Chapter 968: Why Do You Look Down Upon Me From Such a Height?

The half-man, half-centipede Daoist wore a gloomy expression, silent and motionless, lost in thoughts he would not voice, not uttering a word for a long while.

“Fellow Daoist, could you spare me this once?”

Bai Zu Tianjun lifted his head and asked: “I am willing to revere you as my master, to serve you as a loyal hound or steed.”

“This world is vast—more than enough for both of us to cultivate. In time, we may even walk the path to Soul Transformation and Ascension together, at least offering each other mutual aid.”

To revere you as my master.

Not to serve you as my lord.

Jiang Ding’s gaze flickered slightly.

Even now, the half-centipede Daoist remained proud, valuing freedom as dearly as life itself.

His greatest concession was becoming another’s subordinate—not their slave, not their spiritual pet.

“Bai Zu, fellow Daoist,”

“Strike.”

Jiang Ding avoided answering, slowly drawing his sword: “Whether to spare you or not—that’s far too presumptuous. You are a late-stage Soul Transformation cultivator, dangerous, capable of killing me. That unsettles me.”

It was true.

At the Soul Transformation stage, he was far from invincible; encountering a Soul Transformation prodigy could mean instant death—he was not entitled to look down upon others.

He knew this well himself.

Jing~

With the sound of blade scraping from scabbard, a Great Sun Annihilation Sword Domain spanning over sixteen hundred kilometers unfolded in all directions.

Countless sword intentions formed the sky, the earth, the flow of spring, summer, autumn, winter, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning—over one hundred thousand distinct sword intentions together composed a complete world.

The moment this sword realm appeared, it imposed a crushing pressure upon heaven and earth; countless truths of sword Dao emerged within it, as if interpreting the natural order of all things, the cycles of life and death, from the perspective of sword Dao.

This sword realm rolled outward, suppressing all four directions.

Xī xī sū sū…

In the instant the sword realm unfolded, a thousand-kilometer radius around Bai Zu Tianjun grew hazy—a domain filled with toxic mists appeared in the heavens and earth.

Within it grew all manner of Guchong , centipedes, venomous snakes, toads, spiders, scorpions… bizarre and exotic, all southern lands’ rare species; each Guchong was revered as a divine Gu by southern cultivators, and possessing even one could catapult one’s fate into a radical transformation.

Myriad Poisonous Gu Domain!

This was one of Bai Zu Tianjun’s proudest achievements.

The technique originated from his bloodline’s innate talent, yet transcended it, absorbing Soul Transformation scriptures from major human sects and secrets of various beast bloodlines, finally fused into one—its domain far surpassed the inherited domain of the Golden Armor Centipede bloodline, greatly enhancing the cultivation and control of Guchong , becoming the true domain of the Gu Dao Scripture.

Bai Zu Tianjun had once vaguely felt he might one day integrate this technique into his bloodline’s inheritance, passing it down to countless generations of Golden Armor Centipedes.

To achieve the great feat only the strongest ancestral ancestors of his bloodline had ever accomplished.

In an instant, the two domains met.

One radiated brilliant sword qi, annihilating forbidden arts and distortions;

The other exuded emerald poison, with hundreds of millions of Guchong floating and sinking, hidden from sight—carelessness meant they would burrow into the body, seizing control of soul and flesh, leaving the victim utterly powerless, impossible to guard against, striking terror into all who beheld them.

The two domains clashed, vying for control of heaven’s spiritual energy and cosmic momentum.

The outcome appeared instantly.

Crack!

The Myriad Poisonous Gu Domain, upon contact with the Great Sun Annihilation Sword Domain, was instantly riddled with countless fine cracks; billions of indestructible sword qi surged forth like rain, piercing through every Guchong in the domain—none could withstand them, all having their skulls pierced by swift, terrifying sword qi.

This sword qi slaughtered without mercy.

Hiding was useless. Defense was useless. Contact meant death.

Nothing—neither Golden Body invulnerability nor formless Gu —could withstand these brilliant, radiant sword qi.

The Great Sun Annihilation Sword Domain appeared.

The Great Sun Annihilation Sword Domain unfolded.

The sword domain engulfed the entire emerald poison realm, instantly seizing absolute control over heaven’s spiritual energy and cosmic momentum within a sixteen-hundred-kilometer radius.

The brilliant, radiant Great Sun Annihilation Sword Domain generated a cosmic momentum heavier than the ocean, crushing Bai Zu Tianjun with unbearable pressure—his half-man, half-centipede body was forced downward by several meters; his massive centipede body, hundreds of meters long, was compressed inward, shrinking visibly in height and girth.

“Bai Zu, fellow Daoist, your domain is… somewhat novel.”

Jiang Ding remarked.

He paid close attention to all new achievements imbued with Immortal Dao wisdom, swiftly comparing them to the inheritance within the centipede egg of the Myriad Poison Sect.

“But it is only novel.”

Jiang Ding concluded.

“You have talent, but your education is lacking, and you lack a vast, qualified centipede Immortal Dao research system—so while your creation has spirit, it is only spirit, not a masterpiece; it is far too crude in too many places.”

“Tu Shan,”

“Why do you look down upon me from such a height?”

Bai Zu Tianjun growled: “You, this brat, rely solely on your ancestors’ inheritance. Had I possessed stronger centipede ancestral legacies, my domain would not be this weak, not so easily shattered.”

“This…”

“That… is true.”

Jiang Ding chuckled silently, admitting it.

“But the things our human ancestors painstakingly passed down—the treasures they left for their descendants—are precisely meant for us to flaunt before our enemies, are they not?”

“So, just humbly envy me.”

Boom!

The sword was drawn!

A brilliant sun rose within the thousand-kilometer sword realm.

Its radiance blazed, flooding heaven and earth with countless beams of light, carrying the terrifying aura of annihilation, prohibition, distortion, and destruction.

It descended from the sky, crushing the hundreds-of-meters-long centipede beneath it.

From afar,

It looked exactly like the Sun God purifying the sins of heaven and earth!

“Kill!”

Bai Zu Tianjun roared.

He formed hand seals with his hands, and his hundred pairs of centipede legs formed identical seals.

Amidst the deafening hum of countless insect wings, hundreds of millions of Nanjiang legendary poison-gold-threaded Guchong appeared in the heavens and earth—each a golden-green hue, stretching across the sky.

Merely the sound of their wings flapping was louder than thunder.

At their center stood three mid-stage Soul Transformation Golden Poison-Gold-Threaded Gu Kings, each the size of a carriage, born with the innate ability to command the others, forming a vast Gu array that, when layered atop the Myriad Poisonous Gu Domain, finally pried loose a portion of heaven’s spiritual energy and cosmic momentum from the Great Sun Annihilation Sword Domain’s grip.

“Go!”

Bai Zu Tianjun pointed a finger.

The million Golden Poison-Gold-Threaded Guchong coalesced into three colossal green-gold divine spears, their tips black with lethal poison that silently dissolved space itself.

Shhh!

The three green-gold spears shot upward at the descending sun with fierce, desperate speed—reminiscent of the ancient tale of Hou Yi shooting down the sun.

The sun fell.

The three green-gold spears, forged from Golden Poison-Gold-Threaded Gu , held for an instant, piercing straight into the heart of the sun.

Then,

Boom!

Infinite light and heat erupted; dozens of miles of space were instantly dissolved, the sea boiled, steam rose, and the brilliant spectacle was clearly visible for tens of thousands of miles.

Crack!

Under this catastrophic explosion, the three green-gold spears shattered without hesitation, exploding into countless fragments of insect carcasses.

Hundreds of thousands of Golden Poison-Gold-Threaded Gu died instantly!

The three mid-stage Soul Transformation Golden Poison-Gold-Threaded Gu Kings spat emerald poison-blood in all directions, their bodies dimming beneath the sun’s radiance.