Chapter 737: Breaking the Netherworld, a Turning Point? (4K)

Qingxia Daoist's eyes flickered.

However, it is not so easy for Xihe's remnant soul to return.

Even if the Taiyi Clan wishes to retreat unscathed, it will likely be difficult.

As early as when the Taiyi Clan appeared, Qingxia Daoist had secretly summoned 'strong reinforcements'.

Those 'strong reinforcements' have probably already arrived and are lying in wait in the dark.

……

In the Golden Origin Celestial Realm, deep within an unknown dimension of spacetime, Taiyi stands in the void, countless solar divine lights flowing around his body, behind him the Taiyi Divine Wheel vast and mighty, like a rising sun illuminating boundless heavenly dimensions.

The tumultuous news spreading through the Golden Origin Celestial Realm has now reached his ears.

His eyes open and close, boundless solar golden light emanating from his cold gaze, his domineering eyes revealing it.

"The Sun-Merging Grand Ceremony!"

His face remains calm, yet deep within his heart there is still some turbulence.

Although he reclaimed the Sun Clan's supreme treasure, the Sun Essence Wheel, from the hands of the Golden Radiance God Emperor, he truly did not expect that Xihe would still have left behind a remnant soul.

In his memory, Xihe perished together with one of the powerful ancestral demon gods of the ancient demon god clan, her primordial spirit utterly shattered.

Now it appears Xihe did indeed leave behind a means to return.

It is a pity that no one of the Sun Clan survived, or perhaps no one discovered the whereabouts of the Sun Essence Wheel, leaving it unable to be restored.

Ultimately, it fell into the Golden Origin Celestial Realm, and even more so into the hands of the Phoenix Clan.

Xihe, as the Heavenly Empress of the Demon Court, is also his elder sister-in-law, so he naturally cannot allow her remnant soul to remain in the hands of the Phoenix Clan.

However, the Phoenix Clan believes that by holding Xihe's remnant soul, they can use this yang scheme to lure him into a trap—how naive.

His pupils flickered slightly, then his form vanished into the void.

……

Golden Origin Celestial Realm, the Netherworld.

This Netherworld is no different from other Netherworld dimensions in the myriad heavenly realms; it is equally vast.

Only the authority over the netherworld is held by the Netherworld Sovereign, the Purgatory God Emperor.

The Purgatory God Emperor is the fifth God Emperor born in the Golden Origin Celestial Realm.

Though also of Phoenix Clan descent, the Netherworld Sovereign is a mutated innate divine phoenix that took human form.

The three ancient clans, relying on their vast numbers, are the most prone to giving birth to mutated divine beasts.

Yet the birth of a mutated innate divine beast remains exceedingly rare.

The Purgatory God Emperor was born from a portion of the Golden Origin Celestial Realm's negative origin, nurtured for hundreds of millions of years, and after taking form, received the teachings of the Three Innate Phoenixes, ultimately standing out among the many innate gods and demons in the Golden Origin Celestial Realm to become the Purgatory God Emperor, Netherworld Sovereign.

Thereafter, under the guidance of the Three Innate Phoenixes, she proceeded to open up the Netherworld Underworld, becoming the ruler of the Golden Origin Netherworld.

Relying on the authority over the netherworld, life and death, reincarnation, good and evil, and other such powers held in her hands, the Purgatory God Emperor's growth has been swift.

Even after attaining the Dao Sovereign realm, her cultivation is second only to the existence of the Three Innate Phoenixes.

Relying on her authority, the Purgatory God Emperor has become the hegemon of the Golden Origin dimension and even the surrounding dimensions; even if a Dao Sovereign from the Ten Great Heretical Dao Palaces sees her, they must show respect.

At this moment, deep within the primary netherworld trunk network, the Purgatory God Emperor appears as if merged with the entire primary netherworld network.

Beneath the primary netherworld network, there are also secondary sub-networks of life and death, reincarnation, good and evil, and so on.

The active sub-networks guard and strengthen, making the netherworld divine network extraordinarily powerful.

Since the Yuan Phoenix wishes to act against Taiyi, the Purgatory God Emperor naturally received word, and thus she began preparing to refine a portion of divine artifacts as backup.

These divine artifacts are not prepared to deal with Taiyi, but rather to prepare for resurrection in case of downfall.

The successive disappearances of the Golden Radiance God Emperor and the Flaming Feather God Emperor have given the Purgatory God Emperor a very bad feeling.

Especially after witnessing the Crimson Hall God Emperor suffer heavy injuries.

She reflects: if she were to face Taiyi's frontal encirclement, she likely would have no room to resist.

At this moment, in a hall of intense netherworld flames, the Purgatory God Emperor is beginning to refine a peculiar long banner.

Before her, the banner is entirely pitch-black, its surface bearing several strange gray-black patterns, as if capable of absorbing the yin spirits of all realms and heavens, souls merging into it.

This is the Soul-Refining Banner.

The Soul-Refining Banner is a highly cost-effective netherworld divine artifact, usable as a protective treasure for low-level cultivators, and still effective even at the high-level immortal-god stage.

The so-called saying "cultivation without effort, the Soul-Refining Banner makes brothers" refers precisely to this divine banner.

Later, it can further advance into a more powerful netherworld divine banner, or even a Reincarnation Banner.

However, given the Purgatory God Emperor's current status, she clearly has no use for it.

She is also quite meticulous and painstaking in her thoughts.

At this moment, in this black hall, a sudden anomaly arises; this anomaly briefly manifests and pierces through the netherworld divine network, entering this hall.

In the hall, seeing this anomaly, the Purgatory God Emperor's expression changes only slightly, yet she is extremely shrewd; layers of black vortices surge around her body, and before that golden light pierces the void, her form vanishes instantly within this hall.

"Huh..."

Deep in the void, a golden light appears, Taiyi's form manifests, his eyes somewhat strange.

He did not expect this Purgatory God Emperor to be so cautious, so guarded.

Even in his own lair, he has set up so many traps, as well as spacetime voids.

His gaze sweeps across the void, yet his eyes show little emotion.

Since the Purgatory God Emperor has caught his attention, she cannot escape.

Beneath his feet, strands of golden divine light sink into the Nine Nether Divine Network, instantly shattering the vast Nine Nether Divine Network.

His form transforms into a golden light, locking onto a point of void within the Nine Nether Underworld in an instant.

In the spacetime void, the Purgatory God Emperor has just stepped out of the spacetime passage when she senses herself locked onto by a terrifying, vast will.

"Cannot escape!"

Her heart sank slightly; this was the worst possible scenario.

But she had prepared for it.

She knew reinforcements were definitely on their way; as long as she held on for another one or two moments, Yuan Huang, the Lord of the Heavenly Net, and Dan Que Shen Huang, the Lord of the Earthly Net, would arrive.

"Purgatory Divine Tower!"

Layers of black light flowed around her body, and a magnificent nine-layered Netherworld Divine Tower appeared around her, with primordial divine light condensing into form from within.

This was one of her defensive supreme treasures, the medium-grade primordial spiritual treasure, the Purgatory Divine Tower.

One of the few primordial spiritual treasures naturally born in the Golden Origin Underworld.

It was also the foundation of her Netherworld authority.

But in an instant, her expression changed; she saw a flash of golden light, and the layers of Netherworld runes glowing from the nine-layered Netherworld Divine Tower were instantly severed. In the golden light, she stared in shock at the location of her true form, only to see her Netherworld true form instantly split in two.

The Sun Essence Wheel appeared in one palm, and Tai Yi Shi raised his hand, shattering the true form of the Purgatory Divine Emperor, which had been split into two.

The Purgatory Divine Emperor's primordial divine true form, forged over billions of years, was as fragile as tofu beneath his palm.

Even the primordial spiritual treasure Purgatory Divine Tower could not protect her.

In a short time, Tai Yi Shi captured the Purgatory Divine Emperor, gazing at the Purgatory Divine Emperor's primordial spirit emerging from deep within his palm, his expression calm.

Another hostage!

He raised his hand, and instantly suppressed the Purgatory Divine Tower.

Sensing deep in the dark void, several vast and magnificent divine energies were descending toward the Netherworld Abyss; his eyes flickered, and a strand of golden light condensed in his hand, instantly shooting into the depths of the Netherworld Reincarnation.

Boom—!

In an instant, the Netherworld Reincarnation Passage was completely pierced through by a single strike; explosive divine energy burst from the ruptured passage, fierce golden divine flames instantly collapsed, spreading at an invisible, terrifying speed to engulf the surrounding Netherworld Ghost Realm regions.

Millions of ghosts and gods were engulfed, emitting earth-shattering wails.

Tai Yi Shi's strike directly shattered the Netherworld Reincarnation Passage, nearly destroying half of the Golden Origin Heavenly Realm's Netherworld Reincarnation.

The several figures rushing rapidly toward the scene nearly spat fire in anger at this sight.

"Tai Yi Shi, your action is truly vicious; the gods of the myriad heavens cannot tolerate you!"

Yuan Huang's eyes deep with boundless fury.

What was destroyed was the foundation and potential of the Golden Origin Heavenly Realm.

At this moment, Dan Que Shen Huang felt the Earthly Net Grand Array violently tremble; the Nine Nether Divine Network, representing a major part of the Earthly Net, rapidly shrank.

The Nine Nether Divine Network occupied a significant portion of the central Earthly Net; its collapse caused the Earthly Net divine power to diminish accordingly.

Especially, large blank areas appeared in the Golden Origin Underworld.

Not to mention the great disaster caused by the collapse of the Netherworld Underworld Reincarnation Passage.

Even though Dan Que Shen Huang's Dao heart was extremely firm, he could not help but give rise to a nameless flame of anger.

In the depths of the void, Tai Yi Shi's figure had completely vanished within the Golden Origin Underworld, but his cold, indifferent voice echoed through the void.

"Little girl, wasn't it you who started this? Now that it's out of control, how can you blame others for your sins? If you want to play, then prepare to play fiercely. With your temperament, how can you become a clan leader? You can't play the game of power—you're too immature. Call out the powerful one behind you!"

After a slight pause, another voice came.

"If you still want the souls of Jin Xi and the two Purgatory Gods, then wait for my message!"

As the words fell, three magnificent figures almost simultaneously descended into the Golden Origin Underworld.

Yuan Huang, Dan Que Shen Huang, Ming Huang.

Yuan Huang, Ming Huang slightly faster by a moment, Dan Que Shen Huang slightly slower by a moment, followed by Jin Huang, Tian Feng Shen Huang, and Cang Ming Shen Huang's true forms appearing above the Golden Origin Underworld.

Gazing at the Netherworld Underworld before them, the faces of the divine emperors all showed slight changes in expression.

Boundless golden-red divine flames erupted from the core of the Netherworld Reincarnation Passage, endless and unceasing, as if turning that passage into a terrifying, active volcanic mouth.

Countless ghost cities were instantly destroyed in the world-burning divine flames.

"Extremely hateful!"

Yuan Huang's powdered face was frosty; golden light burst from deep within her eyes like substance. She slightly closed her eyes, mobilizing the power of the Heavenly Net and Earthly Net, only able to faintly feel Tai Yi Shi tearing apart part of the Heavenly Net to intercept, his form vanishing into the river of time and space.

At this moment, Ming Huang raised his hand, and deep within his palm, a divine banner appeared.

Fierce flames rose upon the banner.

This was the Southern Vermilion Bird Banner, a medium-grade acquired spiritual treasure refined in imitation of the Ancestral Phoenix's primordial spiritual treasure, possessing extremely strong fire-control ability.

Strands of magnificent flame rule runes flowed out from within, instantly transforming into a shocking, earth-shaking Blazing Vermilion Bird, instantly covering the sky above the Netherworld Abyss. The magnificent Vermilion Bird spread its wings, countless red lights sucked in and out from its mouth, swallowing the rolling Tai Yi divine fire that surged forth.

But as countless millions of golden-red Tai Yi divine flames were swallowed, the Southern Vermilion Bird Banner became scorching hot, crimson, with countless primordial divine patterns within beginning to melt; the hidden acquired indestructible divine prohibition spiritual light within also began to deform.

That terrifying destructive power caused the Vermilion Bird to emit mournful cries.

Seeing this, Ming Huang Shen Huang's expression instantly sank; she knew continuing would only destroy this precious acquired spiritual treasure in her hand.

Tian Feng Shen Huang and Cang Ming Shen Huang had never participated in the external great war; at this moment, they only felt their hearts jump with anxiety.

"Leave it to this palace!"

At this moment, Yuan Huang's expression was icy, and amidst her cold snort, she took out a small, exquisite glazed jade bottle.

With the bottle mouth facing downward, the collapsing Tai Yi divine fire below was transformed into terrifying flames of golden crows, which were swallowed into the bottle.

This was the low-grade primordial spiritual treasure Qian Yuan Na Huo Bottle, of the fire attribute.

This primordial spiritual treasure is best at containing all kinds of extraordinary flames.

The Tai Yi divine fire that had scorched half of the Netherworld Abyss realm was instantly collected; but gazing at the Netherworld Abyss nearly completely paralyzed before them, the faces of the gods became extraordinarily grim.

Before the decisive battle, the Golden Origin Heavenly Realm had nearly been crippled—how could they fight now?

If a true decisive battle were to occur, the entire Golden Origin Heavenly Realm would likely be reduced to mush.

Then it would be meaningless!

To single-handedly control a vast heavenly realm and let it grow to this state is no easy feat.

If destroyed, it would be nearly equivalent to destroying the vessel by which the gods attain the Dao.

The expressions of all the gods changed somewhat, their Dao hearts difficult to calm.

The Divine Emperor of Danque appeared before the Purgatory Holy Hall on a white expanse, gazing at the ruined walls and broken barriers before her, her expression cold and stern.

Then divine light surged beneath her feet, and in an instant she arrived before the shattered Reincarnation Passage.

As far as the eye could see, the Netherworld Reincarnation Passage was utterly ruined.

Countless runes on the Reincarnation God's Purgatory Reincarnation Disk shattered, and it was burned to a pitch-black expanse.

This was a half-destroyed state.

To reforge reincarnation, only by refining a new reincarnation divine artifact.

Yet Danque Divine Emperor could still see that the Taiyi Clan had clearly left a thread.

They had not utterly destroyed the source of the Netherworld Underworld, so as not to let the Netherworld Underworld completely lose its power to guide the souls of the living world.

But this was not mercy from the Taiyi Clan!

She understood, this was also a blatant threat from the Taiyi Clan.

Let the gods themselves weigh the consequences!

In the void, streaks of flowing light pierced the boundaries of yin and yang dimensions, falling into the sky above the Netherworld Palace.

Zhang Jian's true form emerged from within, he also saw the Netherworld Palace almost turned into a white expanse, his pupils slightly trembling.

The methods of that Taiyi Clan could be said to be utterly ruthless!

This act also incurred countless sins!

Ordinary heretical Dao尊 truly would not dare to do this!

Doing so would invite heavenly punishment!

But it was indeed enough to intimidate the obstinate Divine Emperors!

There were some ripples in the depths of his eyes.

At this time, even if the Golden Yuan Dao Court held Tianhou Xihe, they probably would not dare to truly continue holding the Sun-Merging Grand Ceremony, unless they wished to disregard their own Dao charts, able to sacrifice everything and fight to the death with the Taiyi Clan.

"After all, they are the ancient demon clan's demon emperor, their methods are sufficiently ruthless!"

Zhang Jian's heart secretly trembled.

Zhang Jian knew, after this ordeal, the Divine Emperors might either hate the Taiyi Clan to the bone, or instead calm down, begin to reassess the pros and cons, whether to fight to the death, or……to negotiate?

But merely gazing at the shattered Golden Yuan Underworld before him, Zhang Jian's pupils twitched slightly, then he stepped forward to stand beside the Danque Divine Emperor.

But Zhang Jian had not yet spoken when the Cangming Divine Emperor suddenly spoke.

"The Netherworld Underworld cannot cease operation, otherwise under the imbalance of yin and yang, the yin spirits and feral ghosts of the living world, the true spirits of all things will have no place to rest, likely causing chaos in heaven and earth, breeding boundless calamities!"

"Under my command is a great divine adept, versed in the rules of the Great Dao of Reincarnation, who can temporarily act as the master of the Netherworld, restoring the Netherworld's phenomena!"