Chapter 454: Netherworld Venerable Lord Sacrifice, Surging Killing Intent, a Single Palm to Pacify Heaven

The paper sedan, carried by effigies, swayed back and forth, yet it moved with surprising speed.

Before long, it had arrived at the Netherworld Giant City.

“We’ve arrived!”

“Please, Master Su, step out of the sedan.”

The paper effigy Little Ghosts bowed to welcome him, one of them calling out.

Su Bai stepped out of the sedan. A few hundred yards away stood the majestic city wall, as imposing as a heavenly pillar.

HISS!

At that moment, the paper sedan and the eight effigies dissolved into wisps of green smoke and vanished.

A streak of white light appeared before Su Bai, transforming into a paper bridge that led straight to the top of the city wall.

“Fellow Daoist Su, you have come a long way. Forgive Bai You for being unable to welcome you from afar.”

The voice was clear and pure, like the gentle flow of a spring, cascading down from above.

In an instant, the endless, swirling nether fog surrounding the massive city receded, slowly dissipating.

“I am the one who is imposing,” Su Bai replied lightly.

As he spoke, he stepped onto the paper bridge and began to ascend.

The paper bridge was perfectly stable, and Su Bai moved quickly. By the time the echo of their exchange faded, he was already nearing the top.

He could already see the gatehouse atop the wall, shaped like the head of a Dragon.

And in front of the gatehouse, two figures—one in black, one in white—sat back-to-back.

The one in white sat in the north, facing south. The one in black sat in the south, facing north.

Their backs were pressed tightly together, as if they had fused into a single, inseparable entity.

A glint flashed in Su Bai’s eyes. He had already seen through the mystery of their state.

‘This Venerable Hei Ming is neither living nor dead. Or perhaps, he should have died long ago.’

‘But Bai You is keeping him tethered to life, forcefully pulling him back from the brink by supplying his own life force.’

‘At the same time, however, Bai You himself is imprisoned on this wall, unable to leave, unable to even move.’

‘Unfortunately, even with all this, Venerable Hei Ming’s current state is little different from death.’

‘It was a stark reminder of how devastating the Netherworld’s losses were in the war all those years ago.’

‘The Eight Lords of the Netherworld were almost completely annihilated. The sole survivor, Bai You, can’t even leave the Netherworld Giant City.’

‘No wonder the Yin Department Divine System was left without a leader.’

‘And was ultimately shattered and dismantled by the Leader of Gui Chen Sect.’

THUD!

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Su Bai’s steps never faltered, and he reached the top of the gatehouse.

It was only then that he got a clear look at Venerable Bai You himself.

His appearance and dress were exactly as Su Bai remembered from the day of Qin Wuliang’s fall.

The only difference was the blurry-faced Venerable Hei Ming, whom he carried upon his back.

“Fellow Daoist Su.”

Bai You raised an eyebrow and glanced at Su Bai, a complex, unreadable expression surfacing on his face.

“Your path has reached its end.”

‘My path has reached its end?’

The Silver-White Dog Demon, which had been squatting to the side and studying Venerable Bai You, was taken aback.

It had followed Su Bai for a long time and knew just how terrifying his progress was.

‘He seemed to be improving eternally, his depths unfathomable.’

‘How could he possibly have reached his end?’

But to its surprise, Su Bai simply nodded.

“Indeed, it has reached its end.”

He was perfectly calm, not the slightest ripple of emotion in his heart.

‘Cultivation itself is, of course, a limitless journey.’

‘However, Heaven and Earth are not.’

Three years had passed. His Cultivation had reached the Ninth Level of the Feather Transformation Realm, and his power had pushed the very limits of a Spirit Immortal.

In fact, thanks to his Fifth Immortal Golden Body Transformation gaining Experience Points every day, his Physique and strength were still growing, seemingly without end.

‘This “end” wasn’t his personal limit, but rather a profoundly delicate threshold.’

‘The Celestial Destiny Realm, one of the Three Immortal Realms.’

‘Its name implies the power to rule over the fates of all living beings, just like Heaven and Earth themselves.’

‘This Realm is high enough to allow one to escape the world-ending calamity and survive into the next epoch.’

‘One could even, like the Netherworld Venerable Lord, possess the means to obstruct the great calamities of Heaven and Earth.’

‘For instance, suppressing the Seven Heroes and Three Li!’

‘That is why, ever since the time of the Netherworld Venerable Lord, the Spirit Immortal Realm has been the end of the road.’

‘As for the Celestial Destiny Realm that lies beyond it…’

‘It will not allow it!’

‘In this world, the only place one can ascend to the Celestial Destiny Realm is the Netherworld!’

‘Bai You, and the other great powers of the Netherworld, all achieved their breakthroughs to that Realm within the Netherworld.’

‘But they can only exist within the Netherworld.’

A master of the Celestial Destiny Realm who steps out of the Netherworld will inevitably draw the Ninth Heaven Celestial Punishment.

Especially at a critical time like this.

Triggering the Celestial Punishment now could even cause the epochal calamity to descend upon the world ahead of schedule.

“Ordinarily, it would not have been impossible for you to use the Netherworld to achieve your Celestial Mandate.”

A nether wind gusted, lifting the white strands of hair at Bai You’s temples and making his expression grow even colder.

“But you have already killed all the people that I was supposed to kill.”

“How will you compensate me for that!?”

“The people I was supposed to kill…”

Su Bai savored the phrase for a moment before nodding.

“To be in accord with the Celestial Heart above, and to perceive the fates of all living beings below.”

“Celestial Mandate is, after all, Celestial Mandate.”

Once a cultivator reaches the Feather Transformation Realm, their Divine Thoughts achieve Divine Communication, allowing them to perceive such things.

They can vaguely sense the future trajectories of all beings in Heaven and Earth, seeing things that ordinary people cannot.

The Realm of Heavenly Destiny is, in a sense, the culmination of the path of Feather Transformation. It wasn’t strange to Su Bai that Bai You could see these things.

Bai You watched Su Bai impassively, seeming to await his answer.

From the very beginning, he had been immensely curious about this person the Venerable Lord had chosen.

And he had not disappointed the Venerable Lord’s faith in him. In a mere eight years, he had already reached the threshold of the Celestial Destiny Realm.

Furthermore, the Cultivation Technique and Divine Techniques he practiced seemed to faintly transcend this world’s limitations.

He was walking an alternate path, one the Venerable Lord himself had once foreseen.