allendalepharm Chapter 31: The Unrivaled Emperor Fugu!
Chapter 31: The Unrivaled Emperor Fugu!
The Stone Emperor's form was frozen in the radiant light of reincarnation.
He maintained the posture of the Heavenly Desolate Halberd slashing down, the halberd's tip no more than a hundred feet from Yu Dao. This distance was nothing to an Extreme Dao Emperor. Yet, this hundred feet became an insurmountable chasm for him.
The Wheel of Reincarnation hangs above the starry sky, slowly rotating.
With each rotation of the halo, a layer of the Imperial Law surrounding the Stone Emperor was stripped away. A force that dismantles, restores, and sends the law into the endless cycle deep within the halo, from its most fundamental level, gradually dissolves and disintegrates the Imperial aura that had returned to its peak after its ultimate sublimation.
The Stone Emperor struggled frantically within the halo. He unleashed countless halberd shadows with the Heavenly Desolation Halberd, each powerful enough to cleave a galaxy in two, but the moment the shadows struck the halo, they vanished like mud oxen entering the sea, failing to even stir a ripple. He roared as he unleashed one forbidden secret technique after another, ancient killing moves that had once allowed him to slay unparalleled enemies in the Primordial Era.
But all killings, the moment they touch the radiance of reincarnation, are broken down into the most primordial fragments of law, which are then swept up by the halo and drawn into that endless cycle.
"kill!"
He was unwilling to accept it, he roared!
He is the Stone Emperor, the Lord of the Undying Mountain, and the most powerful enlightened being of the Holy Spirit Clan!
He has slaughtered more living beings than the stars in the sky, and the dark turmoil he unleashed made the entire universe tremble in a sea of blood.
He never believed in fate, in heaven, or in any power in this world that could judge him. Yet at this moment, the radiant light of reincarnation spun calmly, neither hastening nor diminishing. It did not accelerate because of his rage, nor did it halt because of his struggle. It was simply carrying out its own way, executing the rules that had been predetermined since the beginning of heaven and earth, and written since the birth of all things.
Before reincarnation, all beings are equal!
"No!"
The Stone Emperor let out his last roar.
The roar was devoid of arrogance and coldness, containing only the purest thing, something that had never appeared in his life before—fear.
This wasn't a fear of death; the Stone Emperor never feared death. This was a fear of something called reincarnation. He could sense something waiting for him deep within that halo. It was nothingness, annihilation, a long, endless road.
Along the way lay every living being he had slain, every drop of blood he had devoured, and every sin he had accumulated over the long years. They awaited him, waiting to bow and walk away.
The Heavenly Halberd slipped from his grasp. Those hands that had once shattered stars, those hands that had slaughtered countless lives, were bending uncontrollably. His knees trembled. His spine crumbled. He had once made the entire universe kneel at his feet, and now, Reincarnation had taken it all back.
Imperial blood erupted from his body, the burning essence after its ultimate sublimation forcibly forced out by the pressure of the radiant light of reincarnation. His aura decayed at a visible speed, plummeting from the peak of the ultimate path to an ordinary supreme being, and then from an ordinary supreme being to ashes even worse than a self-severed state. As the last wisp of imperial law was stripped away by the halo, he saw it. Deep within the halo, countless eyes were watching him.
boom!
The Stone Emperor's body exploded in the starry sky. The kind of world-destroying explosion that would have occurred didn't happen; instead, there was an extreme disintegration.
Flesh and blood, bones and primordial spirit—everything transforms into the finest specks of light within the radiance of reincarnation, slowly drawn into the depths by the halo and sent onto that endless path of rebirth.
The Holy Spirit Emperor, the master of the Undying Mountain, one of the seven forbidden zones of life, and one of the greatest sources of dark turmoil, the Stone Emperor, who reigned supreme in the Primordial Era and wreaked havoc in the Desolate Era, whose fame lasted for countless years, came to an end at this moment!
The Heavenly Halberd was broken in two, and the black-gold armor was tattered and floated alone in the starry sky. Their interiors were completely empty. The god born from the Stone Emperor had all his marks erased the moment the light of reincarnation swept over him, leaving only the shell of the imperial divine weapon.
All the forbidden zones of life fell silent. The Immortal Mausoleum was silent, the Sea of Reincarnation was still, and the chaotic mist of the heavens remained stagnant.
No one spoke, no one discussed it.
As supreme beings, this is hardly a matter of shared sorrow. They all reached this point by stepping over countless corpses, and have long since forgotten the meaning of compassion.
But at this moment, watching the fading radiance of reincarnation, watching the two broken pieces of the Heavenly Desolation Halberd slowly float in the starry sky, an indescribable desolation silently crept over. An existence from their time, even more ancient than most supreme beings, had vanished completely.
From the primordial era to the desolate past, from enlightenment to self-destruction, from darkness and turmoil to ultimate sublimation, he lived through countless years, yet ultimately left no trace. Like the end of a great era, like the turning of the last page in an ancient history.
In the outer starry sky, the Wheel of Reincarnation, shrouded in chaotic light, slowly rotated, sweeping away the battlefield. The Heavenly Desolate Halberd, broken in two, was lifted up by the chaotic light, and the tattered black-gold armor was also gathered together. These divine materials were extremely rare; even though the gods were gone, the materials themselves remained treasures. Yu Dao raised his hand, and the Wheel of Reincarnation rotated slightly, collecting these remnants of the weapons into the chaotic space within the wheel.
With another wave of his hand, the remaining essence blood in the starry sky was drawn in from all directions by an invisible force.
Most of the primordial essence blood that the Stone Emperor burned after his ultimate ascension had turned to ashes in the radiance of reincarnation, with the remaining portion still containing the life essence of an Emperor-level being. Enveloped in chaotic light, the essence blood was refined into several dark red blood pills, each condensing the last essence of an ancient Emperor's life, making them rare treasures even for a Supreme Being. Yu Dao, having lived a new life, possessed a vast and boundless life force, and naturally disregarded this remnant blood, but it could still be used for other purposes.
After the battlefield was cleaned up, he moved again.
A myriad of auspicious colors and divine rays spread out from beneath his feet, transforming into a dazzling divine bridge spanning the galaxy. The divine bridge pierced through the void, compressing the boundless sea of stars into a single step, carrying him across the endless galaxy and landing him in a star field permeated with ancient battle intent.
This is an ancient battlefield of gods, where a special Dao flows, which has not dissipated even after countless ages. Even after thousands of battles with supreme beings who have severed their own ties and those who have attained Dao through other means, this battlefield remains unbroken.
In the center of the battlefield, the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor had already transformed into his true form. It was an ancient lion covered entirely in strange golden scales, its body blotting out the sky and the sun, each scale flowing with a destructive brilliance interwoven with lightning and fire. It stood on thunderclouds, constantly spewing out dark golden flames from its mouth that were enough to incinerate star fields, each breath burning the shattered stars at the edge of the battlefield into nothingness.
Amidst the raging thunder and fire, the celestial music of the Tribulation Transcending Immortal Melody spread out layer by layer like a tide.
The sound of the zither is invisible, yet omnipresent. Each echo disintegrates the thunder and fire spewed by the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor into the most primordial fragments of calamity light.
The celestial music sometimes roared like ten thousand thunderbolts, colliding head-on with the thunder and fire of the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor; at other times, it was like fine rain seeping through, penetrating the gaps in the thunder and fire and slashing straight at the true form of the Suanni that blotted out the sky.
Gai Jiuyou's figure appeared and disappeared amidst the music. The Nine Nether Zither hung before him, and as his ten fingers plucked the strings, celestial light cascaded like a waterfall. Each note etched a complete Dao principle into the void. A trace of blood clung to the corner of his mouth, and his clothes were tattered under the impact of the Imperial Dao Laws. Yet, the divine light and extraordinary phenomena emanating from his body grew brighter with each battle, and the sound waves of the Tribulation Transcending Immortal Melody became increasingly sharp.
The Golden Lion Ancient Emperor grew increasingly agitated with each battle.
"The Stone Emperor is such a waste! Even after reaching the pinnacle of power, he was so easily killed by the Lord of Chaos?"
He had thought that even if the Stone Emperor, after reaching his ultimate level, was no match for the Chaos Lord, he could still hold him off long enough for him to deal with the troublesome young man before joining forces with the Stone Emperor to hunt him down. The Stone Emperor's demise was far too swift, exceeding all expectations.
Now the situation has completely reversed. Their plan to join forces to hunt down the Lord of Chaos has fallen through, and now it's the Lord of Chaos's turn to hunt him down.
"Even someone who hasn't attained enlightenment is defying the heavens..."
The Golden Lion Ancient Emperor gritted his teeth. What shocked him even more was that this young man who had not yet attained enlightenment was able to block him for so long.
The melody of the Celestial Melody of Tribulation layered upon layer, and each time he thought the next strike would break through the sound barrier, only to be blocked by a new melody. A deeply unsettling thought even surfaced in his mind—
If we don't strive for the ultimate sublimation, we'll probably find it difficult to subdue this unorthodox enlightened one today!
The will of the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor transcended the universe, reaching out to the several supreme beings slumbering on the Northern Dipper Burial Sky Island, attempting to persuade them to lend a helping hand.
But the responses were few and far between. The Emperor and the Sovereign never met; though they both resided on Burial Sky Island, neither was subordinate to the other. Everyone was merely lying low on this path to immortality, each with their own plans. The Stone Emperor was dead, and the Lord of Chaos had lived his second life. Now, to emerge and face a flawless Great Emperor head-on—who would be willing to take that risk?
Some supreme beings waver, while others have long since stopped responding and are now observing coldly from the sidelines.
Before the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor could continue his persuasion, a Great Dao composed of boundless light descended from the edge of the universe.
Within the boundless light, the figure of Yu Dao manifested!
"Lord of Chaos!"
The ancient golden lion roared, its sound shaking the starry sea.
He was clinging to a sliver of hope and did not immediately strive for ultimate enlightenment.
The ultimate sublimation is irreversible. The fate of the Stone Emperor is right before our eyes. Once he takes that step, there will be no turning back!
He leaped into the air, his massive, sky-covering Suanni form transforming into a streak of light as he frantically fled towards the Big Dipper Starfield. If he could escape back to Burial Sky Island, and drag the other supreme beings of the forbidden zone down with him, he would still have a chance to turn the tide.
But Yu Dao had already caught up. The Wheel of Reincarnation flew out of his hand, and the chaotic light spread out in the starry sky, forming a passage wider than the Milky Way, cutting off the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor's escape route.
An earth-shattering war has broken out.
Chaotic energy intertwined with lightning and fire, enveloping the entire ancient battlefield in endless light and flame. The melody of the Immortal Melody of Tribulation echoed at the edge of the battlefield as Gai Jiuyou stepped on the sound waves and withdrew from the battle. This battle no longer needed him.
The chaotic radiance and dark golden lightning collided violently, each impact unleashing destructive energy in all directions like a cosmic explosion. Even with divine eyes and celestial mirrors, it was difficult to discern what was happening within the surging flames. All that could be heard was the increasingly shrill roar of the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor, and all that could be seen was the sky-covering, sun-obscuring phantom of the Suanni constantly shrinking and twisting within the chaotic radiance.
As the final roar faded, the flames vanished abruptly.
The starry sky returned to clarity, and the scene in the center of the battlefield was finally exposed to all the prying eyes.
The Wheel of Reincarnation hovered high in the sky, slowly rotating, its chaotic radiance pouring down like mercury, enveloping the entire battlefield in a thin layer of twilight. The light was not dazzling, but it pressed down on the entire star field, causing it to sink slightly. Even the supreme wills projected from the depths of the forbidden zones stopped in their tracks before this light barrier, no longer advancing an inch.
At the very center of the chaotic light, the once sky-covering, alien Suanni had shrunk to a mere few feet in length.
His scales shattered inch by inch, and dark golden royal blood gushed from the cracks, condensing into droplets that floated in the void. His four legs were bent, his back was pressed down by an invisible force, and a low whimper came from his throat.
Yu Dao stood atop the true form of the Suanni, one foot resting directly on the head covered in shattered scales. His posture was not violent; in fact, it could be described as composed.
His black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and his plain robe fluttered slightly in the starlight. There was no hint of killing intent emanating from him. Yet, the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor beneath his feet couldn't even muster the slightest struggle. The laws of the Imperial Dao had already crumbled inch by inch under the suppression of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and the Suanni clan's natal divine fire had been suppressed by the chaotic light to the point that only a few wisps of extinguished blue smoke remained.
"Waaah..."
The Golden Lion Ancient Emperor whimpered almost silently. Once invincible and sweeping across the nine heavens and ten earths, this ancient emperor was now no better than a stray dog.
From the Big Dipper to outer space, from forbidden zones of life to the edge of the universe, countless gazes were fixed on this scene.
There were no words, no superfluous movements.
Only one flawless supreme emperor, who had lived a second life, stood calmly in the starry sky, with one foot on the head of the ancient emperor.