Even the master of the ancient forbidden zone had acted — a single palm strike into the primordial chaos cave, her divine might incomparable, causing catastrophic collapse within.
Many in the outer regions widened their eyes in disbelief — every one of them stunned, a great many saints and sages certain that the wilderness master was attacking Mount Sumeru.
But the ancient supreme beings understood clearly — it was not so. She was striking the immortal ascension path — yet not to break through, but to shatter it by force!
No matter how one looked at it, her action was utterly beyond anyone’s expectation — astonishing and incomprehensible. Everyone else was striving for immortality, yet she did not care for it in the least.
“What is the meaning of this?!” The Stone Emperor was enraged. He had revealed his true form — a tall and martial middle-aged man. Though drenched in blood, that unparalleled presence did not diminish. His eyes were sharp as lightning, and his great black Heaven-Desolating Halberd pointed directly at the wilderness master.
Clang!
Yet the woman in white, transcendent and untouched by the world, was even more forceful than him. Seeing the black halberd pointing toward her, she responded directly with a palm — simple and direct, fierce and powerful. Her jade-like hand struck the great halberd, sending brilliant radiance exploding outward. The Stone Emperor vomited a large mouthful of blood, for he had already suffered grave wounds before — on the verge of dying inside. Struck again now, naturally his imperial blood splattered down.
The world was thunderstruck!
Were beings of this level finally going to clash? A duel was about to unfold between them!
“Fine. Though I am old and already injured, I refuse to believe there is anyone in this world who can kill me!” The Stone Emperor roared. His thick, dense black hair stood on end. His eyes were piercing — the radiance within them more brilliant than lightning.
He gripped the great black Heaven-Desolating Halberd, unleashing incomparable radiance. Primordial chaos energy billowed. He stepped forward, prepared to unleash the most terrifying great battle.
“Upon the immortal path there are no mortal enemies. Both of you, stand down.” The Longevity Celestial Lord urged.
Boom!
At that very moment, the primordial chaos cave exploded outward — interrupting the conflict outside. Something terrifying had happened within. A violent and massive explosion erupted.
“Amitabha!”
Living beings chanted the name of the Great Emperor of the Buddhist faith — resounding throughout heaven and earth, transmitting outward. Showers of light burst forth in waves, like boundless pure-white feathers dancing through the air — resplendent and beautiful, washing the air with serenity.
“What — has Amitabha the Great Emperor succeeded?!” This scene triggered a massive uproar. Some quasi-emperors in the outer regions caught sight of it and cried out in shock.
And upon the immortal path itself, the ancient supreme beings were equally shaken — in that moment, expressions of disbelief crossed their faces. Was someone truly going to become immortal? Such radiance was blazing outward.
Ascending in transformation, light cascading like rain — was this not exactly that scene? The presence of the immortal suffused the air. This was the sign of a successful metamorphosis!
Since time immemorial, no Celestial Lord, Ancient Emperor, or Great Emperor had ever become immortal. Could it be that the Amitabha Great Emperor alone would break that precedent, opening a new era without precedent?!
Or perhaps it could be said — broken by the entire Buddhist congregation of all living beings together. This was not solely the power of Amitabha alone, but the faith-power of every believer, from all eight wastes of the universe, gathered together, forging this immense fruit of the Dao.
Boom!
From within the ascension cave, explosions rang out in a violent cascade. The immortal light grew even stronger, with bursts of colored radiance flying outward — as though arriving from another world entirely.
“Something is wrong — there has been a change!” An ancient supreme being said coldly, swiftly dodging to one side.
At the same moment, the sky and earth shattered. The primordial chaos cave — already decrepit and broken — erupted. Shattered rocks tore through the air. The Northern Dipper’s foremost mountain — Mount Sumeru — cracked into four pieces, exploding outward.
Something most terrifying had occurred within. Faintly, the sorrowful lament of countless living beings was heard. Blood light flooded without end — life after life extinguishing — and the Great Thunder Sound Temple had collapsed to more than half.
Dong!
The bronze plaque of the Great Thunder Sound cracked. One piece flew outward, embedding itself into the immortal path, suspended in the primordial chaos. It was drenched in blood — the blood of living beings, and the blood of Amitabha — a harrowing sight.
Defeat. The Buddhist faith was thoroughly defeated. They could not pass. They too were not the right person. That divine self forged from the power of faith, though at the absolute peak of power, was ultimately not the Amitabha Great Emperor himself!
“This is a great disaster — an immeasurable tragedy!”
“Across the entire Western Desert — for a billion li of Buddhist land — every follower of the faith is dead!”
“Throughout the eight wastes of the universe, the faith-power gathered from all living beings has exploded!”
An ancient supreme being murmured. Even they were moved. This defeat was far too devastating — the losses immense, the tragedy extreme in its brutality!
“Amitabha…”
The shattered fragments of Mount Sumeru all came flying outward. Upon them, wronged souls wept their lamentation — a hundred million living beings dead without just cause, all destroyed. Those were their souls, refusing to accept their fate.
In an instant, all those lamenting voices vanished. They transformed into vast showers of light, imprinted upon the immortal path, continuing to build and pave this road.
This caused many eyes to fix in place, every heart lurching — could it be that all the scenes and forms visible upon this path were real? Were they the melted remnants of those who had perished here long ago, fused into its very fabric?
“Defeated. Even the Buddhist faith, relying on the power of all living beings, was defeated. Who else could break through?”
“Only those who achieve the Dao in the present age can become immortal!”
This filled people with despair. This outcome left everyone speechless, overwhelmed by sorrow. There was no longer any way. Truly, no one could ascend to immortality — it had shaken the faith of all.
Was there such a thing as an immortal?
Could long life be attained?
How could it be done?
People were shaken with doubt. This result had not only extinguished the lives of the ancient supreme beings — it was extinguishing the hopes of the world, the first light of dawn that people had yearned toward.
Mount Sumeru lay shattered into four pieces, stained red by blood. The Great Thunder Sound Temple atop the mountain had collapsed more than halfway. Every structure upon it was damaged. The temple hanging in the void was also broken and ruined, on the verge of disappearing entirely.
Within the mountain’s body, the boundless power of faith seemed to have run dry. Not a single wisp spilled out any longer. The cracked Mount Sumeru, bearing its ruined temple, soared back up into the sky and descended once more upon the Western Desert.
From this day forward, the entire Western Lands fell into utter silence. Gone were the billion li of Buddhist land. Gone was the light. Gone was the sound of recited sutras. Gone was the serene and harmonious air.
The Western Desert had become a land of death!
At this point, the wilderness master made to act again — seeking to shatter the immortal ascension path and sweep this entire place away.
And at the same moment, the towering man at her side, covered all over in golden fur, also stepped forward — moving toward the master of the immortal mausoleum, the Longevity Celestial Lord.
“Wait — I understand your meaning. You believe this lifetime has failed, that no one can become immortal, and you intend to destroy this place. Yet we are unwilling, and still desire to make one final attempt!” The Qilin Ancient Emperor said. He had been gravely wounded — blood all over his body.
“Indeed — we would rather fall in battle upon the immortal path!” another ancient supreme being said. Their fates were already sealed. They wished to end it in battle.
“I do not wish to die. Nor am I willing to give up on the immortal path just yet!” The Stone Emperor said coldly, gripping the great halberd in defiance.
“Very well. I will give you the time. If you fall in battle upon the immortal path, so be it. If you return — we settle our grievances in one final battle!” The towering man covered in golden fur said to the Longevity Celestial Lord.
The woman in white appeared momentarily lost — as though without her soul — then returned to cold indifference and acted no further.
Clearly her state was unusual, and the ancient supreme beings were puzzled, for it felt as though this was merely an incomparable vessel — her elemental spirit there one moment and gone the next.
“You have all seen this — the immortal path. Witness our laws well, our Dao, our road!” A human supreme being roared out — his voice carrying into the outer regions — then resolutely and decisively leapt into the immortal ascension cave, making one final effort, one final attempt.
“Forward!” An ancient emperor leapt back into the immortal ascension cave — beginning a final, desperate struggle.
“I am like a moth flying into a flame, listening to my own funeral song upon the immortal path. My heart refuses to accept it — yet I do not regret it. I prove my Dao, I tread the immortal road. I am still alive. I will press forward!”
“This life, this lifetime — I have walked it. I have existed. Death is nothing!”
“Let me use my life — still burning, though nearly spent — to verify the method of becoming immortal. Let me use the still-warm blood in my veins to nourish the immortal path. My Dao, my life, my existence — burning in the light of flame, blazing into full bloom!”
…
The supreme beings cried out in anguish to heaven and earth. They had once reigned over the primordial universe, fought across heaven and earth undefeated, looking down upon the mortal world with contempt — nothing they could not accomplish, no enemy they could not suppress. And yet now they were to close out this way.
Except for the two who had shattered into blood and bone, all the other ancient supreme beings charged inside — making one last desperate push.
In the end, this place became primordial chaos — blood blooming, a sorrowful song drifting out. Powerful beyond all else as those supreme sovereigns were, they could not change this outcome. In this lifetime, no one could become immortal!
Everyone had failed. The result of this lifetime could not be changed. They could not break through!
Ten thousand ages — all for nothing!
“My road has reached its end. Since it has come to this, let me return to heaven and earth.” Some supreme beings were even somewhat free and untroubled. Their oil spent and lamp extinguished, not a trace of blood energy remaining, their elemental spirits decaying. They sat cross-legged upon the ground and dissolved directly into the Dao — light rain rising up in billowing streams.
Pfft!
Others did not even have time to say anything. Having truly reached the end of life’s road, they had barely emerged from the primordial chaos cave before they simply exploded — becoming blood and bone.
“Has anyone still not come out? There is still the Longevity Celestial Lord inside!”
These supreme beings were all but finished. All were nearly at the end of their lifespan — in truth, this had already been so after the first time they entered. A second attempt to storm the immortal pass had consumed even more. All of them were running out of time.
Two people had already passed away in succession.
“The human Great Emperor has died. That is unmistakably the exhaustion of the blood energy of a human emperor — ending this way, quietly and in regret!”
In the outer regions, people lamented. It was too pitiable. Undefeated across ten thousand ages — yet ending this way, in sorrow and regret.
The Qilin Ancient Emperor let out a low roar, drenched in blood, soaring into the heavens and vanishing into the universe — stunning everyone, who felt as though great calamity were descending.
Yet the ancient emperor’s figure did not stop, paying them no mind. In an instant he crossed tens of thousands of star systems, arriving at the other shore of the universe, descending upon a vast and ancient life-bearing star.
His body stumbled and staggered. That Primordial Sovereign who had looked down upon the nine heavens and ten earths with contempt — when had he ever been in such a wretched state? A life of supreme invincibility, and now it had come to this, so bleak and sorrowful.
Feet that had once been able to shatter the primordial universe left only a trail of blood behind — the marks of imperial blood with every step, his body swaying greatly.
“Father!”
Huo Lin’er appeared, crying out in heartbroken anguish — shattering sobs that tore the heart — rushing forward swiftly, throwing herself against the Qilin Ancient Emperor, who was drenched in blood all over.
“Be… careful. I can barely control my killing aura anymore. This blood may harm you.” The Qilin Ancient Emperor — those hands that could pluck stars from the sky and shatter a hundred million star rivers — were unsteady now, trembling. He reached out to wipe the imperial blood from his daughter’s face, his eyes filled with deep and tender love.
Huo Lin’er wept aloud. Her tears rolled down in streams. Her father had once stood supreme over heaven and earth, looking down upon the myriad heavens — what a supremely forceful man he had been. Undefeated all his life. And now he was like this — blood streaming all over his body, swaying and unsteady, having suffered inconceivable, catastrophic wounds. Life was drawing to its final point.
So powerful a man, and now this was the pitiful scene — it cut through her heart like a blade. She embraced the Qilin Ancient Emperor and wept aloud: “Father — do not leave me. You must live. You must live…”
The form of this man had once been so towering — unreachable, unrivaled beneath the heavens. Every hero under the nine heavens and ten earths had to look up to him. Even the divine had to kneel and bow in worship.
Yet now he was somewhat hunched. His hands trembled. He could not support his own body, swaying — liable to collapse at any moment. Even the effort of helping his daughter wipe away her tears was beyond him.
No longer the supreme and peerless Primordial Sovereign of days past. In this moment he was only a father unwilling to let go of his child — his eyes no longer commanding and imposing, now very dim, filled with reluctance, unable to bring himself to part from his daughter, unwilling to release her hand. His coarse palms trembled as he stroked her face.