Chapter 490 - 125: Divine Technique Inheritance
As Wang Ping looked up at Rongyang Monarch’s retreating figure, a dense web of water descended from the clouds, attempting to ensnare the ascending monarch.
That Ao Bing may have looked like a refined gentleman, but his methods were anything but honorable.
"Bastard!"
As Rongyang Monarch’s furious curse echoed, the clouds were instantly set ablaze. Then, with the help of the crimson longsword at his side, he transformed into a streak of fire and dodged the falling web of water.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
In the distance, more invisible pressure pierced the clouds and slammed into the ground. Beside the lava that had just been extinguished by the torrential rain, several deep pits were blasted open in succession. Violent Earth Vein Energy billowed out, stirring up the smell of rich soil and pulverizing the heat-forged crystals on the nearby ground.
Just then, Yu Lian spoke within Wang Ping’s Spirit Sea, "I can’t sense the auras of Guang Zuo Taoist or He Feng Taoist in the fight above the clouds at all. I feel like those two must be slacking off."
Yu Lian’s joke did much to calm Wang Ping’s tense mood.
He looked up at the sky. It was covered by a thick sheet of rain, which carried a billowing heat. As it hit the ground, it kicked up layer after layer of heat waves that rolled out across the area, forming a scorching, high-speed wind.
’After this battle, the weather across the entire Zhongzhou Continent will likely be thrown into chaos. The harvest for most regions is probably a lost cause this year.’
"Master..."
Xiu Yu’s voice came from beside him. His eyes were fixed on the Imperial Palace, guarded by the remaining Jiangcun and two ordinary Third Realm Water Cultivators. He seemed to want to go down and pick up the spoils, completely ignoring the Sacrificial Captains.
But before he could express his thoughts, Xiao Shan Lord’s cold voice rang out: "Silence!" His voice was low, as if he feared disturbing Xia Yao and Emperor Yuanding on the Imperial Palace altar. Meanwhile, his right hand was continuously calculating the time.
"It is noon..."
Wang Ping was also calculating the time, his gaze falling upon the altar below as he had the same thought.
Emperor Yuanding paid no mind to the chaos around him. He looked at Xia Yao, who was in a similar state of absolute rationality, and asked, "Are you ready?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
As Xia Yao answered, she straightened up from her formal kneeling posture and performed a deep, solemn kowtow.
Jiangcun landed beside Xia Yao just then and said, "We’ve been tricked. No one else is coming. They don’t care who takes control of Zhongzhou’s destiny—they only care about Xiao Shan Lord’s ascension!"
Xia Yao’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. She kowtowed again. After repeating this two more times for a total of three, she straightened up and said, "You should leave first. There is nothing left for you to do here."
Jiangcun raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling upon Xia Yao’s cold, indifferent face.
"You should leave!"
Emperor Yuanding turned to look at Jiangcun. "Ninth Prince, your integrity is commendable. From now on, all descendants of the Xia Race and citizens of the Xia Country will venerate the Ninth Prince’s divine seat."
These were the terms they had agreed upon from the beginning.
Jiangcun now felt a sliver of regret, but he swallowed it down. After a sigh, he transformed into a streak of cyan light, piercing through the curtain of heavy rain and waves of heat as he retreated to a predetermined location to the west. His flight path perfectly avoided the aftershocks from the battle between the Fourth Realm Cultivators above the clouds—a feat stemming from a flood dragon’s innate sense of danger.
He wasn’t actually leaving, merely making a temporary retreat. His intentions for this struggle in Shangjing City were the same as the other Third Realm Cultivators hiding in the shadows: to profit from the chaos after Xiao Shan Lord’s ascension ceremony concluded.
Just then, the two Water Cultivators who had been with Jiangcun exchanged a glance and also turned into streaks of cyan light, following his route west. But as soon as they flew beyond the bounds of the Imperial Palace, they were struck by an oncoming, scalding heat wave. The violent energy storm agitated the Spirit Veins inside their bodies, and they were forced to suppress their veins’ frenzied growth as they fled, disappearing into the rain in the blink of an eye.
Wang Ping wasn’t paying attention to them. His eyes were fixed on Emperor Yuanding, not missing a single one of his movements.
Nothing particularly dramatic happened, nor was there any earth-shattering display of power. After all, this was a succession ritual the Xia Imperial Family had practiced for over five hundred years; if there were any unusual signs, they would have long been recorded.
Emperor Yuanding’s right hand was calculating the hour, while his left hand gently tapped the spot between his eyebrows. A silvery-white sphere of light materialized between his fingers.
The light radiating from the silvery-white sphere bathed the entire altar in brilliant white. Its glow seemed substantial, especially the light surrounding the sphere, which resembled a tangible, pure-white curtain. Yet, it also passed intangibly through the bodies of Emperor Yuanding and Xia Yao.
Emperor Yuanding’s right hand, which had been calculating the time, stopped. He formed it into a fixed spell seal and looked up at Xiao Shan Lord, who showed no intention of intervening. It was a silent warning that if Xiao Shan Lord dared to disrupt the ritual, the Emperor would not hesitate to activate the Divine Technique Formation beneath the Imperial Palace.
Xiao Shan Lord merely watched with cold indifference, seemingly with no real intention of making a move!
"From here, it is all up to you. Remember what you said. If it is possible, do your best. If it is not, you must retreat to the north. If you retreat north, Xiao Shan Lord will not make things difficult for you..."
He did not finish his words. For one, the appointed hour had arrived. For another, there was no longer any need.
"I will choose every step with caution!"
As soon as Xia Yao’s promise left her lips, Emperor Yuanding pointed the silvery-white sphere between his fingers toward the point between her eyebrows.
The instant the silvery-white sphere sank into the point between Xia Yao’s eyebrows, the golden light around Emperor Yuanding’s body seemed to be siphoned away by the earth. Then, the luster of the Divine Technique was also stripped from his body. Once the divine luster left him, his eyes, which had been filled with golden light, became hopelessly turbid, like those of a corpse.
CRACK!
Amid the drumming of the downpour, a sound like a snapping bamboo stalk was clearly audible. It sounded like a joint breaking on some colossal creature.
But it was actually Emperor Yuanding’s body that was breaking apart. To the sound of increasingly frequent CRACKS, his physical body crumbled into pieces like shards of pottery.
Upon receiving the inheritance, in the instant the silvery-white sphere entered the point between her eyebrows, Xia Yao felt the vastness of the Divine Technique Formation under her feet. Then she saw the endless expanse of heaven and earth, and a scene of innumerable living beings prostrating themselves in worship.
In that moment, she felt as if she were the god of this world. Then, she was devoured by an endless, mighty power, her Primordial Spirit Consciousness pulled into a realm that seemed at once illusory and real. In this world, she witnessed the fates of tens of millions of individuals, experiencing their journeys from birth to death.
When she opened her eyes again, the last remaining vestiges of desire in her human nature had vanished.
The drumming of the downpour made her lift her eyelids. She saw the curtain of rain that filled the world and listened to the constant, echoing sounds of impact from the battle in the sky.
Then, she looked in Xiao Shan Lord’s direction. As their eyes met, Xiao Shan Lord appeared a hundred feet in front of her.
"Know the white, but keep to the black, and be a model for the world..."
As Xiao Shan Lord’s voice sounded, intricate golden threads emerged around him, forming a massive, glowing map. Then, the curtain of rain and the endless heat waves that filled the world vanished completely, as if erased by some unseen hand.