Chapter 1800 — No Echo Remains in the Ruins

Again and again the Empress leapt free of the samsara, but before she could take command of her body, the two sealed her with the Red Rope Knot Seal; and when she had broken that seal, they struck her back down into samsara. Over and over it went, until despair filled her heart.

The Ultimate Void had already invaded her Guixu domain, eroding her cultivation in the Great Dao, so that her strength fell lower and lower.

Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua, the one the foremost genius of a million years ago, the other a rising star of Jingping, held her pinned down utterly, leaving her no way to escape.

She could only weaken without cease, until the two of them ground her to death. When Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua worked in concert, their coordination was seamless, without the slightest gap.

They had once comprehended the Dao together in the Ancestral Court, exchanging what each had gained; both had meditated beneath the World Tree upon its mysteries, and their paths were exceedingly alike, each intimately familiar with the other's divine arts.

Lan Yutian himself was one thing, a man who understood nothing of the ways of the world; the crux was Xu Shenghua, for whatever divine art Lan Yutian employed, he could guess Lan Yutian's intent at the very first instant and coordinate with it.

Lan Yutian's achievements in the Dao Realm were the highest, the man in the Ancestral Court's Dao Realm system closest to attaining the Dao, and the strongest in power. Xu Shenghua was his inferior in comprehension and innate quality; yet Xu Shenghua had once guarded the World Tree alone for decades on end, slaying countless prehistoric powers who had slipped across, and in combat experience and instinct he far surpassed Lan Yutian.

The Empress too had brought every means she possessed to bear, even summoning the Guixu Holy Land; if she could draw the Holy Land to her, then with Guixu's boundless power it would devour the void and drag her into Guixu itself. Then, standing within her own holy land, slaying the two of them would no longer be difficult.

But again and again Xu Shenghua saw through her intent, using his samsara divine art to break off her thought of summoning the Guixu Holy Land. At last the Ultimate Void invaded her Guixu domain, and in a brief span broke through thirteen layers of it in succession, filling the Empress's heart with despair. The World Trees of Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian were like Dao trees within the void, able to marshal the Wind of Cold Silence in the Ultimate Void; their World Trees' roots were as bridges, one after another, drawing the Wind of Cold Silence deep into her Guixu domain to wear away her cultivation and strength. Not far off, Lord Shang, the Moon Heavenly Venerable, and Jiang Baigui were surrounding and killing the Master of the Joy Hall.

Farther still was Emperor Haotian's battle of attaining the Dao: the Nether Heavenly Venerable, the two Xuanwu Emperors, and Lang Wan were charging at Emperor Haotian. Having gone this time to see the Third Young Master Lingxiao and received his guidance, he was now attaining the Dao through force a second time, at the critical juncture, with no attention to spare for the Empress.

Boom!

Another layer of the Guixu domain was shattered.

Her Highness the Empress felt her cultivation plunge sharply; then the sensation of weakening vanished, and once more Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian struck her down into samsara.

When the Empress leapt free of the samsara, she was seized with utter horror: another heaven-layer of her Guixu domain had been broken. But before she could gather her wits, Lan Yutian used the Red Rope Knot Seal, stamping it upon the space between her brows and striking her consciousness down. Even as the two fought her, they comprehended new samsara divine arts and perfected their respective Daos of Samsara, and at the same time comprehended yet more variations of the Red Rope Knot.

Though Her Highness the Empress time and again broke their samsara divine arts and the Red Rope Knot Seal, the next time she would fall to them again, for their divine arts had taken on new variations.

Prodigies under heaven are many, countless as the stars in the sky; but those who can, in the midst of battle, ceaselessly comprehend new techniques, adapt to circumstance, and bring forth the new from the old, likely only these two. "Your Highness, after this blow, do not wake again! " Lan Yutian could not quite bear it, and said, "Within the samsara you may enjoy the joys of family in peace.

If you come out, you.

. .

" Behind Xu Shenghua the Six Paths of Samsara suddenly appeared; six different Daos of Samsara took the form of six heavenly wheels and invaded the Empress's flesh, stripping away her primordial spirit and her consciousness together and casting them down into samsara.

Her Highness the Empress's flesh stood hollow and rigid, motionless.

Xu Shenghua let out a breath, roused the World Tree, and said in a low voice, "After this battle, the Empress will be no more. Lan Yutian, you should not cling to a woman's mercy.

" Lan Yutian roused his own World Tree, and together the two unleashed the might of the Ancestral Court's Dao Domain, destroying the Guixu domain. "She is one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables; in this life she can never step outside of that.

I understand this. " Lan Yutian said bleakly, "But I want to give her a chance.

Once, she gave you and me a chance.

" Xu Shenghua fell silent.

Lan Yutian returned to the Heavenly Venerable Yu, awakening memories of his that had scattered; in his mind was the scene of himself comprehending the Dao beneath the tree. At that time he was only an unremarkable youth of the human race, and before Longhan the human race had stood at the very bottom of the ten thousand races.

He was comprehending the Dao beneath the tree when Her Highness the Empress's carriage passed by; the Empress ordered the gods to halt, lifted the pearl curtain, and watched him in silence, without disturbing his comprehension.

In that comprehension he fathomed the Primal Embryo Divine Treasury, solving the problem that no acquired living being, not even a demigod, could cultivate. That day, the world was changed.

And the tree beneath which he had comprehended the Dao later became the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven.

That day the Empress halted her carriage for him; when he woke, she gladly invited him aboard, and the two talked long, knee to knee, her carriage carrying him roaming over the Great Wilderness of the Yuan Realm, until he lingered and could not bear to leave.

From that time he and the Empress had a friendship.

Later, when the Ancient Gods bestowed their blessing upon him, the Empress too lent her aid, persuading the gods on high and the Heavenly Emperor Taichu.

The Empress's favor toward him raised the standing of the human race; though it remained hard, it was far better than before, so much so that the Seven Heavenly Venerables of Longhan came to be.

This was the grace the Empress had shown him.

But what Xu Shenghua recalled was another scene. It was when Shen Mu sent him to the Taishi Vein of the Ancestral Court to see the Empress and return the Taiji Primordial Liquid to the Taiji Ancient God.

The Empress was still Consort Yan then, and they talked together with great pleasure; at first there had been desire in the Empress's eyes, but afterward only appreciation remained.

The Empress did not make things difficult for him, and in the end let him go.

As an enemy, Xu Shenghua felt only admiration for the Empress in his heart; as for hatred, there was none to speak of.

He was different from Shen Mu. Shen Mu had never regarded himself as a god, but as a mortal, and judged the deeds of the Ten Heavenly Venerables from a mortal's vantage; hence hatred was born in him, and he wished to overthrow them.