The spiritual essence of Dongyue was devoured by the blank divine tablet as if it were swallowing a date whole. The divine position of the Lord of Dongyue was obtained. Under the effect of the blank divine tablet, Ji Xiang established a direct connection with the divine position of the Lord of Dongyue in an instant. Following this, three colossal shadows appeared in the illusion of consciousness. The future sight came into play at this moment.
The shadow of the Prefect of Mount Tai crossed the sea from the east. This was not much different from the future seen last time, but it was only the process. The outcome was difficult to discern. What future sight could reveal was merely the tip of the iceberg. Ji Xiang believed that the divine position of the Prefect of Mount Tai would eventually return to Mount Tai. However, even if it returned, the power of Mount Tai could not be dominated by it.
Whether it was taken by him or reclaimed by someone else, this was important.
The second was a female shadow, the smallest among the three. Clearly, it was the Yuanjun of Bixia. Ji Xiang had not yet met this divine general who presided over Mount Tai. She was the highest overt combat power of the imperial court, the only peak expert of the Pure Yang realm. She controlled all ghosts, gods, demons, and monsters in the world with the divine power of Mount Tai. She was created by Emperor Jiajing himself by separating the national destiny, and her status was elevated to an extremely high level through national sacrifices.
Mount Tai could not be without a master; there had to be a god of Mount Tai.
In his future sight, Ji Xiang saw her shadow shatter into pieces. A larger dark shadow replaced her. She was swallowed into the colossal dark shadow behind her and then separated out again, becoming a puppet that followed the command of the latter dark shadow.
This was a sign that the divine position was about to be stolen and the divine general was about to be killed.
And this latter dark shadow was the third dark shadow, which was undoubtedly the shadow of the Great Emperor Dongyue!
The divine power of Mount Tai was divided into three parts: the Great Emperor Dongyue, the Prefect of Mount Tai, and the Yuanjun of Bixia. Their power disparity was indicated from highest to lowest. All were spirits born from Mount Tai and created by dynasties. Throughout the dynasties, there had been Mount Tai gods like the Lord of Dongyue, but their existence was too short, and they were not elevated to significant positions before the dynasty changed or fell into difficulties, making it impossible to sever national destiny for enfelfeffment.
Major and minor deities were separated from the power of Mount Tai, and the situation was the same for the Five Sacred Mountains. In the current era, although the Yuanjun of Bixia had received strong enfeffement from the Ming Dynasty, there was still a considerable gap in their control over Mount Tai compared to the deities of previous generations.
Ji Xiang's future sight was still in effect!
The shadow of the Great Emperor Dongyue appeared on a high mountain. Immediately, countless small dark shadows surged from all directions of heaven and earth, throwing themselves into Mount Tai, and then Mount Tai suddenly collapsed!
This great mountain was destroyed, and from beneath the collapsing mountain, a new dark mountain began to rise. It seemed that this sacred mountain, which had stood in the land of Qi and Lu, had never revealed its true appearance, and at this moment, it was about to announce its most authentic face to the world!
This dark mountain was very similar to the Phoenix Black Mountain seen in Qiantang, but compared to that mountain, it lacked much demonic energy and possessed more majesty and terror. Upon closer inspection, this dark mountain was not composed of ordinary rocks and vegetation, but of mountains of knives, forests of swords, seas of fire, and cauldrons of oil, clearly formed by the eighteen levels of hell combined into a great earthly prison!
The true Mount Tai rose, while the surrounding small mountains collapsed. Even the clouds in the sky split into countless pieces. The national destiny on Mount Tai was shattered, meaning Mount Tai had escaped control!
The last scene showed the Prefect of Mount Tai appearing on the East Sea, echoing the first scene. It seemed his power was coming to the Eastern Land, with his sights set on the Great Emperor Dongyue!
This made the intention of the Prefect of Mount Tai a mystery. Was he invading the Central Land on behalf of Japan? Was he forcibly recalled by the power of Dongyue? Or did he come across the sea to seize the dominance of Mount Tai, to fight Dongyue and determine the outcome, thereby deciding the ownership of Mount Tai?
But regardless of the outcome, it would be a disaster of extinction for the Ming Dynasty in the current era. The power of the eighteen levels of hell falling into the hands of foreign enemies, with the endless influx of underworld soldiers into the human world, was destined to drag down a vast, declining dynasty.
And causing the Ming Dynasty to perish at this time was not a good choice.
Just as Mount Tai must have a divine lord, only with the divine lord present could the eighteen levels of hell be operated.
The Central Land must also have a dynasty, or rather, a dominant ruler in a strong position. This was not only for the convenience of obtaining heavenly power but also to ensure that the people of the world were under the control of this ruler.
Once the world fell into chaos, heavenly power would hide and no longer descend. With various factions rising in the human world, the common people, to survive, would either join evil cults, follow warlords, revolt, flee across the sea, become bandits, or become slaves to enemies. Some would flee to the Western Regions or the Southern Borders.
Subsequently, the immortals of the inner landscape would descend, and the people of the outer landscape would truly become mere "renewable resources."
It was at this time that true suffering would befall all living beings.
Therefore, it was imperative to prevent the collapse of Mount Tai and to warn the Ming court. The era of change in the world was within this century. If it was missed, the Central Land would fall, and they would become slaves to others.
The future sight ended. The brilliant light in Ji Xiang's eyes vanished. He looked at the other four True Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains whose heads had been pierced by flying swords. An idea suddenly struck him. He summoned the divine swords back, stripped them of their divine forms, and took their divine positions.
The Sea of Suffering world spread over. The four individuals who had lost the power of the True Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains reverted to their original appearances, wearing official robes of the Song Dynasty. However, the color of their robes had turned black and blood-red, as if to inform the world that their identities were not normal.
The four immortal officials of the Ten Thousand Longevity Palace had achieved the position of Ghost Immortals. This Ghost Immortal was different from other immortal paths. Although they were immortals, they were not entirely so. Ghost Immortals, when they cultivated normally to the level of Incense Immortal, could be considered equivalent to Heavenly Immortals, and only then could they be called "ascended."
The path of Ghost Immortals was originally the path of the underworld, allowing those who died and went to various pure lands and dharma realms to re-ascend to immortal positions. It was a path opened in the Wei and Jin dynasties. Because it required cultivating through incense, it was similar to the divine path. However, it now seemed that the Ghost Immortals of the Ten Thousand Longevity Palace no longer needed a large amount of incense to cultivate the body of a Ghost Immortal.
And not needing a large amount of incense meant they could not advance to Incense Immortal. Yet, they continued to cultivate this way, even coming to the human world to provoke. This had only one explanation: they no longer needed the path of Incense Immortal to become immortals!
"Chaos Immortal!"
Ji Xiang thought of the strange term that appeared when the Heavenly Net King emerged. The various texts displayed by the Inner Landscape Divine Tablet at that time all told Ji Xiang that this Chaos Immortal had an extraordinary origin and possessed unfathomable techniques.
The Yin Court had what were called Five Patriarchs and Three Kings. Ji Xiang knew who the Three Kings were, likely coming to confront the Heavenly Venerable, the Heavenly Net King, and the Three Venerables of Guangyao Shoushengxian. As for the Five Patriarchs... Yuan Huang could be considered one patriarch, and Zhao Xuanlang could be considered the Sacred Ancestor. Before that, the True Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains also chanted the name "Venerable Sovereign of Authority and Freedom," clearly one of the Five Patriarchs.
So, who were the remaining two?
"It is indeed an unfathomable powerful being behind the scenes who is promoting the development and growth of the Yin Court. Using them as bargaining chips, I originally thought it was only Yuan Huang, and he was in an ambiguous relationship with the Yin Court, mostly supporting Prince Lu. Now it seems that the Yin Court does not rely solely on Yuan Huang."
"But this is already terrifying enough. Yuan Huang is a strong practitioner in the Heavenly Heart realm. Even if he is not as powerful as the four Heavenly Hearts who guard the outer landscape, he is far superior to the immortals in the Ascension realm. He has comprehended the Great Luo Dao Fruit and is a terrifying existence who can reverse cause and effect. He once obtained the divine position of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable and is an immortal of the Jade Purity."
"If at least one of these Five Patriarchs is as powerful as him... the current development of the Ten Thousand Longevity Palace is somewhat unimaginable."
In the inner landscape, practitioners in the Heavenly Heart realm were mostly lords of heavenly palaces, with several or even over a dozen flying immortals under their command. For example, the several heavenly palaces of the Shangqing Sect had so many flying immortals combined. And how many other immortals were there below the flying immortals? It was not something the outer landscape could imagine.
"Fortunately, the Fire Dragon Patriarch went to assassinate Shangqing, and only recently have I not felt any unusual activity from Shangqing... Or perhaps it's because I am in Joseon, and I don't know what Shangqing has been doing."
Thinking of Shangqing, Ji Xiang thought of the cross-border chat between the True Man of Fire Dragon and Zhang Sanfeng...
Assassination (x).
Annihilation of a sect (√).
".....!"
A strange, indescribable sound came. Ji Xiang was jolted back to reality by this sound. His eyes crossed mountains and rivers, and he suddenly saw a corpse with four wings growing from its back, its limbs twisted. It was a monstrous corpse composed of various flesh pieces, not a normal existence. It assembled itself in an instant, then flapped its wings and flew into the air at extreme speed!
It was the King of Joseon!
"It still has self-awareness even in this state?"
"No, there's something on it!"
Ji Xiang was initially incredulous. The body of the King of Joseon had exploded and was used as a vessel for the True Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains to manifest in the human world. Now that the True Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains had been consumed by the Sea of Suffering, those rotten flesh pieces crawled up on their own and formed a monster that flew away. The monster was shrouded in black energy, seemingly not the King of Joseon's own consciousness!
It was the black energy previously bestowed by the so-called "Venerable Sovereign of Authority and Freedom" that was now controlling his corpse!
"Where do you think you're going!"
Ji Xiang moved forward, his form changing!
Heavenly Opening Yellow Path Venerable!
Stepping through the Void, ascending to the Heavenly Realm! The Heavenly Opening Yellow Path Venerable opened a heavenly gate passage. Ji Xiang flashed into it and brought his palm down from the air, smashing the corpse monster into the depths of the mountains and rivers!
The black energy twisted his flesh. The corpse monster began to swell in the depths of the mountains and rivers. A mortal's body could not turn into a giant, but at this moment, those flesh pieces were growing without limit, their growth rate surpassing any known creature in the world!
The mountain of flesh enveloped the mountains and rivers. Then, to Ji Xiang's astonishment, the mountain of flesh merged with that region of mountains and rivers, becoming formless!
"This is not right!"
Anyone with eyes could see that something was wrong. Such a massive, fleshy corpse monster merged with the mountains and rivers. This was like erosion or replacement. In short, Ji Xiang made a decisive move. His physical body, refined by the sun, gradually grew larger at this moment!
Boom—!
Even though the vitality and blood of this physical body had reached an unprecedented level of strength, when he performed this divine ability, there were still unavoidable signs of the physical body cracking!
Heavenly Law Manifestation!
Ji Xiang's eyes contained heaven and earth, nurturing the five elements, and his heart was like a clear mirror. Being only one step away from the immortal realm, he now understood why this situation had occurred.
Cultivating to this point, the strength of the physical body meant the strength of the magical power it could bear. The essence, energy, and spirit circulated and advanced together. Heavenly Law Manifestation was a great divine ability that could only be performed by immortals. The more powerful the physical body and magical power, the more powerful the Heavenly Law Manifestation performed. Therefore, no matter how he strengthened himself below the immortal realm, the intensity of Heavenly Law Manifestation would also increase, leading to the fact that he, below the immortal realm, still could not withstand the backlash of Heavenly Law Manifestation.
This was like locking this divine ability at the immortal level.
This time, it became even larger than the form and spirit of a Heavenly Venerable, and it was a genuine physical transformation. Ji Xiang's head touched the heavens, and the mountains and rivers under his feet were as small as mud pits and gravel. Facing the flesh corpse that was madly assimilating the mountains and rivers, he grabbed down with one palm!
Rumble—!
This piece of mountains and rivers was directly uprooted by Ji Xiang! Rivers were cut off, and mountains collapsed. The mountains that had not yet been assimilated escaped this calamity, while the assimilated mountains were thrown into the sky by Ji Xiang and sealed in a turbulent flow of magical power!
"Southwest Divine King, Benevolent Still World!"
The power of one of the Ten Divine Kings, the Southwest Divine King, operated, opening this land into the Benevolent Still World.
The so-called Benevolent Still meant that the wise moved, and the benevolent were still. It was a method of forcibly creating a closed space to trap the enemy within. This closed space was both one and infinite. The more the person wanted to get out, the more they would never be able to get out, getting lost in the Benevolent Still World!
The flesh块 continued to exhale in all directions, but they were all closed in a small space. The black energy on the flesh块 gathered together, which was the soul of the King of Joseon. It merged with the black energy, transforming into a terrifying ghost-like deity in the Benevolent Still World, roaring and howling.
But he could no longer get out.
This would suffice.
Ji Xiang pushed this region of mountains and rivers high into the sky. The Inner Landscape Divine Tablet displayed text at this moment.
[Su Fu: Before Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, such flesh pieces appeared in the market of Nanyang. Swords and sabers could not harm them. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, in the region ruled by a warlord named Gongsun Yuan, many such flesh pieces appeared, each several feet in circumference, with heads and mouths but no limbs. A strange diviner predicted to Gongsun Yuan that this object, having form but not substance, no sound but often crying, was a monster that would appear when the state perished.]
[Yet Death's Demon: A monster formed from the ghost of a king, possessing immense resentment and having held a high position in life, after being possessed by a black omen. If such a monster is generated from Su Fu flesh pieces, then it possesses the ability to assimilate national destiny and even divine sacrifices.]
[There is no method to break Su Fu. The collapse of national destiny provides the soil for its birth. This is an unavoidable rule of heaven. Rather than a monster, it is a phenomenon born under the operation of heavenly rules.]
[The method to break Yet Death's Demon is to subdue it with the Heavenly Zhong Wang Divine Incantation of the Venerable Sovereign of Authority and Freedom, locking it in a fixed temple so it cannot leave.]
Ji Xiang flipped his hand, and the Heavenly Demon Scroll appeared. He recorded these two types of monsters one by one. Once subdued, their names would be recorded in the Heavenly Demon Scroll, and they could then be regarded as "demonic creatures" to be subdued.
Then, he gathered some rocks and vegetation, temporarily creating a dilapidated temple, and placed the Benevolent Still World within it.
But Ji Xiang did not know that at this time, in the three capitals of Joseon, such flesh piece monsters had appeared in every dark corner.
And in the darkness, a pair of huge eyes appeared in the dimness of the sky. They were clearly in front of Ji Xiang, yet Ji Xiang could not see them.
However, in a fleeting moment, Ji Xiang turned his head and met the gaze of these eyes.
The latter closed its eyes and disappeared from the human world.