Chapter 542 - 325: The Celestial Mandate Confucian Saint is Born, Welcoming Mr. Qi’s Return, All Demons Must Bow

Faced with a multitude of Ancient Ice Corpses, Dragon Halberd and Snake Consort stood outside the peaks of the snow-covered mountains, their expressions grave.

They knew these foes would be incredibly difficult to deal with.

Back in the Middle Ages, they had all been powerhouses of the Upper Three Grades. The fact that their Flesh Bodies had been preserved for ten thousand years meant they were all incredibly formidable.

The aura emanating from the Ascension Platform only added to their sense that something was amiss.

’What has Lu Mingyuan done in there?’

’He’s just a Twelfth Realm Martial Artist. How could he possibly wield the power of the Ascension Platform?’

Several more figures rushed toward the white mountain peak. They were all well-known figures in the Demon Race—Prince Kunpeng, Long Xuan, and the others who had just arrived in Feisheng Ancient City.

"May I be so bold as to ask, my lords, what is happening here?" Prince Kunpeng asked.

He was not the only one. Long Xuan was also bewildered, wondering why such a great upheaval had suddenly occurred.

Dragon Halberd had already stopped his fight with the Chess Saint. He used the Treasure Pearl to perform Divination for a moment before saying, "The Great Yan Prime Minister, Qi Xingyan, has suffered a fatal calamity. The Great Yan Monarch is using a heaven-defying method to resurrect him. The Heaven and Earth Rules here will become more and more chaotic. We..."

Just as he was speaking...

BOOM.

A wave of pressure swept over them.

BANG.

All the Demon Monarchs, including Long Xuan and Prince Kunpeng, were forced to their knees by the pressure, unable to move. Only Snake Consort and Dragon Halberd remained standing.

In an instant, all the members of the Demon Race living in the Ascension Relics prostrated on the ground, trembling in fear.

A Saint was Transcendent, aloof, and completely different from an ordinary Cultivator.

The pressure they possessed was something even a Thirteenth Realm expert couldn’t resist.

’Even we are shocked. The decrepit old Chess Saint is right here, and he’s no match for us; we’ve been suppressing him this whole time. So where is this Saint’s pressure coming from?’

「At the same time.」

A graceful and quiet figure was trapped in a hidden mountain cave.

This place was located on the other side of the Ascension Platform and was sparsely populated.

This figure was none other than Qi Muxue, who had been gone for a long time.

"Father..."

She heard the commotion, raised her head, and looked toward the Ascension Platform on the other side, murmuring to herself.

’Could the Ascension Platform really have such power?’

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached her ears.

Qi Muxue immediately said coldly, "Sui Yuqing, if you think you can use me to threaten the Holy Emperor, I can only say you’ve completely miscalculated."

"You lured me here just to seize the Ascension Platform, didn’t you?"

At this moment, the Sui Yuqing who appeared here looked rather strange. Her eyes had less of their usual coldness and more of a seductive charm, and an inexplicable smile hung on her lips.

Sui Yuqing’s tone was extremely calm as she said, "I wouldn’t call it coercion. It would be somewhat difficult for me to approach the Ascension Platform alone. With you here, it will be much easier."

She was the Heart Demon from the depths of Sui Yuqing’s being.

Now, she had become a complete consciousness. All she needed was a Flesh Body to achieve her true self.

She needed the Ascension Platform as well.

Lu Mingyuan was already using the Ascension Platform to resurrect Qi Xingyan. As soon as he was brought back, everyone’s attention would be fixed on him. That would be her chance.

Suddenly, a spot on Qi Muxue’s body began to emit a dazzling brilliance.

She quickly checked and discovered it was the cyan Jade Hairpin.

In the past, the Jade Hairpin had helped her break through to the Great Scholar realm. The meaning of the Ritual Saint Jade Hairpin manifesting its power once again was self-evident.

’Perhaps this is a good opportunity.’

Qi Muxue looked directly at Sui Yuqing.

Her hand relaxed, and the simple, ancient Jade Hairpin flew out. With a BOOM, it punched a large hole in the Array at the entrance.

"What?"

Sui Yuqing had never expected that Qi Muxue actually had a way to break through the Array.

"Don’t think you have the upper hand just because you won with a sneak attack! I am no longer the person I was before!"

Qi Muxue summoned a Confucian Dao Ancient Book condensed from Vast Righteous Qi. This was her Confucian Dao Lifebound Treasure.

"My heart holds the Ten Thousand Techniques; Rites and Teachings, prosper eternally!"

Her jade-like finger lightly tapped a line in the Confucian Dao Ancient Book.

A hundred-meter-tall golden Dharma Aspect rose up behind Qi Muxue. It was her spitting image—exquisitely carved like jade and perfectly lifelike.

A scroll tens of meters long coiled around the Dharma Aspect, flowing with Golden Light. The brush in its hand pointed toward Sui Yuqing.

Naturally, Sui Yuqing didn’t just sit and wait for death. She brandished her Duster, mobilized her Taoist Qi, and the Duster enveloped her, carrying her away from her original position to evade the Dharma Aspect’s attack.

While the two women were locked in a magical battle, inside the cavern of the Ascension Platform, Lu Mingyuan stood within the Summoning Array, continuously releasing his Life Essence Blood to stabilize the illusory-yet-real summoning channel.

As time passed, thanks to the sacrifice of the Golden Crow Celestial Mandate, the scattered soul fragments of Qi Xingyan were gradually being drawn back and woven together, strand by strand.

SWOOSH!

A cyan Jade Hairpin shot down from the sky.

All of these retrieved soul fragments attached themselves to the faint, surviving Holy Soul within the Jade Hairpin, causing it to gradually grow stronger.

And during this process, suffering from the backlash of the Celestial Dao, Lu Mingyuan’s Spiritual Power was constantly being annihilated.

Even Divine Beings could not stand against the will of Heaven and Earth itself.

To defy the heavens and Change Destiny was truly a difficult feat. Lu Mingyuan constantly endured a searing pain in his Sea of Consciousness, as if it were being boiled.

His Flesh Body was already infinitely close to that of a Martial Saint, but his face had turned pale, and his aura was gradually weakening.

CRACK! A shattering sound echoed from within Lu Mingyuan’s body.

A clear crack appeared on one of his Flesh Body’s Acupoints.

His body trembled, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his Flesh Body also began to crack apart, like porcelain on the verge of shattering into pieces.