Chapter 450

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Protagonist:

Yu Zhangsheng

"Xuan Tian Holy Emperor!!"

Han Cheng's words stirred up a storm in Yu Zhangsheng's heart; this storm swept through Yu Zhangsheng's Sea of Consciousness, reverberating and shaking throughout his mind and spirit, as if a shackle of cognition had been shattered. The four words "Xuan Tian Holy Emperor" echoed again and again in his mind, suppressing the peerless heavenly might.

And the moment these four words came out, it was as if the rules of heaven and earth were thoroughly enraged; the thunder roared even more violently, densely covering heaven and earth like the end of the world. Amidst the booming, heaven and earth roared in fury, laws stretched out, and suddenly a thunder dragon fell from the sky, exploding beside Yu Zhangsheng and Han Cheng.

Boom!

Lightning flashed — this was a true bolt from the blue. Where the thunder struck, earth and wood were blasted away, revealing a huge deep pit, a charred expanse; astonishing high temperatures distorted everything, wantonly declaring this was true heavenly thunder. Yu Zhangsheng's heart trembled.

This is a warning, this is a taboo — not allowed to be mentioned or appear.

Thus, the wind grew stronger, the thunder more dazzling. A suppressive atmosphere enveloped this place; thick heavenly pressure could not dissipate from the hearts of the few.

In the unseen, a strange power began to ripple; as it spread, it seemed intent on completely erasing the memories related to this information from Yu Zhangsheng and the others.

Consequently, Meng Wu'an and Li Minghan's faces showed a hint of struggle; their gazes suddenly went blank for an instant, while Yu Zhangsheng's mind rippled, waves in his eyes, yet he suffered no effect.

Seeing this, the strangeness in Han Cheng's eyes deepened. He looked up at the world-destroying heavenly might and thunder; though his face was pale and his body swaying on the verge of collapse, his brows lifted slightly and he gave a cold laugh: "Mere bluster. If it could truly pierce the Wu Dao Jie, there would be no need to forbid and seal the information."

Yu Zhangsheng, for his part, after a long while, suppressed the waves in his mind, let out a deep breath, looked up at Han Cheng, his gaze bright.

He faintly felt that this information seemed to have some connection to himself.

Han Cheng, ignoring the heavenly warning from the outside world, lowered her head and glanced at Yu Zhangsheng, her eyes holding surprise mixed with amusement. Her slender finger tapped lightly, and she spoke softly with interest: "You little fellow are not simple either, to actually still hear it. Looks like the secrets on you are not small."

Some information, even though Han Cheng could speak it aloud, Yu Zhangsheng and the others could not retain it clearly — take Meng Wu'an and Li Minghan right now, both completely sunk into a blank state, minds empty, their ears no longer hearing Han Cheng's subsequent words.

Yu Zhangsheng, though his face was pale and his condition poor, his consciousness remained awake. Every word from Han Cheng stirred the Heavenly Dao Qi on Yu Zhangsheng into activity; the Heavenly Dao Golden Core pulsed, the Wanling Jue operated...

... canceling out for him the extraneous sounds the rules forbade him to hear, making every sentence from Han Cheng enter Yu Zhangsheng's ears clearly.

This point made Han Cheng surprised and also gave her guesses; she pondered a moment, then continued:

"Xuan Tian Holy Emperor — throughout history there have been many dynasties above the law, but they merely ruled one nation, at most a regional lord, and in the end all vanished in the river of years. The Xuan Tian Holy Son, however, is different. He himself is a darling of heaven and earth, gathering the world's fortune in one body; it can be said his very appearance was an active trend of the Xuan Tian Jie."

"Even more so later, he forcibly fused his own Dao Seal into heaven and earth, to vindicate the name 'Xuan Tian' for the cultivation world. This act, though it violated heaven's great taboo, unprecedented, yet afterward he succeeded. From then on, 'Xuan Tian' became the name of the cultivation world, engraved in everything of the cultivation world, ineradicable."

"And the next step, the Xuan Tian Holy Son intended to use this to conquer the Dao, to turn the cultivation world into his own world, and he as Holy Emperor would be the emperor of one world. Such audacity can be said to be unparalleled through the ages!"

Even now, merely recounting this history, Han Cheng felt waves in her mind; her tone involuntarily carried emotion.

"And this act ultimately enraged all the Holy Lands in the cultivation world, as well as the Tongtian Daoneng."

Han Cheng's tone paused; after hesitating a while, she continued:

"At this moment, if the Xuan Tian Holy Land were merely nominally the First Holy Land, unifying Xuan Tian, they could barely accept it. But if the Xuan Tian Holy Son truly became, in the real sense, the master of the Xuan Tian Jie, ruling Xuan Tian, transforming into the Xuan Tian Holy Emperor, then it can be said that from then on the Xuan Tian Jie would truly become his world, and he would be this world's master."

"And they — all living beings born in the Xuan Tian Jie — would be entangled with the Xuan Tian Holy Emperor in immense karma; even their Dao paths would be limited, because by then all the Great Daos in the Xuan Tian Jie would be stained with the Xuan Tian Holy Emperor's aura. All living beings within would be merely the Xuan Tian Holy Son's subjects; the Xuan Tian Holy Emperor would be the Father God, standing at the end of the Great Dao. Henceforth, all cultivators cultivating to the limit, needing to transcend..."

Hearing this information, though somewhat abstruse, Yu Zhangsheng gradually came to understand through contemplation. Moreover, he felt astonishment at the Xuan Tian Holy Son's deeds.

Bestowing a name upon a world, refining the Ten Thousand Worlds as master...

Such an act indeed easily provokes resistance from the world's living beings, especially those Daoneng cultivators who have occupied continents for long; they naturally would never allow a sudden living being to become their Father God, to bear karma, and from then on still need to transcend to gain true freedom.

This karma involves the level of the Dao; it is that for all living beings in the Xuan Tian Jie, the Great Daos within the world, at their end, all bear the Xuan Tian Holy Son's shadow. To advance another step, one can only surpass the Xuan Tian Holy Emperor, or obtain his permission, and then transcend.

Therefore, Han Cheng sighed lightly and said: "Cultivation is inherently defying heaven; how can we cultivators allow another heaven to appear above our heads? Even if that person is the Xuan Tian Holy Son, it is not allowed."

"Thus," Han Cheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her face pale as she gave a muffled grunt; a mouthful of fresh blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, yet she ignored it, merely wiping it away casually, then continued:

"Thus, a great battle erupted. At the moment the Xuan Tian Holy Son ascended the throne, intending to become the Xuan Tian Holy Emperor, all Daoneng within the Xuan Tian Jie, all Holy Lands, figures of the Holy Lord level, launched a siege against the Xuan Tian Holy Land and the Xuan Tian Son." Boom boom boom! Heaven and earth roared, heavenly thunder rolled down in torrents, bolt after bolt descending beside the two. The hundred li around them was already pitted and charred; laws trembled, the Void roared; not a single intact patch of ground remained.

And the self-repair of the Wu Dao Jie itself began at this moment; bit by bit, Dao rhymes turned into points of light, mending the earth's cracks, calming the heavenly might. Thus the thunder's momentum slightly converged, yet remained extremely astonishing.

In truth, these thunders were mostly bluster, not entities; all their power exploded inside Yu Zhangsheng and Han Cheng's minds, to make them forget everything.

But Yu Zhangsheng is special, naturally able to resist; and Han Cheng herself could still endure. Thus, gritting her teeth, eyes bloodshot yet maintaining a calm tone, she continued: "That battle — heaven collapsed, earth split; the land sank and rose; the entire cultivation world was affected; all Great Daos were employed; ten thousand li of territory collapsed countless times; tens of millions of living beings died; blood waters swept the sky dome, dyeing it blood-red; Holy Lands collapsed; heaven and earth went blind."

Han Cheng sighed lightly.

"One Tongtian Daoneng after another joined the war; the Xuan Tian Jie's ten thousand races encircled and killed, just to slay the Xuan Tian Holy Son. Sun and moon lost color; the Great Dao lost its inscription; heaven itself was broken; nearly half a continent was destroyed; only after countless years did it recover. It can be said, this battle — heaven collapsed, earth split; stars fell."

Han Cheng lamented.

"This was a battle involving all races and beings; countless sects, nearly all Holy Lands, all participated. Though the Xuan Tian Holy Land was then the cultivation world's First Holy Land, under those circumstances it was nearly enemies with the whole world. Even though the Xuan Tian Holy Land was powerful, the final outcome... was also inevitable: the Xuan Tian Holy Lord died in battle; the Xuan Tian Holy Land was shattered; its high-level members nearly wiped out; elders and disciples — the dead died, the escaped escaped, the injured injured... The Xuan Tian Holy Land, this glorious, peerless First Holy Land, was ultimately annihilated."

Yu Zhangsheng listened in a trance, only able to remain silent. And Han Cheng continued to narrate slowly:

"But even though the Xuan Tian Holy Land perished, with their formidable strength, how could the victors possibly remain unscathed? In that battle, too many Holy Lands and sects were annihilated; the many forces that barely survived and won then divided up the Xuan Tian Holy Land and the other destroyed Holy Lands and sects, obtaining unimaginable resources and benefits.

Then in the long years after, relying on this they rose again to new heights; some surviving sects also thereby later advanced to become new Holy Lands."

"It was precisely because of this battle that polarization within the Xuan Tian Jie intensified. For a very long time, there was a gap in succession. In the past, Holy Lands were certainly high above, but some top-tier continental sect forces were not unable to compare or touch them. After this battle, top sects were nearly all destroyed; weaker Holy Lands also perished; the surviving Holy Lands became even more powerful and transcendent, increasingly high above, and thereby re-divided the continent. From then on, Holy Lands were supreme..."

"This created the current cultivation world situation: Holy Lands, high above, unrivaled, looking down on the continent; whether sects or dynasties, their development is checked by Holy Lands; the gap between the two is too great..."

Han Cheng sighed softly; her words, in Yu Zhangsheng's mind, were like a flash of lightning, swiftly touching the places where doubts still lingered, making him suddenly realize and gain a deeper understanding of Holy Lands.

"So that's how it is. No wonder a single Meng Yao Holy Land can suppress the Five States of the Southern Domain..." Yu Zhangsheng lowered his brows, murmured softly, then shook his head and asked: "Then, what about the Xuan Tian Holy Son... how did he fare?"

"Xuan Tian Holy Son?" Han Cheng laughed lightly, said softly: "The Xuan Tian Holy Land destroyed, the Xuan Tian Holy Lord killed; the Holy Land's disciples and elders almost all dead or barely escaped. As the enemy, the Xuan Tian Holy Son, the prime mover of it all — though his strength crowned the world, penetrating heaven and earth — under the siege of ten thousand races, he ultimately fell..."

"This Xuan Tian Holy Emperor of his ultimately was not achieved. Legend says at his death, heaven and earth shook; countless famous mountains and rivers, Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands collapsed; blood rain swept heaven and earth. Floods swept the continent; volcanoes erupted and sprayed; natural disasters triggered; even heaven wept for him; countless beings shed tears... Heaven and earth spiritual Qi violently surged; the Great Dao roared; countless cultivators suffered Qi Deviation and died directly..."

Yu Zhangsheng fell silent. For such a powerful figure, he had exceeded the range Yu Zhangsheng had contacted, but merely listening to Han Cheng's depiction, he could imagine a thing or two.

"In the end, the Xuan Tian Holy Son still fell. However, before his death, he once used vast Dao sounds to sweep heaven and earth, proclaiming to the world... leaving his final testament."

"He said: 'Even if I die, this world's heaven and earth, named Xuan Tian, is already a settled game. In the years after, even if I die and reincarnate countless times, as long as this world is still Xuan Tian, as long as my name remains in the years, then one day I will once again descend upon the world with an invincible posture...'"

Boom boom boom!!

The wind grew stronger, thunder shattered the vault of heaven. As these words finished, countless thunder roars turned into the sharpest blades, viciously stabbing at Yu Zhangsheng's mind and soul, intending to erase this information from his mind at its root.

Consequently, Yu Zhangsheng gave a muffled grunt; a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out; his body swayed; his eyes whitened; but he fiercely gritted his teeth and pressed his lips. The Heavenly Dao Golden Core, Heavenly Dao Qi, Wanling Jue, Tongling Dao Body... and the Dao rhymes that had filled Yu Zhangsheng's body during this time, were all mobilized, crashing fiercely toward that erasing force! "Boom boom boom!"

"Puff puff puff..."

Yu Zhangsheng coughed up blood, and the Lord of Han Cheng was likewise panting heavily, his breath disordered, his Qi and blood flowing in reverse, yet he still struggled fiercely, looking at Yu Zhangsheng, a sharp light flashing in his eyes, and after exhaling deeply, he continued: "It is also for this very reason that after slaying the Profound Heaven Saint Son, an UltimateLess Daoneng wanted to wipe out this World's name, wipe out the Profound Heaven traces, rename this World anew, and even take its place."

"Regret, he was not the Profound Heaven Saint Son, not this Heaven and Earth's favored child blessed by the Heavens, and moreover, the name Profound Heaven has already penetrated the Cultivation World's origin, so even though later an UltimateLess Daoneng wanted to rename the Cultivation World anew, it was not acknowledged by Heaven and Earth, and ultimately helpless, he could only choose to use an unimaginable Great Divine Ability to seal the name Profound Heaven, yet it was merely so, unable to give it another name."

"This is also why, even now among low-level Cultivators, the true name of the Cultivation World remains unknown... from ancient times to present, only the name Profound Heaven has been acknowledged by the Cultivation World, yet with the destruction of the Profound Heaven Holy Land and the fall of the Profound Heaven Saint Son, it became a taboo, none dare speak it. However, after Long Years have passed, this seal has Gradually begun to waver, and thus it became known to you and me."

"This battle was also sealed within the years, and called the Profound Heaven War..."

The Lord of Han Cheng spoke softly, Heaven and Earth lightning streaked across, thunder boomed, and for a moment it flared bright as day. (Chapter End)