Chapter 486

Within a thousand-li radius of demonic clouds, a being both insubstantial and elusive—like a vast, boundless consciousness, or a countless aggregation of minute life-senses—hovered over Jiankang!

Radiating divine light, innumerable lives fused into its form: dragon Gu resembling serpents and insects, toad-and-kirin hybrids, golden Cangu like wriggling worms, and countless other bizarre Gu insects bearing wings, branches, fish fins, and tentacles—all these life traits manifested upon its demonic body, forged from hundreds of millions of Gu.

It was one, yet also ten thousand; origin, and end.

From the tiniest, invisible "insect" to the true form capable of spanning the great river—all became part of him!

The Ancient Zangshan Laozu of Insects summoned a portion of his myriad-cultivated demonic body; his very existence had become a collective of countless Gu.

Each Gu in this place was a fragment of him. Legend said that in the southern frontier's One Hundred Thousand Mountains, where poison insects abounded, at least one in a hundred was transformed from the Ancient Zangshan Laozu of Insects—his incarnations of Gu were nearly infinite!

In the Miao villages there, statues of the Myriad-Cultivated Supreme Supreme Tian Mo were enshrined, and they called him—the Demon of Gu!

In Miao legends, every poison insect was a messenger of the Demon of Gu. The Miao people passed down countless incantations for controlling Gu; if anyone was accidentally bitten by a poison insect or ingested one,

they would kneel and worship the Myriad-Cultivated Supreme Supreme Tian Mo, begging him to recall the Gu and dispel its poison.

This Myriad-Cultivated Supreme Supreme Tian Mo was a divine title passed down through generations of the Nine Poisons Cult's patriarchs. Each generation's Supreme Supreme Tian Mo, before ascending, performed a ritual to summon back his entire body, allowing billions of poison insects to slaughter one another within the Hive of the Shenggu, transforming into the most fearsome demonic form before ascending to the Nine Heavens.

The new Supreme Supreme Tian Mo would then use the previous master's shed husk to forge his own Myriad-Cultivated demonic body.

Such attainment neared the divine path—incarnating into myriads.

Thus, the Nine Poisons Cult established itself in the Miao frontier, becoming one of the few demonic forces second only to the Nine Heavens' Blood Sea.

Because of this, killing the Myriad-Cultivated Supreme Supreme Tian Mo was nearly impossible; none of the patriarchs had ever perished at the hands of cultivators—only those who had scattered their consciousness too widely, descending into chaotic, primal Demon of Gu with only vague awareness.

Now, even the most insignificant Gu composing its demonic body in the demonic clouds was at least a King-level insect—yet it was reduced to ash by the Five Thunder Orthodoxy and Master Chunyang True Flame!

The Gluttonous Fu Fu Lao Mo devoured all qi; the Ancient Zangshan Laozu of Insects manifested billions of Gu; the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo could split his consciousness into millions, lurking within living souls and manipulating their minds…

With the three Heavenly Demons cooperating, they could strike once and slay every living thing in Jiankang.

To protect the people, Master Zhang and Master Tao joined forces, transforming the Five Thunder Prison Seal into a thunderous prison that sealed the demonic clouds, draining the vast spiritual energy consumed by the Gluttonous Zangshan Laozu and burning the billions of Gu controlled by the Ancient Zangshan Laozu of Insects.

Master Sun's swordlight enveloped the entire city, piercing into hearts, entangled with the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo.

With a sweep of his right hand, pure yang true fire in his sleeve became a flame dragon, incinerating countless of the Ancient Zangshan Laozu of Insects' Gu. Master Tao saw the Jin Ling earth vein beneath Jiankang suddenly let out a mournful cry—the earth dragon beneath the imperial palace had been pinned at its vital spot by over three hundred human stakes imbued with boundless resentment.

All transformations of the dragon vein were shattered, forcing it to reveal itself.

The national dragon of accumulated fortune, the earth vein dragon nurtured by terrestrial qi, and the mighty water dragon formed by the nearby great river—all were pinned down.

"The Imperial Astronomical Bureau has been compromised!" Master Tao's heart sank.

Master Zhang looked up at the imperial palace occupying the Lesser Yin position and sighed: "Even with Xiao Xie Xiao Xie Xuan and Yishao working together, the demonic sects managed to pin the dragon vein—this must be Master Sima Shi's doing!"

"How dare he touch the dragon vein? Doesn't he fear destroying the very foundation of his own dynasty?"

Master Zhang's hair and beard flew wildly—he was rarely so enraged.

Master Tao coldly replied: "They likely assume—if today's plan fails, the Jin dynasty's foundation will have nothing to do with the Master Sima clan anyway!"

The two Masters sensed the change—and the Heavenly Demons noticed too. The Gluttonous Fu Fu Lao Mo roared: "Jiankang has lost all its protectors!"

"Though the city's protective array never activated, it still existed," the Ancient Zangshan Laozu of Insects laughed wildly. "If we destroyed this city outright, the array would activate automatically! But now that the dragon vein is entirely pinned, the array's foundation is shattered—nothing remains to stop us from blood-sacrificing this city!"

A fragment of the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo's consciousness entered the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, beside the bronze Huntianyi.

Nine human skulls, buried in the earth, shrieked with soul-shattering wails upon seeing the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo…

They were all living demons—soul-piercing stakes forged from living cultivators!

These stakes were forged by sacrificing cultivators of exceptional fortune, turning them alive into stakes. When driven into the vital points of the dragon vein, they could freeze all its transformations—cruelly insidious.

Far away, within the imperial palace, a voice rang clearly: "In the ninth year of Yonghe, the year Gui-Chou, at the beginning of late spring, we gathered at the Orchid Pavilion in the shade of Mount Mount Huiji…"

Master Sima Shi trembled, murmuring: "The Orchid Pavilion Preface!"

"When Wang Dao was attaining enlightenment, you came to obstruct me! Though you delayed me until Master Zhang arrived, allowing Wang Dao to attain his Primordial Spirit, you damaged your own foundation. Now you wield this great divine art again—Wang Wang Xizhi, do you truly wish to abandon the Dao?"

"... The interactions among men, in the blink of an eye, span a lifetime. Some find solace in their inner thoughts, speaking in quiet rooms; others, inspired by external things, roam freely beyond form. Though their pursuits differ, their temperaments vary, when they delight in what they encounter, they momentarily find fulfillment, unaware that old age approaches… yet still, they cannot help but be stirred by such thoughts. How much more so when life's length is subject to change, and all ends in nothingness? The ancients said: 'Life and death are great matters!' Is this not sorrowful?"

As Wang Wang Xizhi recited aloud, strokes of ink flowed forth, lavish and unrestrained within the Tai Chu Palace—each character streaming, dissolving every restriction in its path!

Xiao Xie Xiao Xie Xuan, sword in hand, faced Master Sima Shi directly; together, they bought Wang Wang Xizhi an opening.

The characters of the Orchid Pavilion Preface, bold and vigorous, pierced through the countless protections and bindings of the Tai Chu Palace, through a thousand li of earth, inscribing themselves upon the dragon vein.

As the ink surged, it summoned a thread of righteous qi, causing the dragon vein to lift its head and roar!

Beside the Huntianyi, the nine human stakes driven into the earth suddenly reversed, one after another, erupting upward.

The Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo's fragment darkened, flicking his sleeve to strike the living demon stakes, stabilizing their trembling forms, and barked at the two other Old Demons: "Hurry! Stabilize the stakes!"

The two Old Demons immediately cast spells to suppress them—only three of the nine dragon stakes had erupted before being forced back down.

Within the Tai Chu Palace, the recitation of the Orchid Pavilion Preface was abruptly interrupted by the overwhelming aura of a divine treasure—a treasure shaped like an imperial seal struck Xiao Xie Xiao Xie Xuan, severely wounding him and breaking the divine art. From the text, a giant hand emerged, clashing with Master Sima Shi.

"Wang Dao!"

This Wang family Primordial Spirit, thousands of miles away, still sensed the qi, using the verses of the Orchid Pavilion Preface belonging to him to shield Wang Wang Xizhi's Yang Spirit.

"My preparations won't hold Wang Dao much longer!"

"And if we delay too long, the Shang Dao and Ling Bao Dao will send reinforcements!" the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo said coldly. "Quickly activate the stake array—blood sacrifice Jiankang!"

The two Old Demons, drenched in sweat, swiftly cast a string of spell seals. The Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo snorted—his countless hidden fragments within living hearts suddenly manifested, entangling Sun En as he pursued.

At that moment, every stake scattered across Jiankang shrieked as one, spewing forth demonic light like stakes, embedding themselves into the earth vein.

One streak of demonic light seeped deep into the earth vein—the entire Jiankang city trembled; vast cracks appeared on the streets, buildings swayed and groaned, on the verge of collapse.

A breath, forged from thousands of souls, shook the souls of every person in the city, threatening to tear their spirits from their bodies, heating their blood, reddening their faces, as if they would melt into pools of blood—this aura enveloped the entire city!

Sun En's swordlight rang softly, unleashing boundless sword qi, slicing through space, ready to sever the demonic light.

But the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo sacrificed dozens of his fragments, entangling them in the swordlight, dissolving it!

Beneath Jiankang, a deep fissure appeared—swallowing the entire dragon vein, a chasm stretching straight to the Nine Heavens.

As the fissure manifested, countless demonic heads emerged, eager to burst forth from the Nine Heavens—while the souls of Jiankang's mortals and cultivators trembled, nearly fleeing their bodies, falling into the Nine Heavens to be sacrificed to the demonic path.

Master Zhang and Master Tao, within the demonic clouds, sought to return and aid—but were held fast by the two Heavenly Demons' desperate struggles…

The Gluttonous Fu Fu Lao Mo roared: "Our true aim is the blood sacrifice of Jiankang—to use the Jin Ling dragon vein to open a rift to the Nine Heavens!"

"Once the Nine Heavens manifest, even if you exhaust yourselves, you can only seal the rift—while we, granted power by the Nine Heavens, will ascend further! After the Nine Heavens' corruption taints the dragon vein, Master Sima Yan will inevitably fall to our path. Then, Dao declines, Demon prospers—this Southern Jin will become a dynasty we, the demonic sects, have raised!"

"Do you still not understand who holds Heaven's Mandate?"

This cry shook Jiankang entirely. Master Zhang and Master Tao's faces darkened completely—if Jiankang fell, the other watching clans and sects would surely shift toward the demonic path; the balance of orthodox and demonic forces in the Central Lands would be reversed!

"No matter!" Master Tao said grimly. "The demonic sects hid their true intentions until now—but we still have preparations!"

At that moment, a butterfly perched atop the old site of the Copper Sparrow Tower suddenly flapped its wings, fluttering across the Qin Huai River, past the Black Robe Lane, over the Zhu Que Bridge, through the Tai Chu Palace.

The entire city of Jiankang was passed over by this butterfly, finally landing on the nose of a young man sleeping on a blue stone slab.

He turned over, curled his legs, and lay lazily—his form shifted now into that of an elderly man with white hair, now a gentle middle-aged man, now a lethargic youth, now a sleepy child.

Finally, he opened his eyes—awoke!

"Who wakes first from the great dream? Only I know my own life!"

As his clear voice echoed across the city, the images of Jiankang's billions of living beings gradually faded into illusion—as if reality and dream had inverted—the Jiankang city, shrouded in demonic arrays, suddenly plunged into a dream.

"The Great Dream True Person of the Nan Hua Sect!" the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo said gravely. "There is still a Primordial Spirit within the city!"

"No matter. Even without sacrificial offerings, the dragon vein is still locked! As long as we strike together, we can open the Nine Heavens rift—can he truly carry Jiankang away within a dream?" A mosquito in the Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo's hand buzzed.

The Kuquan Fu Fu Lao Mo calculated: "This man can reverse dream and reality for at most half a day. If he drags it out that long, the orthodox reinforcements will surely arrive!"

"First, open the Nine Heavens rift!"