Emperor Wu of Zhou had been different from others from the moment he was born. Legend had it that when he came into the world, nine True Dragons circled the heavens above. The people nearby exaggerated the tale until it sounded almost mythical, and before long, word reached the cultivation sects in the mountains. A Daoist descended the mountain and personally examined his bones and tested his talent.
Publicly, the Daoist said that Emperor Wu of Zhou's talent was average.
Privately, the Daoist immediately accepted Emperor Wu of Zhou as his disciple.
Thus, Emperor Wu of Zhou embarked on the path of cultivation. His talent was peerless; whatever he cultivated, he mastered with astonishing speed, while his cultivation advanced steadily and firmly. From the elders to the Sect Master, the entire sect placed great hopes on him, believing he was the hope for reviving the Luochuan Sect. This also fostered his arrogant, tyrannical nature, as though none could stand above him.
After cultivating for several decades, Emperor Wu of Zhou was no longer content to remain in the Luochuan Sect and chose to descend the mountain to roam the world.
From then on, the Cultivation world was drenched in blood and chaos.
Emperor Wu of Zhou was immensely powerful, extraordinarily gifted, and vindictive to the extreme. He killed as he traveled, making countless enemies, yet always escaped unscathed. That continued until he encountered the young man carrying a sword. It was the first time in Emperor Wu of Zhou's life that he failed to defeat an opponent.
This became his inner demon.
He followed the path of dominance. In his eyes, everyone should have been a defeated opponent beneath his feet. From then on, he regarded that man as a grave threat. Whenever his cultivation improved, he would challenge him, yet every battle ended in a draw. On several occasions, Emperor Wu of Zhou even felt that he had nearly been defeated. His heart grew increasingly gloomy, and he swore to eliminate this swordsman.
He began befriending him, winning him over with sincerity. The two exchanged insights and verified each other's ultimate arts, but Emperor Wu of Zhou always secretly held something back. He believed the other man would do the same, because no one would wholeheartedly trust a stranger.
In the years that followed, Emperor Wu of Zhou encountered a life-or-death calamity. He sought help everywhere, but not a single person came to his aid.
At the brink of death, that swordsman arrived and helped him drive away his mortal enemy.
The incident moved Emperor Wu of Zhou somewhat, but it still could not shake his desire to kill the swordsman.
Afterward, the swordsman actually intended to marry someone from the Demon Race of the Outer Domain and invited him to the wedding. Emperor Wu of Zhou knew this was the perfect opportunity. He secretly joined forces with the major Daoist sects, spread the news among them, and led a group of experts to quietly descend upon the wedding day.
By then, he had secretly broken through to the Ancestor Realm. He knew the other man had not broken through, so he believed victory was certain. Yet at the critical moment, the swordsman slashed at him. Emperor Wu of Zhou, having only just broken through, chose to take the blow head-on. That single strike shattered the foundation of his Ancestor Realm.
From then on, everything seemed to change.
Once blessed with smooth sailing, he had no choice but to enter seclusion for a hundred years. When he emerged a century later, he intended to strangle a prodigy from an enemy faction in the cradle. To prevent any mishaps, he descended in his true body. Yet the other party proved as tenacious and as outstanding as that swordsman from years ago, and another sword strike shattered the foundation of his Ancestor Realm again.
This time, he recuperated for a very, very long time.
But before he could leave the mountain, the remnant soul of that swordsman slashed at him from an immense distance, once more shattering the foundation of his Ancestor Realm.
Emperor Wu of Zhou's eyes nearly split apart. Not even the waters of the five lakes and four seas could wash away the rage in his heart.
He needed to recover quickly. Just then, he heard that a ruin had appeared near Shangqing Palace, containing fresh Grandmaster Pure Land. Emperor Wu of Zhou did not hesitate to seize the body of an old elder in his sect who was near death, attaching part of his Primordial spirit to it. He rushed here and silently infiltrated the ruins. He took nothing else, focusing solely on obtaining the Grandmaster Pure Land. He had wanted to leave unnoticed, but Li Qingshan, the Sect Master of Shangqing Palace, discovered him and forced him to self-destruct his physical body to escape.
Now, this portion of his Primordial spirit could no longer withstand further losses. He had to find a vessel as soon as possible. Shangqing Palace lay tens of thousands of miles from the Luochuan Sect, and only by seizing a body could he return.
The old man before him was the best target.
"After being unlucky for so long, it's finally time for my fortunes to turn." Emperor Wu of Zhou's Primordial spirit secretly prayed, then lunged forward and charged straight into the old man's body.
Boom!
Li Jiusheng had been gazing into the distance, lost in thought, when he suddenly felt an icy force crash into his body. His entire body jolted, his mind grew dazed, and a bewitching voice sounded by his ear.
"You are tired. Give up. Do not resist. Just go to sleep. When you wake up, you will become an immortal."
The voice carried a powerful hypnotic quality, seemingly intent on sending Li Jiusheng into deep sleep. It told him that he only needed to fall asleep to become an immortal.
"Get lost!" Li Jiusheng's Primordial spirit had contemplated the Infernal Thought Prison and Earth Store's Original Vows day and night. It had been tempered until it was nearly transparent, approaching Pure Yang consciousness. How could he be bewitched by such a petty voice into falling asleep?
"Someone is trying to seize my body!" Li Jiusheng immediately sensed that something was wrong. He promptly sat cross-legged and meditated, mobilizing the power of his consciousness while circulating the Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra, manifesting an Asura hellscape within his sea of consciousness.
Although he had yet to refine Pure Yang consciousness or form a Primordial spirit, Li Jiusheng had begun cultivating the Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra long ago, and it still played a certain role.
This portion of Emperor Wu of Zhou's Primordial spirit was immensely powerful. After entering Li Jiusheng's body, it did not waste a word and charged directly toward his mind, intending to occupy his consciousness space.
But when Emperor Wu of Zhou's Primordial spirit entered Li Jiusheng's consciousness space, what greeted him was the Infernal Thought Prison and an Earth Store Bodhisattva.
Boom!
Within the world of consciousness, the Infernal Thought Prison immediately suppressed him. The Earth Store Bodhisattva also chanted Buddhist sounds, seeking to deliver Emperor Wu of Zhou.
"Damn it, how could the sea of consciousness of this old grandmaster contain something so terrifying?" This portion of Emperor Wu of Zhou's Primordial spirit was horrified. He realized something was wrong, but it was already too late.
As the Infernal Thought Prison descended, his partial Primordial spirit could only resist it head-on. Otherwise, he could only sever a portion of himself to escape. His Primordial spirit had already lost most of its energy when his body exploded; if he severed himself again to survive, this portion of Emperor Wu of Zhou's remnant soul would truly disperse between heaven and earth.
He could only fight to the death.
"Charge!"
This portion of Emperor Wu of Zhou's Primordial spirit transformed directly into a long sword, then slashed fiercely.
Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Technique!
He knew this sword technique as well. Back then, he and that swordsman had exchanged insights into the Dao, and the swordsman had taught him everything without reservation. Emperor Wu of Zhou had mastered it long ago. Yet he believed the swordsman must have concealed something from him, that this sword technique was incomplete, so he had never studied it deeply.
At this moment, he had been forced into it. This portion of his Primordial spirit could not unleash any effective attack and could only transform into this single strike.
"You are Emperor Wu of Zhou!"
"You actually have the nerve to use the sword technique of the righteous path?"
"You shameless wretch!"
"Take my sword!"
Li Jiusheng recognized the sword technique and flew into a rage. How could trash like Emperor Wu of Zhou have the nerve to use the sword art of the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land?
Without hesitation, he unleashed the same sword strike within his consciousness space.
The sword strike he used was one the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land had comprehended after spending several muddled centuries drifting through the void.
This was the very sword strike that had once severed the foundation of Emperor Wu of Zhou's Ancestor Realm.
Within Li Jiusheng's consciousness space, the two Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Techniques collided.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, Emperor Wu of Zhou's Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Technique instantly collapsed, utterly unable to withstand Li Jiusheng's strike.
Along with it, Emperor Wu of Zhou's remnant soul was shredded apart.
At the final moment, Emperor Wu of Zhou's remnant soul roared with deep unwillingness, "I knew that swordsman had deceived me. He never considered me a friend. He held back when he taught me his Sword Dao."
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