Although Yuan Shi Tian Zun did not exist in the pre-Qin era, and it was believed that this supreme heavenly veneration only appeared during the time of Tao Hongjing, his immense power originated from the collective worship of countless disciples of the Daoist sect over thousands of years. Together with the Three Pure Ones, they were sculpted into supreme celestial deities. The cultivation world also largely believed that the power possessed by the Three Pure Ones was equivalent to the sum of all the magical powers of the Daoist disciples throughout the ages.
However!
The problem lies precisely here.
Before Tao Hongjing, there already existed cultivators of Jade Purity. Jade Purity was the root of Upper Purity, and both originated from the Celestial Master sect. The Celestial Master sect originated from the Five Pecks of Rice sect. However, according to what Xu Fu knew, the first cultivator to refer to himself as Jade Purity predated the ancestral celestial master Zhang Daoling!
Later, before Tao Hongjing wrote down the name Yuan Shi Tian Zun, a Jade Purity cultivator colluded with ancient malevolent beings and obtained a special, otherworldly power. That cultivator is now the one who calls himself Yuan Huang.
The temporary possessors of the twelve Yuan Shi Tian Zun divine tablets were all cultivators of Jade Purity Heaven. However, no one knew when the first Jade Purity cultivator appeared. Most ancient cultivators regarded Yuan Huang as the first.
But the truth is not so. In terms of seniority, Yuan Huang was merely the fourth Jade Purity cultivator.
Therefore, the origin of Yuan Shi Tian Zun is actually extremely mysterious!
Even Xu Fu could not fathom the changes. Although he had witnessed the ebb and flow of the world for two thousand years, he had only entered Da Fuli a handful of times. These heavenly venerations and deities at the deepest core of Da Fuli, sometimes they did not exist the first time one visited, but the second time, they had already firmly occupied high positions, carrying immense power, yet appearing as if they had materialized from nothing.
Although in the pre-Qin era, similar supreme deities suddenly appeared and gained great power through people's worship, for example, Hao Tian Shang Di and Dong Huang Tai Yi were ancient heavenly emperors from the Zhou and Chu divine systems respectively, left over from before the pre-Qin period and carried into the Han dynasty. Therefore, people in the pre-Qin era were not surprised by the birth of ghosts and deities, and even heavenly deities, through worship. However, their sudden appearance without any precursor was very strange.
Both Hao Tian Shang Di and Dong Huang Tai Yi had a process of propagation in their worship, during which they rapidly grew stronger. But Yuan Shi Tian Zun appeared suddenly and at his peak from the outset!
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, like a deathbed review.
Xu Fu was stunned for a breath of time when facing the white jade hand. Within that breath, ten thousand thoughts raced, until Toyotomi Hideyoshi's terrified cry jolted him back to reality!
The hand was already pressing down, and the entire land and mountains began to gradually turn to dust. From the highest heavens to the lowest earth, everything was annihilated!
Because this time, the hand of Yuan Shi Tian Zun was suppressing a powerful pseudo-immortal, not a crippled ghost immortal who had returned from the dead, the hand suppressed much slower.
This was because it had to contend with the national destiny of an entire country!
"It's fine, the sky won't fall! This is my land, my divine kingdom! I have pre-Qin secret arts, earth-shattering methods, and the power to make ghosts weep! A Jade Purity cultivator who hasn't ascended to immortality, using some unknown means to wield a portion of Yuan Shi Tian Zun's might, wants to annihilate me!"
"I have seen too many supreme gods! You cannot scare me!"
Xu Fu's face contorted with ferocity!
How could a pre-Qin body be suppressed by a later heavenly deity!
This high heaven was created by him. Compared to those who entered the inner landscape, his power was even greater because he had opened up a world in the outer landscape! Did this not warrant arrogance? How could this land of divine kingdom be submerged with just a single hand!
Upon hearing Xu Fu's fierce words, Ji Xiang's voice echoed from the heavens:
"Whether I can scare you or not is another matter. First, withstand this strike from the Heavenly Venerate!"
Xu Fu refused to back down, his national prestige boiling, and the lifeblood of the entire nation was activated simultaneously!
National destiny, heavenly destiny!
Xu Fu roared!
This was his divine kingdom! He stood at the apex of this world, and the sky of this divine kingdom was him!
"Attack!"
Behind Xu Fu, two other ghost deities began to act. However, they did not fly towards the sky. One ghost deity looked down upon the earth and let out a strange cry. This sound, along with the national prestige, instantly spread across the land of Japan. Following this, from the high mountains, deep rivers, and dense forests, the slumbering or the pseudo-immortals placed by Xu Fu to stabilize the divine kingdom as "stakes" now flew towards the sky uncontrollably!
Some people's expressions turned to horror. They heard the call of that ghost deity, and as their immortal power approached the sky, it began to disintegrate. The power of the entire pseudo-immortal was integrated into the national prestige!
"Emperor Jinmu, you broke your promise! We are merely stakes to stabilize your divine kingdom, not to be used as food to supplement the divine kingdom!"
Tragic cries came from different places. The local populace watched in astonishment as streaks of light soared into the sky. Mortals did not understand what was happening, believing that more immortals had appeared in the legendary spiritual mountains, and thus prostrated themselves in worship. Only when they heard the terrified and indignant roars of these "ascending" "immortals" did the mortals' originally joyful faces turn pale.
They had little education, and most of them could not even read, let alone cultivate or understand the grievances between royalty and power. But they knew one thing: the tone of these voices was not happy at all, but filled with anger and fear!
This did not resemble ascending to the High Heavens.
It was more like a final, unwilling wail before falling into the Yellow Springs and dying completely!
"Immortals, how could immortals wail? We must have misheard."
Some mortals could only comfort themselves this way.
They did not know what had happened.
Nor did they know what they should do.
Or perhaps, nothing they did mattered, and it could not change the fate of this country.
The path of the divine kingdom had been completely sealed off by its ancient controller. They were like sheep in a pen; perhaps some could escape, but the pen would always exist. Where it was broken, it would be repaired, and there would only be more sheep.
After all, they were merely... livestock!
One pseudo-immortal after another dissolved, their great powers returning to the national prestige. By killing over a dozen pseudo-immortals in an instant, the power of the national prestige had greatly increased!
"Let's clash, Yuan Shi Tian Zun!"
Xu Fu, with his pseudo-immortal power, wielded the prestige of the entire nation and collided with the white jade hand of Yuan Shi Tian Zun, a direct confrontation!
In this strike, all sounds in heaven and earth vanished. Light and darkness merged, indistinguishable, as if they had reached the primordial era of chaos. After a brief moment of absolute silence, the vast expanse of dark clouds in the sky began to surge away in all directions!
The nation's destiny fractured, but due to the sacrifice of many pseudo-immortals, it still maintained an undefeated posture, causing Xu Fu to laugh heartily!
However!
A change occurred!
Yuan Shi Tian Zun within the heavenly gate seemed to have become truly enraged. After the first white jade hand dissipated, Xu Fu smiled and looked up at the sky, his smile gradually freezing.
Over a dozen white jade hands squeezed out from the heavenly gate!
This scene was so astonishing that it seemed impossible for humans to wield such a number of arms. Even for various heavenly deities who often manifested with three heads and six arms, these ten-plus hands were a bit too terrifying!
"No... this is bad! What are these things!"
Xu Fu's previously triumphant face instantly turned deathly pale!
He did not know what these hands were.
But he knew that if he were struck by these ten-plus hands, his fate would be extremely tragic!
With a single strike of the entire nation, one arm of Yuan Shi Tian Zun was shattered. This highest Heavenly Venerate in the sky was merely so. This thought had only flashed through his mind for a moment, and then he faced a blow more than ten times stronger than before!
This time, the previously condensed national prestige could not hold. It was as effortless as a blade cutting through paper, as swift and violent as a hammer shattering glass. The sea of clouds in the heavens and earth was completely dispersed, but there was no sunlight in the sky, only that heavenly gate, replacing the sun, emitting a blazing light!
At this moment.
Xu Fu and Ji Xiang simultaneously heard a sound from within the heavenly gate, approaching from afar. They could not discern what was being said, it was more like a hollow sound of celestial music, without specific meaning, merely the sound produced by the surging natural energy.
However, within their hearts, within their souls, true characters appeared!
[The ten wicked ones have firm practices, turning their backs on the Way in life and death, and cannot be converted. Like rubble, once broken, it cannot be reassembled.]
[I, with great compassion, cause these ghosts to depart from suffering; those who wish to save the departed in later generations should follow this method to atone for past sins and resolve punishments.]
[Eyes emitting flowing light, like rushing stars; thunderous rumbles, bright and radiant. At that time, the immortal, empowered by the divine might of the Way, responding to the verses of the celestial demons, immediately possessed myriad forms, divine powers that changed endlessly, and light emanating from every pore!]
From the depths of the ten-plus hands within the heavenly gate, primordial void energy surged, gathering into a giant eye, looking at the world with a ferocious and terrifying gaze!
At the same moment, the text on Ji Xiang's inner spiritual tablet appeared:
[Great Sage of Ghost Slaying Form and Spirit: Avatar of Yuan Shi Tian Zun! Human and divine prosperity, universal salvation of the hidden and manifest, vast and great transformation, is it not joyous!]
[Transforming General's Divine Might: Heavenly Venerate level divine ability! Transforms into the Great Sage of Ghost Slaying. Its method is "Subduing all demons, destroying all heterodoxies"! Those targeted by the Great Sage of Ghost Slaying will be regarded as heterodox ghosts and demons. From the root of the Way of spell operation, the opponent's spells will be torn to shreds. Spells destroyed by this method cannot be cast again by the same person!]
The text on the inner spiritual tablet finished appearing.
A pillar of heavenly light, uncontrolled by Ji Xiang, was manipulated by the inner spiritual tablet and shot directly into the heavenly gate!
"Sacrifice, sacrifice!"
Xu Fu, both shocked and terrified, roared. Following his roar, pseudo-immortals throughout the country uncontrollably flew into the sky!
Massive screams dissolved into the national destiny. These pseudo-immortals controlled by Xu Fu had existed as nourishment for the divine kingdom since their first meeting with Xu Fu. If the divine kingdom could be successfully completed, they could also ascend to become true immortals. But if the divine kingdom encountered a major change, they would be scapegoats to offset the disaster for the divine kingdom.
Not only that!
"Waa... waaaah! Your Majesty Emperor Jinmu, don't kill me!"
In the distant capital.
The current Emperor suddenly felt an intense pain. Sensing the summons from Emperor Jinmu, he, who was indulging in pleasure, let out a scream that shocked the entire hall. The beauties surrounding him, who were pouring wine and feeding him, were all terrified and their faces turned pale.
The sycophantic officials looked terrified and screamed sharply, because at this moment, the current Emperor's physical body was decaying, and his form and spirit were collapsing. People began to realize that the Emperor's appearance was gradually becoming blurred, and they could even barely recall him in their memories.
And all of this happened within half an hour.
As a mortal Emperor, if he lost the "form and spirit" inherited from Emperor Jinmu, he would lose his effectiveness as the core of the divine kingdom. However, Emperor Jinmu would not deprive him of this form and spirit, because the things inherited by successive Emperors since ancient times had long been closely linked to the nation, and even possessed strong divinity, making them an important medium for perfecting the divine kingdom. If a lineage of blood was easily replaced, causing the form and spirit to lose its effectiveness, it would be a loss for Emperor Jinmu.
But now, this form and spirit was being reclaimed!
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Your Majesty the Emperor, I am too incompetent, please spare me!"
The current Emperor was merely a puppet of Hideyoshi. Emperor Jinmu's preferred person was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, not him. Although he had felt a sense of crisis about losing his position, he had put his mind at ease after thinking about this imperial form and spirit, knowing it would not be easily abandoned.
But today, he was abandoned!
The current Emperor thought that his constant indulgence in pleasure and lack of ambition had led Emperor Jinmu to consider changing the bloodline successor for this form and spirit. He did not know the actual situation, and so, amidst regret and wails, he turned into a pool of rotten flesh, splattering in all directions of the hall, carrying a strong stench.
Any mortal who was stained by the juice of the rotten flesh immediately transformed into writhing, strange evil creatures amidst screams.
Monsters appeared in the capital, not belonging to demons, nor devils, nor underworld spirits. These monsters ran out from the Emperor's residence in the capital, causing great commotion in the world.
This form and spirit, nurtured for thousands of years, was forcibly retrieved by Xu Fu. The medium of the divine kingdom was interrupted at this moment. He was heartbroken, but immediately, his entire soul trembled!
Dozens of strikes from Yuan Shi Tian Zun descended!
Osaka was instantly reduced to ruins. However, an astonishing thing occurred: mortals who were not tainted by the aura of ghost deities survived and were unharmed, while those who were tainted by the aura of ghost deities all turned to dust under the earth-shattering heavy blows!
Except for Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Divine light surged from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, emitting a pure divine aura. The previous attack had allowed him to survive, and he himself did not know why. He secretly speculated that perhaps he was the first true "person who became a heavenly deity" in the world, so Yuan Shi Tian Zun's attack did not classify him as someone of the ghost deity path.
He looked up in a disheveled state at the sky. The vast expanse of dark clouds had dissipated, and the residual sunlight fell back upon the earth.
He saw Xu Fu, who had now ascended into the sky, but his aura was extremely weak. More than half of the national destiny of the entire country had turned to dust in the previous strike. The heavenly gate closed, and Ji Xiang was nowhere to be seen, clearly having escaped using遁术 (escape arts).
"Pfft!" Xu Fu's chest heaved, his eyes wide open like bells, flashing, and a strange vital energy spurted uncontrollably from his nostrils and mouth!
"Hoo!"
"Damn... damn, damn! Damn celestial demons!"
Xu Fu trembled as he looked at his body. The foundation of his pseudo-immortality was destroyed. The path of ghost deities he had cultivated for thousands of years was completely shattered by that strike, and the foundation destroyed by the Great Sage of Ghost Slaying could no longer be repaired!
Moreover, the pre-Qin arts were also sealed. However, fortunately, his form and spirit had just retrieved the imperial form and spirit nurtured for thousands of years from the current useless Emperor. That was a unique thing, a supreme treasure refined by him using alchemical arts, and a medium for completing the divine kingdom. It should not have been used for repairing his own form and spirit.
But now, there was no other way. Without the imperial form and spirit forcibly retrieved just now, his own form and spirit would have been torn to shreds by the Great Sage of Ghost Slaying and could never have been recovered.
More than half of the national destiny had also collapsed, making Xu Fu furious. He saw Toyotomi Hideyoshi's terrified face and roared, "Immediately, immediately go and find your servants! This Ming country immortal used such a powerful divine summoning technique, he must have suffered great depletion. He must be severely weakened now. Find him and tell me! This is my divine kingdom, how dare he be so presumptuous on my territory! I will personally kill him....."
"Your Majesty the Emperor, be careful!"
Toyotomi Hideyoshi exclaimed!
Xu Fu sensed a danger and turned around abruptly!
He saw that amidst the soaring dust, the figure of the black-clothed youth was no longer in the image of the Heavenly Venerate, but had transformed into a terrifying form with over a dozen arms, throwing a crimson divine banner that blotted out the sky, carrying eighty thousand phantom celestial demons, towards him!