Lingbao Tianzun Has Returned to Life

Li Ming had not come to Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star for the first time.

He naturally knew that Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star had transformed from Lingbao Tianzun's head.

Now that such a shocking change had occurred, Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star was likely about to undergo a heaven-shaking transformation.

Lingbao Tianzun was very likely about to return to life.

After all, the True Immortal's corpse had not turned into nourishment for his revival as Lingbao Tianzun had expected. Instead, it had undergone Corpse Spirit Awakening and nearly disrupted all his plans.

Li Ming had accidentally slain that awakened True Immortal corpse, which could be considered indirectly saving Lingbao Tianzun.

Li Ming flew toward Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star and soon encountered Netherworld Emperor Duan De and Daode Tianzun along the way.

They decided to go take a look together.

Before long, they arrived in the starry sky where Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star was located.

Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star was no longer the same.

Great Dao intertwined there in dense layers, making the place incomparably sacred and powerful. More importantly, it brimmed with vitality.

Ming Venerable and Daode Tianzun were also startled as they looked at that irregular shape resembling a head.

After making some deductions, Netherworld Emperor Duan De looked toward another region of stars in even greater shock.

If they were not mistaken, those stars combined with this head actually resembled a corpse.

"This was transformed from Lingbao Tianzun's corpse?!" Daode Tianzun was equally astonished.

Daode Tianzun and Netherworld Venerable were both walking the path of living in the mortal world. They had heard many legends about the famous Lingbao Tianzun.

Though they had never existed in the same Lifetime or crossed paths, they knew of each other's existence.

Now that Li Ming had returned to Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star, he could not help but marvel at how miraculous Lingbao Tianzun's method of living out a new Lifetime truly was.

At present, the entire Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star displayed Great Dao imprints unique to Lingbao Tianzun.

Nine Heavenly Venerable runes emerged, enveloping the surrounding starry sky.

They seemed to be warning the other Dark Supremes not to seek trouble for themselves.

Yet Li Ming, Netherworld Venerable, and Daode Tianzun easily passed through the Emperor Runes and arrived on Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star.

They entered the underground world beneath the Immortal Platform.

It was a vast, boundless world filled everywhere with roaring flames.

"That is Lingbao Tianzun's Primordial Spirit Fire!"

Netherworld Venerable said in surprise.

Just as Li Ming had said, Lingbao Tianzun's Immortal Platform still nurtured incomparably dense vitality and retained hope of revival.

Daode Tianzun had once obtained Lingbao Tianzun's scripture in history, while Lingbao Tianzun had also once obtained Daode Tianzun's scripture.

He was exceptionally familiar with the Great Dao aura here.

Netherworld Emperor Duan De had likewise obtained Lingbao Tianzun's scripture. Netherworld Venerable in particular had studied Corpse Spirit Awakening, and in some sense, he could be considered one of the origins of the Corpse Calamity.

One wondered whether Netherworld Venerable and Lingbao Tianzun would fight when they met again.

At this moment, Netherworld Venerable stared intently at a continent floating in the air.

The flames there blazed fiercely. The Four Swords of Zhu Xian and Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram, along with the True Immortal-level Teng Snake and all the Divine Substance, were slowly merging into that place.

Everyone could clearly sense that the vitality there had grown even richer.

Li Ming thought about how, in the original text, Lingbao Tianzun's Immortal Platform Divine Liquid had originally contained hope for revival. Even when Emperor Zun and Netherworld Venerable discovered this place in the original text, they had not damaged it.

In the end, Golden Crow Great Emperor had swept it all away in one go.

It had helped Golden Crow Great Emperor, yet destroyed Lingbao Tianzun's hope of returning to life once more.

Now, the Primordial Spirit Fire at the Immortal Platform burned so vigorously and contained such flourishing vitality that the odds of Lingbao Tianzun's revival were growing ever greater.

After all, in a sense, Golden Crow Great Emperor had used the Immortal Platform Divine Liquid here to undergo Nirvana and live out his Second Lifetime. This showed that its incomparably rich vitality had never been extinguished.

Some Great Dao Divine Patterns Li Ming had arranged were present here, meant to help Lingbao Tianzun gather fragments of his primordial spirit.

When he had first come here, he had discovered that Lingbao Tianzun's true spirit had exploded in an extraordinarily violent manner.

Those primordial spirit fragments had scattered throughout the entire universe.

At the time, he had carefully laid down a formation here because he wanted to lend Lingbao Tianzun a hand.

Li Ming lightly traced patterns with both hands, and dense Dao markings quickly manifested, all emitting mysterious and unusual auras.

Since Lingbao Tianzun had not completely died, Li Ming was naturally happy to offer some help.

As for the grudge from when a Dark Supreme had used Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram to attack him, it had long been written off when he slew the awakened True Immortal corpse.

At this moment, Li Ming was carefully drawing even more runes to summon the true spirit.

If Lingbao Tianzun had truly died completely, Li Ming would have been unable to help him return to life.

But since vitality still remained, matters became much easier.

The three soon ascended the Immortal Platform. The Four Swords of Zhu Xian and the Formation Diagram were extremely vigilant, but they did not stop them.

Netherworld Venerable quickly discovered many wondrous runes upon it, all personally branded by Lingbao Tianzun in those years.

After Ming Venerable, Daode Tianzun, and Li Ming analyzed them, they unanimously determined that Lingbao Tianzun's hope of revival lay here.

Mysterious primordial spirit fragments were now continuously being summoned. Though incomparably tiny, they were indeed constantly gathering.

"It seems Lingbao Tianzun's transformation back then was far too brutal. His entire primordial spirit Immortal Platform nearly exploded apart," Daode Tianzun said.

"I wonder what he encountered then. Why did he transform in such a brutal way?" Netherworld Venerable also fell into thought.

After hearing this, a flash of insight crossed Li Ming's mind.

It seemed Lingbao Tianzun's death had not been so simple.

Could there have been some other unforeseen change involved?

Could it be that, like Boundless Heavenly Venerable and Emperor Zun, he had seemingly suffered a sneak attack from Dark Strangeness?

Lingbao Tianzun's corpse had scattered through the starry sky and turned into one life-bearing planet after another.

In a sense, this secretly conformed to the profound principle of destruction followed by rebirth.

But destruction followed by rebirth was not simple. Many could only achieve destruction, yet could not achieve rebirth.

In any case, Lingbao Tianzun's method of transformation had been far too brutal.

It was even somewhat despairing.

"When Lingbao Tianzun returns to life, all the secrets will be revealed."

"By then, perhaps we can also obtain this method of living out a new Lifetime."

"Since that is the case, let us first give Lingbao Tianzun a grand gift. We can join forces and help him summon those shattered soul fragments."

"That will be difficult. They exploded into ash countless tens of thousands of years ago. His soul fragments have already fused into the sun, moon, and stars, into flowers, grass, and trees. How difficult would it be to summon them back?"

"It's fine. We have plenty of time."

Over the following days, everyone remained there, summoning Lingbao Tianzun's soul fragments while also protecting his path.

For them, witnessing Lingbao Tianzun return to life would itself be a Fortunate opportunity.

Emperor Zun and Netherworld Venerable had occupied this place back then without destroying it, which showed that Emperor Zun still had principles in those days.

At least before his mind changed drastically, Emperor Zun had been perfectly normal and possessed the bearing of a formidable ruler.

In the blink of an eye, two thousand years passed.

The Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, originally peaceful and tranquil, suddenly shook once again.

The Four Swords of Zhu Xian shot into the heavens, fully reviving once more and radiating terrifying killing intent.

Streams of stars flowed from the Four Swords of Zhu Xian, as though they were opening heaven and earth.

Behind the Four Swords of Zhu Xian, Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram had also fully revived. The incomparably mysterious Great Dao runes upon it contained endless killing intent.

They rushed out from Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star and hovered in the starry sky around it, ready at any moment to kill all invading enemies.

Cultivators passing nearby fled in all directions in terror.

As for the living beings on Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star, Daode Tianzun had long ago casually seized a planet from the universe, carefully refined it, opened heaven and earth upon it, and moved all of Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star's inhabitants there.

Li Ming and Netherworld Venerable did not possess such kindness.

Daode Tianzun was truly too kindhearted toward these ants.

"Lingbao Tianzun's Four Swords of Zhu Xian have revived again?"

"What are they doing, causing such a huge commotion?"

"Wasn't Lingbao Tianzun supposed to return to life? Why has he not come back alive yet?"

"Could Lingbao Tianzun be returning to life today?"

The supreme divine might erupted in full, shaking the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

Such an astonishing aura awakened those Dark Supremes once more.

The killing intent was simply too intense, and Lingbao Tianzun's aura was so terrifying.

Although Lingbao Tianzun had yet to truly return to life, some Dark Supremes who had never seen Lingbao Tianzun were extremely curious about the many legends surrounding him.

They could not even be certain whether Lingbao Tianzun had truly slain a True Immortal.

Because chaos had isolated everything.

Just as those Dark Supremes wanted to carefully observe Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star, they discovered that a mysterious force had already blocked it off.

Li Ming had been cultivating and comprehending the Dao there, naturally resonating and harmonizing with chaos.

Having remained there for too long, countless strands of chaos had naturally gathered together, forming a Chaos Sea.

Though Li Ming had not deliberately concealed anything, this chaos truly obscured those auras. Even Dark Supremes could not probe the true situation there.

"That should be the world transformed from Lingbao Tianzun's head."

"That aura was once extraordinarily powerful just now. Could Lingbao Tianzun truly be about to return to life?"

Many Dark Supremes had investigated Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star throughout history and believed Lingbao Tianzun had already dispersed himself.

Yet now, they discovered that Demon Venerable, Netherworld Venerable, and Daode Tianzun had entered the place and never returned. That made matters rather subtle.

"What are they doing in there?"

"Why have they not appeared for so long?"

Rumble!

At the location of Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star, blood energy surged into the heavens, shaking all living beings in the universe.

Many people had claimed that Lingbao Tianzun had completely died and could never return to life.

But what did they see now?

Lingbao Tianzun had actually returned to life.

They were all deeply shaken.

The myriad Daos of heaven and earth roared. Countless powerhouses could not stop their bodies from trembling, overcome by an urge to kneel in worship.

Everyone looked in one direction. Even across countless rivers of stars, they could still see the wondrous scene of space and time there.

Within the vast blood energy, Lingbao Tianzun's figure condensed. He slowly rose to his feet.

He underwent Nirvana and was reborn amid oceanic blood energy and powerful vitality, living out his Fourth Lifetime.

Lingbao Tianzun now appeared to be a young man of around twenty. He stood in the endless starry sky, so powerful it was inconceivable.

His blood energy was like a vast ocean as he looked down upon the entire world.

Everyone was deeply shaken.

No one had expected Lingbao Tianzun, dead for countless tens of thousands of years, to return to life.

Everyone believed he was dead, yet Lingbao Tianzun had returned against the heavens.

"Lingbao Tianzun!"

At that moment, the entire universe shouted Lingbao Tianzun's name.

"Congratulations on your return to life, Lingbao Tianzun!" Li Ming said with a smile.

Lingbao Tianzun opened his eyes, his entire body radiating incomparably dazzling light.

His gaze swept across the three before him, and an astonished expression appeared on his face.

"So that was it!"

"So my revival was actually so tortuous!"

"If not for the three of you lending a hand, I truly would not have been able to return to life smoothly!"

Lingbao Tianzun had not expected that, when he had believed himself certain to die, he would actually return to life again.

Moreover, he had lived out an astonishing Fourth Lifetime. His strength had soared, and his lifespan had greatly increased.

Lingbao Tianzun had once fused with the Heavenly Heart Imprint. Thus, after returning to life, a slight deduction allowed him to understand the entire sequence of events.

He learned how perilous his situation had been back then. Only an imperceptible sliver of vitality had remained, and he could have completely died at any moment.

He had never expected Li Ming to become the most crucial person in his revival.

If Li Ming had not helped eliminate that awakened True Immortal, he might truly have been finished.

"How did you end up like this, fellow Daoist? Why was your transformation so brutal, nearly as if you had exploded directly in the starry sky..." Daode Tianzun asked curiously.

Lingbao Tianzun sighed. "After I lived out my Third Lifetime, my strength and lifespan both greatly increased. I believed myself invincible beneath the heavens."

"I truly became somewhat arrogant and careless."

"In that era, many corpses underwent awakening, but none developed in a good direction. Instead, they all fell into corruption and wrought boundless slaughter."

"To deal with those corrupted corpses, after creating the Lingbao Tianzun Scripture, I created the Salvation Scripture as well, specifically to restrain those corrupted corpses."

"Before then, I had swept through everything without equal. No Corpse Spirit Awakening monster could escape my pursuit, until I encountered that Bloodied True Immortal who had fallen from the Immortal Domain into this world."

"That Bloodied True Immortal had been contaminated, but unfortunately, I did not know..."

When Lingbao Tianzun spoke of awakened corpses causing calamity everywhere, he glanced at Netherworld Venerable, whose face showed an embarrassed expression.

Speaking of Corpse Spirit Awakening, it was somewhat related to Netherworld Venerable.

Back when Netherworld Venerable was Tribulation Heavenly Venerable, he had constantly studied the Reincarnation Method.

Because his research in this field had reached the pinnacle, he gained the admiration of numerous Dark Supremes.

From then on, regardless of cultivation level, everyone studied this Reincarnation Method.

After many people died, they did not dissolve into the Dao. Instead, they sought Dragon Veins and buried themselves there.

Even in Ye Fan's era, some Immortal Two great powers still buried themselves in Dragon Veins, hoping to return to life. This showed just how far-reaching the influence of the Reincarnation Method had been.

Yet in the end, Corpse Spirit Awakening produced not benevolent souls, but evil thoughts like Divine Thought.

They harbored an extreme hatred for living beings, slaughtering in all directions whenever they appeared.

Part of the karma behind this probably fell upon Netherworld Emperor Duan De.

With so many living beings dead, there was no way there could be no karma at all.

That was why Lingbao Tianzun had given Netherworld Emperor Duan De such a deep look.

Seeing Netherworld Venerable's expression, Li Ming understood as well.

No wonder Netherworld Venerable had taken the longest time to embark on the Red Dust Immortal Path, and after becoming a Red Dust Immortal, he had been the weakest among them.

The tangled karma hidden in the unseen was difficult to explain. Perhaps it was related to this?

Upon hearing the news of the Bloodied True Immortal, Li Ming was instantly energized.

That incomparably powerful Teng Snake True Immortal had indeed been formidable.

Even after Corpse Spirit Awakening, he had remained extremely strong.

If Li Ming had not possessed a trump card, there was a real chance Teng Snake could have turned the tables after awakening as a corpse.

No wonder Lingbao Tianzun had been able to leave behind the legend of slaying a True Immortal.

"The problem began with this True Immortal's corpse." Lingbao Tianzun's face was full of regret.

"Back then, I was already studying the Sacred Spirit Transformation Method, planning to live out a new lifetime.

"But while studying that True Immortal's corpse, I was shocked to discover that it contained dense Longevity Essence.

"With that Longevity Essence, I would have been able to live out a new lifetime.

"Tempted by that Longevity Essence, I truly let my guard down.

"But by then, regret was too late. I could only take every possible remedial measure.

"Yet even after exhausting every method, I still could not remove that special Strange Substance.

"This Strange Substance was extremely terrifying. It could corrode a person's soul.

"Every time I destroyed it, it would be born anew.

"And the newly born primordial spirit possessed strength identical to mine, yet it was far more brutal."

Hearing Lingbao Tianzun's description, Li Ming immediately understood.

No wonder Immortal Domain Rifts occasionally appeared in this era, with things falling into this world.

The Immortal Domain was probably not peaceful at this time either. It must have suffered several true Dark Turmoils.

Moreover, the Immortal Domain had long since been shattered. No one knew how many fragments it had broken into.

This Bloodied True Immortal had presumably been driven into a corner by Dark Strangeness, forcing him to risk entering a Space-Time Rift.

He had simply never expected to encounter Lingbao Tianzun the moment he arrived in this world and be killed by him.

"Left with no other choice, I could only dismantle my entire body.

"After scattering myself throughout the world, I used the power of heaven and earth to frantically wear away those Strange Origins.

"In the end, I discovered that my primordial spirit had been deeply corroded.

"So I ignited my Great Dao Flame and directly burned my primordial spirit to ashes. Its fragments scattered throughout the universe, hoping to borrow the power of the entire world to completely eradicate this strangeness.

"At that time, I felt profound despair.

"I thought I would die there, yet I never expected to encounter such a fortunate opportunity and return to life once more."

At this point, Lingbao Tianzun's face turned pale, and lingering fear appeared in his eyes.

"This Strange Substance is far too unusual. It definitely does not belong to this world.

"Once contaminated by it, it cannot be removed at all.

"All my life, I suppressed the Corpse Calamity. I would never allow my corpse to endanger the common people after my death.

"I spent countless ages using a method of mutual destruction before finally wearing them away.

"If it had not been for you three fellow Daoists, I truly would have died.