constitution to inherit his legacy. It was a wish he never fulfilled, and in the end, he had no choice but to pass on his life's work to Lu Xichan.
She never imagined that she would see more than thirty of them today!
Lu Xichan looked up at the sky again, at the figures standing on the dense formation of flying boats.
A chill ran down her spine. "Just how much have these Dharma Transmitters been hiding?"
After assessing the progress of the array-breaking, a murderous glint flashed in Dharma Transmitter Ren's eyes.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had been utterly humiliated this time, and the Heavenly Venerate's punishment was all but certain.
In that case, before receiving his punishment, he would vent his fury on these troublemakers.
With a wave of his hand, the black-robed cultivators who had been gathering their power before being interrupted by the Saint Emperor's sermon resumed their actions.
Several cultivators in green Daoist robes, holding horsetail whisks and talismans, quietly descended from the flying boats.
With a flick of their whisks and a flourish of their talismans, they molded the accumulated spheres of light into ferocious, imposing figures that resembled divine beings, radiating an aura of slaughter.
The power emanating from these newly manifested energy gods made even Lu Xichan, a Dao Integration cultivator, feel a profound sense of fear.
The counterattack of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance was gathering momentum.
Outside the Moonlight Starlight Array, the soldiers of the Sage Dynasty were also prepared for a direct confrontation with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
The battlefield commander, Sun Erlang, was methodically issuing orders through the Saint Emperor's network of starlight.
"All those below the Nascent Soul realm, hold your positions and do not move. Continue to supervise the construction of the suppression array. Remember, completing the array on schedule will be a great merit!"
"For cultivators at the Nascent Soul realm and above, I am making the following adjustments to our deployment."
At Sun Erlang's command, the brighter stars in the cosmic sea scattered and regrouped.
"Do not clash head-on with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. We will stretch the battle line to every corner of their territory."
"We don't need to break into the Alliance's headquarters. What we need to do is wait for the Saint Emperor to return victorious from the starry sea!" Sun Erlang declared, his tone firm and resolute.
The soldiers of the Great Qi roared their assent.
Once the morale of his troops was high, Sun Erlang observed the scene within the Moonlight Starlight Array, making final adjustments to his forces.
At the same time, a part of his consciousness connected with the dark-gold Sacred Punishment Puppets that stood silent and waiting.
"Finally, a chance to stretch my legs."
Beneath Sun Erlang's calm gaze, an intensely fervent battlelust began to burn.
Three hours later.
The Moonlight Starlight Array, which had sealed the four central provinces of the Immortal Alliance for seven full days, was finally torn open.
In the next instant, a powerful attack, brimming with the fury of the Alliance cultivators, spewed forth from the breach.
Solidified spells, glaring divine manifestations, and the light of countless magic treasures...
All intertwined, erupting outwards.
A terrifying wave of energy, enough to completely level several of the Alliance's provinces, was now desperately seeking a target.
However, what awaited this long-brewing counterattack from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance...
was an ordinary, pitch-black doorway.
As the dark door swung open, it swallowed every single one of the violent attacks.
It was like an abyssal beast opening its cavernous maw.
Not even a ripple of energy was left behind for the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
After devouring all the accumulated explosive energy, the pitch-black doorway vanished as silently as it had appeared.
It left behind only the stunned members of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
"The Gloomy Sea of Darkness?" Dharma Transmitter Ren's expression changed slightly. He had sensed a familiar aura from that doorway.
And just as he suspected, the "immense" energy that had been swallowed by the Gloomy Sea of Darkness merely formed another storm cloud in its depths. It failed to stir up any other waves.
"It seems the recent disturbance in the Gloomy Sea of Darkness was also the work of these thieves."
With old hatreds and new grievances piling up, Dharma Transmitter Ren's heart was already burning with rage.
The thirty-six children continued their work, aiming to completely dismantle the Moonlight Starlight Array.
The cultivators under the other Dharma Transmitters also poured out of the breach in the array, eager to sweep through the provinces and eliminate the bandits.
However, Dharma Transmitter Ren's plan hit a snag in the very first province.
The entire province was empty.
It was as if the bandits had completely withdrawn. Even the heavenly city had been swept clean.
No one was left behind.
"They fled?" Dharma Transmitter Ren was both surprised and uncertain.
Just as the cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance looked around, bewildered, flashes of light ignited from every corner of the province.
They shot towards them with incredible speed.
The silver lights seemed to have been specially enhanced, moving several times faster than they had before.
They arrived in an instant.
"Hm? What is this...?"
"Sky Patrolling Arrows?!"
Some of the Dharma Transmitters recognized the objects now right before their eyes.
Their faces changed dramatically.
In the next moment...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A continuous chain of violent explosions thundered across the sky.
...
At that same moment, in the Dark Star Sea beyond the Xuanhuang Realm.
The figure rushing back to the Xuanhuang Realm was met with a nearly identical reception.
Except what was detonating in the star sea was not a mere Sky Patrolling Arrow.
It was the remnant power of True Immortals that permeated the void.
The Saint Emperor, Li Ping, was no pedant who insisted on a fair and honorable duel with the Dharma Spreader.
All he wanted was victory.
Harnessing the "great wind" that was sweeping through the star sea, Li Ping used the realm's recovering power to shift the positions of the lingering True Immortal energies.
He then concealed them with formations, creating a trap of sorts.
The Dharma Spreader had traveled this path home countless times.
He knew it like the back of his hand.
He never expected that this time, he would be ambushed.
Like a rising storm, the figure flickered under the influence of the different True Immortal powers, becoming indistinct, ethereal, and distorted.
He looked to be in a rather sorry state.
The Saint Emperor watched him from afar, his form identical to the towering stone statues that stood across the Xuanhuang Realm.
There was no doubt about his identity.
High crown, long beard.
The Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate.
Yet, even under attack, the expression on this figure's face remained as unchanging as the stone statues on the ground.
The Saint Emperor did not wait for his opponent to recover from the surprise attack.
The phantom of the Sage Dynasty, accompanied by a vortex of starlight, instantly materialized behind him.
"The Mandate of Heaven is mine..."
"The Ultimate Dao is mine..."
"The future is mine!"
The vast fortune that the Sage Dynasty had accumulated was instantly bestowed upon him.
The devout prayers of countless citizens of the Great Qi, its soldiers, and the remnants of the You Clan transcended space and time, echoing around the Saint Emperor like a celestial symphony.
A fierce wind rose in the Dark Star Sea, swirling around the Saint Emperor.
The darkness receded, and the starlight grew brighter.
At this moment, the Saint Emperor seemed to have become the very center of the Dark Star Sea.
Infinite star domains, endless voids, countless stars.
All now revolved around the Saint Emperor.
In the Xuanhuang Realm, every living creature felt something.
They couldn't help but look up at the sky, beyond the gloomy canopy.
A brilliant, swirling vortex of silver starlight illuminated the night-like world.
And at the center of the spiraling stars, the majestic and solemn figure of the Saint Emperor could be seen.
His starry imperial robes danced with the river of stars.
Shining, dazzling, and brighter than ever!
"Dao Extinction..."
"Dao Birth!"
The Saint Emperor's figure, accompanied by a calm and immense Daoist voice, vanished into the vortex of starlight.
The brilliant silver light instantly unfurled.
Like the Milky Way descending from the Ninth Heaven.
It crashed down upon the high-crowned old man who had yet to stabilize himself!
A flicker of change finally appeared on the Dharma Spreader's eternally unchanging face.
In that endless starlight, he seemed to see the ancient world of cultivation, this star sea in its most prosperous era.
He saw, as prosperity gave way to decline, the subtle, dissonant scenes that began to appear in the star sea.
He seemed to see, as the Immortal Dao collapsed, terrifying calamities silently descending upon the star sea. One after another, prosperous cultivation worlds were annihilated in the catastrophe.
The Dharma Spreader's eyes wavered. Before him, the brilliant star sea was growing dim.
The starlight entered his eyes, his body, his soul.
The Dharma Spreader's high crown and robes began to decay.
His beard and hair began to fall out.
His posture, once tall and imposing, became stooped.
The remnant powers of the True Immortals still clung to him, refusing to let go.
The Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate looked to be in a precarious state.
"Cough, cough..."
"A fine move, this [Dao Extinction, Dao Birth]."
Amidst the howling winds of the star sea, the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate finally spoke.
His voice was different from the benevolent tone that the inhabitants of the Xuanhuang Realm remembered from his sermons.
Perhaps due to the heavy blow he had suffered, it was as weak and breathless as that of a dying mortal.
The Saint Emperor did not respond.
He did not even reveal his form.
The grinding erosion of the river of starlight was nearing its end.
But the Saint Emperor's attack was not over.
What had just happened to the Dharma Spreader was only [Dao Extinction].
And next...
came [Dao Birth]!
Black hair sprouted from the Dharma Spreader's head, growing wildly in the wind.
Muffled explosions echoed from all over his body. Tumors of flesh and protruding bones could be seen forming.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A powerful heartbeat accompanied the resurgent wind of the star sea.
With every beat, a chunk of flesh exploded from the Dharma Spreader's body.
A new Dao is born, the old law must be executed.
The Dharma Spreader, an ancient being incompatible with the rejuvenation of the star sea, was being subjected to an incredibly intense Dao erosion.
The heartbeat quickened. The Dharma Spreader's bent body was already mangled beyond recognition.
Even the bones beneath his flesh were gone.
He was like a shattered puzzle piece, tossed about by violent explosions.
His newly grown long hair, after circling once through the star sea, returned to its origin.
It wrapped tightly around his neck.
Tighter and tighter, like a sharp blade sworn to sever his head.
Bang!
His heart reached its limit, and the Dharma Spreader's chest exploded.
There was no mist of blood, only pure, absolute nothingness.
Not even energy remained. It was the perfect image of Dao annihilation!
The annihilation spread from the hole in his chest.
His already ravaged body seemed on the verge of being completely consumed by the void.
The wind of the star sea grew even more ferocious.
It seemed to be celebrating this victory.
However...
Just as the void of annihilation was about to swallow the Dharma Spreader's head.
The Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate, this supremely powerful being of mysterious origin who had dominated the Xuanhuang Realm for several eras.
Suddenly, specks of starlight lit up in his eyes.
Although the lower half of his head had already been consumed, a voice still echoed through the star sea.
They were the exact same words the Saint Emperor had shouted.
"Dao Extinction..."
As the Dharma Spreader spoke, the star sea seemed to fall silent and dark once more.
The howling wind slowly died down.
The wildly growing hair gradually fell away.
The nothingness that was consuming the Dharma Spreader was halted by some unknown force, its spread arrested.
In an instant, all the destructive phenomena afflicting the Dharma Spreader had vanished.
An invisible barrier seemed to exist around him, blocking any force that tried to approach.
The wind still blew, the starlight still shone.
But none of it could harm him in the slightest.
Not even when all that was left of him was half a head.
"Dao Birth."
The Dharma Spreader spoke again, his tone perfectly calm.
Black hair regrew, and a physical body was born and evolved from the void.
High crown, robes, all were restored in the blink of an eye.
In a matter of moments, the grievously wounded, near-death Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate was restored to his original state!
It was a terrifying sight!
"A pity. It was so close," the Saint Emperor's sigh suddenly echoed.
A streak of starlight swept past, and Li Ping's figure reappeared.
He stared at the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate, the regret in his eyes long gone, replaced once again by infinite battlelust and unwavering conviction.
The Dharma Spreader did not immediately counterattack. Instead, he sized up the assailant who had tried to kill him without a word of warning.
As if he had seen something incredibly interesting, the Dharma Spreader paused for a moment.
Then he said, "When did another one at the [Supreme] realm appear in this starry sky?"
There was a hint of nostalgia in his voice, a touch of emotion.
"Supreme..." The Saint Emperor savored the word.
Then he shook his head slightly. "It is merely the current limit of the star sea."
"It is not the limit of *this* star sea."
"So how can one speak of 'Supreme'?"
The Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate did not refute him.
Instead, he looked back towards the distant center of the star sea. "Have you heard the saying, 'a rising tide lifts all boats'?"
"My Supreme, and your Supreme..."
"are still somewhat different."
The Dharma Spreader spoke calmly.
There was no hint of boasting, only the placid tone of someone stating a fact.
The Saint Emperor listened to the Dharma Spreader's words, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He naturally understood the Dharma Spreader's meaning.
The Dharma Spreader's current combat strength was because the star sea's capacity was limited to this level. But the power the Dharma Spreader truly commanded was far beyond this limit.
For now, due to this ceiling, it could not be displayed.
As the star sea's limits expanded, his strength would grow stronger and stronger.
The Saint Emperor, on the other hand, although he had also reached the star sea's limit, had done so through the support of the Sage Dynasty's fortune, the favor of the star sea, and various other factors.
Once the star sea's limits were expanded, he would need to continue cultivating for some time to catch up.
This was the gap between him and the Dharma Spreader.
"He is, after all, the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate, who has existed for who knows how long." The Saint Emperor was not particularly surprised.
Nor did he feel the slightest fear.
Even if his killing move had been blocked, even if there was a gap in their strength.
But...
The Saint Emperor's attack had only just begun.
The Saint Emperor, Li Ping, reached out his hand, feeling the wind rise in the star sea.
This time, it was not the wind of the star sea's rejuvenation.
It was the wind of chaos, stirred up by the clash with the remnant powers of the True Immortals!
The Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate also noticed Li Ping's actions.
"That move of yours, [Dao Extinction, Dao Birth], was indeed extraordinary."
"It was quite inspiring."
"I, too, have a move. I invite you to appraise it."
This time, the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate struck first.
"This art is called..."
"Object in Palm."
The moment those three words echoed in the Saint Emperor's ears, Li Ping felt a wave of unease.
Then, the scene before his eyes changed rapidly.
His body began to shrink infinitely.
The world around him expanded at a terrifying rate.
The high-crowned old man, who had been several times smaller than his ten-meter-tall frame, swelled up rapidly.
By the time the Saint Emperor realized what was happening, the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate had already become as colossal as the massive stone statues that stood on the surface of the Xuanhuang Realm.
It wasn't just a change in size.
The Saint Emperor could even feel his connection to the Sage Dynasty, to the Xuanhuang Realm, and even to the entire star sea, weakening as he shrank.
The Saint Emperor had a premonition that if this continued, that connection might be severed completely.
And he would be forever lost in this miniature world.
As his mind raced, the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate's attack was already upon him.
In the time it took to think, he could no longer see the Dharma Spreader's full form.
Only the Dharma Spreader's palm, like a mountain, a continent, like the earth and sky itself, pressed down from above.
The surrounding space was locked down. There was no escape for the Saint Emperor.
Looking up, even the lines on the Dharma Spreader's palm had become like towering mountain ranges.
Facing the colossal palm that was about to crush him, there was not a hint of fear in the Saint Emperor's eyes.
"The Xuanhuang Realm..."
"is no object in your palm."
A cold glint flashed in the Saint Emperor's eyes.
"Let me show you the true power of the Xuanhuang Realm."
"My body becomes..."
"the Xuanhuang Heaven!"
His body was completely engulfed by the shadow of the Dharma Spreader's giant palm.
And then...
An infinite Xuanhuang light burst forth from beneath the palm.
At that moment, the living beings of the Xuanhuang Realm felt the earth beneath their feet begin to shake violently.
The dark clouds in the sky were scattered by the tremors.
Many sharp-eyed cultivators even noticed that it was as if some lines were missing from the world.
With a creaking roar, as if the pillars of heaven had fractured, The sky of the Xuanhuang Realm fell a little lower.
(End of this chapter)
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