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

Chapter 459 Interrogation
Seeing the Immortal Trapping Formation appear, Zhao Ti seized the opportunity to perform the Thunder Seal, forming a Thunder Talisman with his left hand and drawing upon the power of the Nine Dragons with his right.

In an instant, a muffled thunder rumbled from the depths of the clouds. The three thunder techniques—Purple Heaven Divine Thunder, Palm Thunder, and Five Thunder Orthodox Method—appeared simultaneously. Thunder serpents roamed within the Nine Dragons Formation, merging with the power of the five elements to form a golden thunder net that descended upon the Kui Niu.

Seeing this, the Kui Niu glared angrily and rammed into the lightning net with all four hooves. The blue light on its horn surged several times over, actually creating a gap in the lightning net.

But the residual force of the lightning still lingered on its back, wisps of smoke rising from the charred scales, its skin torn and bleeding, but it recovered in an instant.

With a thought, Zhao Ti sent out hundreds of golden beans from the Nine Dragons Formation. The beans melted upon landing, transforming into soldiers clad in golden armor, wielding spears and shields, forming a military formation that surrounded the Kui Niu.

Seeing the opportunity, the white jade unicorn shot out two more silver beams of light from its eyes, piercing straight into the eyes of the Kui Niu. This was the "Light of Penetration," which could dispel illusions and calm the mind, and even ferocious beasts would find it difficult to resist.

The Kui Niu roared in pain, and the blue light around it fluctuated violently, turning the golden-armored soldiers who surrounded it into countless specks of light.

But this brief delay gave Zhao Ti an opportunity. "The Five Elements Revolve, the Nine Dragons Lock the Spirit!" Zhao Ti stepped forward, and nine golden dragons swooped down at the same time.

The dragon's body coiled around the limbs and horn of the Kui Niu. The golden whip lashed the Kui Niu's body, producing a dull, loud sound. The jade disc was pressed against the gaps in its scales, attempting to seal the spiritual power within its body. The Kui Niu struggled fiercely, and the azure light on its horn repeatedly struck the golden dragon. Spatial rifts continuously tore at the dragon's body, but Zhao Ti forcibly repaired them with his magic power.

"Use the Wenxin Inkstone to suppress its internal and external nodes!" Sweat beaded on Zhao Ti's forehead. Although the Nine Dragons spell was powerful, it required a continuous consumption of massive amounts of mana, and a prolonged battle would inevitably result in losses.

The white jade unicorn immediately understood, and the inkstone transformed into a size of ten feet, smashing down on the belly of the Kui ox with immense force. Where the inkstone landed, literary energy seeped into its body like chains, causing the Kui ox's movements to suddenly halt, and the blue light on its horn dimmed slightly.

But at that moment, the Kui Niu suddenly arched its body, and the azure light around it surged to its limit. It actually tore apart the space around itself, and using the chaos of the rift, it trampled the golden dragon's coils with its four hooves, and charged straight at Zhao Ti with its single horn.

This attack was as fast as lightning, carrying the power to tear apart heaven and earth. Zhao Ti was caught off guard and could only hastily summon two golden dragons to block in front of him.

"Boom!" The golden dragon collided with the unicorn, and most of the golden dragon's body instantly shattered. Zhao Ti was thrown several feet away by the shockwave.

Upon seeing this, the white jade unicorn shot out swiftly, its writing implements simultaneously emitting a dazzling silver light. Twelve sheep-hair brushes formed a brush array and pierced towards the eyes of the Kui ox.

Unaware of the attack, the Kui Niu, in pain, raised its head and let out a deafening roar. The sound waves transformed into a tangible shockwave, shattering the brush array and even causing fine cracks to appear in the void.

"We can't continue this stalemate any longer." Zhao Ti formed complex hand seals, his magical power surging wildly into the Nine Dragons Formation. The remaining seven golden dragons simultaneously unleashed deafening roars, their bodies beginning to burn, transforming into pure Five Elements power. "Nine Dragons Return to Their Positions, Five Elements Lock the Gods!"

With a loud shout from Zhao Ti, the burning golden dragon merged into the clouds, transforming into five altars representing gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

The altars spun in mid-air, trapping the Kui Niu in the center. Each altar emitted a beam of light, which intertwined with the Kui Niu to form a five-element cage. The Kui Niu raged within the cage, the azure light of space repeatedly striking the beams, but it could never break free from the cage's restraints.

The white jade unicorn seized the opportunity, and the silver beam of light shooting from its eyes suddenly became stronger. At the same time, it opened its mouth and spewed out a condensed white light of literary energy.

The white light, like an invisible carving knife, landed on the horn of the Kui Niu, leaving a faint mark on the black iron-like horn.

Literary energy is inherently both the softest and the hardest thing. While it may not be able to break through the physical body of a ferocious beast, it can erode its intelligence and the foundation of its supernatural powers.

Sensing the threat, the Kui Niu became even more ferocious, its four hooves shattering the clouds, and its single horn desperately ramming into the Five Elements Prison.

The beam of light on the cage began to flicker violently. Zhao Ti's face was somewhat pale. Maintaining this trapping formation had already pushed his magical power to its limit.

Just when he was about to give up, the white jade unicorn suddenly surged with literary energy, and several scrolls of plain paper transformed into countless pages of books, filling in the spatial rifts around the Kui Niu.

"Sage, use lightning to bombard its horn! That's the foundation of its spatial abilities!" The white jade unicorn's voice carried a hint of weariness, its spiritual energy also greatly depleted.

Despite the excruciating pain from the depletion of his magical power, Zhao Ti summoned the remaining lightning energy in the clouds. The Purple Heaven Divine Lightning condensed into a lightning pillar as thick as a water bucket, carrying a world-destroying force, and struck straight at the Kui Niu's horn.

The Kui Niu realized something was wrong and tried to turn its head to avoid it, but it was locked tightly in the Five Elements Cage.

The lightning bolt struck the unicorn's horn squarely. Amidst the violent explosion, azure light scattered everywhere. The Kui Niu let out a shrill scream, and another fine mark appeared on its horn. The azure light surrounding it instantly dimmed, and the powerful aura of its physical body weakened somewhat.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhao Ti and Bai Yu Qilin exerted their power simultaneously. The remaining magic power of the Nine Dragons Formation transformed into golden chains, firmly binding the Kui Niu's limbs. The Wenxin Inkstone was smashed down again, suppressing its qi gate. The brush array formed by the sheep hair brush pierced into the gaps in its scales, and literary energy seeped into its body through the wound.

The Kui Niu struggled less and less until it finally collapsed in the clouds. The blue light on its horn completely dissipated, and the spatial fluctuations around it returned to calm.

Zhao Ti let out a long sigh of relief, staggered to the ground, and the light in the white jade unicorn's eyes dimmed considerably.

Although the Kui Niu in the distance was not seriously injured, it was firmly bound by the Five Elements Chains and the literary energy, and no longer possessed its previous terrifying power. This long-standing fierce battle finally ended with Zhao Ti and the white jade Qilin joining forces to suppress it.

"Finally, we've trapped this beast." Zhao Ti wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looking at the Kui Niu, which was unable to move in the clouds. His eyes showed a little fatigue, but also a hint of satisfaction.

Clearly, this Kui Niu is the strongest fighting force of the Shamanism at this moment. As for Tongtian, who has transformed into the ancestor of the Shamans, he has never shown himself. Whether it was when he went to the city of Khedun to burn the altar or before the city of Yanjing, there was no trace of him.

So, it might still be in a secluded place, recuperating from its injuries, unable to make a move. Or, as Lin Lingsu said, because its injuries were too severe and it did not choose to reincarnate and start over, it might have become some kind of ghost, perhaps even falling to a level lower than Kui Niu, or becoming neither human nor ghost, unrecognizable even to shamans, and thus dared not easily appear in the world.

Zhao Ti looked at the Kui Niu within the Five Elements Chains and the literary energy. This ferocious beast had a powerful physical body, and it was only temporarily trapped. To completely subdue it, a more reliable method of disposal was needed.

However, his magical power had already been greatly depleted, and the white jade unicorn was also nearing exhaustion. It was truly difficult to bring it back, especially since the Kui Niu had revealed its true form, a colossal creature. Moreover, it was uncertain whether it would struggle and break free again along the way. Just as Zhao Ti was pondering this, he saw a celestial cloud rapidly approaching from afar. The person on the cloud wore a light blue scholar's robe, with dragon-like eyebrows and phoenix-like eyes, three wisps of white beard, and an air of refined elegance mixed with majesty. It was none other than Xiaoyaozi.

"Second Senior Brother?" Zhao Ti raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Second Senior Brother, are you soaring through the clouds? Has he advanced to the Dao Palace realm?"

“That’s right, but I came a little later than Junior Brother. General Zhou returned to camp to deliver a message and it took him quite a while to advance in realm. After consolidating for a bit, I came to help Junior Brother.” Xiaoyaozi stroked his beard, his gaze falling on the massive body of the Kui Niu: “So it was this beast?”

Zhao Ti laughed and said, "It is indeed this Kui Niu. Congratulations, Second Senior Brother!"

"Junior Brother, you're too kind. Congratulations to you too," Xiaoyaozi nodded.

Kui Niu stared weakly at Xiaoyaozi: "Who are you, old man? Do you perhaps recognize me?"

Xiaoyaozi snorted: "I knew you before you were even born, how dare you call yourself 'venerable' now!"

"Who are you? Could you be the Supreme Elder?" Kui Niu roared angrily upon hearing this, "You shameless scoundrels, secretly followed me and my master across the starry sky. If it weren't for me and my master, how would you have gotten here? You would probably still be trapped in the vastness, or you would have already perished on your star journey!"

Xiaoyaozi frowned upon hearing this and looked at Zhao Ti. Zhao Ti knew that he was wondering about crossing the stars and said with a smile, "I will talk to my second senior brother about this later. This old ox has not been reincarnated, so it must know the whole story. When we ask it, the truth will be revealed."

“Very well. Now that Junior Brother has subdued this beast, let me take him back to the camp and interrogate him carefully,” said Xiaoyaozi.

"This old ox was originally enormous. Although it is currently restrained, it is still very irritable and will struggle desperately at any moment. I wonder how Second Senior Brother plans to bring it back?" Zhao Ti asked curiously.

“This matter is simple,” Xiaoyaozi said. “After I woke up from the dream and remembered all kinds of Taoist magic and supernatural powers, I have been cultivating and refining artifacts. Although I have not yet fully refined a magic artifact of the Investiture of the Gods level due to my current level of cultivation, I have refined some other things.”

As he spoke, he reached out and a bright yellow rope appeared in his palm, covered with talismanic patterns that seemed to be flowing, as if it were alive.

"Old man, can this level of demon-binding rope really bind me?" Kui Niu shouted as he looked at the yellow rope in Xiaoyaozi's hand.

The Demon-Binding Rope? Is this the Demon-Binding Rope? Zhao Ti's gaze swept over the rope. Wang Yuyan had told him that there was no method of weapon forging in the Xiaoyaozi magic, and although Murong Longcheng had told him about weapon forging techniques, he had never had the time to do it. So, he found it quite novel at this moment.

“Although this rope is not of a high grade, it cannot bind you in your original state. But you beast are not at the same level as before, and you have fallen to this state. Binding you will not be a problem.” As Xiaoyaozi spoke, he offered up the golden rope in his hand. The rope was like a serpent, heading straight for Kui Niu.

Upon seeing this, the Kui Niu roared, "Hey, how dare you!"

The rope paid no heed to his explanation, falling directly under his neck, then rapidly lengthening, wrapping around his massive body before finally tightening its grip. The ox gasped for breath, pleading, "Easy, easy..."

The rope ignored him and continued to pull, causing the Kui ox to stick out its tongue and mutter in frustration, "How bitter, how bitter..."

Its body suddenly trembled, then slowly shrank, finally transforming into a large human-shaped man. However, the single horn on its head remained, dull and lifeless, and its complexion was extremely poor.

Zhao Ti laughed and said, "Wonderful! I didn't expect that Senior Brother's Demon-Binding Rope would have such a function, allowing this old ox to change into human form, making it easier to bring it back."

Xiaoyaozi said, "This item is convenient for capturing demons. There is another magical artifact called the Immortal Binding Rope, which is easy for capturing immortals."

Upon hearing this, Kui Niu angrily retorted, "What nonsense are you spouting, old man? I am an immortal, why would I use a demon-binding rope instead of an immortal-binding rope!"

Xiaoyaozi snorted, "Even if he's an immortal, he's a demon immortal. The word 'demon' comes first, so what's wrong with using the Demon-Binding Rope? Get up now and come back to camp with me!"

Kui Niu's eyes darted around: "Why do I feel like you old man are the real Yuanshi? Could that kid just now be Taishang? But he called you senior brother, could he be another soul of the master who escaped and was reincarnated?"

"Nonsense!" Upon hearing this, Xiaoyaozi pointed and a silencing talisman was immediately placed on the mouth of the Kui Niu. The Kui Niu's expression froze, and it could no longer utter a single word.

Then he rode the clouds back to camp. By then, it was already dawn. Because of Zhao Ti's previous instructions, the camp was under strict guard, with soldiers patrolling incessantly and the soldiers on the watchtowers keeping their eyes fixed on the distance.

At this moment, the soldiers were initially startled to see several people descending from the sky on auspicious clouds. However, upon recognizing Zhao Ti Xiaoyaozi and seeing the legendary Qilin, they immediately cried out with joy, "Your Highness has become an immortal! Your Highness has become an immortal..."

Murong Longcheng, Lin Lingsu, and the others immediately came over upon hearing the commotion, but Zhao Ti waved his hand and said, "Let's go inside the tent and talk."

The group entered the central command tent, bringing Kui Niu with them. Zhao Ti first recounted his ascension to the Dao Palace, then went to the southern grasslands to practice flying, only to encounter Kui Niu coming from the northwest. He then recounted the course of the great battle, before turning to Murong Longcheng and the other two: "Senior brothers, this old ox said that its homeland suffered a great calamity, and Tongtian helped it open a star path to find the source of life, which is why it came here. Some of you senior brothers and disciples followed the vast passage it opened and came here."

"The old place? The Pangu Universe?" Murong Longcheng pondered, "This is pretty much what I guessed before. Something big must have happened there. This place is not the place in the dream. And there is still no news of my master. Could it be that the Pangu Universe has been destroyed?"

"Well... although the destruction of the Pangu universe is hard to believe, this is the only idea we can come up with," Lin Lingsu pondered.

"I wonder what kind of disaster could destroy a universe. It's really hard to believe..." Xiaoyaozi's gaze fell on the Kui Niu: "This beast is indeed skilled in spatial magic. When my third junior brother wanted to establish the Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, he relied on it for half of the work. We should interrogate this beast carefully."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to release the silencing talisman on Kui Niu. Just as he was about to ask a question, Kui Niu burst into laughter: "Although I cannot distinguish which of you is the Supreme Elder, which is the Primordial Elder, and which is the reincarnation of the master, I have heard clearly that after your reincarnation, you have not solved the mystery of your birth and have forgotten everything before. You do not remember what happened in the Pangu Universe, nor do you remember how you came to this world. But to expect me to tell you these things is truly... wishful thinking, absolutely impossible!"

(End of this chapter)