Chapter 500: Di Zuo's Arrival
"A Scarletflame Qilin!" Many people were moved when they saw this qilin.
A Scarletflame Qilin was not a real divine beast; it was a descendant with some of the qilin's bloodline flowing through its veins. In spite of this, the sight of the Scarletflame Qilin standing in the sky still caused many people to palpitate.
It emitted an aura that caused even Heavenly Sovereigns to tremble. Its domineering aura was not just for show since it actually had the strength to back it up.
This was an auspicious beast that had appeared only once in the last thirty thousand years. It usually showed itself in many places in the Sacred Nether World and would make nests to rest for years in each of its domains.
Anyone would want an auspicious beast like this with divine blood running through its veins. Many people chased after it, but no one was successful, not even Heavenly Kings. Even some reclusive ancestors came out, but the qilin managed to evade all of them.
Later on, there was a legend that spread throughout the Sacred Nether World. It stated that this Scarletflame Qilin was the descendant of a divine beast, so only the future Immortal Emperor would be able to tame it. Only a future Immortal Emperor would make this qilin willing to become a mount!
"Look! It is Sir Di Zuo!" A person with keen eyes saw the person mounted on this qilin and loudly screamed.
Everyone looked up and saw a young man sitting on the qilin's back. He sat straight as his back carried the blue sky, making time stand still.
The young man was not overly handsome, but he had a pair of divine eyes that were seemingly capable of seeing through eons. With a cloak on his back, he exuded a mighty imperial aura. There were no signs of affectation, this aura seemed to naturally radiate from him.
What was even more dreadful was the golden door that appeared right behind the young man's back. This golden door acted like a divine gate that opened a path to the heavenly grand dao; it exuded an eternal breath that surrounded Di Zuo's body.
Di Zuo — the descendant of the throne of bones, a legend in the Sacred Nether World, the pride of the ghost race. One of the three heroes with even greater prestige than Tian Lunhui and Chan Yang.
Despite the three heroes all having great backgrounds, Di Zuo was different from Chan Yang and Tian Lunhui. It was undeniable that both Tian Lunhui's and Chan Yang's talents, efforts, and lineages were no less than Di Zuo's, but they were born with a golden spoon and were already fated to become extraordinary. Tian Lunhui was presumed to be the reincarnation of an Immortal Emperor while Chan Yang was chosen by the Ancestral Realm during his youth.
Fate itself had decided that these two would be able to reach the peak while stunning the world.
However, Di Zuo's achievements and glories were hard-earned by him. It was indisputable that coming from the throne of bones was great, but Di Zuo was not the only genius there. He faced a plethora of competition from a young age. Nevertheless, he used his talents and hard work to prove his worth and eventually sat on the descendant's throne.
Di Zuo once continuously challenged the world and his own limits, using blood to cast his fame.
When he was ten, he was able to defeat Royal Nobles. When he was fifteen, Ancient Saints were placed beneath his feet. And when he was eighteen, he used an invincible momentum to kill an entire country in an earth-shattering battle that caused rivers of blood to flow. Di Zuo's battle record was worthy of pride no matter which era one looked at.
While Tian Lunhui and Chan Yang were enveloped in an aura of extraordinariness since birth, Di Zuo fought his way through bloody battles to earn his reputation. Thus, he exerted a greater and more tangible pressure compared to the other two. As a result, many of the young and old generations in the Sacred Nether World called him Sir Di Zuo.
"The legendary Imperial Gate! I heard that when the young Immortal Emperor Wan Gu reached a certain level, he also had an Imperial Gate just like this. This is a symbol of being enlightened by a supreme grand dao." The group emotionally uttered after seeing the golden gate behind Di Zuo's back.
Immortal Emperor Wan Gu was the progenitor of the Myriad Bones Throne, the first emperor of the ghost race. He originated from a great clan where its members, after having learned a supreme grand dao, would have a golden gate behind their backs. Because of this, the golden gate represented the supreme grand dao as well as the opportunity to reach the peak in the future; maybe they could even become an Immortal Emperor!
Di Zuo's visit caused a huge commotion as the crowd gazed at him with anticipation. Even Tian Lunhui above the All-Eras continent suddenly stood up.
His arrival caused the descendants of emperor's lineages, like the Titanic Crescent Saint Child and the Ghost Insect Evil Child, to be unable to sit still.
"Di Zuo!" Their hearts sank after seeing Di Zuo in the far distance.
Both of them were imperial descendants and were geniuses among geniuses. They expended countless amounts of blood and sweat to finally become imperial descendants. It could be said that their type was not willing to accept defeat to anyone, and very few people could cause them to bow their arrogant heads.
Therefore, they became quite dejected to see Di Zuo. They realized the gap between them and him. Even the most egotistical genius would have to accept their shortcomings in the face of Di Zuo.
In fact, bowing before Di Zuo was not a shameful thing in the Sacred Nether World for countless geniuses had already done so after being convinced by his might.
Tian Lunhui, who was standing on his continent, stared at Di Zuo in the far distance with his profound gaze. Tian Lunhui was a person shrouded in mysteries, and his eyes were very frightening. The sun and moon inside his pupils became dark then bright again; it was as if there was a universe inside his eyes that was forever undergoing the samsara cycle.
His expression became more serious after seeing Di Zuo. After all, as one of the three heroes, Di Zuo was a powerful rival.
The three heroes had never broken the friendly posture and no one had heard of them fighting before. In fact, rumor has it that the three of them were good friends.
However, all three knew very clearly that the path to the Heaven's Will was destined to be brutal. There was only one Heaven's Will, so one day, the three heroes of the Sacred Nether World would have to fight each other. This was why the three of them had always considered the others as their strongest rivals!
Even members of the previous generation had to click their tongues approvingly after seeing Di Zuo riding the Scarletflame Qilin: "Sir Di Zuo has tamed the Scarletflame Qilin!"
This qilin had appeared in the Sacred Nether World many times over a long period of time, but it had never submitted to anyone before, so how could people not be amazed now that Di Zuo had accomplished this feat?
A group of sect masters and royal lords clapped their hands and applauded: "Sir Di Zuo is indeed a young Immortal Emperor. It is not too strange for him to be able to do so. Moreover, divine blood flows in that qilin, so it knows how to pick its master."
"Boom!" With a deafening blast, the qilin trod the sky and instantly appeared right outside of the Thousand Carp River's camp. Its aggressive aura alarmed all the elders inside, prompting them to rush out.
Although the river sect only had one emperor, Immortal Emperor Qian Li's fame still ran strong in this generation so they had a strong position in the Sacred Nether World.
However, Di Zuo rode the qilin above the river sect's sky today. How aggressive and domineering was this?
This action caused those right outside of the grave to glance at each other. The ghost cultivators were especially excited.
One cultivator whispered: "A battle is about to break out." The crowd was eager and many ghost cultivators ran there to watch the fun.
Everyone knew that Li Qiye had killed tens of thousands of ghost cultivators several days prior, resulting in the Phoenix Maiden fleeing in defeat.
That battle caused many ghosts to choke with resentment for it was a huge slap to their faces. Prior to that, the ghost tribes had always looked down on humans. The eastern Nether Border was the world of ghosts, and many ghost tribes declared their intent to kill Li Qiye. The result was that they were all massacred by Li Qiye, so how could ghosts show their faces now?
No one dared to challenge Li Qiye afterwards. Even imperial descendants like the Saint Child and Evil Child were very cautious and didn't dare to speak recklessly.
Everyone understood that Li Qiye was on the same level as the three heroes, so those who challenged him without sufficient ability were just courting death.
Right now, Di Zuo was riding his qilin above the river sect, so his purpose was as clear as day. The ghost tribes couldn't hide their excitement because the ghost race was finally going to regain their pride. They waited for Sir Di Zuo to kill Li Qiye.
Di Zuo looked down at the river sect as his voice traveled far: "Where is Li Qiye?" Issuing a challenge right above the sky of the river sect was a very overbearing move.
"What is your business, Fellow Daoist Di Zuo?" Daoist Bao Gui still managed to respond with a smile in the face of Di Zuo's imposing momentum.
Sitting up in the nine heavens, Di Zuo's voice thundered like a god: "Tell Li Qiye to come out and fight; one battle till death to decide the victor!"
A life and death battle! Di Zuo's words traveled very far. Many people took a deep breath. This was the final showdown between cultivators, a way for cultivators to solve grudges. Since it was one-on-one, the loser could only blame their lack of skills.
No sect would take revenge after a life and death battle, lest they risk becoming a joke to the rest of the world.
500 Teaser"A Scarletflame Qilin!" Many people were moved when they saw this qilin.
A Scarletflame Qilin was not a real divine beast; it was a descendant with some of the qilin's bloodline flowing through its veins. Because of this, the sight of the Scarletflame Qilin standing in the sky caused many people to palpitate.
It emitted an aura that caused even Heavenly Sovereigns to tremble. Its domineering aura was not just for show since it actually had the strength to back it up.
[collapse]Chapter 501: Xian Fan
Everyone was aware that the Phoenix Maiden was Di Zuo's fiancee. She fled in defeat so it was understandable that Di Zuo, as her fiance, would take her side. However, no one expected for it to escalate to a life and death battle.
But then again, it was not too strange either. Li Qiye didn't only defeat the maiden but also killed the Divine Spark Prince. The two sides had reached an irreconcilable point so Di Zuo would take revenge for his little brother-in-law!
The crowd eagerly held their breaths, waiting to see if Li Qiye would accept the challenge or not! The truth was that everyone was looking forward to this fight.
"Fellow Daoist Di Zuo, our Guardian is training in seclusion." Daoist Bao Gui shook his head and said: "I'm afraid we can't meet your demand at this moment. If you want to fight, then wait till our Guardian comes out."
This answer invoked a rowdy commotion from the unhappy ghost cultivators. One of them scowled and said: "Hmph! That Li guy is definitely too afraid to show up for the battle."
Another one sneered: "That is just what a human ant does — only picking on the weak. Well, Sir Di Zuo can slay that brat Li as easily as turning his palm! At the moment, that ant is probably cowering in fear. Actually, he might have already run away."
"He doesn't have the choice to refuse!" Di Zuo's overbearing voice came again: "It is better to tell him to come out, or else bear the consequences!"
"What consequences?" A lazy voice appeared: "A wild dog like you will come and bite me?" Li Qiye leisurely appeared with Lan Yunzhu right behind him. He furrowed his brow at Di Zuo and asked: "You want to fight?"
Li Qiye's arrival immediately shut the ghost cultivators up while the human cultivators instantly became excited. A human cultivator looked at the ghost cultivators who were yelling earlier and quipped: "Who is this Di Zuo? Li Qiye is our human race's young Immortal Emperor! You think someone like Di Zuo can stop our young Immortal Emperor's path?"
In the Sacred Nether World, the relationship between the humans and ghosts was quite poor. It was especially obvious since a few ghost tribes relied on their numbers and strength to bully the humans, causing resentment to form in the hearts of many human cultivators.
Li Qiye's sudden rise to fame and killing of ghost cultivators elated many humans with pride.
The ghost cultivators became annoyed from the remark and refuted: "That junior Li is nothing! Just wait and see, our Sir Di Zuo will kill him within three moves!"
And this was met by an instant rebuttal from the humans: "What's so great about Di Zuo? He isn't much compared to our young emperor. Our young emperor can also kill him within three moves!"
Suddenly, a bunch of cultivators began to argue, and many people joined both sides. The ghost race despised the humans while the humans also hated the ghosts.
Di Zuo sat in the sky above the Thousand Carp River's camp to look down at Li Qiye as he gravely said: "I'm just afraid you won't fight."
Li Qiye cracked his knuckles. It was obvious that he was itching for a fight as he said: "We can fight any time!" Recently, he had created a new merit law and he wanted to test its strength. Di Zuo would make a great sharpening stone!
"Very well! You choose the time!" Di Zuo said in a very domineering manner: "I shall take your dog life for sure! From now on, I shall be the only one to kill you, and I will use your head to warn the human ants that those who oppose me shall be slain without mercy!" He then took out his flag and threw it towards the river sect's camp. His flag's power was quite formidable; once it pierced the ground, it would mean that those in its vicinity would become his enemies and outsiders must not intervene.
"Clank!" However, Di Zuo's flag did not reach the Thousand Carp River's camp and instead was struck by a ray in midair. This ray was a golden plume that shattered the flag into pieces.
Everyone was startled; someone actually destroyed Di Zuo's flag. This was akin to opposing Di Zuo, and very few in the Sacred Nether World would dare to do this.
At this point, everyone saw a person standing in the air. This individual was adorned with a full set of divine armor. The golden plume then flew back into this armored person's hand and revealed itself to be a piece of golden armor.
No one saw when this person got there. The person was covered in divine armor from head to toe and one couldn't see their face nor determine their gender.
This divine armor was huge. It was half again the height of an ordinary man and decorated with bright colors. Within these bright colors were five strange images. There was a divine tree that towered into the sky, a flame that burned the air, an immense earth that stretched far and wide, a vast ocean that spanned the horizon, and an opened treasure trove glistening with wealth. These five images floated up and down and were very spectacular, moving as if it was the opening of an immortal world, as if this armor was from originally from said world, or perhaps it was even the tool to reach this immortal world.
The sudden appearance of this armored person caused everyone to look at each other and murmur: "Who… is this person?"
It didn't matter if many cultivators didn't know this person, a nobody daring to destroy Di Zuo's flag was too arrogant.
Di Zuo's eyes became as bright as a divine lamp after seeing the person. He then exclaimed: "Xian Fan!" Two divine lights shot out from his eyes and flew towards the divine armor as if he wanted to see through it. 1
"What is so great about the ghost race?" A sound as clear as metal emanated from within the divine armor: "Daring to call my human race ants?!" It was very difficult to tell whether it was a man's or a woman's voice since it carried a metallic tone.
"Then let me see just how great a genius from the ghost race is!" The armored person declared.
"Xian Fan, you really wish to oppose me?" Di Zuo glared at the divine armor and retorted with gravity. 2
"Di Zuo, wait until you become an Immortal Emperor, then you can speak to me with that kind of tone. As of now, you are still far from it, yet you still dare to bluster in front of me?" The voice from the divine armor responded.
"Xian Fan, you want to fight? Fine, wait until I finish my business here, then I'll deal with you at any time!" Di Zuo spoke in a serious manner. His aura was quite unstoppable and aggressive.
"No need to wait when we can do it now!" The Xian Fan adorned with divine armor retorted.
A person named Xian Fan who was completely covered with divine armor suddenly appeared and challenged Di Zuo! Despite this show of overbearing arrogance, no one had ever heard of this person before.
"Xian Fan!" Lan Yunzhu exclaimed by Li Qiye's side: "They finally came out. This person is really heaven-defying." 3
"Who is Xian Fan? What's his background? How come such an unknown person dares to challenge Sir Di Zuo?" Many confused ghost cultivators looked at each other.
No one knew who Xian Fan was because they had never heard of this name before.
"Is this a human expert?" Even the human cultivators were lost. This person named Xian Fan was clearly backing the humans, but even they themselves had never heard of this fella before.
"Xian Fan!" A great character from the southern Distant Cloud clapped his hands together and said: "I remember now. More than ten years ago, the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom had a descendant named Xian Fan, but the person disappeared later on and never showed their face again."
"The descendant of the Immortal Kingdom?" The crowd was shocked and the ghost cultivators no longer dared to look down on the newcomer.
The Immortal Kingdom was a lineage with two emperors, so it had one less emperor than the Myriad Bones Throne. However, it was not any weaker than the throne of bones.
Keep in mind that there was a legend about the young Immortal Emperor Di Yu obtaining a grand creation from the Prime Ominous Grave. Some people later on speculated that he even opened a supreme treasure trove inside. Because of this, many people believed that the Immortal Kingdom had quite a great secret reserve!
"The descendant of the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom?" A person murmured. Not too many had heard about this particular descendant.
For a very long time now, the Immortal Kingdom's prestige stood strong over the world, but they kept a very low profile and rarely participated in external matters.
Many didn't know the Immortal Kingdom's sect master or the next descendant because ever since the Immortal Kingdom became reclusive, it slowly disappeared from everyone's eyes.
"Come to think of it, the Immortal Kingdom really did have a descendant. I heard that, at that time, a few lineages attended the ceremony. In addition, only emperor's lineages in the Distant Cloud were invited, including the Thousand Carp River." A sect master from the Distant Cloud suddenly recalled.
Xian Fan — this was the descendant of the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom, but this very mysterious person was not famous in the Sacred Nether World. No one knew Xian Fan's background or gender.
In the past, at the successor's appointment ceremony, the Immortal Kingdom didn't declare it to the world and instead only invited a few people. Only emperor's lineages like the Thousand Carp River were invited, and no ghosts were present!
At this point, Di Zuo and Xian Fan were at an impasse in the sky. Di Zuo was glaring at the divine armor while Xian Fan — within this armor — had their expression shrouded.
As the main character of this turmoil, Li Qiye was suddenly forgotten by everyone. He was quite surprised to see the five wondrous images inside the divine armor.
"This guy is pretty good, what is his background in the Immortal Kingdom?" Li Qiye asked Lan Yunzhu who was standing by his side.
Lan Yunzhu glanced at her master. Daoist Bao Gui also participated in the successor ceremony that year and knew some secrets. He then replied: "I don't know the exact details, but they're most likely human. The Immortal Kingdom kept Xian Fan's background a secret, and Xian Fan maintained a low profile as well. However, one thing is certain; after the ceremony, Xian Fan did an amazing deed."
Xian Fan = Immortal Mortal, or Immortal Human, or a mix of the immortal world and the mundane world. ↩ This "me" here is a form of arrogance. ↩ I really hate unknown gender characters, especially when I have to put it in English. ↩