Chapter 648: A Word Spoken, Heaven and Earth Change

On a scenic mountainside, a young man looked up and laughed loudly, crying as he laughed, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes, appearing as if he had gone mad.

In any other setting, this would feel indescribably strange, but placed within the Divine Path Sect, it seemed so... reasonable.

One would encounter a conversation like this:

"Is that guy having a fit?"

"Don't worry about him, this is the Divine Path Sect."

"Oh, so it's the Divine Path Sect! Then it's fine."

The Divine Path Sect, its reputation ruined.

If, that is, this sect still had a reputation to speak of...

And on the other side, there was an even stranger scene.

A delicate-looking youth stood with his hands behind his back, watching the young man rave with a beaming smile.

"Hmm-hmm~"

He just watched with eager eyes, purely watching, without going up to stop him at all.

If anyone were to ask, Ren Yidao naturally had a mature set of excuses ready.

"There is no one else around, if someone said I intended to harm the Emperor, wouldn't I be unable to clear my name?"

"As the saying goes, do not adjust your shoes in a melon patch, do not adjust your hat under a plum tree, and a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall; this is just my little method of self-preservation!"

As for whether using an Illusion Technique on the Emperor counts as attempted treason?

Such a minor matter was not within the scope of Daoist Ren's considerations.

A moment later, Li Long finally regained his calm, raised his hand, and wiped the tears from his face with a carefree air.

With a steadying of his breath, the decadence on his body vanished completely; one could not tell at all that he had just been indulging himself wantonly.

At this moment, Ren Yidao, who had been watching the grand drama for a long time, finally strolled over and asked leisurely: "Brother Long, how do you feel now?"

"Good, very good!"

Li Long's eyes flashed with brilliance, Dragon Qi surged on his body, and his cultivation base soared, shaking the surrounding mountains and forests.

He clenched his palm in the air, opening and closing his fist repeatedly, and said earnestly: "I have a feeling that a knot in my heart has suddenly opened, and I even feel signs that my current cultivation bottleneck is loosening."

"That is a good thing. Congratulations to Brother Long on your improvement in cultivation; surely you can continue to protect the peace of the millions of people in Beigan." Ren Yidao congratulated him with a chuckle and added: "It is the good fortune of the people of Beigan to have an Emperor like you."

"Heh." Li Long chuckled, shook his head, and said: "You don't need to flatter me, kid. Although what you did just now was offensive, it touched my heart, and I will not blame you."

"Since the First Emperor passed away and I ascended the throne, I have indeed been somewhat lost. I could never figure out what I should do as an Emperor. In the end, I simply threw up my hands, left the governance of the country to the ministers, and used cultivation as an excuse to hide away."

"This was my fault, my error, but I never admitted it before."

Li Long's expression was calm. He gazed at Ren Yidao for a moment, then burst into a laugh, shook his head, and said: "I thought I would never reach a conclusion in this life and would have to wait until the day my coffin was sealed for future generations to judge the merits and demerits of my life. I never expected that my little fig leaf would be torn away directly by you, kid."

The youth was stunned upon hearing this, then quickly smiled, nodded with a squinting smile, and said: "Heh, you're welcome."

"Welcome my foot! Heh, but, it is true... it has been a long time since I felt this refreshed!" Li Long gave a huge stretch, raised his hands to hammer his chest, and sighed: "I may not be able to compare to the Immortal Gods in strength, but I have one more status than they do."

"I am not just a husband, a father, or the current Patriarch of the Li Family; I am the Emperor."

"I am the Emperor of Beigan! I am the Heaven for the billions of people of Beigan!"

"I was almost scared by that group of fellows and forgot what I should be doing... Who says one must rely on strength to protect their safety?"

Li Long slowly raised his head, looked toward the high sky, and said faintly:

"Those who dare to offend my Beigan, regardless of whether they are Immortal Gods or mortals..."

"Shall be executed without mercy."

Following the utterance of this arrogant vow, Heaven and Earth actually responded.

Hum—

A word spoken, and Heaven and Earth changed.

The Great Dao vibrated, and countless cultivators above the Heaven Realm heard this arrogant Edict.

!!!

"What!?"

"Hahaha! Good! How magnificent is my Great Beigan!"

"The Emperor of Beigan has such great courage, hahahaha, good, good, good! Excellent! It should be so!"

Some were shocked, fearing this would provoke the Immortal Gods and eventually implicate them; others were gratified, wishing they could have said those words themselves; but there were other existences... who were enraged.

"Hmph! Audacious!"

"Presumptuous! Truly too presumptuous!"

"You mortal Emperor! Such great gall!!!"

Especially the Immortal Gods who were included in the scope, they were furious, feeling they had been provoked.

What did he mean by saying that?

Looking down on us?

Even a mortal Emperor dares to spout such nonsense here!?

It is simply not taking them seriously at all!

Logically speaking, Li Long's casual remark should not have triggered such a reaction from the Great Dao, nor would it have made it known to the whole world.

Firstly, it was because after Ren Yidao broke the shackles of all living beings, he accelerated the changes in Heaven and Earth. The Great Dao turned from decline to prosperity and was much more sensitive than in the past, capturing this moment of change in will.

Furthermore, Li Long's status was different; he was the Emperor of Beigan, and his golden words were equivalent to a vow made by the Lord of Northern Gan.

And the third point, which was also an important one, was because there was a witness by Li Long's side—Ren Yidao.

As a special existence, Ren Yidao's presence was like a blazing sun in the dark night, impossible to ignore; places where he was present were always closely watched by Heaven and Earth.

And at this moment, Ren Yidao was not only the witness to Li Long's vow but also shouldered the responsibility of being the executor of the vow.

Because, looking at his status, he was also the Jin King of Beigan, who had to obey the Emperor's orders!

Not only him, but Li Yandao of the Li Family ancestors, Sikong Yu the Sect Leader of the Divine Path Sect, and other newly ascended Immortals, legally speaking, were all under the rule of Li Long, the Lord of Northern Gan.

A mortal Emperor, yet he had several Immortals under his command.

How could Heaven and Earth not take this seriously?

Facing such an arrogant declaration from the Beiganhuangdi, several Immortal Gods could not sit idly by and decided to teach this fellow a small lesson.

Thus, strands of Divine Soul followed, wanting to make this foolish ruler recognize reality.

We have come to offend, so what!?

What can you do to us?

A mere mortal Immortal God, yet you dare to speak wildly.

Overestimating your own strength!

They came aggressively.

And then...

They quickly recognized the bleak reality.

On that seemingly weak mortal Emperor, a thick Dragon Qi coiled, setting him off as if a true Son of Heaven had descended to the mortal world, majestic and incomparable.

Moreover, and that was not all... behind the golden dragon, there were tall figures, each exuding a terrifying aura.

Those were the Immortals of the current Beiming Divine Continent!

This was not the end; behind the Immortals, there was a seemingly harmless nine-tailed white fox sitting, smiling and nodding at them.

!!!

How is he here?

And right beside him!?

Wrong!

It is a conspiracy!

This is a trap to lure them in!!!

Furthermore, behind those white foxes, there was an inconspicuous, thin, and small figure.

That was a withered, mostly shattered skeleton, just like the dry bones seen everywhere in a mass grave.

But it was this inconspicuous skeleton that made those Immortal Gods' livers and gallbladders split in terror!

"Tian Jiangjun!"

"Why even you!?"

"It was one thing for you to take action to protect his Dao that day! Why are you still protecting these mortals now!?"

Facing the hysterical questioning, the skeleton remained silent and didn't even pay them any mind.

Before the offending Immortal Gods could even ask for a result, the kind-looking white fox moved.

The white fox raised its head, smiled at them, and said helplessly:

"There is a path to Heaven you do not take, and no gate to Hell you break in."

"My Emperor just finished speaking, and you commit a transgression; isn't that giving Ren Yidao too little face?"

The Immortal Gods had no chance to argue; they had already severed this strand of Divine Soul the moment the white fox opened its mouth.

Having had the previous tragedy, they had already learned their lesson and dared not easily touch their true bodies.

They had made full preparations and concealed their origins; as long as they were not caught and carefully probed by Divine Soul, their identities could not be determined at all.

But... could this be useful?

"Everyone, since you've come, don't leave."

"Coming uninvited and still wanting to retreat unscathed? Where is there such a good thing?"

The white fox shook its head, then spat out a word devoid of killing intent at the shattered Divine Souls they had left behind.

"Return."

Thus, Luoyue Peak was instantly enveloped in a special domain.

Li Long sensed something, narrowed his eyes to observe the surroundings, and then saw a scene that made his eyes widen.

The leaves that had just fallen from the tree were returning along their original path, floating back onto the branches!

!!!

One word spoken, and Heaven and Earth changed.

Time reversal!

The time here had returned to ten breaths ago!!!

Not only was Li Long horrified, but the three Immortal Gods involved were equally shocked.

They had originally already successfully escaped; although the price of cutting off their tails to survive was not small, at least there was no longer any worry for their lives. But just as they were secretly rejoicing, and even looking down on Ren Yidao in their hearts... everything changed.

Their consciousness returned to Luoyue Peak, seeing that young face with a faint smile.

!!!

Before they could figure out what had happened, and while they were wondering why they had appeared here again, they heard a whisper in their ears:

"Extinguish."

Crack.

After that, their consciousness completely severed.

Thus, three strands of Divine Soul manifested, turning into three wisps of residual ash drifting in the air.

Not only that, in a hidden Cave Abode somewhere in the Eastern Wasteland and the Overseas Divine Continent, the three Immortal Gods who were hiding extremely well lost their breath silently, leaving behind three empty shells.

The Divine Soul was dead, but the physical body was spared.

If future generations discovered their bodies by chance, they would still be able to see their hearts beating continuously.

Perhaps, in a thousand or a hundred years, a new consciousness will be born within the flesh, inheriting this body of an Immortal God, but that would no longer be the predecessor, but a newly born existence.

Similar, yet different.

If by that time, they are still willing to inherit the Causality of the predecessor and come seeking... then Ren Yidao will not care.

I don't even care about your predecessor, so why would I think highly of you lot?

If you dare to come, then I'll scoop you all up in one go!

I'll stir-fry the whole lot!

Ren Yidao checked, confirmed there were no fish that slipped through the net, then withdrew his gaze, dispelled the domain, and let Luoyue Peak return to tranquility.

"... Yidao, just now?" Li Long asked with a shocked expression, his voice trembling: "What exactly was that?"

Reversing time?

Li Long knew his little brother was powerful, but now it seemed to exceed his imagination even more!?

His own ancestor was in the Ascension Realm, Ren Yidao was in the Ascension Realm, and those ancient Immortal Gods were also in the Ascension Realm; everyone is in the Ascension Realm, aren't they?

But, why does it feel like Ren Yidao killing them is no different from pinching a bug to death?

Li Long thought for a moment, then suddenly changed his tone: "... No, if it is inconvenient to disclose, you don't have to tell me."

In his view, the price paid for casting such a spell must be significant, and such a trump card is not convenient for too many people to know.

"Oh, that's not necessary; the truth is not what you saw." Ren Yidao didn't mind and said casually: "I didn't change time, but rather struck before they left."

Reversing time?

No, no, no, it's not that complicated.

Everything just now was done by the past me, not by the current me traveling back to the past to do it.

But how should such details be explained to others?

"... Hmm, just pretend I changed time."

Li Long:?

It wasn't that Ren Yidao was stingy or unwilling to reveal details; it was truly difficult to explain clearly in a few words.

The ability displayed today was a development of the Myriad Ages Art, just a very simple application of it.

Ren Yidao had indeed completed the entire Myriad Ages Art and, through this, gained extraordinary power, surpassing the vast majority of Immortal Gods the moment he entered the Ascension Realm.

However, the Myriad Ages Art gave Ren Yidao a new difficulty: the moment it was completed, it began to automatically transform in his mind, rewriting itself at a maddeningly slow speed into another set of cultivation techniques.

Ren Yidao had an intuition that this was the true face of the Myriad Ages Art.

And, if his intuition was correct, this might be a Great Dao leading directly to the Supreme.

Ren Yidao put away this bold thought, turned his head, and said to Li Long: "By the way, Brother Long, there's no need to trouble yourself with the matter of finding people I asked you about before."

Li Long, who had come back to his senses, blinked and let out a confused nasal sound: "Hmm?"

"The descendant of that person has already been found."

"Hmm? Found???"

Ren Yidao nodded, then pointed at Li Long's nose.

"Yes, you."

Li Long:?

???

What the hell?

Me!?

Ren Yidao didn't give Li Long time to think and continued to speak of another matter: "Additionally, there is one more thing, regarding the Demon Race of the Overseas Divine Continent."

"The Immortal Gods have already awakened, and I believe the human and demon races should form an alliance, just like in ancient times, supporting each other."

"Wait, this..."

Seeing that Li Long seemed to have something to say, Ren Yidao raised his hand and spoke first:

"I understand, this matter is by no means simple, and the rift between the two races cannot be bridged in a short time."

"But we don't need to rush; just take it slowly, and sooner or later, everyone will get used to it."

"This matter will be carried out by Spirit Mountain in the Western Desert together with Beigan; Brother Long need not worry about the dissatisfaction of the people of the world."

Finally, when Ren Yidao finished speaking, Li Long finally had the opportunity to speak.

He said: "Ah?"

"Me?"

"Descendant of an Immortal God?"