All the living beings below were the Incense People and Believers of the Divine Monarch’s Divine Temple. They were the foundation of his power, a true case of all great power belonging to oneself.
In the context of the Human Immortal Martial Dao system, such a figure would be equivalent to the so-called Titled Martial Dao!
’My own strength is already suppressed by seventy to eighty percent. I’m only comparable to a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, or at the absolute most, a Sect Leader at the Realm of Leakless.’
’If I go up against someone like that and hesitate for even a single breath, my Divine Dao Life Lamp will probably shatter completely!’
’I came to Great Xuan this time on orders and in my true body. This isn’t as simple as losing a wisp of Divine Thought. If I fall here, I will truly be gone forever!’
Hearing the screams of the Divine Armor under his command, seeing the Divine Weapon Life Talismans he controlled dim one by one, the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General’s heart grew colder and colder.
Until an old but gentle voice resounded by his ear:
"Caught you."
HISS!
CRACK!
After shattering three hundred Divine Armor, a large hand ruthlessly clamped down on his arm. With just a light graze...
A spray of Divine Blood instantly rained down into the Earth Dragon Cave, becoming fertilizer!
WHOOSH!
And just at that moment, the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General crossed through the Realm Gate!
He now stood upon a mountain in Central Yellow Heaven, within the territory of the Three-Five Slaying Evil Divine Monarch Temple.
"Hah... Hah..."
The Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General gasped for breath, a smile spreading across his face.
He raised his head to see the densely packed stars overhead, woven into a great ’Divine Dao Net’ of rules. It dictated the exact time of sunrise and sunset, without the slightest deviation.
Each of those stars represented a Holy ’palace,’ and lesser deities weren’t even qualified to ascend for an audience.
In the past, the sight had only made the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General feel suffocated. After all, he was merely a cog at the very bottom of this great net; no matter how hard he tried, it was nearly impossible to advance.
But now, all he felt was a profound sense of relief welling up in his heart—the relief of a survivor.
Crossing the Realm Gate basically meant safety.
After all, this wasn’t Great Xuan!
With the Central Yellow Divine Court in the heavens and the many Divine Monarch Temples on the ground, a single Martial Saint might carry some weight within this vast, mysterious, and boundless Divine Dao Net, but that was the extent of it. He couldn’t make any great waves here.
But then, intense pain shot through him. Looking at his hand, which had been brutally crushed, the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General gritted his teeth and stared at the ’Illusory Gate,’ his eyes filled with terror:
"A Martial Saint was actually waiting right by the Realm Gate. Luckily, I was the last one to enter and was already on the threshold. Otherwise..."
He was incredibly relieved about this.
But in the next moment!
But when the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General saw the ’Realm Gate’ continue to hum and tremble long after he had passed through, faintly triggering a rejection from the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism—as if a being that did not belong to this Celestial Universe was about to step through—he was scared out of his wits!
"That old bastard actually dares to step into ’Central Yellow Heaven’!?"
"Is he insane!?"
This ominous sign terrified the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General. Without daring to linger for a single breath, he instantly burned his Divine Blood and fled, intent on reporting this to the ’Three-Five Slaying Evil Divine Monarch’!
A moment later!
A blurry figure emerged from the Illusory Gate, stepping into the firmament.
Xu Longxiang appeared, his silver hair unbound, his sleeves billowing. He carried a large coffin on his shoulder and gazed up at the ’Divine Dao Net’ in the heavens, truly seeing for the first time what was meant by ’Heaven’s net is vast; its meshes are wide, but nothing escapes.’
Then, his eyes filled with disdain, and he let out a soft sneer:
"Compared to Great Xuan, a world born of Heaven and Earth, where the sun rises and the moon sets of its own accord,"
"Here, all the rules are made by others. The common people are herded like sheep, with no chance to fight for their own destiny. In such a stagnant world, what opportunity is there for those at the bottom to ever rise?"
"So this is the great world of the Divine Dao... nothing more than a pasture for those ancient ones."
"No wonder these so-called Divine Monarchs have to go to other realms to plunder resources, just like locusts."
"After all, if they can’t obtain resources from the outside to advance, then as long as a single one of the Holy beings sitting in their starry palaces doesn’t fall, these people will never be able to ascend to the heavens in their entire lives!"
He flicked his sleeve, his hawk-like eyes, as sharp as swords and terrifyingly bright, locking onto the only place in this vast expanse that had a ’gathering of Spiritual Mechanism’ similar to his own. He whispered:
"That must be the ’Divine Monarch Temple’ that presides over this area, invaded Great Xuan, and dispatched Divine Armor to gather up all the Spiritual Mechanism from the Earth Dragon Cave..."
The old man murmured, patting the fine coffin his student had made for his one and only apprentice.
He felt the immediate, oppressive weight on his shoulders, a malice from this Heaven and Earth that sought to crush even his fiery ’Martial Saint True Intent.’ His eyes gradually turned grim:
"What are mere trials and tribulations to me?"
"In life, I couldn’t let my apprentice fulfill his filial duties to me. It has been sixty years since my ’death,’ and now, if I let someone steal his corpse right from under my nose..."
"Then what would be the difference between my ’Dragon Elephant’ Title and a laughingstock!?"
CRACK, CRACK...
The old man, standing before the Illusory Gate with his spine visibly bent under the Heaven and Earth Suppression, took a single step. A wild torrent of power erupted, as if stirring a tempest in the void, sending out tangible ripples!
And then————
Carrying the large coffin on his shoulder, he strode forward, heading straight for the ’Three-Five Slaying Evil Divine Monarch Temple.’ His voice, like a clap of thunder, roared across the plains:
"Great Xuan Martial Saint, Xu Longxiang!"
"Has come to demand an accounting!"
...
Ji Xiu, travel-worn and dust-covered, had spent two full days traversing the eighteen Lianhuan Mountain Towns outside the Earth Dragon Cave, completely eradicating all the Mountain Spirits and Wild Deities that had been empowered by imperial decree when the Realm Gate opened.
Afterward, he entered the Earth Dragon Cave, venturing five hundred li deep!
The Communication Talisman left by Xu Longxiang had instructed Ji Xiu not to rashly enter the ’Realm Gate’.
But before this gate, Ji Xiu saw heaps upon heaps of Divine Armor corpses!
’So Master carried the coffin and charged straight into ’Central Yellow Heaven’!?’
Even though the earlier commotion had shaken Heaven and Earth, with a glimpse of it visible even from Wushan Mountain Town, and though he already had a good idea of what had happened, seeing the aftermath for himself still left Ji Xiu shocked and filled with admiration.
That was a vast, boundless Outer Dao world—unfathomably perilous, unfathomably mysterious, and filled with who knows how many treacherous and bizarre techniques never before seen in the world of the Martial Dao!
And yet, Xu Longxiang had dared to enter it all alone... It had to be said, such audacity was truly worthy of a Martial Saint!
The more Ji Xiu thought about it, the more curious he became as he recalled the past events concerning ’Ye Wenjiang’.
What kind of earth-shattering event could it have been to force the Dragon Elephant Martial Saint—a man who dared to charge into Central Yellow Heaven—to remain silent about it?
He didn’t know.
But he was left speechless by the audacity of the unknown Divine Beings who had collected the ’Earth Dragon Cave Spirit Mechanism,’ dispatched Divine Armor, and abducted the corpse of the Great Demon, along with that of Senior Ye Wenjiang whom he had buried.
’My Master was in seclusion for sixty years, unable to resolve the knot in his heart. And you? You go and dig up his apprentice’s grave. How could he possibly not cross realms to come find you and settle the score!?’
As for whether Xu Longxiang could handle the situation, Ji Xiu was quite confident.
This Master of his was not without a powerful background; he came from ’True Martial Mountain’!
And what kind of place was True Martial Mountain?
It was a Celestial Pillar Level faction established by Qii Xuanzhen, one of the ’Ten Primordial Ancestors’ from the dawn of Great Xuan, and it represented one of the highest contemporary achievements of the Human Immortal Martial Dao!
How could the background of an ordinary Martial Saint compare!
A Celestial Pillar Level Qi Dao True Skill, the Armor Demon-Vanquishing Weather, and personally creating the ’Nine Dragons and Nine Elephants Prison Suppression Technique’... and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Just thinking about it filled Ji Xiu with confidence.
Now that he had cleansed the eighteen Lianhuan Mountain Towns of their Imperial Decree Wild Deities, he had already achieved Minor Success with his True Skill.
All that was left was to wait for good news from his Master. Once the old man fought his way back from Central Yellow Heaven, hopefully bringing back one or two Outer Deity captives to serve as whetstones for his own training... wouldn’t he break through to the ’Qi Cultivation Grandmaster’ realm in a matter of minutes!?
Now that he was on the verge of a breakthrough, it was even more important not to be hasty. If he rashly crossed through this ’gate,’ he would easily become his Master’s weak point, forcing his Master to hold back for fear of harming him.
It would be better to return home, back to Anning County. There, he could use the Daoist Talisman Divine Technique ’Yellow Millet Dream’ to comprehend the Immortal Chapter, opening the Cultivation path of a ’Daoist High Merit’ and begin preparations for opening his Purple Mansion!
「At the same time.」
The Communication Talisman that Ji Xiu had left at the Anning County Ji Residence—one he had purchased from the Prefecture City—began to hum and tremble. A message was coming through, causing his eyes to narrow as he stood guard at the Earth Dragon Cave Gate:
"Hm?"
’Jiangyin Prefecture... someone has come?’