Chapter 288

Chapter 288: Playing With Fire

"There is one more thing."

Li Ruoshui looked toward the direction Gu Daojin had fled, frowning as she said, "Who was the one who just escaped? Did he open the Divine Court ruins?"

"Hmph!" Zhong Ling’s expression darkened instantly at the mention of Gu Daojin. Her voice turned icy. "He wasn’t alone. There was a group of ten."

"However, he was the only true immortal among them. There was also a Tai Sui!"

"Tai Sui?"

Dao King reacted abruptly, exclaiming, "It’s Ye Qing Xuan!"

Dao King had an extremely deep impression of Ye Qing Xuan; that Tai Sui had made him covetous beyond measure. Moreover, Ye Qing Xuan’s mysterious origins also piqued his curiosity greatly.

"Ye Qing Xuan? Who is this person?" Zhong Ling asked, puzzled.

"Esteemed senior," Dao King replied dutifully, "The master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion once established a Great Emperor Golden List ranking emperor realm cultivators across all realms. Ye Qing Xuan was ranked number one on that Golden List."

"The master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion again?"

Zhong Ling’s eyes flashed with anger.

"That group," she hissed through gritted teeth, "they followed guidance from the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion to locate the Divine Court ruins. Wherever they passed, they left not a blade of grass standing." Her hatred was palpable.

The Divine Court was hers! Yet it had been raided by Gu Daojin and his ilk. It was absolutely unforgivable.

"The master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion…" Li Ruoshui’s gaze also darkened. One of her incarnations remained imprisoned in Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, serving as a maid to Ye Xu.

Bai Muyue looked on with surprise; Zhong Ling and Li Ruoshui both seemed to have suffered setbacks because of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

Her interest in Heaven’s Secret Pavilion grew stronger and stronger.

…

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Gu Daojin fled for his life, charging wildly up through the fifth heaven without stopping. He weaved around lingering shockwaves of divine abilities and traps of magical formations, constantly fleeing deeper into the Divine Court ruins.

He no longer dared to linger in the outer heavens. After all, that was the princess of the Human Emperor! Besides their group, Zhong Ling knew the Divine Court’s structure best.

However, simply leaving like this was something Gu Daojin could not accept.

He knew well that within the Divine Court, besides its own formations, there was also lingering power from heavenly punishment, as well as remnants of Immortal King-level divine abilities. Exploiting these could trip up those coming after him.

The Ninth Heaven.

As Gu Daojin crossed the celestial gate, a massive slaughter formation appeared before him. The formation platform sprawled across a million miles, composed of exactly thirty-six thousand five hundred segments.

Inside the formation perched mountains of white bones. Divine weapons had long decayed, and the divine bones had lost their spiritual luster.

Only a towering killing intent and resentful aura remained, undiminished even after millions of years, growing even more terrifying instead.

The formation seemed to have been forcibly broken apart. At the formation core lay a slash mark. This solitary knife scar, imprinted for eternity, radiated a horrifying blade intent. Getting any closer felt like enduring death by a thousand cuts.

"A mere trace of blade intent causes such dreadful damage," Gu Daojin murmured, his eyes gleaming with calculation. A crafty smirk spread across his face. "Even among Immortal Kings, he must be a powerful one… And this place lies on the only path to the Ninth Heaven…"

"Three Immortal Kings, hmph? Think you can bully me? I’ll make sure you taste some bitterness too."

With the intelligence from Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, Gu Daojin understood the workings of this formation and the divine energy deeply.

Slowly, he retrieved a wheel-shaped disc. Immortal Path symbols covered its surface while an aura of immortality drifted faintly from it. It was unmistakably an immortal artifact.

Gu Daojin chuckled slyly and threw the rotating disk into the formation’s eye.

Wisps of immortal light spread across the entire formation like tentacles, and vast energy surged into it.

Faintly, a hint of an ancient aura revived.

After completing this, Gu Daojin summoned Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable.

"Brother, bring out some of your puppets," Gu Daojin said.

Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable looked confused, but at Gu Daojin’s request, he honestly handed over nine puppets.

Each puppet had emperor realm cultivation.

"Leave them here, we are leaving."

Gu Daojin laughed extremely cunningly and said, "Keep an eye on what’s happening here. The moment someone steps into the formation, trigger the puppets to self-destruct, activate the saber intent divine ability, and trigger the formation."

"Big brother, are you trying to eliminate someone using another’s hand?" Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable exclaimed in shock.

That was three Immortal Kings.

"Killing? Not quite," Gu Daojin slowly shook his head.

"At most, I’ll let them suffer some minor injuries."

"Alright."

Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable’s heart pounded with fear, but he also found it very thrilling and even somewhat looked forward to it.

Once the setup was complete, Gu Daojin released everyone from the Purple Palace.

"Master, how did we escape?" Yu Ziwei asked, still shaken.

"Two more Immortal Kings have arrived," Gu Daojin laughed.

"…"

"Why are there suddenly so many Immortal Path experts in the mortal realm?" Qin Fei Yan frowned slightly with her beautiful eyebrows. "Could it be related to that terrifying crack in the sky?"

"It’s more than likely," Heavenly Talisman Old Man said.

"No matter how many experts there are, as soon as this deal is done, we’ll seek refuge with the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. With his protection, three Immortal Kings wouldn’t be able to do anything to us," Gu Daojin laughed heartily.

Ye Xu stared strangely at Gu Daojin and said, "Daoist brother, did you hide something from us and do something shameful?"

Except for Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable, everyone’s gaze focused on Gu Daojin.

"How could it be shameful?"

Gu Daojin said righteously, "I just made a slight alteration to the formation in the Ninth Heaven, giving Human Emperor’s little princess an unexpected surprise."

"…"

The Seven Immortals of Cloud Capital gasped—such an audacious deed was something only Gu Daojin could pull off.

"Good idea!" Ye Xu praised.

He also didn’t like Zhong Ling.

Just a princess of a former dynasty, acting arrogantly and domineeringly. Even the Heavenly Emperor before her was humble and polite, without a trace of pride.

Gu Daojin’s approach was just to his liking.

"Senior brother, if we can trap and kill an Immortal King, then we can leave a name for eternity," Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable said excitedly.

"Junior brother, you also participated?" Heavenly Talisman Old Man said quietly.

Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable smiled sheepishly, "I just contributed a few puppets; the specific plan was being executed by Brother Gu."

"We’re playing with fire."

Heavenly Talisman Old Man sighed, his seasoned caution naturally opposing such risky actions. After all, if they were to fail, it would surely provoke the Immortal King who walked into their trap.

"Don’t fear."

Ye Xu chuckled lightly. "At worst, we flee the Divine Court immediately and ask refuge with the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion."

…

Ninth Heaven.

Zhong Ling, flanked by ten true immortals; Bai Muyue accompanied by several True Immortal Realm sect masters; Li Ruoshui and Dao King—all passed through the Ninth Heaven gate. As far as their eyes could see, desolation reigned.

"The higher we ascend, the heavier the power of divine punishment grows," Li Ruoshui remarked. "When we reach Lingxiao Palace, who knows if we can endure the intensity of its divine punishment?"

Zhong Ling’s expression remained as still as the ancient well, her tone lightly detached. "This princess too has been absent for long. It’s unknown how much of the Divine Court’s original form remains."

"What horrifying sword energy."

Unconsciously, they stepped within the range of a formation.

A single blade scar marred the Ninth Heaven, seemingly having nearly cleaved the Nine Heavens asunder. The terrifying aura of the blade permeated the world, evoking visions of thousands upon thousands of sword energies locked in conflict.

Heaven and earth transformed into a battlefield of weapons and hooves.

A surging wave of murderous intent and lingering resentment burst forth.

"It’s the formation that once guarded the Ninth Heaven," Zhong Ling mused, her gaze distant and profound. "The hand that struck must have belonged to an Immortal King at the peak of perfection."

However mighty the Ancient Divine Court was, it culminated merely as a mortal dynasty—its strength finite.

Crack!

Suddenly, a strange sound echoed from the formation’s core. An immense wheel shifted faintly, unleashing a flood of majestic power. Divine patterns reappeared, threading across the heavens.

A fearsome presence stirred to life.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The nine emperor-realm puppets, forged by the Nine Palaces Emperor Venerable, activated their divine powers. Like moths darting into flames, they flung themselves toward the blade scar in a coordinated assault.

Clang!

The scar seemed to materialize upon the air as resonant sword cries rang out. The oppressive aura of the blade flared instantly.

Ching!

In a flash, the nine puppets crumbled to dust.

Rumble!

As the blade’s intent erupted, the slaughter-fueled malice and resentment coiled within the heavens awoke. These two forces, adversaries even after a million years, still held their mutual enmity beyond dissolution.

Now, awakened by the blade’s essence, the formation surged to full power.

Bang!

The mana flowing through the immortal artifact wheel was drained completely dry by the formation in mere moments.

The formation surged to life fully.

Clang! Clang!

The scar manifested distinctly. Vaguely, the witnesses perceived the phantom of a supreme Immortal King. He grasped an unparalleled Heavenly Blade, surveying the land with contempt. With a flick of his wrist, man and blade became one.

Ching!

Within their pupils, the phantom Immortal King swung. Heaven and earth extinguished, consumed entirely by blade-light. Save the three Immortal Kings present, none dared look directly upon the ephemeral form.

This was a Great Dao imprint; an enduring brand upon space and time.

"We’ve fallen into a trap!"

That second, realization struck everyone.

The Ninth Heaven: one elaborate snare.

"Damn it!"

Zhong Ling’s expression darkened. However slow her thoughts ran even she recognized the trap’s designer.

Li Ruoshui and Bai Muyue too stared in profound shock toward the Immortal King phantom.

Both seemed to know this immortal sovereign’s identity.

"Heavenly Blade Old Man…"