The Heavenly King Jade Pillar Axe: A National Divine Artifact! With a single sweep of the jade axe, it cleaves mountains and rivers, and dictates the fate of nations!
The pillar axe resembles a staff, not a great battle-axe. This item was once held by Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, a symbol of imperial power. When Zhao Kuangyin reigned, he used this axe to direct and command within the map of mountains and rivers. Wherever the axe blade fell, great armies were deployed to conquer and divide the land, signifying the supreme authority and life-and-death power of the emperor. It is both a divine artifact of the heavens and a stabilizing artifact held by the nation's emperor, empowered by the founding destiny of the Great Song. It possesses four great abilities!
Cleave Mountains and Rivers: The jade axe can divide any object. Propelled by national might, upon contact, one object becomes two; a mountain range splits into two, a nation divides into two.
Grant Life or Take It Away: The weapon of an emperor slays at will, capable of killing even the unliving.
Reform the Tyranny of the Previous Era: Any divine weapon, magical art, supernatural power, or vital energy, be it from immortal, Buddha, demon, ghost, or spirit, when clashing with this axe, will have its full might halved the instant their powers touch!
Heavenly King's Majesty: ███████████████.
Is there something unseen?
Ji Xiang's heart sank slightly. This was the effect of the dark energy, confirming that this item was indeed wielded by the Yin Court, without a doubt!
The several arms of the Ghost-Slaying General moved to block downwards. With a gentle swing of the jade axe, one of the general's arms was suddenly severed in two. The cross-section appeared as if naturally formed, without any trace of violence. The severed lower arm instantly vanished, and the jade axe, after its strike, immediately flew away, evading capture by the other arms. It seemed to be wary of their attacks. After dodging their assaults, it raised its blade, which began to shine with radiant light.
A surge of national might erupted from the axe!
"What is this?"
Ji Xiang's pupils contracted in surprise!
The Ghost-Slaying General possessed the power to tear apart all dharmas; no god or Buddha in the heavens was beyond its fear! Once a spell was torn apart by the general's arm, it could no longer affect the same person and was directly discarded.
Yet, at this moment, there was a divine weapon that dared to actively engage the Ghost-Slaying General's arm, even severing one of them!
"Heavenly Retribution!"
Another of the general's arms pressed down, unleashing the power of the Huang Tian Banner Staff. The jade axe immediately faltered, and the recently condensed radiance of its blade vanished without a trace!
Then, one arm transformed into a fist and struck the jade axe fiercely!
This blow destroyed a certain technique, but not completely. Ji Xiang noticed that the radiance, which had condensed and then been interrupted, though much dimmer, still persisted!
"A national divine artifact of a dynasty? I have never heard of or seen such a thing. The Yuan and Ming dynasties do not seem to possess divine artifacts of this caliber..."
"Even the three divine artifacts like the Heavenly Attendant Cloud Sword in Xu Fu's possession do not bear the 'National Divine Artifact' designation..."
Ji Xiang realized that this item might not be comparable to any divine artifact he had seen before. While it was a divine artifact, it seemed to transcend ordinary ones. Although not entirely unmanageable, if this jade axe were to rampage here, it would make it difficult for him to extract the underworld below.
"Samadhi Fire Wheel!"
"Vajra Wisdom Fire!"
"Mani Pure Fire!"
Boom! Three Buddhist sacred fires erupted from the Manjushri Buddha Sword, the general's arm, and the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's swastika imprint. Three Buddha chants, accompanied by faint sounds of heavenly dragons, generated an inexplicable power in the cosmos. Within the gaping maw of the Sky-Gazing Hound, the guardian figures of the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons appeared!
Within the flames, the phantom figures of the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons moved back and forth. The three sacred fires tightly bound the Jade Pillar Axe, transforming into three fiery chains, like shackles imprisoning sinners in hell, attempting to drag it into the abyss and prevent it from advancing further!
From within the swastika imprint, the voice of the Compassionate Vow Vajra could be heard, using the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's dharma to suppress this jade axe.
The things in the heavens were somewhat beyond the power of the Compassionate Vow Vajra.
The things in the earth, however, were precisely aligned with the dharma of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva lineage!
"The Three Virtues' Secret Treasury, Mahaparinirvana—all delusions, distinctions, and attachments are extinguished."
"Great Nirvana!"
As the梵音 (fànyīn - Buddhist chants) resounded, three fiery phantom bodhisattvas appeared at the ends of the flame chains, representing the three lingering laments of the ghosts and spirits from the depths of the earth. The Jade Pillar Axe was seized by these three fiery bodhisattvas and pulled downwards, aiming to eliminate all its current attachments and delusions, refining it with immense Buddhist fire to restore it to its original state as an artifact.
Clang—
The chains were pulled taut, and the three fiery bodhisattvas held their ground. The Heavenly King Jade Pillar Axe actually swung its blade against the throat of the Sky-Gazing Hound, causing the colossal beast that devoured the heavens to let out a mournful cry ten thousand times louder than thunder!
Clang—!
From the shadow of the Ghost-Slaying General, led by Da Liang Jian, several divine swords suddenly appeared in mid-air. The Jade Pillar Axe, sensing danger, suddenly unleashed a vast and divine power. That power came from the support of a nation. Its back swung, repelling the Tian Ye Yun Jian and Tian Yu Yu Zhan. The sharp pillar at the top of the axe pushed upwards, forcing back the Manjushri Divine Sword and the Raijin Kōtetsu Blade!
Then, the axe blade was about to swing down towards the four divine swords, cleaving all four divine weapons into two!
Da Liang Jian suddenly attacked, striking the axe handle!
The sword strike, capable of cleaving mountains and parting rivers, after the dissipation of its intense and vast sword might, surprisingly only left a shallow mark on the handle of the Jade Pillar Axe.
"As expected, divine artifact attacks can only unleash half their power."
Clang—!
The jade axe vibrated, directly smashing Da Liang Jian back!
The Five Divine Swords flew into the sky and disappeared, giving the Jade Pillar Axe no chance to counter-attack. However, the fact that five consecutive divine artifacts could not harm it even slightly caused Ji Xiang's expression to change slightly. Involuntarily, one of his arms moved, and the Jin Jizi was held in his hand, though Ji Xiang hesitated whether to strike with it.
From the current situation, the Jin Jizi, despite its immense sturdiness, might not be able to withstand a single swing of this item.
Rumble! The Tong Tian Ming Yan transformed into a sea of clouds, surging from Ji Xiang's body!
Since it could not be subdued or expelled, he would try to forcibly strip its power!
The Tong Tian Ming Yan descended, and the jade axe simply swung upwards, splitting the smoke into two pieces, preventing them from rejoining. However, the Tong Tian Ming Yan itself was not a single entity. Even if the smoke was cleaved apart and could not reform, its power would not diminish!
Rumble! The cleaved smoke, like dragons and snakes, grabbed the jade axe. At this moment, the jade axe trembled violently, seemingly realizing the abnormality of this smoke. It forcefully severed several wisps of smoke, but the smoke was endless, and the more it was cleaved, the more it appeared. Consequently, a portion of its power was truly torn away by the Tong Tian Ming Yan!
"Excellent!"
Ji Xiang let out a loud laugh. The arm of the Ghost-Slaying General reached down along the Tong Tian Ming Yan. The Jade Pillar Axe swung upwards at this moment, but with the power of Heavenly Retribution, the jade axe could only retract its radiance—and slash in reverse!
The smile on Ji Xiang's face vanished instantly!
"Just a sentient weapon, such arrogant behavior!"
That axe cleaved mountains and rivers. The Jade Pillar Axe, finding it difficult to entangle Ji Xiang, turned its attention to cleaving the underworld!
Boom! Amidst a vast radiance, the jade axe disappeared, and the underworld, which had been split in two, was pulled from the abyss by Ji Xiang! m..oΓg
Half of the Dharma Realm fell into his hand, appearing blood-red.
The thirteenth level, the Blood Pool Hell!
But it was only half.
Ji Xiang's anger did not subside, but the jade axe had already escaped. Seeing that the heavens and earth were still held open, Ji Xiang's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Very good! Very good!"
"Cannot capture that weapon."
"Still cannot capture this beast!"
Today, he had to take something away. Since the divine weapon had fled, only those who could not escape would bear his wrath!
The malice from the unseen realm was amplified and bestowed upon the Sky-Gazing Hound.
This mouth that devoured the sun and moon, this throat that contained the cosmos, these teeth that formed mountains, this tongue as red as the earth—which of these were not excellent materials for refining treasures? Where in the world could one find such a colossal beast of immortal cultivation?
Before this colossal beast could react, Ji Xiang had already swung Da Liang Jian downwards!