Chapter 660

In the depths of the Netherworld Ocean, surging waves gathered boundless Netherworld Qi, and a black-robed Emperor wrapped in endless Netherworld origin stepped forth from the void.

In the depths of the Netherworld Ocean, the boundless Netherworld Dragon's roar was heard, as tangible Netherworld Qi manifested into black dragons that swept toward the azure divine light descending in the void, seeking to devour the newly formed Azure Lotus Pure Land.

This was the Netherworld Emperor who governed the Nine Netherworld Prefecture of the Celestial Court's Heavenly Realm.

In the depths of the void, Zhang Jian raised his eyes and glanced at this Netherworld Emperor.

Governing the Nine Netherworld Prefecture and overseeing the cycle of rebirth in the underworld, the Netherworld Emperor should hold an exalted rank, deserving the support of a Dao Lord's stature, yet the Netherworld rank this Emperor had condensed had not yet reached that of a Dao Lord.

Even if the Netherworld Emperor's rank were combined with the surge of boundless Netherworld Qi from the Netherworld Hell, in Zhang Jian's eyes it was no more than an ant trying to shake a tree.

"Virtue unmatched to position invites calamity, Netherworld Emperor. As ruler of the Netherworld Prefecture, you govern billions of ghosts and gods, yet your nature is cruel and violent, having stolen the origins of countless ghosts and gods through secret arts—truly unfit to command this boundless Netherworld. Today, this god strips you of your divine station; reflect upon your sins for ten thousand years in the depths of the Netherworld Ocean!"

Zhang Jian's gaze fell, yet he saw the black-robed Emperor's expression suddenly change, a faint azure divine light appearing deep between his brows.

The azure divine light flowed forth, instantly suppressing his Dao-heart, primordial spirit, and divine sense.

Second-tier Dao-heart class eternal Dao law: Azure Lotus Pure Soul Mantra.

The Netherworld Emperor could not even withstand a single confrontation before being suppressed.

At this moment, within Zhang Jian's sleeve, the golden form of the Flame Emperor flickered with a faint golden light.

As the first Sun God of the Primordial Era, she was all too aware of the Netherworld Emperor's cultivation—this was a powerhouse of her own age.

Even having pledged allegiance to the Purple Origin Heavenly Emperor, he remained extraordinarily formidable, yet before this Azure Lotus Savior Heavenly Venerable Dao Lord, he could not even withstand a single confrontation.

"Form the array! This demon is vicious—we will aid the Emperor with all our strength!"

At this moment, in the depths of the Netherworld Ocean, cries rang out from some of the Netherworld ghosts and gods' strong warriors.

Only then did the boundless Netherworld Qi in the depths of the Netherworld Ocean transform into pillars of light shooting straight into the clouds, converging toward the Netherworld Emperor.

But Zhang Jian merely glanced, and with a wave of his hand, a vast divine light shot forth, instantly shattering the coalescing black vortices; millions of ghosts and gods were flung backward in an instant by the impact of azure divine light, a sight that made countless ghosts and gods shudder and pale.

"The power of the Ancestral God?"

At this moment, the Netherworld Emperor's visage shifted, yet just then, in the depths of the void, boundless white light flowed, and an invisible white aura pierced through the void, rushing toward the Netherworld Emperor—yet before it could descend, it was seized midair by a black-and-white flowing light.

One of the flowing lights transformed into a divine sword born at the dawn of heaven and earth; wherever it passed, boundless void, spacetime, and fate shifted from formless to formed, carrying a power that inherits the past and gives rise to endless civilizations.

The black-and-white flowing light likewise became a divine sword, yet bore a force of differentiation, a vast divine power that opens all things.

As the two intertwined and collided in the void, the black-and-white divine light proved more agile; the flowing layers of white aura instantly differentiated into primordial Yin-Yang divine light, continuously generating within itself a world woven from primordial Yin and Yang.

The white aura dispersed, and for a moment, above the Netherworld void, a figure appeared in white robes, surrounded by endless chaotic phenomena—a majestic deity.

His manifestation seemed to stir the Celestial Court's Heavenly Realm, boundless heavenly-earthly spiritual mechanisms, and chaotic Qi in resonance.

Where he stood, boundless divine light flowed around him, forming vast expanses of condensed divine light into majestic nations, divine power immense.

At this moment, this supreme deity opened his mouth, as if boundless heavenly Dao sounds emanated from within—supreme, noble, sacred and vast, like the source of the Great Dao.

"Fellow Daoist, you too are a great power—why disturb the Netherworld, disrupt the order of heaven and earth?"

Zhang Jian gazed upon this majestic deity, his eyes flickering with something unusual.

The Purple Origin Heavenly Emperor had not acted, yet he had drawn forth this Taiji Ancestral God.

"Are you seeking to probe my cultivation with the aid of the Taiji Ancestral God?"

Zhang Jian thought darkly, this only made him more certain that the Purple Origin Heavenly Emperor's current state was highly unusual; otherwise, he would not be so cautious.

Zhang Jian's gaze fell upon the Taiji Ancestral God, whose revealed cultivation was extraordinary.

The power emanating from his Dao Lord rank surpassed even that of the Tribulation-Free Demon God.

Zhang Jian formed seals with his hands, his motion unceasing; strand after strand of azure treasure light continuously fell from where he stood, sinking into the Netherworld Ocean, aiding in the formation of the Azure Lotus Pure Land.

Opening the Azure Lotus Pure Land aids him in eroding the Nine Netherworld Prefecture.

If he could obtain the Netherworld authority within the Nine Netherworld Prefecture, his innate Dao Lord rank could naturally advance further.

At the same time, his faint voice rang out.

"This heavens dim and dark, the earth murky and turbid, people find no peace—what is the order of heaven and earth? As a fellow Daoist, you are the ancestor of all gods in this realm, your incense and followers fill the ten heavens and ten earths, yet you can see countless beings slaughtered by heaven and earth—heaven and earth are unkind, treating all things as straw dogs. Fellow Daoist, how can you bear this?"

The Taiji Ancestral God shook his head.

"This is merely the turning of heaven and earth, heaven issuing its killing mechanism—fellow Daoist, why must you impose these charges upon the gods and immortals?"

Zhang Jian glanced at the Taiji Ancestral God, who appeared resolute in following the Purple Origin Heavenly Emperor; he slightly furrowed his brow, and with the intention of healing and saving, he still sought to persuade.

"Fellow Daoist, you too are a divine being nurtured by the Celestial Court's Heavenly Realm—you should naturally sense the changes in heaven and earth, and know that heaven's killing mechanism arises because heaven and earth are unsettled, the gods unkind, thus descending boundless calamities to cleanse this turbid world and restore the righteous path of humanity. Fellow Daoist, why not follow heaven's mandate and aid heaven and earth in returning to the right path?"

Upon hearing this, the Taiji Ancestral God shook his head.

"Your words are mistaken, fellow Daoist!"

"Now the Purple Origin Heavenly Emperor governs the host of immortals and gods, establishes heavenly laws and order, billions of lives dwell in peace and contentment, heaven and earth are tranquil—His Majesty is the people's true refuge, while your actions are a defiance of heavenly Dao. Fellow Daoist, if you know heaven's mandate, why not follow the people's hearts and assist the Heavenly Emperor, to achieve great deeds? With the Heavenly Emperor's magnanimity, he will surely not hold your past deeds against you, and can entrust you with great responsibility—this redemption of Dao Lord authority may even be granted to you, allowing you to stand above ten thousand and beneath one!"

His expression was sincere, his earnestness profound.

Zhang Jian glanced at him, shook his head, and said.

"Fellow Daoist, your words are self-deceptive—you do not know that the Purple Origin Heavenly Emperor has stolen the Dao's creation, abandoned the Dao, and entered the demonic path. If not corrected in time, he may bring about the world's end! Moreover, the demonic path is perilous—fellow Daoist, you too may not escape the fate of being sacrificed!"

The Taiji Ancestral God heard this, his heart stirred, his eyes widening—what the Azure Lotus Savior Heavenly Venerable said was truly astonishing.

Zhang Jian saw this, and immediately activated his "mouth cannon" technique again, saying.

"Fellow Daoist of Taiji, you too are a great divine communicator, and with your innate divine body sensing heaven's mandate—surely you see that the Dao's origin has been stolen by someone, causing frequent heavenly calamities, prematurely triggering the tribulation—this is a sign of heaven and earth's weakness, an omen of impending descent into the Returning Abyss. If we do not unite our efforts, we will only keep attacking each other, allowing the demon emperor to succeed, steal the creation of heaven and earth, and annihilate all things!"

"The Supreme Ultimate Daoist is also a great divine being of one side, and with his innate divine and holy body sensing the Mandate of Heaven, is it not that the Dao of Heaven changes, and today the source of the Dao of Heaven has been stolen by someone, thus causing frequent heavenly and earthly calamities, the tribulation advanced ahead of time—this is the darkness and weakness of heaven and earth, an omen of imminent descent into the Return to the Void. If we do not unite our efforts now, still attacking each other, we fear letting the Devil Emperor succeed, stealing the creation of heaven and earth, and all things will perish!"

At this moment, faint threads of calamitous killing Qi appeared deep between his brows, and the obscured heart-mind seemed, in an instant, to faintly bloom with a thread of light—his primordial spirit, united with the Celestial Court's Heavenly Realm's heavenly heart.

As an innate divine being, having achieved Dao Lord rank through both divine and godly paths to educate the Celestial Court's Heaven and Earth, his foundation is extraordinarily solid, and he can sense changes in the Celestial Court's heavenly Dao—yet these past years have seen the heavenly heart eroded by the backlash of heaven and earth's calamitous killing Qi, unclear, until Zhang Jian pierced the heavens and made him feel it at once.

But just then, deep between his brows, a thread of purple Qi appeared, instantly causing the calamitous Qi to flare again, and a faint voice emerged.

But just at this moment, deep in his brow, a thread of purple qi appeared, instantly causing the tribulation qi deep in his brow to flare up again, and a faint voice emerged.

Upon hearing this, the Taiji Ancestral God's palm deepened, and a five-colored flowing light divine sword appeared.

That divine sword radiated intense primordial divine light, the Qi of the Five Primal Ones flowing within—from non-being to being, from being to non-being—containing the power to open heaven and earth, and to end all things.

The black-and-white flowing light likewise became a divine sword, yet bore a force of differentiation, a vast divine power that opens all things.

Zhang Jian's gaze fell upon this divine sword, where the primordial five phases converged.

"An innate spiritual treasure?"

A flicker of surprise appeared in his eyes, and in an instant, he saw the Taiji Ancestral God raise his hand, and suddenly five-colored radiance spread across heaven and earth, sweeping toward Zhang Jian through the void, faintly bearing an ancient divine power that could cleave the firmament.

That vast divine sword seemed to have been activated by an innate divine prohibition Dao law, and a magnificent, wondrous force surged forth.

Zhang Jian's expression remained unchanged.

He also possessed an innate spiritual treasure.

Yet, in the depths of the void, a cyan treasure lotus blossomed—a third-grade innate creation cyan lotus blooming, cyan divine light filling the void, cascading down strands of immortal light, instantly blocking the cascading cyan immortal light from above.

The Taiji Ancestral God's gaze swept over that third-grade cyan lotus, a hint of surprise in his eyes, but in a flash, he condensed an innate talisman in his palm, which fell upon the innate divine sword in his hand; his form instantly transformed into an intangible light, vanishing suddenly from the spot.

"Taiji Formless, the Great Dao is Void!"

In the depths of the void, as if the sound of the formless Great Dao emerged, layer upon layer of formless sword qi seemed to evolve into an unopened chaos, an ancient cosmos of heaven and earth void, enveloping Zhang Jian within.

"Though the power is strong, it is ostentatious yet insubstantial!"

Zhang Jian lifted his gaze, and the Boundless Great Brightness Cloud appeared above his head; in an instant, a strand of chaotic immortal light flowed from his entire body, reversing layer upon layer of void wherever it passed, and furthermore, a chaotic divine bridge shattered the void, piercing through the void cosmos in an instant.

This was the acquired spiritual treasure, the Nine Heavens Cyan Lotus Diagram, in his hand.

Although the power emanating from this diagram in his hand could not match that of an innate spiritual treasure, it was flexible and ever-changing.

If combined with the innate spiritual treasure, the third-grade innate creation cyan lotus, its power would be doubled.

"How could this be?"

In the depths of the void, within a beam of formless light, the Taiji Ancestral God in white robes reappeared, a hint of astonishment in his eyes.

He could feel that his command of the Taiji Void Power clearly restrained that chaotic immortal light, yet the result was that he was suppressed by the direction of the chaotic immortal light.

The opponent's subtle mastery and flexible application of the rules of the Chaotic Dao truly exceeded his imagination.

"Again!"

A hint of sharpness flickered in the depths of his eyes, but in an instant, his expression changed—only to see that the figure of the Cyan Lotus Salvation Suffering Heavenly Venerable Daoist Monarch in the distance had already vanished; his vast, eternal will swept across the void, yet he detected no trace of Zhang Jian.

But in the next moment, a palm appeared behind him, as if covering the sky and blotting out the sun; the Taiji Ancestral God was about to act at the extreme, yet he saw that enormous palm suddenly shrink, and in an instant, it landed upon his back, causing him to stagger.

The Taiji Ancestral God's expression shifted slightly; the Taiji Divine Sword in his palm burst forth immortal light, slashing backward, yet he saw that time and space were easily severed by the blade's edge, though it produced no effect whatsoever.

At this moment, the Taiji Ancestral God also faintly felt that his Dao-heart depths were suddenly veiled by a layer of cyan light, as a cyan lotus had appeared out of nowhere deep within his brow.

Moreover, the cyan lotus was surrounded by boundless radiance, veiling his Dao-heart perception.

"The difference is too vast!"

In the void above, Zhang Jian manifested part of his true form, his gaze calmly sweeping over the Taiji Ancestral God below, whose body was surrounded by layers of primordial five-phase qi protecting him.

Both were Second Transformation Daoist Monarchs.

The Taiji Ancestral God's cultivation surpassed even that of the Wuji Magic God, and he wielded an innate spiritual treasure and the authority of the five phases, yet compared to Zhang Jian, a Second Transformation Daoist Monarch of this caliber, the gap remained immense.

This was not merely a difference in Dao laws and Dao-heart perspective, but also in Daoist Monarchs and the eternal will above them.

All these differences accumulated, so that even though this Taiji Ancestral God was beyond precious, in Zhang Jian's eyes, he truly had little power to resist.

If Zhang Jian wished, he could kill him at any time.

But Zhang Jian did not do so, because he sensed that deep within the Taiji Ancestral God's heart, his loyalty to the Zi Yuan Heavenly Emperor was not as he had imagined; their alliance was merely one of interest.

Perhaps in the future, this could still be put to good use.

Boom—!

At this moment, however, a terrifying giant hand emerged from the depths of the void, endlessly traversing time and space, rushing toward the Nether Sea above, shrouding the place where Zhang Jian's true form resided, and came down with a slap.

Zhang Jian felt that transcendent, terrifying, abnormal power—only to sense that spacetime, fate, and even all heavenly and earthly Dao laws were completely locked down.

Yet his expression remained unchanged.

Instead, his form transformed into a stream of light, piercing straight through that sealing force, and instantly appearing in another fragment of Nether time and space.

Yet, in the depths of the void, the descending majestic giant hand also expanded in an instant, as if spreading across heaven and earth, obscuring vast stretches of time and space.

Zhang Jian gazed upon this scene, a faint smile of contempt on his lips.

Speaking of attainment in the spacetime Dao laws, the Zi Yuan Heavenly Emperor might not surpass him.

Yet the Zi Yuan Heavenly Emperor's cultivation was truly vast to an inconceivable degree.

When quantity reaches a certain level, it will also trigger qualitative change.

His form transformed into a strand of extraordinarily agile cyan immortal light, flashing several times, and his form appeared above the Cyan Lotus Pure Land.

Beside him, the Taiji Ancestral God did not continue his attack; he wore a white robe, his eyes gazing at Zhang Jian's effortless evasion of the Zi Yuan Heavenly Emperor's supreme secret art, a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

This extramundane Daoist Monarch's comprehension of the heavenly and earthly Dao laws was completely beyond his imagination.

He had never imagined that, as fellow Daoist Monarchs, his own Dao law and Dao-heart perspective could still be elevated to such a degree.

This also stirred in him an endless desire for exploration.

At this moment, in the void above, countless purple lights flowed, and a magnificent figure condensed from the mists of purple vapor.

The true form of the Zi Yuan Heavenly Emperor manifested.

As he manifested, Zhang Jian felt that boundless spacetime, even the entire Nine Nether Underworld, had become a great prison, as if he were a sovereign who governed the endless universe, the supreme of the celestial court.

"The rank of Dao Sovereign!"

At this moment, Zhang Jian's expression also carried a hint of solemnity.