Chapter 901: Seeking Death, Then Come!
The scene that appeared in the sky allowed Xu Qing to immediately confirm that his previous judgment was correct: the mysterious cultivator who appeared at the critical moment to intercept the starry sky hand when the Three Gods ascended that day...
... was indeed the Human Emperor.
"No wonder the Yanyue retreat at that time felt too smooth to me; I had a feeling that my appearance merely provided a reasonable excuse for this retreat."
"Looking at it now, the Xingyan Upper God appeared within the Human Race Imperial Capital before... I fear that even then, the Human Emperor had already made a deal with him."
Xu Qing murmured in his heart!
Gazing at this magnificent scene before him, he also felt a sense of respect for that Empress!
He hoped today would be a success!
Xu Qing could find no reason not to offer his blessings, especially after experiencing the drum-beating, so he looked toward the Empress.
In his eyes, the Empress was confident and composed, possessing the grace of a sovereign over the world; it seemed that no matter how things changed, she remained unperturbed, and any difficulty could be overcome. From beginning to end, her expression remained unchanged!
If it were the Xu Qing from before he entered the Seven Blood Eyes—before his horizons, his cognition, and his experiences had been thoroughly opened—he might have had a different understanding of the Empress's calmness!
But now, his life experience naturally allowed him to see the other party's status and stature, which meant she could not easily reveal her own emotions, especially since at this moment, all the human race was gazing at the Empress.
The Empress was the source of the human race's inner strength in the current Wanggu!
If the Empress were startled, the human race would be startled; if the Empress were panicked, the human race would be panicked!
Likewise, at this moment, there was no telling how many great clans and powerhouses of Wanggu, as well as countless gods, were also closely watching this grand sacrificial ceremony of the human race in their own ways!
Therefore, one could imagine that every expression, every word, and every action of the Empress would be magnified countless times and deeply interpreted by all parties!
Once fully perceived, even greater dangers would arrive!
This is what is meant by "walking on thin ice"!
Therefore, the Empress could only remain calm!
In Xu Qing's thoughts, the sounds in the firmament grew increasingly violent, the sense of fragmentation was evident, and the earth resonated and shook accordingly!
At this moment, this world seemed to have transformed into a surging, angry sea, and the human race was like a lone boat in the towering waves, rising and falling violently with the wind and waves, facing the danger of capsizing at any moment!
As for the firmament, the roaring sound coming from the sea of fire was deafening!
One could see moonlight spilling down, forming bursts of divine authority; the aura from the Moon Flame Upper God swept across everything, domineering and cold!
A battle of gods, especially at the level of gods like Moon Flame and Burning Fire, was no longer something that ordinary people could see with the naked eye!
Even perception would become abstract!
Thus, the sea of fire in the firmament and the moonlight intertwined, becoming an abstract painting!
In the painting, moonlight vaguely spread, and fire rolled backward!
The gap between Flawless and Tribulation Fire was clearly reflected in this scroll!
In fact, if Moon Flame were willing, suppressing a Tribulation Fire god would be as easy as flipping his hand!
But clearly, he was not willing!
As for the Mud Fox on the side, it was the same; he walked calmly through the dark night, the Mud King descended from the sky, mud rose from the earth, and wherever he passed, everything seemed destined to become a giant clay sculpture!
This included the countless corpses retreating incessantly in front of him; the god gathered there was clearly in the hearts of these two!
This time, protecting the path only required blocking and fighting a little; that was enough!
It was not that they couldn't truly kill the two Tribulation Fire gods for the human race, but the human race currently seemed unable to afford that price!
This also exceeded the scope of the deal!
All of this fell into the Empress's eyes; whether it was the arrival of the Burning Fire God of the Red Earth Daluo Clan or the appearance of that god from the Nether Abyss Corpse Clan, it was actually within the Empress's expectations!
The ascension of the Three Gods back then, to a certain extent, could be considered a rehearsal for the difficulties the Empress would face later!
Therefore, the Empress chose to cooperate with the Three Gods back then!
At their most critical moment, she took a huge risk to resist that starry sky hand for the Three Gods!
This was exchanged for the arrival of the Yanyue Three Gods today!
Even if the Three Gods did not go all out, their attitude had been revealed, and the Empress knew clearly that this was just a deal!
Although the Yanyue Profound Heaven Clan had been enemies since ancient times, for the future of the human race, enemies could also become allies!
After all, compared to other gods of Wanggu, the origins of the Yanyue Three Gods were more suitable!
Of course, the prerequisite was still to possess the qualifications to trade with them!
The Empress shifted her gaze away from the firmament and looked into the five whirlpools surrounding the Ancient Emperor Star; the corpses of the Dongsheng Human Emperor and the secrets regarding the origins of the Yanyue Three Gods were precisely the reasons why the Dongsheng Human Emperor launched the war under the order of the Holy Land back then!
While this secret was eventually reported to the Holy Land, it was also told to his descendants by the Dongsheng Human Emperor!
The Empress withdrew her gaze and looked toward the divine fire on the horizon; it had already burned to the critical moment!
There was one more item in this deal!
The moment she looked, a heaven-shaking drum sound came from the end of the firmament!
Once this sound arose, it continued to shake the hearts and minds of all living beings; the firmament lost its color, the earth was about to become void, and the entire world trembled violently at this instant!
The firmament was like this, the earth was like this, the mountains and rivers were like this, and all living beings were like this!
It seemed that some incomparably terrifying existence was walking into the human world amidst this sound!
Soon, the void was torn open, creating a giant crack that pierced through heaven and earth, appearing infinite as one looked up, with no end in sight.
And within this crack, a great wind from the north blew!
This wind was icy cold, extinguishing vitality; it grew larger and larger, eventually forming a wailing sound and turning into a storm capable of suppressing time and space!
It was shocking to the eye!
Whether it was the Burning Fire God or that Dark Night God, both were shaken to their cores at this time, looking at the storm from afar.
In their gaze, two figures walked out of the crack, stepping on the storm as they came!
These two figures were one large and one small; the large one had a body a full thousand zhang tall, covered from head to toe in golden bone armor that seemed inseparable from his flesh. A sense of holiness was particularly conspicuous on him. His head also had armor, but it did not cover his face; however, his face was strange, a pitch-black void, appearing like a black hole!
He had no facial features, and behind him were ribbons formed by countless golden lightning bolts, spreading ten thousand zhang, vast and astonishing, composing a pair of giant wings.
A terrifying pressure and a terrifying aura descended upon the world as he walked!
The one following beside him, like a servant, wore a gray long robe and emitted gray mist from his entire body; a roaring sound echoed within his body—he was actually an Upper God!
Although not Tribulation Fire, he was at the level of Karma Fire!
For such an existence to be merely a divine servant, one could see the high status of this god in golden bone armor who stepped on the storm from the crack!
"Beiming Royal Clan."
The Empress spoke slowly, her tone low!
Among the countless clans of the Wanggu Continent, the Beiming Royal Clan ranked second.
The strength of this clan, although having some gap with the first strongest clan, far exceeded that of the Yanyue Profound Heaven Clan of the past.
Looking across the entire Wanggu, they could be called the supreme clan; the one who arrived now was one of the many gods of this clan, the God of Fate, at the peak of Flawless!
As he walked, Burning Fire lowered his head, Dark Night retracted, and Xingyan and Moon Flame also became somewhat heavy!
Although both were Flawless, this one was clearly closer to the Divine Platform than they were.
"Cultivators of Wanggu, it is not impossible to turn into gods!"
"But now, Beiming has important matters. Human Emperor, your god-making ceremony shall be shelved for three thousand years before proceeding!"
The God of Fate in the storm spoke calmly.
"The voice fell upon Wanggu, spreading as a booming sound."
Seeing this, the God of Fate of the Beiming Earth Clan raised his hand expressionlessly!
Immediately, the storm around him surged rapidly amidst heaven-shaking whistling sounds, sweeping toward the Empress and the Ancient Emperor Star!
But just at this moment, a great sun appeared out of thin air between the Empress and this God of Fate, shining with brilliant light that illuminated heaven and earth, reflecting in all directions!
Wherever the light passed, the storm also paused.
And at this time, a figure walked out!
The body looked like a woman!
But the face possessed male features; behind him, the sunlight was endless, and beneath his feet, countless clans and evil ghosts appeared, wailing!
It was precisely the strongest of the Yanyue Three Gods, the Yan Upper God!
The moment he appeared, while blocking the God of Fate of the Beiming Royal Clan, he raised his right hand and, with a wave, a seven-colored divine talisman flew toward the Empress!
"We, the Yanyue Three Gods, value promises the most. Although we do not do things outside the scope of the deal, within the deal, we will definitely comply!"
"The agreement of that day: if you help the Great Minister of Authority with all your might, then this item belongs to you. Now, it belongs to you!"
"Human Empress, I hope the same applies to the future agreement!"
After the Sun God spoke slowly, he took a step toward this God of Fate of the Beiming Royal Clan!
"Beiming Royal Clan, this is the Eastern part of Wanggu, not the North where you reside. Your hands reach too far!"
After speaking, the light of the great sun behind the Sun God shone even more brilliantly, forming a blinding radiance that enveloped the frowning God of Fate!
And that seven-colored divine talisman also approached the Empress at this time, and she grabbed it with her hand!
Almost no one in the human race recognized this divine talisman, but Xu Qing recognized it at a glance.
Because he and Erniu had possessed the same divine talisman before!
This item was precisely the object formed after the death of that Great Minister of Authority who failed to become a god in the Divine Realm that day!
It was transformed from the authority of the Divine Realm and gathered the power of the Divine Realm's ascension. After the Divine Realm disappeared, this item still existed, and its function, due to the astonishing power contained within, would be a huge help for becoming a god!
After holding it at this time, the Empress's eyes revealed a sharp light; she checked it carefully, and confirming there was no issue, she revealed decisiveness in her eyes and waved it!
Immediately, this talisman disappeared, and when it appeared, it was already in the depths of the Ancient Emperor Star!
The next instant, accompanied by its shattering and transformation into firewood, the entire Ancient Emperor Star roared, and the divine fire within increased by more than ten times!
The intensity of the flames was even more so!
The process of becoming a god was instantly accelerated, and astonishing spiritual movement also rose from the corpses of the past Human Emperors like Xuan Zhan!
Seeing there were no more obstacles!
But just at this moment, a gray figure suddenly flew out from the great light of the Sun God!
It was precisely the Karma Fire divine servant beside the God of Fate!
Regarding this divine servant, if they wanted to intercept, they naturally could, but just as he said, they only did things within the scope of the deal; blocking the Three Gods for the Human Emperor in the deal was already the limit of the scope!
How the human race would face what followed was the human race's business, and the Three Gods also wanted to see the current foundation of the human race and whether they were truly qualified to conspire for great things in the future!
Of course, if the Empress spoke, then that would be another deal!
The Empress's expression remained as usual, without uttering a single word. The moment that gray god arrived, an aged figure rushed out from beside the Empress with determination!
It was precisely that old eunuch who had guarded the Empress's side from beginning to end. The moment he rushed out, his body changed rapidly, transforming from a flesh-and-blood body into a semi-transparent state!
During this process, his life flashed through his mind!
He was not human but of the Ghost Nether Clan; his clan was small in number, and each one was an independent existence!
In his early years, relying on the clan's characteristics, he worked as an assassin. He suffered backlash many times; the most serious time, although he escaped, he fell into a coma, and the Empress, who was still a little girl, accidentally saved him!
And having spent many years with her, watching the Empress grow up, watching the Empress step by step reach the peak, a bond had unconsciously formed in his heart!
It was even more so that after the Empress succeeded to the throne, she gave him infinite fortune and infinite hope, allowing him to use the human race's destiny, combined with the human race's foundation and countless precious secret techniques, to finally break through his own limits and step into the Nine Realms step by step!
Although this was the case, compared to other self-ascended ones, the Nine Realms were much weaker, and he had also lost the possibility of ascension!
But a Sovereign was never something his bloodline could reach; having walked to the Nine Realms of Spirit Containment, the peak of current cultivators, he had no regrets in this life!
Now, seeing that little girl from back then about to reach the peak, he was willing to burn himself and use his life to protect her path one last time!
The next instant, his body burned, and a purple skull was taken out by him and held in his hand!
This skull was entirely purple, emitting heaven-shaking malevolence, and contained endless resentment and unwillingness; it seemed to have a silent roar, transmitting the sorrow of his own life's end toward heaven and earth, toward the world!
Once it appeared, heavenly thunder suddenly arose, and countless shadows of the Heavenly Dao actually manifested in the air, silently looking at that skull with the same sorrow!
Looking at the skull of the corpse of that peerless person who was once stunning and brilliant, born into this world carrying the last glimmer of hope for Wanggu—that was the skull of the previous life of Crown Prince Ziqing!
The power contained within was astonishing and was not something an ordinary cultivator could trigger; even the Nine Realms of Spirit Containment were not qualified!
Therefore, the old eunuch burned his own vitality, his clan's talent, and all his cultivation to exchange for a trace of power to shake this skull!
In the blink of an eye, his body completely disappeared, his soul flew away, and his form and spirit were destroyed!
And this skull shone with rich and astonishing purple light, suddenly erupting; a roar containing endless madness seemed to come from time!
Echoing in heaven and earth after these many years, it contained resentment, unwillingness, bitterness, madness, and heaven-topping hatred, forming a storm of extinction that headed straight for that gray divine servant!
This gray divine servant's body paused, as if feeling extreme danger, and retreated violently!
But it was too late!
The storm swept over, rushing toward him from his body!
In the blink of an eye, this divine servant trembled all over, and a wailing sound of extreme pain echoed from within his body; it seemed that at this instant, he also experienced the process of Crown Prince Ziqing's death back then!
Subsequently, he collapsed!
The divine will was extinguished!
The Empress raised her head, looking at the place where the old eunuch dissipated, and a trace of sadness appeared on her face that had always been unperturbed.
She sighed softly!
The Empress thought of the question she asked Xu Qing back then in the Imperial Palace!
"What are your thoughts on that Great Minister of Authority of Yanyue?"
Xu Qing's answer at the time was: "If one cannot control one's own life, how can one control the destiny of the clan? In the end, it is just a reflection in the mirror or a bubble in the water; one thought leads to prosperity, one thought leads to destruction!"
The sadness on the Empress's face was replaced by determination, and the divine fire burned even more intensely at this moment!
Within the five whirlpools, the corpses of the past Human Emperors also sat cross-legged amidst that astonishing spiritual movement, raising their hands to begin forming seals!
This seal was not a cultivator's seal, but the authority of a god!
The first to form the prototype of divine authority was the Dongsheng Human Emperor; as his eyes suddenly opened and closed, revealing pitch-black eyes, a power of extreme destruction and strength erupted from him!
That was the divine authority related to war!
Next was the Jingyun Human Emperor; his eyes slowly opened, and for an instant, his expression seemed to appear confused, then he calmed down, and a sense of protection soared from him!
Enveloping heaven and earth, enveloping the human race!
And then, the Holy Heaven's array of light shone on him; this light was gentle and had no offensive power, but instead nourished the flesh, nourished the soul, and soothed the waves!
That was the divine authority containing healing power!
The next moment, divine authority also erupted from the Dao World Human Emperor; this divine authority was different from the other Human Emperors. The moment it appeared, the whirlpool where he was located roared, and bursts of curses, deadly poisons, and even plagues and other negative forces spread from him...
... polluting all directions, forming a terrifying aura!
Immediately following was Xuan Zhan; his divine authority was also astonishing; it was the divine authority of endless death and the Netherworld overlapping; what he held was the authority of the Underworld!
The moment the prototypes of the five Human Emperors' divine authority appeared, it represented that this god-making ceremony had reached the final critical moment!
On the Empress's side, there were also fluctuations of divine authority, but just at this moment, the path-blocker arrived again!
A cold whisper echoed throughout the entire Human Race Imperial Capital Domain!
"Sword-Holding Great Emperor, this deity has come to watch your final journey!"
The voice exploded, and red light rose from the territory!
Countless mountains collapsed, emitting red mist!
Streams of rivers rolled backward, forming red water!
All the red water gathered from the sky of the Human Race Imperial Capital Domain!
Looking from a distance in one direction, this red seemed to become the hem of a robe!
A god descended, the red robe on his body capable of supporting the sky.
His hands spread across the earth, covering the mountains and rivers, like a red sky moving as he moved forward!
He crossed the domain in one step and appeared at the peak of the sky of the Human Race Imperial Capital, revealing his figure!
That was a handsome middle-aged man with long hair fluttering; light flowed on every strand of hair, and the divine might emitted from his entire body made the sun, moon, and stars dim and made all gods palpitate!
And what was even more shocking to the heart was that an illusory long sword was actually pierced into his chest!
This sword pierced through, and fresh blood flowed continuously along the wound; it seemed that his long robe had turned crimson precisely because of this!
Xu Qing recognized at a glance that the illusory sword was the Emperor Sword; "Time changes, but it is a pity, Sword-Holding Great Emperor, that you are no longer what you were back then!"
"Back then, I fought you and fell from the Divine Platform; my injuries have not healed to this day. Today, knowing you are about to perish, I have come to watch your final journey and end the karma."
The blood-colored middle-aged man spoke hoarsely.
The next instant, a vicissitudinous and ancient voice came from within the Imperial Capital, with the momentum of opening heaven and earth and all paths, taking the power of eternal time, vast and...
... surpassing the sound of heaven, becoming the only one in the world.
Spanning ancient and modern, casting a peerless saint.
At this moment, the Heavenly Dao bowed its head, and all living beings worshipped.
"Yu Liuchen, if you seek death, then come!"
Amidst the words, a heaven-shaking aura from within the Sword-Holding Palace of the Imperial Capital suppressed all gods and soared into the sky!
Even the powerful Yanyue Three Gods were shaken to their hearts!
One could see a long rainbow avenue composed of countless sword qi spreading outward from the Sword-Holding Palace, crossing the capital, reaching the horizon, and becoming a road in front of the blood-colored middle-aged man!
It seemed that one could step on it just by raising a foot.
But he fell silent. ===== CHAPTER 902 =====
End of Chapter
