Chapter 1797 — The Sacred Venerable Descends Again

The Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court.

With Elder Wuyai no longer siphoning the energy of the blood sacrifice, the descent of the Dao-attaining ones of the Miro Palace had grown far swifter; no longer did it take years upon years for one to arrive.

When Heavenly Venerable Moon, Heavenly Venerable You, the Two Emperors of the Black Tortoise, Lang Wan, Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian, and Jiang Baigui arrived, they found the Heavenly Court's two hundred thousand routed troops guarding the place under the command of the Empress, Emperor Haotian, and the Master of the Hall of Joy.

Beyond the Jade Capital, all was bleak and desolate.

Through the city blew the wind of cold silence and the wind of heat death; the Dao Trees had withered, the groves grown sparse. Now and then these winds would gust out from this most sacred and ancient of cities, wreaking tremendous ruin upon all around.

The Two Emperors of the Black Tortoise set down their feet, and the two ancient gods gazed upward. They saw the ancient laws of the Great Dao turning; from the past, streams of pure and terrible energy surged forth, interweaving and interlacing, and behind the Heavenly Court's two hundred thousand divine and demonic troops, the figure of a Dao-attaining one took shape.

That Dao-attaining one was ancient and mighty; the speed of this mass-energy conversion far surpassed that of old, and the Dao-attaining one's fleshly body and primordial spirit formed at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Where once seven or eight years were needed for a Hall-Master-level existence to descend, at the present rate, half a month at most would bring a Dao-attaining one into the world!

The Two Emperors of the Black Tortoise exchanged a silent glance. They reckoned that they themselves would not escape unscathed, yet still they marshaled their mana in unison, drawing their ancestral land down from beyond the heavens!

Husband and wife, they were among the few ancient gods left in this heaven and earth.

Should they fall in this battle, then of the ancient gods only Taiyi and Taiji would remain.

As the Black Tortoise ancestral land drew nearer and nearer, the two ancient gods' power surged madly.

Suddenly the Empress cried out, and the Great Abyss of Guixu descended, appearing before Heavenly Venerable Moon and the others, devouring all things and the starry sky, sending star after star tumbling into the abyss.

The Great Abyss of Guixu stretched between heaven and earth, barring the way of Heavenly Venerable Moon and her companions.

Emperor Haotian gave a low shout; his innate qi surged skyward, piercing through thirty-five layers of void, then thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two treasure halls spread open, forming the shape of the Wheel of Ten Thousand Daos, cutting into the ultimate void.

He was attempting to attain the Dao through force, to brand his own Great Dao into the ultimate void, and rebuild the Great Luotian.

Suddenly the sound of a zither arose. Heavenly Venerable Moon played, and Emperor Haotian's Heavenly Court, just as it cut into the ultimate void, was struck down by the zither's notes.

At that very moment, the Master of the Hall of Joy gave a soft laugh; a Dao Tree rose from the ground, shielding Emperor Haotian's heavenly palace and blocking Heavenly Venerable Moon's zither-note divine ability, allowing Emperor Haotian's Heavenly Court to enter the ultimate void unimpeded.

Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua stepped forward together; a World Tree rose for each of them, taking root in the Great Abyss of Guixu, anchoring the abyss's terrifying power. The roots of the two World Trees extended, sealing the entrance to the abyss.

The Two Emperors of the Black Tortoise, Heavenly Venerable You, Lang Wan, and Jiang Baigui each came forward, taking their places upon the two World Trees.

Heavenly Venerable Moon's sleeves fluttered; with a flash she landed upon one of the World Trees, and the thirty-six layers of heaven's Void of Ultimate Load erupted, bringing everyone into the domain of the Void of Ultimate Load.

Her Void of Ultimate Load domain was somewhat similar to Shen Mu's Divine Treasury Domain. Standing within the domain, one could see all that lay around; any divine ability of the enemy seemed to hold no secret at all. No matter from which direction the enemy attacked, they faced you head-on, and you could calmly respond and break them.

Yet her domain was also somewhat different from Shen Mu's Divine Treasury Domain.

Within Heavenly Venerable Moon's domain, she could fold space, causing multiple versions of herself to appear within the domain!

This, Shen Mu could not do.

"Kill!" Emperor Haotian said in a low voice.

The Heavenly Court's army surged like a tide, rushing toward the two World Trees. In that moment, neither side wasted words; they directly unleashed every means at their disposal, fighting to the death!

The Two Emperors of the Black Tortoise roared; they activated the Great Marsh, and at once the two merged into the giant beast Xuanwu, charging into the two hundred thousand divine and demonic troops—Emperor Xuan as the Dark Tortoise, Emperor Wu as the Soaring Serpent—slaughtering in all directions, leaving a trail of blood and flesh in their wake.

The Heavenly Court had only two hundred thousand gods and demons left, but those who had survived to now were the elite of the elite. Among them were no few at the Imperial Throne realm, hidden within the chaotic army, so that even the Two Emperors of the Black Tortoise were covered in wounds in the blink of a clash.

Though the surviving gods and demons of the Heavenly Court were many, they belonged to different armies; different armies had different formations and different specialties, so they were hard to organize, and thus utterly chaotic.

Struck by the two emperors, they suffered grievous casualties at once.

The two emperors held off the Heavenly Court's divine and demonic army; the Dark Tortoise that Emperor Xuan had become trampled and rammed through the various armies, while the Soaring Serpent that Emperor Wu had become writhed and transformed in midair, slaying those Imperial Throne realm experts hidden in the chaotic army, invincible wherever they went.

They were the mightiest ancient gods born of the sacrifices of the Juyu Clan of the Creator race; having endured all manner of battles in the ancient wilderness, they cared nothing even for wounds.

Suddenly, the twenty-odd surviving Imperial Throne realm experts of the Heavenly Court formed a formation, surrounding Emperor Wu in the midst of the chaotic army. The formation erupted; with a single strike, Emperor Wu fell from Emperor Xuan's back!

The twenty-odd Imperial Throne realm experts were overjoyed, about to reap Emperor Wu's life, when suddenly heaven and earth changed abruptly; before their eyes strange visions appeared, and they fell into layer upon layer of illusion.

Lang Wan's vertical eye at her brow opened; she drifted down onto Emperor Xuan's head, her divine consciousness visualizing, and at once all manner of divine weapons and sharp instruments flew out from the bodies of those twenty-odd Imperial Throne realm experts.

Their bodies convulsed; one divine weapon after another burst from their bodies, riddling their flesh and primordial spirits with holes.

The various armies of the Heavenly Court charged in, and one by one they were frozen in place. From their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses, black sand of souls rolled out; they turned into soulless corpses, still frozen in the posture of the charge.

From their brows, paper boats sailed out, each bearing a yin courier holding a horse lantern.

Heavenly Venerable You came flying on a paper boat; with a shake of his body, all the paper boats and yin couriers merged into him.

He roared; his fleshly body swiftly grew young, becoming a youth, his primordial spirit vast behind him, holding a lantern whose light shone forth, illuminating the Empress's face.