On the stone slabs, faint Dao patterns emerged, reflecting in Meng Qi’s eyes, ignited by the Dao Yi Glazed Lamp, dividing and reorganizing, continuously deducing various possibilities.
When the complexity deep within his eyes finally settled, Meng Qi’s right palm pressed down completely. A murky, chaotic aura spread, completely enveloping the two stone slabs. At first, faint glimmers of light and shifting runes could still be seen in the darkness, but after a few moments, everything vanished without a sound, as if swallowed by chaos. Even the stone slabs themselves left no trace, revealing the grand staircase below.
At that moment, a grayish stone-colored light suddenly slashed out without warning—heavy yet sharp, evoking the image of a giant axe cleaving the heavens. It tore through the darkness, split the chaos, and it seemed as though the heavens and earth were being reborn in that instant.
*Clang!*
Amid the metallic clash, the gray stone light halted, its radiance dispersing to reveal an ancient, mottled stone axe. It was pressed against Meng Qi’s massive, pale-gold right hand, blocking its path.
Drops of blood, as if sentient, slid from where the axe met his palm. Within each drop, countless rules manifested, forming entire worlds before collapsing one after another.
The wielder of the stone axe was a headless giant, with eyes where his nipples should be and a mouth at his navel. His will was so powerful it materialized into reality, forging the mottled and terrifying stone axe—this was the ancient warrior, Chiyou.
“It has been a long time since I suffered such an external injury. A pity that, after eons of time’s erosion, you are no more than twenty percent of your peak strength. Otherwise, this would not be merely a flesh wound,” Meng Qi remarked, gripping the axe blade with his right hand as he regarded Chiyou with a sigh. The split darkness surged back, reforming into a cloud-like, point-like chaos.
The chaos spread, submerging Chiyou. His formidable will surged left and right, drawing ripples and waves, but in the end, it silently returned to its original state.
The reincarnation here was somewhat abnormal. Meng Qi abandoned his plan to capture Chiyou alive and instead assimilated him with the Primordial Chaos, hoping to extract a few fragments of memory.
Darkness—eternal, unchanging, empty darkness. Strangely, this was the only memory fragment from Chiyou.
Just as Meng Qi prepared to dissolve the stone axe formed by Chiyou’s will and integrate it into his *Kaitian Seal*, the darkness suddenly shattered, revealing a pair of cold, authoritative eyes that compelled submission, as if demanding obedience to their commands.
Everything vanished in an instant. Meng Qi heard the voice of the Mystic Maiden of the Ninth Heaven, Liu Luo, sighing beside him:
“Indeed, *Kaitian* counters *Wuji*.”
Chiyou’s earlier axe strike had carried a clear *Kaitian* intent, forming a virtual Dao path, which allowed it to break through Meng Qi’s *Wuji* and wound his true form. However, due to the exhaustion from splitting chaos and the resilience of his *Eight-Nine Arcane Art* physique, it only resulted in a superficial injury.
Meng Qi was not surprised. Although the Primordial Heavenly Venerable possessed the purest and most powerful *Kaitian Seal*, it did not prevent others from comprehending similar paths. Just as he himself, before mastering the first three seals, had once comprehended a blade technique called *”Cleaving Heaven and Earth”* from the Wordless Stele during the Qionghua Banquet.
Even something as unique as the *”Cause of All Effects”* could be approached by others through different karmic techniques—only the occupation of the position by another prevented them from achieving a virtual Dao fruit.
A clear wound marked Meng Qi’s right palm, oozing blood, but it quickly healed, leaving no trace. Streams of light poured from his palm into the phantom of the *Pangu Banner* within his *Muddy Pellet Palace*.
“There is indeed something slumbering within,” he murmured, his aura concealed as if he had vanished. With those words, he silently descended into the deep underground cavern, where multicolored lights surged.
Liu Luo pondered for a moment before also employing her divine abilities to vanish, cautiously following Meng Qi downward.
After an indeterminate descent, the multicolored lights became vivid once more, swirling and forming a massive millstone—or perhaps a frenzied vortex—blocking all paths.
Streams of light continuously poured into it, while the core of the millstone was bottomless, dark and unfathomable, as if leading to different paths of reincarnation.
Seeing this, Liu Luo’s expression grew solemn. “Water, fire, light, incineration, annihilation, void, vitality, death, corruption, fortune, virtue…”
The swirling lights corresponded to different virtual concepts—broken authorities, fragmented Dao paths. The blue-black radiance symbolized water, the pure white light represented illumination, the vibrant green embodied vitality, the silent darkness signified death, and the pale shimmering hues stood for virtue…
“No wonder…” Meng Qi nodded slightly, understanding why the Six-Heaven Ancestral Dragon and other ancient deities had been reduced to hollow shells.
This place continuously absorbed their physical strength, residual authorities, virtual Dao paths, and innate spiritual light, grinding them into the millstone before funneling them into an unknown destination—into reincarnation. Chiyou, having been decapitated and revived by sheer will, and Cheng Tang, who had disintegrated his body in life to become a ghostly deity, were akin to inanimate objects, allowing them to barely preserve themselves. Each cycle of reincarnation returned them to their original bodies, slowing the loss of their power.
It was also for this reason that they had been subtly implanted with unwavering loyalty and a will to self-destruct upon failure during reincarnation.
“Did the Heavenly Emperor arrange this to nurture and strengthen something?” Liu Luo’s eyes shimmered with divine light as she peered into the depths of the illusory millstone, where a black dot faintly floated.
As she focused, the black dot slowly rose in response to her aura.
Beside her, Meng Qi sensed something familiar—an “enemy” he had faced repeatedly.
He said gravely, “The remnants of the *Reincarnation Seal*’s influence linger here.”
“Are you saying that before Ananda obtained the *Reincarnation Seal*, it was hidden here?” Liu Luo’s voice trembled slightly.
The implications were self-evident!
The Empress of Earth had once held secret talks with the Heavenly Emperor. After attaining the *Other Shore* and giving birth to the *Reincarnation Seal*, it had fallen into the Heavenly Emperor’s hands and been placed here—for some unknown scheme!
“I suspect the *Reincarnation Seal* in Ananda’s possession was obtained from here,” Meng Qi said solemnly, watching the slowly rising black dot.
This could also explain why the Celestial Prison had survived the *Other Shore*’s aftermath—the *Reincarnation Seal* had secretly guarded it!
Originally, he had thought some great figure had conspired to preserve the Celestial Prison, hiding it from the heavens to leave the Heavenly Emperor a chance at resurrection. But now, it seemed the truth might be different.
“Could it be that the Thunder God’s betrayal was feigned? The Heavenly Emperor foresaw his own calamity and deliberately arranged this, so that after the fall of the Heavenly Court, the Thunder God could complete the resurrection. That’s why the *Reincarnation Seal* recognized the Thunder God as its master…” Liu Luo, drawing on her knowledge of the Heavenly Court’s deities, ventured this bold speculation.
Meng Qi frowned. “That possibility cannot be ruled out.”
This would explain why Ananda had betrayed the Spiritual Mountain and the Demon Saint. By doing so, both the Buddhist and demonic factions suffered heavy losses. Even Amitabha, the Ancient Bodhi Buddha, the Demon Emperor, and the Demon Saint would have been severely wounded in their battles, either forced into early slumber outside the River of Time or left injured to contend with the Human Emperor, ultimately perishing. Thus, the only obstacles to the Heavenly Emperor’s resurrection would have been the Primordial Heavenly Venerable and the Moral Heavenly Venerable—the “unrivaled enemies” Ananda had spoken of.
Thus, he chose to fall into demonhood to ascend to the *Other Shore*.
If this were true… *Damn, that’s true love!* Meng Qi nearly blurted out, unable to imagine this side of the Demonic Buddha Ananda.
But if this speculation held, why had Ananda’s phantom been frightened away earlier?
The black dot grew larger as it rose, revealing a body—crowned in imperial regalia, clad in dark robes, exuding ghostly energy and the aura of reincarnation. The shattered virtual Dao paths and authorities from the millstone merged into it, unleashing an overwhelming sense of terror.
“The Heavenly Emperor’s avatar!” Liu Luo, utterly familiar with this presence, exclaimed gravely. “This is a refined and nurtured *Ghost Emperor* body!”
Was this the Heavenly Emperor’s resurrection contingency? Just as Meng Qi was about to speak, the terrifying body opened its eyes—cold and authoritative, compelling submission.
Azure clouds emerged, resisting the influence, but then the Ghost Emperor’s eyes erupted with overwhelming death and demonic intent, spanning past, present, and future.
At that moment, Meng Qi saw layers of Buddhist seals and restrictions manifest around it, intertwined with the phantom of the *Three Treasures Ruyi* in purple, white, and gold, forcibly suppressing the impending attack.
The familiar scene and the demonic aura emanating from the Ghost Emperor’s body made Meng Qi exclaim:
“The Heavenly Emperor’s avatar has been usurped by the Demonic Buddha!”
His earlier speculation was instantly overturned.
…
In the void of the Ninth Heaven’s highest layer, the Ancient Lamp Buddha, having been frightened away by the “Heavenly Emperor’s Procession,” was searching for traces. However, the distance between them had widened, and the void swallowed all else, leaving nothing behind.
Suddenly, the phantom of Ananda seated within the Ancient Lamp Buddha’s perfect radiance turned its head sharply, sensing something.
“An anomaly?” the Ancient Lamp Buddha asked.
Ananda’s phantom smiled faintly.
“I know where they are now.”
“They really are following the Northern Dipper Imperial Chariot…”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage