Destroy Xuanhuang!
The tranquility of the peach grove did not last long.
Desolate Halberd True Lord withdrew his gaze from the distance and turned it back to Qi Yun.
Those eyes, which seemed to hold the very essence of the birth and death of stars, were now as deep and still as an ancient abyss, carrying a sense of vicissitude and vigilance that had endured countless calamities.
"Now, do you understand why I said, 'Do not follow the old path of Wudao '?"
His voice was no longer as loud as before, but lowered, yet it was like muffled thunder rolling across the sky, causing the fallen petals in the peach grove to pause for a moment.
Qi Yun a chill run down his spine and held his breath.
"His progress back then was too rapid, so rapid that even heaven and earth couldn't contain him."
The gaze of the Desolate Halberd True Lord was deep and unfathomable, as if piercing through time to see a certain figure from behind.
"The path he followed was too cruel and domineering, each step leaving a bloody mark on the very heart of the universe."
The Heaven and Earth's Aversion far surpassed that of his peers; the feeling of being almost unable to move an inch in the Xuanhuang Home Realm was something you simply cannot imagine.
He paused, his fingertips tracing the rim of the teacup, causing the tea inside to ripple slightly.
"It was as if the Great Dao around you had been forcibly severed, and every wisp of Spiritual Qi you exhaled carried a subtle repulsion. The Principle of heaven and earth would detour around you whenever they saw you."
You want to unleash your Divine Ability, but you find that the Daoist principles you used to master so easily have become stiff and stagnant, as if the whole world is against you.
That wasn't anger, nor hatred, but rather—a silent, pervasive sense of disgust.
"Later, he spent eight hundred years sitting alone in the most desolate void, gradually dispelling the [Aversion Qi] from his body."
Desolate Halberd True Lord raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as lightning.
"For eight hundred years, we have made no progress, and every day we are accompanied by loneliness and rejection."
You should learn from these gains and losses.
Qi Yun stood up upon hearing the sound, his robes brushing against the stone bench, making a soft rustling sound.
He straightened his clothes and bowed deeply to Desolate Halberd True Lord: "This disciple will remember True Lord's teachings."
Desolate Halberd True Lord nodded slightly, raised his hand in a gesture of support, and motioned for him to sit down again.
Qi Yun sat back down on the stone bench, but did not immediately pick up his teacup.
He pondered for a moment, then slightly raised his gaze, landing on the resolute, chiseled face of Desolate Halberd True Lord, and said slowly, "True Lord, when I was traveling in the outer void, I encountered something—"
He paused, as if that memory still carried a certain unspeakable repression.
"This disciple once witnessed the True Lord carrying a coffin."
Upon hearing this, the wind in the peach grove seemed to still for a moment.
"Four True Lord, carrying a giant black coffin, traversed the void."
Inside that coffin lay a strange being—"
Qi Yun's gaze narrowed slightly, and he slowed his speech, "His aura was unfathomable; with just one glance, I felt my mind nearly shatter."
He then forcibly transported the True Lord Wudao, who was traveling with his disciple, and the four Buddhist Bodhisattvas back to the Xuanhuang Home Realm.
He raised his eyes to look at Desolate Halberd True Lord, his gaze searching. "This disciple's cultivation is still shallow. I only feel that the scene is extremely strange, but I do not know its deeper meaning."
Looking back now, the origin of what was in that coffin must have been extraordinary.
Upon hearing this, Desolate Halberd True Lord showed no surprise; instead, he let out a cold snort.
That cold snort was like the clang of metal on metal, causing the fallen petals in the peach grove to shatter into tiny specks of light, before returning to nothingness.
"Hmph! Those old fogies know we don't want them to return to Xuanhuang, so they're plotting to suffocate us all within Xuanhuang."
His tone was undisguisedly cold, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and a Savage Wilderness and domineering aura emanated from him.
In an instant, the entire peach orchard seemed to be shrouded in an invisible pressure.
The peach blossoms trembled slightly, and the falling petals dared not touch the ground, remaining suspended in mid-air like a still painting.
Qi Yun's eyes flickered slightly; he discerned the deeper meaning hidden in Desolate Halberd True Lord's words.
It cannot be simply summarized by the word "drive away".
"What does 'True Lord' mean?" He spoke very softly, as if afraid of disturbing something that shouldn't be disturbed.
"Those [above the True Lord]?"
Desolate Halberd True Lord nodded slowly, his movements as steady and unwavering as a mountain.
"Besides them, who else has the ability to deal with those immortal and bizarre beings?"
As he spoke, the movement of his fingertips caressing the teacup stopped. His rough fingertips pressed against the rim of the cup with just the right amount of pressure, causing a thin layer of frost to condense on the surface of the tea. This frost was then melted away by the rising steam, repeating itself in a silent cycle, like some kind of game.
Qi Yun fell silent.
Only the soft sound of falling petals touching the ground and the faint sound of a stream in the distance remained in the peach grove.
After a moment, he still couldn't suppress the question in his mind.
The question, like a bone-deep ailment, had taken deep root in his heart ever since he witnessed the True Lord carrying the coffin. As his cultivation deepened, it not only failed to dissipate but became clearer and heavier.
He raised his eyes, meeting the deep, unfathomable eyes of Desolate Halberd True Lord, and tentatively asked, "So—who exactly are those [above True Lord]?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the wind in the peach grove stopped completely.
Desolate Halberd True Lord did not answer immediately.
He slowly stroked the rough teacup in his hand; the cup was covered with fine cracks, as if it had been broken and pieced back together countless times.
His gaze fell on the cracks, yet it seemed to penetrate them, looking towards a more distant and profound place.
a long time.
Qi Yun thought he wouldn't answer anymore.
Desolate Halberd True Lord slowly raise his eyes.
The imagery of stars rising and falling in those eyes vanished, as did the scene of the void shattering and reforming. Only an extreme, almost icy, tranquility remained.
He spoke, his voice deep and resonant like the tolling of an ancient bell, echoing through the peach grove, causing every petal to tremble gently: "They—"
"He's the one who wants to completely destroy Xuanhuang."
The words had barely left his mouth.
The peach grove suddenly turned cold.
Qi Yun's pupils suddenly contracted, and a chill ran down his spine.
"Destroyed Xuanhuang? Does the True Lord mean—"
Qi Yun had only uttered half a sentence when the scene before him suddenly changed.
The previously composed and solemn posture of Desolate Halberd True Lord suddenly tensed up.
In those eyes, the divine light that was originally as calm as an abyss instantly transformed into a vast sea of stars, with billions of stars exploding and then regrouping, bursting forth with a breathtakingly brilliant divine light.
He suddenly stood up, the movement so forceful that the stone table in front of him creaked, and two cups of tea spilled over. The tea flowed but condensed, turning into two plumes of rising steam in mid-air.
"Oh"
He tilted his head back, a chilling smile spreading across his lips—a smile that carried three parts mockery, three parts resolute determination, and three parts deep domineering intensity.
"They really want to wipe them out completely."
Before he could finish speaking...
The entire Lingyong Great Realm shook violently.
The shaking was not an ordinary earthquake, but a violent tremor from the depths of the origin of heaven and earth—as if an invisible giant hand was gripping the foundation of this realm and shaking it forcefully.
The ground beneath Qi Yun's feet undulated like waves, with countless cracks spreading outwards from him.
The ancient peach trees in the peach grove broke off all at once, their trunks bursting open and petals flying like blood.
He suddenly looked up.
Above the sky, the void, which had been gradually returning to clarity after the dissipation of Heaven's Will, suddenly burst open with a huge gap.
The edges of the gap were jagged, as if it had been torn apart by some extremely tyrannical force, and dark red void turbulence poured down from it.
Wherever it passed, clouds evaporated, Spiritual Qi dissipated, and Principle solidified.
Deep within the gap lies an endless void as black as ink, and countless indescribable, eerie beings that send shivers down one's spine at a single glance.
Thump!
A thunderous footstep that shook the heavens resounded as it landed!
Four figures stepped out from the gap.
It shattered the void and descended with a thunderous roar.
An ancient coffin.
Four people carried it together.
The ancient coffin was as black as ink, incredibly large, and stretched across the shoulders of the four people, as if bearing the weight of a shattered world.
At each of the four corners of the coffin hung a thick chain, wrapped around the arms of the four people. The chains were jet black, each link the size of a mountain, with an eerie luster on their surface, and made a dull metallic clanging sound as the four people moved.
The sound wasn't loud, yet it pierced through the void and echoed endlessly!
It was the extraordinary phenomenon of the True Lord carrying the coffin that led them to traverse the boundless void and catch up with Lingyong.
And the target is clearly the Desolate Halberd Heaven-Rending True Lord!
The four people hovered at the opening in the sky, looking down at the entire Lingyong Great Realm.
Their faces were blurred, as if shrouded in an invisible mist, with only a pair of extremely cold eyes vaguely visible behind the mist.
On the coffin, the vein-like patterns suddenly lit up, and thick, dark green mist once again overflowed from the coffin.
The lead pallbearer bowed slightly.
His movements were incredibly stiff, and his neck made a clicking sound when he turned, as if a rusty mechanism was being forcibly twisted.
Those cold eyes behind the mist fell on the Desolate Halberd True Lord in the peach grove.
"Desolate Halberd."
His voice came from the sky, pure and untouched, yet it shook the entire Lingyong Great Realm, causing mountains and rivers to tremble and countless creatures to prostrate themselves on the ground, shivering in fear.
"I am ordered to escort you back to Xuanhuang."
As soon as he finished speaking, the four of them started walking in unison.
They shattered the void and pressed towards Desolate Halberd True Lord.
With each step, a section of the sky in the Lingyong Great Realm collapsed, and countless fragments of Principle fell like snowflakes, turning into nothingness in mid-air.
The ancient coffin on their shoulders emitted a low, humming sound, like a sigh from the Nine Nethers abyss.
Desolate Halberd True Lord stood in the peach grove, looking up at the four figures that were closing in step by step, without the slightest fear on his face.
He took a deep breath, and his aura suddenly surged. The coarse cloth robe he always wore fluttered and rustled even without wind.
His bare upper body suddenly taut the muscles that resembled ancient dragons and pythons. It was as if countless small dragons were swimming and roaring within each muscle, and a faint light could be seen flowing beneath his skin, which was the boiling Law Power accumulated over countless years.
He didn't turn around, but said in a deep voice, "Kid, stand back."
Upon hearing this, Qi Yun retreated without the slightest hesitation.
He knew that the ensuing confrontation was far beyond the reach of someone like himself at the Great True Person Realm.