novelsky Chapter 862.2: Who can...share my burdens?
Chapter 862.2: Who can...share my burdens?
The rift torn through the sea of clouds remained unhealed for a long time, like an ugly scar stretching across the heavens and the earth.The sword scar pierced through the nine heavens. The Four Heavenly Kings gazed at that scar, their faces growing increasingly pale.
"Yo, you dodged quite quickly."
Chen Huaian, holding that dull gray sword, walked towards Virūḍhaka, Mo Li Qing.
His steps were slow, yet they trod upon a rhythm that was almost akin to the Dao.
With each step he took, the surrounding space would let out a groan of unbearable strain.
"You... don't you come any closer..."
The Azure Cloud Sword in Mo Li Qing's hand was trembling.
It was an immortal artifact nurtured for ten thousand years, yet at this moment, it whimpered with fear like ordinary iron encountering its natural predator.
"The sword is not used this way."
Chen Huaian murmured softly.
He raised his hand.
There was no flashy sword move, just a simple, straightforward thrust forward.
This thrust was slow.
So slow that Mo Li Qing could clearly see the trajectory of the sword tip slicing through the air, see the chaotic energy rippling across the dull gray blade.
But he couldn't dodge it.
Because in his perception, in his field of vision.
The moment this sword was thrust out, the entire world vanished.
All around was emptiness. Between heaven and earth, only this single sword remained. It filled all space, sealed off every possible retreat.
—The Great Dao is supremely simple.
Is the Sword Dao any different?
"No!!!"
Mo Li Qing desperately summoned the Azure Cloud Sword, attempting to parry.
*Crack.*
A light sound.
That sword, forged from the hardest cyan-gold stone of this realm, the moment it touched Chen Huaian's gray sword, became as fragile as glass, shattering inch by inch.
The gray sword's momentum did not diminish in the slightest. Without any obstruction, it sank into the center of Mo Li Qing's brow.
The blade entered his body, yet no blood was seen.
Because that sword was Chaos, it was the Origin, it was the beginning of heaven and earth.
Even though Chen Huaian had only grasped a sliver of this primordial power.
The moment it pierced in, it still completely devoured Mo Li Qing's vitality, his immortal soul, and even his entire body of pure immortal power.
*Puff.*
Mo Li Qing's body turned into a handful of flying ash, scattering with the wind.
The first Heavenly King, fallen.
"Big Brother!!!"
The remaining three were terrified to the core.
The strongest among them, Mo Li Qing, had been slain. Even though they knew they were no match for Chen Huaian, under the majesty of the Heavenly Emperor, they had no choice but to brace themselves and advance.
"Fight him to the death!!"
Virūpākṣa, Mo Li Shou, roared in fury and released the Purple-Gold Flower-Fox Marten from his embrace.
The strange beast swelled violently in the wind, transforming into a heaven-devouring colossal beast. It opened its bloody maw and bit down towards Chen Huaian.
Chen Huaian didn't even lift his head.
"Annoying."
He swung his hand backhandedly.
A gray arc of light swept across.
That strange beast, capable of devouring stars, didn't even have time to let out a shriek before it was neatly sliced in two mid-air.
Immediately after, the sword light's remaining force unabated, it swept past Mo Li Shou's neck.
Head fell, soul extinguished.
The second one, fallen.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Mo Li Hai, frantically strummed the Jasper Lute. Earth, water, fire, and wind surged together, transforming into a chaotic storm.
Chen Huaian merely took a single step forward.
His body was like a sharp sword, cutting through the storm.
He walked up to Mo Li Hai, reached out his hand, and gently pressed down on the still-vibrating lute string.
*Twang—*
The string snapped.
What snapped along with it was Mo Li Hai's heart meridian.
The third one, fallen.
Finally, only Vaiśravaṇa, Mo Li Hong, remained.
Trembling, he held up that already tattered and worn Primordial Chaos Pearl Umbrella, retreating to the edge of the South Heaven Gate's ruins.
"Don't... don't kill me..."
He was a deity.
A Heavenly King who had enjoyed ten thousand years of incense offerings and worship.
But at this moment, he was as lowly as a stray dog wagging its tail and begging for mercy.
Chen Huaian looked at him. Those indifferent eyes held no fluctuation of emotion whatsoever.
"Since you picked up the blade."
"You must be prepared to be killed."
The gray sword fell.
Like the setting sun descending, taking away the last glimmer of twilight.
*Puff.*
The fourth one, fallen.
The wind stopped.
Outside the South Heaven Gate, there were no more deities.
Only four clumps of immortal power essence, so dense they seemed almost solid, floating in mid-air—the culmination of the Four Heavenly Kings' lifelong cultivation.
Chen Huaian opened his mouth and took a fierce inhale.
*Whoosh—*
The Heavenly Demon Art circulated, devouring everything like a whale.
The four clumps of essence were sucked in like a long whale drawing water, instantly surging into his body.
*Rumble!*
Sounds like roaring rivers and rushing torrents came from within Chen Huaian's body.
That was power roaring, that was his realm breaking through barriers.
His aura, which had only just stepped into the Celestial Immortal realm, at this moment soared madly as if riding a rocket.
Early-stage Celestial Immortal... mid-stage... late-stage... peak!
*Crack.*
An invisible constraint was shattered.
A vast, majestic, terrifying aura, powerful enough to shake the nine heavens, erupted with Chen Huaian at its center!
That was—the might of an Immortal King.
His wild, gray hair danced madly. Gray currents of chaotic energy intertwined into dragons around him.
He stood there. Even without moving, the void around him continuously collapsed and reformed.
Upper Realm, Nine Heavens, Lingxiao Treasure Hall.
The assembled immortals were silent.
A deathly stillness.
The Haotian Emperor sat upon the Nine-Dragon Golden Throne. That face, usually shrouded in divine light, was now so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it.
The civil and military immortal officials below were even more terrified, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Just moments ago.
They had watched with their own eyes as that "ant" from the Lower Realm, using a sword whose name they couldn't call, slaughtered the Four Heavenly Kings guarding the Heaven Gate as easily as killing chickens.
Even more terrifying.
He was 'eating immortals'.
He treated the Four Heavenly Kings as nourishment, refining them on the spot, directly breaking through his bottleneck and stepping into the Immortal King realm!
Immortal King!
That was a height countless immortals couldn't reach even after cultivating for hundreds of thousands of years?
This variable was growing too fast.
So fast that it made everyone feel... fear.
"My ministers."
The Haotian Emperor's voice trembled, suppressing extreme rage.
"Who can... share my worries?"
"Who can... slay this demon?!"
"I will reward them heavily!"
No one answered.
Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li lowered his head to look at his toes. Third Prince Nezha fiddled with his Universe Ring as if he hadn't heard. The Twenty-Eight Mansions wished they could bury their heads in their crotches.
Even the Four Heavenly Kings, wielding heavy treasures, had died so cleanly. Who would dare go to their death now?
That was no longer a battle.
That was going to deliver a "takeout meal" to that demon.
"Useless! All of you are useless!!"
The Haotian Emperor suddenly smashed the armrest of the dragon throne. The majesty of the Heavenly Emperor erupted, shaking the entire great hall.
"I have nurtured you for ten thousand years, and at this critical moment, is there not a single one of you who can be of use?!"
Right in this atmosphere of awkwardness and tension.
An aged yet robust voice slowly sounded.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
The immortals looked towards the source of the voice. They saw an old man wearing a Bagua Daoist robe and holding a horsetail whisk slowly step out from the ranks of officials.
His beard and hair were white, his brows kind and eyes benevolent. He looked like an old immortal who had no worldly conflicts.
But everyone present, upon seeing this old man, revealed a look of reverence in their eyes.
—Taishang Laojun.
This was one of the Three Pure Ones, an avatar of the Dao Ancestor.
He was the true depth of heritage of their Lingxiao Palace!