The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 457 Completely Puzzled

Seeing this, Zhao Ti raised his eyebrows, neither dodging nor avoiding, and made a lightning hand seal while softly uttering: "One Yuan Thunder, Two Elements Thunder, Three Powers Thunder, Four Symbols Thunder... Ninefold Linked Thunder, appear!"

Streaks of lightning burst forth from his fingertips, initially as thin as hair, but in an instant they transformed into towering thunder dragons, roaring as they met the wind blades and rain. Wherever the lightning passed, the wind blades shattered, the raindrops evaporated, and only deafening thunder remained between heaven and earth.

"Old man Yuanshi, I was being polite to you earlier. You dare to show off your mere thunder magic!" Kui Niu roared, the runes on his armor lit up, and a beam of extremely refined azure light shot out.

The azure light appeared gentle, yet wherever it passed, it neatly sliced ​​open space, revealing dark void rifts behind it.

The azure light collided with the thunder dragon, but instead of a deafening roar, there was only a teeth-grinding tearing sound. The thunder was split in two, but the azure light continued its momentum, heading straight for Zhao Ti's brow.

Zhao Ti's expression remained unchanged as he traced mysterious trajectories with his hands in front of his chest: "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, the Five Elements unite!"

Five beams of light of different colors intertwined into a spiral, colliding violently with the blue light. This time, the explosion illuminated the entire sky, and the shockwave once again cleared the sea of ​​clouds below, striking the grassland ground directly, its impact penetrating to an unknown depth and distance.

"Interesting." The glint of ferocity in the Kui Niu's eyes intensified. "But this is far from enough!"

Its body suddenly disappeared, and in the next instant it appeared behind Zhao Ti. Its armored body crashed down like a mountain. This impact seemed ordinary, but it contained the power to shatter mountains.

Zhao Ti was prepared; his figure moved as swiftly as a willow catkin as he turned and retreated, simultaneously flicking his fingers in quick succession:
"Fire Wheel Thunder, Scorching the Sky!"

"Thunderbolts cleave the earth!"

"Wind, fire, and thunder, ignite a prairie fire!"

Three bolts of lightning flew out in a triangular formation and exploded in front of the Kui Niu.

The three powers of fire, thunder, and storm merged perfectly, engulfing the Kui Niu. However, when the firelight dissipated, the Kui Niu only had a few scorch marks on its armor, and its speed remained undiminished.

"Your lightning magic can't break through my Azure Sky-Splitting Armor!" Kui Niu laughed wildly, his feet stomping down, causing the entire sky to tremble.

Zhao Ti frowned slightly. It turned out that the armor worn by the other party was called the Azure Sky Rift Armor. This Kui Niu was indeed worthy of being the mount of the Tongtian Sect Master. Its defense was truly amazing. Even if it could suppress the opponent, it would be difficult to cause it any real harm.

At this moment, all sorts of thunder magic poured out like a tidal wave.

"Arctic Lightning, freeze the void!"

"The thunder of the Purple Star Pivot stirs the stars!"

"Divine Thunder, acting on behalf of Heaven to carry out punishment!"

Lightning flashed again, illuminating the dawn sky as if it were daytime. Purple, gold, blue, and red lightning bolts intertwined to form a net of destruction, each containing a different law of heaven and earth. Kui Niu charged left and right through the net of lightning, sparks flying from its armor. Although it looked rather disheveled, it was not injured at all.

"Old man Yuanshi, you've gone too far!" The Kui Niu was struck by lightning and staggered from side to side. It opened its mouth and roared angrily. Its whole body shone with a bright blue light, drawing a complete circle in front of its chest.

The moment the circle took shape, the entire space was cut apart, seemingly forming an independent spatial cage that trapped Zhao Ti inside. Within the cage, the rules were distorted, and even the flow of magical power became sluggish.

Zhao Ti felt the pressure of the space and his face was full of doubt. Was this a domain or realm formed when one's cultivation reached a certain level?

But this requires at least the cultivation level of a Golden Immortal to be able to perform, and even that is only a possibility. The Kui Niu in front of us does not have that level of cultivation, so how could it use it? Is it also one of its innate supernatural abilities?

Although Zhao Ti was surprised, he remained calm: "If Tongtian were here, this spatial cutting might be able to trap me for a while, but you are still far from being able to do so!"

He formed hand seals, and his aura suddenly changed: "Five Elements Grotto Heaven, break!"

Five colors of light—blue, red, yellow, white, and black—surged from his body, interacting and counteracting each other in an endless cycle. Wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood; the power of the five elements flowed perfectly, forcefully creating a pure land in the distorted space.

"Impossible! How could you set up a Five Elements Space? You're at most at the second level of the Dao Palace realm. Impossible, this is impossible!" Kui Niu roared in shock.

Zhao Ti smiled but did not answer. In fact, this was not the real Five Elements Space. Only a Golden Immortal could possibly use the real Five Elements Space. What he had was a strange spell that Murong Longcheng had mentioned, called the Lesser Five Elements Grotto Heaven.

The true Five Elements space is of no importance in size, but it is very stable. If the caster does not withdraw the spell for a short period of time, it will not collapse.

This small Five Elements Cave Heaven only looks similar; in reality, it can't even last for a quarter of an hour. With his current cultivation level, it would dissipate in a few dozen or a hundred breaths at most.

But that was enough time. The five elements of light suddenly shone brightly, eventually transforming into a five-colored spear that pierced through the spatial cage in one strike.

The moment he was freed, Zhao Ti took a deep breath and gently pressed his hands down in the air: "Nine Dragons, come!"

The void trembled, and nine golden dragons reappeared.

"Yin——"

The dragon's roar shook the heavens, and nine dragons circled and danced around Zhao Ti, making him appear as if he were a celestial emperor descending to earth.

Kui Niu's pupils contracted as it unleashed its full magical power, gathering the four forces of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning around its body, which ultimately transformed into a four-colored beam of light that hurtled towards Zhao Ti.

"Go." Zhao Ti waved his hand gently.

Nine golden dragons roared as they charged forward, colliding with the four-colored pillars of light. This collision was silent, yet the space at the point of impact shattered inch by inch, forming a massive black hole that frantically devoured everything around it.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhao Ti made another move:
"Taiyi Thunderclap, dispel evil!"

"Purple Mansion Thunder, Slay the Demon!"

"Ironclad Thunder, Armor Shatter!"

Three bolts of lightning bypassed the battlefield and struck the Kui Niu precisely on the back. The Kui Niu, in pain, became ferocious and charged at Zhao Ti recklessly. Where its feet landed, space shattered like a mirror.

Zhao Ti remained unfazed and unleashed even more lightning spells in succession:
"Shaoyang Thunder, Soul-Burning!"

"Blazing fire and thunder, scorching the gods!"

"Sheling Manlei, break the law!"

Lightning bolts, like a waterfall, once again engulfed the Kui Niu. Each lightning spell targeted a different weakness: some specifically broke through defenses, some directly injured the soul, and some disrupted magical power.

"I'm so angry!" Kui Niu roared to the sky, his voice shaking the heavens, filled with endless grief and resentment. Suddenly, his helmet rose up again, but this time it wasn't because he was furious. Instead, something appeared above his forehead and suddenly pushed up the helmet.

This object, a foot long and as thick as an arm, was a deep, dark color. It was surrounded by crackling sounds as if lightning was striking, with a series of sparks and flashes of electricity. It was a huge unicorn horn.

Upon seeing this object, Zhao Ti's heart tightened, a sense of danger suddenly arose, and his magical power immediately spread throughout his body.

Suddenly, a bolt of azure lightning shot out from the single horn, but it vanished in an instant, seemingly disappearing into the void.

The Kui Niu's expression was ferocious. This single horn was its lifeblood, and all the supernatural powers cultivated on it were its innate abilities. However, its internal injuries had not yet healed, and using such supernatural powers would disturb its vital energy, causing its stable injuries to falter and worsen instead of improve. That was why it had never used them before. But now, it was enraged and disregarded its injuries. It was determined to defeat Zhao Ti even at a great cost, so it used them without considering the consequences.

If his cultivation level hadn't plummeted, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal would have been injured by this strike of his innate divine power.

Although his cultivation level has plummeted, the power of this innate divine ability is still higher than his current level, enabling him to kill people of a higher level.

Zhao Ti's expression changed, and he retreated rapidly, his hands drawing a Tai Chi symbol in front of his chest:

"Tai Chi Thunder, Guard!"

The two energies of Yin and Yang circulate and transform into a Tai Chi diagram in front of him.

But when the blue lightning reappeared, his expression changed again, and as if shifting positions, he flashed three zhang away.

At this moment, the azure light struck the Taiji diagram, creating ripples that spread across the sky, and it actually broke through the barrier.

Taking this opportunity, Zhao Ti bit his fingertip and used his blood as a guide to draw a complex talisman in the air:
"One hundred and eight thunderbolts, heed my command, unite as one!"

Jade Pivot Thunder, Jade Palace Thunder, Jade Pillar Thunder, and finally, Jade Morning Thunder—one hundred and eight kinds of thunder techniques merged into one under the guidance of the talisman, transforming into a chaotic bolt of lightning. This bolt of lightning was no more than the thickness of an arm, yet it silenced the entire world, as if it were the source of all thunder, the progenitor of all thunder.

"Imperial decree!" Zhao Ti commanded softly.

Chaotic lightning slowly flew out, like a chain of lightning. Wherever it passed, space automatically healed, and the wind and rain quietly subsided, as if all laws had to submit to it.

The lightning chain instantly locked the azure light, but the azure light was like a wild dragon, completely unrestrained, struggling to break free.

Zhao Ti then said in a deep voice, "Qilin, if we don't attack now, when will we?"

Upon hearing this, the white jade unicorn stomped its four hooves and instantly stepped forward, each eye shooting out a beam of white light, heading straight for the Kui Niu.

Kui Niu immediately retorted angrily, "Old man Yuanshi, you were once a sage, are you going to learn from worldly villains and bully the weak with your numbers?"

The white jade unicorn said, "In eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path, why distinguish between different kinds of people? Demons and monsters wreak havoc in the world, and everyone has the right to kill them. How can you say that you are bullying the young? You are a daring and reckless monster. How dare you blaspheme against the sages!"

"Waaaah!" Upon hearing this, the Kui Niu was so angry that it spewed out black smoke from its nose and mouth to meet the two white beams of light shot by the Qilin.

"You're the monster! Your whole family, you six-not-like creatures, are monsters! Ahhh!"

Then, the white light collided with the fireworks, producing a soft "whoosh" sound of annihilation. The white light completely extinguished the fireworks and then continued to rush towards the Kui Niu.

The Kui Niu leaped ten feet high, and the single horn on its forehead once again shot out azure lightning, which flickered briefly in the void before reappearing and touching the white light of the Qilin.

The azure lightning was extremely fierce and domineering. Although the white light of the Qilin looked righteous and indestructible, it was still no match for the azure light of the Kui Niu's horn. The Kui Niu was quickly melted away by the azure light and arrived in front of the Qilin in the blink of an eye.

The Qilin let out a muffled groan, and a writing brush suddenly appeared above its head. The brush swung in the wind and reached a length of more than three feet, writing the character "定" (ding) with lightning speed.

The blue light was instantly frozen in mid-air, struggling but unable to move forward any further.

"You wretched beast! You even have magical artifacts!" Kui Niu stomped its feet and roared, "If it weren't for the great calamity that destroyed many of my treasures and damaged my remaining magical artifacts while traversing the starry sky, how could I have allowed you to be so arrogant!"

Upon hearing this from a distance, Zhao Ti's heart skipped a beat: Was this place in grave danger?

Where is this "old place" that the old ox is talking about? Is it the Pangu universe, the world of the gods?

Could it be that this world suffered some kind of cataclysmic disaster, and the immortals and Buddhas failed to save it, resulting in countless deaths and injuries, and finally had no choice but to leave and cross the starry sky to come here?
But how could that be? In my memory, the Pangu Universe has always been stable. It probably wasn't just one world of gods. After all, the starry sky is vast, and there is Hongjun, who is beyond saints, the Hunyuan Wuji Luo. He is integrated with the Heavenly Dao. What disaster could he possibly suffer?
Moreover, in his memory, everything was stable in his previous life, and there were no disasters or calamities in the world. How could such a major event appear in the mouth of the Kui Niu?
Or is it that the real world of his previous life was not the same world as the world of Investiture of the Gods?
But that's not right either. If what Kui Niu said is true, and the Pangu universe suffered a great calamity, there would be no distinction between the main world, the secondary world, or the parallel world. Even the void world, which only exists in words and books and has no concrete form, or even a world that someone made up on a whim... all of these would be affected.

Since all of them were born in the Pangu Universe, and the Pangu Universe suffered a calamity, no world can escape it; all will be affected.

If the Pangu universe is destroyed, all worlds—real, parallel, fictitious, unrepresented, or fabricated—will also be destroyed.

The world I am in now, including the surface world of the Great Qian Dynasty, is definitely not in the Pangu Universe.

As the Heavenly Dao being of the Pangu Universe, Hongjun Daoist would not allow his three disciples to fall into such a state.

Moreover, the great calamity that Kui Niu spoke of must have been earth-shattering and should have been prevented by the Heavenly Way, but it seems that it was not prevented in the end and has happened.

In other words, even Hongjun, who was in harmony with the Heavenly Dao, could not stop this. Since even the Heavenly Dao could not stop it, his entire universe, his disciples and followers all suffered great calamity, the reincarnation of saints, and the near extinction of his disciples and grandchildren.

Then, unless the Way of Heaven no longer exists!
In other words, Hongjun... the Pangu universe that he was in harmony with may no longer exist.

This is another universe. We can assume that when the Pangu universe suffered a great calamity, the Hongmeng Heavenly Dao tried its best to stop it, but failed. As the Heavenly Dao, it must have existed and perished with the universe. In the end, when the universe was destroyed, the Heavenly Dao also turned into ashes and disappeared.

Some powerful beings in the original Pangu Universe either escaped under the protection of the Primordial Heavenly Dao or devised some special methods to leave and enter the endless vast chaos in search of the unknown source of life.

However, this departure must have been extremely tragic. Otherwise, if the Three Pure Ones, as the top beings in the Pangu world, had all become like this, and the Buddha had vanished into Nirvana, then there must have been very few Golden Immortals and Bodhisattvas who could still exist.

If we follow this line of reasoning, the so-called disaster that befell the Kui Niu's homeland must have been caused by the destruction of the Pangu universe!

Thinking of this, Zhao Ti couldn't help but gasp. When exactly did this happen?

Could this disaster have occurred after I transmigrated?

After all, before he transmigrated, there was absolutely no indication that the apocalypse was coming or that the universe was going to be destroyed.

So, how long after I traveled through time did this happen?

It could be a few days, a few months, or a few years.

But it could also be... hundreds of years, thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even hundreds of millions of years.

If it's the latter, then how long have I been drifting and traversing through the endless void to get here?
I couldn't possibly be the reincarnation of some great being from the Pangu universe, since my memories of my past life are so clear.

I must have been drifting in the cold, deep, and desolate vastness for a very, very long time.

Because... he himself transmigrated first, and the Pangu World was destroyed afterward. However, when he arrived in this Fangli World, Tongtian and the others had already been there for countless years and had already transformed this world.

Tongtian and the others had been traveling in the vastness for an unknown amount of time, and they had actually gotten ahead of him. So no matter how long he traveled before the Pangu Universe was destroyed, he must have been drifting in the vastness for countless years.

After transmigrating, the longer the Pangu universe is destroyed over time, the longer he will float...

Thinking of this, Zhao Ti couldn't help but shudder.

(End of this chapter)