Lingbao Tianzun's Backup Plan

"Heh heh..." Faced with Teng Snake's temptation, Li Ming merely sneered and said nothing.

"Hmph!" Teng Snake snorted disdainfully.

"You're actually a Chaotic Body?"

"To achieve Enlightenment as Supreme in this world without being devoured by those Dark Supremes, you've been rather lucky."

"You even obtained the Bronze Immortal Hall."

"Unfortunately, the Bronze Immortal Hall is suppressed so severely in this world that it cannot display its true power at all."

Li Ming had originally planned to refine the Bronze Immortal Hall into the Heavenly Demonic Saber once his cultivation became profound enough. From Teng Snake's words, the Bronze Immortal Hall seemed to have quite an impressive origin.

Could there be some hidden use to it that he did not know about?

"Heh heh, you old ghost really are unlucky. You actually fell from the Immortal Domain into this world."

"And then you were killed and bound here. How pitiful!"

"Although the Bronze Immortal Hall no longer has its Weapon Deity, it is still more than enough to beat you to death."

Li Ming had already roughly estimated Teng Snake's strength. He had the soul of a Supreme, coupled with the body of a True Immortal.

He was roughly equivalent to a Dark Supreme wielding an Immortal Weapon. His strength was probably nothing special.

However, this soul had been born from his corpse, so perhaps it could bring out some of the Teng Snake corpse's special abilities.

With the Bronze Immortal Hall in hand, Li Ming was confident that he could deal with this Teng Snake. Thus, he also regarded Teng Snake with some disdain.

Now that Teng Snake was bound by countless Great Dao Order Chains and unable to break free from the formation here, his strength was clearly not as formidable as imagined.

Li Ming vaguely sensed the aura of Nine Secrets: Zu and Lingbao Tianzun here.

He looked down at Teng Snake. "Where is Lingbao Tianzun? Did he kill you and suppress you here?"

Upon hearing Lingbao Tianzun's name, Teng Snake seemed utterly bewildered.

However, mysterious light soon flashed through his eyes. Scenes from the past rapidly flowed through them, and in the blink of an eye, he understood what had happened and grasped the entire chain of events.

"Lingbao Tianzun!" Teng Snake said through gritted teeth.

His eyes were filled with venomous hatred. Grand Dao ripples spread from his entire body as he madly slammed against the surrounding Grand Dao Order Divine Chains.

"Once I break free, I will devour Lingbao Tianzun."

"He wanted to refine me and live another lifetime. I will devour him outright and completely sever his path of the Great Dao!"

Li Ming was somewhat surprised by Teng Snake's words. "Could Lingbao Tianzun not be completely dead yet?"

"Did he truly intend to refine this True Immortal corpse and live another lifetime?"

"But it seems something went terribly wrong. Lingbao Tianzun appears to have failed!"

Teng Snake's face was full of contempt. "That piece of trash dared covet my body?"

Teng Snake did not seem willing to say much more about that matter and changed the subject moments later.

His blazing gaze fixed upon Li Ming's Bronze Immortal Hall, and he made no attempt to conceal his greed.

"The Bronze Immortal Hall can only display its true strength in the hands of a True Immortal."

"If it were in my hands, perhaps I could use it to smash open the Road to Immortality!"

"Are you really not going to consider it?"

"Heh, consider my ass. Do you really think I do not know that the Immortal Domain is already shattered?"

"The Road to Immortality was cut off long ago. It only opens once every countless tens of thousands of years."

"Even then, only two or three people can become immortals."

"To open the Road to Immortality at the wrong time and in the wrong place—you think you can fool a child?"

Teng Snake was greatly shocked by Li Ming's words.

The Immortal Domain had suffered a major disaster and had long since become fragmented beyond recognition. This was still a secret.

Yet Li Ming spoke of it with such certainty. Where had he learned this secret?

Seeing Teng Snake's bewilderment, Li Ming stepped forward. The Bronze Immortal Hall hummed, then crashed onto Teng Snake's head with a thunderous boom.

With a puff, Teng Snake spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying. His body was not shattered, but the Supreme-level Primordial Spirit inside it was nearly smashed apart, leaving him in an extremely miserable state.

"Damn it, do you really think I have no way to deal with you?"

Teng Snake's expression was savage. There was not the slightest fear on his face; instead, a weird smile appeared.

"That bastard Lingbao Tianzun took advantage of my previous body being severely injured and killed the Primordial Spirit of my former self."

"After all these years, my corpse underwent Corpse Spirit Awakening and gave birth to me."

"Now I have once again become a Supreme, become a True Immortal. My future is limitless..."

"You dare humiliate me like this? You are destined to seek your own death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Teng Snake coiled his body and uttered incomprehensible sounds. Grand Dao Heavenly Sound boomed as immortal light blazed from his entire body.

Countless incomparably mysterious Immortal Dao Runes appeared, densely imprinted across the surrounding void.

Teng Snake's Primordial Spirit seemed to vanish, leaving only the shell of a True Immortal.

Li Ming silently observed, his eyes burning as he carefully watched those Immortal Dao Runes.

Before long, Teng Snake's body suddenly emitted an earth-shaking roar.

With a tremendous boom, mysterious power spread in all directions, filling this endless black ocean.

The vital blood of every living being dwelling in this ocean and upon its islands instantly vanished, surging madly toward Teng Snake's location.

Around the island that sealed Teng Snake, thirty-six divine mountains spewed Chaos outward, rendering the entire area hazy and indistinct.

Clatter, clatter.

The sound of chains unexpectedly rang out.

Teng Snake's body slowly rose into the void and opened his eyes once more.

Black mist churned around his body, while green light flickered in his eyes.

With another tremendous boom, the entire island shook violently as incomparably dense black mist surged like a tide.

The chains clattered and scraped continuously, producing an unbearably piercing sound. They cracked and popped as though they might snap at any moment.

Li Ming looked through the black mist at those chains and was startled as well.

He saw four chains firmly locking Teng Snake's body in place.

Those four chains were actually forged from Immortal Gold, their materials corresponding to the Four Swords of Zhu Xian.

Crimson radiance flickered. That was a chain forged from Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold, covered in endless Grand Dao Runes. It could extend without limit and tightly bound Teng Snake's body.

Black as ink, with black dragon patterns flowing over it, was a chain forged from Dragon-Patterned Black Gold.

Purple light shone as purple mist rose. That was a chain forged from Divine Marked Purple Gold.

Green light flickered, and green immortal radiance flowed like an immortal's tears. That was a chain forged from Immortal Tear Green Gold.

Li Ming was somewhat dumbfounded at the sight.

In the original story, aside from the Ruthless Empress, who had extravagantly used Immortal Gold to forge chains and bind herself, he had never heard of anyone possessing so much Immortal Gold.

Yet the scene before him deeply shook Li Ming.

He had not expected Lingbao Tianzun to possess so many precious materials.

Not only had he used them to forge Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram and the Four Swords of Zhu Xian, he had also used the remaining supreme Immortal Gold to forge four chains, all to restrain Teng Snake's body so that he could refine and devour it, living another lifetime.

Lingbao Tianzun was actually this terrifying?

He far surpassed the descriptions in the original story!

What realm had Lingbao Tianzun truly reached? How many lifetimes had he lived?

He had actually killed a Crippled Immortal and imprisoned his body here.

Lingbao Tianzun's understanding of Nine Secrets: Zu and formations had reached an utterly inconceivable level.

Rumble, rumble.

The thirty-six divine mountains shook violently as Teng Snake struggled without end.

Countless Immortal Dao Runes burst forth, frantically resisting the Grand Dao Runes on the chains.

The Grand Dao Runes on those chains seemed on the verge of shattering, as though Teng Snake could break free at any moment.

Black mist rolled while mysterious radiance glimmered from the four chains, along with endless flashing runes.

Li Ming silently observed everything there without making a move.

He carefully watched the evolution of the runes.

He wanted to see just how far Lingbao Tianzun's arrangements here had gone, for Lingbao Tianzun to be so confident that he could devour this True Immortal corpse and live another lifetime.

With a tremendous boom, it was as if heaven and earth had been split apart.

Within this endless ocean, all the living beings that had not yet died fell to their knees, trembling. Death could descend upon them at any moment.

Teng Snake's body now stood in the void, tightly bound by four thick chains as he struggled with all his might.

The thirty-six divine mountains appeared to be on the verge of being forcibly torn from the island by him.

The sight was truly astonishing.

The aura of a True Immortal erupted. Endless Immortal Dao Runes spanned ancient times, the present, and the future.

At that moment, a shrill roar rang out, causing the void to explode inch by inch and the starry sky to collapse into Chaos, as if everything had ceased to exist.

All four Immortal Gold chains actually snapped.

Teng Snake soared into the air and let out a long howl that shook the ages, as though it had thrown time itself into disorder.

The four chains remained bound to his limbs, gleaming with crimson, purple, green, and black radiance...

He had no idea how many tens of thousands of years he had been imprisoned here.

A True Immortal-level corpse had never aged.

Time seemed not to have left any trace upon him.

His aura remained powerful, and countless Immortal Dao Runes flowed across him.

At the Immortal Platform between Teng Snake's brows, Primordial Spirit Fire faintly appeared once more.

The Primordial Spirit Fire had been rekindled.

The Supreme Primordial Spirit born through Corpse Spirit Awakening seemed to have awakened.

Hum, hum, hum.

Body and Primordial Spirit fused together, and the Supreme Primordial Spirit born from them was restored to its original state. Supreme Immortal Dao aura instantly crushed everything and swept through this black ocean.

Countless living beings trembled all over. They wanted to flee this black ocean, yet they could not escape.

This place was actually a cage, trapping everything within it. No one could leave.

The Immortal Dao Runes on Teng Snake's body continuously blossomed, and endless runes shot in every direction like divine swords.

Facing the incoming Immortal Dao Runes, Li Ming casually blocked them with the Bronze Immortal Hall. Then he replicated an identical Immortal Dao Rune and flicked it outward, where it annihilated the other rune.

Moments later, Teng Snake abruptly opened his eyes, green light flashing within them.

He looked at Li Ming and let out a sinister cackling laugh.

"Haha, I have finally broken free!"

"Your time to die has come!"

Having regained his freedom, Teng Snake felt more powerful than ever before.

He believed that with his True Immortal-level body, he could sweep across this world and become its true ruler.

His enormous head gently exhaled, and countless Immortal Dao Laws blossomed. Immortal Dao Runes became a storm, instantly destroying vast stretches of the surrounding black ocean.

Feeling the power of the Immortal Dao return to his body, Teng Snake looked at Li Ming with the gaze of a cat toying with a mouse.

"Well?"

"This Immortal Dao power far surpasses Humanity Supreme!"

"How can you possibly fight me?"

"If you are willing to become my servant, perhaps I can spare your life." At the same time, he looked down upon Li Ming.

Li Ming looked at Teng Snake as though he were an idiot.

Teng Snake could not help frowning, unable to understand why Li Ming remained so confident.

Just as he was about to swallow Li Ming whole, he suddenly felt terrifying chanting rise from the Immortal Platform between his brows.

"When accumulated yin becomes a deity, form exists within the deity..."

The ancient Du Ren Scripture resounded as mysterious power circulated through Teng Snake's body.

Li Ming was astonished to discover that the scripture of Lingbao Tianzun's Salvation Scripture possessed such miraculous effects.

Terror appeared on Teng Snake's enormous face.

"Lingbao Tianzun!"

"His ghost truly refuses to die!"

"He actually imprinted the Salvation Scripture within my body!"

"Ah..."

Mysterious power enveloped that Supreme Primordial Spirit, and Teng Snake let out an incomparably miserable shriek.

Teng Snake's entire body seemed to ignite with mysterious flames.

A mysterious Bronze Lamp appeared, strengthened by mysterious power.

Endless mysterious power flowed from the Bronze Lamp like a galactic waterfall, pouring down and washing over Teng Snake's body.

Lingbao Tianzun had directly treated the soul born from that True Immortal corpse's Corpse Spirit Awakening as a Corpse Calamity, as an evil ghost born from a corpse.

It turned out that the Du Ren Scripture had such miraculous effects against souls born through Corpse Spirit Awakening.

Li Ming was astonished to discover that this mysterious power actually contained Mortal World Faith Power.

So these evil ghosts feared Mortal World Faith Power the most.

It turned out that it was not only Divine Thought that feared Faith Power. Souls born from corpses were the same.

Perhaps such things could all be called the power of the living world.

No wonder Netherworld Emperor Duan De in the original story feared Heavenly Tribulation the most after undergoing Corpse Spirit Awakening time and again.

From a certain perspective, Netherworld Emperor Duan De after Corpse Spirit Awakening was also an old ghost.

With the Bronze Immortal Hall and the Bronze Mirror inside, Li Ming naturally felt no panic, which was why he could silently watch Teng Snake struggle desperately.

Originally, he had intended to strike suddenly and give Teng Snake a fatal blow.

But as Teng Snake struggled, he was astonished to discover that Lingbao Tianzun had made even more arrangements.

So he silently watched.

Just as he had guessed, Lingbao Tianzun's contingency plan was truly astonishing.

The only thing that had exceeded Li Ming's expectations was that the Salvation Scripture's effects were so incredible.

Even Supreme-level Primordial Spirits born within True Immortal corpses could be suppressed.

Li Ming silently committed the mysterious Salvation Scripture to memory.

He looked at Teng Snake, who was still struggling and resisting.

The Supreme Primordial Spirit at the Immortal Platform between his brows was especially close to being torn apart.

"Why haven't you been affected by this scripture at all?"

"Why does the Salvation Scripture harm me so terribly?"

"A mere secret artifact—not even a Heavenly Venerable Weapon—can actually suppress a True Immortal's corpse..."

Teng Snake was speechless as well. He had never expected such a secret artifact to possess such mysterious power.

Li Ming stood atop the Bronze Immortal Hall, carefully observing the runes that flickered into view.

He carefully deduced their workings.

Using the power of the Human Dao to restrain these Immortal Dao Runes—Lingbao Tianzun truly had some skill.

"Your Immortal Domain's True Immortals are pretty pathetic!"

"Why do they all look like cheap knockoffs?"

"Even an injured True Immortal is still a True Immortal!"

"And yet you were killed by Lingbao Tianzun!"

"You piece of trash have truly disgraced True Immortals!"

"No wonder Lingbao Tianzun could kill your previous life. It isn't surprising that he can kill you now!"

Li Ming studied the runes as he spoke with a grin.

Upon hearing Li Ming's words, old ghost Teng Snake nearly coughed up blood in fury.

He had thought he could turn the tables and devour Lingbao Tianzun in return. Who would have thought he would end up in this state?

"What a pity. After all these years, you finally grew up and reached the Supreme realm, but now it will all come to nothing!"

Those words cut deeply.

"Do you have any last words to leave behind?"

"Or perhaps some cultivation techniques, secret arts, or cultivation experience? Teach them to me, and if I'm in a good mood, I might help you out."

Li Ming stared intently at Teng Snake's corpse, clearly very interested.

"Don't even think about it!"

"Even if I self-destruct, you won't get a single benefit from me!"

Teng Snake let out an enraged roar, his fury so violent it seemed as though he would evaporate the endless black ocean.

Li Ming controlled the Bronze Immortal Hall and smashed it down onto Teng Snake's head like a brick.

Boom!

Teng Snake, who had fallen onto the island, behaved himself again.

"I heard long ago that Lingbao Tianzun forged the Four Swords of Zhu Xian and their sword formation diagram. Do you know where the Four Swords of Zhu Xian and the formation diagram are?"

"Why aren't you speaking? Why won't you answer my question?"

"You piece of trash, the Four Swords of Zhu Xian were named that because they killed a trash True Immortal like you, weren't they?"

"Roar..."

Li Ming's mockery nearly made Teng Snake explode.

Countless Immortal Dao Runes flashed throughout his body, surging wildly toward his Immortal Platform as if trying to erase the Salvation Scripture's mysterious power.

Unfortunately, how could the great Dao power Lingbao Tianzun had painstakingly arranged specifically to deal with Corpse Spirit Awakening be so easily worn away?

As the mysterious power flowing from the Bronze Lamp relentlessly scoured him and the mysterious flames crazily purified him, the aura around Teng Snake's Primordial Spirit steadily weakened.

In the end, it actually fell from the Supreme realm.

"I hate this..."

"Damned Lingbao Tianzun..."

"I curse you to never live out another Lifetime..."

Before dying, old ghost Teng Snake's Primordial Spirit looked venomously at Li Ming, as though blaming him for refusing to save him, and as though resenting Li Ming for still possessing a long lifespan—as though he were cursing Li Ming.

"If I hadn't already been severely wounded in the Immortal Domain back then, how could I have possibly been slain by that brat Lingbao Tianzun?!"

"Lingbao Tianzun actually bears the title of Immortal Slayer! In an age without heroes, a brat becomes famous!"

Teng Snake's face was filled with unwillingness.

"Looks like you're about to die completely. I'll send you on your way." Li Ming thought of the Bronze Mirror within his body and felt that it was time to harvest Teng Snake.