Book 08 Chapter 028: Breaking Dijiang
After absorbing the flawed immortal firmament’s fragments, the Gu’s Immortal Firmament had become much more resilient. However, Gu Hai could not guarantee that a consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator could not breach the Gu’s Immortal Firmament after entering it.
When the skeleton Gu Hai tried before, he nearly reached the limits of the Gu’s Immortal Firmament, so Gu Hai would not bring in any enemy in the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm.
This was the same for his battle with Dijiang. Gu Hai took exceptional care with this.
Dijiang, although not as strong as before, had once reached the consummation of the spiritual souls during ancient times. Its defense had reached the peak. Even with preparation, the Ninth Cycle could not overcome it.
Long Shenying and Long Aotian dashed into the valley.
The black fog within the valley rushed into a coffin. From the outside, the valley resembled a colossal dragon’s mouth but showed no signs of anomaly.
“Hah!”
Eighty-one giants charged over with tremendous momentum.
Long Shenying immediately met one of the giants with a punch, and the giant counterpunched.
Clang!
Their fists collided like metal hitting stone, producing plenty of sparks.
After that punch, both that giant and Long Shenying retreated a step.
On the other side, Long Aotian encountered a similar situation. He fought hard but could not defeat the giant and even seemed somewhat weaker.
“This is impossible!” Long Aotian exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Long Shenying lunged toward the center once more.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of exchanges unfolded, the giants’ explosive strength stunning both father and son.
Even the nearby Gu Hai looked astonished. Were Chiyou’s eighty-one brothers all at the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm’s ninth layer? Furthermore, they were at the late stage of the ninth layer? No wonder even Sect Master Heavenly Access couldn’t deal with them.
“Hah!” Long Shenying let out a roar. Dragon-scaled bone wings sprouted from his back, and his strength surged as he charged.
Boom!
He struck a giant, making that giant retreat. However, two more giants instantly supported that giant from behind, blocking Long Shenying’s advance.
The eighty-one giants were too strong. The Long father and son were extremely frustrated. They could not break through, and the combined attack of the giants was incredibly powerful. Danger surrounded the two.
Perched on the mouth of the coffin, Houqing looked excited. “Just like this! Mister Cangjie, you should have done this long ago!”
He looked at the distant, occupied Gu Hai, coughing up blood and laughing. “Cough! Cough! Cough! Hahaha! Gu Hai, you’ve fought for so long, but it seems all in vain. Hahaha! Cough! Cough! Cough!”
“Gu Hai!” Long Aotian suddenly shouted.
“Huh?” Gu Hai paused in his fight.
“Let’s stop fighting. Dijiang won’t fight you anymore. Let’s deal with this chaotic situation first, then divide the zombie ancestor seed later!” Long Aotian yelled.
Houqing’s face paled further, and he turned to Long Aotian with a frustrated expression. Are you giving up the fight? Are you so lacking in principles?
Not far away, Gu Hai refused. “No!”
“What?” Long Aotian’s face grew stony.
“I said, no!” Gu Hai shouted back.
“Gu Hai, have you gone mad? If we continue like this, no one will benefit. We’ll end up giving Houqing the advantage. If we drag this out, letting Houqing’s injuries heal, and he escapes, none of us will get the zombie ancestor seed!” Long Aotian declared angrily.
“The zombie ancestor seed is not yours; you don’t need to worry about it!” Gu Hai replied coldly.
“I have Dijiang. Can you defeat Dijiang? No, you can’t break Dijiang. On what authority do you—” Long Aotian roared.
However, in mid-sentence, he saw Gu Hai’s aura suddenly change.
“Tenth Cycle!” Gu Hai glared, slashing down with all his might.
The moment the saber swung down, the lifespan ritual array’s stable space shuddered as if the entire lifespan ritual array was tearing apart.
Dijiang could not block this ferocious saber strike, no matter how it tried.
When the Life Executioner Saber appeared, its purple light illuminated the world. Not only the lifespan ritual array space but also the outside world, including the entire Eight Trigram Mountain, turned purple.
Boom!
A loud report shook the world.
Experts in places like Xuanyuan City and Borderless Heavenly Capital felt a sudden jolt as if the whole world had shuddered.
------
Outside Borderless Heavenly Capital:
“What’s going on? Where did that loud noise come from?”
“I have a report from a zither puppet! It’s Eight Trigram Mountain, where Chiyou is sealed! Eight Trigram Mountain!”
“What? Eight Trigram Mountain, the trap Ji Dihong set for Gu Hai? Could it be that Gu Hai and Ji Dihong are also fighting there?”
For a moment, the world was in an uproar.
The battles at Borderless Heavenly Capital and Xuanyuan City left everyone’s eyes wide with shock. Gu Hai and Ji Dihong had another battlefield at Eight Trigram Mountain. There was also the void and the eighteen layers of hell.
Thinking about these battlegrounds, the experts of the various factions felt a chill in their hearts.
The foundations of the Han Imperial Dynasty and the Huang Heavenly Dynasty were terrifyingly, incomprehensibly strong.
------
Deity Seizing Hall’s entrance:
Jiangchen’s gaze shifted from Borderless Heavenly Capital to Eight Trigram Mountain.
He shook his head and sighed, “Dijiang? What a pity. I should have known. Years ago, you were defeated and done for. I had too high hopes for you, thinking you’d rise from the ashes.”
------
Inside Eight Trigram Mountain:
A thunderous explosion rocked the lifespan ritual array space, nearly tearing it apart.
The Tenth Cycle’s power was immense—so immense that it horrified everyone inside the lifespan ritual array space.
Dijiang, the unparalleled warrior who had just been fighting evenly with Gu Hai earlier, had now been blown into fragments by a single strike.
Having been shattered by Jiangchen in ancient times and glued back together, Dijiang was no longer at its peak.
Backed by immense force, Gu Hai’s Tenth Cycle had swung down and instantly shattered the azure-colored energy holding Dijiang together, causing him to explode into countless pieces.
Blargh! Long Aotian spewed a mouthful of blood as he suffered a backlash through his connection with Dijiang.
After three gasping breaths, he finally reacted.
“No, no, my Dijiang! My consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm Dijiang! Gu Hai, give back my Dijiang!” Long Aotian howled in despair.
He had felt superior to all but Jiangchen, looking down on the entire world, when Jiangchen gave Dijiang to him.
Now, Gu Hai had obliterated his source of strength.
His dreams of power had shattered in an instant.
Long Aotian’s grief and anger knew no bounds.
Elsewhere, Houqing’s already pale face turned a ghastly white.
He understood the power of that last strike. It had not used the power of the Gu’s Immortal Firmament but was Gu Hai’s strongest blow with just his personal strength. Had this attack landed on me, wouldn’t I have been…?
Houqing dared not even think about it. He now suddenly understood what Gu Hai meant when Gu Hai said he had foolish guesses. If Gu Hai wanted to kill me, wouldn’t I have died long ago?
Blargh! Gu Hai spewed a mouthful of blood.
The Tenth Cycle was too much for him to handle. Even with Mending Heaven Energy flooding his body, he still wobbled, his strength all but gone.
“Your Reverence!” Long Shenying cried out in distress.
Long Aotian was filled with immense hatred after watching Dijiang shatter.
“Gu Hai, I want your life!” he screamed, charging Gu Hai.
“Foolish child, how dare you?!” Long Shenying glared as he rushed forward.
Boom!
Before Long Aotian reached Gu Hai, Long Shenying intercepted him.
“Let me go! I must kill him! Give me back my Dijiang! Give me back my Dijiang!” Long Aotian howled.
The battle raged, Long Shenying and his son fighting once more.
Gu Hai, heavily wounded and leaning on his Life Executioner Saber, slowly made his way into the valley that looked like a dragon’s mouth.
“Hah! Hahaha! Gu Hai, you’re gravely wounded too? You’re injured?” Houqing shouted, eyes wide with joy.
“Hah!” Eighty-one giants charged Gu Hai.
“Oh no!” Long Shenying’s expression changed. “Foolish child, get out of the way!”
“No. If I can’t kill Gu Hai, these monsters can! Father, stop and don’t move!” Long Aotian blocked Long Shenying.
“Foolish child, you’re seeking death!” Long Shenying shouted in anger.
The giants attacked, each more ferocious than the last. Gu Hai wobbled, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him over. Houqing’s excitement grew.
Gu Hai coughed up blood, his eyes cold. “I’m wounded, but even so, I’m not someone you can provoke!”
The fist of the leading giant approached Gu Hai’s face, about to smash him flat.
Whoosh!
Then, with a mysterious flash, the giant vanished.
“What?” everyone exclaimed in disbelief.
Gu Hai took another step.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The giants charging him disappeared one after another, inexplicably gone.
“The Gu’s Immortal Firmament?” Houqing screamed in despair.
Long Aotian, who was fighting with Long Shenying, also showed a look of despair as he watched the Gu’s Immortal Firmament steadily swallow up the giants. He finally understood something.
Besides those at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm, all others are mere ants before Gu Hai’s might.
To think I wanted to charge over and kill Gu Hai! Gu Hai can trap me in the Gu’s Immortal Firmament with just a thought, and I will never recover from that.
“No!” Long Aotian stopped fighting, his face filled with despair.
All the giants had vanished with a wave of Gu Hai’s hand, leaving not a trace.
How could Long Aotian continue to fight?
Long Aotian could only gather Dijiang’s shattered remains, his face twisted with extreme reluctance.
The battle was over.
Gu Hai trudged into the valley step by step, faltering as he did so.
In deep despair, Houqing had no thoughts of defiance left. Gu Hai was too strong to resist.
Gu Hai slowly approached Houqing.
“The zombie ancestor seed doesn’t belong to you. You can’t protect it,” Gu Hai said calmly.
He reached out to pluck the zombie ancestor seed from Houqing’s forehead.
Now, Houqing offered no resistance. He could not, even if he wanted to.
“Long Shenying, come here!” Gu Hai suddenly called out.