Chapter 1526: The Six Sons of Faceless, Wang Taixi

A grand voice echoed unceasingly between heaven and earth, drawing numerous shocked gazes; even the Cloud Heavenly King and the Void Heavenly King, who were in the midst of their clash, looked over with astonishment in their eyes.

They saw, above that ancient altar, a figure emerge—a man with a tall, pine-straight frame, draped in a robe embroidered with a golden-patterned great sun, his countenance heroic, his eyes deep as an abyss, giving one a feeling of serenity and wisdom.

His entire body emanated an ancient aura, as if he were not a person of this time and space, but had come from the distant past, out of place with this world and this era.

"The Six Sons of Faceless, Wang Taixi?!"

Li Luo was likewise shaken by this turn of events; clearly he had not expected that, at this critical moment, a person would actually emerge from within that bronze ancient lamp.

Gazing at that figure, Li Luo recalled the "Lamp Bearer" he had first encountered years ago in the Spiritual Phase Grotto-Heaven—a man who wandered within it like a specter, whose name was Wang Taixi, one of the so-called Six Sons of the Faceless Holy Sect.

But this Wang Taixi should have long since vanished from heaven and earth—so why had he appeared again now?

Moreover, the Wang Taixi before them seemed to possess an aura far more mature and vast than that of the "Lamp Bearer" Wang Taixi he had seen back in the Spiritual Phase Grotto-Heaven.

Li Luo was utterly baffled and full of doubts, but for him this was undoubtedly a tremendous piece of good news, because along with the grand voice Wang Taixi had just uttered, the "Green Stone Ancient Seal" that had been aimed at the ancient altar now began to emit a strange tremor at this moment, as if it were evaluating Wang Taixi's words.

Several breaths later, after it confirmed Wang Taixi's identity and authority, the "Green Stone Ancient Seal" actually began to slowly turn, no longer locking onto the ancient altar, and at the same time it terminated the signal it had previously transmitted.

Immediately after, Li Luo discovered with wild joy and excitement that the enormous ancient altar beneath him once again began to blossom with majestic divine light, and within that divine light, the information of the "Great Faceless Divine Forging Art" surged forth once more.

And the "Ten Thousand Phases Wheel" within his body was ignited again, continuing the transformation that had not been completed earlier.

The appearance of this Wang Taixi clearly interfered with the command the Void Heavenly King had issued through the "Green Stone Ancient Seal."

Clearly, this Wang Taixi had once held an extremely high status and authority within the Faceless Holy Sect of old; from the words he had spoken earlier, he even possessed the qualification to recommend someone to become an "Inheritance Holy Son of the Faceless Holy Sect."

And according to Li Luo's understanding, this so-called "Inheritance Holy Son" was likely the candidate for Sect Master of the Faceless Holy Sect who had received true recognition.

Clearly, Wang Taixi had used his authority to acknowledge Li Luo's identity, and under such circumstances, the "Green Stone Ancient Seal," which represented the identity of the Sect Master, also recognized Li Luo.

With this, the procedures and rules could be considered complete.

Thus Li Luo now possessed the qualification to cultivate the "Great Faceless Divine Forging Art."

"The rules of this Faceless Holy Sect are far too strict."

Li Luo muttered helplessly in his heart, but on second thought it was also normal—the Faceless Holy Sect was simply too enormous, a terrifying behemoth that had dominated an entire era; its strength and foundation were virtually beyond imagination, and even the present Academy Alliance and the Convergence Society appeared extremely dim in comparison.

Within a colossal sect that had developed to such a degree, rules and hierarchy were bound to be extremely strict—otherwise it could not have endured.

"Many thanks, Senior, for your aid."

Li Luo suppressed the miscellaneous thoughts in his heart and respectfully cupped his fists toward the figure of Wang Taixi.

Wang Taixi stood with his hands clasped behind his back; his eyes were filled with a heavy sense of the passage of time, and his body was in a state of blurred illusion, clearly not truly existing in the flesh. At this moment he was surveying the Sky Mirror Tower, and a complex look surfaced in the depths of his eyes.

"I never imagined that this ghost of mine, long since buried beneath the dust of time, could still see this heaven and earth once more." Wang Taixi sighed softly, then he turned his head to look at Li Luo and said, "Speaking of which, I should also thank you. Now that I have helped you obtain the Inheritance Holy Son, consider it a token of my gratitude."

Li Luo noticed that Wang Taixi's gaze was sometimes bewildered, sometimes clear—appearing extremely strange; from the look of it, he probably could not endure for long.

But at this moment the Void Heavenly King, because of Wang Taixi's appearance, was somewhat shocked and furious; he said coldly, "The Six Sons of Faceless? Wang Taixi? A shadow worn away by the heavy passage of time, and you dare ruin my great undertaking?"

With a single thought, he manipulated the "Green Stone Ancient Seal" and once again issued a Sect Master's decree through it: "By the holy will of the Sect Master, strip Wang Taixi of his identity as one of the Six Sons of Faceless!"

So long as Wang Taixi's identity as one of the Six Sons of Faceless was stripped away, his earlier recommendation of Li Luo would naturally lose its effect.

However, in response to the Void Heavenly King's transmission this time, the "Green Stone Ancient Seal" merely glowed faintly and did not emit any miraculous signal.

The Void Heavenly King's expression darkened.

And Wang Taixi, for his part, said with a faint smile, "I wonder how you, a junior Heavenly King of later generations, came to obtain the Sect Master's Seal. It seems you do not know the procedures for the dismissal of a Son of Faceless within our Faceless Holy Sect—even the Sect Master would have to convene the Elder Council, and all Six Sons must gather together. How could it be something you, an outsider merely holding the Sect Master's Holy Seal, could accomplish?"

"But the fact that you, an outsider, dare to misuse the Sect Master's Holy Seal also shows that, in this present era, the Faceless Holy Sect is already gone."

At this point, a thick blankness and confusion appeared in Wang Taixi's eyes, and he muttered to himself, "How could this be? Under the Sect Master's leadership, our Faceless Holy Sect dominated the era, flourishing to the utmost—how could it have collapsed?"

"And... why am I here?"

"In those years, our Faceless Holy Sect launched a massive invasion into the Dark World, intending to put an end to the calamity that had stretched over countless years. I was ambushed and slain by three Great Demon Kings, and the Sect Master said he would resurrect me... In the end, that great war should have been won by our Faceless Holy Sect, right? I clearly saw the Sect Master reach the end of the Dark World and find that 'Source of All Evil.'"

"But how could the Faceless Holy Sect have been destroyed?"

"..."

The confusion in Wang Taixi's eyes grew thicker and thicker, and his figure also became much fainter.

And while Wang Taixi's state was in confusion over here, the Void Heavenly King gave a sweep of his sleeve, and gray qi descended from the heavens; wherever it passed, all matter was reduced to nothingness.

He intended to erase Wang Taixi along with Li Luo, Jiang Qing'e, and the others.

But before the gray qi could fall, enormous purple-qi lotuses surged forth from above the altar, completely blocking that "Great Void Qi."

That was the Cloud Heavenly King making his move.

"Void Heavenly King, your opponent is me." The Cloud Heavenly King smiled faintly, pointed with one hand, and countless purple-qi chains surged into being between heaven and earth, sealing off the world like a prison as they descended to envelop the Void Heavenly King.

Behind the Void Heavenly King, endless mysterious light blossomed; within that light was a black-water sea with no visible end, and within that black sea stood a heaven-toppling, earth-shattering pitch-black demonic ape, spewing vast black light from its mouth.

Boom!

The surface of the black sea suddenly split apart, and a massive figure emerged—a three-headed black flood dragon, its eyes releasing a terrifying aura of brutal ferocity that made heaven and earth tremble.

All of these were manifestations of the Void Heavenly King's phase natures.

Void Phase, Demonic Ape Phase, Black Water Phase, Three-Headed Flood Dragon Phase.

The Void Heavenly King grasped with his palm, and the four phases all condensed within his hand, ultimately transforming into a black jade bottle whose body was inscribed with images of a demonic ape and a flood dragon. The next moment, the bottle tilted, and gray-black seawater poured forth.

Wherever it passed, the entire world was being dissolved into a void.

"Cloud Heavenly King, even if you let this Li Luo become the Inheritance Holy Son, do you really think he can change anything? This 'Divine Fruit Crystal Phase' is not something his tiny Marquis Realm can touch. With his strength, the moment he approaches the depths of the Sky Mirror Tower, he will be erased by the mighty power emanating from that Heavenly King's remains." The Void Heavenly King said indifferently.

The Cloud Heavenly King said nothing; he understood that what the Void Heavenly King said was true. Under the present level of power, Li Luo was like an ant on the riverbank when two rivers collide—as soon as any splash of river water struck him, he would be ground into nothing. To expect Li Luo to change the situation was indeed far too fanciful.

But no matter what, he could not allow the Void Heavenly King to obtain the "Divine Fruit Crystal Phase" smoothly.

So he formed a seal with one hand, and vast purple clouds surged over from between heaven and earth, and from within them stepped forth countless living beings, those beings brimming with vitality as if they were truly alive.

The countless living beings chatted and laughed cheerfully, joining hands to meet that gray-black sea of nothingness.

Using vitality to dissolve nothingness.

And while the two Heavenly Kings were entangled with each other, on Li Luo's side, the inheritance of the "Great Faceless Divine Forging Art" was gradually being completed, and in the deepest part of his body, the flames encircling the Ten Thousand Phases Wheel gradually receded, finally vanishing entirely into the central fire cauldron.

At this moment, the Ten Thousand Phases Wheel, after being tempered by the flames, seemed to have undergone an enormous change; its original state of incompleteness was entirely repaired, forming a perfect, complete, and mysterious golden wheel.

Upon the golden wheel were inscribed countless ancient and primordial runes; the feeling was as if it were a thing born when heaven and earth had not yet opened and the world was still in chaos.

And most importantly, suspended silently within the fire cauldron at the center of the Myriad Phases Wheel was a white-gold fire pill, roughly the size of a fist.

White-gold flames flickered gently outward; that was...

The Great Formless Fire, capable of refining the Fourth Phase.