Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
On the land, there were rows of majestic mountains. They all stretched on and on for thousands of kilometers and one could not see their end.
Among the mountains, the original land was formerly a majestic complex. Yet, it was all ruins now.
The most captivating scene was a very tall peak. At the bottom of this mountain, there were the carvings of two feet. The feet themselves were already more than 30 meters tall.
However, above the feet, everything else was destroyed.
The two feet originally belonged to a state of the Buddha. The entire mountain was once a carving of the Buddha.
Right now, the statue was destroyed and all that was left was ruins. Just like the temple, which were filled with the smoke of incense and worshippers in its heyday, all that was left of it now was a few walls and the foundation.
This was the former location of the Great Thunderclap Temple, a Buddhist Holy Land.
Few cultivators came here. When someone stepped past here, they would look at the state of ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple and sigh.
After the Great Thunderclap Temple was destroyed, many adventurous souls came here to seek out treasures and mantras. Most returned disappointed, having discovered nothing more than a few pieces here and there.
Hence, fewer and fewer people visited the Great Thunderclap Temple. The former Buddhist Holy Land soon faded from everyone’s memory.
Right now, as the flames from the War of the Two Worlds blazed with increasing intensity, the Great Thunderclap Temple was unaffected. All the spiritual energy was gone and most of its resources had been mined. Few demons would venture here.
This patch of land was controlled by the Great Zhou Empire. During the current War of the Two Worlds, the Great Zhou Empire kept a low-profile. Other than rendering assistance to the Luofu Mystic island, and clearing out the demons that had invaded the East Sea, they did not do anything else.
Night approached and as the sun set, the sky above sudden split open. A roc, as big as a tiny mountain and adorned with golden feathers, appeared in the sky.
A powerful demonic aura, beyond the Undying Demon Soul Third Level, could be felt. Purple light flashed on the golden feather of the roc.
Without having to use his powers, the purple light around the roc was already able to slowly decay the void spaces it had touched.
This golden-feathered roc was naturally the leader of the Golden Roc Tribe, the Golden Roc Grand Sage, and one of the demons that the Divine Lands feared the most.
The location of the Golden Roc Grand Sage was an issue of concern for the many powerful human cultivators. Earlier, his subordinates entered the Divine Lands through the inter-world passage linking the East Sea and faced off against the Luofu Holy Man. As the two sides battled intensely, the Golden Roc Grand Sage temporarily revealed himself and then, disappeared. Everyone started to pay special notice.
Especially the Great Zhou Empire’s cultivators. They were all concerned with where he was going. They were prepared to prevent him from invading their land.
The Zhou Emperor Liang Pan was on high alert as he waited in Tianjing City. He was prepared to defend against the Golden Roc Grand Sage at any time.
While everyone was worried about the Golden Roc Grand Sage’s entrance into the Divine Lands, they were all confused that he decided to go straight to the ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple.
No one could match the speed of a Golden Roc. The faster he flew, the better he could conceal himself.
However, by stepping out of the void and entering the Greater World, he would easily be discovered by others. After all, with his mastery, if he made no deliberate attempt to hide his powers, cultivators of an equal level would be able to detect him.
However, the Golden Roc Grand Sage did not care too much. He looked calmly in the direction of Tianjing City and then looked at Mount Baiyun and the Kunlun Mountains. He retracted his gaze and refocused it on the Great Thunderclap Temple.
His black eyes flashed with an odd, demonic gold light as he thought, “Finally, the Supreme Heavenly Mirror has left the Divine Lands. While the rise of Lin Feng is beyond my expectation, he too will need some time before he can reach the Divine Lands. It all depends on how much effort is the Heavenly Grandmaster willing to put in.”
“While I’m not fully confident, nothing is for sure in this world. With the time I have, it should be enough.”
The Golden Roc Grand Sage opened his beak and a ray of purple light spewed forth, flashing between the heaven and earth.
At this moment, a purple light started to shine on the Golden Roc Grand Sage’s golden feathers. The terrifying Hades’ Dark Mantra started to harmonize with the purple light in the sky.
Looking at it carefully, there was a bone in the center of the purple light.
The bone appeared blurry and was like the chaos of a young universe.
A horrifying power could be felt from the bone. While it was only a bone, it shook the Greater World.
Now, regardless whether it was the human cultivators near the Golden Roc Grand Sage or the other powerful cultivators of the Divine Lands, everyone could feel the terrifying presence of the bone.
The moment the Golden Roc Grand Sage broke through the void, a purplish-gold light flew out from Tianjing City. It brimmed with awe and resembled the coming of a god-conqueror. It was Liang Pan and his Destiny level magic treasure, the Imperial Palace of Emperor Tai.
Liang Pan sat on the dragon throne in the Imperial Palace of Emperor Tai as he felt the vibration from far away. He frowned and said, “Legend has it that the Golden Roc has possessed a secretive treasure, which scares even Vipralopa Stage demons. That is why no one dares to offend the Golden Roc Grand Sage even though he has yet to complete his Cardinal Tribulations.”
“Looking at it now, it appears related to the Hades Emperor!”
Many had forgotten but not Liang Pan. Not only were the ruins the former location of the Great Thunderclap Temple, it was also the site of the final battle in the last War of the Two Worlds!
During that massive battle, the Hades Emperor’s power was truly terrifying. While he eventually fell in battle, many powerful human cultivators killed too and the humans were severely weakened. Hence, the humans were unable to capitalize on this victory.
The Great Void Sect, which was on the verge of returning to its peak, was crippled by the Hades Emperor.
In the last War of the Two Worlds, Yan Nanlai, Kuang Heng, the Xuan Lin Holy Man and the other powerful Great Void Sect cultivators today were already in their Immortal Soul Third Level. However, they were not powerful enough to be in the Supreme Elder Council of the Great Void Sect.
Then, the weakest member of the Supreme Elder Council was already past his/her Cardinal Tribulations. Together, they cast the most powerful Supreme Yin-Yang Void Formation the world had ever seen to battle the Hades Emperor. Yet, more than half of them died.
Then, the sect leader of the Great Void Sect, the Tai Yi Holy Man, joined the battle with the Supreme Heavenly Mirror. However, he was severely injured too.
After that battle, the Great Void Sect’s path to rejuvenation was disrupted.
The Great Thunderclap Temple too was almost destroyed in that battle and severely weakened. That was how they perished during the War of Buddha Annihilation. If not, the other sects could not have destroyed the Great Thunderclap Temple as the Great Void Sect had not used its full strength.
For more junior cultivators, the Hades Emperor was just a name in the history books.
However, for people like Liang Pan, anything that formerly belonged to the Hades Emperor must be treated with special attention.
The Golden Roc Grand Sage’s uncharacteristic venture into the Great Thunderclap Temple earned Liang Pan’s attention.
Other than Liang Pan, Shi Yu, who was battling against the Tao Wu Grand Sage and the Sirius Grand Sage, too felt that something was amiss.
The remaining powerful Great Void Sect cultivators, which included the Xuan Yi Holy Man who was taking care of Mount Taihua with the Formation Bursting Drum and the Void Yin-Yang Bell, and the sect leader Yan Nanlai who was taking care of Mount Baiyun, too headed towards the ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple.
Even though it was technically in the territories of the Great Zhou Empire, Yan Nanlai could not simply ignore it.
The Golden Roc Grand Sage knew that he was now the center of attention in the Divine Lands. However, his expression did not change. He looked calmly at the sky above the Great Thunderclap Temple, which occasionally shone with purple light, illuminating the bone in his hand. As he watched, the bone shrank and became smaller.
The bone shrank to its smallest possible size and only a black dot was left. It was like a speck of dust, but it shone with a bright purple light.
In the next instant, the tiny black dot, which was at its smallest possible size, started to expand outward rapidly. It turned into a humongous black hole and enveloped the sky and the location of the ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple.
The sky and earth around were devoured by the black hole. Soon, the sky disappeared and all that was left was blackness.
The trees and grass on the earth underneath disintegrated and then, their shattered pieces started to float into the direction of the black hole. They too were absorbed by it.
In the black hole, a purple light flashed. It was dark and heavy and could not compare to the purple light the bone gave off, or the light from the Golden Roc Grand Sage’s body.
However, faced with that purple light, even with the Golden Roc Grand Sage’s mastery, he too felt like submitting to its authority. It shook him.
In the sky far away, a tall humanoid figure appeared. The figure was clad in armor and his face resembled Lin Feng’s perfectly. It was Lin Feng’s Avatar of Ares.
“I didn’t expect this,” thought Lin Feng as he looked at the all-devouring black hole. He frowned, “Golden Roc, you really like to surprise us.”
The Golden Roc Grand Sage felt something as he looked coldly at Lin Feng’s Avatar of Ares. He did not say much but instead, flapped his wings and flew into the black hole.
At the same time, a powerful and ferocious purple light, as well as ethereal white clouds, appeared between the heaven and earth.