The underworld stretched infinitely, subtly divided into two major powers: the Ghost Kingdom of Black Mountain and the Yin City of Black Platform.
Between these two powers lay the three perilous regions of Ghost Mang Mountain, the Valley of No Return, and the Drowning River.
Although Ghost Mang Mountain and the Drowning River were dangerous, ordinary ghosts and deities could generally pass through safely. However, the Valley of No Return was truly known as a place of no return, a deadly spot in the underworld.
At this moment, invisible Dharma-realm power had already enveloped the entire underworld.
Within Ghost Mang Mountain, where hundreds of thousands of ghost soldiers had been annihilated overnight, the lingering ghostly aura and blood-stained martial energy surged into the sky. Only now did the name Mang Mountain truly live up to its meaning.
At the battlefield, the ground was in chaos, while both the Black Mountain Monarch and the City God of Black Platform had mysteriously vanished.
…
The Valley of No Return.
A powerful beam of light entered, its surging force causing evil spirits to dare not appear, retreating into their caves trembling with fear.
Not long after, the ruins once explored by Wu Ming appeared before the Black Mountain Monarch.
The giant ornamental pillars, jade columns, and even the collapsed altar finally caused his eyes to flicker slightly, as he approached the central palace.
“Moo! Moo!”
The guardian deity that had previously driven Wu Ming away now emerged, this time with a fawning expression, affectionately extending its pink tongue to lick the Black Mountain Monarch’s palm.
“It’s truly commendable that you still remember me…”
The Black Mountain Monarch extended his right hand onto the palace gate. The barrier, which had persisted until now as if eternally ancient, immediately opened a passage.
“Hiss…”
As the passage opened, a terrifying serpent’s hiss rang out. A giant snake-like yin soul with blood-red eyes, exuding an ancient savage aura, attempted to flee.
“Hmph?”
The Black Mountain Monarch flipped his palm: “Suppress!”
Infinite power descended from his Dharma-realm, instantly shattering the serpent’s head into wisps of black mist.
“Ba Snake! Even when alive you were slain by me, and now as a lingering soul, you dare to rebel?”
A cold chuckle emerged from beneath the Black Mountain Monarch’s mask.
After the black mist dissipated, chunks of snake bones fell, riddled with holes and still radiating a faint ancient savage malevolence.
“Strange… This Ba Snake’s spiritual energy has partially escaped… Could it be that it instinctively tried to return?”
The Black Mountain Monarch narrowed his eyes slightly, then crushed the bones into dust with one stomp: “You don’t know when to advance or retreat, nor do you know your own limits!”
The Ba Snake was an ancient ferocious beast. As recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: “The Ba Snake swallows elephants, expelling their bones after three years.” This illustrates its immense size and fearsome reputation.
Yet before the Black Mountain Monarch, the original Ba Snake was reduced to just these few bones, which were now crushed underfoot, its spirit and form completely annihilated as if it were merely an ant.
Unmoved, the Black Mountain Monarch continued forward, revealing a vast and magnificent palace complex.
However, by now, despite protective formations, the passage of time had left it with an air of decay.
As the Black Mountain Monarch walked, golden eyes filled with emotion.
He made his way familiarly to a grand hall, its floor paved with gold and jade, and at its center stood a massive emerald screen depicting a majestic, serene, and powerful mountain landscape.
“This place is perfectly suited to be where we finally settle our affairs…”
The Black Mountain Monarch’s dark golden robe flared, his Dharma-realm surging behind him, the three-hundred-mile Black Mountain appearing as a phantom, right at its center trapping a large mass of golden light.
Within the golden light, the City God of Black Platform emerged, fluctuating, then sighing: “After so many years, you still cannot let go…”
“Let go? Why should I let go?”
The Black Mountain Monarch’s golden eyes turned cold: “During the great calamity of the Dao of Heaven, we were abandoned by the people, reduced to this state. Don’t you hate it?”
The Black Platform City God fell silent for a long time before answering: “Compared to those who perished, we managed to retain a mountain and a nation, preserving a glimmer of hope during the catastrophe. Isn’t that already a rare blessing…”
“Haha… Indeed, you are still as weak and hypocritical as ever!”
As the Black Mountain Monarch wandered casually through the hall, ritual lights flickered. The luminous pearls shone, and the entire hall seemed to gain new power, slowly but steadily repairing itself.
“I ask you now! After we parted ways due to differing beliefs, you protected the people, believing in the Dao of Humanity, while I believed in the Dao of Nature. Who has won?”
Boom!
The Black Platform City God showed a trace of pain, feeling the Dharma-realm’s power breaking through defenses and drawing upon its essence.
Yet at this moment, a clear, jade-like voice still emerged: “When the land of Shenzhou shattered, we lost our divine positions, and the people, preoccupied with their own survival, abandoned us. It was a reluctant choice…”
“A reluctant choice?”
The Black Mountain Monarch sneered, and the Dharma-realm power surged even more fiercely: “What a convenient excuse!”
Invisible, mysterious forces were continuously drawn from the Black Platform City God, who, trapped within the Dharma-realm, could do nothing to resist.
Conversely, the entire palace erupted in a triumphant roar. A layer of light emerged, instantly restoring the previously ruined structures and spreading outward continuously.
“Can a reluctant choice erase our millennia of devotion?”
“Can a reluctant choice justify our fate in the calamity?”
…
With the Black Mountain Monarch’s roar, the light finally spread outward. The half-buried stone tablet suddenly gleamed, standing proudly, its inscriptions fresh and vigorous, powerfully inscribed with the eight characters: “Sacred Land of Mount Tai, the Mansion of the Lord!”
“Can a reluctant choice reduce us from the divine position of Mount Tai, a thousand-mile god, to merely the three-hundred-mile Black Mountain?”
Rip!
The Black Mountain Monarch’s mask shattered, revealing a remarkably handsome face, refined and elegant, and strikingly similar to the Black Platform City God: “If everything is so, then today I shall also ‘reluctantly’ absorb you, reclaiming the position of the Eastern Peak Emperor! After all, we were originally the same deity!”
If Wu Ming were here, he would surely be shocked beyond measure.
It turned out that the two greatest hidden powers behind the divine and ghostly world were originally one being, and that being was the Eastern Peak Emperor, the Lord of Mount Tai!
This was a truly formidable deity!
As recorded in the Records of Divine Wonders: “The god of Mount Tai, named Jin Hong, was born with great strength, uprooting trees and shaking mountains as minor feats. The god-king Jin Tian of the Shaohao Clan recognized his talent and summoned him as a warrior. At that time, floods ravaged the land, and a giant serpent emerged, devastating the land with each attack, raising waters over ten zhang high, submerging villages and houses. Those poisoned by it died instantly, none spared. This serpent was the ‘Ba Snake’ recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Worried, Jin Tian summoned Hong, who forged a sword for seven years. He then walked across the waters, locating the serpent’s lair. The serpent emerged, claws and mouth flailing, battling Hong. For seven days and nights they fought until Hong finally pierced the serpent’s heart, turning the river red. However, Hong himself was fatally poisoned and died upon the ground. Jin Tian mourned him and enshrined him as the god of Mount Tai. The people of Mount Tai, grateful for his might and for saving them from disaster, built temples to worship him. Thereafter, he often appeared miraculously, responding to prayers for rain or relief from drought.”
The Records of Divine Wonders was written in ancient times, an era when gods and humans coexisted. Jin Tian was also a renowned divine king of antiquity, his words carrying the weight of historical records.
From then on, the status of the Mount Tai deity was established. In the middle ages, earthly emperors performed sacrifices on Mount Tai, gaining the Dragon Qi and rising in power.
There were also legends that Mount Tai was the gateway to the underworld. In more recent times, the god of Mount Tai gained dominion over the underworld, known as the Eastern Peak Emperor, a god-king level being equal to the King of Hell.
If this sacred land was indeed the spiritual domain of the Mount Tai deity, then the ancient altar, the Dragon Qi, the bones of the Ba Snake, and the movement of the Suizhou Pearl all made perfect sense.
“Back then… the Dao of Heaven changed dramatically, Shenzhou shattered, we fell from our divine positions, and were abandoned by our worshippers, drifting precariously between life and death… Fortunately, fate spared us, and we found this fragment of land—the three-hundred-mile Black Mountain, a branch of the ancient thousand-mile Mount Tai—allowing us to barely survive… With such fortune, why are you still dissatisfied?”
The Black Platform City God spoke, golden energies expanding in circles, the green aura within growing more prominent.
“You are the good, I am the evil; though one being, our hearts differ… Back then, our original body was severely injured. Fortunately, we found refuge in Black Mountain and gained dominion over the underworld, allowing us to slowly recover. However, during the healing process, an anomaly occurred, splitting us into two, dispersing our powers and preventing us from regaining our former glory…”
The Black Mountain Monarch coldly replied: “I refuse to accept this! I am filled with resentment! I must regain our former peak power and seek revenge upon Shenzhou!”
“Therefore, you set up this grand formation…”
The Black Platform City God sat cross-legged, his crown of cloud energy surging, a single strand of purple essence rising from his head.
Though just a single thread, this essence was noble, commanding all other energies, instantly resisting the Dharma-realm’s force.
“Correct… The Sacrificial Rite of the Lord of Mount Tai!”
The Black Mountain Monarch laughed loudly: “Cease your struggles… I have arranged this formation, sacrificing the power of an entire heavenly realm. Even one percent of it will be enough to completely refine and absorb you!”
With a wave of his hand, the power of the Sacrificial Rite of the Lord of Mount Tai surged, an endless stream of souls and life force rushing along the ritual pathways, being continuously burned, transforming into terrifying force.
The Black Platform City God’s face turned pale, his purple essence compressed to its limit, as threads of green energy were pulled from his body by the blood-red light.
This Sacrificial Rite of the Lord of Mount Tai was a forbidden technique developed by the god of Mount Tai, its power lying in absorption and transformation.
Now, the Black Mountain Monarch, in his madness, had sacrificed the entire underworld and the earthly nation of Guzhu, millions of ghosts and living souls, generating an immense force capable of reshaping heaven and earth. Even the former Eastern Peak Emperor might not have been able to stop it, let alone the current Black Platform City God.
“Surrender! You are already powerless!”
The Black Mountain Monarch leisurely sat upon the throne, the three-hundred-mile Black Mountain behind him becoming increasingly prominent, faintly revealing an even more magnificent and vast mountain range.
“With half of your authority combined with the power of the Sacrificial Rite of the Lord of Mount Tai, I will certainly reclaim the position of the Emperor!”
In the Black Mountain Monarch’s golden eyes, green flames suddenly ignited!
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