Yang Jian!
The Black Heavenly Emperor’s furious roar echoed through the layers of the Nine Netherworld, leaving the Asura Progenitor and other evil deities dumbfounded. The Blood Demon was actually Yang Jian, the True Lord of Clear Origin and Wondrous Path, in disguise?
No wonder he had advanced by leaps and bounds after his return, swiftly reaching the Perfection of Creation and attaining the pseudo-Other Shore realm!
Previously, they had thought he had merely stumbled upon the remains of the Heavenly Slaughter Daoist and achieved such heights through the Blood Sea’s inherent devouring and plundering. Who would have guessed it was merely the transformations of the Seventy-Two Changes, and he had already been at this level all along?
The Blood Sea surged like clouds, staining the sky crimson and dyeing the long rivers red. A clear, bright laugh emerged from within:
“Ancient Buddha, your discernment is truly remarkable!”
“To deceive all of you, I truly did devour the remains of the Heavenly Slaughter Daoist!”
Ancient Buddha?
Not only were the Asura and other evil deities who could only watch from the sidelines utterly shocked, but even the peerless Demon Monarch and the Seven Slaughter Daoist, who were desperately preventing the Nine Chaos Heavenly Venerable from obtaining the Demon Emperor’s Claw, were stunned and filled with dread.
The Black Heavenly Emperor was one of the three corpses of the Bodhi Ancient Buddha? The most mysterious one?
At the dawn of this epoch, this ancient being had replaced the original Black Heavenly Emperor with his own three corpses? Without anyone noticing?
Thankfully, they had learned of this today—otherwise, they would have inevitably been ensnared in the future!
Time was in chaos, and blood shadows multiplied as Yang Jian stepped into another layer of the Nine Netherworld, engaging in fierce combat with the Black Heavenly Emperor outside his own domain.
Gu Xiaosang, shielded by Meng Qi, had long been cut off from visual and sensory perceptions by the residual waves of the Other Shore, unable to discern the changes occurring elsewhere. At this moment, she murmured to herself:
“Sun Wukong appearing in the Nine Netherworld is no surprise. Yang Jian was also likely to descend here. Only in this place do they possess the ability to interfere with the Other Shore’s chessboard. This requires no divination or peering into the future—logic alone suffices. The Golden Emperor couldn’t possibly be unprepared. The most perilous moment is yet to come…”
“How exactly can we break this deadlock…?”
For those who have mastered the Seventy-Two Changes and reached the Perfection of Creation, no place is more suitable for cultivation than the Nine Netherworld and the highest layers of the former Celestial Realm. Here, they can prematurely glimpse the realms of revisiting the past and peering into the future without succumbing to the corruption of the Nine Netherworld. They can leave at will, restoring their true forms. However, prolonged exposure risks erosion by the will of the Nine Netherworld, leading to radical tendencies and hidden dangers when ascending to the Other Shore.
Precisely because she understood this, she had urged Meng Qi to gather his past and relocate to the Nine Netherworld—at least here, they had a fighting chance on “home ground.” Yet, the Golden Emperor’s accumulated might remained etched in her heart, making her believe that a seemingly hopeless calamity wouldn’t be resolved so easily.
The Green Emperor’s words—”cornered, with no way out, facing certain death”—must contain the key to breaking the tribulation, though its true meaning remained elusive for now.
Speaking of which, her current husband was barely distinguishable from the dead…
As Gu Xiaosang’s thoughts churned, expanding and sparking, the Life-Ending Matriarch—who held the upper hand but struggled to crush Sun Wukong—paused briefly. Her pristine, slender hand suddenly withdrew into the real world, manifesting the ever-flowing River of Time across the heavens and earth, its shimmering waves illusory yet eternal.
A faint light traveled upstream along the river. The world grew vast and ancient, and the real world expanded abruptly, becoming billions of times larger than its current state. The still-intact Golden Pool of the Jade Palace rippled as the Golden Emperor, the Queen Mother of the West seated within, suddenly extended her hand, striking down toward the Flower-Fruit Mountain and the Guanjiang Estuary—aiming to obliterate the yet-to-be-born Sun Wukong and the pseudo-Other Shore-incapable Yang Jian in their infancy, altering history itself!
Your past does not lie in the Nine Netherworld!
Upon attaining the Other Shore from the current node, one’s past self also becomes part of the Other Shore—or rather, they were always the same “person,” transforming from a mere point in time into a line composed of countless points, a thread woven from past, present, and future!
With a single palm strike, she attacked both locations simultaneously. The Erlang Shen Temple at Guanjiang Estuary was reduced to ashes, and Yang Jian’s form dissipated like a bubble, easily popped. Though Flower-Fruit Mountain remained standing, the stone at its heart crumbled instantly.
Yet, in a flash of light and shadow, Yang Jian reappeared, and the stone reemerged—both now mere imprints etched into the real world.
“Thank you for your concern, Matriarch. Having entered the Nine Netherworld, how could I leave my weaker self exposed to the outside world?” Yang Jian, locked in battle with the Black Heavenly Emperor, chuckled derisively. Suddenly, billions of golden lotuses bloomed around him, each radiating boundless light, merging into a dazzling expanse.
The supreme treasure of the Jade Void—the Central Heaven and Earth Wuji Apricot-Yellow Banner!
“Wuji” signifies the duality of earth: Wu as yang earth, Ji as yin earth, harmonizing with the Nine Netherworld and remaining unweakened. Like the dichotomy of thunder between life and death, it undoubtedly aided Yang Jian—who had also cultivated the Wuji Chaos through the Seventy-Two Changes—in gathering his past and relocating it to the Nine Netherworld. This process, concealed by a mighty figure, went unnoticed by any Other Shore existence!
There was a stark difference between long-prepared infiltration and a hasty intervention. The former allowed for meticulous preparation and flaw mitigation, while the latter, being rushed, was riddled with vulnerabilities.
Meanwhile, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, now thoroughly enraged, roared with exhilaration and taunted once more:
“The Supreme Elder instructed me to wait here—did you think he’d leave loose ends?”
Coincidentally, he too had mastered the Seventy-Two Changes, possessing not only the Bodhi Golden Body but also the Indestructible Dao Body, capable of encompassing all things and returning to Wuji. However, while Yang Jian had always been enigmatic, preferring to hold back and rarely exerting full force since the Investiture of the Gods—leaving none but his Jade Void peers aware of when he had attained the Wuji Chaos Dao—the Great Sage had achieved his path later, only solidifying his Wuji Chaos Dao after becoming the Victorious Fighting Buddha, with few opportunities to demonstrate it!
Simultaneously, a Victorious Fighting Buddha manifested behind him, swiftly merging with his true form. His aura intensified slightly, and he used this moment to expel the slow erosion of the Nine Netherworld, preventing true demonic corruption.
Hovering beyond the Nine Netherworld, the flawless full moon—rendering the place as insignificant as a pellet—remained undisturbed. The pristine, sacred hand descended once more, seamlessly continuing as if the earlier journey through time had been but a dream.
Suddenly, the hand now gripped a long-handled axe, its hue deep and bronze-like, adorned with nine distinct Dao patterns. Some resembled flames, others chaos, and still others thunder—yet at this moment, their meanings seemed to manifest clearly:
“Burn!” “Devour!” “Destroy!” “Punish!” “Slay!” “Silence!” “Vanish!” “Freeze!” “Annihilate!”
The Heaven-Slaying Axe!
The long-lost Heaven-Slaying Axe had reappeared in the Life-Ending Matriarch’s grasp, fully awakened and obedient, as if it had always been so!
And yet, no memory of it existed in Gu Xiaosang’s mind…
The axe was rugged and savage, the hand delicate and fair—the stark contrast created a striking visual impact as it descended toward Sun Wukong with the force of divine retribution!
Woooo!
The Nine Netherworld trembled, howling as if sensing immense peril.
At that moment, the real world darkened abruptly, as if submerged in boundless black profound waters. The Rivers of Time and Fate reappeared, flowing silently within.
The descending Heaven-Slaying Axe slowed. From the unruffled full moon, the Golden Emperor’s ethereal, sacred voice resonated:
“Zhenwu!”
“Perfect timing!”
Each Other Shore existence was entangled in their own affairs. There could be no better opportunity to charge toward the end of the Bitter Sea!
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