Chapter 1 Shock and Doubt

Shock, followed by doubt.

Let alone Zeng San, even Zhang Fengfu couldn't believe it after the initial shock.

"Impossible!"

Zhang Fengfu's voice was hoarse as he looked at the Daoist priest before him, his surprise and suspicion laced with immense dread: "You can't be Him, He can't still be alive! Those beings would never allow Him to live!"

A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree.

Some people, even after countless years, remain impossible to ignore.

That Great Xia Sage was one of them.

From the Age of Gods until now, the world has seen countless powerful individuals, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and there has been no shortage of peerless geniuses who have left their mark on ancient history.

But those who could compare to Him were few and far between.

More importantly, if the Daoist priest before him was that Great Xia Sage, not to mention Long Xingyi, even if the founding emperors of the Great Zhou, Great Liang, and Yuhua dynasties were resurrected, they would never dare to come alone.

In fact, the entire world would be in an uproar at this moment, including Dao Palace, Sumeru, the three great imperial dynasties, and all the powerful sects, who would be shocked and immediately mobilize!

How could this Daoist priest, whom he had been tracking for over a decade, be the legendary ancestor of the Earth Immortals, the one who sought knowledge from Master, enlightened King Yu, and spread the Dao throughout the world?

What a joke!

"Reciting His name will resonate with Heaven and Earth..."

Amidst the howling of endless astral winds, Long Xingyi stood with his sword, gazing at the Daoist priest within the great sun, his eyes beneath the冕旒(miǎnliú, imperial crown) seeming to contain the rise and fall of a sea of stars:

"Transcending mortality, attaining sainthood. Eternal life, immortality. The Yuan Shen is the gate to eternal life, creation is the foundation of immortality. Death is only the end for mortals, nothing more!"

In that instant, his divine will reached its peak, as he desperately sensed every minute change in the Daoist priest.

The Daoist priest remained as calm as before, his eyes like an ancient well, without any emotional fluctuations.

But he was not disappointed. Instead, his suspicion grew stronger.

"Royalty and nobility are not necessarily born into their positions, and deities do not necessarily need to have a background."

Upon the Dao platform, An Qisheng spoke calmly, seemingly unaffected: "Throughout history, there have been more than just ten heroes. Even if there were only those ten, how can you be certain that I am that 'Great Xia Sage'?

Your guess is far-fetched."

With no change in expression, An Qisheng was slightly surprised in his heart.

This Long Xingyi was indeed worthy of being the Crown Prince of Great Zhou. The secrets he held were perhaps even greater than those of the Confucian school, and he must have cultivated an extremely powerful method of calculation.

His perception was extremely sharp.

"The Dharma has its primordial spirit, and divine powers choose their masters. This is especially true for top-tier divine powers, and even more so for the Ten Kings of Divine Powers! My dynasty's founding emperor had over a hundred descendants, and there have been no fewer than a billion descendants to this day, yet only I have mastered 'Imperial Pole Stuns the World'!"

"The inheritance of Five-Colored Divine Light has never been broken, but even the Peacock Clan, who have pursued it through generations, have only achieved Minor Five-Colored Divine Light at best. Zhang Fengfu doesn't understand the reason for this, Zeng San doesn't understand, but does Your Excellency not understand?!"

The scarlet imperial robe fluttered in the wind, Long Xingyi's fingers gripped tightly on the sword hilt, and an extreme sharpness erupted from his eyes:

"The Peacock is not dead! Therefore, only He can possess this divine power!"

Whoosh~

An invisible sword intent permeated the heavens and earth, whistling back and forth with the wind. Minute places invisible to the naked eye had already been completely filled with sword intent.

Within the cave, the temperature plummeted, becoming extremely dark, as if all light and heat had been torn apart, shattered, and replaced by the sword light.

Zhang Fengfu and Zeng San wore solemn expressions. Yang Jian and the others within the cave even more tense, feeling the pressure from the sky, their bodies trembling.

Whoosh whoosh~

It seemed as if a wind had arrived on the Dao platform intertwined with raging flames. An Qisheng slowly lowered his eyes, neither pleased nor angry: "If I were truly Him, where would you find the courage to draw your sword?"

"I was born with courage, and I do not know what fear is..."

The sound of swords humming slowly rose, initially no more than a subtle bird's chirp, but in an instant, it had transformed into a thunderous roar, a raging sea, erupting with earth-shattering, brilliant divine light:

"What would I not dare?"

Boom!

The sword cried like thunder!

It was clearly only one sword rising into the air, but it seemed as if hundreds of millions of sword lights had erupted simultaneously, the ultimate sharpness instantly tearing apart all things, tangible and intangible.

The cave seemed to have disappeared.

Yang Jian and the others gazed at the sky, feeling that the heavens and earth had disappeared, replaced by an indescribable world of sword light!

Within the sword light, there seemed to be layers upon layers of dimensional space contained within.

Some were vast, some were fierce, some were ruthless, some were resolute, some were detached, some were emotionless, some were compassionate, some were calm...

Endless sword lights shuttled and leaped within those layers of void dimensions, colliding and interweaving with each other, evolving into a grand spectacle of infinite life, death, and destruction.

Even Zhang Fengfu, who was not being targeted and was on their side, felt a chill run down his spine, feeling that the Dharma power within his body had lost control under this sword.

Like a death-row prisoner about to be executed, he lost all resistance and feelings of unwillingness.

"Imperial Pole Stuns the World!"

Zeng San's body also shook, but unlike Zhang Fengfu, whose attention was mostly on An Qisheng, all of his divine intent fell upon that one sword.

Only then did he see this brilliant sword.

Imperial Pole Stuns the World was ranked among the Ten Kings of Divine Powers. Many people speculated that the founding emperor of Great Zhou was exaggerating his own status. Zeng San had also had similar guesses before.

But after truly seeing this sword, he dispelled the thought in his heart.

This sword was just one sword, but it was more than just one sword.

The myriad sword intents contained within were merely an external display, and the evolved void world was just a trivial appearance. Its true core.

Was the divine intent within!

In that instant, it seemed as if an endless scroll of time was unfolding before him. Zeng San gazed at it, seeming to see the founding emperor of Great Zhou, howling and looking up to the sky amidst the ruins and scorched earth.

He saw the invincible army with endless banners stretching out, and he saw the wailing and weeping people amidst the endless flames of war.

This sword was emperors and generals.

It was peddlers and laborers.

It was the past and the present.

It was the 40,000 years of the Great Zhou dynasty, and also the sentient beings of humanity from ancient times to the present!

This was a sword of life, death, and destruction, but also a sword of salvation for all living beings!

"This sword is not bad..."

Within his eyes, various scenes alternated and changed. Facing this sword directly, An Qisheng finally felt a ripple in his heart. Immediately, he raised his palm, and amidst the interweaving of five colors,

Slowly pressed down!

"Unfortunately, it's not enough!"

Boom!

The sound waves echoed, unavoidable to anyone, like the voice of heaven and earth, omnipresent. And as its sound waves vibrated, a strange force was born from the void.

Covering the sky and the earth, protecting the entire cave world.

Rumble!

A giant palm materialized, falling from the sky, the five colors erupting. Within the cave, everything was instantly filled with the five colors.

Collision, followed by explosion!

The cave trembled violently!

Yang Jian and the others, who were under the five colors, also felt frightened. At this moment, they could not see anything beyond the five colors, as if the collision in that instant had exceeded the limits of their perception.

However, this earth-shattering collision was shorter than anyone could have imagined, merely the most insignificant moment in time. The endless sword light rampaging between heaven and earth had already collapsed inch by inch.

As if it had been defeated by a single palm!

But Zeng San's pupils contracted, because as the giant palm pressed down, the endless sword light collapsed inch by inch, but it was not a rout. Instead, it retreated in an orderly manner.

And as the sword light retreated, the void and the cave covered and filled with sword light also collapsed and shrank, as if it wanted to compress the entire Great Thousand World into a single sword!

"Not enough?"

Amidst the brilliant five colors, Long Xingyi finally moved. He leaned forward, shattered the golden bridge beneath him with one step, and the buzzing divine sword in his palm, finally, with a light shout, slashed out:

"Is this enough?!"

Buzz~

It was as if lightning flashed through the eternally dark night, tearing apart the darkness and illuminating the heavens and the earth.

In that instant, no one could see the light of the divine sword anymore.

But though no one could see it, its sword might was unprecedentedly strong, surpassing even the Five-Colored Divine Light that filled the universe and the heavens and earth in an instant.

With an extremely violent and powerful posture, it swept towards An Qisheng on the great sun, the raging flames, and the Dao platform!

Like a god-emperor executing the disobedient, like an emperor executing rebels, and also like a hero rising up, slaying demons and great evils that endanger the world!

"Good!"

A ripple arose in his heart. The divine intent contained in this sword moved An Qisheng, and he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Immediately, the palm pressing down abruptly opened.

The five colors rolled out like a tide, and various phenomena were born along with it. In less than a ten-millionth of a moment, hundreds of millions of changes had taken place.

Displayed before everyone.

"Hmm?"

Amidst the interweaving of endless sword light, Long Xingyi's eyes narrowed.

In that instant, the world transformed again in his eyes.

Amidst the crisscrossing of five colors, it seemed that infinite Dao essences were flowing and interweaving, and then, they transformed into a towering, sacred gate.

Seemingly unchangeable since ancient times, eternally present.

Slowly rising!

"What, what kind of divine power is this?"

In that instant, even Zhang Fengfu, who had raised his Dharma power to its peak and was ready to strike at any moment, was stunned.

With just a fleeting glance, a vast, majestic, and brilliant aura had already been deeply imprinted into his mind along with the shadow of the heavenly gate.

It was also imprinted in the eyes of everyone who saw the true form of this divine power.

That will was extremely strong, neither human nor god, neither demon nor Buddha, nor immortal, yet it seemed even more transcendent, encompassing everything, all-encompassing.

It possessed the supreme ambition to reform the heavens and earth and recreate the universe.

It was an undisguised, extremely domineering will!

Before the gate were the masses, behind the gate were gods and immortals.

Whether it was a demon or an immortal,

I have the final say!

"Such a divine power, such a will..."

Within the divine light, Long Xingyi's pupils contracted violently, his 冕旒(miǎnliú, imperial crown) trembled, his imperial robe fluttered, and under the immense pressure, his mind was almost shattered.

If his sword was the emperor's sword that governed the world, the sword of re-creation that slaughtered rebels, then this palm was the heavens!

There might be an accident in defying the heavens, but there was absolutely no chance of survival in defying me!

Without any words, Long Xingyi had already felt the unshakable, great will in the Daoist priest's heart.

Finally, he felt the gap beyond cultivation...

"Heaven...Son of Heaven, Son of Heaven..."

With the purity of Long Xingyi's divine will, he could not help but be dazed for a moment, as if he had dreamed back to the past.

In a daze, he saw that tall figure again.

He told himself that one could only receive fortune by following Heaven's will.

He told himself that the Long family was the chosen son of Heaven, the family of the Son of Heaven who ruled the people on behalf of Heaven.

"I...am unwilling!"

In the next instant, it seemed that blood filled his pupils, Long Xingyi roared to the sky, and all the Dharma power he had cultivated throughout his life burst forth along with that sword light:

"Even if the Heavens are above, I will still draw my sword against the Heavens!"