Chapter 226: Send-Off

Earth-shattering roars and screams exploded across the dome of the sky in a form imperceptible to Mortals, sounding to them like nothing more than a clap of thunder.

Following that came the ring of a blade.

Stripped of national destiny's protection, Dashun Taizu's aura lost all concealment. His essence as a Corpse Dissolution Immortal spilled out, instantly drawing a lock.

The Heaven's Will Profound Blade!

Almost simultaneously, in the Cosmic Deep Space outside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, a blurry figure abruptly surfaced on the Floating Furnace Immortal Blade that Mingyou had previously suppressed.

A voice transmitted faintly through the quivering hum of the blade:

"I act on an Immortal Decree to eradicate the thief who trespassed into the Eight Trigrams Furnace."

"Do you intend to keep stopping me?"

Mingyou fell silent.

He could naturally continue to block it, but doing so would mean taking the brunt of the strike for Dashun Taizu. This immortal blade was not easy to deal with.

Moreover, his schemes had fully succeeded up to this point, leaving Dashun Taizu entirely devoid of value. Rather than forcefully protecting the man here, it was better to simply let Dashun Taizu take the hit. From the perspective of damaging the wood qi, it would not be harmful; in fact, it would be highly beneficial.

Mingyou therefore did not hesitate for a second. He decisively let go.

Dashun Taizu naturally witnessed this entire scene, causing his world-shaking thunder to grow even more frantic and shrill.

But soon, the blade's hum drowned out the thunder.

"Shing—!"

Freed from Mingyou's suppression, the Heaven's Will Profound Blade erupted. A blazing blade light sliced open the Cosmos, like the very first ray of light before the creation of the world.

At first it was only a single thread, but as it plunged from the Cosmos into the Eight Trigrams Furnace, that thread of blade light diffused into an overwhelming sea of blade qi. The unmatched blade light swept across all phenomena. Before it, the sun, moon, and stars had to fall silent and lose their luster, not daring to compete.

"Wait, wait! I can explain!"

Dashun Taizu yelled while elevating his profound arts to their limits. Ringing with thunderous sound, he directly threw the Old Emperor back to the Capital while attempting to flee beyond the heavens himself.

He understood this blade all too well.

The Heaven's Will Profound Blade. The Heavenly Blade was the Heavenly Dao; it upheld Heaven's will and symbolized the Heavenly Dao. Such a boastful name alone revealed its supreme might.

It had to be known that Spiritual Treasures also had differences in grade.

Just as there were disparities between Corpse Dissolution Immortals and Qi Refining practitioners, this immortal blade was suspended above the Eight Trigrams Furnace precisely because its killing power ranked first in the Immortal Gate.

Among Spiritual Treasures, nothing could surpass this blade.

The only things whose might stood above it were the true artifacts in the hands of True Persons and True Monarchs, but such items almost never revealed themselves in this world.

"Sever!"

A chilling shout rang out faintly from the hum of the blade. The sea of blade qi converged once more, instantly catching up to the fleeing Dashun Taizu.

Dashun Taizu did not have the slightest strength to resist. Blade marks had already appeared on him, and his physical shell began to shatter outward from those cuts.

Before this, his body had been a white skeleton housing a lightning-glowing heart in its chest cavity, with his true self hidden inside the heart. Yet at this moment, his skeletal body was shattered completely by the blade's hum, and his lightning heart was cleaved open by the blade light. Scalding layers of lightning fire flowed out from within.

"No! No! No!"

Inside the heart, Dashun Taizu's true self was nearly driven mad with rage. These flowing streams of lightning fire were his very foundation, yet now they had all been severed away!

He desperately reached out his hands, wanting to salvage the lightning fire.

But a second later, the blade marks deepened further, manifesting on his true self. With a deafening blast, hundreds of millions of streaks of blade qi erupted from his body!

"Boom!"

First his skin and flesh drifted away like dust, then his bones shattered like colored glass. The miniature figure hiding inside the lightning fire heart was sliced into hundreds of millions of fine specks of light by the blade. Every speck reflected Dashun Taizu's distorted face before they finally surged backward into the deep space beyond the heavens.

Seeing this, the blade light prepared to continue its pursuit.

However, this time Mingyou stepped forward, casually intercepting it. "He has already left the Eight Trigrams Furnace. To continue hunting him down would be against the rules."

"You should know that he cannot die."

Among the numerous Corpse Dissolution Immortals, Dashun Taizu was unique. He carried a massive karmic deed, forbidding him from being killed by external forces.

This was a decree passed down from the Immortal Prescription Courtyard. It had been personally penned by a True Monarch and hung high within Dashun Taizu's Gongshun Grotto-Heaven, effectively acting as a death-exemption medallion. Therefore, within the Immortal Gate, Dashun Taizu received courteous treatment from almost all Qi Refining practitioners, and his status subtly sat a notch higher than that of other Corpse Dissolution Immortals.

For that reason, he was also the most audacious.

As a distinguished Corpse Dissolution Immortal, he actually dared to trespass into the Eight Trigrams Furnace and defy the Immortal Decree. A punishment was entirely justified. As long as he did not die, no one could say a word in complaint.

But if he died, that would be another matter entirely.

"..."

Upon hearing this, the Heaven's Will Profound Blade seemed somewhat unwilling, but it ultimately settled down. Its previously blazing blade light gradually returned to a state of calm.

Immediately following that, Mingyou looked toward the Eight Trigrams Furnace once more.

'Shunhe is a Corpse Dissolution Immortal aligned with wood qi. His heavy injuries have further fueled the imagery of damaged wood qi... Hmm, I suppose there are both pros and cons.'

The pro was naturally that his plan had not only achieved great success, but its effects had far exceeded expectations.

As for the cons, it was probably still too early to tell.

............

At this moment, inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, following Dashun Taizu's severe injury and escape, the entire spiritual qi environment of heaven and earth ushered in an earth-shattering transformation.

Almost at the same time, Kunyun was defeated as well.

With his defeat and death, the Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Azure Thunder Qi naturally suffered a massive blow to its imagery, causing the Xun Trigram—formed by the combination of three streams of heaven and earth qi—to collapse.

The Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Azure Thunder Qi was Yang Wood.

The Xun Trigram was the Yin Wood in the heavens.

Both the Yin and Yang Wood were damaged. Yet Wang Ping—the one who had caused all of this—possessed a Divine Power rooted in human Wu Earth, the greatest driving force behind the ancient Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens!

Thus, a certain karmic deed engraved in the deepest depths of the Cosmos was triggered.

[In the past, there was the Great Rebellion, the Ancient Qi of Eliminating the Six Heavens!]

"Rumble!"

The wood qi was severely damaged!

On the other side, under the burning firelight, Kunyun's soul and divine sense turned to nothingness inch by inch. All his thoughts were dragged into the abyss of death.

"..."

Right before his death, he took one last look at Wang Ping. His divine sense vibrated as he spat out a final sentence: "If I succeed, this grace of leading me into the Dao will definitely be repaid!"

Having said that, his soul scattered.

In reality, Kunyun dissipated into heaven and earth. His magical power, Divine Powers, and destiny form vanished without a single trace. He perished, and his Dao was erased!

Yet on the other side, within the torrent of destiny, Kunyun widened his eyes. Even as he plunged into the abyss of death, he leaped upward, reaching his hand toward the origin with all his remaining strength. Because the wood qi had suffered severe damage, its imagery had plummeted further, bringing the origin even closer to him!

This was a miraculous encounter that practically defied the heavens.

Before this, he could not even see the source symbolizing Qi Refining. However, due to his enlightenment regarding wood qi extending lifespan, this source actively walked toward him.

Thus, he was able to see it.

But even then, a distance of more than ten paces still existed. He could see it, but could not reach it... Yet now, the source had stepped right in front of him!

If Kunyun had given up at the final moment and peacefully accepted the destiny of death, he would currently be at the bottom of the cliff, still unable to touch the source.

But he had not. Even when there was no hope, even when he had already died, he still made a final effort. Leaping from the torrent of destiny, he stretched out his arm to make contact... It was exactly this decision to refuse to give up in the face of death that allowed him to seize this final opportunity.

The light flashed and vanished.

In reality, Mingyou stared intently at the spot where Kunyun had perished. He watched the heavily damaged wood qi churn up and down in that area, drawing forth a tempest of wind and thunder.

On the other side, Wang Ping also withdrew his hand.

With Kunyun's death and the shattering of the Xun Trigram, the fire qi on his body lost the aid of the wind. Without wood to serve as kindling, it quickly extinguished.

The previously monstrous might vanished into nothingness. Just like Kunlun's destiny form, the Solar Radiance Crow, it pulled away from his body and faded into invisibility. As for Wang Ping, who remained in place, his Ten Thousand Gods Terrestrial Chart had reached complete perfection. He could trigger the third heavenly tribulation at any time, achieving the Tribulation Transcending Second Layer Perfection.

The gains he had made were nothing short of immense.

In just a few months, he had jumped from Tribulation Transcending First Layer Perfection to near Tribulation Transcending Second Layer Perfection. How many cultivators could never obtain such a serendipitous encounter even if they begged for it?

It saved him hundreds of years of bitter cultivation at the very least!

However, Wang Ping paid no mind to the changes in his Divine Powers at this moment. Instead, just like Mingyou, he stared dead at the place where Kunyun had perished, seeming to anticipate something.

The sounds of wind and thunder echoed in his ears.

The heavily damaged wood qi continuously plummeted, seemingly making its final struggle, yet it was still to no avail. It explosively ruptured, rolling and scattering into heaven, earth, and the Cosmos.

Had he still failed?

Wang Ping was somewhat uncertain, and even Mingyou beyond the heavens hesitated a little. But soon, he had no mind to pay attention to such a trivial matter.

Because the "reward" had arrived.

The ruptured wood qi acted like a bomb dropped on a higher dimension, blasting a crack into something that had been locked away for countless years.

Lifespan!

The Qi Refining lifespan that had been heavily damaged due to the Great Rebellion incident back then, taken away by a certain Supreme True Lord!

And at this moment, under Mingyou's meticulous arrangements, the past karmic deed of the Great Rebellion striking down the wood qi was activated, naturally triggering the old wounds of the wood qi once again!

Therefore, that Supreme True Lord was no longer fully able to keep the Qi Refining lifespan locked away!

Such a change rapidly rippled across the entire Immortal Gate.

Across the heaven and earth's Twenty-Four Qi, countless figures raised their eyes to look. Whether in shock, astonishment, or admiration, their gazes all fell upon Mingyou.

In the depths of the Cosmos, Tianxing had long since stopped his clash with the Brahma Nation's Ascetic Monk. He turned to look at Mingyou and shook his head. "His courage is truly too great."

Ordinary Qi Refining practitioners only marveled at Mingyou's methods. However, only a Qi Refining practitioner like him, who came from the Divine Weapon Courtyard and possessed a vague understanding of the ancient events, could comprehend just how much courage Mingyou needed to do this. The most crucial point was that not only did he dare to do it, but he had also succeeded!

'This is absolutely not a simple success.'

Cultivation in the Immortal Gate meant that cultivation base and Daoist attainments were only one part of a cultivator's strength. Background was even more important. If Tianxing had some uncertainties before...

Then now, he was absolutely certain:

'Behind Mingyou, there must stand another Supreme True Lord, or perhaps a peak True Person!'