The Heavenly Emperor of Chu

Chapter 142 A Million Years in Pursuit of the Immortal Path, Nine Lifetimes of Mortal Life Amidst the Mist

Such a commotion was so immense that even though it was far removed from the human realm, the aftershocks of the battle swept across and impacted the barriers of the human realm, creating vast ripples.

Even human beings can glimpse a corner of the battlefield through a crack in the sky.

Two incredibly majestic imperial figures were locked in combat, their overwhelming power sweeping away all the gloom on the path to immortality.

"Look!"

"Could that be the legendary Immortal Pass?"

Suddenly, someone noticed something and pointed to a certain spot on the path to immortality.

Following the direction, everyone saw that behind the two majestic imperial figures, there was an incomparably dazzling and enormous checkpoint.

Simply standing there, it gives one the feeling of facing the vast heavens and earth, and even more so, the peerless celestial light shines down from the celestial gate, illuminating all the heavens.

Even across different worlds, all beings can sense the rich essence and longevity substances emanating from the Immortal Gate.

"So there really are immortal gates! So there really are immortal realms!"

Someone was shouting, their eyes gleaming with a dazzling light.

Click!

Just then, an immeasurable beam of immortal light struck the barrier of the human realm, instantly piercing through it. Large swathes of the sky were torn apart, and endless chaotic energy surged and rushed into the human realm, engulfing vast swathes of starry sky. Wherever it passed, everything was reduced to nothingness.

That's not the most crucial point. After the boundless immortal light shattered the barrier of heaven and earth, its residual power remained undiminished. In just a moment, it pierced through the entire human realm.

Wherever the boundless celestial light advances, endless star rivers, countless living beings, and all tangible matter are utterly annihilated before they even have time to react.

A hideous "scar" fell from the sky, stretching across the entire human realm.

An aura of destruction permeated the "scar," as if even the Great Dao itself had been obliterated, preventing the world from healing for a long time.

For a moment, the entire human realm fell into a deathly silence. All living beings stared blankly at the sky, their faces filled with disbelief.

"Use the ancestral artifacts immediately!"

Accompanied by a cry of terror, beings in the human realm finally reacted and summoned the supreme imperial weapons from their ancestors.

Buzz!
In an instant, a terrifying divine light rose from a corner of the universe, and countless strands of imperial might poured down, its power incomparably terrifying.

At the same time, other Celestial Venerable lineages, ancient royal families, and ancient clans also unleashed their ultimate imperial weapons, awakening wave after wave of imperial might, and soaring pillars of light lit up all over the universe, barely stabilizing the shaking of the universe.

On a sacred mountain belonging to the Chu family.

Duan De stood atop the sacred mountain, not interfering in worldly affairs.

With a formidable enemy at hand, any action he takes could easily alert the enemy and expose his presence.

This could allow the Emperor to prepare in advance, preventing Taiyi from achieving his goal in one battle and resulting in more harm than good.

Duan De's expression turned solemn, a stark contrast to his usual frivolous manner, as he looked at the two figures clashing repeatedly before the Immortal Gate.

Every instant, the two figures would clash fiercely for tens of thousands of moves, the vast light of the tribulation completely engulfing everything, and the myriad paths of heaven and earth would emit mournful cries, as if they could not withstand the battle between the two.

Despite their constant clashes, the two remained evenly matched, seemingly unable to gain the upper hand.

"Taiyi was indeed lying to me. Even if the Emperor obtained his scriptures, he obviously couldn't do anything to him."

Duan De muttered to himself.

With his shrewdness, he had a vague feeling about it as early as when Chu Tianshu used the provocation tactic.

Although Chu Tianshu sounded worried, he wasn't afraid.

Now that I see it, it's indeed the case.

"This Taiyi is indeed rotten to the core. He is clearly capable of dealing with the Emperor on his own, yet he still says that he will be harmed by him."

Although Duan De said this, his eyes were fixed on the two figures above the Immortal Gate, ready to make a move at any moment.

Although the battlefield situation was somewhat tense, Chu Tianshu was subtly at a disadvantage.

In any case, the Emperor had undergone several more transformations than him. Even though he had taken some detours on the path to immortality in the mortal world, he was still not far from becoming a true immortal in the mortal world.

Although Chu Tianshu had also progressed quite a bit on the path to immortality, he ultimately failed to generate longevity substances on his own and could not squander them as freely as the Emperor. This inevitably made him somewhat restrained in battle.

Before the Immortal Gate.

The Emperor grew increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed; Taiyi's advancement was far too rapid.

Thinking back over 100,000 years ago, he could barely contend with himself.

If I hadn't been careless back then and hadn't been struck in the Dao Fruit by his sword, I could have killed Taiyi Lingbao and the others that day.

I thought that even if tens of thousands of years had passed, Taiyi would only have undergone one transformation at most, and his strength would have improved only slightly. I thought that I only needed to guard against his killing move and could kill him with a small price to pay.

However, things did not go as the Emperor had expected. Taiyi's progress was truly astonishing. In just over 100,000 years, his cultivation had improved to such an extent that he was able to fight on par with him.

This situation was difficult for the Emperor to accept for a time.

However, his killing intent grew stronger, because if he couldn't kill Taiyi today, he might never have another chance.

Streams of immortal power rose and fell before the Emperor, this was the unparalleled immortal light unleashed by the fusion of the Nine Secrets, and at this moment it seemed to be free, surging towards Chu Tianshu.

"I'm afraid you won't succeed!"

Chu Tianshu's eyes turned cold. He swung his immortal sword, and dazzling sword lights rose up, perfectly embodying the Dao of Slaughter, as if it could annihilate and end everything.

Rumble!
Another earth-shattering collision occurred, with unparalleled divine light splashing out and turning everything into nothingness.

The terrifying battle continued unabated, with occasional drops of crystal-clear imperial blood falling, and the radiant glow seemed to illuminate the heavens, dyeing the entire Immortal Pass crimson.

Clearly, the battle between Chu Tianshu and the Emperor had finally reached a fever pitch, and both had obvious injuries on their bodies.

boom!
The next moment, accompanied by a violent collision, boundless blood light exploded, completely illuminating the Immortal Gate. The rich crimson color could be seen even in the human world and the strange world.

"Emperor Tai Tian!"

"His Majesty the Emperor of Heaven!"

"His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor is fighting a great battle against a formidable enemy. Let us quickly pray for His Majesty and lend him a helping hand!"

In an instant, boundless prayers echoed throughout the human realm, and the vast and boundless power of faith transformed into streaks of milky-white light that climbed up the sky.

On the path to immortality.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Chu Tianshu reassembled his physical body, coughed violently several times, and looked utterly disheveled.

Just now, half of his body was completely shattered by the Emperor, and his imperial blood was scattered across the boundless chaos.

Of course, the Emperor was not unscathed either, as he too was struck by his sword and cut in half at the waist.

"It seems I overestimated myself. My strength is still a step below that of the Emperor."

Chu Tianshu wiped the imperial blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression solemn.

Before the battle began, Chu Tianshu felt confident that he could fight the Emperor to a standstill.

However, after the battle began, he discovered that the Emperor's strength was slightly greater than he had anticipated, roughly 4.5 to 5.5. Perhaps the ratio was slightly higher, but it was still a small difference. On the other side, the Emperor also reformed his physical body and looked at Chu Tianshu with a gloomy expression.

The sword strike he had just received had left him in great pain; the killing intent still lingered around his waist, hindering the healing of his injuries.

What infuriated the Emperor most was that the scriptures he obtained from Chu Shanhe were useless, and the flaws he found could not affect Chu Tianshu in the slightest.

"It seems we have no choice but to refine the World Cauldron ahead of time and refine Taiyi into it."

“Otherwise, even if I were to kill Taiyi, I would probably have to pay an extremely heavy price.” The Emperor’s eyes flashed.

Originally, he intended to refine both the human realm and the strange world together to create a supreme immortal artifact.

He has been planning this for millions of years, and he will rush to the strange world as soon as he finishes setting up the array patterns of the human world.

However, he did not expect that his plan would be discovered by Taiyi and others, and he did not set up too many array patterns in the human world.

"There's nothing to regret. If we could refine Taiyi and then rearrange the array patterns, the power wouldn't be too much different."

A hint of heartache flashed in the Emperor's eyes, but he quickly made up his mind.

"Chu Tianshu, you are indeed very strong, but unfortunately you were ultimately outmatched!"

"Don't worry, after I melt you down and turn you into my cauldron, I will personally guide you to become an immortal!"

As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, countless intricate array patterns appeared on the Path to Immortality and part of the human realm. An inexplicable aura rose up, seemingly trying to refine the Path to Immortality and that part of the human realm into a giant cauldron, completely refining everyone.

"Your Majesty, you're celebrating too soon!"

Chu Tianshu's eyes were cold, and his expression remained unchanged.

This is the moment he has been waiting for. Once the Emperor feels that he cannot easily defeat him, he will naturally use his trump card.

boom!
A loud bang came from the human realm below.

"My good disciple, have you already forgotten your master?"

As this sound rang out, a figure suddenly blasted open the path to immortality and joined the battle.

"It happened!"

In an instant, the Emperor felt a sense of foreboding. He had not expected Duan De to awaken in this world, and it seemed that he had been plotting with Taiyi for a long time, just waiting for him to take the bait.

Before he began refining the World Cauldron, the Emperor naturally had no fear whatsoever, and was not worried that the old man, the Underworld Lord, would affect him.

But if he is distracted by manipulating the array patterns at this moment, it will surely give him an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

In an instant, a strange celestial light appeared, causing the Emperor to become disoriented.

"cut!"

"cut!"

"cut!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Tianshu immediately used the ultimate move that annihilated the Dao Fruit.

Time was of the essence. He didn't know how long Duan De's methods could subdue the Emperor. Using other methods might not be enough to completely eliminate the Emperor. In the end, he might end up harming the Emperor instead of killing him.

However, severing the Dao and destroying the fruit is different. Once the Dao and fruit are damaged, one will permanently fall from the realm.

Even if the Emperor finally broke free of his restraints, with his strength greatly reduced, Chu Tianshu could easily kill him.

Brush brush!
In an instant, seven or eight dazzling sword lights traversed space and time, striking the Emperor.

Strangely, these sword lights pierced the Emperor's body without splattering a single drop of blood.

The next moment, the once overwhelming aura of the Emperor began to weaken.

In the blink of an eye, his cultivation level plummeted from near the Red Dust Immortal realm, and it continues to drop rapidly.

If one could enter the Emperor's primordial spirit, one would see that the originally flawless and radiant Dao Fruit had become incomplete, with only one or two tenths of its peak state remaining.

His aura plummeted completely, barely remaining at the extreme level.

At the same time, the Emperor's mind was completely freed from Duan De's methods, but his temperament underwent a complete transformation, and his brows now displayed an awe-inspiring righteousness.

"Fellow Daoist Taiyi, please stop attacking!"

Duan De's expression changed drastically, and his eyes were fixed on the person opposite him.

Chu Tianshu also sensed that something was wrong. The Emperor seemed to have become a completely different person, so he stopped making any further moves.

Anyway, he had already knocked down Chu Tianshu's cultivation level. Chu Tianshu could destroy a mere Extreme Dao being with a flick of his finger.

At the same time, he was also eager to know what drastic change had occurred to the Emperor, causing the two to act completely differently, as if they were different people.

Such a bizarre change sent chills down Chu Tianshu's spine. He wanted to know the reason from the Emperor so that he could be prepared for such an event in the future.

Before long, the confusion in the Emperor's eyes completely disappeared, and he regained his senses.

Looking at the devastated state of the path to immortality and the human realm, the Emperor was overcome with grief, as if endless regret was welling up in his heart.

"Disciple, disciple, is that you?"

Duan De stared at the unfamiliar yet familiar figure before him, his lips trembling, somewhat unable to believe it.

"Millions of years have passed, is Master well?"

At this moment, the Emperor realized what was happening and bowed deeply to Duan De, his words revealing a profound sense of emotion and desolation.

It seems to have flowed from ancient times to the present day.

"cut!"

Just then, another incomparably dazzling sword light appeared, striking the Emperor's Dao Fruit with lightning speed.

His cultivation was completely severed, along with his physical body and supernatural abilities, turning him into a powerless mortal who fell from the void.

On the other side, Duan De had no time to think and quickly stepped in to protect the Emperor.

Otherwise, if he, a mere mortal, were to fall into chaos, he would surely perish.

"Thank you so much, Fellow Daoist Taiyi, for helping me escape danger!"

With a weak voice, the once majestic and awe-inspiring emperor vanished, replaced by a shy young man who was utterly powerless.

"Fellow Daoist Taiyi, I will give you an explanation for this matter!"

Duan De gritted his teeth, bowed to Chu Tianshu, and then led the shy young man away from the path to immortality.

In a daze, a voice also drifted on the path to immortality, vaguely conveying a sense of the passage of time.

Life is full of regrets, like water flowing endlessly eastward; the path to immortality is shrouded in mist and haze.

Right and wrong, success and failure, all turn to nothing in the end; let us reminisce about myths and discuss heroes.

The ground is covered with the blood of countless people, and the ruins and rubble pierce the heart.

For millions of years I have sought the path to immortality, through nine lifetimes of mortal life shrouded in mist.

Today I return to find everything changed; how many winters and autumns have quietly passed in this world?
(End of this chapter)