His expression twisted, his entire demeanor changed drastically, and even his voice became a triple pitch:
“I knew it. The Great Ming would never stand by and watch our country rise. That dog Wanli wants to use our national fortune to replenish the decline of your Ming Dynasty’s national fortune. Your Ming Dynasty is not good, nor is the Yin World. I am driving a tiger to swallow a wolf. Do you think I don’t know that?”
“Reversing the rules of heaven and earth? I don’t understand these things. I only know that without these children, my country would now be reduced to your puppet.”
“I am so incompetent that I can only sell out my country, sell out the existence of this country, and use it as a bargaining chip to exchange for invincible power from those willing to help me! As long as I am still here, as long as these blood fetuses are still here, the common people of Joseon have never died!”
“Even if they die, they can be reborn! You fear this power, so you want to take him away! The people of the world are not the original people, and the ruler of the world is not the original ruler. You speak of heavenly thunder as a warning. If this matter fails, then let me perish along with the entire country. Wouldn’t that suit your wishes!”
“I am indeed useless, but even the most useless person has moments of desperation! I just want to be a ruler, a ruler not controlled by others! What did I do wrong! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to be deposed, I don’t want to become your puppet. I am a vassal, that’s true, but is your Great Ming truly worthy of being called an ‘Upper State’!”
“Heaven and Earth do not agree. What is Heaven and Earth? When our country was invaded, I didn’t see it unleash thunder to destroy the Japanese pirates. Now that I want to revive my country, it sends you down to obstruct me. If that’s the case, it seems the sky above Joseon, like me, like this country, is all useless!”
“It is useless itself, and yet it does not allow me to do great things!”
“The rules set by Heaven? What right does it have to set rules? What right do you have to speak of the rules of Heaven and Earth? Who are you?”
“Immortal, Immortal! You are ultimately just an immortal! An immortal is not Heaven!”
Five enormous black shadows suddenly rose from the body of the King of Joseon!
The mortal body could not bear this power, so it quickly collapsed into a pile of rotten flesh. In its place, the unrestrained laughter from the five black shadows emerged!
Ji Xiang pondered for a moment, listening to his frenzied words, and was somewhat moved.
He said with a rather感慨ful tone:
“Indeed, no matter how useless you are, you are still a king.”
Although his mind was affected by the black energy, causing him to transform from the previous useless person to his current frenzied state, these words were undoubtedly his truest thoughts.
“However, you are mistaken in one point.”
“I am not an immortal!”
Vast demonic energy churned in Ji Xiang’s eyes, and demonic clouds rose from his body. The laughter from the five terrifying black shadows abruptly stopped, replaced by a collective, loud reprimand:
“You heavenly demon disrespect heaven and earth, are disloyal to kings, insult divine principles, therefore after your body perishes, you will fall into hell forever, become a hungry ghost, have your limbs torn apart, be boiled in cauldrons, suffer in ice, and after ten thousand kalpas, you will finally escape the cycle of reincarnation, be reborn as livestock, and still suffer slaughter and various karmic retributions without end!”
The five humanoid black shadows also began to twist, transforming into formless, strange shapes that could not be described in words. Following closely, five vast forces of the Dharma Realm appeared out of thin air, sealing off the five directions!
Ji Xiang, who was about to push back with demonic energy, suddenly sensed something was wrong. He immediately grabbed the blood child and flew away. In the next moment, the land of Joseon seemed to come alive. All the spirits of the mountains and rivers became evil. The mountain and wilderness spirits, which were usually difficult to see, were awakened. Each of them emanated a dense black energy, and their forms gradually transformed into black shadows, emitting eerie cries like countless ghosts!
“Heaven and Earth are peaceful, capture!”
The five black shadows twisted and simultaneously transformed into five black hands that blotted out the sky. In an instant, the mountains and rivers of Joseon all turned into black waves, and the soaring black energy pierced through the clouds. The central mountains and wilderness of Joseon were violently shaking!
The earth erupted, affecting several cities. The common people and city guards, whether they were Joseon soldiers, Ming soldiers, or the Ba Jia Xian from Changbai Mountain who were about to flee, all sensed the drastic changes occurring in heaven and earth.
This earthquake was not natural but man-made!
Someone was shaking the entire mountain and river脉 of Joseon with their own power, and using it as a means to overturn the universe!
The Ba Jia Xian of Changbai Mountain looked terrified. Old Master Huang repeatedly called it bad luck. After the black-robed scholar appeared and declared himself the Lord of Ghosts and Gods, they had already submitted a request to return to the mountain to the Ming Dynasty’s official responsible for defending against pirates. The other party readily agreed, but they did not expect that after only one day, something major seemed to have happened on the land of Joseon.
During the previous great battle, they hadn’t noticed that this land was actually so full of hidden masters!
Old Master Huang, leading his men, retreated in a panic, not daring to stop for a moment. The surging power of the mountains and rivers, causing the mountains and rivers to transform into black waves, continued to spread in all directions!
Ji Xiang flew through the sky, his feet treading on seven-colored clouds, looking at the five black hands that blotted out the sky, and asked in confusion:
“Who are you? When did the Yin World have this kind of power? Are you immortals from the Inner Mountains and Rivers?”
“Inner Mountains and Rivers? Hahaha, those guys are unreliable. We five are merely deities created by the Heavenly Venerable by intercepting the power of five Song Emperors. What, have you left a name in the human world over the years? Now that time has passed and dynasties have changed, no one here recognizes us anymore?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. This Immortal is an ancient immortal from the Han Dynasty. It’s normal that he doesn’t recognize us Song Dynasty deities.”
Ji Xiang: “Heavenly Venerable? Are you here to meet the Heavenly Venerable?”
“Here to meet the Heavenly Venerable? He is not enough! Although he also bears the title of Heavenly Venerable, just as there are so many Heavenly Venerables in Taoist classics, is each of them comparable to the Primordial Heavenly Venerable?”
“There is only one Primordial in the world, and in the Yin World, there will always be only one highest Heavenly Venerable!”
Among the five black hands, one of them revealed its appearance. The black shadow that pervaded heaven and earth temporarily disappeared, revealing the inscription on its humanistic stone!
“Performing the Feng Shan ceremony on Mount Tai, yet you don’t even recognize the power of Mount Tai!”
The humanistic stone inscription read: “Inscription on the Merit of the Two Sages by Ascending Mount Tai and Thanking Heaven for the Heavenly Book”!
“The Lord of the Eastern Peak is here!”
The true appearance of the black hand was like a giant mountain peak with five fingers. As it revealed these words, the words twisted and transformed into “Eastern Peak Mount Tai”!
The other four black hands also revealed their true forms one after another!
“The True Gods of the Five Peaks!”
Ji Xiang’s first reaction was that it was impossible.
But then, as if struck by lightning, the scenes from the past resurfaced. The reason why the statues of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak and the Empress of the Eastern Peak had abnormalities and spewed black energy was now explained.
The Goddess of Mount Bi Xia was still in Mount Tai, the Prefect of Mount Tai was still in Japan, and the divine position of Mount Tai was divided into three parts. Two parts remained in the Central Plains, one was cut off by the Daoist Master Bo Dao during the Tang Dynasty and taken to Japan, controlling the Eastern Yellow Springs. The Four Heavenly Venerables within Ji Xiang’s body were also killed by Master Bo Dao when they fought at the Eastern Yellow Springs, falling into the Eastern Yellow Springs and slumbering in the depths of the Root Country until now.
“The power of the True Gods of the Five Peaks. The divine position of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak has somehow fallen into your hands.”
“I have suspected this from the beginning. Now it is merely confirmed.”
The temple of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak had always existed, and people had always thought that the Goddess of Mount Bi Xia was a subordinate of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak. The divine position of the Goddess of Mount Bi Xia was only conferred during the Jiajing reign. In the past, this power of Mount Tai had many titles, and after the Tang Dynasty, it had different names.
And the last remaining portion of power was in the hands of the Song Dynasty.
“There are several lords of the Five Peaks. The names of those who held the power of the Five Peaks throughout the dynasties were different. In the ‘Yun Ji Qi Qian’ and ‘Long Yu He Tu’, there are two completely different schools of the True Gods of the Five Peaks, and above them are the so-called Kings of the Five Peaks.”
Ji Xiang’s voice reached the ears of those black hands, and the black hands emitted voices that shook heaven and earth:
“Since the Feng Shan ceremony in the Song Dynasty, the power of the Five Peaks has been something that later generations could no longer obtain! The Yuan Dynasty was in turmoil, and the Ming Dynasty sealed itself. Your current fate, the power of the Five Peaks and rivers and mountains is no longer controlled by you, which is truly regrettable!”
“Since our five brothers have appeared here today, this land of Joseon is already under our control! True Person of the North Star, accompany us to the Yin World to meet the Five Ancestors and Three Kings together!”
The five black hands transformed into mountains and rivers, instantly appearing in five positions and pressing inwards. They stirred the energy of the mountains and rivers to lock the area firmly, completely disregarding the destruction caused to this land!
“All spirits of the land, transform into Yin soldiers!”
The True Gods of the Five Peaks issued a divine command. All the wild beasts and spirits of heaven and earth nurtured in the mountains and rivers of Joseon were transformed into Yin creatures. They were born with the energy of the mountains, rivers, trees, and grass, and were now controlled by the energy of the mountains, rivers, trees, and grass. The True Gods of the Five Peaks displayed terrifying power, and their voices stirred the flying sand and rolling stones in heaven and earth:
“To so easily transform Yin and Yang, to abandon life and death, all depends on the trials we have undergone! The myriad beasts and spirits in these mountains and rivers exist with us, just like our avatars!”
As the words fell, the myriad spirits of the mountains and rivers also instantly transformed into countless pairs of black hands, encircling the entire central land of Joseon, blotting out the sky and preventing even a sliver of light from falling!
Ji Xiang turned around, no longer fleeing.
Countless voices around him burst into laughter, like thunder roaring through the heavens!
“You’re running, keep running! Where in heaven and earth is there left for you to escape!”
Ji Xiang did not respond. Instead, he turned and took a step forward.
The world of the Sea of Bitterness instantly unfolded!
The scenery of heaven and earth changed drastically. These myriad black hands were also drawn into it. In the distance, a vast ocean of demonic energy surged towards the sky. Ten thousand lost demonic hordes flew towards them, emitting deafening roars that pierced the heart and mind!
Ji Xiang reached out and pointed to the sky!
In this world of the Sea of Bitterness, bright light suddenly erupted, and a Heavenly Gate opened. Ji Xiang’s body manifested the appearance of a Heavenly Venerable, wielding the power of the Four Great Saints of the North Star!
“Heavenly Gate opens wide, Heavenly Soldiers assist me!”
Boom!
Three hundred and sixty thousand Heavenly Soldiers swarmed out from the Heavenly Gate. The invisible Heavenly Soldiers carried Heavenly Blades, Divine Swords, Dragons, Umbrellas, and Flying Spears, merging with the lost demonic hordes. The army of four hundred and sixty thousand gods and demons clashed with the myriad black hands!
The true forms of the True Gods of the Five Peaks manifested, transforming from black hands into five giant black shadows. Ji Xiang also drew his sword simultaneously. With a wave of his sword in the air, a vast Sea of Bitterness was split apart by a single sword!
The sword’s might pierced straight through the heavens, severing mountains and rivers. One of the True Gods of the Five Peaks, the Lord of the Eastern Peak, resisted with his bare hands, but in an instant, an arm was severed!
“This is a divine sword that can split mountains and rivers with a single strike. Do not resist it head-on!”
The divine sword, passed down from ancient Japan, the Lord of the Eastern Peak among the True Gods of the Five Peaks, spoke: “Do not touch this sword lightly! Emperor Qin once possessed Tai'a. The initial divine might of the Tai'a sword was displayed in the hands of a certain King of Chu. With a single strike, it stirred up sand and stones, shattered the heavens and earth, and caused the Jin army to be utterly defeated. This large sword is said to be modeled after Tai'a, capable of splitting mountains and rivers and breaking ten thousand armies with a single strike.”
The sword qi vibrated in the sky. The Heavenly Karma Cloud Sword and the Heavenly Feather Feather Slash descended. Although these two divine swords did not possess the momentum of splitting mountains and rivers with a single strike like the large sword, their status was even higher than the large sword. The two swords shattered two True Gods of the Five Peaks. All the True Gods of the Five Peaks retreated simultaneously, gathering together, and suddenly formed a formation!
“Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks!”
The True Gods of the Five Peaks attacked simultaneously. Each True God manifested a divine talisman in their hand. The talismans shone brightly and combined to form a colossal illusory talisman that reached the heavens and earth. As the five True Gods acted, they pushed it forward together, and the illusory talisman pressed towards Ji Xiang!
Text appeared in Ji Xiang’s eyes!
【Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks (Talisman): When a cultivator is stranded in a mountain valley, they must carry the Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks, and then all the ghosts, demons, tigers, insects, and all poisonous creatures in the mountains will be unable to approach! Carrying this diagram to cross rivers and seas, enter mountains and valleys, travel at night in the wilderness, or accidentally stay in a fierce house, all demons, ghosts, monsters, and mountain spirits will all hide and dare not harm, and evil will not arise!】
【Received from the Queen Mother of the West on the seventh day of the seventh month in the third year of Emperor Wu of Han’s Yuanfeng reign. From then on, this talisman spread throughout the human world!】
【This talisman has the merit of breaking all demon kings in the world!】
“Formation of the Upper Purity Thunder, rise!”
Ji Xiang also activated the formation simultaneously. The triple thunder tribulation formation descended from the sky of the Sea of Bitterness with a stomp of his foot. Roaring thunder blocked the Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks, but the True Gods of the Five Peaks increased their magical power output, and the thunder formation gradually showed signs of shattering!
“The thunder magic has been mixed with demonic energy, True Person of the North Star, don’t you understand this!”
“Heavenly thunder breaks demons. Heavenly thunder mixed with demonic energy is demonic thunder. Since demonic thunder has the word ‘demon’ attached to it, how can it block the Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks! If a master of the Upper Purity were to perform it, although the power would be far inferior to yours, they could at least resist for a while longer!”
One of the True Gods sneered. The Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks shattered the thunder formation the next moment!
It arrived before Ji Xiang!
“Your lifespan has expired, come with us!”
The True Gods of the Five Peaks saw their opportunity and exerted their full strength to capture Ji Xiang. At this critical moment, Ji Xiang flipped his palm, and the Buddhist sword manifested!
“Vajra wisdom can break everything, yet is not broken by anything!”
“Manjushri’s Great Wisdom Divine Sword! Like Illusory Samadhi, strike!”
With the Buddhist sword, the True Forms of the Five Peaks instantly turned into foam and dispersed!
Only the Buddhist fire burned fiercely, encircling heaven and earth, like the bright light of the great sun! It illuminated all darkness in all directions, leaving nowhere to hide!
The Lord of the Eastern Peak, upon seeing the sword, was startled: “Manjushri’s treasure sword should have disappeared with Manjushri into the Avici Hell. How did it fall into his hands?”
The Yin World was unaware of the existence of the Huiji Vajra Seal. Ji Xiang’s previous conversation with the Peacock Ming King was only telepathic.
“It’s just a Buddhist sword. Watch me break it!”
One of the True Gods of the Five Peaks stepped forward, transformed his hand into a great sword of mountains and rivers, and struck forward!