Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Taihao Heavenly Sect

After a long and arduous search, what they sought was nothing but the legacy of Emperor Venerable Buzhou, and all of it most likely lay within the Emperor Venerable’s tomb.

"This time, I have hope to become an emperor." Bai Yuehong stared at the void passage, his heart racing.

Yuan Daokong and the white-haired woman were also excited and found it hard to contain themselves.

Although Ao Bing and Yue Ruyi were happy, they were not as agitated as the others.

The two had long taken Ye Xu’s words as the truth.

It was fundamentally impossible for anyone to become an emperor on this trip.

"Wanting to enter the Emperor Venerable’s tomb won’t be that easy," Lin Qianmo said lightly.

"Their strength can’t match ours," Long Tuo said.

"Emperor Venerable Buzhou must have left a backup plan."

Yue Ruyi thought it over, "Otherwise, with just the six of them, they wouldn’t dare so brazenly open the Emperor Venerable’s tomb in front of us; we must act cautiously."

"That makes sense."

Ao Bing nodded, "Moreover, the old Poison Emperor hasn’t appeared; he must be watching secretly."

Whoosh!

As soon as the words fell.

A dark light flew out from the void and instantly entered the void passage.

That aura was unmistakably the Poison Emperor.

"Poison Emperor has gone in."

A muscle at the corner of Lian Jiuyou’s eye twitched.

"That old Poison Emperor is cunning and cruel; letting him enter the Emperor Venerable’s tomb is the biggest variable," White Tiger King said.

"Elder, someone has gone in."

The five quasi-emperors from the Unsurpassed Sacred Ground had ugly expressions on their faces.

Xu Changqing looked calm, as if everything was under control; he smiled lightly and said, "Once the tomb opens, we can use the Unsurpassed Divine Seal to activate the heavenly formation; these people are not worth fearing."

"Let’s also go in."

He led the crowd, flying into the void passage.

Afterwards, the crowd turned into streaks of light and vanished into the void passage.

The world spun around.

After a few breaths, they composed themselves.

They seemed to be in a gravityless space, with no earth or sky, and only a few stars emitting faint starlight that illuminated the dim Emperor Venerable’s tomb.

The Emperor Venerable’s tomb was very simple, with just a few dilapidated palaces floating in midair.

At the center of the Emperor Venerable’s tomb lay an enormous corpse, limbless, just a remnant body surrounded by heavy deathly aura; its aura was withered and decaying, as if it had died for countless millennia.

"This imperial tomb isn’t quite what I imagined," Qi Ruyu murmured.

"Perfectly normal," Lan Youruo said. "Emperor Venerable Buzhou didn’t die of old age. He perished from grave injuries and lacked time to arrange his own funeral."

"If my speculation holds, that corpse must be Emperor Venerable Buzhou."

"Yet where are his limbs?"

This indeed became a perplexing question weighing on everyone’s mind.

Could someone have severed Emperor Venerable Buzhou’s limbs?

"Dear friends, this old man is Xu Changqing, a descendant of the Unsurpassed Sacred Ground." Suddenly, Xu Changqing spoke, his voice echoing throughout the imperial tomb.

"I hope you’ll honor this elder with your withdrawal from the tomb. Do not disturb the Emperor Venerable’s rest."

"Daoist friend, how can you prove your identity?" Yuan Daokong solemnly demanded.

"This shall serve as proof."

Xu Changqing opened his palm. The incomplete Unsurpassed Divine Seal floated upwards, wreathed in purple vapor and emanating a mystical aura.

"This Unsurpassed Divine Seal is the Unsurpassed Sacred Ground’s treasure, safeguarding our sect’s legacy."

"Hahaha…"

Bai Yuehong sneered, eyes filled with disdain. "The Unsurpassed Divine Seal was forged by Emperor Venerable Buzhou and scattered across realms. If I found one, I could also claim descent from the Unsurpassed Sacred Ground."

"Daoist friend, your story is far too flimsy."

"Elder, these people won’t yield until calamity strikes," the peak quasi-emperor beside him said coldly, barely containing his killing intent as he prepared to act. "Why waste words?"

"Violence would be most unwise."

Lian Jiuyou chuckled. "Old sir, we outnumber you. Starting a fight would leave you at a severe disadvantage."

"We all seek gains from this tomb. Better to mind our own currents; let each take what they came for."

"That makes sense."

Ao Bing nodded in agreement. "We are all cultivators here. Let’s avoid discord."

Though he didn’t favor Lian Jiuyou, matters of imperial treasure and heritage aligned Ao Bing firmly with the cultivators of Yuan Realm.

"And does Daoist Friend Lin share this view?"

Xu Changqing suddenly shifted his focus, directing the question squarely at Lin Qianmo.

"You know me?"

Lin Qianmo’s fine brows furrowed slightly.

"Once, by chance, our paths crossed."

Xu Changqing smiled faintly. "One hundred and twenty years ago, within the Sea of All Realms’ Return to the Ruins… You killed two peak Shadow Realm quasi-emperors with one finger. That scene remains etched in this old man’s memory."

Boom!

His words, delivered lightly as drifting clouds, sent shivers through every quasi-emperor present.

Killed two peak quasi-emperors with a single finger? What level of power was that?

It likely rivaled that of a Great Emperor.

Lian Jiuyou felt unnerved. Luckily, he hadn’t attacked Lin Qianmo, or the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom would face more than just a change of demon emperor.

If all four of them perished here, the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom would face utter destruction.

Lin Qianmo’s gaze flickered. Indeed, one hundred twenty years ago, she had ventured into the Return to the Ruins.

At the oceanic vortex within the Return to the Ruins, she had retrieved a wooden hairpin. That act drew the covetous eyes of two quasi-emperors from the Shadow Realm. So she had subdued both with a single finger.

Surprisingly, Xu Changqing had witnessed that event.

“Let the past remain buried.”

Her gaze remained tranquil. “Daoist friend, though Mt. Unsurpassed is your ancestral land, I too paid a heavy price to uncover its location.

Had I not guided Mt. Unsurpassed to descend upon the Yuan Realm, none of you would have sensed its whereabouts.

Therefore, I wish to take a share of the benefits. Will you permit this, Daoist friend?”

“Mt. Unsurpassed is our ancestral home! Why should we share it?”

One quasi-emperor raged.

“Delusional arrogance.” The quasi-emperors from Unsurpassed Fairy Island seethed with fury.

“This old man consents.”

Xu Changqing stroked his long beard and chuckled.

“Grand Elder!”

The quasi-emperors grimaced, unable to grasp Xu Changqing’s concession.

Xu Changqing bore bitter frustration. Among the Yuan Realm’s quasi-emperors, Lin Qianmo stood as the one he feared most.

Even if he activated the heavenly formation, he held no absolute certainty of subduing her.

“As for you all…”

Xu Changqing’s gaze swept over the quasi-emperors from the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, the Dao Sect, and the True Martial God Sect, his voice icy. “You have three breaths to leave the Emperor Venerable’s tomb. Otherwise, kill without hesitation.”

Hummmm!

The Unsurpassed Divine Seal trembled. Wisps of purple energy swirled, causing the entire imperial tomb to shudder. A horrifying aura began to slowly awaken.

Bai Yuehong, Yuan Daokong, and Lian Jiuyou trembled with dread. A thousand thoughts raced as they frantically weighed the consequences.

To leave now—none could bear the indignity.

This was their chance to become an emperor.

“Either gamble everything… win and become emperor,” Bai Yuehong murmured to himself.

“Sect master, reconsider,”

the one-eyed elder urged. “If… if we fail… our Holy Sect’s foundation of a million years… will be utterly destroyed.”

Bai Yuehong’s expression shifted between gloom and doubt.

“We withdraw.”

Yuan Daokong, however, showed little hesitation and declared their withdrawal.

The white-haired woman seemed puzzled. “Sect leader, why this choice?”

"Whether there really was a method to become an emperor within this imperial tomb remained unknown," Yuan Daokong said lightly.

"If we lost, we would have to leave our lives behind."

"My life is unimportant, but the ancestral legacy must not be destroyed in my hands."

The white-haired woman suddenly understood clearly.

"Let’s go too."

Though Lian Jiuyou was also unwilling, he did not dare to take the risk.

Boom!

Just then, an earth-shattering roar came from outside the imperial tomb.

A hand large enough to block out the sun and sky extended into the Unsurpassed Divine Mountain from the outside, followed by another hand.

As the external force invaded, the Heavenly Pole Four Symbols Formation was instantly activated, divine patterns swirling, Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise roaring as they formed a water-fire barrier.

Rip!

The two large hands fiercely tore apart, instantly shattering the barrier; Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise were slapped dead with a single palm strike, vanishing without a trace.

A giant eye appeared above the Unsurpassed Divine Mountain.

"No need to look any longer, let’s go in."

A voice sounded as the sky of the Unsurpassed Divine Mountain was completely torn apart; stars crashed down to the earth, causing tremors and quakes, shaking the imperial tomb itself.

"What happened out there?"

The crowd panicked.

Xu Changqing mobilized his power, opening his divine eye, seeing through the void passage two towering giants walking within the Unsurpassed Divine Mountain.

When he saw their faces, his body trembled with shock and anger.

The one walking ahead had nine heads, and wherever he passed, vegetation withered, stars fell like a god of the underworld, harvesting lives.

The other was a woman with fair features, her eyes intensely alluring, her figure swaying, every step captivating—all her movements enthralling hearts.

Behind her, she bore seven white fox tails, unmistakably a white fox.

These two cultivators were not humans and emitted an overwhelmingly powerful aura, like true deities walking the earth, so strong it distorted the rules of the Unsurpassed Divine Mountain, cracking it with signs of collapse.

"Two… two Great Emperors…"

The one-eyed elder was so frightened his legs shook, nearly collapsing to the ground.

"Where did they come from?"

Lian Jiuyou was stunned; while the appearance of the Unsurpassed Divine Mountain had drawn over a dozen quasi-emperors, how could it attract two Great Emperor-level beings?

At this point, even if they wanted to leave, it was probably impossible.

"They’re finally here."

Xu Changqing looked defeated.

"Great Elder, are they people of the Taihao Heavenly Sect?" The quasi-emperor of the Unsurpassed Fairy Island held his breath, barely daring to inhale.

This was the nightmare of their lives.

Xu Changqing nodded.

"Taihao Heavenly Sect?"

Ao Bing overheard their words and turned to Lin Qianmo, asking, "Daoist friend, is this sect powerful?"

"Very powerful."

Lan Youruo said.

"The Taihao Heavenly Sect has a history spanning over ten million years, having produced more than ten true immortals who ascended to the upper realm. Currently, the Taihao Heavenly Sect alone has five Emperor Venerables."

"As for Great Emperors, there should be at least a dozen."

Lan Youruo’s gaze turned grave. "Therefore, the Taihao Heavenly Sect ranks among the three powerful figures of the Spirit Realm."

Ao Lie’s mouth fell open in shock.

Absurd!

Utterly absurd!

Since the great change of the Yuan Realm over ten million years ago, no one in the Yuan Realm could achieve attaining immortality; in the last million years, not even a single quasi-emperor succeeded in attaining the Dao and becoming an emperor.

Yet in the Spirit Realm, adjacent to the Yuan Realm, the Taihao Heavenly Sect alone wielded such absurd power—an unbridgeable gap.

"Now we are all in the same boat."

Lian Jiuyou looked over at Lin Qianmo. "Surviving in the hands of two Great Emperors won’t be easy."

Once the Great Emperors of the Taihao Heavenly Sect appeared, the situation reversed.

No one coveted the treasures of the imperial tomb anymore; instead, everyone thought about how to escape.