Chapter 1628 — The Decisive Battle of the Netherworld

The palm came down upon the Book of Life and Death, and its force nearly tore apart that supreme treasure of Youdu. The You Heavenly Venerable raised his head and looked beyond the heavens; the demonic radiance pouring from the primordial spirit at his back made him seem as though he were ablaze.

Beyond the heavens of Youdu, the Void Heavenly Venerable's wrath rose to the sky. Behind her the heavenly palaces emerged and assembled into a Heavenly Court, with twenty-six treasure halls ranged in guard around it. Her second strike thundered out; she meant to wipe the imprint within the Book of Life and Death entirely away and claim the treasure for her own.

But plainly she did not know that no imprint at all existed within the Book of Life and Death. It was the Youdu Great Dao itself that chose its master of its own accord, and whoever held the treasure need impose no imprint whatsoever.

If one were the master chosen by the Book of Life and Death, then without any imprint he could rouse the full power of the book. And the book's choosing of a master was precisely as when the You Heavenly Venerable had used the book to test Shen Mu and Shen Fengqing.

Shen Mu had been able to withstand the demonic nature of the book, and so he could bring forth a portion of its might.

Shen Fengqing was not moved by the book's demonic nature in the least; therefore the Book of Life and Death chose him as its master, and he could bring forth every power the book possessed.

The Void Heavenly Venerable knew none of this, and so she moved of her own will to seize the treasure, never realizing that even if she won the Book of Life and Death by the brute force of her dharma power, whether it would prove blessing or calamity was still far from certain.

Far more likely, the book would rouse her demonic nature until she disowned kin and stranger alike and became a demon lord, rather than that she would master the book.

And behind her, the Ancestral God-King held the Heaven Lord's fleshly body in his grip, its vast face blotting out the sky, ready at any moment to invade Youdu.

Invading Youdu was no easy matter for him. The Xuandu Heavenly Dao and the Youdu Great Dao clashed with one another; to depart from Xuandu would weaken the strength of the Heaven Lord's fleshly body and likewise diminish the power of the Heavenly Dao.

But if the Void Heavenly Venerable were to absorb the Youdu Great Dao and take command of Youdu, then the burden of invading it would weigh far less heavily upon him.

At this moment the Ancestral God-King frowned deeply; in his heart he still could not accept that the Earth Lord was dead.

"How could the Earth Lord have died so silently, without so much as a whisper?"

In the battle of Xuandu, how hard the Heaven Lord had been to kill!

The Ten Heavenly Venerables had nearly all stirred themselves, and even the Taiji Ancient God lent aid; yet slaying the Heaven Lord had still cost enormous pains. Untold soldiers of the Heavenly Court had died, and many of the Heavenly Venerables who joined that battle bore wounds, before the Heaven Lord was finally cut down.

True, the Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court were now far mightier than before, but to slay the Earth Lord, whose name stood on a level with the Heaven Lord's, was still no easy feat, unless the Hao Heavenly Venerable and Taichu, those two beings who had attained the Dao through sheer power, made their move.

And what was more, this time the Hao Heavenly Venerable was not merely out to slay the Earth Lord; it was also an encirclement and extermination aimed at Kaihuang Shen Ye, the Ling Heavenly Venerable, the Moon Heavenly Venerable, and others besides!

Yet what astonished the Ancestral God-King was that the Earth Lord had simply died, just like that!

Had all their long preparations been for nothing?

Who on earth had killed the Earth Lord?

Why had the Earth Lord died without a sound?

"To slay the Earth Lord and become the Earth Lord herself is the thing the Void Heavenly Venerable has dreamed of all her life. Faced with this, no wonder she lost her composure and her bearings." So the Ancestral God-King mused.

Suddenly the You Heavenly Venerable's primordial spirit rose soaring upward, passed through the Book of Life and Death, and went to meet the Void Heavenly Venerable.

The Ancestral God-King laughed aloud. Above the darkness of Youdu, countless stars and constellations suddenly emerged; a brilliant river of stars hung across the vault of heaven and drove back the darkness of Youdu. The Heaven Lord's fleshly body descended with a thunderous crash, barring the You Heavenly Venerable's way.

"Tianqi Rensheng King, was it you who killed the Earth Lord?"

The Ancestral God-King praised him: "The Earth Lord nursed a tiger to bring himself ruin. Who would have thought he would not fall at the hands of his own daughter, the Void Heavenly Venerable, but at yours instead! I admire your decisiveness and resolve. There are several seats among the Ten Heavenly Venerables vacant now; the Hao Heavenly Emperor keeps them empty in waiting. You had best submit to the Heavenly Court!"

The You Heavenly Venerable was the great synthesizer of the Youdu demonic dao, and the Ancestral God-King the great synthesizer of the Xuandu Heavenly Dao. Xuandu and Youdu were as incompatible as fire and water, and so were these two great Daos.

In the instant they clashed, each felt that he had met his own nemesis. The Daos within their bodies seethed, the sound of the Dao thundered, driving each to destroy his opponent and root out the other's Dao!

"You Heavenly Venerable, you may possess the mightiest primordial spirit of all, but your skills are out of date!"

The Ancestral God-King roared, driving the Heaven Lord's fleshly body. The radiance of countless stars and constellations burst forth and poured into the Heaven Lord's body. Behind the Heaven Lord's head, thirty-five heavenly palaces formed the Great Heavenly Court, its dharma power so tremendous that it rivaled the Heaven Lord in his prime!

"Let me show you the true battle might of the Great Heavenly Court!"

The Heaven Lord's strike fell, and the You Heavenly Venerable's primordial spirit was shaken staggering backwards. His primordial spirit was in no way inferior to those of Ancient Gods like the Heaven Lord and the Earth Lord, but his fleshly body was far, far inferior to theirs.

The Heaven Lord's fleshly body joined to the Ancestral God-King's dharma power—even his primordial spirit could not withstand it.

Especially since the Ancestral God-King had gained enormous benefits within the Ancestral Court and cultivated thirty treasure halls into being, which left him still less able to resist!

Though the You Heavenly Venerable had absorbed much knowledge from the Jingping Reforms, the Ancestral God-King likewise had a reincarnated body walking in Jingping, and in divine arts the Ancestral God-King was scarcely inferior to him.

Now the Earth Lord was dead, the Youdu Great Dao was waning and choosing a new master—and on this home ground of Youdu, he held no advantage either.

With the Ancestral God-King's aid, the Void Heavenly Venerable was at once free to exert her full strength. She immediately pressed down the power of the Book of Life and Death; the book grew smaller and smaller, and soon she had crushed it back to its ordinary size.

She was just about to take the Book of Life and Death into her hand when suddenly the sound of a zither came drifting over, ding-dong, note upon note—and she saw the distance between herself and the book growing ever greater.

As though immeasurable space were growing between her and the book, so that she could never bring it into her grasp.

"Moon Heavenly Venerable!"

The Void Heavenly Venerable followed the sound with her eyes and saw a woman seated in the void, plucking at her zither strings as though no one else in the world existed.