Chapter 553: The Underworld Falls

The underworld.

The Purple Heaven Vine stood rooted atop the high mound, its branches whipping through the air as it blocked the onslaught of countless flesh tentacles.

The vine's tendrils stretched to the sky, its leaves swelling to monstrous proportions, lifting the flesh firmament aloft to contend against that immeasurably vast creature. Not only did it hold the Palace of Virtue, but it still had strength to spare in sheltering the living beings of the underworld.

Were the Purple Heaven Immortal Lord to witness this scene, he would surely be shaken to his core. In his hands, the Purple Heaven Vine had never possessed such might.

The Purple Heaven Vine had already been refined into a magic treasure by the Empress of Earth, branded with the mark of reincarnation, transformed into a supreme treasure that unified the great Dao of the underworld. Its power was extraordinary—even the flesh that blanketed the sky could not breach its defenses for the time being.

The Celestial Venerable's voice came from afar: "By now, all mortals of the Western Ox New Continent have been turned to stone, and the gods have all fallen. This is merely history repeating itself. Back then, Your Ladyship showed wisdom and prudence, letting the gods fade into obscurity. Why do you stubbornly resist today?"

The Empress of Earth turned toward the sound and saw the Celestial Venerable approaching—white hair, white brows, clad in plain robes, yet his face showed no signs of age.

Having commanded from Despair Slope for so many years, he had cultivated a dignified bearing, appearing noble and extraordinary.

The Empress of Earth smiled slightly. "Times have changed. Back then, the True King Zhu was far too naive, carrying the Yin Yang Qi Bottle to Despair Slope, which led to both ruler and ministers dying at the hands of cowards. I was left alone, unable to hold the line, and had no choice but to go into hiding and bide my time. Now, the young King Chen has accomplished much at a tender age, rising from desperate straits. His learning, courage, and vision surpass the True King Zhu of those days a hundredfold."

Her tone shifted. "Back then, I had to contend with the encirclement from Despair Slope, while also facing attacks from the Celestial True God and this evil creature. I had no choice but to leave. Now, Despair Slope has only you, a solitary figure. The Celestial True God no longer answers your summons. You have only this evil creature left—truly abandoned by all. Why should I leave?"

The Celestial Venerable chuckled. "The Celestial Venerable of Despair Slope could destroy this avatar of Your Ladyship without needing to borrow the hand of the Celestial True God."

The Empress of Earth couldn't help but laugh. "A herding boy who calls himself the Celestial Venerable—does your master know about this?"

The Celestial Venerable's expression shifted slightly.

The Empress of Earth said with a smile, "You call yourself Xun Jiangmu, yet you are nothing more than a shepherd boy herding livestock in the Xun Jiang Star Region. As a shepherd boy, managing to cultivate to your current realm is no small feat. But do you know that here in the Western Ox New Continent, you are the Celestial Venerable, yet once you return to your master's side, you're just a shepherd boy? If I were you, I would never destroy the Western Ox New Continent."

The Celestial Venerable shook his head. "Your Ladyship guesses wrong. I herd on behalf of my esteemed master. My master treated me with immense kindness, passing down Dao techniques and divine abilities, which is how I came to be where I am today."

He raised a hand and gently stroked the flesh that blanketed the sky, chuckling. "This treasure is called the Yuan Worm, a treasure my master discovered that far surpasses other heavenly materials and earthly treasures. The Yuan Worm devours the righteous energy between heaven and earth, growing rapidly. The wider its domain spreads, the stronger it becomes."

The Empress of Earth said coldly, "Wherever the Yuan Worm spreads, the land quickly demonizes, turning living beings into evil spirits, demonic beasts, and calamities. Eventually, even the great Dao of heaven and earth will be corrupted and reshaped into the demonic path. This is a demonic creature!"

The Celestial Venerable smiled. "The divine path, the immortal path, the demonic path—all are great paths. Those who seek the Dao, if they harbor prejudice in their hearts, will find their cultivation making little progress."

The Empress of Earth sneered. "But using it to harm people is wrong. You herd the Yuan Worm, destroying how many worlds, killing how many living beings? You have some nerve!"

The Celestial Venerable said, "Your Ladyship is clearly a deity, yet you dare to interfere with immortals who have transcended the cycle of reincarnation. That is the true audacity! You deities govern the mortal cycle of life, death, and rebirth, marriages and unions. But when did immortals ever become subject to your meddling?"

The Empress of Earth's face darkened. "If immortals transcend the cycle of reincarnation, does that mean they may do as they please? If immortals commit evil, deities still have the duty to bring them to justice, to uphold the great Dao of heaven and earth!"

The Celestial Venerable laughed. "You ancient deities, relying on being ancestors, stick your noses where they don't belong. Sooner or later, you'll be silenced. Today, I'll send this avatar of Your Ladyship on her way first!"

His consciousness erupted, connecting with the flesh in the sky. The Yuan Worm's flesh immediately came under his command!

In an instant, demonic energy and demonic miasma intermingled, overwhelming the spiritual energy of the underworld!

Earlier, just the demonic energy radiating from the Yuan Worm shrouding the underworld had already begun corrupting it, causing its inhabitants to undergo demonic transformation. Now, with the demonic energy and miasma even denser, the corruption and demonization accelerated!

Hu Feifei had organized the experts of the mortal world to petrify the entire realm, but the underworld had not been petrified.

Now, throughout the underworld's Immortal Capital, the various Yama Halls and hells, the villages and fortresses within the Ten Thousand Mountains, and the ghost clan nations of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom and Yu Kingdom—whether creatures like the Shen Beasts, ghost clans like the Little Yakshas and Little Ox-Heads, or powerful ghost gods with advanced cultivation—all were influenced by the demonic energy and miasma permeating heaven and earth, undergoing demonic transformation and turning on each other in bloody slaughter!

Especially in the Immortal Capital, within the Primordial Palaces, people's Three Corpses Gods were born from desire to begin with. Now tainted by demonic energy, they burst out of the Primordial Palaces and rampaged through the Immortal Capital, sending heads rolling!

The Empress of Earth poured all her power into the Purple Heaven Vine, mobilizing the great Dao of the underworld in an attempt to stabilize its order. But even the great Dao itself was being invaded by demonic energy, gradually twisting, leaving her with less Dao power to command than before.

"Empress of Earth, you're just an avatar that crossed the sea. Your power is limited."

The Celestial Venerable personally controlled the Yuan Worm, its attacks growing ever more ferocious, gradually suppressing the Purple Heaven Vine and shrinking its defensive perimeter. He laughed, "If Your Ladyship's true body had come, I might fear you somewhat. But an avatar coming before me can only seek death!"

Suddenly, streams of flesh tentacles pierced through the Purple Heaven Vine's defensive perimeter, shooting straight at the Empress of Earth.

Seeing this, Daoist Willow immediately activated his willow tree true body. Thick branches writhed like horned dragons, meeting the flesh tentacles—but the moment they touched, the willow branches burst apart with a series of pops.

Daoist Willow's face flushed red as he staggered backward.

Only now did he realize the immense gap between his strength and that of the Celestial Venerable and the Yuan Worm. His spells and divine techniques couldn't even reach their target. Had it not been for the three strands of Grand Supreme Purple Qi that Chen Shi had gifted him, greatly enhancing his cultivation, that single exchange would likely have cost him his life!

The Empress of Earth flicked her sleeves, her long sleeves dancing through the air as she burst apart the invading flesh tentacles with resounding cracks.

The Celestial Venerable stood in the air, hands clasped behind his back, watching from afar. He smiled, "Deities without worshippers will eventually exhaust their divine power. Now that the mortal world has been petrified, with all living beings turned to stone, how much longer can Your Ladyship hold out?"

The moment he finished speaking, a torrent of incense offering energy surged in. The Empress of Earth's divine power swelled dramatically, and the Purple Heaven Vine's might increased, shredding the many flesh tentacles that came surging in!

The Celestial Venerable frowned, looking down at the underworld. He saw that within the various underworld palaces, layer upon layer of hells stood tall, and countless ghost souls each held incense aloft, facing the Palace of Virtue, chanting the Empress of Earth's divine title.

The deities of these hells also bowed in worship toward the Palace of Virtue.

Countless ghost clan fortresses and villages, yakshas of all sizes, Ox-Heads, Horse-Faces, and the various Ghost King lords also held incense aloft, worshipping the Palace of Virtue.

Throughout the Heavenly Pool Kingdom and the Yu Kingdom, ghost clans erected altars, offering sacrifices to the Empress of Earth upon them. The energy of incense offerings transformed into surging extraordinary power, flowing toward the Palace of Virtue.

And in the Immortal Capital, the little Yama Nannan led Zhong Kui and other ghost gods in descending, raising their Primordial Spirits to suppress the demonic transformation in the Immortal Capital. With vast divine power, they subdued all the rampaging Three Corpses Gods, then led the Three Corpses Gods and all the ghost gods to sit cross-legged, silently reciting the Empress of Earth's name.

Extraordinary power flowed ceaselessly toward the Palace of Virtue, strengthening the Empress of Earth.

Before the Celestial Venerable could withdraw his gaze, beams of divine light suddenly descended from the heavens. Deity after deity descended from the mortal world, led by none other than the Qianyang Mountain Lord, Wang Lingguan, and Lord Guan, the Sage Emperor—deities from the Divine Continent.

These deities were protectors of the common people. Now that the Western Ox New Continent had become a world of stone, with no need for divine protection, the deities from across the land had come to the high mound, standing guard around the Palace of Virtue, bristling with murderous intent.

The Celestial Venerable glanced at them and chuckled. "A ragtag mob. If your true bodies descended, we might have a contest of strength. But avatars coming here are nothing but corpses waiting to happen!"

With a thought, countless flesh tentacles in the sky came whipping down!

In the Immortal Capital, the little Yama looked up and saw enormous tentacles curling down, reaching into the city. She let out a fierce cry, rose to her full height, and raised her executioner's blade. Light flashed as she severed tentacle after tentacle!

But there were far too many tentacles, breaking through her defenses.

"Whoosh—"

A tentacle rolled in, sweeping across, crushing countless Three Corpses Gods and ghost creatures beneath it. Primordial Palaces exploded one after another under its onslaught!

In the Immortal Capital, pavilions and towers collapsed in droves, Celestial Streets were severed wholesale. The ghost gods in the capital could no longer offer sacrifices to the Empress of Earth, scattering in desperate flight.

The little Yama led Zhong Kui, Tie Chi, Black and White Impermanence, and other ghost gods in battling the tentacles, but it was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water—utterly incapable of stopping the massacre.

In just a few short moments, most of the Immortal Capital lay in ruins.

Tentacles whipped through the air, closing in to surround the little Yama and her companions. Seeing this, the little Yama immediately led Zhong Kui and the other ghost gods in fighting their way out of the encirclement, fleeing toward the underworld palaces.

Within the underworld palaces, in layer after layer of hell, countless ghost souls held incense aloft in worship when suddenly the sky of hell collapsed. Countless tentacles tore through the craggy rock-like sky, curling downward and sweeping away everything!

Those ghost souls were originally just souls suffering in hell, possessing no magical power. They were sent flying in every direction, countless of them obliterated into nothingness!

As for the powerful ghost gods guarding the hells, they attempted to resist, only to be snatched up into the air by tentacles and have their Golden Bodies torn apart on the spot!

"Boom!"

Layer after layer of hell was breached by flesh, swept clean!

By the time the little Yama led her forces to the Eighteen Hells, all that met her eyes was devastation. Ghost souls lay dead in countless numbers, survivors scattering in all directions or undergoing demonic transformation. There was no hope of rallying them again.

"The situation is beyond salvaging!"

The little Yama turned, her voice heavy. "Follow me to reinforce the Palace of Virtue!"

Meanwhile, above the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, enormous flesh tentacles suddenly descended from the sky, curling toward the ghost clans below. At that very moment, a skeleton wielding a blade shot into the air. A crimson blade light, like a bolt of silk, pierced through heaven and earth, hacking the tentacles open until their flesh split apart.

Even if the tentacles only had a layer of skin cut open, it was like severing a major artery. Blood sprayed outward in torrents, the crimson light surging like a tide, flowing toward the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade.

Wielding the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade was none other than Chen Shi's skeleton body. By devouring the Yuan Worm's blood energy, the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade's power grew ever stronger, its demonic nature heavier, and its absorption of the Yuan Worm's blood energy faster and faster!

The Yuan Worm seemed to recognize the blade's lethality. Suddenly, thick tentacles voluntarily detached themselves, crashing down toward the earth.

Skeleton Chen Shi rose into the air, charging toward the sky, swinging his blade at the writhing mass of flesh clouds high above.

The clouds suddenly scattered in all directions as tentacles shot in from every side, attempting to entangle and crush Skeleton Chen Shi.

But the next moment, Sun Illuminates a Thousand Rivers erupted—blade light rippling in every direction, sending flesh raining down from the sky like a storm.

The Yuan Worm's body above immediately retreated, not daring to approach the Heavenly Pool Kingdom again.

"Damn you!"

The Celestial Venerable's voice thundered from the sky, filled with majesty and rage. "Let me take back this accursed creature!"

Skeleton Chen Shi looked up and saw a jade bottle flying toward him with a whistling sound. Even from afar, boundless water and fire surged forth, spreading across the sky.

Just as the water and fire were about to engulf the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, Skeleton Chen Shi flicked his finger. A golden coin with wings flew out with a whoosh, growing larger and larger. With a whistling sound, the jade bottle passed straight through the coin's hole.

The Celestial Venerable had sensed that the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade was too dangerous for the Yuan Worm to handle, so he had distantly unleashed the Yin Yang Qi Bottle, planning to refine the Heavenly Pool Ghost Kingdom and the blade's master into nothingness. But he had never imagined that the moment the Yin Yang Qi Bottle flew over, it would vanish like a clay oxen drowning in the sea.

He channeled his magical power repeatedly, yet still couldn't sense the Yin Yang Qi Bottle's presence, let alone summon it back.

Skeleton Chen Shi collected the Golden Coin That Falls Treasures. A crisp clink sounded—the Yin Yang Qi Bottle hitting the ground.

Startled, he hurried over to find the jade bottle, only to discover it hadn't shattered. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn you!" The Celestial Venerable's voice came from the sky, thick with frustration.

Skeleton Chen Shi sheathed his blade and returned to the capital of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom. There he found the Grand Sacrificial Officer standing before the royal palace, holding Chu Feng's hand.

"True King, I entrust Chu Feng to you."

The Grand Sacrificial Officer said, "Now that the Celestial Venerable seeks to exterminate the world, I must go and fight with everything I have. I don't know what lies ahead, nor whether I'll live or die. Chu Feng has received the inheritance of my Great Shang's Grand Guardian. He is the hope of Great Shang civilization. I entrust him to you, True King."

The flames in Skeleton Chen Shi's eye sockets flickered as he looked at him with confusion.

The Grand Sacrificial Officer let out a self-deprecating laugh. "You think it strange that I, who once valued my life so dearly, now throw it away so readily? Heh, before, I could hide, I could run. But now there's nowhere left to run. If I run again, the people of Shang will be wiped out!"

He bowed deeply to Skeleton Chen Shi. "The final inheritance of my Great Shang is entrusted to Your Majesty!"

He rose, then launched himself into the air. His body rapidly underwent demonic transformation, and in an instant, he became a ten-thousand-zhang-tall ghost god—a green-faced, fanged behemoth riding the yin wind, roaring off into the distance.

Skeleton Chen Shi saw the Grand Sacrificial Officer off, then went to see Chu Feng. To his surprise, Wu Qi, who had disappeared for a long time, was standing beside Chu Feng, staring at the youth with a puzzled expression.

He could sense the same inheritance within Chu Feng that he himself carried.

The Grand Guardian inheritance.

But the Grand Guardian inheritance was clearly in his own body—why was it also in this youth?

"Disciple pays respects to Master!" Chu Feng quickly kowtowed to him.

Wu Qi was even more bewildered. He had no memory whatsoever of having such a disciple.

"Wu Qi, you have come back to life several times."

Skeleton Chen Shi explained at length how he had planted the Purple Heaven Gourd seed together with Wu Qi's remains, then speculated, "It's very possible that in one of your past lives, you passed on the Grand Guardian inheritance to him."

Wu Qi looked at him. "You are King Chen?"

"The one and only."

Skeleton Chen Shi said, "Wu Qi, I brought you back to life. You owe me a favor."

He pressed the Yin Yang Qi Bottle into Wu Qi's hands and said slowly, "Help me kill someone."