Chapter 765: Old Friends Reunited, Enemies Meet on a Narrow Path (4K)

Above the void, Zhang Jian merely employed the Art of Shifting Creation, dismantling layer upon layer of the Heavenly Dao domain formed by the Dongyang Emperor.

Vast azure divine light refined everything!

Upon sensing the changes in his body, the Dongyang Emperor realized that if he did not regain the initiative, even possessing the Myriad Phenomena Crucible—a top-grade innate spiritual treasure—he would still face certain defeat.

As the creation vortex encircled and sealed this dimension of spacetime, a phantom of the vast heavenly realm's sacred tree appeared behind him, and the boundless longevity true realm's Heavenly Dao divine power manifested within it, condensing inside the Myriad Phenomena Crucible and transforming into piercing divine light that bombarded Zhang Jian.

This strike shook heaven and earth, as if the myriad phenomena of the longevity true realm's primordial unity had gathered into a single beam of divine light—heavy and vast.

Wherever it passed, the boundless void's great Dao rules were pierced, and Zhang Jian also felt a vast Heavenly Dao will within it, causing his other shore will to suffer an invisible shock and suppression.

At the depths of Zhang Jian's primordial spirit, threads of primordial immortal light emerged, and the primordial jade bead trembled slightly, instantly breaking free from the suppression.

His form vanished instantly within this spacetime dimension.

Yet the primordial myriad phenomena divine light behind him seemed to have grown eyes, turned a corner, and doggedly pursued, clamping onto his tail.

Zhang Jian sensed that he was actually locked onto by the Heavenly Dao will lurking in the darkness, hence unable to escape.

But he did not actually wish to escape.

Around his form, a strand of dazzling sword light rose into the void, its depths carrying a rich, heavy essence, as if encompassing the profound mysteries of the three thousand Dao sources' roots, and even bearing the sharpness of the three thousand source blades.

Instantly, the Dongyang Emperor's body hairs stood on end.

"Again?"

The Dongyang Emperor's visage slightly changed color; he did not know whether this Earth Emperor God was a sword cultivator who had attained the Dao, but his attainment in swordsmanship was astonishing—especially that aura capable of cleaving heaven and earth, breaking through all things, the great Dao sharpness, which even his Heavenly Dao domain struggled to contain.

However, having suffered a great loss once, the Dongyang Emperor still possessed some means of defense.

He could sense that this Earth Emperor God's cultivation was far inferior to his own.

Though the opponent was overwhelmingly strong, fundamentally he was merely a first-turn Dao Venerable.

And he possessed the longevity true realm's Heavenly Emperor mandate, his cultivation already surpassing that of an ordinary three-turn Dao Venerable.

Moreover, he had the longevity true realm's Heavenly Dao scroll.

Thus, he actually had no need to contest momentary superiority with the opponent; as long as he ensured his own invincible position, the passive party would be the opponent, and he could always find an opportunity to gradually suppress him.

"Fire Cloud Secret Art, Three Saints Crucible!"

Around him appeared three vast Heavenly Emperor divine aspects: respectively, Heavenly Sovereign Fuxi, Earthly Sovereign Shennong, and Human Sovereign Xuanyuan. Each form resonated respectively with the Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao, and Human Dao deep within the longevity true realm, and three-colored divine light condensed around the Dongyang Emperor, forming a vast divine wheel that permeated the eight directions of heaven and earth.

Deep in his palm, a divine seal appeared.

It was the Heavenly Emperor's divine seal, representing the Heavenly Emperor's authority to govern all gods, all heavens, all earths, and all spirits.

A massive three-colored crucible appeared around him, layer upon layer, impenetrable.

Streams of fierce, heaven-opening sword light struck the crucible; although it peeled off some of the crucible's Dao patterns, its recovery speed was even faster.

"Fire Cloud Secret Art?"

Above the void, Zhang Jian's true form emerged within the sword light's depths, his eyes slightly showing astonishment.

The Fire Cloud Grotto-Heaven is the inheritance ground of the entire human race, containing many secrets capable of overwhelming heaven and earth.

Some of these secret arts were created by the myriad heavens' myriad sons, and some originated from the Three Sovereigns.

The Three Sovereigns' secret arts are quite renowned throughout the myriad heavens' void.

The secret art displayed by the Dongyang Emperor, if performed by an ordinary three-turn Dao Venerable, would likely only inspire awe from afar.

This secret art harmonizes the wills of Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao, and Human Dao; the Three Saints Crucible it forms combines offense and defense, possessing divine power capable of refining all things, and its defense is also not bad.

Especially on his home turf, its power is doubled.

Zhang Jian's expression remained unchanged; seeing that the Earth Emperor's Parting Dao sword light could not break through this Fire Cloud Grotto-Heaven's supreme secret art, countless purple-yellow qi erupted beneath his feet.

Innumerable purple-yellow Dao patterns centered beneath his feet, as if dividing yin and yang, the Two Modes, the Taiji of heaven and earth.

Moreover, eight strands of power condensed from the void around him, forming a vast, immense three-dimensional Taiji Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Dao diagram.

This is the supreme divine ability, the Earth Emperor's Eight Trigrams.

Taking the Earth Emperor's source as core, Zhang Jian at this moment interpreted eight-direction divine power to sever spacetime dimensions, seal the river of fate, and even the divine power of this dimension's ocean.

The Earth Emperor's Eight Trigrams is likewise a field-control type immortal art.

The Dongyang Emperor attempted to defend with flame secret arts; then Zhang Jian would employ this method to completely sever this void from the longevity true realm, then operate the secret art to gradually draw the opponent into the regulatory mire formed by the Earth Emperor's Eight Trigrams, seeking an opportunity to find a flaw and suppress him.

In fact, Zhang Jian could also choose to launch a fierce assault.

The Dongyang Emperor possesses the Heavenly Emperor mandate, his cultivation surpassing that of Zhang Jian.

But his understanding of the great Dao of heaven and earth, as well as his Dao heart, will, and even the foundation of his Dao, are far inferior to Zhang Jian's; he needs only to launch a few fierce assaults, and the opponent will easily reveal a flaw, and if he then employs the innate spiritual treasure, it would be even easier and more relaxed.

However, the requirement of the Longevity Dao Venerable is to imprison the Dongyang Emperor for ten thousand years.

Thus Zhang Jian chose this method, so that the Dongyang Emperor would always retain some hope, indulge in fantasies.

With hope, he could firmly believe this was not a scheme, but his own 'strength'!

……

Beneath the Heavenly Realm Divine Tree, an emerald-colored innate divine fetus condensed into form.

This innate divine fetus had been nurtured by the Longevity Dao Venerable for over ten derivation eras; when he sensed the good corpse had fallen into predicament, he prepared this backup.

At the critical moment, should things go awry, it could immediately perform the golden cicada shedding its shell, avoiding loss of this good corpse, lest the art of severing three corpses completely lose its chance at perfection.

Boom—!

In the depths of the boundless void, as this form took shape, rolling heavenly and earthly omens appeared, but were instantly suppressed by the Heavenly Realm Divine Tree.

Within the myriad-wood space, gradually manifesting was a youth Daoist with a visage of about thirty, handsome and graceful, his body radiating intense immortal light, his aura like one standing alone above the myriad heavens' void, gazing down upon the firmament, and moreover possessing a terrifying divine power that views all beings and gods as nothing.

He wore a blue gauze Daoist robe on his body, his face emitting a soft jade light.

He slightly sensed the vast wondrous power contained within the innate divine fetus's depths.

"Still far short!"

He slightly sensed this, and a hint of sigh appeared on his face.

Although this innate divine fetus had cost him immense effort, with many rare heavenly and earthly treasures added in its refinement, it could at most exert thirty percent of the power of this good corpse, possibly only slightly stronger than an ordinary two-turn Dao Venerable.

He knew that such combat power was still insufficient, even though he was no ordinary Dao Venerable.

With a thought, several streams of flowing light suddenly flew from the depths of the void and instantly landed before him.

These were the supreme treasures he had prepared for himself.

Among them were many top-tier acquired spirit treasures.

There were also two innate spirit treasures.

These were but a small portion of the accumulations he had gathered over countless kalpas while accompanying the Great Heavenly Venerable through cycles of rebirth.

Boom—!

In the distance, a thread of strange omens suddenly appeared.

Deep within the vast heavenly realm, faint, formless wailing sounds could be heard.

The wailing sound flowed out, faintly able to pierce the seal, purple light blazing fiercely, possessing the terrifying and ominous power to swallow endless heavenly and earthly spiritual essence and seize the creation of the heavenly Dao.

"Heart Ancestor, you'd better be honest!"

The Longevity Dao Venerable formed seals with his hand, a stream of light sinking into the distant seal's depths; the seal shifted, revealing within it a vast, boundless primordial universe phantom, and within that, a terrifying figure curled up in this spiritless universe, purple light intense, his form seeming to fill the cosmos between heaven and earth; even a slight glimpse would evoke a terrible sense of pollution, erosion.

Heart Ancestor Yuanchu.

Heart Ancestor Yuanchu Daoist, is an innate strange worm born at the beginning of the opening of heaven and earth across the myriad heavenly realms.

Its essence is that of an extraterrestrial evil god.

However, this innate worm possesses extraordinary talent, wielding power nearly capable of infinite transformation.

Taking advantage of the late ancient era, when the myriad heavenly realms were newly born, it seized great fortune, thus acquiring boundless divine abilities.

It can be said to be one of the supreme rulers among the extraterrestrial evil gods of the heavenly void, and is also infamous for its ferocity.

The insectoid evil god legion it commands has eroded and destroyed countless heavens and earths, including within the heavenly dimensions, some powerful heavenly realms.

It is also the bane of the Wood Spirit race.

To deal with this chaotic strange worm, the Longevity Dao Venerable used himself as a lure, attempting to seal it.

And today, the heavenly realm's divine tree is unable to move, partly due to this Heart Ancestor.

The Longevity Dao Venerable frowned slightly, he formed seals with his hand, laying down another layer of barrier around the seal, giving the Heart Ancestor no chance to escape.

Even a centipede dies without stiffness, let alone this Heart Ancestor, such a chaotic strange worm.

If one is careless and lets it escape, it will likely be impossible to recapture it.

Deep in his heart, the Longevity Dao Venerable felt some worry, but he could only now seek to escape, then later find a way to thoroughly refine and slay this Heart Ancestor.

At this moment, the Longevity Dao Venerable glanced toward the depths of the Longevity True Realm, his form flickering, and instantly he headed toward the direction of the Longevity Divine Court.

In this game of strategy, he was inherently at a disadvantage.

The heavenly Dao can be weakened.

But once the source of the heavenly Dao is weakened, heaven and earth fall into chaos!

The seal suppressing the Heart Ancestor will also weaken; he can indeed escape, but the Heart Ancestor also has a chance to escape.

Therefore, he must first find a way to further suppress the Heart Ancestor, then seek to weaken the Longevity Divine Court.

This is what he must do within ten thousand years.

Meanwhile, the Longevity Dao Venerable raised his head and glanced toward the outskirts of the Longevity True Realm; for a thousand years he has felt that powerful demonic auras occasionally flash by outside the Longevity True Realm, fearing that the pattern around the Longevity True Realm has already changed, fearing there may be other changes.

……

At this moment, within a vast realm on the border of the Longevity True Realm, there is another vast great thousand realm.

This realm likewise belongs to the Three Sovereigns Heavenly Realm, yet at this moment its interior is filled with countless chaotic calamity-killing vapors, rolling demonic vapors permeating this great thousand realm.

Yet at this moment, within this realm, streams of vast immortal divine light flew out from its edges, several terrifying divine lights, their vital energy fleeing desperately, merely having left this great thousand realm, they saw in the void law realm a figure clad in white.

His countenance was refined, in his hand he held a white paper folding fan, upon which appeared countless strange spirit phantoms, he stood tall and jade-like in the void, gazing afar at the bright, clear moon above the azure heavens.

When the numerous fleeing immortals and gods arrived, he merely reached out casually, and several streams of vast immortal light instantly condensed in the void, swallowing the dark demonic light sweeping out from the great thousand realm.

The demonic light parted, and instantly there appeared within it the phantom of an unparalleled vast demon god.

His true form stood horizontally upon the endless void, his true form even more massive than this great thousand realm, vast and magnificent.

Countless demonic lights manifested from his entire body, as if in harmony with multiple terrifying concepts in the dark unseen.

Destruction, devouring, decadence, eternal darkness, decline of the Dharma, annihilation!

Behind his head appeared multiple skull phantoms with strange, eerie expressions.

At this moment, the white-clad figure turned his head; looking closely under the pure white moonlight, his temples showed slight gray-white, adding a sense of worldly weariness, yet his eyes were clear, bright, and also revealed wisdom that penetrates worldly affairs.

"Fellow Daoist Mo Shen, it seems our cooperation has been fairly smooth!"

Upon hearing this, the terrifying demon god's eyes flashed with intense malice, a cold voice transmitted.

"Bai Ze, it is merely a great thousand realm; this venerable one's appetite cannot be satisfied by a single great thousand realm!"

The white-clad figure spoke calmly.

"Then let us, before the human race reacts, seize a few more realms from them!"

Upon hearing this, the vast demon god let out a cold laugh.

"Bai Ze, do not think this venerable one does not know your demon race's plans; you demon race wish to use this venerable one's power to rescue that Heart Ancestor? However, your petty scheme is unimportant; this venerable one needs only the result, only that the heavenly realm fall into the abyss, even if it grants you your wish, what then?"

His cold laugh echoed in the void, his form vanishing instantly into the void.

"However, how to open the gate of this realm, this place requires you to step forward!"

Bai Ze, upon hearing this, slightly furrowed his brow, but also did not take it to heart.

He had never thought he could deceive this Mo Shen demon venerable.

His form vanished instantly from the spot.

……

In the depths of unknown spacetime dimensions, boundless purple-yellow eight-trigram divine light intertwined, permeating vast expanses of the universe; within, purple-yellow dragon-shaped divine light flowed, within which it seemed as if countless Dao divine patterns had condensed into dragon-shaped divine light, like giant mud balls encircling a great furnace.

Dongyang Emperor felt his entire body immobilized, unable to move even a fraction—even with the Myriad Phenomena Crucible hovering above his head, he was drenched in sweat.

At this moment, he sensed that even the Heavenly Emperor's true form seemed to be eroded by that terrifying turbid qi, his own cultivation completely petrified by the turbid qi, making circulation extremely difficult.

Yet even now, this Earth Emperor Heavenly Lord had still not produced a single spiritual treasure.

This made Dongyang Emperor suspect that Zhang Jian was doing it on purpose—deliberately seeking an opportunity to beat him up?

How petty could this guy's mind be!

He had already won!

Surely the opponent wouldn't strike a killing blow, would he?

As Dongyang Emperor's Dao heart trembled and worries weighed on his mind, he saw the purple-yellow Taiji Eight Trigrams spherical dimension in the void slowly receding.

The pressure suddenly lifted, and Dongyang Emperor exhaled a long-held breath.

Yet in the distance, Zhang Jian's figure appeared, smiling faintly as he spoke.

"Dongyang Daoist, your divine powers are extraordinary—I admire you. This match ends in a draw; let us choose another day to continue our sparring, how about it?!"

He slightly clasped his hands, and without waiting for Dongyang Emperor's consent, Zhang Jian's figure vanished instantly.

On the spot, Dongyang Emperor heard the words and was slightly stunned.

Could such a situation still be called a draw?

He merely thought this Inspecting Heavenly Sovereign was being considerate of his dignity, and his heart felt considerably lighter.

But continuing the sparring would probably be unnecessary—already beaten twice, would he really go up again to be beaten a third time……