Infinity, starting from eternity

Chapter 542 The Heavenly Court's Foundation, the Five Paths!
The Heavenly Court's treasury is a truly important place, where terrifying auras lurk. These are the oldest batch of King-grade Immortal Artifacts, comparable to Supreme Immortals and Ancient Emperors, beings that coexist with Heaven and Earth.

The treasure vault doesn't need anyone to guard it, because these top-grade immortal artifacts are the most powerful guardians.

Aside from the Heavenly Emperor sneaking in, no one could do anything about it.

Even if the Heavenly Emperor were to enter, he would be protected by the sacred-grade immortal artifact, the Martial Scripture of the Emperors, so he would not be afraid at all.

However, under the guidance of his own people from the Five Heavenly Sovereigns, Li Ping'an leisurely strolled through the Heavenly Court and arrived at the treasure vault. Along the way, he encountered numerous Supreme Immortals and King-grade Immortal Artifacts, all of whom treated him with utmost respect.

"Greetings, my lord."

A long spear had already been guarding the gates of the Heavenly Treasury.

He is the spear of judgment, judging all beings. Across endless distances of time and space, He can deliver the highest judgment upon anyone who does not follow the Heavenly Court, and no one can escape.

At the same time, it is also the number one royal-grade immortal artifact in the Heavenly Court, second only to the Heavenly Lords and holy-grade immortal artifacts.

If the Heavenly Lord and the Sacred Immortal Artifact are the sovereigns and kings of the Heavenly Court, then this is the civil and military minister, the one who commands the Heavenly Army. It is no exaggeration to say that it holds immense power and influence.

His status was even higher than that of the sons of the Heavenly Emperor, such as the Birth Emperor and the Wrathful Emperor.

However, it was extremely respectful to Li Ping'an and dared not show the slightest sign of anger.

During the battle of the Five Heavenly Kings, the incarnation of the Creation Immortal King appeared. This great general of the Heavenly Court and commander of the Heavenly Army also sensed him and naturally trusted Li Ping'an.

"Open the Heavenly Treasury!" the Eternal Heavenly Lord commanded with a majestic expression.

"Yes, Lord Eternal!"

The Spear of Judgment was quite compliant, opening the Heavenly Treasury. As soon as it opened a crack, countless precious lights rose from the sky, transforming into celestial dragons and immortals, paying homage to Li Ping'an and the five Heavenly Lords.

There are countless King-grade and Saint-grade elixirs here, as well as top-grade and King-grade immortal artifacts, and all sorts of amazing and divine materials.

Almost all of them possess their own consciousness, and even the least powerful among them would be a Primordial Immortal or a Saint Immortal.

Those of lower rank are not even qualified to be included in the Heavenly Treasury.

Among them, the most eye-catching is the broken Thirty-Three Heavens Creation Treasure.

Years ago, when the Immortal King of Creation was fighting against the phantom of the Gate of Eternity summoned by Fang Qingxue, the Creation Artifact of the Thirty-Three Heavens shattered. Later, he reforged a set of sacred artifacts, but before he could finish refining them, he entered the Gate of Eternity.

The five Heavenly Lords took over the remaining sacred-grade immortal artifacts and devoted themselves to their repair. They were almost successful when the Yellow Springs Emperor ascended to heaven, and the artifacts shattered again.

They've been trying to repair it, but judging from its current state, it's beyond repair.

Li Ping'an had no interest in this; he planned to hand it over to Fang Han to devour when they met. He then looked towards the other treasures.

Besides this set of shattered creation treasures, there are also the remains of Heavenly Lords sealed in the center by countless formations. These are the remains of Heavenly Lords who were killed during the Heavenly Court's conquest of all realms, including those of dragons, Buddhas, gods, and other world lords.

The majesty of the Heavenly Court is not just empty talk. It rules over all realms with absolute strength. The five Heavenly Lords, including the Thunder Emperor Heavenly Lord, have a record of killing Heavenly Lords. This kind of strength is what has established the Heavenly Court's status.

Otherwise, even with the remaining power of the Creation Immortal King, the Heavenly Court would have been driven out of the Hundred Thousand Continents long ago.

The Ten Thousand Continents is the most prosperous area in the Heavenly Realm. Whoever occupies this place is the rightful ruler. Even if the Five Heavenly Lords have internal conflicts, they are in agreement on this point.

Now it was Li Ping'an's turn to take charge. He glanced at the divine objects used to repair the Thirty-Three Heavens' Creation Treasures, which were as numerous as the stars and the sea, enough to fill countless multiverses.

"These are the accumulations of the Heavenly Court over countless millennia."

The Spear of Judgment gazed enviously at the treasure at the core. If some of these resources were given to it, it would be able to break through to the Heavenly Monarch realm without any problem.

The Thirty-Three Heavens' Creation Treasure, capable of repairing a sacred immortal artifact, demonstrates the immense wealth and resources it possesses. Few could remain unmoved by it, not even the Heavenly Lord.

"it is good!"

Li Ping'an looked on with joy, "With this resource, several artifacts in the Nine-Nine Supreme Divine City can be upgraded to Saint-grade Immortal Artifacts!"

Eighty-one sacred cities cannot be achieved overnight; even obtaining the Heavenly Court's resources would be insufficient.

This set of magical artifacts is too lofty. Even the Supreme Immortal King Jiujiu couldn't master the realm of creating divine artifacts back then. His Dao was described as being similar to the Dao of an epoch, which shows how extraordinary it is.

The resources needed to repair the Thirty-Three Heavens Creation Treasure, a sacred immortal artifact, are only so much. It may seem like a lot, but it's not enough to completely destroy the Nine-Nine Supreme Divine City in one fell swoop, which is normal.

Once the Nine-Nine Supreme Divine City is completed, its power will be incredibly terrifying, comparable to eighty-one Heavenly Monarchs in strength. Just imagine how terrifying that is.

"Goddess of Order! Goddess of the Sun and Moon! I entrust these to you!"

When Li Ping'an released his magic weapon, the spirit of the Nine-Nine Supreme Divine City was extremely eager and excited upon its appearance.

"Great! With these materials, we can also advance to the Saint-grade Immortal Artifact!"

The Goddess of Order was almost unable to contain herself, but due to her nature, she maintained appearances and allocated resources.

"There are also the Hunyuan materials sent by Lord Lingbao. Together, they are just enough for the twenty-four sisters to break through and form the Twenty-Four Heavenly Supreme Array in one fell swoop. Its power is boundless, and no one can restrain it except for the ancient Heavenly Monarchs with the cultivation of ten eras!"

She reported to Li Ping'an.

Li Ping'an nodded and waved his hand, "Then go ahead, no need to wait."

Refining a sacred-grade immortal artifact takes a considerable amount of time. With turmoil looming in the Heavenly Realm, every second counts, and the faster one can go, the better.

He also sent Dan Yao to help, as the power of the peerless alchemy cauldron, a sacred immortal artifact, was enough to make the refining speed millions of times faster.

As for the other seven treasures of the Immortal Phoenix advancing to the Saint-grade, there's no rush.

Beneath the bottomless abyss lies the Great Dao Wutong, within which fragments of their former selves still reside. Once refined, a breakthrough will be imminent.

“My lord, it might not be a good idea to empty the treasury all at once,” the Spear of Judgment couldn’t help but say.

The expressions of the Calamity Heavenly Lord and the Chaos Heavenly Lord also twitched. Many of the resources here were plundered by them, and now they were all about to be lost. How could they not feel heartbroken?

But they dared not speak. Faced with Li Ping'an's increasingly imposing presence and even his calm demeanor when confronting the Creation Immortal King, how could they dare to interrupt on such a trivial matter?

"Hmph! What's the rush? Just hand it over to Li Ping'an for refining the weapon, and we'll be rich in benefits in the future." The Eternal Heavenly Lord sneered. The Eternal Divine Furnace in the lower realm had been helping him gather intelligence.

He practically watched Li Ping'an rise to power, defeat the Taiyi Sect, and take control of the Xuanhuang Great World. All the help and investment he received along the way were repaid a hundredfold.

It seems that the Eternal Heavenly Lord is more confident than Li Ping'an himself.

"It's a pity that the incomplete treasure of creation cannot be repaired any further, but it's just right for Fang Han to refine it. With his luck and opportunities, the day when he can reshape the Thirty-Three Heavens Creation Artifact is not far off."

Chaos Heavenly Lord spoke with maturity and composure, "The most urgent task is to improve our strength; everything else can be postponed."

“That’s right!” the Slaughtering Heavenly Lord agreed. “I can already feel the killing intent descending from the sky, dragons and snakes rising from the land, the Great Dao of Slaughter is excited, immortals are falling like rain, and the era of the collapse of the Heavenly Lord’s Dao is coming.”

He is the Slaughtering Heavenly Lord, the master of the Slaughtering Great Dao. No one dares to ignore his words.

"It's alright, I know how to manage the resources of the Heavenly Court."

"If the Origin Dynasty and the Holy Land of Truth want to be our enemies, we'll start by taking them down. All their resources will be ours," Li Ping'an said leisurely. "They have more than twenty Heavenly Lords, as well as treasures like the Origin Altar and the Gate of Truth. If we refine them all, the glory of the Heavenly Court will be right before our eyes."

"Spear of Judgment, you have fought for the Heavenly Court for a long time. When the time comes, you will be the first to be promoted to a Saint-grade Immortal Artifact!"

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

The spear of judgment was completely subdued and overjoyed.

If such words were uttered by anyone else, even by the Five Heavenly Lords, the Spear of Judgment would scoff. The Origin Dynasty and the Holy Land of Truth are not so easily breached.

While others may offer empty promises, Li Ping'an's promise is different. The man before him has won over the Five Heavenly Lords and gained the approval of the Creation Immortal King, and will surely lead the Heavenly Court back to its supreme position in the Heavenly Realm.

"Alright, now go down, Spear of Judgment! Work with Zhang Jiuren to handle the affairs of Heaven! A good job will be greatly rewarded!"

Li Ping'an grabbed Zhang Jiuren, who was located tens of thousands of celestial continents away, with a single grab.

"My lord?" Zhang Jiuren was initially startled, but quickly calmed down.

Looking at the Spear of Judgment, the five Heavenly Lords stood on all four sides, protecting Li Ping'an. They immediately understood that their lord had successfully taken over the Heavenly Court.

"I'm leaving the affairs of Heaven to you!"

Li Ping'an waved his hand, pushing these matters aside, and devoted himself to cultivating the future Heavenly Emperor he had designated.

"Yes, sir!" the Spear of Judgment said humbly. "I will definitely assist Zhang Jiuren well."

Even if this guy in front of me only seems to have just entered the level of a supreme immortal, it could kill him a million times over with a single spear, and the Spear of Judgment would have no objection whatsoever.

This is the order of the new master of Heaven; who dares disobey?!

The Spear of Judgment carried Zhang Jiuren out.

"Greetings, Lord Zhang."

The celestial emperors and ancient king-grade immortal artifacts of the Heavenly Court stood aside, while Xi Huang, Ming Huang, the Brilliant Blade, and the Eye of the Void all bowed to Zhang Jiuren.

Zhang Jiuren felt that pressure and almost gasped for breath.

Is this the foundation of the Heavenly Court?

As far as the eye could see, there were only Supreme Immortal Emperors, and even ordinary Supreme Immortal Emperors were not enough. Only ancient emperors who lived as long as heaven and earth were qualified to approach. Their numbers were dozens of times greater than the combined number of Immortal Emperors in the trilogy's world cluster.

The Spear of Judgment seemed to sense his thoughts and sighed slightly, "It's a pity that the Yellow Springs Emperor ascended to the Heavenly Realm and received the power of the Reincarnation Daoist, which allowed him to shake the Heavenly Court with a cultivation level comparable to that of an ancient Heavenly Monarch."

"In addition to the Thirty-Three Heavens' Creation Treasures shattering once again, the Heavenly Lords and Ancient Emperors of the Heavenly Court also tried to suppress it, but most of them were killed by the backlash."

This is why there are so few experts in the Heavenly Court now. The Origin Dynasty and the Holy Land of Truth have a large number of Heavenly Lords, but the Heavenly Court has none.

It's because he was messed with by the Yellow Springs Emperor that his vitality hasn't recovered yet.

The Yellow Springs Emperor ascended to heaven thousands of years ago from the Xuanhuang Great World. Only a few decades have passed in the Heavenly Realm; how could he possibly recover?

"Then I'll leave it to you, Fellow Daoist Judge." Zhang Jiuren took a deep breath. He was under immense pressure, having to control the Mythical Heavenly Court, which possessed such terrifying power.

But he will do his best and live up to the master's expectations.

Zhang Jiuren quickly infiltrated the Heavenly Court and thrived there. He also gained considerable experience in dealing with those ancient King-grade immortal artifacts.

By directly unleashing the 'Heavenly Emperor Sword,' a top-tier immortal artifact, we can show that we are all of the same ilk and openly declare our stance.

This immediately gained the approval of Wangpin Xianqi Group.

"So you're also a reincarnation of a magical artifact." The Spear of Judgment was somewhat surprised; it had almost failed to discern the other party's true nature and had mistaken him for a cultivator.

No wonder the new master of Heaven was so at ease; it turns out he crafted the magic weapon himself.

The Spear of Judgment immediately understood. No magical artifact has ever betrayed its master since ancient times, and this method is still relevant today. Wasn't the Eight Heavenly Lords, the rulers of the Dragon Realm, crafted by the Primordial Ancestral Dragon?

Other factions also possessed high-ranking, sacred-grade immortal artifacts, and no one dared to question them.

Aside from the King-grade Immortal Artifacts, Zhang Jiuren adopted a different attitude towards those Supreme Immortals and Ancient Emperors.

Tell them that you have gone through countless tribulations and gained the favor of the Lord of Heaven. Exchange spiritual techniques and secret realm techniques with each other and share your experiences. This is also a way to gain the recognition of those cultivators.

At the same time, it reminded the Immortal Emperors from the trilogy's world clusters to participate in the Battle of the Ten Thousand Continents' Prodigies to enter the Heavenly Court, so that their positions could be assigned.

By establishing a system of checks and balances and consolidating power, he quickly placed various reincarnators in various positions within the Heavenly Court, making it easier for his own people to get things done.

"Not bad." Li Ping'an glanced at it and nodded in satisfaction.

The unearthed Great Heavenly Emperor Zhang Jiuren does indeed resemble the Jade Emperor Zhang Bairen in some ways, handling matters in an orderly manner.

"I'll first go into seclusion to digest what I've learned."

With someone handling the affairs of the Heavenly Court, Li Ping'an could relax and go into seclusion to help the Nine-Nine Supreme Divine City advance to a Saint-grade Immortal Artifact, while also taking the opportunity to sort out and master the terrifying peak-level will.

This kind of will is enough to dominate among ordinary Heavenly Lords, and there are probably very few ancient Heavenly Lords at a higher level whose will can rival that of the highest level.

"I can already sense the impasse of the Heavenly Monarch Tribulation. Although the Five Paths are not yet fully perfected, my cultivation will not stop because of this."

The Great Dao controlled by other Heavenly Lords is not even as powerful as the one of the Five Great Daos he controls; their cultivation levels are no different.

But Li Ping'an did not intend to launch an immediate attack. He was also brewing up a plan to turn the tide in one fell swoop.

"The Great Tribulation of the Heavenly Monarch is a good opportunity. I have a karmic connection with the Immortal King of Creation, but the greatest karmic connection is with the Gate of Immortality. All living beings originate from the Gate of Immortality, their cultivation of vital energy, their existence of matter, their souls, and so on."

Li Ping'an's eyes flickered, "The Heavenly Sovereign transcends the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and should be immortal, but why is there still a lifespan limit? It is this cause and effect."

It could also be said to be the influence of the malignant energy, the underlying logic of the immortality worldview: without transcending it, one cannot achieve immortality and will inevitably perish sooner or later.

Li Ping'an's goal is to reincarnate through the Five Elements and prove the existence of non-existence.

Naturally, he didn't want to be confined to this situation, even though the Gate of Immortality had already treated him well enough, he still wanted to sever this karmic connection.

Only by transcending cause and effect, reaching the wondrous state of neither birth nor death, can one truly embark on the Great Dao of Existence and Non-existence.

Otherwise, you are subject to the laws of heaven and earth, so how can you reach the realm of immortality, nothingness, or even transcendence?

"After perfecting the Dao of Tai Su and Tai Chi, it will be the best time for me to break through to the Heavenly Lord level, sever all cause and effect in one fell swoop, and step into the realm of existence and non-existence."

Li Ping'an murmured, calculating the future. The cultivation he had accumulated before would not be wasted. Even if he was not a Heavenly Monarch, he could still contend with him!

Once he breaks through, it's unimaginable; no one knows how many eras of cultivation he will possess.

(End of this chapter)