Chapter 848

Rakshasa Tribe

Rakshasa clan Elder suddenly crushed the bone pendant on his chest: "Please, Star Lord, have mercy!"

The void split open a fissure, a giant hand covered in star patterns reached out, grabbing toward Yan Buji. The instant this hand appeared, the heavenly and earthly laws of Youming Jie trembled, and the ancient trees of the Reincarnation Tree Sea withered in large patches.

The Underworld God Emperor let out a painful roar, its bronze armor began to melt under the starlight's shine. Meanwhile, Hong Yuan and Wu Konghou unusually calmed down, turned and fled.

Youming Jie

The power of the Underworld God Emperor, absorbed by the aberrant Dao Mark, mixed with the blood of the Minglu King, transformed into a sword light that severed causality.

The star-patterned giant hand broke at the wrist, turning into specks of light across the sky. An angry howl came from the rift in the void, but it was quickly driven back by some Existence; the phantom images of twelve bronze coffins flickered faintly in the clouds.

"Run!" Wu Konghou was the first to react, taking Hong Yuan and tearing through the void. Two Elders of the Starry Sky Sect also tried to flee, but the bronze beast crushed their star cores from afar, and their souls were sucked into the aberrant Dao Mark on the horned crown.

When the last enemy vanished, the Underworld God Emperor finally knelt on the ground. The Slaughterer's Sword clanged to the floor, its blade now bearing an odd pattern of intertwined star markings and demonic script. The Underworld God Emperor shrank into a human shape and approached—turning out to be a tall man with antlers growing on his forehead, his cyan-gold eyes gazing complexly at the Slaughterer's Sword.

Star Void Sect

Yan Buji sneaked back to Youming Jie once more, after all, he had come to resolve the problem of his own lost spiritual power.

But before he could react, the Slaughterer's Sword suddenly flew and struck his face.

Judge's Brush

"You little thief, you can't run away," the voice of the Underworld God Emperor sounded, and Yan Buji trembled all over.

Saying this, Yan Buji presented with both hands the stone tablet he had stolen earlier, engraved with the refining method of the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk: "Senior... senior, I was wrong!"

"Hmph!" the Underworld God Emperor, now in the form of the antlered man, gave a cold snort, then sighed: "Forget it, since you were guided here by the Simple and Complex Guide, I won't bother you—come over first."

Martial Ancestor

"How come? Don't you want to regain your lost spiritual power?" the Underworld God Emperor said, walking ahead on his own.

Six Paths Reincarnation Disk

Beneath the sky of Youming Jie, the black sand on the ground emitted faint, mournful cries under Yan Buji's feet.

Dao Strategy Profound Chapter

With every step he could feel his empty meridians throbbing faintly with pain.

Since his spiritual power dissipated, this weakness, as if his marrow had been drained, has clung to him like a shadow.

The black robe of the antlered man ahead fluttered in the Youming yin wind, the pair of forked antlers amid his bronze-colored hair flashing with an eerie luster.

Bronze Altar

The Underworld God Emperor suddenly stopped, and Yan Buji nearly bumped into his back.

Looking up, a bronze altar half-buried in black soil came into view.

The altar's surface was covered with writhing eerie patterns that seemed alive, slowly crawling across the bronze, at times forming ferocious beast faces, at times turning into obscure demonic script.

Most chilling of all, a pool of dark-gold liquid filled the depression at the altar's center, its surface rippling with fine Dao markings; each surge of the liquid emitted a sound like an infant's wail.

"Kneel."

The unquestionable command made Yan Buji's knees sink. He wanted to resist, but found his body involuntarily kneeling at the altar's center.

A cold bronze sensation transmitted through his clothing, and the wandering patterns suddenly came alive, like countless tiny snakes crawling up his calves.

The aberrant Dao Mark on his left eye began to spread uncontrollably, the cyan‑gold patterns crawling across half his face like a spiderweb.

The Youming Emperor's antlers glowed with a faint light, and a droplet of bronze‑colored blood condensed at his fingertip. As that drop fell into the altar, the dark‑gold liquid suddenly boiled, turning into countless fine threads that pierced Yan Buji's skin. "The backlash of the Human Origin Grand Pill is not your cultivation," his voice exploded in Yan Buji's mind, "but it seals your Dao Strategy Mysterious Chapter."

Dao Strategy Mysterious Chapter?

Yan Buji had just wanted to ask what that was when a sudden surge of intense pain struck!

In the intense pain, Yan Buji suddenly recalled clearly the moment when he had swallowed the Human Origin Grand Pill years ago, as the medicine entered his belly; he distinctly heard a crisp sound of a chain tightening.

Now thinking back, that previous state had never noticed this situation; that was actually the sound of something being sealed.

The dark‑gold liquid surged through his meridians, causing knife‑like pain wherever it passed. Just as it was about to rush into his brow, the entire Youming Jie suddenly shuddered violently; the branches and leaves of the distant Reincarnation Forest moved without wind, emitting a wave‑like rustling.

A Judge's Brush wrapped in blood‑colored chains shot through the air, its tip precisely striking the weakest pattern on the altar's edge. The bronze altar groaned under the strain, and the wandering patterns instantly stiffened for a moment.

"Senior Emperor, forcibly breaking the seal like this might ruin his foundation."

The newly appointed Yan King stepped slowly through the void, each step causing a black lotus to bloom beneath his foot.

Most striking was the jade tablet at his waist that constantly shifted its inscriptions; sometimes the characters "Life and Death" appeared, sometimes they turned into "Reincarnation", and occasionally fragments of ancient seal script flashed by.

The Youming Emperor's antlers twitched slightly: "You actually dare to use a fragment of the Book of Life and Death?"

The Yan King did not answer; instead, he drew a chaos‑colored pearl from his wide sleeve.

The moment the pearl appeared, the yin energy of the entire Youming Jie stagnated, and even the distant fighting yin soldiers and ghost generals halted their actions in unison.

The pearl's surface flowed with myriad Martial Dao phantoms, sometimes forming fist prints, sometimes sword marks, and occasionally vague human figures practicing various martial arts.

"Primordial Chaos Pearl?!" the Youming Emperor's antlers suddenly surged three feet, bronze‑colored light flooding half the sky, "This is the supreme treasure left by the Martial Ancestor—where did you obtain it?"

The Yan King lightly tossed the pearl, which hovered three feet above Yan Buji's head: "A few years ago, I found the Martial Ancestor's place of passing in Chaos Heaven." His voice was soft, yet it made the Youming Emperor's pupils contract, "What's more, half a page torn from the Book of Life and Death remained there."

The Primordial Chaos Pearl began to spin, shedding myriad streams of chaos energy.

Yan Buji suddenly widened his eyes, and countless images exploded in his sea of consciousness: in ancient times, a bare‑armed giant smashed the heavenly Dao's shackles with one punch, the broken fragments scattering as stars across the sky; in the medieval era, countless martial artists rushed one after another into a golden river, their flesh dissolving in the water yet leaving behind an immortal Martial Dao will; finally he saw Jianfan standing with sword in hand, behind him a broken river of fortune, its myriad tributaries collapsing, while the solitary strand representing Martial Dao stood firm like a lone peak.

"So... this is the true meaning of Martial Dao..."

Yan Buji felt a sudden inspiration, joining his fingers to form a sword and tracing a perfect arc in the void. This stroke seemed simple, yet it concealed the essence of the Martial Dao he had learned all his life; the trajectory of his fingertip matched the path of a slaying sword without the slightest deviation.

At that moment the aberrant Dao Mark burst forth with unprecedented light, the cyan‑gold patterns completely covering his left eye.

"Crack!"

A clear shattering sound came from within his body, as if some intangible shackle had been severed.