The tremors, have they ceased?
The violent shaking that seemed poised to shatter heaven and earth abruptly subsided. Bi Xia Yuan Jun hovered in the eighth layer of the Ice Mountain Hell, less than a moment having passed since her escape from Wang Tian Hou’s maw.
Her expression was grim.
The cessation of the hellish tremors might not be a good sign. It could mean that the colossal beast named “Hou” had utterly devoured the entirety of the ninth layer of hell and returned to the Great Yin Realm below.
If that were the case, then Bei Ji Zhen Ren had likely met his demise in the beast’s maw.
“Damn this Yin World.”
Bi Xia Yuan Jun found it impossible to calm her emotions. A profound fear for the future began to stir within her.
How could the Yin Court cultivate such a terrifying behemoth? In the current human realm, with no immortals from Li Shan He to lend support, only Zhang Tianshi remained as a true immortal. Could a single true immortal suppress the entire Yin Realm? How many more such monsters lurked in the Yin Realm?
Furthermore, this time, it was her own negligence. She hadn't even noticed the eighteen layers of hell being swallowed by the Great Yin Realm. They had orchestrated a grand deception, and she remained oblivious. Now, not only had she lost ten layers of hell below, but she had also lost Bei Ji Zhen Ren. Although she had promised Bei Ji that if he died, she would report to the court to establish a shrine in his honor, she had made such a significant blunder and had no idea how she would be punished.
Bi Xia Yuan Jun did not wish for Ji Xiang to die, as his fate was intertwined with her own future.
The eighth layer of hell was filled with ice mountains and ice walls. She drifted through the hell, her gaze cast downwards towards the ice walls, piercing through this hellish Dharma Realm. After the tremors had ceased, she attempted to discern the situation in the ninth layer of hell.
However, the moment she employed her Divine Dao Dharma Eye to observe, she froze, speechless for a long time, her expression one of stunned disbelief!
What was that?
In Bi Xia Yuan Jun’s eyes, the ninth layer of hell’s Dharma Realm had vanished. This entire area had become a vast void, devoid of any Dharma Realm power. Below the eighth layer of hell, there was no longer a ninth layer of hell…
Nor could she see the tenth layer of hell.
No matter how she used her Divine Dao Dharma Eye, she could not penetrate that colossal “corpse”!
It was a sea of blood, but it did not originate from nothing!
Wang Tian Hou had been slain. Its head, from the neck upwards, was gone. The colossal beast’s head, capable of containing a Dharma Realm and transforming into heavenly mountains and hellish rivers, no longer existed. Only a monstrous sea of blood poured forth from its neck.
Thus, below the eighth layer of hell now lay a great void. Beneath the great void was the sea of blood and the headless corpse of Wang Tian Hou.
Boom!
Light erupted from within an ice mountain, followed by the shattering of hell. The portal to the Dharma Realm opened wide. Ji Xiang retracted his Killing Ghost form to avoid damaging the Ice Mountain Hell. The numerous swords in his hands, bathed in Wang Tian Hou’s corpse-beast blood, underwent subtle changes.
The Blood Lake Hell and Wang Tian Hou’s severed head were placed by Ji Xiang within the Sea of Suffering world.
Bi Xia Yuan Jun saw Ji Xiang return. Although she found it unbelievable, the scene before her was undeniable. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief, as if she had ascended to heaven after surviving a catastrophe.
Bei Ji was unharmed. That meant she would not face severe punishment. If this great immortal had perished, she feared she would have been heavily reprimanded.
Her divine position was quite different from other divine generals. The court dared to enfe κ to the important position of Mount Tai Divine Lord, naturally possessing powerful means of control. As long as she remained aligned with heaven and did not defy it, the Mount Tai Divine position would be difficult to escape from the court's control, regardless of whether the Heavenly Master served as a deterrent. The court could forcibly reclaim this Divine Lord position at any time.
For a powerful divine position, the court’s control was absolute. By supporting a great deity with national resources, that deity naturally shared the fate of the nation, unable to leave or betray.
As for the weaker divine positions, once the court weakened, they were the first to break free from control. This was why rebellions by guardian generals in outlying regions had occurred successively.
“Bei Ji, did you do this?”
After exhaling in relief, Bi Xia Yuan Jun quickly asked Ji Xiang what exactly he had done below.
A sense of dread and reverence arose within her. After all, both of them had one foot already in the realm of immortality. Yet, she, as the Divine Lord of Mount Tai, had been chased in disarray on her own territory by the enemy, while this other person had actually killed that terrifying behemoth?
Her gaze involuntarily fell upon the blood-stained divine sword, and she wondered if it was some supreme treasure.
Ji Xiang, meanwhile, turned his gaze to another ice mountain. These ice mountains all reflected the scenes of the hell below, with the sea of blood surging, forming a crimson barrier at the bottom of the great void.
“Although this behemoth had reached the level of the Immortal Dao, it had not yet grown too powerful on its own. It was merely arrogant, relying on the power of the Dharma Realm and its divine ability to devour heaven and earth. As long as its divine ability was broken, even as a corpse-beast, it remained a physical body with a soul’s spirit, making it easy to kill.”
“Coincidentally, I possess the art of shattering all laws.”
Ji Xiang spoke with an air of indifference, while Bi Xia Yuan Jun’s astonishment surfaced on her face. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly seized upon a “key point” in Ji Xiang’s words and said with disbelief:
“Wait, it hadn’t grown… too powerful on its own?”
“Could this possibly be a juvenile beast…?!”
This was a terrifying answer, but Ji Xiang shook his head. “Without descending to the Great Yin Realm, who knows if this behemoth is a juvenile beast? It is something unprecedented. Even if you ask me, it is difficult to answer.”
“However, if they can cultivate one, there must be a second. The ancients said good things come in pairs…”
“Misfortunes never come singly.”
Bi Xia Yuan Jun remained silent. Her heart pounded. That intense fear surged into her heart again, this time difficult to dispel. She suddenly felt that the Mount Tai Divine position on her was truly a hot potato, as if death was imminent.
Afterward, the two spoke no further. Bi Xia Yuan Jun established a barrier below the Ice Mountain Hell and ordered the many ghost generals guarding there that if the hell experienced any changes, they were to abandon it immediately, flee upwards to the other layers of hell to relay the message, and under no circumstances engage in combat with the Yin Court.
Ji Xiang, however, proceeded to the Tongue-Cutting Hell.
As the foundation of the eighteen layers of hell, an ancient Dharma Realm that had existed since time immemorial, its original name, beyond the appearance of the Tongue-Cutting Hell, might have been related to the Hao Li Ghost Kingdom worshipped by the Qi and Lu states.
Guang Du Chen Lun Tian Zun sensed this.
The call of ancient times came from the depths of the unseen.
Whose land is Hao Li? Souls are gathered, neither wise nor foolish.
Why do the Ghost Lords urge so, allowing no delay for human lives.
Bi Xia Yuan Jun also returned to the Tongue-Cutting Hell. Seeing the only pure land within this hell, she couldn’t help but sigh, as if conversing with Ji Xiang, or perhaps with herself:
“Below Mount Tai, the Yin Realm invades. With my abilities, I fear I am no longer fit for this position. Although I control life and death, when death truly looms, I find myself afraid.”
“If Emperor Wu of Han truly buried the Heavenly Emperor’s secret letter east of Mount Tai, perhaps it contains ancient Confucian divine techniques that can lead to the Kunlun Divine Path and summon the power of the Supreme Emperor of Heaven. If I could obtain such power, I might still have some chance…”
Hearing her words, Ji Xiang suddenly recalled something important!
He shook his wide sleeves, and a fragment of a bronze disk flew out, landing in his palm.
This fragment was obtained from Prince Lu, and it was one of the fragments of the “Dew-Collecting Disk” cast by Emperor Wu of Han!
Hum—!
The moment the Dew-Collecting Disk fragment was produced, the tremor in Ji Xiang’s heart became clear. Five-colored light appeared in his eyes. Simultaneously, as if by divine inspiration, Ji Xiang flipped his hand. The positions of the Five Sacred Mountain True Gods flew out, settling into the positions of the five lights. A vast formation diagram naturally manifested, which was the great sorcery the Five Sacred Mountain True Gods had once used against Ji Xiang – the Five Sacred Mountain True Form Diagram!
Roar—
A sound like a fierce tiger resounded through the Tongue-Cutting Hell. Bi Xia Yuan Jun and Ji Xiang were simultaneously shocked, unsure of what had happened. Following the tiger’s roar, a phantom gilded bamboo slip appeared before their eyes, dreamlike and illusory!
Accompanying it was an ancient, vast voice.
“A ruler’s governance should emulate the heavens’ benevolent actions, and be suitable for the people. Otherwise, heaven will descend various disasters to admonish the ruler. If the ruler still does not repent at this time, heaven will cause the ruler to lose the realm!”