Chapter 481 - 424: Celestial Court!

The West Sea.

This vast ocean, situated in the extreme west of the Profound Yellow Origin Realm, had been a dead zone utterly devoid of life since ancient times.

The seawater was so dense it seemed to have congealed from eons of loneliness. The surface was completely devoid of waves, smooth as a mirror. It reflected the perpetually gray, overcast sky, yet failed to reflect even a sliver of vitality. There were no traces of birds daring to fly over, nor ripples from leaping fish. Not even the smallest plankton could survive in this maritime region steeped in an eerie "dead silence."

Beneath the surface lay bottomless darkness. Rumor had it that the depths connected to the Returning Ruins—the endpoint of all creation and the place where all life was thoroughly annihilated. For millions of years, the occasionally passing Cultivators would merely catch a glimpse of this dead sea from the distant horizon before feeling a bone-deep chill. They would hurriedly detour, never daring to advance half a step into its territory.

However, today, an unprecedented anomaly appeared above this maritime region that had been dead silent for endless epochs. The celestial vault was no longer bleak and gray. Instead, it was thoroughly shrouded by a boundless expanse of gloomy, heavy storm clouds that seemed dense enough to crush the ancient heavens!

The clouds were as thick as congealed ink, yet their churning revealed a cold, metallic luster. Every flowing wisp of cloud seemed to bear a weight capable of crushing stars. Lightning wove through the dark clouds. The roar of thunder shook the nine heavens, echoing across a hundred thousand miles of the sea! The sound was so loud, intense, and terrifying that any Cultivator below Foundation Establishment would have their heart and spirit shattered and their Dao Foundation collapsed just from hearing it!

And deep within this apocalyptic scene of destruction—an endless, boundless expanse of palaces loomed faintly amidst the gloomy, heavy storm clouds.

The palaces were indescribably massive! Even the outermost gate stood tens of thousands of feet tall, forged entirely from a wondrous material that was neither gold nor jade, yet shimmered with a gentle luster. Above the lintel, countless exceedingly intricate ancient seals were faintly visible. Every stroke radiated a terrifying Dao Rhyme enough to make a Great Master’s Dao Heart tremble!

Beyond the gate lay densely packed halls and pavilions arranged in overlapping layers. Each hall resembled a suspended Divine Mountain! Each pavilion seemed capable of bearing an entire world! Their auras interconnected, forming a supreme Grand Array that blanketed the entire celestial vault! As the array circulated, phantoms of the sun, moon, and stars rose and fell within it. Silhouettes of mountains and rivers condensed and shattered, while countless indescribable Dao Patterns intertwined and coiled together.

That was the Celestial Court! The supreme Divine Court jointly forged over endless ages by countless True Monarchs, pooling together the apex power of the entire Profound Yellow Origin Realm! It was the True Monarchs’ attempt to transcend this realm and seek the ultimate Great Dao!

Above the West Sea, a storm raged. The chaotic lightning pouring down from the dark clouds tore the void within a ten-thousand-mile radius to shreds, only for it to be instantly smoothed over by some invisible force within the clouds. Destruction and rebirth wildly cycled above this sea, oscillating in increments of a billionth of a split second. Astral winds howled, sweeping across heaven and earth with a terrifying might capable of shredding a Great Master’s Protective Divine Light.

Yet, right in the core of this dreaded forbidden zone that would make any living creature quail, scarcely a thousand miles away from the suspended Celestial Court, silhouettes stood upon the storm-ravaged clouds. There were eight figures in total. Four in the front, and four in the back.

No illustrious Protective Divine Light surrounded them. It was as if the astral winds and lightning that could tear the void asunder were nothing more than a Clear Wind brushing their faces, completely negligible. Yet, as they stood there quietly, they seemed to become the epicenter of this apocalyptic world.

The four figures in front were arrayed in four directions. From the Sword Pavilion, Qingyuan Dao Seeking True Monarch! From the Buddhist Cultivators, Dragon Elephant Wisdom Bodhisattva! From the Dragon Race, the East Sea Dragon Monarch! From the Wuji Holy Sect, the True Monarch of No Dao Extreme Law! Orthodox, Demonic, Buddhist, and Dragon. The four pinnacle factions of the Profound Yellow Origin Realm each had a True Monarch present!

A short distance behind them, four figures stood in silence. The Dragon Slayer Sword Master of the Sword Pavilion wore white robes as pure as snow and carried an Ancient Sword on his back; his eyes were downcast, and the Sword Intent around him was condensed but unreleased. Qi Yun of the Wuji Holy Sect wore a deep blue Daoist Robe that remained utterly unmoving in the astral winds. His cyan-gold eyes calmly gazed at the faintly discernible Celestial Court within the dark clouds, while countless thoughts raced at lightning speed deep within his gaze. The Buddhist Cultivator, Baoguang Amitabha Arhat, was wreathed in cyan flames, exuding an inherent ferocity. The Crown Prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace had a dragon’s head and a human’s body, encircled by a secluded blue chill. An indescribably complex light flickered in his narrow, elongated dragon eyes.

Four Great Masters and four True Monarchs. This was the complete lineup gathered here today. The news of the Celestial Court’s emergence had been strictly sealed among the highest echelons of the four major factions, with not a single detail leaked.

The silence lingered for a long time. So long that even the raging astral winds seemed to weaken a bit. Finally, the azure-robed figure in the eastern void slowly spoke. Qingyuan Dao Seeking True Monarch’s voice was not loud, but it clearly pierced through the storm’s clamor, falling into everyone’s ears:

"The main body of the Celestial Court fell mysteriously in the past."

He paused slightly, countless images seeming to flash in the depths of his clear eyes. "Only a few ruined walls were left behind, scattered throughout the void. We searched for endless epochs and deduced countless karma, yet we were never able to pry into the secret of its fall."

He looked up at the dimly visible Celestial Court amidst the dark clouds. His gaze, seeming capable of severing all things, appeared to pierce through the heavy layers of fog to peer directly at its origin. "Looking at it now... The Celestial Court must have found some sort of clue back then. That’s why the old fogeys struck early..."

He paused, delivering his final words one by one, like the slashing edge of a blade. "...and silenced them."

As his voice faded, a dead silence fell over the void. The raging storm, the weaving lightning, and the churning storm clouds all seemed stunned by the sheer weight of his words, faltering for a brief moment.

Dragon Elephant Wisdom Bodhisattva pressed his palms together and chanted a long Buddhist invocation. "Amitabha."

The chant was not loud, but it carried a profound sigh of a soul that had weathered countless tribulations. "Now the Master of the Ancient Coffin has appeared, driving us like cattle and sheep..." He raised his eyes slightly, a very faint yet heart-palpitating chill flashing in the depths of his compassionate gaze. "What intentions Above the True Monarch truly harbors toward us and toward the Profound Yellow Origin Realm is already glaringly obvious."

The East Sea Dragon Monarch slowly spoke, his voice like a deep-sea chill—steady, yet imbued with a bone-piercing coldness. "I originally thought the matter of the Ancestral Dragon was an internal secret of the Dragon Race. But thinking about it now..."

He didn’t finish, but everyone understood his meaning. Those who were high and mighty, those who only existed in legends as Above the True Monarch, had harbored malicious intent from the very beginning. They had laid out a game spanning eternal epochs, secretly pushing it forward. And the True Monarchs of the Profound Yellow Origin Realm were nothing more than chess pieces on their board.

The True Monarch of No Dao Extreme Law hadn’t spoken at all. He simply stood quietly in the void, his eyes—which seemed to freeze all creation—resting upon the vaguely visible Celestial Court in the dark clouds. After a long while, he slowly raised his right hand. His five fingers slightly spread apart. There were no words. But his action had already explained everything.

Qingyuan Dao Seeking True Monarch nodded slightly. He too raised his right hand. His blade remained sheathed, but a terrifying Sword Intent capable of severing karma and shattering the Ten Thousand Laws began to coalesce at his fingertips.

Dragon Elephant Wisdom Bodhisattva’s posture with his palms pressed together remained unchanged. However, the phantom of the Ancient Dragon Elephant behind him suddenly became thirty percent more corporeal. Its trunk curled, and its feet trampled and shattered the void as it released a low, rumbling roar that seemed to hail from antiquity.

The East Sea Dragon Monarch made no extraneous movements. He merely raised his eyes. Deep within his gaze, two clusters of secluded blue light suddenly ignited. Within that light, boundless oceans surged, tides rose and fell, all waters converged into one, and the four seas submitted in reverence.

The four True Monarchs struck simultaneously!

BUZZ!!!

An indescribable tremor explosively erupted from where the four True Monarchs stood! That tremor was neither sound nor coercion; it was a far more fundamental and vast existence! It was the manifestation of the Dao Fruit! The collision of Great Daos!

From Qingyuan Dao Seeking True Monarch’s fingertips, a sword light—refined, pure, and sharp to the absolute extreme—suddenly burst forth! The sword light was as thin as a strand of hair, yet it seemed to bear the quintessence of the Sword Dao from ancient times to the present! The moment it appeared, it sliced a smooth-as-glass, bottomless rift through the void wherever it passed! The edges of the rift could not mend for a long time, as if space itself had been stripped of the authority to "heal" by this single strike!

Behind Dragon Elephant Wisdom Bodhisattva, the phantom of the Ancient Dragon Elephant roared at the heavens! Its trunk curled, whipping up a seven-colored Buddha Light capable of shattering stars! Within the Buddha Light, countless Sanskrit characters flickered in and out of existence, and endless phantoms of Buddhas sat cross-legged in recitation, projecting a terrifying will that suppressed all creation and enlightened all beings! Following closely behind the sword light, the Buddha Light hurtled toward the dark clouds!

In the East Sea Dragon Monarch’s eyes, the two clusters of secluded blue light suddenly blazed! He raised his right hand and pressed his five fingers forward in the air! With this pressing motion—the perpetually dead, silent surface of the West Sea instantly boiled over! Billions of tons of seawater surged into the sky, morphing into a sprawling, secluded blue water dragon that stretched across heaven and earth! Roaring at the sky, it carried the will of the entire ocean as it ferociously rammed into the storm clouds above!

Finally—the True Monarch of No Dao Extreme Law moved. He merely raised his right hand and gave a light wave forward. There was no sword light, no Buddha Light, and no water dragon. There was only a colorless, formless, shapeless, and immaterial—yet very real—intent of Gui Wu. Wherever that intent of Gui Wu passed, all existence vanished, leaving behind only absolute and thorough "nothingness." It was not as sharp as the sword light, not as domineering as the Buddha Light, and not as vast as the water dragon. Yet, as it swept past, the chaotic dark clouds that had left even the Great Masters entirely helpless melted and dissolved soundlessly, much like snow under a blazing sun!

Four streams of power! Sword light, Buddha Light, water dragon, and Gui Wu! Four entirely different manifestations of the Great Dao, yet all equally reaching the pinnacle of this realm! From four different directions, they blasted toward the boundless storm clouds shrouding the Celestial Court!

RUMBLE!!!

An indescribably terrifying explosion erupted at this moment! Countless Cultivators in secluded meditation had their minds shaken to the core, their eyes snapping open! Countless old monsters hidden deep in the mountains looked up in horror, gazing westward! Countless slumbering vicious beasts cowered in terror, trembling uncontrollably!

Following the tremendous boom came boundless light. At the epicenter of the collision, four lights of varying colors intertwined into a blinding, apocalyptic sea of radiance that seemed capable of melting anything! Within this ocean of light, the chaotic dark clouds that had cloaked the Celestial Court for eons were slowly, bit by bit, being—torn! Stripped! Dissolved!

Vast swathes of dark clouds were peeled away from the periphery of the towering Celestial Court like flaking plaster, instantly reduced to nothingness under the bombardment of the four powers! With the stripping of the clouds, the Celestial Court that had slumbered for eternity finally began to reappear in the mortal world, bit by bit!

The first to materialize was the outer gate. The colossal gate, towering tens of thousands of feet high, was no longer just a faintly visible silhouette, but was genuinely and clearly presented before everyone’s eyes! Above the lintel lay two large ancient seal characters, appearing as though they had been carved by the Great Dao itself! [South Heaven]!

The moment these two words emerged, an indescribable pressure—one that seemed to stem from Primordial Chaos—swept outward like a tidal wave. Beyond the gate, the densely packed, overlapping halls and pavilions began to slowly emerge from the darkness. The first layer of halls, the second layer of halls, the third layer of halls... One, ten, a hundred, a thousand... Like giants asleep for eternal eons, they were being gently awakened by the four streams of power. The dark clouds engulfing the Celestial Court steadily dwindled, and the true face of the Celestial Court grew increasingly clear.

Watching this scene, the light in the depths of Qi Yun’s cyan-gold eyes flickered erratically. The Celestial Court... had reappeared! Just then, the Gods Sealing List within his Purple Mansion’s Daluo Heaven gave a slight quiver. As if it had sensed something.