Chapter 2695: Gaining Both
Fang Bai, with the might of the Emperor Realm, relied on the power of four divine artifacts: the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron, the Blood-Drinking Mad Blade, the Houyi Bow, and that unnamed axe, to finally defeat the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor.
"A Great Emperor is ultimately a Great Emperor. Even if he is reborn through soul transfer, his strength is far from what it was before; he still stands as a paramount existence across the three realms. Without the help of these divine artifacts, I’m afraid it would be me fleeing instead of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor."
Fang Bai stored the Houyi Bow, Blood-Drinking Mad Blade, and the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron in the Sea of Consciousness in his forehead, filled with emotion.
As for that axe, it hovered beside Fang Bai, refusing to leave.
Fang Bai thought of the scene earlier when the axe guarded the Great Emperor Pill and felt a stirring in his heart.
He reached out once more, grasped the axe, and tried to inject a wisp of divine sense into the axe’s body.
Fang Bai thought that since this axe is a divine artifact, its artifact spirit must be exceedingly powerful. If the artifact spirit did not wish to communicate with him, it could easily extinguish his wisp of divine sense.
Fortunately, the artifact spirit of the axe did not reject communicating with him and accepted his divine sense.
Through communicating with the axe’s artifact spirit, Fang Bai finally learned the origin of this axe.
"It turns out this axe is called the Pangu Axe, and its owner was none other than the Great Emperor Pangu... I recall many legends about this Great Emperor circulating in the mortal world..."
Fang Bai continually received messages from the artifact spirit of the Pangu Axe, and his heart was filled with uncontainable joy.
Legend has it that Great Emperor Pangu was born in chaos and possessed the great supernatural power of Heaven Opening and Earth Splitting. Later, he left the Immortal Realm and entered the Divine Realm to pursue the path of eternity.
Of course, these are just legends; their truthfulness cannot be verified.
Fang Bai only learned some things from the artifact spirit of the Pangu Axe about Great Emperor Pangu before he left the Immortal Realm. As for where he went afterward, it remains entirely unknown.
This enormous barrier spanning ten thousand miles around was also laid out by Great Emperor Pangu with his great supernatural powers. Afterward, he placed the Pangu Axe and a Great Emperor Pill inside and outside the barrier, awaiting those with fateful encounters.
Even though the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor discovered the Pangu Axe outside the barrier and knew of the Great Emperor Pill’s existence within it, he ended up with nothing, not only gaining nothing but also losing his left hand.
The Spatial Demon Ring that Fang Bai wanted was precisely worn on the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s left hand.
The outcome was something the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor never expected.
Nor did Fang Bai anticipate such a significant gain from this journey.
If the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor lost both wife and soldiers, then Fang Bai gained both fish and bear’s paw.
"Now that I’ve obtained the Pangu Axe and the Great Emperor Pill, it seems I’m fated with these two treasures, right?"
After a round of communication with the artifact spirit of the Pangu Axe, Fang Bai received the artifact spirit’s acknowledgement. Thus, he performed a blood ritual to become the second owner of this divine artifact.
At this moment, Fang Bai possessed the Five Elements Space Ring, the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron, the Blood-Drinking Mad Blade, the Houyi Bow, and the Pangu Axe, these five divine artifacts.
The five divine artifacts served purposes for storage, defense, and offense, making them well-rounded.
Especially the Five Elements Origin Qi Cauldron, which not only has strong defensive capabilities but can also be used for refining elixirs, achieving two goals with one action.
After collecting the Pangu Axe, Fang Bai grabbed the left hand of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, shot down by the Houyi Bow, took off the Spatial Demon Ring, and exited the barrier.
As he just left the barrier and turned around for a last look, the barrier had disappeared.
Fang Bai believed that the disappearance of the barrier was related to his absorption of almost all the immortal qi within, taking away the Pangu Axe and the Great Emperor Pill.
"What a pity that the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor escaped! Although I shot off his left hand, such a minor injury is insignificant to a Great Emperor and he can quickly regrow it..."
Fang Bai felt some regret for not being able to kill the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor just now.
"Now that the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor has fled, finding him again won’t be easy. Once he regains his full power, it will be a catastrophe for the Immortal Realm! I hope by then, my strength can also further advance to stop him from endangering the Immortal Realm."
If the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor restores his Emperor Realm power, even all Emperor Realm experts in the Immortal Realm joining forces would hardly be able to contain him; the consequences would be unimaginable.
Thus, in Fang Bai’s heart at this time, his main future opponent was no longer the few top Immortal Emperors but the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, who might have hidden away for focused cultivation.
With Fang Bai’s current strength, he had a chance against any top Immortal Emperor in the Immortal Realm, but he was still far from his past life’s peak strength when he fought eight alone. Therefore, for revenge, he needed a long-term plan.
However, with the Great Emperor Pill in hand, Fang Bai felt that his strength could further advance in the near future, and the day of revenge wouldn’t be too far off.
Nevertheless, Fang Bai did not dare to hastily consume the Great Emperor Pill, uncertain of the resulting effects. If the medicinal power were too strong, he might not be able to bear it and could accidentally ruin everything.
He felt that perhaps consuming the Great Emperor Pill would have the best effect when he showed signs of advancing to the next level.
Fang Bai’s divine sense spread across ten thousand miles and found that many immortals had not yet left.
However, perhaps out of fear of being harmed by the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, a Demon Clan Emperor Realm expert, those immortals had retreated several thousand miles away, gathering together to guard against an attack from him.
The earlier fierce battle between Fang Bai and the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor within the barrier and the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s escape was unknown to those immortals.
Before leaving, Fang Bai suddenly remembered the stone table where the Great Emperor Pill was placed and stored it into the Five Elements Space Ring as well.
That stone table, made from a huge Starshine Stone, existed only in Endless Space and was extremely precious, a valuable item for Emperor Realm experts in cultivation, and he wouldn’t let it slip away.
It wasn’t until long after Fang Bai left the barrier that some immortals cautiously flew over to investigate, only to find the barrier had disappeared, and both Fang Bai and the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor were gone without a trace.
Those immortals, hoping for great opportunities within the barrier, reluctantly searched for a while but left with regrets after finding nothing.
Fang Bai, with the Spatial Demon Ring seized from the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, arrived at a nearby secret realm. After racking his brains and spending several months, he finally managed to unlock the sealing formation on the Spatial Demon Ring and released the Great Luo Immortal Emperor and the Hundred Flowers Empress.
"Fang Bai..."
Even though Fang Bai’s appearance was vastly different from his past life, the Hundred Flowers Empress recognized him at first sight, sensing that extremely familiar aura on him.
The Hundred Flowers Empress originally thought she was facing certain doom when captured into the Demonic Ring Space by the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. Unexpectedly, she was rescued by Fang Bai.
Over the millennium, she was first devastated by the news of Fang Bai’s demise, then elated to know from the Great Luo Immortal Emperor that Fang Bai was still alive, followed by immense regret at being unable to reunite with him.
At this moment, upon suddenly seeing Fang Bai, a mixture of suppressed emotions erupted, turning the dignified empress vulnerable, her voice trembled, and her beautiful eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at Fang Bai.