Chapter 801: A God Domain Arrives
The Grand Emperor’s voice shook everything like claps of thunder. Hearts and souls trembled as if vibrating in unison with the voice. That voice surpassed all dharmic decrees. It surpassed all divine abilities. And it surpassed all other wills.
The voice of the Grand Emperor represented the legacy of humanity, the culture and civilization of the human species, and the will of humankind. It was domineering and shocking.
The imperial capital trembled as wild winds swept back and forth. Buildings rocked, and the hearts of the people were filled with alarm. It reached the Imperial University, as the stentorian voice pierced through space. All students felt reverence well up within them, and without even thinking about it, turned and bowed in the direction of the Grand Emperor’s statue.
They offered greetings to the only Grand Emperor who remained in Revered Ancient after Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity left. They offered greetings to the one who had protected humankind down to this moment. It didn’t matter that he had died in battle and left behind only a clone. He was still Grand Emperor Swordsage, and he still fought to keep humans safe!
At the moment, everyone inside and outside the Imperial University, as long as they were human, instinctively bowed their heads. Even the emperor and his heavenly king subordinates had respectful looks on their faces as they bowed.
Xu Qing did the same. However, there were additional words echoing in his mind.
“Lend me your sword, young friend.”
The moment the words entered his mind, he began to shine with golden light, which spread out rapidly to become a wide sea. The Emperor’s Sword within him stirred, almost as if it was seeking his approval.
That sword had once belonged to Grand Emperor Swordsage, but now... it belonged to Xu Qing. Xu Qing was the sword wielder in this generation.
Grand Emperor Swordsage could have forcibly summoned it, but in his wisdom, he wouldn’t do something so violating. He wouldn’t allow the person he had personally selected to wield that sword to suddenly bear ill will toward him. Thus, he asked politely.
Xu Qing gave his consent, and thus, The Emperor’s Sword shot forth.
Driven by the will of the Grand Emperor, it hung high in the sky. The tip of the sword pointed at the god domain. Its might spread out, causing rifts to spread out in the air above the Imperial University and the capital. Sword energy abounded, filling the Imperial Region. At the same time, the swords of all swordsages vibrated, flew up into the sky, and pointed toward the Imperial Region.
In terms of how many there were, it was difficult to estimate. Perhaps the best word was: countless. Killing intent filled the hundred rings of the region, from inside to out, rising up everywhere and locking onto the Imperial University.
The sound of rushing wind echoed out from Planet Ancient Emperor. The sages of humankind manifested, and the planet’s cloud cover seethed. The destiny aura of humankind converged, creating a massive face. It was the ancient, dignified face of Grand Emperor Swordsage.
Up in the air above the Imperial University, Bai Xiaozhuo shivered.
The projected image of the god domain that filled the sky suddenly lurched to a halt and ceased expanding. A sense of profound crisis filled everyone.
The bizarre entities in the god domain looked up, filled with both danger as well as a sense of rising cruelty.
The huge black sphere also stopped moving. Then, a gargantuan, vertical eye appeared on it, pulsing with coldness as it peered toward the imperial capital and Grand Emperor Swordsage.
The atmosphere was extremely tense. Fighting could break out at any moment. Countless people instinctively held their breath as a cold voice echoed out from Grand Emperor Swordsage.
“Screw off!”
The expressionless face of Grand Emperor Swordsage spoke in a voice that struck the god domain like a tempest. Everything shook dramatically.
The black sphere in the god domain shivered a few times, and the eye continued to stare deeply at the Grand Emperor. Then the eye slowly started to close. That affected the god domain itself, causing it to also shrink down until it was nothing more than a rift in the air above the Imperial University.
īt was choosing to back away.
That, in turn, affected Bai Xiaozhuo below. He looked in the direction of Grand Emperor Swordsage, clasped hands, and bowed. Then he turned into a streak of light that shot into the rift above. He... was planning to make his escape! That was his real purpose for summoning the god domain. It was to provide a way out for himself.
Grand Emperor Swordsage didn’t say anything. The Emperor’s Sword hanging in the air didn’t stop Bai Xiaozhuo.
Just as Bai Xiaozhuo was about to make it into the rift, Xu Qing frowned. However, there was someone else who didn’t want Bai Xiaozhuo escaping, and he spoke in a very deep voice.
“You haven’t revealed everything yet. There’s no need to leave.”
The person who spoke was the emperor. The moment the words left his mouth, he extended his hand toward the sky above the university and closed it into a fist.
That grasping motion caused imperial will to explode. Fluctuations that surpassed Smoldering God spread out everywhere, suppressing everything. The sky above the university went as dark as night as a huge hand appeared. Even the finger and palm prints were visible as it hung over everything like a dark cloud. It covered the rift formed by the god domain, and thus blocked Bai Xiaozhuo’s path. It seemed like, if that hand fell, it could crush the Imperial University out of existence.
The thirteen heavenly kings all bowed their heads. Everyone felt shaken deeply. The energy of the emperor was not the same as that of Grand Emperor Swordsage. But it surpassed everything else. This was... the power of an Imperial Sovereign!
In the presence of this hand, all heavenly daos were his heavenly daos. All natural laws were his natural laws. All transformations and all power could be manipulated with a thought.
If the emperor wanted to, he could cause all cultivators beneath that hand to instantly become mortals. Destiny aura surged with great power in the hand, as scintillating light shone out, causing pressure to weigh down on the capital.
Bai Xiaozhuo stopped in place and hovered silently. Looking up at the emperor’s hand blocking his path to the god domain, he sighed.
“Ah, whatever.”
With that, he reached out and made a grasping gesture. Instantly, streaks of black light emerged. They swept around his right hand, forming together... into the shape of a beating heart.
Each beat of the heart was like heavenly thunder, sending mutagen and godsource out everywhere. Black blood oozed out of the heart, and shockingly, its aura was perfectly consistent with the god domain. Clearly, that heart came from the god domain.
Bai Xiaozhuo looked briefly at the heart, then pushed it into his chest. The spot there which had previously been missing a heart was now filled in. He shivered from head to toe, and his eyes became so bloodshot they turned bright red. His aura skyrocketed. His battle prowess rose to shocking levels.
Previously, he had been in the great circle of Void Returning, but not anymore. Boundless, immeasurable godsource filled him with every beat of that heart. Where it passed, the patchy nature of his body vanished, and it became whole. His entire appearance was transforming.
He was pitch black, just like the huge sphere, and also covered with countless writhing tentacles that clumped together to form limbs. Sickle-like appendages grew from his back, each one sharp enough to rip open space itself. His head no longer had a neck, but instead, floated out in front of his chest. Where his head had once been was nothing but an enormous eye, its pupil made, shockingly, of flickering sparks. They were not the sparks of an ordinary fire, as they imparted a sense of both holiness and terror. Behind him stretched a long body like that of a centipede. Altogether, he didn’t look human at all.
In fact, to anyone who hadn’t seen the broken face’s true body, Bai Xiaozhuo would seem very unfamiliar now. But to Xu Qing, this form was meaningful in a different way. It looked very similar to the broken face’s true visage!
It was profoundly distorted, but the fire in the eyes seemed incomparably harmonious. It was as if... to heaven and earth in Revered Ancient, this form was perfect, true, and normal. The will of heaven and earth felt that way. But that wasn’t true of the heavenly daos. As a result, there was a chaotic and gruish juxtaposition.
A heavy price had to be paid to gain battle prowess like this that surpassed Void Returning, and became very close to the terrifying level of a Smoldering God. To immortal cultivators, the identifying mark of a Smoldering God was a major world. But to god cultivators, the signifying aspect of Smoldering Gods were the sparks of godfire. By completely igniting that fire, one could become a god. For example, Li Zihua’s fourth son, the godchild of the Red Moon Cathedral, had been about to climb from the level of sparks. By using a special ceremony, he wanted to light his godfire and become a god.
Sparks glittered as Bai Xiaozhuo in his god state pulsed with the battle prowess of a Smoldering God. To many people, he was blurry, which went to show how he had some of the characteristics of a god. He could not be looked at directly.
The moment Bai Xiaozhuo’s god state was revealed, the god domain that had been blocked by the emperor’s hand suddenly expanded. At the same time, a howl erupted from within it that shook the university and the capital city. As that howled echoed out, the emperor’s hand shivered and was forced backward. The god domain rift was revealed, as well as... the black sphere rushing out from it.
The countless faces on the sphere were singing.
“The energy of the ultimate yang of the two polarities merges into the ancient eyes of the gods, becoming the glittering light of the starry sky over Revered Ancient. Let the projection fall and incarnate into the domain of a god.
“Respected lord of the sun and many heavens of the universe, the holy Torchlight.”
As the gruish song filled the Imperial University, many of the students seemed to go into a daze and join in the singing. If you looked you would find that everyone who was singing was from the God-Merging School.
The students were shocked. As for Grand Emperor Swordsage’s sword, it turned and shot toward the black sphere.
At exactly the same moment, Bai Xiaozhuo in his god state suddenly burst into motion. His goal was not the emperor’s retreating hand. Nor was it to use the god domain to escape. Instead... he headed toward Xu Qing on the white dao altar!
Killing intent swirled in his eyes as he accelerated rapidly. In the time it takes a spark to fly off a piece of flint, he slammed into the Imperial University’s defenses. A huge boom rang out as cracks spread out through the defenses. There was no time to repair the shields. They shattered, becoming a host of fragments that rained down, most of them heading toward Xu Qing.
But Bai Xiaozhuo moved faster than the fragments, arriving in front of Xu Qing an instant later. Without a word, he sent countless tentacles sweeping toward Xu Qing with deadly force.