Chapter 662: I've laid my cards bare! No more pretending!

Such a scene is world-shaking!

A Yao Marshal ought to have been rampant and unstoppable, displaying unmatched prowess in the netherworld's domain, sweeping away the eight wildernesses and six unions, and hanging the entire netherworld to beat it.

But now, he has suffered a calamity!

A peerlessly radiant female sage, the supreme Houtu Empress of the Earth, casually stepped on him.

Under that foot, the Yao Marshal's blood and bones shattered like broken porcelain… he was almost killed on the spot!

"Ha!"

Ying Zhao roared in anger, resisted, his qi and divine power boiling over, displaying unmatched divine might, creating and destroying worlds; for a moment, phantoms of myriad heavens in the great cosmos appeared, all laws, methods, and spirits came into being; he nearly stood at the extremity of the Great Dao, generating all existence from nothing, his aura filling the netherworld.

Instantly, holy qi swept across, the myriad ages resonated, divine might eternal; above and below the River of Time, the three realms and six paths, myriad heavens, countless "Ying Zhao" appeared, shouting, waging war… his heartbeat thundered like lightning, his attacks flashed like blinding lightning, a moment's brilliance was a myriad heavens' illusion; the rolling Dao tone like heavenly decree, like proclamation, like blessing, and moreover like an ultimate sublimation.

At the most critical moment, hovering on the edge of life and death, Ying Zhao went berserk, his combat power seemingly about to shatter its shackles, stepping toward that realm of supreme mystery that seemed both before him and infinitely distant!

This seemed to have some effect.

Time faded, the Great Dao became empty, Ying Zhao's true form blurred; if one were to enter the unfathomable, unimaginable void, the whole would be unknowable, indescribable; though not wrong to speak, not mistaken to think, yet rare to grasp its 'totality', for it is ever-changing, constantly sublimating and innovating, thus uncertain.

Change, sublimation… this is 'Yi', and thus such a mysterious realm is acclaimed by the world as the foremost of the Five Tai of the primordial—Grand Simplicity!

When nothing can be certain, naturally it cannot be 'observed', let alone 'captured', so how could it be suppressed?

Ying Zhao was about to escape with his life.

A flash of ecstatic color and light crossed his eyes, a hundred-thousandfold gratitude and feeling for his daily arduous cultivation, which had earned him a chance at life at this moment…… Though I don't know why, Houtu, even amidst the turmoil of reincarnation, could still be so lively, her retained strength still great, beating him sorely……

But he at least had to get away!

If he could get out, there would be plenty of opportunity to investigate this matter, to see where the Heavenly Court leaked— that Bai Ze handling intelligence work, is he eating shit?

Besides, besides, I must certainly extort a bit from those unscrupulous comrades——

"Fuck!"

"Bifang, how come your move of lifting your legs and fleeing is so practiced?"

"You don't even glance back, taking advantage of the moment I'm targeted, you sprint off madly, not even considering coming over to fight side by side with me against the enemy?"

"Damn teammates ah ah ah!"

Ying Zhao, the Yao Marshal, caught sight of Bifang in the corner of his eye… this one of the top pillars of the divine bird clan, deeply versed in the way of preserving life by following one's heart, seeing the situation unfavorable, without hesitation, taking advantage of Ying Zhao's "self-sacrifice", "abandoning self to others to hold the rear" opportunity, decisively carried out a "strategic shift", preserving his "useful body", so as to continue serving the Heavenly Court with devotion in the future.

——No need to think, Bifang's report after returning will probably be just like this.

Ying Zhao harbored great resentment.

However, being able to escape death is already enough to be grateful for…… this great joy, gained anew amid great terror and condensed, is sufficient to dull all annoyance and hatred, and will not lead to nitpicking trivialities.

As long as he truly can get out!

"Escaping the realm of reincarnation, no longer bound or suppressed by its rules, I could……"

Hope gleamed in Ying Zhao's eyes.

However……

After giving him hope, reality cruelly threw him back into the depths of despair, whispering to him——

You overthought it!

When Ying Zhao was about to leap out of the reincarnation domain, rising from the deepest Nine Deep to the vast, boundless Honghuang mountains and rivers, to experience the beauty of freedom in all phenomena of heaven and earth, when he was only a hair's breadth— a fraction of an inch— away from that final boundary……

"The netherworld's peace tolerates no turmoil; the order of reincarnation tolerates no slight."

"But if an offense is committed, even if far away, it will be punished!"

A gentle yet resolute female voice echoed through the ages, it was Lady Houtu announcing, judging, and descending the supreme sanction.

"Ying Zhao."

"For the wrong you have committed, atone."

It is not a threat.

There is no intimidation.

Merely calm words, they sounded in Ying Zhao's ears.

At that instant, Ying Zhao sensed the utmost terror, gripping his heart, leaving him unable to breathe.

——Compared to when she previously stepped on him, a vastly greater power surged, leaving him like a mortal before a deity, with no possibility of the slightest resistance.

Under such a vast disparity, even escape became an impossible feat.

Even though Ying Zhao's combat power had touched a higher tier's sliver…… it ultimately came to nothing.

At that moment, the death-omen star glittered, Ying Zhao's innate spiritual light flickered "bling-bling" and shot up, letting him, in his vast ignorance, discern something: he realized he would fall into this great pit of the netherworld, not because he was lacking, but because the opposite side was overly yin!

Because……

The Houtu who struck was no longer merely some supposed "avoiding the Dao-reincarnation mechanism, sneaking about, preserving a bit of the Killer's Trick, keeping part of peak strength as a deterrent in the netherworld"……

but rather……

but a complete, peak Grand Simplicity Great Net!

Facing a rear hand of a Grand Simplicity, Ying Zhao had a good chance to withdraw unharmed.

But to clash head-on with a Grand Simplicity?!

The next moment, his fate explained everything.

"Boom!"

Again, a foot came down.

Standing alongside the foot that had previously stepped on Ying Zhao, this tread was solid and real, yet bore the supreme, immutable dignity of the ages, becoming an irreversible wedge driven into the annals of myriad heavens' mythology!

What seemed an ordinary motion, in fact cut off all paths of life, sealing every possibility.

Within the netherworld, innumerable spirits at that moment beheld, the River of Time shattered, an instant became eternity, a ray of light shone upon all worlds, rising from the place where Houtu stood, becoming a magnificent eternal scroll!

In this scroll, Ying Zhao was trampled to pieces!

His body, his countless incarnations spanning infinite spacetime, eternal and free, were all anchored by a supreme law; to flee— he could not; to resist— was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Suppressed by the supreme holy one, a supreme and mighty great opening divine might surged, forcibly gathering all of Ying Zhao's fate; with his true form holding the unique innate spiritual light, it was contained into a single entity, and then……

Opening!

Opening!

Opening!

Just as Pangu once opened the heavens, ending the chaotic world, changing the heavens and replacing the sun, shaping Honghuang.

Today, Ying Zhao the Yao Marshal's body, soul, magic power, and Dao Fruit were taken as that 'Chaos'; under Houtu's will, they were shattered! Opening! Creation! Evolution!

Finally, a Myriad Heavens was born here; a strand of undying spiritual light was nailed and locked within, becoming the Heavenly Dao…… The souls and spirits of the Great Luo beings were torn apart, fragment after fragment turning into living beings, obscured by their ignorant hearts, then emerging from the bewildering Chaos, dazedly exploring the newly born world.

This is also the aftermath of Pangu's opening of the heavens.

The body transformed into towering mountains and rivers, myriad mineral treasures; the soul evolved into the souls of all beings, walking the world…… The essence of cultivation, the union of heaven and man, by which one attains promotion—how could it not be a renewed unity of spirit and flesh?

However, after such a transformation, the original intention has already dissipated into nothing; everything must start anew.

Houtu lowered her eyelids slightly, tranquil and gentle, graceful and magnanimous, possessing supreme nobility and sacred exaltation, filled with an unwearying spirit of teaching.

After a brief silence, the vast Myriad Heavens beneath her feet were reshaped, their form altered, ultimately becoming a continuous mountain range that collapsed into the Netherworld.

From now on, this place will be extraordinary.

Because it is the convergence of all powers of a supreme divine adept, with the Dao Fruit evolving, this place will become a site of great opportunity, a secret realm.

And within it, those beings born and raised here will, in this process, receive the enlightening influence of the Netherworld's Judiciary from the outside world; the sparks of wisdom will collide, granting them growth.

This is atonement.

It is also reformation and re-education.

Perhaps this is the most subtle of jokes.

Ying Zhao carried out the operation to overthrow the Netherworld, becoming an aid to the Heavenly Emperor's plan, causing countless elites of the Heavenly River Navy to become cannon fodder; after death they still had to fight for the Heavenly Court, turning to harm even a trace of humaneness and a scrap of moral integrity.

But now, however, he has been cast down into the mortal realm, passively receiving the infection and assimilation of the Netherworld's ideas and concepts……

This is imprisonment, and also a grinding of thought, a remodeling of the three views, a reflection and introspection.

"I will not obliterate the brilliance of your innate spiritual light; I will preserve your Dao heart."

"Study well."

"Become a god anew."

"When will you understand the principle of being human, know the great undertaking of striving for all mankind?"

"Only then will you no longer be Ying Zhao Mountain, able to return to a divine aspect and become an eternal, immortal monument."

Houtu said gently.

However, that strand of innate spiritual light was not appeased, emitting a shocking Dao cry, shouting, protesting, condemning an immoral act of cheating.

"You……"

"Absolutely not Houtu!"

When these words rang out, the entire Netherworld trembled three times, shaking the gods of the Myriad Heavens, who cast shocked gazes.

——Houtu is not Houtu!

This is a false Houtu!

This shocked too many people.

In a daze, it seemed a layer of mist was about to dissipate, letting the ancient gods and great sages eat melons to their fill.

"Who exactly are you?!"

"Let me understand clearly!"

Ying Zhao's lingering resentment surged; he was too unwilling, too aggrieved!

A Taiyi being squatting in reincarnation—how many years has he been waiting to shade him?!

"How come I am not Houtu?"

Houtu maintained a dignified demeanor, striving to uphold the perfect image of Lady Nüwa in her heart, deeply immersed in the role.

In her faint sighs, mercy and gentleness coexisted, and she also bore an aura of majesty that overlooked the eight wildernesses and six directions.

"I am Houtu!"

Boundless confidence, boundless radiance—"Houtu" is thus the Dao.

"Impossible!" Ying Zhao's lingering resentment roared, "I do not acknowledge Nüwa's Dao, but I still acknowledge her character and wisdom……"

"She couldn't pull off such a sneaky maneuver!"

"……" Houtu's expression instantly became subtle.

The person portraying her, for a moment, didn't know how to answer……

Surely…… isn't it just mocking Nüwa for lacking common sense?

Or deny…… isn't it just saying Nüwa is full of scheming?

This really gave him a huge problem!

——I feel you're scolding me, but I have no evidence!

"What a ruthless schemer……" Ying Zhao the Yao Marshal spoke with resentful tone, gradually weakening——his body destroyed, his soul torn apart; though his spiritual light is not extinct, his consciousness remains, yet he bears Ying Zhao Mountain, in fact operating the order of a Myriad Heavens universe, like the Dao Ancestor Hongjun being restrained, letting him gradually fall into confusion, living with the perspective of the heaven-earth universe.

The perception of time in the heaven-earth universe differs vastly from that of ordinary beings!

One yuan hui—129,600 years—actually amounts to only a day and night for a mortal!

Ying Zhao was forced into weariness, forced into slumber…… however, his strong obsession in his heart let him still firmly utter a few beeps, demanding a truth.

"Squatting in the Netherworld, how long have we waited, just to find a chance, waiting for us to enter the urn…… for this, indulging in this place previously swept and slaughtered by us, perhaps only to let us all jump out!"

"In order to eliminate even the slightest hidden danger, they simply stood by while myriad souls were strangled……"

"Hehe…… haha!"

You and I... actually are fellow travelers!

Ying Zhao, the Yao Marshal, let out a faint laugh of true spirit, attempting to speak the final heart-piercing words.

Just that.

Houtu, however, seemed completely indifferent, even appearing as if wanting to laugh.

"You... compare me with you?" In a bell-like laugh, Houtu shook their head, "You... are you worthy?"

Some things, you guessed right.

Houtu chuckled lightly, "But not entirely correct; in the end, you underestimated me."

My scheming and intellect—how could you lot evaluate them?

Never mind!

Since you've already guessed it, I won't pretend anymore.

Houtu's laughter grew clearer and clearer, their stature more and more upright, and around them a light and shadow like dissipating ink gradually faded, as if wandering between illusion and reality.

With steady, powerful steps, he in an instant broke through the barrier of reincarnation, appearing in the Honghuang realm at the foot of Mount Tai; time flowed backwards here, the later arriving first, having been advanced by one step, corresponding to a certain person.

He slowly opened one hand, like a jar inviting someone in, waiting for a little bird to hop in.

Is there such a bird?

Indeed there is!

It's the Bifang!

"Ahhh..."

The Bifang Yao Marshal had been rejoicing earlier; she had outrun Ying Zhao in fleeing, succeeding in "not needing to outrun danger, just outrun teammates," but facing a peak Taiyi Daluo, she was still schemed against, a mark was placed, dooming her future fate.

She wanted to brake, but couldn't, utterly unable to control; in her frenzy, she crashed into the palm of a heroic martial emperor.

The emperor lowered his gaze, looking down at her with interest.

Bifang forced out a smile, revealing a shocked, embarrassed yet appeasing expression.

"Yan, Yan, Yandi Majesty... hello..."

At this moment.

The whole world seemed to have halted its turning.

The myriad gods were shaken.

The ancient sages were shocked.

Fuck!

Is that Yandi?!

How is this possible?!

Cross-dressing?!

(End of chapter)