Chapter 24

The White Tiger Divine Venerable actually bowed to Luohu like a subject to his ruler, allowing Luohu to trample the dignity of the entire White Tiger Divine Race beneath his feet.

Divine Lord Jian Bing roared furiously, unleashing a world-shaking storm as his pupils, like great suns, fixed upon Luohu.

Divine Lord Jian Bing berated Luohu, accusing him of treating his elder brother as a servant, and swore that the White Tiger Divine Race would stand irreconcilably opposed to Luohu.

A tiger claw tore through the void and struck at Luohu, its pressure locking down space and time. It was no ordinary attack.

Yet faced with this attack, Luohu used the Twelve-petal Thirty-six-petal Black Lotus to protect himself and easily blocked it.

Everyone present was utterly stunned by this scene, recognizing it as the legendary Twelve-petal World-Destroying Black Lotus.

This lotus originated from the Chaos Green Lotus, which had existed before the Primordial World was opened. It shattered during the Creation of Heaven and Earth, and nine of its green lotus seeds fell into the Primordial Wilderness, giving rise to the four Twelve-Grade Lotus Platforms.

Each one was a top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, comparable to an Innate Supreme Treasure.

The other three Twelve-Grade Lotus Platforms already had masters, while the Twelve-petal World-Destroying Black Lotus held by Luohu had never appeared before.

Although Divine Lord Jian Bing's attack was powerful, Luohu remained unharmed beneath the protection of the Twelve-petal World-Destroying Black Lotus.

As for the mysterious Twelve-petal World-Destroying Black Lotus, the last time it had appeared was in Shen Ni's hands, though he seemed not to have valued it.

Now, this black lotus had actually appeared in Luohu's hands. The power it contained was thought-provoking.

Divine Lord Jian Bing finally sensed the strange power within it. It was the World-Destroying power of the black lotus, which conflicted with the origin of his Wind of Creation.

It could be said that Luohu's possession of the black lotus naturally countered Divine Lord Jian Bing.

Luohu's words were like a sword's edge, slicing through the silence.

"Looks like you've exhausted all your methods. I'm a little disappointed."

Before he had finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked uncertain and alarmed.

Nameless Ascetic Monk and Divine Lord Jian Bing felt the same thing. Nameless Ascetic Monk in particular let out a shrill scream, sensing the crisis of the destruction of the Mount Sumeru Lineage.

At that moment, an omen appeared in the Western Land as boundless shadows spread toward it.

The Buddha Dharma Image formed from Buddhist Dao Fortune shattered, leaving behind an ethereal Buddha Shadow.

This scene seemed to confirm the crisis facing the destruction of Mount Sumeru.

Immediately afterward, the Western Land underwent a mutation. A divine figure shrouded in violet gloom appeared, and Luohu was shocked when he saw it.

Not long before, as the great battle in the Land of the Far West erupted, Tai Ming felt that the time had come.

He summoned the Netherworld Ghost Seal, causing three thousand towering Shrouding the Heavens gateways to appear.

This scene shocked the Primordial Wilderness. All living beings received new information about the Divine Path—the Path of Ghosts and Gods.

The Ghost Dao was born in response to Heaven's Mandate.

Since the Primordial World was created, countless living beings had lain dormant there, waiting to be awakened.

The Primordial World faced frequent wars, and ghosts accumulated as Negative Energy fell out of balance.

In this era, the emergence of the Ghost Dao became the key to balancing Negative Energy, while the Western Land became the stage on which the Ghost Dao manifested.

At the same time, the divine system of the Ghost Dao also attracted the attention of the Innate Divine Beings.

They watched as the three thousand gateways opened, while an army of Ghost Soldiers emerged from the Netherworld Ghost Seal and covered the entire Western Land.

Wherever the Ghost Soldiers passed, all things withered. Yet afterward, the land recovered, and billions of dead souls and ghosts were captured by the Ghost Soldiers and brought back through the gateways.

These ghosts became new Ghost Soldiers, strengthening the army.

Even when powerful beings of the Western Land intervened to destroy the Ghost Soldiers, they would still reappear.

More terrifyingly, Ghost Generals and Ghost Kings began to appear among the Ghost Soldiers. They too were undying and indestructible.

Those who had not been slaughtered by the Ghost Soldiers were instead targeted by them.

If the force was insufficient, they doubled it. If ordinary Ghost Soldiers could not handle the situation, they summoned Ghost Generals, or even Ghost Kings.

In the face of the Ghost Soldiers, humans were already taking a risk by daring to provoke them, let alone attempting to judge the destruction they caused throughout Heaven and Earth.

The Ghost Soldiers were not judges, but they possessed the power to send people back into the Primordial World.

Yet what inspired the greatest fear was not their combat strength, but the Negative Energy field they formed.

Once enveloped by it, even a Grand Unity Venerable God could not escape. It was as though he had been branded with the Ghost Dao Imprint, after which the Ghost Soldiers would come endlessly to surround and hunt him down.

Even a Grand Unity Venerable God would feel his scalp prickle at such a sight. They could not abandon their Western strongholds and relocate elsewhere, nor could they know whether the Ghost Soldiers could track them across regions.

Now that Taiyi Venerable Gods had already appeared among the Ghost Gods of the army, no one knew whether Ghost Gods of the Grand Unity Venerable God Realm would appear in the future.

Thus, wherever the Ghost Soldiers went, all living beings fled as though for their lives. Even Grand Unity Venerable Gods had to avoid their edge.

After who knew how long, the Western Land was completely occupied by the Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Gods.

Tai Ming, the mastermind, had never expected that so many dead souls and ghosts were hidden beneath this land.

These ghosts were not merely remnants of the living beings who had fallen in the current catastrophe of the Western Land. They had also accumulated from living beings who had perished in countless battles of the past.

The Innate Divine Beings' indifference toward ordinary living beings had continued through many eras.

The current situation was the result of accumulation across endless years.

"The cruelty of the Primordial World can be seen from this alone!"

The anger and resistance originating from ordinary living beings would be etched into the Ghost Soldiers' memories.

As Negative Energy continued to accumulate, the dead souls and ghosts underwent nirvana and became Ghost Gods before seeking targets for revenge. The three factions currently in the Western Land became objects for them to vent upon.

Driven by the cycles of karma and fate, apart from the White Tiger Divine Race, which had taken refuge in the Land of the Far West, neither the Demonic Dao nor Mount Sumeru could escape this calamity.

Although Luohu had taken most of the Demonic Dao to the Land of the Far West, the destruction of the remaining cultivators was still a considerable loss to the Demonic Dao.

The story's focus centered on the confrontation and growth involving the core forces: Demon Ancestor Luohu's lair, the Pure Land Buddhist Dao Lineage of Mount Sumeru, and Tai Ming's newly emerged Lineage of Ghosts and Gods. To this day, no one knew where Demon Ancestor Luohu's secret lair was, leaving the various factions unable to target it.

Among them, the Pure Land Buddhist Dao Lineage of Mount Sumeru faced an unprecedented crisis.

They had originally thought that they could reap the benefits while the Demonic Dao and the White Tiger Divine Race fought.

Unexpectedly, some reckless fool had dared to attack Mount Sumeru's lair.

As the ancestral vein of the Western Land, Mount Sumeru had nowhere to hide, and the Pure Land Buddhist Kingdom beneath it was unearthed piece by piece by the Ghost Soldiers.

Faced with this crisis, the Grand Luo Buddha Venerables of the Mount Sumeru Lineage became furious. Thirteen Great Luo Buddha Venerables appeared one after another and swept away the Ghost Soldiers on Mount Sumeru.

Although the Ghost Soldiers possessed powerful Negative Energy that made even Grand Unity Venerable Gods wary, the Grand Unity Venerable Gods displayed their formidable strength at the crucial moment.

During this clash, many Innate Divine Beings observing from the shadows developed a keen interest in the newly emerged Lineage of Ghosts and Gods.

They were curious which divine being had gained Heaven's Mandate and opened a new Divine Path.

At that moment, a violet-gloomy divine figure emerged from behind the scenes. It was Tai Ming—the leader of the Lineage of Ghosts and Gods.

He sighed that although his power was formidable, it still fell short of the foundations of the Grand Unity Realm.

As the representative of the Netherworld in the Earthly Dao Lineage, he controlled all the Ghost Soldiers, Ghost Gods, and the Ghost Dao Lineage of the Primordial Wilderness.

Tai Ming's appearance caused the thirteen Great Luo Buddha Venerables to heighten their vigilance.

However, the cultivation realm Tai Ming displayed shocked everyone. He had actually reached the perfected Grand Unity Venerable God Realm, and the core power of the Ghost Dao revealed by his body even contained the power of the Transformation of Self-Origin from the Nine Transformations of the Source.

Such an increase in cultivation was unbelievable.

Faced with the silent reaction of the Heart of the Earthly Path, shaken by his cultivation speed, everyone began discussing it, questioning whether Tai Ming's strength could match his astonishing rate of cultivation.

Tai Ming's appearance surprised everyone, especially since his cultivation seemed lower than expected.

The thirteen Great Luo Buddha Venerables were shocked to discover that Tai Ming had only reached the perfected Grand Unity Venerable God Realm. Anger and shame became intertwined within them.

They felt that their dignity had been gravely offended, because they had once been intimidated by someone who had not even reached the Grand Unity Realm.

Thus, Blissful Buddha Venerable decided to display the power of the Grand Unity Realm to Tai Ming.

Yet Tai Ming showed no fear in the face of the Buddha palm about to descend. Instead, he remained calm and confident.

He understood that he was not the true protagonist of the battle. Rather, he wanted these Grand Unity experts to witness the power of an ant.

As a terrifying Dharma Form that blotted out the sky and sun appeared above the ninth layer of the heavens, their struggle reached a turning point.

That enormous Dharma Form was an image formed from countless Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Gods—the Underworld Emperor.

Its existence proved that even the weak could display powerful strength, leaving everyone present shaken.

As the Buddhist multitude of Mount Sumeru was eroded and transformed into Ghost Buddhas by the Underworld Emperor, Buddhist Dao Fortune suffered a heavy blow.

Even Nameless Ascetic Monk suffered the effects of the backlash.

The thirteen Great Luo Buddha Venerables were in an even worse state. They could no longer withstand the Underworld Emperor.

The terrifying power of Negative Energy's erosion continued assimilating the Buddha Venerables, although the speed of assimilation had slowed somewhat.

The Underworld Emperor could do this because he had mastered Tai Ming's Great Freedom Pure Land Ghost Dao power.

Although Nameless Ascetic Monk had withdrawn the Buddhist Dao Fortune from Tai Ming, the Great Freedom Pure Land Ghost Dao shared the same origin as the Buddhist Dao, making the backlash of Buddhist Dao Fortune have little effect on the Underworld Emperor.

At this moment, Buddhist Dao Fortune still existed, but its main body had already become Tai Ming's Great Freedom Pure Land Ghost Dao.

Such was the cycle of karma and fate. Nameless Ascetic Monk's past act of seizing fortune had created today's situation, in which Tai Ming transformed Buddha into ghosts.

In the Land of the Far West, Nameless Ascetic Monk and the others had not sensed the changes in the Western Land. It was as though a mysterious power had sealed their perception. This was the power of Heaven's Mandate.

The Underworld Emperor led an endless army of Ghost Soldiers in an arduous attempt to seize Mount Sumeru.

As the Mount Sumeru Lineage was wiped out, the Ghost Soldiers' ranks expanded further.

Their gazes turned toward the Land of the Far West.

When Demon Ancestor Luohu saw the endless army of Ghost Soldiers led by Tai Ming, surprise appeared in his eyes.

He was curious how Tai Ming had advanced to the perfected Grand Unity Venerable God Realm in such a short time.

Tai Ming's achievements reminded him of the Ancient Three Sovereigns, Shen Ni, and other powerful existences.

Luohu admitted that he had underestimated Tai Ming before, and he developed a strong interest in him.

Tai Ming had gained an unexpected harvest from enfeoffing the Ghost Gods. He obtained insights from the origin of the Ghost Gods, a unique advantage of being the Lord of the Ghost Dao.

Small gains accumulated into great ones, and these insights helped him rapidly increase his cultivation.

All he needed was an opportunity to break through to the Grand Unity Venerable God Realm.

Even so, Tai Ming still had a vast amount of insight that he had yet to absorb.

In the future, even after becoming a Grand Unity Venerable God, he would need to spend a great deal of time digesting these profound foundations.

Tai Ming did not explain himself to Demon Ancestor Luohu's curiosity.

He said that he felt honored to have won the Demon Ancestor's recognition.

However, he also stated that he would represent the endless dead souls and demand justice from those who had shattered the balance of the Primordial World.

His words revealed determination and conviction.

As he spoke, the endless Ghost Soldiers began to converge, forming the image of an Underworld Emperor that resembled a divine demon supporting Heaven and Earth.

After absorbing the Buddhist Dao Fortune and dead souls and ghosts of Mount Sumeru, the Underworld Emperor's aura rose once again.

However, against Supreme Beings such as Divine Lord Jian Bing and Demon Ancestor Luohu, the Underworld Emperor was still lacking.

Negative Energy did not affect these Supreme Beings as terrifyingly as expected.

Thus, Tai Ming decided to use his own power. As the Lord of the Ghost Dao, all his power originated from himself.

He focused his mind, and the boundless Dharma Form of the Underworld Emperor instantly surged into a small bottle.

Tai Ming's aura instantly leaped from the Taiyi Realm to beyond the Grand Unity Realm.

The differences between Grand Unity Venerable Gods were enormous. Yet by accumulating Negative Energy and borrowing the obsessions of the dead souls, Tai Ming crossed multiple Grand Unity Dao Realms in a short time.

Although he had not yet reached the realm of the Supreme Beings, his strength was already considerable.

Divine Lord Jian Bing and Luohu seemed to have no intention of stopping him. Divine Lord Jian Bing even praised his talent, saying that had he been born in their era, he certainly would have carved out a place for himself.

Even so, his current strength was still insufficient to make them feel genuinely threatened.