Chapter 909 - 633: Vast Continent
In the demonic fog.
The detached look in Ji Shifeng’s eyes faded, replaced by some surprise:
"What a Xuanying Ten Absolutes, it truly lives up to its reputation. Rumor has it that your Gongsun family’s cultivation technique is passed down from Xu Hu, and it seems true."
"Its subtlety is almost not inferior to my own Subtle Technique."
"However..."
Suddenly!
The demonic fog around him boiled abruptly, transforming into a towering demonic cloud that blocked out the sky and sun.
A shattering might that overshadowed all things descended with a roar, pressing the heavens low, reversing the winds and clouds.
"No matter how good the cultivation technique, it requires someone to harness it."
"I have fused the eight veins to create the supreme secret transmission of the Eight Aspects, sending you on your last journey!"
As the words fell, Ji Shifeng raised his hand and slowly struck down with a palm.
At the moment the palm’s force descended, the wind and snow in the world suddenly stilled. That black palm imprint, like Mount Tai, cleaved straight down.
This palm appeared slow yet contained the demonic intent of the Eight Aspects. In the palm’s shadow, there seemed to be eight demonic patterns flowing, each corresponding to the supreme mysterious principles of the Northern Sect’s eight veins, blending into an unmatched ferocity.
Before the palm landed, the shattering might had already enveloped Gongsun Ye, the invisible force crushing his bones to crackle while his spirit and blood nearly halted.
Gongsun Ye felt as if he was nailed in void space, unable to move. The wall of Xuanying cold ice surrounding him crumbled layer by layer under the palm’s wind, unable to offer any resistance.
Every hair on his body stood on end, an unprecedented despair erupted from the depths of his heart!
"Shattering! Shattering!"
"Even a half-step shattering is something no celestial being can contend with!"
This wasn’t a difference in power but an absolute crushing of realms, like a chasm that can’t be crossed, akin to ants versus dragons.
He finally truly understood what realm the Great Ancestor was in, a force that towers above all beings, overturning clouds with a flip of the hand, creating storm with another.
Between life and death.
A golden pattern appeared at Gongsun Ye’s brow, and deep within the Jade Dragon Pass, invisible ripples spread in void space.
Ji Shifeng’s descending palm imprint suddenly halted, a sudden thrill in his heart:
"This is...?"
...
At the same time.
In the Chen Kingdom, the Imperial Capital.
The reigning emperor Xu Changgen, dressed in a nine-Chapter Magic Robe, walked slowly into the Ancestral Temple.
In the Ancestral Temple, portraits of ancestors from past generations hung high, the atmosphere solemn.
In front of the portraits, a large bow was enshrined at the center, the bow’s body faintly emitting a divine glow, seemingly containing the might of Creation.
Xu Changgen raised his eyes to look, his gaze first fixed on the first portrait.
The person in the portrait, wearing a Daoist Robe, stood like a mountain, stars seemed to rise and fall between his eyes, imposing without anger, transcending worldly matters.
That was the Great Ancestor of the Xu Family, Xu Hu.
Looking at the ancestor’s portrait, he admired sincerely and softly intoned:
"The Great Ancestor Emperor was a True Martial Immortal, blessed with celestial talent, shocking the ancient world."
"At nearly sixty, he began cultivating Martial Arts, and with sudden Enlightenment, in half a month he condensed supreme true intent, reaching the pinnacle of initiation..."
"He then traveled the world alone, debating Dao with Grandmasters of the Ten Countries, defeating all the world’s heroes, none could challenge his might."
"Furthermore, transcending the universally recognized Grandmaster stage, he pioneered a new path, proving Dao through martial arts, stepping into the unprecedented supreme Shattering Realm."
"Upon succeeding, he turned into a rainbow in a hundred days, with myriad rays of light, shattered the void, and ascended..."
When the words ended, Xu Changgen shifted his gaze downward to the second portrait, his eyes igniting with immense pride.
The man in the portrait wore Golden Armor, with a jade belt at his waist, holding the revered Xuanyuan Great Bow, standing tall and commanding, exuding an aura capable of sweeping the world.
It was the Emperor Taizong, Xu Mo.
"The Emperor Taizong, was the second son of the Great Ancestor, inheriting the supreme martial charm of the ancestors, harboring the ambition to unify the realms."
"Wielding the Xuanyuan Divine Bow, bending bow to grasp the sun and moon, opening the string to set mountains and rivers, sweeping through the world like a tiger, extinguishing the flames of the Ten Countries, quelling all chaos across the land."
"Subduing the Eight Wilds, dominating the Six Spheres, establishing the Nine Provinces, securing the Four Seas, finally pacifying the separatist chaos, achieving unification, creating the flourishing empire of the Chen Kingdom, establishing an eternal, imperishable hegemony..."
Overcome with emotion, Xu Changgen’s gaze fell upon the Xuanyuan Great Bow, a primal resonance seemed to roar within his bloodline.
His fingertips trembled slightly, reaching out to touch the artifact that bore the Xu Family’s supreme glory.
In the next moment, unexpected change ensued!
The Xuanyuan Bow suddenly broke free from its standing position, ascended into the air, its body emanating powerful radiance, transforming into a resplendent golden beam, landing steadily into Xu Changgen’s hand.
At the moment his palm touched the bow’s body, a surging power flowed into his limbs through his arm.
Within Xu Changgen’s mind, a vivid scene of the brutal battle at Jade Dragon Pass in the Northern Territory emerged.
Amidst the snowstorms, demonic might surged to the sky, Gongsun Ye battled bloodily, the half-step shattering’s ferocity crushing the heavens and earth.
His eyes sharpened suddenly, needing no arrow feathers, merely with the urging of his Heart Spirit, he raised the bow, drew the string, and shot, all in one breath!
A beam of white light, condensed to the extreme, burst from the bow’s body, tore through the ceiling of the Ancestral Temple, and dashed out into the void!
...
Deep within Jade Dragon Pass.
In the depths of void space, ring upon ring of gentle yet grand invisible ripples wafted, dissolving demonic fog and retreating snow wherever they passed.
A point of white light pierced through the ripples, suddenly illuminating, shooting straight for Ji Shifeng’s brow!
That speed transcended the shackles of time, escaped the constraints of space, so fast it defied description, surpassing Ji Shifeng’s half-step shattering thought and perception!
No escape, no evasion!
Ji Shifeng’s pupils contracted sharply, he could only widen his eyes, watching as that white light, trailing golden flame, roared forth.
He finally saw clearly, it was not merely a white light, but a divine arrow engraved with four-symbol patterns.
The Cyan Dragon coiled at the arrow’s head, White Tiger grasped its tail, Vermilion Bird spread its wings, Black Tortoise anchored the base, the aura vast and majestic, far surpassing any weapon in the world.
"Xuanyuan Bow! Four-Symbol Arrow!"
The last two thoughts exploded in his mind, filled with unwillingness and astonishment.
He had arduously cultivated for a hundred years, fusing the Northern Sect’s eight veins to create Daoist merit, achieving half-step shattering, thinking he could dominate the world.
Yet, unexpectedly, he couldn’t even contend with a weapon refined by Xu Hu before shattering!
How could there be such a colossal disparity?
But he was destined never to find out the answer.
In the next moment, the Four-Symbol Arrow pierced through Ji Shifeng’s brow.
Boom——!
A thunderous roar that shook the heavens and earth exploded, waves of air swept in all directions, his head shattered instantly in the white light, transforming into a sky-full of blood rain.
Only a headless body remained, still maintaining the posture of a palm strike, falling with endless reluctance, crashing onto the debris and ruins of Jade Dragon Pass, stirring up a sky-high snow.
At the instant when the Four Elephants Arrow shot Ji Shifeng.
Roar~~
The cold flood dragon suddenly felt a lethal threat, its entire body covered in bluish-black scales stood on end, letting out a piercing howl.
Feeling its master’s death, also intimidated by the supreme might of the Four Elephants Arrow, it dared not stay, immediately fled into the sky.
The power of the bloodline howled, commanding the sky-full wind and snow, in an instant it escaped dozens of miles.
In mid-air, the swirling Four Elephants Arrow abruptly paused.
In the next moment.
The four elephants pattern on the arrow glowed intensely, the arrow body bursting with stronger white light, transformed into a stream of light, chased the fleeing cold flood dragon.
The speed was several times faster than the cold flood dragon, spanning hundreds of miles in just an instant.
The cold flood dragon sensed the looming murder behind it, desperately driving its bloodline power, attempting to freeze the void to block, but ultimately in vain.
With another bang, the Four Elephants Arrow precisely pierced through the cold flood dragon’s head!
The massive body stiffened in mid-air, then crashed into the barren land hundreds of miles away, stirring up towering snow, completely losing its breath.
After annihilating the cold flood dragon, the Four Elephants Arrow slowly turned and transformed into a dazzling white light, returned to hover over Jade Dragon Pass, swirling and shining brightly with the four elephants pattern.
On the other side.
Whoosh——!
The fierce astral wind roared by, sweeping away the sky-full snow foam and blood mist, dispelling the battlefield’s hostility.
Gongsun Ye trembled all over, mouth agape and eyes wide, gazing at this scene, waves of shock erupted in his heart, beyond description.
From Ji Shifeng being shot, to the cold flood dragon fleeing and then being exterminated with one arrow— all took just a few breaths...
"Xuanyuan has pacified the world, indeed not an empty name!"
"A half-step shattering, a cold flood dragon comparable to a celestial being, both exterminated from afar with just one arrow!"
Gongsun Ye collected his heart spirit, bowed respectfully towards the four elephants arrow swirling in mid-air.
After the bow, the Four Elephants Arrow seemed to sense something, transformed into a white light, shot into the sky, disappeared instantly at the horizon, returning to the imperial capital’s ancestral temple.
And then, Gongsun Ye reached out a hand, true energy surging like thunder around him, invoking the power of heaven and earth to reverse course, steadily grasping back that blood-stained, sinewy-remaining severed arm.
In his palm gathered pure mysterious true energy, pressing heavily at the connection between the severed arm and body, true energy surged like rivers, nourishing the broken muscles and meridians.
Visibly to the naked eye, at the wound, dense flesh buds crazily proliferated, entwining like vines, firmly binding the still-bleeding severed arm, muscles reunified, meridians revived.
A grandmaster celestial being, mingling with heaven and earth, a severed head cannot live, but a freshly detached arm, still can be reunited!
...
In the ancestral temple.
The Four Elephants Arrow returned through the air, gently landed beside the Xuanyuan bow, its brilliance gradually dimmed, returning to silence.
Xu Changgen still maintained his posture of drawing the bow and shooting arrows, his entire person stiffened on the spot, his heart spirit struggling to calm down.
His father abdicated this year, embarking to the imperial family’s secret realm for focused cultivation.
He was merely under twenty this year, not long after ascending to the throne, his cultivation was still shallow, not even reaching the Daoist Grandmaster level.
Yet just now, with a mere thought, he invoked the divine might of the Xuanyuan bow, exterminating two celestial beings across a million miles of territory.
Xu Changgen’s heart was shaken like a tsunami rolling, unable to calm down for a long time:
𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
"This... This is the divine might left by the ancestors..."
"Merely a True Yuan Realm martial artist, able to borrow the ancestral legacy, with just a flick of the finger, exterminating enemies at the celestial being level..."
At this moment, having personally invoked the divine artifact, he truly understood the strength of the Xu family’s ancestors.
He gazed at the portrait of his great ancestor Xu Hu, the figure in the painting stared far into the distance, as if seeing through the eons of time and space, Xu Changgen was spellbound.
The great ancestor already shattered the void, ascended and transformed.
So now where exactly was he located?
Overlooking the mortal world from nine heavens above?
Establishing a Daoist site amidst the endless stars?
Or pursuing the greater Dao in the more vast and boundless realms beyond heaven and earth?
At this thought, the young emperor’s heart was filled not with anxiety, but with aspiration:
"A mere worldly throne, compared to cultivation of the great Dao, what is it worth?"
"No wonder father abdicated early!"
...
At the same time.
In the Vast Continent, the world boundless, astral winds vast, all living things thriving.
A solitary figure walked alone, robes flapping, steps light and slow, precisely Chen Sheng ascending from the Lower Realm and shattering the void.
Since ascending from the Small Realm to this vast land, a millennium has swiftly passed.
A thousand years of walking, a thousand years of observing and understanding, his heart left with only one sound of sigh.
"The heavens and earth are vast, endless... the level of exaltation is as if countless Grand Thousand Worlds forged into one, creating this Vast Continent."
He lifted his gaze towards the sky, seemed to glimpse the Dao’s trajectory in the darkness.
"Martial arts are vast, ten thousand races contend, compete for the cosmic heart, vie for the sole Celestial Dao Fruit Position..."
"After shattering, further are Longevity Realm, Saint Realm, Ancestral God Realm, Emperor Realm, and ultimately the Celestial Dao Realm."
In a gentle murmur, Chen Sheng slightly furrowed his brows, comparing it with his original cultivation system.
"The realms of this world, fundamentally different from my old domain, if forcibly corresponded..."
"Longevity Realm, approximately equivalent to Void Refining."
"Saint Realm, comparable to Integration."
"Ancestral God Realm, akin to Crossing the Tribulation."
"Emperor Realm, just like Mahayana."
"As for this Celestial Dao Realm... could it be, True Immortal Level?"
He gently shook his head, not rashly concluding.
Across the millennium, the strongest he truly saw and competed against was merely Saint Realm.
The higher Ancestral God, Emperor, Celestial Dao Realms, only seen recorded in the classics.
This kind of correspondence was but a rough comparison based on power and Dao progression, not entirely accurate.