A single arrow flew lightly and silently through the Void Heaven, piercing straight through the two Chaoyuan Realm experts from the Upper Realms who wielded Saint Ancestor Dao soldiers above their heads.
It shot directly toward the Saint Ancestor's enormous pupil.
In the Lower Three Heavens, every cultivator who witnessed this scene was utterly horrified.
What kind of insane act was this?
This was the Cloud Clan's Saint Ancestor—an ancient monster who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, backed by the full might of a powerful saint clan in the Upper Realms!
Yet the Lord Lu of the Five Phoenixes feared nothing. He drew his bow and shot at the Saint Ancestor.
Was he mad?
Everyone wanted to call Lu Ping'an arrogant beyond belief.
But then the many cultivators of the Lower Three Heavens paused and reflected—Lu Ping'an of the Five Phoenixes had always been this bold.
So in the end, they fell silent.
The arrow itself was plain and unadorned. Aside from casually piercing the two Upper Realm Chaoyuan experts along its path, it carried no trace of worldly killing intent.
A normal arrow would have been wrapped in overwhelming murderous aura.
But this one from Lu held none at all.
Even without killing intent, no one could deny its sheer terror.
The Saint Ancestor's colossal body loomed like an entire sky.
Vast and boundless, his eyes blazed like twin suns.
That tiny arrow, even after piercing two Chaoyuan experts, seemed no more than a speck of dust drifting toward a blazing sun.
Utterly insignificant.
It looked as if the Saint Ancestor needed only to blink, and the gust from his eyelids would scatter the arrow like chaff.
Yet the Saint Ancestor sensed the provocation clearly.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the Void Heaven, locking onto Lu, who sat calmly in a small courtyard in South River City within the human realm of the Five Phoenixes.
Just that stare alone unleashed a terrifying saintly pressure.
In the courtyard.
The chair beneath Tang Xiansheng exploded in an instant. His body nearly buckled, as if forced to kneel.
Empress Ni Chunqiu's red dress billowed wildly, her expression grave beyond words.
With her Heavenly Human physique, she barely withstood the saintly pressure.
The sky over all of South River City plunged into darkness, thick black clouds rolling in like an ocean.
Lu, however, maintained his shooting posture. The Five Phoenixes Bow in his hand glowed brilliantly.
Faint green smoke curled from the mouths of the three phoenix heads on the bow.
As for that overwhelming saintly pressure—it was as if it didn't exist for Lu at all.
...
Pfft!
Saint blood sprayed once more.
The two Chaoyuan experts burst apart on contact with the Saint Ancestor's palm, reduced to bloody paste.
That was the Saint Ancestor's physical body, tempered by the Heavenly Dao. The saintly pressure it exuded alone was enough to annihilate them instantly, without even a chance to react.
Truth be told, those two Chaoyuan experts died unwillingly—they hadn't wanted to die.
They thought they could still salvage something from beneath the arrow.
What a pity.
The moment they collided with the Saint Ancestor's flesh and blood, their fate was sealed.
Their bodies shattered, their primordial spirits mercilessly crushed by the unleashed saintly pressure.
Yet.
Lu's arrow pierced through the Saint Ancestor's palm and, carrying unstoppable momentum, buried itself in the massive pupil.
Boom!
Terrifying power erupted in an instant!
A massive explosion detonated!
Beyond the Void Heaven lay Pingyang Heaven.
In that moment, the entire Pingyang Heaven quaked, mountains shaking and earth trembling.
Every living being in every world there lifted their heads and saw the explosion that illuminated the entire vault of heaven. Even in the dead of night, it turned bright as day.
A gigantic mushroom cloud bloomed—beautiful and deadly, hiding a bone-chilling aura of destruction beneath its splendor.
In the Lower Three Heavens.
No one had believed Lu's arrow could truly harm the Saint Ancestor.
But sensing that world-ending explosion, they realized they were wrong.
The Saint Ancestor's sky-like body had half his face engulfed by the blast's energy.
Roar!
Unrestrained saintly pressure surged forth like a tidal wave.
In Pingyang Heaven, nearly every creature fell to their knees in terror, trembling. It was oppression from the depths of their souls.
Oppression from a higher plane of existence!
At the Heavenly Gate.
The many Immortal Abode experts stood frozen, staring in disbelief.
Watching the Upper Realm saint clan's Saint Ancestor howl in agony—it all felt utterly unreal!
So...
Even without borrowing the power of an Ancient Emperor, one could wound a Saint Ancestor!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The terrifying mushroom cloud lingered, refusing to dissipate. Cracks spiderwebbed through the void as the cloud roiled, soon stained deep crimson with the Saint Ancestor's blood.
Yuanci Heaven and Xuesha Heaven had fallen deathly silent.
On the Upper Realm continent.
The many powerhouses gazing from afar were utterly stunned.
All except the mad Ye Bei, who laughed maniacally, his laughter grating and piercing.
As if mocking the heavens themselves.
The terrifying saintly pressure swept through repeatedly before finally flushing out the arrow's energy that had exploded inside his eyeball.
Soon, the explosion faded.
In its place, one of the Saint Ancestor's sun-like eyes was gone...
Only a massive hollow socket remained, charred flesh oozing holy blood that rained down across Pingyang Heaven.
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Everyone was shaken to their core, chills running down their spines.
This time... it was even more shocking than when the Saint Ancestor lost his arm.
After all, the severed arm had been due to the Void Heaven's rules—rules set by a Great Emperor. So while surprising, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
But for Lu's single arrow to actually wound the Saint Ancestor—that was something no one had foreseen!
What kind of cultivation did the Saint Ancestor possess?
A terrifying existence who had lived hundreds of thousands of years, his power unfathomable, his words becoming law.
A mythical figure like that—wounded by a cultivator from a newly ascended high-martial world?
The Saint Ancestor clutched his eye with his remaining arm, holy blood flowing unchecked.
His icy voice dripped with murderous intent.
"Insolent wretch of the Five Phoenixes—I will kill you!"
...
On the Five Phoenixes continent.
Lu, clad in white, put away the Five Phoenixes Bow, feeling a faint pang of regret.
"To think one arrow couldn't kill him. Saint Ancestors truly are formidable."
Lu sighed.
As expected, his eighth layer of Qi Refinement was still too weak.
In the ancient tomb.
Gu Mangran, who had just fallen asleep only to be roused by the Saint Ancestor's furious aura, was speechless.
Hearing Lu's words made him even more so.
Kill a Saint Ancestor?
Young Master Lu... was getting far too full of himself.
Gu Mangran gazed at the sky, seeing the Saint Ancestor's wretched state, a trace of surprise crossing his face.
He had once consumed a divine herb and fought the Saint Ancestor without wounding him this badly. Yet now... how had Lu reduced him to such misery?
One arm severed already—and now an eye exploded.
Boom!
Gu Mangran couldn't afford to wait. He sensed another catastrophe brewing.
Young Master Lu truly couldn't stay idle for a moment.
If he wasn't causing trouble, he was on his way to it.
He appeared in the divine herb field.
Lu Changkong, tending the herbs, suddenly noticed Gu Mangran and looked mildly surprised.
"Mr. Lu... could I borrow another divine herb?"
Gu Mangran asked, a bit embarrassed.
In the distance, Bu Nanxing's mouth hung open, stunned and speechless.
"Hmm... war again?"
Lu Changkong seemed to guess.
Gu Mangran sat in his coffin and nodded slightly.
"Sigh, you'll get used to it. Compared to the old days... Ping'an has restrained himself a lot."
Lu Changkong shook his head.
Compared to the bloody storms in Northern Luo City back then, this was small potatoes.
Gu Mangran didn't know what to say.
Exploding a Saint Ancestor's eye—and that counted as restraint?
Then what wouldn't be restraint?
Massacring the entire Upper Realm Cloud Clan, leaving none alive?
Lu Changkong had Bu Nanxing fetch a chrysanthemum-shaped divine herb and hand it to Gu Mangran.
Gu Mangran, skeletal and gaunt, eyed the herb and hesitated, wanting to ask for a different one.
But remembering he was borrowing, how could he be picky?
In the end, he sighed deeply, cupped his hands toward Lu Changkong.
Then, wrapping the herb, he vanished in a streak of bloody light.
...
Five Phoenixes continent.
South River City.
Tang Manor courtyard.
Lu put away the Five Phoenixes Bow, glanced at the darkened sky, and shook his head with a smile.
"Old Tang, I'm afraid we can't finish this game."
Lu said.
Tang Xiansheng lay sprawled on the ground, drenched in sweat. But with a flick of Lu's sleeve, the pressure lifted.
He scrambled up awkwardly, wiping his brow.
"No matter. Young Master Lu, attend to your matters first..."
Tang Xiansheng's wrinkled face creased further.
Lu nodded slightly.
He did have things to handle—no time for more chitchat with Tang Xiansheng.
He turned to the poised and reserved Empress Ni Chunqiu.
"No need to linger in the mortal realm. Ascend when it's time... or your strength won't grow."
Lu told Ni Chunqiu.
She stared at him stubbornly.
"Brother Lu, why don't you ascend?"
Lu smiled but offered no answer.
He turned away. The next moment, silver light cascaded like a waterfall, tearing through the sky.
In the eyes of Tang Xiansheng and Ni Chunqiu, he vanished amid dazzling radiance.
Ni Chunqiu pressed her red lips together, gazing at his departing back through spatial profound truths, her beautiful eyes rippling like autumn waters.
The courtyard fell quiet again.
Tang Xiansheng, still disheveled, patted his clothes.
Looking at the defiant Ni Chunqiu, he said, "Palace Lord Ni, you should heed Young Master Lu's advice and ascend soon... otherwise, one day you won't even qualify to watch him from afar."
His voice was hoarse, tinged with emotion.
Ni Chunqiu froze, lost in thought.
...
Waves rose across the vast sea.
Lu appeared seated upon the Thousand-Bladed Chair.
The long-sealed Spiritual Pressure Chessboard emerged.
Clack.
Lu placed a piece.
Instantly, myriad rays of light enveloped the Five Phoenixes' sky, melting away the oppressive saintly pressure like snow under the sun.
The gloom weighing on the world's hearts dissipated.
Countless mortals gasped for air in relief.
Buzz...
A coffin bearing a chrysanthemum divine herb broke through the air.
Gu Mangran appeared beside Lu.
Seeing Lu's calm face, Gu Mangran opened his mouth but hesitated.
Hadn't they agreed to develop steadily, avoid trouble, and let the Five Phoenixes grow stronger?
How long had it been?
Now he'd provoked a saint clan's Saint Ancestor to come killing.
And not only that—Lu had casually shot out one of the Saint Ancestor's eyes.
Gu Mangran's emotions were complicated.
If they truly enraged the ancient saint clans of the Upper Realms and a Saint Ancestor came wielding an Emperor weapon...
Things would get ugly.
The more he thought, the more helpless he felt. His mind spun like a sulking woman. In the end, he just sighed deeply at Lu, said nothing, and soared away to hold the line.
Lu watched his departing back, expression complex.
"I, Lu Ping'an, didn't do anything. He came knocking himself."
Lu felt utterly wronged.
He, Lu Ping'an, wasn't some hot-tempered guy.
"These saint clans think I'm easy to bully."
"If not for your Emperor weapons guarding you..."
Lu leaned back in the Thousand-Bladed Chair and muttered.
...
Beyond the Void Heaven.
The frenzied Saint Ancestor raged.
The lingering destructive energy still corroded his pupil, preventing his flesh from regenerating quickly. What infuriated him most was this:
The energy seemed even trickier than the Void Heaven's rules—harder to resolve.
It contained multiple Dao intents!
One of destruction, one of rebirth!
Such contradictory intents fused into a single force.
Boom!
Suddenly.
Amid the Void Heaven, stained red with the blood of countless Upper Realm Immortal Abode experts.
A coffin emerged.
Atop it, a vibrant chrysanthemum divine herb swayed in the wind, radiating divine light.
The familiar aura calmed the Cloud Clan Saint Ancestor.
Blood-Robed Gu Mangran!
Hm?
The Saint Ancestor spotted the chrysanthemum divine herb.
As it swayed, surging with dense vitality and powerful energy, the Saint Ancestor exploded in fury!
"Why does the Lower Three Heavens still have divine herbs?!"
He roared in outrage!
He had severed the ascension path to the Lower Three Heavens, cutting off the flow of divine herbs.
Yet now...
Another divine herb swayed mockingly atop Gu Mangran's coffin!
It felt like blatant mockery, like scorn.
Blood-Robed Gu Mangran was truly detestable!
In that moment.
The Saint Ancestor found Gu Mangran even more hateful than the one who had shot out his eye!
"The Heavenly Gate... the ascension ground... divine herbs?!"
The Saint Ancestor's single eye narrowed sharply.
"As expected... Gu Mangran, your divine herbs come from that ascension ground!"
"This ascension ground is tied to the Void Heaven, and this underworld... is also tied to the Void Heaven!"
His gaze shifted to the Five Phoenixes, now nearly an eighth the size of the Void Heaven, exhaling a vast breath.
"Ascension ground, mortal realm, underworld... Void Heaven. Are you trying to rebuild the Nine Heavens?!"
"The Void Heaven... is forging a new 'Great Emperor'!"
His remaining eye blazed like a sun once more.
He felt he had glimpsed the truth.
The emergence of the Heavenly Gate ascension ground, the underworld... even protected by an Ancient Emperor killing array—it all pointed to one thing:
The vanished Ancient Great Emperors sought to rebuild the Nine Heavens.
To cultivate a new Great Emperor!
Inside the coffin, Gu Mangran's sunken eyes widened slightly.
He thought... the Cloud Clan Saint Ancestor's words actually made a lot of sense!
Remembering the back of the Ancient Great Emperor "Hao" he had seen in the ascension ground.
Gu Mangran drew a deep breath.
Lu, who had just arrived in the Void Heaven via spatial profound truths, heard these words.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
These people's imaginations... were far too wild.
Overthinking was the scariest thing!
The ascension ground and underworld were really just things he'd built to gather more spiritual energy!
He, Lu Ping'an... just wanted to refine Qi in peace.
To be a peace-loving Qi refiner.
Boom!
Suddenly.
Terrifying aura surged.
Gu Mangran yanked the chrysanthemum divine herb from his coffin.
This one, cultivated by Lu Changkong, was far more potent than the last.
He opened wide and stuffed it into his mouth.
No time to chew—the medicinal power flooded in.
White robes instantly turned blood-red.
He rose from the coffin.
Murderous intent filled the Void Heaven.
His withered flesh plumped under the herb's essence, cold and solemn.
He was once more the killing god who had slaughtered across the ancient era.
Staring icily at the Cloud Clan Saint Ancestor, he said slowly:
"You... know too much."
Boom!
The words fell.
Blood robes flashed as he shot out of the Void Heaven.
Lu: "???"
In Pingyang Heaven.
The Cloud Clan Saint Ancestor's saintly pressure surged.
"As I thought!"
"To forge a 'Great Emperor,' the ascension ground and underworld... must hold great secrets!"
"No—the Five Phoenixes holds secrets too!"
"Secrets left by those vanished Ancient Great Emperors!"
His single eye shone brilliantly, like a blazing sun.
There might even be... a chance to become an Emperor!
As a Saint Ancestor who had lived hundreds of thousands of years, his desire was simple:
To become an Emperor.
Watching the blood-soaked Gu Mangran charge with rolling killing intent.
All the frustration from losing an arm and an eye vanished!
Boom!
Vast saintly pressure spread. Countless beings in Pingyang Heaven were crushed to bloody mist.
The void tore.
The two plunged into the heavens, vanishing into the chaotic battlefield beyond.
Faintly, terrifying killing intent rained down, savage clashes shaking the world.
Countless beings trembled.
This time, unlike their previous standoff, they were going all out.
Both fueled by true rage.
Lu sat upon the Thousand-Bladed Chair, gazing at the sky, lost in deep thought.
For a long moment, he was speechless.
If he said now that it was all false... would anyone believe him?
After a long while.
Lu sighed.
"Fine..."
"True or false, what does it matter? When false seems true, true becomes false too."
"Just don't go too far."
Yet the moment he spoke.
Boom!
Pingyang Heaven's sky ripped open, a massive chasm like an endless abyss.
The Cloud Clan Saint Ancestor, drenched in blood, tumbled back from beyond.
His single eye burned with towering killing intent as he roared coldly toward the Upper Realm Cloud Clan: "If you don't act now... I won't hold much longer!"
The words fell.
In Yuanci Heaven, on the Upper Realm continent.
Vast, overflowing Dao essence surged.
Another Saint Ancestor aura swept the Lower Three Heavens!
The Dao Clan Saint Ancestor had emerged!
The world fell silent.
Countless beings held their breath.
Lu, upon the Thousand-Bladed Chair, narrowed his eyes slightly.
Good, good...
Just one more Saint Ancestor.
Yet.
In the void, the blood-drenched Cloud Clan Saint Ancestor stared toward the Upper Realm Cloud Clan.
His voice boomed with gravity and desperation:
"Activate our Cloud Clan's Emperor Weapon!"
Boom!
The words echoed.
Lu fell silent.
Good my ass.
Now... things had truly gone too far.
