Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Duel

The Three Corpses God and the Two Ancestors of Soul and Spirit, five in total, descended from the Sixth Heaven to the Third Heaven. Their grand path permeated the entire Third Heaven, reversing the void; it was as if a seed had been planted, which then grew into a towering tree. Layer upon layer of space merged into this tree. The essence of each layer was nothing but a blade of light from the Old Mother of the Calabash River. Yet at this moment, these were merely the steps upon which they descended.

Behind the five followed a sixth: none other than Jiang Xuan Yi.

With all six present, the Old Mother of the Calabash River’s expression tightened. She could not defeat these six. But that did not mean she would willingly sheath her blade.

“Your blade is indeed formidable. Against any one of us individually, you could easily kill,” the Bridge Ancestor said.

Yet they had come together as six.

“Bridge, I know your secrets. Why pretend here?” The Old Mother of the Calabash River advanced with her blade, sending a slash toward the Bridge Ancestor.

Peng Ancestor intervened, suppressing the attack.

“Fuse, then. I know you subdued Peng and Zhi five thousand years ago; the Three Corpses God has already merged into one.”

“So, you do know everything about us.” The Bridge Ancestor smiled faintly, then swallowed the Peng and Zhi Ancestors whole.

In that instant, the Three Corpses God became one—a manifestation of immortal radiance, the essence, spirit, and will of the Dragon Capital Emperor.

“Two Ancestors of Soul and Spirit, you should fuse as well!” The Old Mother of the Calabash River turned to them.

The two nodded, merged with each other, and became one—a divine soul manifestation of the Dragon Capital Emperor: “No wonder you are so confident!”

Immortal radiance and divine soul separated.

Over endless ages, the essence, spirit, and third corpse that first separated had fused into immortal radiance, while the three souls and seven spirits merged into the divine soul.

Yet the fallen Dragon Capital Emperor had never returned.

Even if the Bridge Ancestor and Soul Ancestor fused, even if immortal radiance and divine soul merged, the newborn deity would never be the Dragon Capital Emperor.

The true Dragon Capital Emperor was dead, never to return.

This was Jiang Xuan Yi’s first thought upon witnessing these transformations.

He shared the same ambition as the Dragon Capital Emperor, but he did not wish to follow in his footsteps.

He looked at Xu Zhong.

Before entering the Dragon Capital Cave Heaven, he had never expected Xu Zhong to be so important.

But—fortunately!

Jiang Xuan Yi drew his blade, silently thinking, “I can handle this!”

Bridge Ancestor and Soul Ancestor gazed at the Old Mother of the Calabash River.

“It seems we must all fight,” Soul Ancestor declared, reaching up to retrieve a broken sword from the Ninth Heaven.

This was once the Dragon Capital Emperor’s sword, the symbol of his authority over the world, second only to the imperial seal.

Tai’a—that was the sword’s name.

With the emperor’s death, Tai’a had long since lost its former majesty.

As Soul Ancestor gripped Tai’a, the entire Dragon Capital Cave Heaven responded.

Out of the thirty-three layers of thunderclouds awoke thirty-three Thunder Marsh Gods, who now gazed at the World Tree, sensing the emperor’s aura—but this aura was different from that of fifteen thousand years ago.

They did not descend, only watched.

“Tai’a held reversed, giving power to thieves... When the Dragon Capital Emperor wielded Tai’a, he was far stronger than you,” the Old Mother of the Calabash River mocked.

“No matter how strong he was, he is dead. Even if I am weak, I am still alive.”

Soul Ancestor wielded the sword, affecting all of the Third Heaven.

With this sword, rivers and mountains surged forth, sword-light interwoven with sun, moon, and stars.

As the sword descended, the entire world seemed to collapse.

The Old Mother of the Calabash River soared forth, blade in hand.

The small world tree, formed of condensed blade-light, erupted with immense brilliance.

All the blades shattered at once.

Like countless small worlds exploding.

The force crushed Soul Ancestor’s sword-light, shattering the Third Heaven, fragments of space scattered everywhere.

These fragments drifted like fallen leaves, within them broken corridors and bridges, and water demons peering out.

Only Xu Zhong’s thatched hut remained unmoved.

While Soul Ancestor and the Old Mother exchanged blows,

Bridge Ancestor and Jiang Xuan Yi fell into a deathly silence.

Both watched, waited, wary of each other.

Just as Azure Dragon had said.

Jiang Xuan Yi and these deities of the Dragon Capital Cave Heaven had irreconcilable conflicts of interest.

Sooner or later, they would fight.

But whether the battle would be brought forward by today’s conflict remained unknown.

“Who do you think will win?” Xu Zhong asked.

Azure Dragon shook its head.

“If it were twelve thousand five hundred years ago, I’d bet on Soul Ancestor. Now, I don’t know who will win or lose.” Azure Dragon stood quietly behind Xu Zhong.

Its gaze fell upon Xu Zhong’s Jade Pillow acupoint; unseen, a hand seemed to reach through, opening the Mud Pill Gate.

But it was only a thought.

It dared not act.

For fear that any move would make it a lubricant for these four contenders.

Boom!

After the collision,

Countless divine lights were extinguished.

Heaven and earth collapsed.

Xu Zhong felt his thatched hut falling.

And indeed, the hut was sinking toward the Second Heaven.

The deities of the First and Second Heavens had long since evacuated all living beings from the Cave Heaven, leaving the Nine Heavens World.

They were weak, fearing the aftermath would reach them.

No sooner had Xu Zhong entered the Second Heaven

than a dazzling blade-light severed the sky, sword-light tore the earth.

The Second Heaven rapidly collapsed.

All space was shattered by the battle’s aftermath.

The Old Mother of the Calabash River swung her blade.

Crash!

A heavenly river leapt from the blade, engulfing the Second Heaven, sweeping downward, encircling Soul Ancestor at the center.

Soul Ancestor raised his sword.

With one strike, the river split in two, transforming into yin and yang energies.

Under the Old Mother’s hand, the yin and yang became a pair of scissors.

She grasped the scissors and cut toward Soul Ancestor,

as if to sever and pulverize his soul.

A white light flew from Soul Ancestor’s sleeve.

It was the Dragon Capital Emperor’s imperial seal.

The seal expanded without limit, making the entire Dragon Capital Cave Heaven seem minuscule.

It descended,

suppressed the yin and yang scissors.

The yin and yang energies dispersed, becoming two great dragons, coiling in the air, condensing into two blades of light, slashing at Soul Ancestor.

Soul Ancestor’s sword shattered mountains and rivers, breaking the blades.

Behind the blade-light was the Old Mother herself.

She struck with her palm.

Within her palm was heaven and earth.

As her palm fell, so did the entire cosmos.

Upon Soul Ancestor’s body rested the whole world.

The weight was infinite, destabilizing him, as if his soul would split.

The sword rose!

It was the art of sword-controlling.

The blade shot like lightning, piercing the Old Mother’s palm in a blink.

Drops of divine blood fell.

The blood transformed into Samadhi True Fire.

The Old Mother pressed her palms together.

Instantly, Soul Ancestor was surrounded by a sea of Samadhi flames.

Boom!

A tremendous sound erupted above Xu Zhong’s head.

At some point, Jiang Xuan Yi and Bridge Ancestor had begun their duel.

Bridge Ancestor exhausted the myriad transformations of his arts.

He wielded endless spells, each more powerful than the last.

Inverting yin and yang, merging the five elements, holding worlds in his palm, turning winds and fires, changing size at will...

Against these arts, Jiang Xuan Yi responded with sword after sword.

Eight Celestial True Dragons clung to him; it seemed to be his strongest state, the sum of all his power.

His True Martial Saint Body pierced through the Third and Second Heavens.

The battle’s aftermath reached Xu Zhong’s thatched hut.

The hut shook, pressed by broken space around it, as if at any moment Xu Zhong and the hut would be crushed into a paper-thin sheet.

Ghost Mother had now appeared at Xu Zhong’s side.

To her, at this moment in the Dragon Capital Cave Heaven, nowhere was safer than with Xu Zhong.

Whether Bridge Ancestor, Soul Ancestor, or the Old Mother—they all needed Xu Zhong.

Thus, in the next instant, a gust swept away the fragments of space beside the hut.

Dazzling sword-light pierced through the Second Heaven.

They had now fallen to the First Heaven.

Everything of the First Heaven was quickly shattered.

Here, sword-light, blade-light, and spell aftershocks filled the space.

As for Xu Zhong,

he activated his spiritual insight, learning from the four’s arts.

He exhausted his wisdom, but could not deduce even a single spell.

He took another path: what he saw and felt, he captured on a scroll.

With spiritual insight enhancing his intellect, he memorized everything at a glance, rapidly sketching the scenes.

Soon, a single movement was split into a hundred and twenty-six frames.

By the time he finished drawing one movement, the four had exchanged untold blows.

Since entering the Second Heaven, he had only captured two movements—

a sword technique and a spell.

Just as Xu Zhong was about to draw more,

thunder sounded in his ears.

He looked into the distance.

There, he saw the thirty-three Thunder Marsh Gods, formed from thirty-three layers of thunderclouds, descending upon the World Tree.

Within Xu Zhong, the Five Elements Thunder Marsh God seemed to respond, emitting peals of thunder.

Lightning flashed among the five bright stars.

“Criminal Ji Longdu, defying the Heavenly Way, guilty beyond measure, slaughtering gods and men, crimes too numerous to record, shall suffer Heaven’s thunder punishment.”

In the void, a figure appeared, conveying Heaven’s will.

At once, the thirty-three Thunder Marsh Gods struck.

From the Ninth Heaven, thirty-three layers of thunderclouds unleashed thunder.

Lightning poured down, like torrential rain.

Five Elements Divine Thunder, Yin-Yang Divine Thunder, Primordial Divine Thunder, Supreme Divine Thunder...

Countless thunders merged into this deluge.

Xu Zhong had never seen rain made of thunder.

Each drop contained countless bolts, brimming with destruction.

The Nine Heavens World, in this endless thunderstorm, perished unceasingly, all living beings likewise.

But the true targets of the thunderstorm were clearly the four combatants.

The lightning rain became four heavenly rivers, surging toward the four.

The four, setting aside their differences, struck together, shattering the rivers.

The broken lightning shattered the entire Nine Heavens.

Countless bolts filled the world.

A stray arc from the shattered river fell near Xu Zhong.

In an instant, the lightning broke into myriad arcs; only one struck him, but Xu Zhong could not withstand it—blood seeped from every pore.

Ghost Mother beside him fared worse.

She collapsed, stiff as a fish struggling out of water, writhing on the ground.

“Still not acting!” Jiang Xuan Yi bellowed angrily, though it was unclear at whom.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the sky. With a single palm, he shattered the thirty-three layers of thunderclouds, killing or injuring more than half the Thunder Marsh Gods.