Chapter 1798 — Two Arts, One Plan

Lan Yutian crossed the distance in a single step and plunged into the Empress's domain — a terrifying domain formed by the Dao of Guixu, where all things around were falling into the Empress's realm: continents, mountains and rivers, even the divine mountains of the Ancestral Court disintegrating as they fell. What was more terrifying was that the sun, moon, and stars in the sky were also falling; as the stars and all things descended, one could dimly perceive that the Empress's Guixu domain was divided into thirty-six layers. The first through the eighth were mere falling; the ninth through the sixteenth were destruction and pulverization; the seventeenth through the twenty-fourth were heat death — a heat death in which even the Dao would disintegrate.

By the twenty-fifth layer, even light could not escape; all matter within transformed into chaotic qi. Upon the Empress's lotus platform, all things were reduced to chaos, sprayed out from the lotus seedpod of the platform, connecting to the Empress, becoming her cultivation. This was complete Guixu Dao-attainment. Since the First Cosmic Era, only one person had attained the Dao through Guixu: the Second Young Master, Wuji.

And now there was one more — the Empress.

After she devoured Xie Wuqi, the last of her familial affection vanished, and she finally became the true Goddess of Guixu. Even when the Empress first attained the Dao, she knew that familial affection was a constraint upon her.

At that time she had suddenly felt the mother-son bond with Xie Wuqi grow so intense it could not be suppressed; she could not wait to see her son, and so made the journey to Jingping to see Xie Wuqi.

This mother-son affection, the love of a parent for its young, seemed perfectly normal, but for the Goddess of Guixu, it was an emotion she absolutely did not need. From that moment on, she realized that to advance further, she must erase this emotion.

Heavenly Venerable You brought out Xie Wuqi, intending for her to retire with him and enjoy the bliss of family — but this only steeled the Empress's resolve.

With this step, the Empress had no more weaknesses.

Heavenly Venerable You, the two Xuanwu Emperors, and Lang Wan were closest to her; when the Empress's Dao heart reached perfection, the four also fell into her Guixu domain, tumbling ever deeper from the outermost layer. Even though they were among the most powerful people in the world today, they could hardly resist the power of Guixu; in the blink of an eye, they fell into the sixteenth layer of the Guixu domain.

Once they reached the seventeenth, even Dao-attainers could not fly out; they could only fall irreversibly toward the Empress, their Dao arts disintegrating into chaos, becoming nourishment for Guixu. The four exerted all their power to unleash their divine arts.

The two Xuanwu Emperors each bore wounds; the Wu Emperor had first been wounded by the combined assault of the Heavenly Court's Emperor Throne powerhouses, and then gravely wounded by the Empress, his injuries severe, making him the weakest link, the first to fall into the heat death of the seventeenth layer.

The Xuan Emperor reached out, straining to hold his wife, surging all his vital essence, mobilizing his ancestral land, trying to fly outward. The Xuanwu Great Marsh flew over and settled beneath his feet, but even this most renowned holy land was now collapsing and disintegrating within Guixu.

This disintegration was the disintegration of the Dao itself.

"Let go! " The Wu Emperor struggled with all her strength, but the Xuan Emperor refused to let go.

The Wu Emperor flew into a rage and said harshly, "I've long grown tired of you! Let go, and you'll be rid of me!

I beat you every day — without me, you'll be free! " The Xuan Emperor still refused to let go, and laughed, "We were born to be together.

If you die, there will be no more Xuanwu. " The Wu Emperor, enraged, spread her burning wings and slashed at the wrist the Xuan Emperor held. The Xuan Emperor's other hand reached over to block the blow, and his palm was instantly severed.

The Wu Emperor wept bitterly: "I used to beat you all the time.

. .

" BOOM!

The Xuanwu Great Marsh suddenly split apart and plunged into the seventeenth layer of the Guixu domain.

The holy land that had given birth to the two Xuanwu Emperors was brushed by the wind of heat death, instantly burning, shattering, reduced to the tiniest particles. The Xuan Emperor could not keep his footing and followed the marsh toward the seventeenth layer of Guixu; with his one remaining arm, he held the Wu Emperor tight.

The husband and wife burned fiercely in the heat death, falling toward deeper layers.

The Wu Emperor leaned against his chest; the Xuan Emperor savored this rare tenderness and said softly, "I cast a divination. This journey is greatly auspicious — danger, but no harm.

" "When has your divination ever been accurate?

" The Wu Emperor laughed.

"But at least Youming went to the Southern Heaven. He's safe, at least.

.

. " At that moment, Heavenly Venerable You's peerless primordial spirit reached out a great hand from behind, seized the two and strained to pull them outward, crying loudly, "Honored couple, join me in exerting your power to resist the Empress's domain!

" Lang Wan flew over, her thirty-five-layered divine consciousness domain erupting, trying to sever the Guixu domain — but the moment her domain grazed the Empress's, it disintegrated on its own.

Heavenly Venerable You's Youdu domain also collapsed at a touch; the hand of his primordial spirit reached into the seventeenth layer of the Guixu domain, but even his primordial spirit could not hold, falling toward deeper layers.

Four of the top Heavenly Venerables, and not one could contend with the Empress's domain. The Empress's Guixu domain had reached perfection, with almost no rival.

Lang Wan was also falling toward the seventeenth layer of Guixu, reflecting on the events of her life; suddenly her mystic arts were broken, and all manner of emotions surged in her heart, her mind thrown into chaos. Her robes fluttering, her figure fell into Guixu.

She took out a painting. In the painting was another version of herself.

The painting burned in the heat death, reduced to nothing.

"Perhaps I can never become the person in the painting.

. .

" she thought bleakly.

Suddenly, a golden ship came howling through the air; upon it rested a massive obelisk.

It thundered past her and crashed toward the Empress.

The Empress raised both hands to meet the golden ship and was knocked staggering backward. The obelisk on the ship suddenly blazed with light; the primordial chaos runes contained in the stele forged by the First Young Master, Taishang, erupted, suppressing the Empress's power and Dao for a moment.

Heavenly Venerable You and the two Xuanwu Emperors immediately fled, seizing the chance to break out of the Empress's Guixu domain. Lang Wan also escaped and looked back. She saw the Empress charge onto the golden ship, lift the obelisk, and hurl it into the great abyss, fierce beyond measure.

"My painting. .

.

" Lang Wan steadied her mind, activated her mystic arts, and turned around, charging with Heavenly Venerable You and the others toward the Haotian Emperor, casting aside that fleeting emotion.

At the same time, Lan Yutian charged over, landing on the golden ship with a thud. The World Tree howled and swelled; layer upon layer of Ancestral Court Dao domains interlocked with the Guixu domain, clashing, suppressing, and annihilating one another.

The Empress and Lan Yutian landed on the deck of the golden ship; neither halted their steps, and in an instant their divine arts clashed a thousand times. "Heavenly Venerable Yu!

" The Empress took hundreds of divine arts in succession, staggered, and quickly steadied herself, raising her head in surprise to gaze at this youth.