Chapter 1643: Heavenly King Sha

Boom!

A tremendous thunderclap exploded between heaven and earth. A heaven-piercing Heavenly Thunder Bamboo swayed, and the aura emanating from it grew increasingly terrifying and majestic.

Until a certain moment, a faint cracking sound seemed to ring out—that sound, like a bamboo shoot piercing through the earth's bonds to see the light of day once more.

In everyone's pupils was reflected a torrential cascade of golden thunder, bursting forth from the tip of the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo and ravaging the world.

Within the endless golden thunder, an aged figure gradually revealed itself.

A vast and terrifying aura suddenly surged from within his body.

"Little ones, you've worked hard." As the aged figure emerged within the golden thunder, he first stretched his limbs a little, unaccustomed to them, then turned his head. His stern, aged face carried a trace of a smile as he looked at Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e.

That utterly familiar face belonged to Li Li Jingzhe, absent for many years.

In Great Xia City, however, Dragon Scale Branch Head Li Li Qingying stared at this familiar figure, dumbfounded, her eyes full of shock and disbelief.

"Branch Head Li Jingzhe?! He—he didn't fall in the Boundary River Domain, did he?!"

But gradually, she came to her senses. From Li Luo's previous actions, it was clear he had deliberately been cultivating that Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

"Li Li Jingzhe didn't completely fall back then. His will was hidden within this Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, and now Li Luo has revived him through special means!"

No, this was no simple revival. One must know that before his fall, Li Li Jingzhe was only at the Void Triple Crown King realm, but now, this old fellow was actually attempting to ascend to Heavenly King!

What an inconceivable advancement was this?

"This old fellow truly received a tremendous opportunity."

Li Li Qingying finally understood. For Li Li Jingzhe, that fall had been a crisis, but also an opportunity. Without this desperate rebirth through destruction and rise anew, with Li Li Jingzhe's foundation and potential, he would likely have found it very difficult to reach this step.

"What kind of Many Phases Seed is this Li Luo? He's Li Li Jingzhe's great blessed seed!" At this moment, even Li Li Qingying, with her relatively mild temperament, couldn't help but be overwhelmed with envy. It seemed that ever since Li Luo returned to the Dragon Fang Branch, Li Li Jingzhe's strength had skyrocketed every few days.

One must know that before, Li Li Jingzhe, like the rest of them, was only at the Single Crown King realm. Although this old fellow had hidden his depths somewhat, he shouldn't have been that far ahead of them.

But now?

She hadn't even touched the threshold of Double Crown King, yet Li Li Jingzhe was charging toward the Heavenly King position.

If successful, Li Li Jingzhe would become the second Heavenly King of their Li Li Tianwang lineage after their ancestor Li Jun!

Sigh, why didn't she have such a great blessed seed for a grandson?

While Li Li Qingying's eyes reddened with envy, Li Li Qingpeng in Great Xia City also stared with reddened eyes at Li Li Jingzhe's figure appearing within the golden thunder.

But he was relatively composed. After all, he knew the secret that Li Li Jingzhe hadn't completely fallen, and his heart now held more joy than shock.

But Li Li Jingtao and Li Li Fengyi in the city didn't know, so they were now also dumbfounded, constantly rubbing their eyes, thinking they were seeing an illusion.

"What's going on? I think I saw Grandpa."

"I think I saw him too."

The two exchanged glances, then both saw the tears in each other's eyes.

Li Li Fengyi wiped the corner of her eye and said, "Little Brother went too far. He didn't tell us about something so important, making us sad all these years."

Li Li Jingtao scratched his head and grinned foolishly: "There must be many secrets and hardships involved. Look at Branch Head Li Qingying's expression—she probably doesn't know about this either. Third Brother did this for safety's sake."

Li Li Qingying—no, Li Li Fengyi—blushed at the tip of her nose and nodded glumly. She naturally knew this too. Their strength was too weak; knowing such secrets would not only be useless but would put pressure on them.

While the two siblings comforted each other here, Li Li Jingzhe, after leaving the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, turned his gaze toward the vast thunderclouds in the sky. The thunderclouds had now split open, and heavenly light poured down.

The next instant, everyone saw a vast Divine Staircase extending downward.

No one knew how long the Divine Staircase was; it stretched all the way to the end of the heavens, where there seemed to be a supreme seat overlooking all living beings of the world.

That was the Heavenly King Throne.

Climb the Divine Staircase, and one could achieve the rank.

However, the Heavenly King's Divine Staircase was not so easy to cross.

Roar!

Vast golden thunder gathered upon the Divine Staircase, transforming into a golden giant dragon whose tail could not be seen. The dragon coiled upon the Divine Staircase, emanating terrifying power.

At the same time, there was also a giant Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, quietly rooted upon the Divine Staircase, with destructive golden thunder leaping across its body.

Whooo!

There was also deep cyan Wind Sha, howling down endlessly from the upper reaches of the Divine Staircase. That Wind Sha was like a bone-attaching ulcer—even a Triple Crown King touching it would have their King's Crown eroded and their foundation shaken.

This was the Heavenly King Sha.

When climbing the Divine Staircase, the phase within one's body resonates with heaven and earth, forming the final obstructive Sha. This Sha is the Heavenly King Sha.

Survive the Sha tribulation, one's phase merges with it, and only then can one achieve the phase rank and stand at the pinnacle of the world.

Countless powerful beings in the world watched this scene in awe. Even king-level experts like Pang Pang Qianyuan, Lan Lan Lingzi, and Li Li Qingying didn't blink at this moment. After all, such a spectacle as climbing the Divine Staircase and becoming a Heavenly King was rarely seen in several hundred years.

"Go, Grandpa!" Li Luo cheered, but his palms were drenched in sweat, his heart full of tension. He hadn't known that becoming a Heavenly King would be so difficult.

Clearly, Li Li Jingzhe had already gone through the desperate rebirth through destruction and rise anew, yet he still needed to survive this hurdle before stepping into the true Heavenly King realm.

A faint smile appeared on Li Li Jingzhe's aged face. He took a step, his figure flashed, and he had already appeared upon the Divine Staircase.

He raised his head, his pupils reflecting those three blocking tigers.

These three phases were originally the energies he knew best, but now they had become the greatest obstacles he had ever encountered.

Li Li Jingzhe's body, as if forged from golden thunder, now emitted a terrifying rumbling sound, and then cracks actually appeared on this golden thunder body.

And within the cracks, golden thunder-fire seemed to surge and flow out.

He directly ignited this golden thunder body, which had endured so many hardships and been watered and cultivated by Li Luo.

This was a path of desperate, all-or-nothing combat. If this attempt failed, Li Li Jingzhe would no longer have any possibility of revival.

"What a desperate fight for survival."

Even Pill Saint, seeing this, secretly praised. Li Li Jingzhe knew the terror of the Heavenly King Sha. If he underwent the tribulation normally, he might not succeed, so he directly chose to seek life through death.

Burn everything, abandon all paths of retreat, only to forge forward along this one path.

If he could succeed, then naturally he would succeed.

If it all came to nothing, then he would vanish completely into smoke.

Amidst the Alchemy Saint's sighs of admiration, Li Li Jingzhe's self-immolating body, covered in cracks and spewing golden thunder-fire, had transformed into a streak of golden light that shot forth explosively.

He took a single step forward and appeared before the giant golden dragon.

The golden dragon roared, swung its claws — each claw seemingly containing an entire world within — its might terrifying.

Li Li Jingzhe threw a fist to meet it.

Boom!

At the instant of collision, heaven and earth seemed to be shattering; Li Li Jingzhe's right arm burst apart on the spot, dissolving into cascading thunder-fire, while the golden dragon let out a wail and retreated, its massive body crumbling apart section by section.

Li Li Jingzhe's stride did not pause; he appeared once more before that incomparably enormous Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, which swayed with vast golden thunder, transforming into a thunder halberd that hacked straight down.

Li Li Jingzhe did not retreat a single step, allowing that destructive thunder halberd to fall and slice clean through half his body, his left arm included.

But his left palm, flowing with thunder-fire, was like the sharpest divine weapon — it pierced through the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo's trunk and cut it clean in half at the waist.

The clash lasted only the span of a blink, yet that soaring savagery made countless people's scalps go numb.

Li Li Jingzhe, his body broken and ruined, showed not the slightest change on his cold, stern face; both his arms were now shattered, his entire frame bathed in golden thunder-fire, as he went to meet the cascading deep-azure wind-sha.

Wherever the wind-sha passed, countless holes rapidly appeared in his body, as though he were a clay sculpture weathered by the wind.

But Li Li Jingzhe's footsteps remained firm and steady; within his shattered flesh and blood, golden bones were revealed — bones marked with bamboo-joint patterns, looking as though his entire frame were constructed from bamboo joints.

With every step he took, flesh and blood splashed out, only to be ground into nothingness by the wind-sha.

Heaven and earth fell silent; countless people watched this scene with moved hearts.

They could feel what an iron-tough will was contained within that aged body.

Li Luo held his breath and focused his spirit, not daring to exhale; the hand gripping Jiang Qing's had unconsciously clenched tight enough to creak, and that force even caused Jiang Qing to knit her brows slightly — but she did not pull free, instead gently holding Li Luo's hand in return.

Boom!

At this moment a sudden tremendous sound rang out; in the distant void, the sound formation that had trapped the two Great Demon Kings — the Blood-Slaying and the Asura Arm — had developed a breach that could not heal under their frenzied assault.

The sky-obscuring demonic arm leapt mightily and burst through the obstruction; the blood-eye in its palm erupted with towering blood-light, and then the demonic palm pierced straight through space, descending to blanket the region where Li Luo, Jiang Qing, and the Alchemy Saint were.

The Asura Arm Great Demon King could already sense that the time they could remain in this realm was approaching its limit; it must seize the Alchemy Saint now and take him away.

And this Many-Phase Seed, as well as the future Li Li Tianwang — both must be cut down now to remove future trouble.

The demonic palm descended from above, but Li Luo acted as though he had not heard, his gaze fixed dead on that broken, aged figure atop the divine stair.

That figure, having now endured the erosion of all the wind-sha, maintained the last thread of will and stood before the final divine stair.

It seemed as though his soft murmur was rising in heaven and earth.

"My grandson is still waiting for this old man to come help."

"So you — the Heavenly King throne — today, I shall take it."

Li Li Jingzhe's body, broken to the point of nearly dispersing, took its final step.

And the instant he stood at the end of the divine stair, heaven and earth seemed to suddenly fall silent; immediately after, the world's energy let out a deafening roar.

That roar was like the sound of the most ancient great bells and resonant chimes.

It spread on and on.

It reached every corner of the ten great Outer Shenzhou.

It was a hymn of praise from this world itself.

At this moment, every Heavenly King existence across the ten great Outer Shenzhou raised their heads from their various hidden places, casting astonished gazes through layer upon layer of space.

Another Heavenly King had been born in this world.

The enormous demonic palm descended to cover them, but just as it was about to lock this entire stretch of void within its grasp and scoop it away, vast golden light surged forth from within the void.

Boom!

The void exploded; an incomprehensibly massive golden dragon claw reached out from within, wrapped in golden thunder and azure wind rank, and collided with the demonic palm.

Rumble rumble rumble!

Vast and terrifying ripples spread across the horizon, stretching for hundreds of thousands of li.

Countless gazes watched in absolute shock as the demonic palm of the Asura Arm Great Demon King was slowly lifted up by the golden dragon claw.

Beneath the shelter of the dragon claw, Li Luo gazed ahead — there, a figure that still appeared aged, yet now radiated a vibrant vitality utterly unlike before, stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

Sensing Li Luo's gaze, he turned his head; on that aged face, which had not been deliberately altered, a gentle smile surfaced.

"Little ones, these years — you've had it hard."

On this day.

Li Li Jingzhe ascended to Heavenly King.