Chapter 1419 — The Dao Realm Quells the Venerable

This Dao-Fire Ancestral Land was the birthplace of the Vermilion Bird, the Southern Emperor, and was also called the Southern Pole Forbidden Zone. Shen Mu had been there before. It held nine layers of heavenly Dao fire, scorchingly hot, and the Dao fire dissolved all things; by the eighth layer, even Heavenly Venerable Moon's lantern could not hold out, and would be set alight by the Dao fire.

The Dao fire in the Southern Pole Forbidden Zone was exceedingly powerful; it could even warp space, melt the void, and draw the distances of space close together!

The first layer of Dao fire could already turn Southern Pole Heaven into a ring, near at hand. The second layer of Dao fire warped the heavens and stars of the Southern Heaven and turned them into a second ring.

The third layer warped the Yuan Realm and the myriad realms of the heavens, turning the Yuan Realm and the myriad realms into a third ring.

Hard on its heels came Xuandu, Youdu, Guixu, the Heavenly Court, and the other three Poles; but of the phenomena of the ninth layer of Dao fire, Shen Mu had seen nothing, because by that time Heavenly Venerable Fire had already absorbed much of the power of this Dao-Fire Ancestral Land. Still, he reckoned that at the ninth layer of Dao fire one ought to be able to see the Ancestral Court, and the Ancestral Court would become the ninth ring.

Only thus could the Creators of the Primordial Era cross the vast sea of stars and swiftly come to Southern Pole Heaven to offer sacrifice to the Vermilion Bird, the Southern Emperor.

And only thus could the Vermilion Bird, the Southern Emperor, born of that sacrificial worship, become the ancient god great emperor who sheltered the Creators of the Ancestral Court.

The power of the Dao-Fire Ancestral Land was exceedingly great.

Because the Vermilion Bird, the Southern Emperor, was born of sacrifice, he could not fully unleash his own strength, and so he perished at the hands of Heavenly Venerable Fire. Heavenly Venerable Fire, for his part, had absorbed and devoured the power of the Dao-Fire Ancestral Land along with the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird's own strength, turning it into his own cultivation and dharma power, and had comprehended the great Dao within the Dao-Fire Ancestral Land.

And now the grandeur of his cultivation had reached the very peak among the Ten Heavenly Venerables. If the Great Emperor did not come forth and the Primordial Beginning did not appear, then no one could surpass him in dharma power!

He was not bound by the great Dao of the Vermilion Bird, the Southern Emperor; he could cultivate other supreme arts, and by drawing inferences from one thing, apply them to a hundred, thereby raising his own cultivation and attainment in Dao fire. And now his attainment in Dao fire had reached a height none could attain!

When the Dao-Fire Ancestral Land of Heavenly Venerable Fire was displayed, Kaihuang's thirty-fifth-heaven sword Dao, the Jade Clarity Realm Sword Domain, was like a ring of sword light suspended outside the nine layers of Dao fire, struggling to break through layer after layer of Dao fire! Having cultivated to his level, an enemy's divine arts could hardly come near him at all; to come close, one would have to break through nine layers of Dao fire.

And those nine layers of Dao fire grew fiercer with each layer, equivalent to passing through nine layers of Dao domains!

Seeing Heavenly Venerable Fire make his move, with Dao fire spreading everywhere and space twisting, Divine Emperor Langxuan, Ancestral God King, and the rest could not help but feel a chill in their hearts: "The benefits Heavenly Venerable Fire gained from doing away with the Southern Emperor were simply too great! The power hidden in the Dao-Fire Ancestral Land of the Southern Pole Forbidden Zone is of the utmost hardness and ferocity, raising Heavenly Venerable Fire's cultivation and dharma power to a level none can match!

" In this strike of Heavenly Venerable Fire, his whole cultivation formed the Dao-Fire Ancestral Land, like nine layers of domains stacked upon one another, its power of the utmost hardness and ferocity, dissolving all things; it seemed even the great Dao of the heavens could be burned away and melted!

Originally, Heavenly Venerable Fire had ranked among the lower reaches of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, and the fact that he could hold a seat among the Ten for a million years without falling was taken by most to be thanks to Heavenly Venerable Hao's patronage.

But now, even Heavenly Venerable Hao would not dare claim that in dharma power he could surpass him. "If I kill my old father, inherit his Xuandu power, and transform it into a forty-nine-layered heaven Dao domain. . .

" Ancestral God King's heart burned hot. The Heavenly Duke was a being stronger than the Southern Emperor, a divinity born of the heavenly Dao; if he killed the Heavenly Duke and refined the Heavenly Duke's power and the heavenly Dao holy land within Xuandu, to what height would his own strength rise?

"Then, to say nothing of Heavenly Venerable Fire, even Heavenly Venerable Hao would be fit only to carry my shoes! My grand ambition could be realized in my own hands!

" He showed a smile.

Beside him, Heavenly Venerable Hong, seated below, noticed the smile on his face and smiled faintly as well, a light of unclear meaning flickering in his eyes: "The Heavenly Duke is bound by too many fetters.

To leap out of the fetters, free and unfettered, and then inherit the Heavenly Duke's power; from then on, the Heavenly Duke's power would be only one part of my power. The great Dao of the world is myriad; my own attainment of the Dao is to be looked for too! " Heavenly Venerable Hao and Heavenly Venerable Void also gave a slight twitch at the corners of their eyes.

They had seen Heavenly Venerable Fire make his move, back when the Great Emperor and Heavenly Venerable Hao fought at Taixu; at that time Heavenly Venerable Fire and Heavenly Venerable Void had rushed to support them, only for both to suffer heavy wounds and be forced back to the Taixu lands to heal. The strength Heavenly Venerable Fire had displayed then was far from what it was now.

"Heavenly Venerable Fire hid his clumsiness well, very well indeed. " The brow above Heavenly Venerable Hao's left eye lifted slightly, revealing a trace of a smile. "But the stronger he is, the less the other Heavenly Venerables dare to oppose me, and the firmer my position becomes. As for Kaihuang, he boasts of a thirty-fifth-layer Dao Realm; it sounds marvellous enough, but it is no more than this.

" Heavenly Consort Qiang, however, felt her eyes twitch wildly, her face grave. Others might not know the power of the thirty-fifth-layer Dao Realm, but she knew it very clearly. Kaihuang's present strength already allowed him to brand his sword Dao into the thirty-fifth void.

His Jade Clarity Realm Sword Domain seemed to burst forth from the Carefree Sword, but in truth it came striking from the thirty-fifth void.

Heavenly Venerable Fire seemed to have warped Kaihuang's Carefree Sword, yet in truth he had not diminished Kaihuang's sword Dao by the slightest fraction!

For Heavenly Venerable Fire's attainment in the Dao Realm was far inferior to Kaihuang's; his Dao fire seemed to burn the void, but it had not yet touched the thirty-fifth void at all! "Before I received the sacrificial worship of the Primordial Era's Creators, I was far from reaching Shen Ye's present level! " Heavenly Consort Qiang frowned.

"He truly is the first man of the Dao Realm.

. .

" Heavenly Venerable Fire and Kaihuang were old rivals who knew each other's divine arts well. This strike used all their power at once, holding nothing back!

The two of them knew well how seasoned the other was; probing was useless. If one probed the opponent, the opponent would seize the opening and crush one outright with a devastating offensive!