World's No. 1 Swordsman

Chapter 805: Pull Off Something Unexpected

"That should do it."At the place where the spider lilies bloomed, across the rolling hills, Houtu lay quietly on the ground in her pale-white dress. A trace of sorrow lingered in her eyes as she watched the countless specks of light drifting through the world around her.

Glowing motes—the purified vengeful souls—slowly floated up like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind.

Wang Sheng gradually rose from within a dried-up well at the center of the hills, the holy light that had enveloped him fading away little by little. Finally, he breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Even Houtu herself had barely been able to resist that terrifying resentment. Purifying it had always been quite complicated.

Fortunately, Wang Sheng had a sudden flash of inspiration and used the Dao of Creation to create a type of "purification beetle" embedded with a self-destruct mechanism.

The beetles were not living creatures, and they did not possess spiritual intelligence. They resembled a "self-replicating virus" more than anything else. Nevertheless, through the Great Dao of Creation, Wang Sheng gave them three traits.

First, they fed on resentment and could reproduce through it.

Second, their lifespan only lasted fifteen minutes at most.

Third, they could convert resentment into blessings and goodwill toward living beings.

After creating them, all Wang Sheng had to do was release the first batch of purification beetles and let them come into contact with the resentful qi. The rest handled itself.

What is this?

This was the result of combining Earth’s technology with the Great Dao. Before entering this place, even Wang Sheng himself had never imagined he possessed such an ability. Had he created a different kind of beetle, one designed to devour primal qi and decompose energy instead...

Is this the Great Dao of Creation's true power?

Even Wang Sheng felt a lingering fear rise within him. As he looked at the small white flower flickering in and out of existence in his palm, a trace of unease surfaced in his heart.

This kind of power truly required restraint.

Houtu turned toward him and bowed slightly. She no longer looked as weak as before.

"Thank you, Senior, for saving me."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Wang Sheng hurriedly returned the Daoist salute. "No, no, you are the senior here. I am Wang Sheng, a junior and a mere successor to Great Goddess Nuwa. I currently wield the Great Dao of Creation.

"Since I did not understand the situation within the Nether Realm earlier, I disguised myself as Xu Xian to probe around. I hope you can forgive me for that offense, Your Imperial Majesty. I require your and the Nether Realm's assistance. Feng Jiu, the one who attacked you, is also my greatest enemy at the moment."

Houtu’s delicate brow furrowed slightly as though she were deep in thought.

Streams of immortal light gathered around Wang Sheng’s left arm and condensed into Spiritless, which had not appeared for a long time. Light shimmered across the blade as the tiny fairy emerged from it. She then gradually expanded until she returned to normal size.

Wang Sheng glanced at his sword spirit from the side. She had become increasingly ethereal lately.

Her long black hair swayed despite the lack of wind. The flowing layers of her dress resembled overlapping veils wrapped around her. Her face looked more lifelike than ever, and even her skin now appeared soft and smooth enough to make one want to poke it.

She was still a spiritual entity, though, merely close to a living being.

"Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty. It's me, Yaoyun."

"Yaoyun?" Houtu lowered her head slightly, recalling the name. "The daughter of the Immortal Emperor..."

"Mm." Yaoyun sighed softly. "Senior, allow me to explain this matter instead. I am one of those directly involved, and he was only dragged into this karma because of us."

Houtu nodded gently. With a light tap of her slender finger, three meditation cushions appeared on the ground. She invited them to sit.

Yaoyun carefully organized her thoughts. After some time, she finally asked, "Your Imperial Majesty, how much do you know about the destruction of the Heavenly Court?"

Houtu softly replied, "The Immortal Emperor sought to defy the heavens by learning the Supreme Immortal Sutra, which Empress Nuwa’s descendants had left behind. In the end, disaster befell him. The Three Pure Ones personally appeared and slew the Immortal Emperor in the Heavenly Court itself, causing its collapse."

"Did you find anything strange about it?"

"Anything strange... From what I know, after his fall, the rebel forces opposing the Heavenly Court gathered far too quickly and appeared at far too convenient a time. The Heavenly Court had stationed enormous armies across the four great regions of the Immortal Saint Realm, and many military forces were still fighting campaigns throughout the realms. How did such a massive anti–Heavenly Court force suddenly emerge?"

"There is also something we hoped you could help confirm, Your Imperial Majesty," Wang Sheng said.

Somewhat puzzled, Houtu asked, "What matter? And how am I supposed to confirm it?"

"Could you determine how many true spirits entered the Nether Realm for reincarnation during the battle that destroyed the Heavenly Court? Specifically, we'd like to know the ratio of the Heavenly Court’s registered celestial soldiers to the immortal troops from the anti–Heavenly Court forces."

A look of understanding appeared in Houtu’s eyes. She raised her fingers and began calculating. The entire world around them seemed to brighten.

A short while later, Houtu answered, "The celestial soldiers accounted for roughly seventy percent."

"Seven to three..."

Wang Sheng lowered his head and wrote the ratio on the ground. Beneath it, he wrote another ratio.

11:16.

Houtu felt as though she could no longer keep up. She softly asked, "What does this mean?"

Wang Sheng replied, "Great Divine Guardian Wang Shan and Star Deity Wenqu concluded that this was the casualty ratio during the war that destroyed the Heavenly Court. It compares the Heavenly Court’s celestial soldiers against the immortal troops of the anti–Heavenly Court alliance."

Houtu frowned slightly as she stared at the four numbers. A moment later, she let out a murmur of realization.

Yaoyun added, "This casualty ratio counts the forces of traitors, like the Black Emperor, as part of the anti–Heavenly Court troops."

Houtu’s eyebrows knit tightly as she muttered, "The Immortal Emperor arranged all of this?"

"At present, that appears to be the case."

Wang Sheng casually summoned Yuan Tu and drew five circles on the ground, representing the Immortal Saint Realm and the four great star regions.

"Looking at things now, the Immortal Emperor himself seems to have orchestrated the entire destruction of the Heavenly Court. He first formed a massive army throughout the four great star regions, then used his own death as the spark to incite rebellion from the forces within the star regions that already held grievances against the Heavenly Court, eventually forming the anti–Heavenly Court alliance.

"In other words, the war that destroyed the Heavenly Court was the Immortal Emperor using his own left hand to sever his right."

Houtu could not help but raise a hand to her forehead as she silently contemplated everything. Very quickly, she fully understood what Wang Sheng was trying to say.

"Why would the Immortal Emperor do such a thing?"

Yaoyun answered softly, "There are currently two main theories. The first is that the Immortal Emperor had to fake his death to escape an impending disaster. However, that theory has a flaw: it cannot explain how he could control the timing and method of a Saint’s intervention."

Wang Sheng added, "Which is why the second theory is far more likely: In his desire to accomplish a goal, the Immortal Emperor prepared an escape route for himself in advance. Once he confirmed his failure, he triggered the scenario that led to the destruction of the Heavenly Court and started everything over from the beginning."

Houtu closed her eyes in concentration, as though she were calculating and piecing everything together. Not long after, she asked, "Who exactly is the Immortal Emperor?"

Somewhat curious, Wang Sheng replied, "I will naturally explain that to you, Your Imperial Majesty, but why do you ask?"

Houtu sighed softly and beckoned gently to the side. "I originally had no intention of revealing something so shocking, but it seems you already know the truth. Long ago, Feng Jiu—or rather the Immortal Emperor himself—used his divine soul to seize the Queen Mother’s body for reasons unknown.

"He stirred chaos throughout the Nether Realm and cast the resentment of countless beings into this place. At first, I believed he had merely gathered resentful souls from the star regions. Only after I attempted to communicate with them did I realize what they truly were."

Among the countless drifting "dandelion seeds," two slowly floated over and circled Houtu’s fingertips. Gradually, they transformed into a pair of strange lifeforms.

They possessed bodies close to an innate Dao Body, yet they lacked any true physical substance. They looked as though they had been filled with liquid silver, and their faces bore no features at all.

Houtu muttered, "They are not lifeforms born from our world. The laws that gave birth to them are completely different from our Dao."

Wang Sheng sighed. "The Immortal Emperor is an extraterrestrial devil."

With a tap of his finger, the tragedy of the sacred spirit from long ago unfolded before Houtu’s eyes.

Yaoyun watched silently from the side. A faint shadow still lingered deep within her eyes.

***

At the same moment, outside the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation, Xu Zhongliang and Chun Yangzi hurried inside a heavily restricted guest chamber in one corner of Fengdu City.

The moment he entered, Chun Yangzi whispered, "Why has the Nether Realm suddenly fallen into chaos?"

Everyone in the room shook their heads.

Wang Shan answered, "Something seems to have happened within the inner city. We didn't cause it."

Xu Zhongliang frowned. "Did Fei Yu force his way into the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation?"

The white-robed fairy meditating in the corner suddenly opened her eyes and looked nervously at Xu Zhongliang.

"It’s just a guess," he quickly added. "Only a speculation. Everyone, stay calm."

Wu Tianshou stood beside the window and raised a hand, unleashing a Cloud Mirror Technique that overlooked the inner city. Unfortunately, an immensely powerful array protected Fengdu City’s inner city. Even observation techniques could only capture blurry silhouettes.

Still, through those blurred silhouettes, they could see large numbers of yin soldiers gathering inside. Two distinct factions had formed and were now facing each other.

The unrest within the inner city had not yet spread to the outer city. However, because the King of Hell selection was about to begin, the outer city was already chaotic and overflowing with people to begin with.

Xu Zhongliang took out a jade talisman and looked at the words that had only just appeared on its surface. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Zhongliang smiled. "Fei Yu has entered the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation. It seems the Kings of Hell truly are desperate enough to try anything. Or perhaps the internal situation of the Nether Realm is even worse than we expected, leaving them no choice but to rely on the Wandering Slaughterer.

"If my deduction is correct, then Fei Yu’s scheme has worked: The Kings of Hell allowed him to enter the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation to learn the Great Dao of Reincarnation. They want to see whether they can create an expert capable of eliminating the current chaos."

The leaders of Earth’s cultivation world also relaxed somewhat.

Chun Yangzi remarked, "Everyone, isn’t this the perfect opportunity?"

"The perfect opportunity to?"

"To break the deadlock, of course."

Chun Yangzi pondered briefly before taking a jade talisman from his sleeve. With a light touch of his finger, he made an immortal light spread from it and form an image of the area surrounding Fengdu City.

Chun Yangzi then added, "Feng Jiu's army has already created three layers of encirclements outside. If we don't pull off something unexpected soon, I'm afraid all that'll be left for us is a humiliating escape."

"Something unexpected? Like what?"

"If we start spreading rumors to stir the crowd now, it may already be too late."

"Wouldn’t it be better to stick to the original plan and act during the King of Hell selection—"

Buzz—

The discussion abruptly stopped as a faint ripple spread through the room.

Everyone was startled. There were dozens of restrictions protecting the place, and every person in the room was an extraordinary cultivator. Nevertheless, the ripple had bizarrely managed to appear right in front of them, as though it had completely ignored every restriction.

They all soon realized what the ripple actually was. One after another, they clutched their chests.

Wherever the ripple passed, a warm and gentle sorrow filled with endless grief rose within the hearts of every living being. Along with it came a vision.

On hills covered in white flowers, a frail figure leaned against a sealing sword, swaying unsteadily. Strange, red-black patterns had spread across her hands and neck, while unbearable pain filled her beautiful eyes.

Great Virtuous Houtu! Some evil force has corrupted her!

She looked helplessly toward the sky, where two people hovered.

One was a tall woman in a blood-red dress. Her long hair was loosely tied behind her, and she had flawless proportions. Her face remained indistinct, yet the calm smile at the corner of her lips was unmistakably clear.

"Feng Jiu!"

Beside her stood a sword cultivator completely enveloped in killing intent. He held Abi in his hand, its tip pointed directly at Houtu.

"Wandering Slaughterer Xu Xian!"

Feng Jiu seemingly instructed, "Go kill her. Once your Great Dao of Slaughter severs reincarnation, it will evolve into a supreme Great Dao."

The killing intent surrounding Xu Xian immediately grew even stronger.

Below them, Houtu smiled bitterly. Even in that situation, she still pressed down on the trembling sealing sword. She slowly pushed her right hand downward as the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation released the ripple that everyone now witnessed.

A faint whisper from Houtu then reached the ears of all living beings.

"Make haste... Leave the Nether Realm... All of this is Feng Jiu’s, no, the Immortal Emperor’s scheme."