Chapter 1648 — Fire Venerable's Merit Archway

Today, at last, I can fulfill that wish! " The Netherworld Son of Heaven shook his head: "I was compelled to kill Yu Heavenly Venerable - but Yu Heavenly Venerable was the only one I killed. Brother Fire, on the other hand, has killed far too many human Heavenly Venerables: Cloud Heavenly Venerable, Moon Heavenly Venerable, Emperor Ming, Emperor Kai, Mu Heavenly Venerable, Dark Heavenly Venerable, Ling Heavenly Venerable - you looked on them all as mortal foes and wished you could slice them into ten thousand pieces on the spot.

The human elite who died by your hand outnumber those who died by mine a hundredfold! Does Brother Fire mean to avenge them too? " The Fire Heavenly Venerable's face turned grim. "They brought it upon themselves! I have always looked down on fawning sycophants such as you. . .

" "We are men of the same kind. " The Netherworld Son of Heaven said with indifference: "In fact, I am a hundred times better than you.

At the very least, under my governance the humans of my domain live better than those of your Southern Heaven.

Most of my disciples are human as well. Heh heh - even I, whom you have always despised, have done better than you. Even an ancient god you regard with hatred, such as the South Emperor, has humans under her command whose lives are far better than any in your Southern Heaven. " The Fire Heavenly Venerable shook with fury and was just about to kill him when suddenly the blare of trumpets and shawms came flooding in, and he saw that the young Southern Heaven men who had carried the coffin and left moments earlier had returned. After reaching their village, they had bidden farewell to their wives and children, and one and all they had dressed in bright red and green garments and come forth. Nor were they alone - everyone in the village, from the age of twenty to sixty, had come.

They did not sit in coffins, for there were no longer any able-bodied young people in the village to carry coffins, and so they simply walked over on foot. The village was a scene of weeping. Yet these people wore smiles as they came before the assembly, knelt one by one, and said joyfully: "Master, please take your meal!

" The Netherworld Son of Heaven shook his head: "These people can no longer be called human. They are merely a pack of walking corpses in human guise.

Fire Heavenly Venerable - you have taught them very well indeed.

" He suddenly burst into raucous laughter, bending over as he pointed at the Fire Heavenly Venerable, laughing until tears streamed down his face: "And with all this, you still look down on me! You say I have no backbone, call me a bootlicker, say I know nothing but kneeling and licking Haotian Heavenly Venerable's boots!

You, you - you are a damned hypocrite!

Even I, the Netherworld Son of Heaven, rotten and worthless as I may be, am a hundred times better than you! " He leaped up in his excitement.

"I am wicked, yes - but I am an open and honest villain! While you - you are plainly a whore to any man, yet you play the sanctimonious saint and even raise a chastity archway for yourself! " He laughed so hard that he rolled upon the ground, unable to stand: "You are far worse than I am!

You despise me, say I am unworthy of the Heavenly Venerable title, say I rose by licking boots, and claim you rose by virtue! But where is your virtue? Compared with you, I might as well be a holy sage who has never so much as touched the smoke and fire of the mortal world! " Boom! Suddenly, space twisted with savage violence.

Layer upon layer of flame wheels revolved behind the Fire Heavenly Venerable's head, warping the entire heavens! The starry sky of these heavens spun around with the flame wheels, and the great earth turned into an enormous ring - countless cities, towns and villages, mountains and rivers, oceans and seas, all becoming part of that ring! The mask upon the Fire Heavenly Venerable's face twisted with shame and fury.

The Netherworld Son of Heaven and the East Emperor Azure Dragon lost their footing, were caught up by the colossal flame wheels, and borne helplessly toward him. The Fire Heavenly Venerable thrust out a hand and seized the Netherworld Son of Heaven by the throat, sneering: "You are no more than a dog of Emperor Haotian - how dare you compare yourself with me? " Gripped fast, the Netherworld Son of Heaven kicked his legs with all his might, thrashing this way and that, grabbed the fingers with both hands, and strained to pry them apart, but no matter how he struggled he could not break free. His face flushed crimson, yet he still forced out a heh-heh laugh: "Are you not a dog too?

You are even better at licking than I am.

. .

Ah, no - you are not a dog. A dog, at least, has some loyalty. But you.

. . " Crack.

The Fire Heavenly Venerable snapped his neck, and at once a blaze of Dao Fire flared up fiercely, burning the Netherworld Son of Heaven to ashes! The East Emperor Azure Dragon stood to one side, not daring to step forward.

The Fire Heavenly Venerable brushed the ashes from his hands, turned his gaze upon him, and sneered: "In all my life, I have hated the ancient gods the most. . . " "And yet you grovel at Taichu's feet. " A colossal gateway rose slowly upward, and from within the gateway torrents of Nether Sea water gushed forth, soon spreading across the starry sky to form a vast Nether Sea.

The Heavenly Gate of the Nether Capital towered above the waters, and the Netherworld Son of Heaven walked out from the gate, smiling: "You hate Taichu most of all, so you threw in your lot with him.

You hate Emperor Haotian most of all, so you threw in your lot with him as well. It is not hatred - it is fear!

You fear the powerful, and so you kneel before the powerful!

You want to become the powerful! To secure your very position, you killed Cloud Heavenly Venerable to win Emperor Haotian's trust.

Fire - back then, you must have harbored the intention of avenging Yu Heavenly Venerable, mustn't you?

You meant to win Emperor Haotian's trust, and then kill him to avenge Yu Heavenly Venerable. And I simply watched you, heh heh.

. . " He sat down upon the threshold of the gate, swinging his legs, his face brimming with derision: "I watched you fall to power, watched you fall to desire, and my heart was filled with fierce delight, because you would soon become just like me! But what I never could have imagined was that you would become even more contemptible than I, even darker and more rotten! " The Fire Heavenly Venerable pointed a finger at him, and with a sharp crack the Netherworld Son of Heaven burst into pieces. The next instant, waves stirred upon the Nether Sea, and the Netherworld Son of Heaven once more stepped out from the gate, smiling: "No one in this world can kill me. Even Mu Heavenly Venerable tried once, and he could do nothing against me. Do not waste your strength. On the contrary - I am the one who can kill you.

" An excited gleam flashed in his eyes: "Back then, you could not kill Emperor Ming yourself, so you put me forward to kill him. From that moment I knew that you and Emperor Ming shared the very same weakness - that your souls are too weak! Your cultivation arts can never reach the soul! "