Chapter 195 - Slaying a Heavenly God, Honoring Lord Zhou

Zhu Chanchan’s heart pounded. Hack a heavenly god to death? Did this forgetful bird even realize what it was saying?

Yuanqi and Dazhong knew that Jin Buyi had indeed fought heavenly gods. In fact, Jin Buyi had brutally butchered Heaven's Fate, the heretical god they recently met, and slain countless others in the distant past. His fearsome reputation was well earned!

Still, Heaven's Fate was formidable. Back then in the land of exile, Jin Buyi had held the upper hand at the start of their battle. But age had sapped his vital energy, and as the duel dragged on, the tide turned in favor of Heaven's Fate.

Fortunately, Jin Buyi soon forgot the matter and drifted off to sleep.

The others looked around. The underworld and the mortal realm met here, and regions kept emerging from the Abyss of Cangwu, blurring the boundary between the two worlds.

Human villages dotted the underworld, while wandering ghosts roamed the mortal realm.

Zhu Chanchan studied their surroundings. Something caught her attention, and she cried out in surprise, “Look at the terrain here! Doesn’t it seem to dip slightly?”

Neither Yuanqi nor Dazhong thought much of it.

Then Zhu Chanchan spotted something else. She flew over to a faint, barely visible line and exclaimed, “Come here!”

With Yuanqi coiled atop him, Dazhong drifted lazily over. “What is it now?”

“A tribulation lightning line!”

Her expression grew grave as she explained, “See it? When the lightning tribulation erupted, its staggering energy expanded outward, pressing the space and imprinting this trace in the air!”

She surveyed the area and said solemnly, “Someone underwent a tribulation nearby. The sheer force tilted the terrain and left this line behind. The site should be roughly a thousand li away!”

Yuanqi raised the tip of his tail and pointed toward Mount Jiuyi. “Was it over there?”

Zhu Chanchan pulled out a compass and square, measuring the arc to calculate its center.

She said in surprise, “That’s exactly it! I didn’t know you were a math prodigy, Master Qi!”

Yuanqi gazed into the distance. “Zhou Qiyun underwent his tribulation there. Four years ago, before you returned from the Other Shore, he took the heavenly gods of the heavens hostage there and survived his heavenly tribulation.”

Eight peaks ringed Mount Jiuyi's main peak. Xu Ying walked slowly toward the parasol tree on the main peak.

Beneath the tree lay a neglected grave. No one had tended it, and withered grass had overgrown the mound.

This was an ascension site. The noble clans had claimed this peak as a prime cultivation ground, where rich primordial qi doubled one's progress.

Now, however, knowledge of the Six Secret Troves of the human body had spread far and wide. Qi Cultivators and Exorcists alike had opened multiple Secret Troves to gain an endless supply of immortal herbs. That made cultivation at ascension sites much less important.

Only low-ranking clan Exorcists who lacked access to core teachings still lingered here.

None recognized Xu Ying as the Ageless Immortal who had once wreaked havoc in the divine capital. Since he hadn't disturbed their cultivation, they didn't try to drive him away.

A youth ran over. “What brings you up the mountain?”

Xu Ying gave the wine jar in his hand a little shake and smiled. “I’ve come to pay my respects to someone I once knew.”

The youth belonged to the Wang family of the divine capital. Xu Ying looked somewhat familiar, but he could not identify him.

“Is that your friend in the grave?”

“An enemy. I buried him here myself,” whispered Xu Ying.

The youth said, “The great noble clans share this ascension site. If you don’t belong to one of them, you shouldn’t linger. Leave as soon as you’ve paid your respects. No sense inviting trouble.”

Xu Ying nodded slightly. The youth asked no more questions and ran off to cultivate.

Zhou Qiyun’s skin lay in the grave. Xu Ying had buried it with his own hands. His recent encounter with Li Xiaoke had stirred old memories, driving him here after leaving the underworld.

He poured half the wine from the jar onto the grave and said unhurriedly, “You let go of your obsession, accepting total oblivion. Li Xiaoke clings on, pretending he’s still alive. He lacked your resolve. Qiyun, I’ll drink to you.”

He tipped back his head and drank deeply.

It wasn’t good wine, just something he had picked up randomly in Lingling County. It was the kind that takes gallons to induce a stupor.

Xu Ying was already somewhat drunk. He lay atop Zhou Qiyun’s grave, drinking freely and pouring his heart out to the dead man, occasionally breaking into laughter.

The Purple Immortal Herb hopped off his shoulder and took root on the burial mound, trying to draw energy from the person buried beneath it. But when its roots reached down, it found only human skin.

“Grave Grass,” Xu Ying snorted.

Birdsong reached his ears, as though countless birds were calling beside him. Alarmed, he sat up. The herb also sensed something wrong. It hastily uprooted itself and burrowed into Xu Ying’s ethereal void.

A white-browed youth had appeared near the grave, smiling at the desolate mound.

Xu Ying’s eye twitched at the corner.

The newcomer looked identical to Zhou Qiyun resting beneath the dirt, sharing even his posture and aura.

The youth turned to him and said with a smile, “Mister Xu, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Xu Ying slowly rose, his muscles shifting. With each slight movement, his entire body adjusted, keeping him poised to unleash his full strength from any position.

The birdsong hadn't faded, but his martial will weakened its influence.

The white-browed youth smiled. “You don’t seem to recognize me, Mister Xu. I’m Zhou Qiyun. Surely you remember our correspondence.”

Xu Ying said gravely, “Zhou Qiyun is dead. I buried him.”

Nearby, beneath the rosy light, blood sprayed through the air. A scion of the noble clans went mad and began slaughtering people. He cut off an Exorcist Master’s head and held it aloft. “I told you Returning Birds to the Nest wasn’t supposed to be practiced that way, but you wouldn’t believe me! See now? My way is right!”

He had been teaching the Exorcist Masters to cultivate divine abilities. For some unknown reason, he had flown into a rage and used that very move to kill his pupil.

Elsewhere, an Exorcist Master burst out laughing. “I’ve fathomed the workings of creation within the Heavenly Dao and devised an extraordinary divine ability!”

He unleashed his Mud-Pill exorcism art, triggering wild, uncontrollable mutations in the surrounding flesh. Those around him warped into hideous monstrosities before exploding, painting the ground with blood.

Someone else killed his closest friend and snarled, “I know you meant well, but you were too damn noisy!”

Within moments, the place of ascension had become a slaughterhouse. Soon, only one cultivator remained alive. He wiped the blood from his face and stared in terror at the corpses strewn around him. “Did I do this? I killed so many people! My sins are unforgivable. I deserve to die ten thousand times!”

He clawed at his face, tearing it into a bloody ruin, then dug out his own heart. A moment later, he collapsed into a pool of blood.

The young Zhou Qiyun paid it no mind. He said with a smile, “I am Zhou Qiyun. Did you think a mere fisherman could kill me...?”

Before he could finish, Xu Ying stamped his foot. The entirety of Mount Jiuyi shuddered violently, its slopes rumbling as if the mountain itself were sinking.

Bam!

Xu Ying thrust his palm forward, slamming it straight into the young Zhou Qiyun’s face and blasting the familiar visage apart!

The second art of the Eight Arts of the Combat God, the Earth-Shattering Art!

He had channeled the force that had nearly driven Mount Jiuyi’s peak into the ground into his palm, adding his own mystical power and will. It was a martial divine ability of overwhelming might!

Another Zhou Qiyun appeared behind the youth with a surprised look on his face. His head burst apart as well. Then another appeared behind him, his expression still shifting in surprise when his head exploded.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A succession of sharp cracks rang out. More Zhou Qiyuns appeared behind the youth, forming a single line in the air!

Their heads kept bursting, their bodies kept toppling. Yet the expressions of those further down the line shifted from surprise to smiles.

The force of Xu Ying’s palm strike destroyed hundreds of young Zhou Qiyuns, but even that power had its limits. Hundreds of headless bodies toppled in front of him, blood gushing from their necks. When the blow finally reached the last Zhou Qiyun’s smiling face, his head remained intact.

Boom!

The palm strike landed with a crash, raising clouds of dust. As the dust cleared, a towering stone statue with a triangular head stood before Xu Ying. Powdered stone showered from its face.

The statue erupted into boisterous laughter and strode forward. “Xu Ying, have you never heard the saying that divine abilities are no match for fate? Heaven’s Will went to capture you, but you escaped. In my hands, you have no chance of escape!”

He reached out to seize Xu Ying, laughing aloud. “Even among heavenly gods, hierarchies exist, and I rank among the most honored!"

As his palm reached for Xu Ying, a series of pops rang out overhead. Fleshy orbs descended from the sky around Mount Jiuyi, swaying gently before peeling open into giant eyes that surrounded Xu Ying and scrutinized his every move from every angle!

Xu Ying recalled witnessing the same sight in the Land of Heavenly Retribution. It was the same divine ability the imprisoned heretical god had displayed when it broke free. The flesh covering the Land of Heavenly Retribution had risen to blanket the sky, and countless eyes had dangled from it!

The heretical god in the Land of Heavenly Retribution and the honored god of the Heavenly Dao World are both Heavenly Dao Divine Spirit of the same type!

In a flash, he grasped the connection. Both honored gods shared the same source, birthed directly from the Heavenly Dao. After the heretical god was suppressed by the people condemned as sinners, the Heavenly Dao World had abandoned it and appointed a new honored god to continue governing heavenly fate.

All these thoughts flashed through Xu Ying’s mind in an instant. He changed moves, switching to the Heaven-Flipping Art. His fist descended like an immortal artifact from the heavens. But the stone statue swayed, evading his killing blow, and reached for his chest.

Xu Ying activated the Extreme Intent Freedom Art and dodged. Yet the stone statue shifted with him, appearing at his side. Power erupted from the statue’s palm as the Heavenly Dao runes along his arm blazed with light!

Bam!

The palm struck Xu Ying with a thunderous crash, sending him flying!

While he was still airborne, the honored god flashed into view, raised his massive stone leg, and swept it viciously toward him!

Xu Ying sent his primordial energy surging and unleashed the Overturning-Sea Art. But his martial divine ability had only just begun when the stone statue of Heaven's Fate shifted aside. Before he could even attack, the statue was already out of his path.

The statue’s leg whistled through the air and slammed into his waist.

Boom!

A distant peak of Mount Jiuyi burst apart. Dust and smoke billowed as Xu Ying crashed deep into the mountainside, pain coursing through his bones.

The stone statue laughed and hurtled after him like a whirlwind. With a deafening crash, his fist smashed into Xu Ying, blasting him straight through the peak!

Xu Ying tumbled through the air and smashed into another peak in the distance.

He struggled to stand, but a sharp snap echoed from his right leg, forcing him to one knee. Pushing up with his left, he activated his Mud-Pill Grotto Heaven, instantly mending the shattered bone.

The stone statue descended from the sky and landed before him. Xu Ying used an exorcism technique to strip away his vitality, but such a divine ability had no effect on a heavenly god.

“No divine ability can rival the fate of heaven. Under heaven’s fate, everything is calculated and ordered, without the slightest deviation.”

The stone statue of Heaven's Fate darted aside to evade Xu Ying’s Mountain-Crashing Art, then turned sideways to avoid his Dao-Hammering Art. The exquisite martial techniques of the Eight Arts of the Combat God seemed utterly useless against it!

The countless eyes hanging in the sky could discern every subtlety of Xu Ying’s moves!

Xu Ying unleashed the sixth art, the Heavenly-Pull Art. He became a great star, nearly collapsing the surrounding space and time. Yet the stone statue flitted about with extraordinary agility, evading every attack.

His heart sank. He shifted from the Heavenly-Pull Art to the God-Slaying Art.

“Xu Ying, under heaven’s fate, none can escape what is ordained.”

The stone statue of Heaven's Fate calmly avoided the force of his God-Slaying Art and swept his hand toward Xu Ying as casually as before. Yet, seemingly bewitched, Xu Ying’s evasive movement took him straight into the statue’s palm.

The Heavenly Dao runes lit up, and power erupted from the statue’s palm. Even with the Extreme Intent Freedom Art, Xu Ying could not dodge the blow. It sent him hurtling back into Mount Jiuyi!

He had barely steadied himself when the stone statue of Heaven's Fate appeared before him again.

Smiling, it said, “Bei Chenzi and the others are utter fools. They constantly submit reports and disturb our peace. Still, we Heavenly Dao Divine Spirits needed a pretext to intervene in the lower realm. You gave us that opportunity.”

It surveyed its surroundings and added leisurely, “Those above us have always constrained the Heavenly Dao Divine Spirits. We lack the real authority the ancient heretical gods possessed. They could descend whenever they pleased and enjoy sacrificial offerings, free from the Heavenly Dao Divine Artifact's control.

“We, too, want to enjoy the sacrificial offerings of the common people. We, too, want supreme power.”

Xu Ying wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “You want to descend to the mortal world?”

An eerie smile appeared on Heaven's Fate’s stone face as it looked down at Xu Ying. “Indeed. In ancient times, heavenly gods ruled the world. When mortals waged war, they sacrificed to us. When they planted crops, they sacrificed to us.”

With a wave of its hand, crude cave-wall drawings flickered into existence before Xu Ying, depicting common people offering sacrifices to heavenly gods. They resembled the crude pictures their ancestors had drawn on stone walls. Those ancient people offered cattle, sheep, and other livestock, as well as humans. People were forced onto altars and offered to the heavenly gods just like animals.

They prayed for bountiful harvests, favorable weather and timely rain, and peace and prosperity for their lands. They also prayed for the heavenly gods’ protection in war, asking them to safeguard their warriors and grant them victory over enemy armies.

The heavenly gods controlled the wars, plagues, floods, droughts, fires, earthquakes, and other calamities of world after world, pushing divine worship to its absolute zenith.

The stone statue of Heaven's Fate said leisurely, “If there was no war, we created one. If there was no plague, we created one. That is the world we wish to return to.”

Xu Ying let out a breath and smiled. “Can false gods like you really manage that, when you can’t even get your Heavenly Dao runes right?”

The statue’s brows rose in bewilderment. “What did you say?”

Xu Ying unleashed the Heaven-Flipping Art and brought his fist crashing down.

“I said, you call yourself Heaven's Fate, yet so many of your Heavenly Dao runes are wrong. Don’t you even realize it?”

The countless eyes suspended in the air around the stone statue tracked the path of Xu Ying’s punch and calculated every opening in his technique. The statue moved to evade it.

Boom!

Xu Ying’s fist smashed into the statue’s face.

The stone entity roared in shock as a line of identical figures materialized behind it, their heads bursting one after another!

Xu Ying stepped forward, closing in as he unleashed the Earth-Shattering Art. All of Mount Jiuyi sank several chi. His palm slammed into the statue’s face, and the power of his second strike erupted, tearing through the hundreds of stone statues on the back of Heaven's Fate!

“My memories may be sealed!”

Xu Ying unleashed the Overturning-Sea Art, as though he were hoisting an ocean and bringing it crashing down. The raw impact shattered body after stone body!

“But one glance is all I need to see that the Heavenly Dao runes on your body are riddled with errors!”

He advanced another step and unleashed the Heavenly-Pull Art. Countless stone statues of Heaven's Fate were dragged into view, whirling around him. He shattered them with his fingers, palms, fists, and feet!

“I can see through every one of your Heavenly Dao runes. Even if you see through my moves, I can still kill you!” roared Xu Ying.

Dao sounds reverberated within him, his sinews and bones resonating together as he unleashed the God-Slaying Art. A streak of rainbow light pierced through the brows of every stone statue!

Countless sharp cracks merged into a single unbroken sound. At last, all the statues froze and merged into one. The stone statue stood motionless before Xu Ying.

Crack!

His head burst apart. He swayed and fell.

Xu Ying turned toward Zhou Qiyun’s untended grave and smiled. “Qiyun, did you see that? This is who I am now. Back then, you abducted a heavenly god and survived your heavenly tribulation, astounding the world. Today, I offer the avatar of Heaven's Fate as tribute to you.”

The stone statue of Heaven's Fate dropped to its knees with a thud, facing directly toward Zhou Qiyun’s untended grave.

The grave lay silent. No one answered. Only the grass stirred.

“Xu Ying!”

Lightning flashed, and thunder roared above Mount Jiuyi. Fierce winds rose, churning the clouds until the sky grew dark and heavy. Deep rumbling rolled down from above. The clouds pressed ever lower, then transformed into an immense face, that of Heaven's Fate.

He opened his mouth and bellowed, “Xu Ying, you’re courting death—”

Before he could finish the last word, Xu Ying unleashed the Dao-Returning Art into the sky. Dao art thundered through heaven and earth, forming countless beams of light that converged and blasted the honored god Heaven's Fate’s face to pieces!

The blow even penetrated the Heavenly Dao World and shook the honored god Heaven's Fate’s true body!

Xu Ying raised his head and gazed beyond the sky, his clothes snapping in the wind.

“Useless thing. You don’t dare descend to the lower world yourself. Send as many avatars as you like. I’ll kill every last one!”