Radiant light flowed over the Gourd Vine as its tendrils branched out. One became a jade-green war spear wreathed in chaos qi, piercing a vicious bird whose wings blotted out the sky and sun. Blood streamed from the wound, raining down without end.
Every drop of blood shone with divine radiance, but compared with the Gourd Vine, the gulf between them was beyond measure.
"Screee!" The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow shrieked, trying to break free, but remained firmly pinned in midair, its soul and flesh both suppressed.
Its blood-moon pupils and sky-shrouding wings rapidly shrank. The Gourd Vine wound around it again and again, and as the vine contracted, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow became a tiny bird and fell unconscious.
"Vicious and cruel, devouring living creatures everywhere merely for amusement-you even swallowed your own master. From now on, you will live by giving blood at the Heaven Mending Pavilion to bring salvation to all living beings." The Gourd Vine spoke coldly, its usual gentleness gone, murderous intent surging.
A creature on the Golden Light Avenue stopped in horror. It had come from Southern Meteor Divine Mountain and turned to flee.
The powerful beings who had hidden in the void, then emerged together to attack when the Sacrificial Spirit visibly began to falter, all froze.
"Since you are already here and have revealed your murderous intent, none of you need leave," the Gourd Vine said.
"I have no intention of making an enemy of the Heaven Mending Pavilion! I only came to help you hold off your enemies, Senior!" A venerable from a divine mountain had been targeted.
"I agree. Then let me give you a worthy death. I will erect a monument for future generations to admire." The Gourd Vine teased him, then lashed out with a tendril and burst him apart. Divine flame surged, refining his shattered bones into a monument. Embedded in it was his Primitive Treasure Bone, which he had not managed to shatter himself-a legacy artifact worthy of serving as a clan's foundation.
"Bastard! You tricked us!" Qiongqi cried in terror. Chaos sword qi shaken loose by the little gourd struck it, slicing its body into chunks on the spot. Each piece was suppressed separately, to be used as ingredients for medicinal meals and blood baths for the disciples.
"It underwent nirvana! It advanced further! Lifespan is no longer a problem! It isn't a false god whose divine flame will go out in old age-it's a True God!" the venerable from Southern Meteor Divine Mountain roared. Traces of divine flame flickered on his body; he had almost reached that realm. Now disaster struck. The Gourd Vine's seemingly invincible tendril pierced him, then ignited his divine flame.
But this was fatal. His foundations were nowhere near sufficient to withstand the power of divine flame enveloping him. He was doomed to fall the moment he advanced. The divine flame turned on him, feeding on all his essence and burning until the heavens warped, then exploded with a thunderous boom.
"I know some of you came for Divine Spirit Rain for your juniors. I will not let you make the trip in vain. Consider this shower of Divine Spirit Rain my thanks to all my fellow cultivators for attending the ceremony. My thanks to the venerable from Southern Meteor Divine Mountain." The Gourd Vine's voice grew gentle again as it delivered its hellish joke.
"Run!" The forces attacking the barrier turned to flee. The Tuoba Family and Rain Clan, poised to coordinate attacks from inside and outside the Heaven Mending Pavilion and destroy its lower ranks, were utterly terrified. All their allies scattered in different directions, exposing their own forces.
"Who dares attack my Heaven Mending Pavilion!" The Stone Kingdom Battle King blazed like a brilliant sun. He fixed his sights on an old monster, shattered the precious artifact bound to that foe's life, then unleashed one crushing blow after another until he battered the enemy apart.
The Sky-Splitting Marquis, the Crimson Sun Tribe, and one powerful former student of the Heaven Mending Pavilion after another arrived with their forces. Upon hearing that the Sacrificial Spirit was dying, they had rushed here without stopping, intending to rescue their juniors and teachers. They had never imagined such a dramatic turn of events.
"They invaded our Pure Land! Do not let a single one escape!"
"Rain Clan! You have no grievance with the Heaven Mending Pavilion, yet you still acted like this! Was fishing in troubled waters for Divine Spirit Rain not enough? You wanted to seize even more?" The Battle King set his sights on the Rain Clan. The Rain King was absent, and the remaining experts offered no resistance, their faces ashen.
Had the Sacrificial Spirit died, all would have been well. Apart from damage to their reputation, they would have lost nothing; everyone was doing the same thing. Now the Sacrificial Spirit had undergone nirvana and even become a True God, leaving the Rain Clan tossed about in wind and rain. Offending such a power without any prior grievance, and causing further repercussions, would surely bring severe punishment. The Rain King might extricate himself by claiming his subordinates had acted without permission, but none of them would survive, and the Rain Clan would suffer a devastating blow.
"I was too gentle in the past, allowing you to grow so rebellious. The Tuoba clan aside, even many former disciples with whom I had no quarrel turned around to attack the Pure Land where they once studied. You never felt any gratitude." The Sacrificial Spirit's gourd vines grew even larger, blotting out the sky and sun. They clung to the clouds without falling, locking onto the forces attacking the Heaven Mending Pavilion below. It had already killed every venerable.
"Disloyal and unrighteous-die!" The gourd shook, releasing the divine sound of the Great Dao. Not one of the traitors who had thrown stones down the well, nor any former disciple now attacking, survived. Their souls were instantly annihilated, their bodies burning into the essence of heaven and earth, while their possessions flew into the Heaven Mending Pavilion.
"I once had a grudge against the Tuoba clan, but I did not pursue its descendants. I still allowed you to study here without restriction, treating you the same as every disciple of the Heaven Mending Pavilion. Sadly, you chose today's path yourselves. Today, I will slay every invading foe and carve out a clear and radiant world. Let the enemy powers that have opposed me for years suffer a little; I will bear the infamy!" Gourd vines descended one after another. No one had time to escape the reach of the True God Sacrificial Spirit, whose sky-shrouding form used the clouds as its gourd trellis. Divine vine spears stabbed into the fleeing ranks, and waves of divine flame burned every enemy clean away.
Treasure Bones, precious artifacts, and riches were collected. A portion free of future complications was selected to be gifted to the forces that had come to help.
The Heaven Mending Pavilion threw open its gates. Calling them his junior brothers, the pavilion master cheerfully invited the Battle King and the former disciples inside to pay their respects to the Sacrificial Spirit. Then he personally presented these helpers with spoils of war, including even the flesh and blood of Beast Venerables.
That day, the world shook and the Desolate Region erupted. The Heaven Mending Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit had undergone nirvana, become a True God, and stood unrivaled beneath heaven!
The Desolate Region had secluded Divine Flame experts, but seemingly only one True God!
The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's soul was forcibly extracted. The Sacrificial Spirit personally suppressed it and carefully erased the restrictions in its sea of consciousness.
The information was uncovered. The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow was exceedingly greedy and cautious, keeping all its most important possessions on its person. Its abode held only everyday necessities and medicinal fields that could not be moved.
That spared them the trouble of asking the Sacrificial Spirit to raid its abode. They simply forced open the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's Cave Heaven and found inside the Mountain Treasure that had once stirred the Great Wilderness-the legacy artifact of the Supreme Hall!
It was a perfectly cubic box, tightly sealed into a seamless whole without the slightest gap.
"So this is that Mountain Treasure? Extraordinary indeed." The Gourd Vine felt no greed for it and paid it little mind.
"Thank you, Senior. We intend to take it back, so we will bid you farewell for now. When the Hundred Broken Mountains Range opens, we may have to trouble you again-sorry for the trouble. Qingfeng will be cultivating at the Heaven Mending Pavilion for a while. Please look after him when appropriate, Senior. He is gentle and dislikes fighting, so someone might bully him," Chen Yao said gratefully.
"A trifling matter. Actually, I prefer disciples like him. When the disciples are too eager to fight, this place no longer feels like a Pure Land." The Sacrificial Spirit agreed and gave instructions to Thunder Ancestor Mu Yan, who was waiting nearby.
Mu Yan cheerfully agreed. With the Sacrificial Spirit reborn, everyone in the Heaven Mending Pavilion warmly welcomed Wu Gensheng. They wished they could enshrine him and bring him into the pavilion. Unfortunately, he seemed to come from the Stone Kingdom Ancestral Land, whose legacy appeared to surpass even theirs. Raising two geniuses like Wu Gensheng and Shi Hao, and recruiting that girl and nurturing her until she could fight the bearer of Double Pupils, was simply astonishing.
What followed was simple. They privately said goodbye to Qingfeng, quietly left the Heaven Mending Pavilion, and awakened the Willow Deity's leaf. They tore straight through the void and returned to Stone Village.
Because of the reincarnation immortal qi, the Willow Deity worried that he might go missing. His treatment was far better than Shi Hao's, and the safeguards were even more overt.
"Hm? This material-the Primitive True Explanation? And this structure-is it the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art?" The Willow Deity examined the Mountain Treasure and could not help exclaiming in surprise.
She separated six willow branches, each demonstrating a different opening stance. Sure enough, the Mountain Treasure responded, slowly opening to reveal the various beast-hide scrolls within, which recorded the Supreme Hall's legacy.
Long ago, when the Immortal Kings of the Primeval Ancient World discussed the Dao, they would even exchange complete legacies. The Willow Deity, for instance, had exchanged for the Immortal Phoenix Precious Technique. The superficial moves of their own arts were naturally worth even less, and they did not hold anything back during those discussions. Every Immortal King of the Nine Heavens knew the opening stances of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art.
The beast-hide scrolls were displayed one after another: the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art, the Hou Tribe Precious Technique, the Bifang Precious Technique, the Luan Tribe Precious Technique, the Suanni Precious Technique...
"Hm?" One of the Willow Deity's branches moved, suddenly picking up the beast hide recording the Suanni Precious Technique.
"Willow Deity? What is it?" Shi Hao asked. Since the village had a Suanni Treasure Bone, he had been watching that beast hide.
Here it comes! Chen Yao thought. His cultivation was insufficient; he would never dare open this thing himself.
The Willow Deity did not answer. She suddenly laid down a great formation, carefully extracted the Suanni records, then flung the beast hide into the sky.
"Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!" A streak of silver sword qi was guided into the heavens, cutting down stars outright! The beast hide shattered where it had been, leaving only a silver page. The formation blocked the residual shock waves, but scattered fragments still fell into the mountains, blasting the Great Wilderness apart.
"The Grass Character Sword Art!" the Willow Deity exclaimed in surprise.
"Another of the Ten Fiends Precious Arts?" Aman was numb by now.
Before you continue