Chapter 1055

Great Rift Valley.

Xi Valley

The holy land of humanity, in Xi Kuang's mouth, is the gathering point of humanity's strongest combat power.

Right, Xi Kuang is that violent fellow whose arms are thicker than Wu Tie's waist; he entered the Dao via the Eight Hundred Great Daos and activated the ancient bloodline 'Divine Giant of the Dragon Bo'—that is, according to legend, a miraculous race born with a height of tens of thousands of li, possessing immeasurable strength, and considered the foremost of humanity.

Xi Kuang brought Wu Tie all the way deep into Xi Valley, casually introducing the functions of some halls along the way, but his attention was mostly on Wu Tie.

For the first time in his life, Xi Kuang encountered a monster whose physical strength far surpassed his own.

This sparked Xi Kuang's strong interest in Wu Tie; after asking about Wu Tie's approximate age, he enthusiastically recommended his own recently sixteen-year-old granddaughter to Wu Tie, salivating as he said Wu Tie and his granddaughter were a perfect match made in heaven.

"Only a strong woman can bear a strong bloodline and give birth to strong descendants." Xi Kuang solemnly said to Wu Tie: "For the sake of humanity's strength, Warrior King, your strong bloodline must not be wasted."

"Old man knows, nowadays the youth of humanity have bad morals, they like to find slender-armed, slender-legged little sticks, pale-faced young women as wives, but those women I could poke to death thirty or fifty thousand with a single finger—how could they possibly bear strong children?"

Vigorously patting his chest, Xi Kuang spoke enthusiastically: "But our granddaughter is different; she is born with broad shoulders and a thick waist..."

Wu Tie automatically blocked out Xi Kuang's ensuing clamor, shutting off one of his five senses—it wasn't difficult at all.

With hands behind his back, as Xi Kuang continually went deeper into Xi Valley, Wu Tie felt the surrounding air become much fresher and more moist the further he descended; a vibrant vitality filled the air, giving him an unusually comfortable, pleasant feeling.

Furthermore, the closer one got to the depths of the rift valley, the more the myriad alien Great Daos forcibly intruded upon by the divine races in the void grew thin.

If the mixed Great Dao principles on the surface were a bottle of ink, then at the depth where Wu Tie finds himself, the Dao resonance filling the void has become comparatively clear spring water; although traces of black can still be seen, it is already much purer.

And yet, this is not the bottom.

Following Xi Kuang underground for nearly ten million li, we finally could see the bottom of the rift valley.

Wu Tie instinctively looked up; the great rift valley was over three million li wide and over ten million li long, yet its depth exceeded ten million li, giving the feeling of a flattened funnel.

At the bottom of the rift valley, the length is no more than a few hundred li, and the widest point only a dozen li; atop it stand dozens of layers of ancient, heavy metal palaces. Each palace has undergone untold years of wear, its dark blue surface mottled, with thin layers of moss growing in many places.

Xi Kuang suddenly poked Wu Tie's shoulder with his finger: "Warrior King, did you hear what I said?"

Wu Tie opened his hearing, nodded firmly: "I heard you, but it's impossible—I already have a girl I like."

Xi Kuang gave Wu Tie a strange look, then shook his head and sighed: "A strong man should possess many women, so as to breed more excellent bloodlines… To give up countless women for just one—what are you thinking?"

Wu Tie opened his mouth, also looking strangely at Xi Kuang: "With enough power, to go seize more of the opposite sex purely for breeding—this isn't human, it's livestock, right?"

Wu Tie said seriously: "People, after all, have propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame."

Xi Kuang frowned: "But this is the rule set by our ancestors; for the sake of humanity's strength, we've always done it this way!"

Wu Tie likewise frowned: "Then, is humanity now considered strong?"

Xi Kuang opened his mouth, remained silent for a moment, then forcefully swung his right arm, bringing up a gust of foul wind: "Of course, humanity is very strong now."

Wu Tie immediately sneered: "Then look at those hunting grounds and battlefields outside—while countless human civilians are tormented and slaughtered by demons, what are you, these powerful humans, doing?"

Wu Tie gazed deeply at the dumbfounded Xi Kuang: "You are a supreme powerhouse… truly, a supreme powerhouse of humanity. I, and many others of humanity, have always believed that humanity could never give birth to a supreme powerhouse; this world does not allow humanity to break through."

"But you are a supreme powerhouse."

"The six guys in blood-red armor who attacked me earlier were also supreme powerhouses!"

"You possess such great power; you should be able to do more, you should be able to protect those weak humans, let them live better, let them live like true humans, like the life humanity's ancestors ought to have, under the sun, moon, and stars, living freely and at ease!"

"And you, hiding in this Xi Valley… proclaiming yourselves the holy land of humanity… proclaiming yourselves the gathering point of humanity's strongest combat power?"

"Hehe, what is the meaning of your frenzied bloodline breeding?"

Xi Kuang couldn't speak; countless tiny veins bulged on his arms as he glared fiercely at Wu Tie, his voice low: "I really want to smash your head with a single punch… your words are unpleasant to hear."

"Are you angry from embarrassment?" Wu Tie sneered mockingly: "But you'd have to be able to beat me first."

He shook his head, Wu Tie sighed and said: "You are not my match, so let those human elders you speak of come out."

Xi Kuang let out a low, deep roar, then strode toward the first hall.

Wu Tie followed behind Xi Kuang, passing through hall after hall.

Finally, they arrived at the innermost hall of the dozens of halls deep within Xi Valley. The hall here also employed the Sumeru mustard seed technique; though its exterior appears small, inside the space stretches millions of li, filled with thick, substantive heaven-earth primordial energy, which transforms into visible multicolored thick mist rolling everywhere.

The Dao's rhyme here has become very pure.

Basically, it is the original Dao rhyme of Mu Dalu as it should be; the Dao rhyme of the foreign Dao has been dispelled ninety-nine percent.

And at the core of the hall, a thirty-three-tiered golden exquisite reliquary tower hovers there; the tower base emits a pure golden light shining on the vertical downward opening at the hall's core.

The aura emanating from this reliquary tower is magnificent, primordial, extremely ancient, and incomparably powerful.

Streams of visible merit-golden light transform into swimming dragons and flying phoenixes, slowly circling and dancing around the reliquary tower, bringing forth various strange lights and colors, illuminating the vast hall space with fantastical, breathtaking beauty.

Just below this reliquary tower, a row of thrones carved from granite is lined up; on nearly a hundred thrones, only twelve burly old men in long robes are seated at the moment.

These old men are said to be sitting on the thrones, but in fact they could be said to be coiled upon the thrones.

Their upper bodies are human, while their lower bodies are thick snake tails. Although they are snake tails, the scales growing on them are truly dragon-scale in shape; the aura emanating from the snake tails does not show yin evil or gloom, but instead gives an extremely sacred, majestic, radiant and great feeling.

Xi Kuang walked into the hall, then solemnly knelt and paid respects to these old men.

Wu Tie, meanwhile, stood silently at a distance of three li from these old men, coldly observing them.

Powerful, extremely powerful.

These old men are all entrants of the Dao above the Thousand Gates, and moreover, they all have venerable-level cultivation. They have all condensed Dao seals, and the aura of their condensed Dao seals is solid and powerful; even the weakest among them, his strongest Dao seal, can already mobilize over seventy percent of the Dao's majestic pressure.

Cultivation above the seventh heaven of the venerable level!

Entrants of the Dao of the Thousand Gates!

Placed in the outside world, each of these old men's strength is sufficient to guard a region.

If they could have gone to the Flame Dynasty back then, whatever old geezers, whatever Śarīra Bone Venerable, whatever Sand Lord, whatever Six Desires Demon Venerable, he estimates they could crush them all with a single finger.

If they could go to the Flame Dynasty for a trip, the four countries of demons and monsters surrounding the Flame Dynasty would have long been turned to ashes, and the Flame Dynasty's hundreds of millions of citizens would not have to suffer the torment of those evil demons.

Even, if they could go to the Fuxi Divine State where Wu Tie originates, the three great divine states on the surface would have long been overthrown, and the countless tribes living underground in the Fuxi Divine State…… could long ago have set foot on the ground, basking in sunlight and dew, basking in the radiance of sun and moon, they would not prey on each other, nor suffer from hunger and thirst……

However, these twelve old men simply sit silently on the majestic divine thrones carved from granite.

Their buttocks seem to be glued to the thrones, utterly still.

Their faces are like ten-thousand-year-old zombies, completely desiccated, likewise utterly still.

Even their gaze—who knows how many years this gang of old monsters has lived, who knows how many years they have lived—within their pupils there is no longer any humanity, especially the keen, lively light of weak humans.

Their gaze was like that of lofty deities.

Ancient, dignified, cold, and ruthless, filled with an absolute sense of reason and control.

Twenty-four eyes stared at Wu Tie, and Wu Tie could feel no emotional fluctuation in their gazes.

Xi Kuang turned his head and whispered a greeting to Wu Tie: "Hurry and pay your respects to all the Elders!"

Wu Tie stood with his hands behind his back, showing no weakness, his sharp gaze sweeping over each Elder.

The atmosphere in the hall became extremely stiff, and beads of cold sweat continually dripped from Xi Kuang's rugged face.

After a long while, Wu Tie finally said slowly: "But why should I kneel to them? Have they bestowed grace upon me? Are they my elders? Or simply because they have lived long enough?"

Xi Kuang dared not speak; he simply lay prone on the ground, his forehead pressed firmly against it.

An old man seated nearer the center stared at Wu Tie for a long time, then suddenly said: "Junior scum, you have committed heinous sins, show no remorse, you deserve death!"

Wu Tie stared at the old man in astonishment: "Heinous sins?"

Wu Tie waved his hand, and a dazzling golden disc blazed into view behind his head.

"Your eyes are dim with age, I can understand that, but I have accumulated immeasurable merit, and yet you say I have committed heinous sins?"

Wu Tie sneered continuously.

The speaking old man said coldly: "Merit? This realm has already been polluted by demons; heaven and earth are deficient, unjust, their course has become biased, and what they deem correct is already wrong."

The old man said icily: "Only we uphold the human ancestors' teachings and rules; our words and deeds represent the human orthodoxy and the human will… Heaven and earth may be wrong, but we are not… When we say you have heinous evil, you have indeed committed heinous sins."

Wu Tie widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the speaking old man.

Can there be such an argument?

Heaven and earth are polluted, the Great Dao will be wrong, yet only you are not wrong?

Ha, truly…

For a moment, Wu Tie truly could not find words to rebut.

Taking a deep breath, Wu Tie sneered: "Very good, very good, you are not wrong, you are correct; I have no intention of arguing with you… I came here for the fragments of the Haotian Mirror. Hand over the fragments, and I will turn and leave…"

Pausing, Wu Tie said in a deep voice: "I have heard that after a human holy sword was shattered, the humans forged three holy weapons from its shards? I hold two of them; please hand over the third as well."

Wu Tie said calmly: "My purpose here is simple: name your price, give me what I want, and I will turn and leave, never to see you again…"

The speaking old man said coldly: "You cannot leave. Without imperial edict, you trespassed the holy land—you deserve death. Moreover, your heinous sins make you even more deserving of death."

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning icy and perilous: "Good, good, good, tell me—what heinous sins have I actually committed?"

The old man said coldly: "What is your cultivation? In this realm, aside from our Xi Gu, aside from this 'Heavenly Dao Cavern' we have painstakingly prepared behind us, there is nowhere else where humans can condense a Dao imprint and break through to the Venerable level."

Even if we gather the strength of all humanity, the depths of this Heavenly Dao Cavern produce only one new Venerable expert every million years.

"Your cultivation is so formidable, yet you have never entered the Heavenly Dao Cavern… therefore… you took the demonic path, breaking through by demonic means."

"Therefore you must die… not only you, but your nine clans, your kin and friends, all your subordinates, everyone related to you must perish." The old man's thick serpent tail twitched slightly, and his upper body lifted from the throne.

The thick wine jar in his hand and the three-foot-long metal crutch slammed heavily onto the ground, causing the entire hall to tremble slightly.

This Elder single-handedly brandished the crutch, and with a 'whoosh' it came crashing down upon Wu Tie's head.

"Back then, Wa Dao incited the Huan Long Shi to attempt to break humanity's limits, using demonic means to ascend to Venerable… the Huan Long Shi were utterly wiped out by my Xi Gu's overnight deployment of troops. The Grand Matriarch of Wa Dao who proposed this plan was also slain by our joint efforts, her body and spirit utterly destroyed."

"We absolutely will not allow… a second Huan Long Shi to appear."

This Elder's words came extremely fast; in the instant the crutch struck down, he had already rattled off a long string of 'papa' sounds.

Facing the descending crutch, Wu Tie drew his sword; the black Slaughter Holy Weapon emitted a sharp sword cry as he thrust it toward the Elder's heart—Wu Tie neither dodged nor retreated, adopting a stance of mutual destruction, and thrust the sword forward.