To live in this world — even every blade of grass and tree — could be understood as being in the midst of crossing over. Gai Jiuyou’s power touched the very workings of creation itself: this was a truly wondrous Great Dao!
He had forged his own path — and so was able to be unstoppable eight thousand years ago, his blood and qi surging like a tide. In those days, a single clear cry from his mouth could shake down meteorites from beyond the domain.
Boom!
The Golden Mace flew backward, as though a vast ocean had surged and driven it back — golden light flooded the void, the Ancient Emperor’s presence boiling, blazing and breathtaking.
The Golden King was stupefied. What else could he say, facing someone this ferocious? An old man whose body had run dry, whose remaining lifespan was scant — and he was like a divine lion-king in his prime!
Blood continued to spill from his mouth — golden blood, lost in excessive quantity. That was the primordial vital essence of their lineage. He had suffered grave injury this day, his Dao-source struck by the divine sound.
Ding-ling!
On the other side, the purple-gold Ten Thousand Dragon Bell rang without cease, also beaten backward, carrying the Great Sage Qianlun in a sweeping arc across a vast expanse of space, shattering a field of asteroids behind him.
Brilliant radiance bloomed again and again, filling onlookers with deep dread — it looked like fireworks, but in truth it was the extraordinary sight of stars exploding, sweeping across the darkened cosmos.
This was a great devastation: the Tribulation-Crossing Immortal Melody had rung out, stopping both Ancient Emperor’s weapons and injuring two Great Sages of the ancient clans!
In the Eastern Wasteland, many people — even without the observation points of the ancient arrays — could see strings of flowing light flash across the domain boundary. Those were asteroids perishing, releasing their final fire.
“This… has reached an inconceivable realm of power. The presence of an Ancient Emperor can be clearly felt — Emperor-level weapons are being wielded — yet somehow Gai Jiuyou possesses the means to resist. How?!”
“A cultivation boundary that the likes of us can only look up to for an entire lifetime, and never reach — it has already surpassed the boundaries of any stage!”
Even Ancient Sages of the ancient clans could not help but be moved to admiration — followed by a wave of desolation, feeling there was no way to surpass this, that they had no hope of reaching it in this lifetime.
Beyond the domain boundary, the Golden King and the Great Sage Qianlun struggled to halt their retreat. Both let out long cries — they refused to believe they could not hold out. They launched another ferocious assault.
“Divine spirits, awaken!” the Golden King raged, ceaselessly channeling divine power into the sacred mace, various lights boiling. He worked to fully revive the weapon-spirit within, seeking to sever Gai Jiuyou from existence.
Behind him, his golden treasury manifested — a small golden world opening up within, golden radiance blazing inside it. Heavenly swords, divine towers, great bells — all blazing with boundless divine power, channeling it into the sacred mace.
Boom!
The Golden Mace was like a golden immortal dragon soaring through the boundless cosmos, illuminating within that darkness and cold a brilliant and eternal light!
Gai Jiuyou shifted to the side, retreating another hundred thousand li — yet his own Dao continued to advance. The Tribulation-Crossing Immortal Melody rang out, echoing through the desolate starry sky, as though reversing the river of time — severing open the differing heavens and earths of ancient, present, and future.
Rumble!
The golden light crashed backward, the Ancient Emperor’s might unceasing, the sacred mace sweeping across — yet it trembled too, buffeted by the divine sound.
The Tribulation-Crossing Immortal Melody carried immeasurable and boundless mighty force. It was a divine art of wondrous scriptures that could astonish all of antiquity and the ages to come — a method capable of opposing the ways of the Ancient Emperor. It struck the Golden King until he once again spat great mouthfuls of blood.
On the other side, the Great Sage Qianlun of the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest fared no better — blood seeped from every pore, his body quaking again and again.
“This will not do — the Ancient Emperor’s weapons are consuming enormous amounts of our vital energy, yet every strike fails to land on him. The longer this goes on, the more surely we will fall!”
At this point, Qianlun could not help but be struck with admiration — Gai Jiuyou’s Dao cultivation was far beyond them. The divine arts he had deployed — from a distance of one hundred thousand li and more — came through as though they were right beside them.
This was truly a world-shaking divine sound. The Tribulation-Crossing Immortal Melody was strange and unpredictable, its might vast and overwhelming, sweeping across the darkened cosmos. The Golden King and the Great Sage Qianlun wielded extreme-Dao Emperor’s weapons, yet they could not prevail.
Within half a quarter of an hour, both of them began to stagger. Both were spraying divine blood — golden blood and purple blood alike, every drop precious, carrying within it the essence passed down to them from an Ancient Emperor.
They were horrified. Going on like this would mean certain death!
“We have no choice but to merge with the Ancient Emperor’s weapons — and kill him where there is nothing to kill!” said the Golden King, steeling himself.
“Indeed — entering the Ancient Emperor’s weapons and becoming one with them. He has no extreme-Dao weapon. No matter how great his divine power, he cannot harm us within — could he possibly strike at the Emperor’s weapon bare-handed and shake us to death?” The Great Sage Qianlun of the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest nodded.
Hum!
The heavens resonated. The sacred mace trembled lightly — and the Golden King transformed into a blazing beam of light, entering the Ancient Emperor’s weapon, merging with it into one.
Swish!
A beam of blinding golden light tore open the starry sky, transformed into a bolt of lightning that shot straight for Gai Jiuyou. Body and Emperor’s weapon fused into one — nothing could be left unbroken.
This was a killing stroke — exploiting the fact that Gai Jiuyou had no Emperor-level weapon, using this method to break through his defense and annihilate him.
The divine might surged and surged. The darkened heavens were shattered. The Golden King had entered the divine artifact and now wore it like the most indestructible of sacred armor — none could breach it.
Boom!
In an instant he arrived, reducing the ground where Gai Jiuyou stood to a black hole — stretching endlessly in every direction, primal chaos energy erupting and rushing in all eight directions.
Gai Jiuyou vanished, reappearing in another patch of dark cosmic void, standing there, his gaze cold, watching from afar.
At the same moment, the purple-gold Ten Thousand Dragon Bell transformed into a purple true dragon stretching a thousand li in length. Every bone segment was a purple-gold sacred bell — now like a great divine bell, diving down from above.
Boom-boom-boom!
Bell-waves thundered. The purple true dragon raked the void open with one claw, drove its head forward in a crashing blow — the shockwave it released sent countless stars rocking and swaying. The Ancient Emperor’s might surged and surged.
The void of space in this region burst open. The purple true dragon was unmatched — it could tear through all things that blocked it, obliterating an entire patch of heaven and earth.
“Gai Jiuyou — you are spent. Let me see how you meet an extreme-Dao Emperor’s weapon now!” the Golden King roared from within the sacred mace, fearless now that he was inside it, transformed into golden light that could flood this entire cosmos.
At this point, not even the Weapon Rune could effectively threaten him any longer — for he and the Golden Mace had become one. As a Great Sage, he could not be manipulated by others.
“Kill!” The Great Sage Qianlun of the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest also shouted coldly. His body merged with the purple true dragon, stretching tens of thousands of li in length, sweeping across as it came.
This was a breathtaking great battle — every manner of light flew, every divine art was unleashed. Emperor’s weapons cut through the cosmos in every direction.
The Tribulation-Crossing Immortal Melody shook the world, sweeping across the nine heavens and ten lands — but Gai Jiuyou was no ancient great emperor. He could not shatter an Emperor’s weapon.
But this was already enough. Who would dare engage in great battle with one who wielded an Emperor’s weapon, and not be defeated?
“Terrible — what is to be done?” Ye Fan’s heart sank. He wanted to transmit a message in secret and lend the Green Copper Cauldron to Gai Jiuyou — yet they were too far apart, separated by tens of thousands of li. There was simply no way to reach the ailing elder.
“Gai Jiuyou — you have no more chances. Throughout all of ancient history, no cultivator below the ancient great emperor level has ever shattered an extreme-Dao Emperor’s weapon. Even you — someone who has nearly walked the path to achieving the Dao — are no exception!”
In this moment, the Golden King and the Great Sage Qianlun of the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest finally set their hearts at ease. Merged with the Emperor’s weapons, they rushed at extreme speed, grinding onward in relentless slaughter — unleashing their mightiest methods, seeking to reduce him to tribulation ash.
“What ‘supreme existence of the Human Race’ — before the passage of time, you are nothing. Tottering and old, your surging blood and qi long since faded — what do you have left to fight me with? I will take your head and offer it as sacrifice to my clan’s Emperor’s weapon, to vent the hatred in my heart!” The Golden King grew bolder and more spirited with each passing moment, bellowing joyously, unstoppable and peerless as he traversed the starry sky. A hundred million strands of golden immortal light fell in cascades — dazzling, like a divine being born into the world.
These recent days had been suffocating for him — beyond measure. First he had been defeated by the Battle Victorious Buddha, forced to ransom his life with rare divine marrow. Then, in the shortest of time, Gai Jiuyou had struck and destroyed his incarnation in just a few moves.
As a Great Sage of the ancient clans, it was a profound humiliation. Having reached his level, his combat power was beyond question — yet he had been defeated again and again, drawing censure from many among the clans.
His heart had been brooding, weighed down. Now, at last, the chance to reverse all of this had come. He would utterly disgrace his opponent — and of course he would roar with abandon.
“Tribulation-Crossing Immortal Melody — destined to astonish all of antiquity and the ages to come. And yet it cannot press down two fully awakened Ancient Emperor’s weapons. Gai Jiuyou cannot prevail.”
The purple-gold Ten Thousand Dragon Bell — the body of the Great Sage Qianlun — poured its innate purple essence into it, the weapon blazing with peerless imperial might, sweeping across the cosmos, clashing with Gai Jiuyou. He sought to exhaust the supreme existence of the Human Race to death.
The Golden Mace and the Ten Thousand Dragon Bell each exhaled their radiance — immortal light undying. One blazed with a hundred million strands of golden brilliance, the other with a hundred million threads of purple energy. The heavens in this expanse seemed to boil and surge and crash downward.
Gai Jiuyou’s expression never changed. He struck no instrument, held no object before him — yet his body itself blazed with light, strand by strand, transforming into immortal sound that permeated outward, rushing toward the two Ancient Emperor’s weapons.
The Tribulation-Crossing Immortal Melody!
Then, suddenly, crimson twilight blazed toward the sky — brilliant colors flooding every corner, turning the entire heavens a vivid red, overflowing with resplendent radiance.
The cry of a Nine-Revolution Immortal Phoenix rang through this entire star domain — its sound clear and piercing, its Dao vast and magnificent, its power world-shaking. A blazing red phoenix danced and soared, as though it could swallow the entire cosmos, making every ancient star in reach dim to darkness in an instant.
“This is… an Emperor’s weapon!”
“What — Gai Jiuyou has brought an Emperor’s weapon — what manner of weapon is it exactly?”
The several elder chiefs of the imperial clans watching from afar — every one of their faces changed color, shock gripping them. They trembled, cold energy rising from their spines. They knew this was bad — disastrously bad.
Gai Jiuyou stood there, and for a fleeting moment, the image of his younger self appeared — in the prime of his years, heroic and magnificent, sword-sharp brows and star-bright eyes, devastatingly handsome. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was again that sickly, flesh-dry elder — in the end, age had truly come.
Yet in his hand, an object had appeared — a blazing crimson furnace, breathtakingly beautiful, floating in his palm. Its surface bore a phoenix with wings spread wide, a sun rising, archaic and magnificent in grandeur.
It was cast from Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold — this was the Eternal Universe Furnace!
Boom!
Gai Jiuyou stood immovable as a mountain, standing within this cosmos. And in his palm, the Eternal Universe Furnace swiftly expanded — rising to the height of the heavens themselves — crystalline and translucent throughout, red as blood-diamonds, enveloped in layer upon layer of drifting haze.
This was a furnace cast by the Eternal Universe Emperor — its power boundless. Now fully awakened, it blazed into life in an instant, illuminating the darkened cosmos.
Clang!
The furnace lid had not even been opened. The Eternal Universe Furnace — cast from Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold — collided directly forward as Gai Jiuyou drove it with the Weapon Rune. The vibration shook the vast cosmic starry sky to the brink of utter collapse and destruction.
The Golden Mace and the purple-gold Ten Thousand Dragon Bell blazed with light as they rose to meet the challenge — two Great Sages of the ancient clans, sensing the coming danger, poured the entirety of their Dao into resisting it.
Yet two Emperor’s weapons together could not stop the Eternal Universe Furnace. Gai Jiuyou’s Dao cultivation had reached a level of fearsome depth — and now with an Emperor’s weapon in hand, he could be called undefeatable!
BOOM!
Blazing light erupted and blossomed. Boundless phoenix cries rang out. Crimson twilight swallowed the vast cosmos — stars upon stars quaked and trembled. Those nearer at hand shattered to pieces without cease, exploding into fragments.
An ancient great emperor’s weapon clashing against weapons of the Ancient Emperor’s lineage — an occurrence of extreme rarity throughout all of history!
The Golden Mace and the Ten Thousand Dragon Bell were both sent flying, blasted away — not because the weapons were lacking, but because the wielders were an entire tier below. Both Great Sages of the ancient clans, even merged within the divine artifacts, sustained severe injuries — nearly destroyed in body and spirit entirely.
“You—” From within the Golden Mace came a trembling voice. The Golden King was terrified. He drove the sacred mace to turn and flee — not daring to linger for a single moment.
Clang!
The crimson, crystalline Eternal Universe Furnace rang out as it roared forward — another strike — pursuing in hot pursuit, crashing into the Golden Mace again. An ancient great emperor’s weapon clashing hard against an Ancient Emperor’s weapon.
The clash of metal rang out. The Golden Mace was sent flying far, far away, shattering one expanse of sky after another.
“Aaah…!”
The Golden King screamed — a harrowing and wretched cry. He was shaken out and sent tumbling from the Golden Mace, his body broken and shattered, nearly annihilated. Even a Great Sage was powerless before this!
Gai Jiuyou extended one coarse, rough hand — the flesh aged and no longer bearing the bearing of his youth — yet it inspired reverence in every onlooker, an urge to bow down in worship.
Crack!
He seized the Golden King in his grip — like catching a golden butterfly.
“Brother Gai — show mercy!” the Great Sage Huntuo cried out.
Yet Gai Jiuyou paid no heed, and slowly closed his hand.
The Golden King screamed in terror, straining with all his might to break free — yet no matter what he did, there was no escape.
Splat!
In the moment that hand closed — a Great Sage of the ancient clans, standing at the absolute pinnacle of the mighty — was shattered apart. Golden blood sprayed in all directions, shocking and staggering to behold.