Chapter 691: The True Immortals and Gods

Xu You’s voice was drowned out by the rumbling in the void. Beside him, Zhang Buku’s eyes widened, golden lights sparking within them and quickly linking into a web.

The several hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers all looked up, each of them wearing an expression of stunned disbelief.

Heaven-Stabilizing God looked up as well, and he too was startled. He immediately shouted in rage, slashing upward with his blade. His power, nearly at the peak of the Measuring the Heavens Golden Immortal Realm, erupted violently, shooting skyward.

The illusory golden bell formed by the collective force of the Heavenly Soldiers trembled intensely. The golden dragons and fire phoenixes circling around halted abruptly, hissing upward as if encountering a natural enemy.

The thousands of trapped cultivators behind Gu An also looked up. Every single one of them was stunned speechless. The golden light illuminating their shocked expressions only made their awe more visible.

One after another, massive golden palms descended from the sky. They were of all shapes and sizes, endless and blindingly radiant. They filled the entire sky overhead, as if another plane of existence was crashing down with overwhelming pressure.

No matter which direction one looked, there were towering golden palm shadows, some even larger than heaven and earth itself. A crushing force pinned them within the confines of the Heavenly Army’s formation—no one could escape.

Even the Xuanji Emperor, who had reached the Vast Heaven Free Immortal Realm, couldn’t count how many palms there were. Before such divine power, even Immortals and Gods of the Heavenly Court seemed no different from mortals—tiny and fragile.

An Zizai stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring dumbly at the endless rain of golden palms. His mind went blank as he stared at the spectacle.

Time seemed to slow.

Aside from Heaven-Stabilizing God, no one else could react.

Heaven-Stabilizing God slashed upward, his vast cultivation forming a scarlet qilin surrounded by thunder, far larger than the Soul Refining Cauldron. Yet in front of the world-suppressing divine palms, it was like a mosquito in a storm—about to be swallowed whole.

Those palms descended incredibly fast. From the moment they appeared to when they struck took less than half a breath’s time.

Countless golden palms slammed into the illusory golden bell. The burst of golden light was so intense that it washed out all color from the void.

Zhang Buku was still staring upward, eyes wide. He instinctively tried to activate his divine arts, but he was too slow. His body was swallowed by the golden radiance in an instant.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

As the cosmic void lost all color, thunderous explosions rang out endlessly. An Zizai shut his eyes—he couldn’t bear to look. The sound alone made it feel like the entire Dao Universe was shaking. His blood and qi inside his body froze, making him feel like he was suffocating.

And that was just An Zizai—he was still standing behind Gu An. The others fared even worse.

The Blood Prison Saint was both overwhelmed and thrilled. Even blind to what was happening, the image of the divine palms crashing down echoed through his mind.

He wanted to learn this divine art more than anything.

Once he got back, he was going to pester his master until he taught it to him!

The Xuanji Emperor also couldn’t cast any techniques, but he sensed a strange force of fate. The other party wasn’t just powerful in cultivation—he carried a kind of unique destiny.

That kind of destiny was similar to that of a Dao Monarch. Comparable to the Grand Dao, yet independent from it.

That revelation left the Xuanji Emperor utterly astonished.

Could it be that the Path of the Grand Dao still held a fate greater than that of a Dao Monarch?

Before he could think further, his consciousness slipped into slumber.

…

An Zizai had a dream.

In the dream, his Grandmaster tore through the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals in a one-sided massacre. No Immortal or God could withstand even a single strike.

It was total annihilation.

Suddenly—

Grandmaster appeared right in front of him.

The shock jolted An Zizai awake. He sat up abruptly, gasping for breath.

The morning sunlight cut through the mountains and rivers, shining down on him. It gave him a surreal, dreamlike feeling, like waking up in a different world.

He instinctively turned his head and realized he was back in Grandmaster’s courtyard.

Shen Zhen and An Xin were sitting in front of the artifact refining cauldron, speaking softly. There was no one else in sight.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Master, Aunt Shen, where’s Grandmaster?”

“Your Grandmaster went out for a stroll. He should be back by evening,” An Xin replied calmly.

Shen Zhen turned to look at him and asked with interest, “So? Did you witness your Grandmaster’s power?”

An Zizai took a deep breath and nodded heavily. Recalling what he'd seen, he clenched his fists, his eyes glowing with excitement.

He said, “Grandmaster used the divine art he taught me. So powerful... the Immortals and Gods of the Heavenly Court, at least one hundred thousand of them, not a single one could withstand even one of his strikes…”

Even An Xin was intrigued now. She turned around to listen as he recounted the battle.

At the same time—

Gu An was at the Mountain God Temple on the Tai Cang Continent. After harvesting some mature spirit herbs, he returned to the courtyard.

He silently activated the Lifespan Barrier, then took out the Demon God’s body he’d snatched from within the Soul Refining Cauldron. It was still inside the egg.

He hadn’t killed Heaven-Stabilizing God or the hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers.

Heaven-Stabilizing God couldn’t be killed so easily, and the Heavenly Soldiers were innocent—just following orders. If he had killed them all, the resulting karma would ripple through the three thousand great worlds and countless mysterious universes. Not to mention, Zhang Buku was among them.

Of course, aside from shocking Heaven-Stabilizing God, this battle had another purpose—to demonstrate the might of a Hunyuan Dao Emperor to the trapped cultivators and the hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers.

These prisoners and soldiers weren’t just ordinary folks. They were all powerful cultivators and prodigies. They were sure to sense the unique fate of a Hunyuan Dao Emperor, and they’d definitely spread word of it in their respective universes.

Right now, Gu An was more interested in the Demon God’s body crafted by Heaven-Stabilizing God.

He examined it carefully and found that this body had an extremely high compatibility with the three thousand Grand Daos—in other words, it could cultivate all sorts of Daos with great ease.

So who was Heaven-Stabilizing God preparing this body for?

There was no Heavenly Court fate attached to it, so Gu An deduced there must be hundreds more of these bodies across the three thousand great worlds, and even one hidden inside the Divine Court of the Taiwei Great World.

So many Demon God bodies, all being crafted by Immortals and Gods—this had to be tied to the struggle for the Heavenly Emperor’s throne.

Did it really take that many Demon Gods to overthrow the current Heavenly Emperor?

Gu An was curious. Just how powerful was the current Heavenly Emperor?

What was his concept of the Heavenly Dao?

Perhaps the Immortals’ and Gods’ indifference to the lives of mortals was related to this conflict over the throne.

Gu An stared at the Demon God’s body, deep in thought.

Not far away, Xuanmiao Zhenren sat, curiously watching the giant egg before Gu An. Even though it had shrunk considerably, the curled-up figure inside was still massive.

Staring at the silhouette within the egg, Xuanmiao Zhenren felt a deep unease. This body gave him a terrifying feeling, and he didn’t dare interrupt Gu An.

After a long while—

Gu An glanced at Xuanmiao Zhenren and smiled, asking, “I can give you this body and help you take it over. Are you willing?”

Xuanmiao Zhenren’s expression changed drastically. He didn’t accept or reject right away. Instead, he cautiously asked, “Where did this body come from?”

“This body was forged by Immortals and Gods—true Immortals and true Gods. If you seize it, you’ll gain talent surpassing all things under heaven and earth. Of course, you’ll also carry unpredictable karma and could get swept up in unimaginable troubles later.”

Gu An explained calmly.

That only made Xuanmiao Zhenren more nervous.

True Immortals and true Gods?

The reason Xuanmiao Zhenren had chosen to follow Gu An was because he believed in the existence of such beings. Now, hearing that this body was made by them, his heart began to race.