The Poison of the Ancestral God

Wu Ming's words sent a chill through Xiao Chen's heart. If the White-Robed Sword Immortal Ye Jing joined the fray, his own situation would become even more perilous.

"It's him!" The Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell hovered above Wu Ming's head, its ten-thousand rays of light enveloping him, guarding him completely.

The foreign kings present were all stunned, especially the Earth King, whose eyes blazed as if he wanted to tear Wu Ming apart.

Xiao Chen's expression shifted to one of strange amusement. Wu Ming was pointing at none other than the Earth King himself. That treacherous schemer was always calculating, even now trying to use others to kill for him—he wanted to mislead Ye Jing and the other cultivators into eliminating the Earth King to obtain the Earth Element Soul from the Five Elements Quintessences.

At this moment, Xiao Chen's hair was blue, his appearance altered from normal. Earlier, to avoid the foreign kings in the Celestial Burial Valley, he had deliberately changed his looks. Even after being recognized by War King Mabaoo's origin-piercing divine ability, he had not immediately reverted to his original form.

Xiao Chen reacted without a moment's hesitation, playing along with Wu Ming's words perfectly. A white-bone banner appeared in his hand, emitting boundless yin energy that made all the Heavenly Kings present tremble. He swung it at the Earth King's head, shouting, "Xiao Chen, your time is up! Today I will refine you into my sovereign banner!"

The Earth King's lungs nearly burst with rage. The words of protest he had wanted to say were forced back by the banner as waves of yin energy crashed toward him, startling him.

"What? Xiao Chen isn't dead?!" A woman in red beside Ye Jing was visibly shocked, her temper seemingly explosive. She spat out a flying sword that transformed into a streak of blood light, slashing toward the Earth King.

Mabaoo shouted loudly, "He is not Xiao Chen! That man is the real one!" He pointed directly at the true Xiao Chen.

"I lost an incarnation to Xiao Chen back then—do you think I could mistake my sworn enemy?" Wu Ming bellowed as he struck, urging the Golden Divine Bell to hold off the Yasha Queen's frenzied assault on the already severely wounded Sea God King.

The fiery woman in red's last trace of doubt vanished. The suspended flying sword turned into a blood-red ribbon that shot into the fray, aiming for the Earth King's head.

And at that moment, the Earth King was enduring Xiao Chen's violent assault. A moment's inattention, and the flying sword left a deep gash on his neck. Blood gushed forth in a torrent.

"You are being used!" Mabaoo shouted. Simultaneously, he and the other foreign kings present charged forward, attacking Xiao Chen. Some even struck at the blood-red flying sword. If they only explained without fighting, the Earth King would be doomed. As he struck out, Mabaoo tried to speak: "Do not listen to one-sided words—this is how it is…"

"Dong…"

The long, drawn-out sound of a bell rang out. The bell waves performed a targeted attack, and a brilliant golden light burst from the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell, flooding the entire hall. Mabaoo's words were naturally cut off.

In that blinding golden light, the Yasha Queen was forced back several steps. Wu Ming's left hand rose high, and a purple-gold hammer materialized, slamming down heavily.

"Bang!"

The indestructible purple-gold hammer shattered the water-essence light curtain before the Sea God King and then pulverized the fists the king had raised to block, until they were a mess of blood and bone.

"Pfft!"

Blood sprayed as the purple-gold hammer slammed into the Sea God King's chest. The sound of bones breaking came, and then the Sea God King's divine body collapsed into fragments.

This scene was utterly shocking—a Heavenly King at the Perfected Man realm had just been shattered to pieces by a purple-gold hammer!

"It's… the Heavenly Thunder Hammer!" A woman from the Ye family cried out in surprise. "That is the supreme treasure of the Artifact Refining Sect!"

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. No one could have guessed that Wu Ming still had an offensive half-ancestor treasure refined into his left hand, killing the Sea God King at a critical moment.

In a flash, the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell above Wu Ming's head came crashing down, and in an instant it absorbed the drifting water-blue soul of the Sea God King.

The foreign kings present were furious beyond measure. The Yasha Queen launched a wild assault on Wu Ming, her 'Ten Thousand Laws, Do Not Touch' divine power clashing directly with the divine bell. Her ultimate technique, 'Swordfire Burns the Heavens,' tore through the void with savage, unmatched power.

The other foreign kings, their fury already sky-high, some far less composed than Mabaoo, vented their rage on the female cultivator who had intruded.

"Clang!"

Two foreign kings struck at the same time. The incoming blood-red flying sword was suspended in the air and then, with a 'crack', shattered.

"Pfft!"

The woman in red spat blood. Her life-bound treasure destroyed, she was gravely wounded.

"Elder Sister!"

The women behind her cried out in alarm. Three of them rushed forward, each unleashing their spirit treasures—a black jade lotus, a green wish-fulfilling scepter, and a small red axe. Condensing powerful energy, they charged to the front, shielding the woman in red from the combined killing strike of the two foreign kings.

Mabaoo cried out in dismay. They hadn't even explained yet, and now they had nearly made new enemies. The white-clad woman named Ye Jing behind him furrowed her brows. She had clearly already sensed something was wrong and shouted at almost the same time as Mabaoo: "Stop!"

But the combined killing strike of the two foreign kings had already met the three female cultivators' spirit treasures. There was no way to withdraw. At this moment, if they drew back, the enemy would seize the opportunity to strike—the consequences would be unthinkable.

Though they heard Mabaoo and Ye Jing's shouts, no one relented. Instead, they pushed their divine power to the limit. The black jade lotus, green wish-fulfilling scepter, and blood-red small axe blazed with ten thousand rays, the three colors illuminating the entire hall.

And the two foreign kings elevated their power to the extreme, millions of rays bursting forth, surging forward.

"Boom!"

A deafening sound exploded. The violent shaking made the ancient palace tremble fiercely. If not for the power of the Heavenly Stele sealing the valley, the ancient palace would have already turned to dust.

The three female cultivators staggered back, spitting blood. Their life-bound treasures had gone dim, clearly heavily damaged. The woman who had lost her treasure and stood at the front suffered the most severe injuries, stumbling backward.

The two foreign kings were even worse off—their four arms were nearly shredded, a bloody, mangled mess.

From the moment Wu Ming falsely accused the Earth King of being Xiao Chen to this scene unfolding, everything had happened in an instant—a sudden upheaval with no time to stop it.

The intense energy fluctuations and the lingering bell tones had alerted the experts in the other palaces. More foreign kings rushed in, and naturally, so did cultivators from the Ye family and Wu Ming's sect.

A cold smirk curved Wu Ming's lips. The moment those people arrived, he secretly transmitted to several acquaintances, and those people immediately shouted and charged toward the Earth King.

"That man is Xiao Chen! He came back from the dead—unbelievable! Twenty years ago, he slaughtered many elites of our cultivation world, my elder brother among them…" The words were highly inflammatory. Several of them shouted, "Everyone, attack together! Kill him!"

They all struck at the Earth King. The experts from Wu Ming's sect, having received his transmission, also joined the attack.

The Ye family members who had just arrived witnessed this scene. Their founding ancestor, the Three-Infant Grand Matriarch, had died because of Xiao Chen—how could they not hate him? None of these Yu had ever seen Xiao Chen or been to the Mortal World. Hearing the words, they all rushed forward together.

And the arriving foreign kings, seeing two groups of cultivators attacking the Earth King, Mabaoo, and the others without distinguishing right from wrong, had no choice but to counterattack.

Mabaoo, who was still trying to explain to Ye Jing, felt his mouth go dry. Everything had happened too fast. From the 'misunderstanding' until now, in the space of mere moments, the situation had escalated to a critically severe level.

The white-clad woman Ye Jing had long since seen that something was wrong. Together with Mabaoo, she shouted for a halt. But a chaotic battle had already erupted. With both sides fighting for their lives, who would be willing to make the first concession?

It had to be said—with a gentle nudge from Wu Ming and Xiao Chen's perfectly timed cooperation, events had taken a dramatic turn.

A group of cultivation world experts and foreign kings were now locked in fierce combat. Soon, blood was shed, the battle grew even more violent, and people began fighting to the death.

Mabaoo's red hair was standing on end. Usually, he was the one scheming against others, but today he'd fallen into a trap himself. A situation that should have been easy to explain had escalated into a major incident—truly unexpected.

A faint, cold smile hung on Wu Ming's lips. He had obtained the Sea God King's quintessence soul, and he naturally would not let go of the Earth King's soul. He already had a plan. He decided that he no longer needed to search for the essence of the five elements; instead, he would specifically target Perfected Man-level Heavenly Kings who possessed the five-element souls. Since there was a Sea God King and an Earth King, there must surely be a Fire God King and others. If he could gather all such five-element souls and fuse them into himself, his power would reach an unimaginable level.

The Yasha Queen, locked in combat with him, was furious. Though she was a woman of peerless beauty, she was more dominant than any man. In her eyes, Wu Ming was a treacherous, loathsome schemer. 'Swordfire Burns the Heavens' repeatedly clashed against the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell; the tolling of the bell was deafening.

On the other side, Xiao Chen kept the Earth King firmly suppressed, the sovereign banner leaving ghastly wounds all over his body. Yin energy surged, demonic clouds rolled, and the wailing of ghosts and the howling of spirits made the soul itself tremble. But that was all.

When he had obtained the sovereign banner from the ancient ruins, Xiao Chen had discovered he could not activate its destructive power. Even now, he still did not know the reason. For now, he could only use it as an indestructible weapon, like his war swords, rather than a supreme treasure.

The Earth King had gone berserk. Yellow earth-light filled the sky, and when he pushed his power to its absolute limit, even his jet-black hair turned a muddy yellow.

Ye Jing immediately shouted, "Everyone of the Ye family, fall back!"

When the Ye family experts saw the Earth King's manifested dharma form and heard this order, they immediately realized something was seriously wrong.

"Attack! Kill him—I need his soul!" Wu Ming shouted at the Artifact Refining Sect experts, ordering them to strike at the Earth King. There was nothing left to hide now.

The Yu experts who had struck first were fit to burst. The woman in red, once she understood, trembled with rage and would have attacked Wu Ming if not restrained.

"Fall back!" Ye Jing, clad in white like snow, looked as though she did not eat the common food of the world, yet when she spoke, she carried an intangible authority. The few furious women of the Ye family barely suppressed their anger.

The Artifact Refining Sect experts in the arena charged at the Earth King. The other foreign kings naturally resisted, and the battle raged fiercely.

Wu Ming was utterly determined to obtain the Earth Element Soul. To perfect his body-forging, he had no regard even for his old enemy Xiao Chen.

The Ye family experts temporarily stood aside, though many of them seethed with fury.

"What a pity! If Aunt Ye Xiao hadn't had her cultivation severely damaged and were still in seclusion, how could this treasure have fallen into the hands of the Artifact Refining Sect? That Wu Ming actually dares to come out with the treasure—this time we must reclaim the divine bell and teach the Artifact Refining Sect a lesson."

Several bright and beautiful young women all seemed indignant.

The white-clad woman named Ye Jing in the center had a lovely face with a faint, ethereal quality. Listening to the women's complaints, she furrowed her brows slightly. "The Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell is a legendary treasure. It has never truly belonged to any single family. Ye Tian was fortunate enough to be born holding it, but his edge was too sharp, and he died young. Now it will be very difficult to take back the bell. I fought a great battle with Wu Ming not long ago and discovered that the divine bell seems to have bonded with him."

"How can that be… That treacherous Wu Ming has bonded with the divine bell? But the bell was in our Ye family for over twenty years—how can it be handed over so easily!" The other women protested indignantly.

Ye Jing sighed. "A supreme treasure is supreme because it has its own will. It is not a dead object—it can choose its master freely."

The Ye family members were deeply worried. They could see that Wu Ming was highly favored in the Artifact Refining Sect, entrusted even with the sect's ultimate treasure, the Heavenly Thunder Hammer. With the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell for defense and the Heavenly Thunder Hammer for offense, plus Wu Ming himself having already broken into the Perfected Man realm, his strength made everyone wary.

"Stop! This meaningless bloodshed!" War King Mabaoo shouted. "Your cultivation world's great enemy, Xiao Chen, is right here! I don't understand why you ignore him and attack us instead!"

Though he already knew exactly what had happened, he deliberately roared this way, drawing even more cultivators.

"Xiao Chen… Didn't he fall long ago?"

"That man turned to bones twenty years ago…"

Many people had just rushed into the great hall and were murmuring among themselves upon hearing this.

Mabaoo, sparing no essence, shot two brilliant rays of divine light from his eyes, scanning in Xiao Chen's direction.

"The Eye of Truth?"

"The Origin Divine Eye!"

Someone cried out in surprise, recognizing this divine ability.

Under the Origin Divine Eye, Xiao Chen's true form was instantly revealed. The crowd of cultivators erupted. Some among them had been to the Mortal World, and a few had actually seen Xiao Chen—they immediately shouted.

"It is him! It's Xiao Chen!"

Killing intent burst forth, breaking out of the great hall. The temperature plummeted!

Wu Ming hurriedly transmitted to the Artifact Refining Sect experts to fall back. There was no way they could act now—if someone stirred up the mob and drew everyone's fury, it would be trouble.

Xiao Chen found himself surrounded by numerous experts in the center of the hall. All eyes were fixed on him. Without a trace of panic, he even wore a slight smile, speaking with perfect calm: "Fellow Daoists, we meet again."

"Kill him!"

"Extract his soul to console the spirits of the fallen!"

Many people roared. Only when the shouts subsided did Xiao Chen turn to Wu Ming and say with a smile, "Brother Wu, didn't we cooperate quite well just now?"

"So it really was you. Truly unexpected." Wu Ming's face showed a perfect expression of surprise, but even if he played the part, how could he clear himself? Many in the hall were furious.

Xiao Chen turned to Ye Jing. "Your sect's losses are not great. Though the foreign kings struck savagely, they only killed about a dozen people."

Ye Jing made no response, perfectly calm. But the Ye family members were boiling with rage—all of this was the result of Wu Ming's false accusation. Their killing intent toward the Artifact Refining Sect was undisguised, and they had also taken a hatred to the foreign kings present.

Xiao Chen turned back to face the foreign kings and laughed. "Our battle has spilled all the way into the cultivation world—you've truly worked hard! Clashing bitterly with the cultivation world's powers, your comrades' souls couldn't even be preserved; they are now the nourishment for someone else's ascension."

The foreign kings' gazes toward Wu Ming turned icy cold, and likewise they glared coldly at the Ye family.

Mabaoo sneered. "No matter what you say, you will die today!"

Ye Jing also spoke, her voice like music from heaven. "Since we have confirmed you are Xiao Chen, there is nothing more to say. Kill on sight!"

Wu Ming's lips curled with a hint of a smile. "Xiao Chen, your attempts at sowing discord are useless. You are the common enemy of us all. If we don't remove you today, even the heavens will be displeased."

"I am only speaking the truth. Now that you have obtained the Sea God King's soul, you certainly won't let the Earth King's soul escape either. Once I am dead, won't you use the Ye family's power to kill more people?" Xiao Chen's tone was flat, but it stoked the fires of anger among the three parties.

Though he was now in a desperate situation, Xiao Chen was not at all alarmed. He secretly transmitted to the Earth King, Mabaoo, and the other foreign kings: "At this point, I think we should set aside our enmity and join forces. Otherwise, after I am eliminated, Wu Ming's side will immediately turn on you. You may be powerful, but do not forget—this is the cultivation world. Their reinforcements can arrive at any time."

In the next instant, Xiao Chen secretly transmitted to Wu Ming: "I think we really need to continue our cooperation…"

Soon after, he covertly spoke to Ye Jing: "At this moment, Wu Ming wields both the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell and the Purple-Gold Divine Hammer, a supreme treasure with both offense and defense. I believe it will be very difficult for your sect to retrieve it with the people present. I can break through the divine bell's protection. If we cooperate…"

While Xiao Chen was transmitting, the foreign kings were also secretly communicating with Ye Jing and the others. After all, they were deep in the cultivation world's territory and had to be cautious.

Wu Ming, meanwhile, was also transmitting to multiple parties, ensuring that once Xiao Chen was dead, the Artifact Refining Sect would not be attacked from all sides.

"Kill Xiao Chen!"

"What are you waiting for?!"

Not only the Ye family and the Artifact Refining Sect were present; there were also experts from many other sects. When they saw that the people at the front were not moving, they grew very irritated.

After the negotiations concluded, the Artifact Refining Sect experts behind Wu Ming, the foreign kings led by Mabaoo, and the Ye family's many experts all locked onto Xiao Chen at the same time. They had reached a consensus: eliminate their common enemy first.

More and more cultivators gathered in the great hall. Soon, almost everyone who had entered the Celestial Burial Valley knew that Xiao Chen had risen from the dead.

"Those with a great grudge against Xiao Chen and sufficient strength, please stay. The rest of you, withdraw and guard the exits."

Some experts began to direct the crowd, sealing off the entire hall. In the end, all exits of the great hall were sealed. Everyone knew that Xiao Chen possessed the Eight Aspect Extreme and feared he would escape.

Though more people could not enter the hall, the thousand-plus experts already inside were the elite of each sect that had entered the Celestial Burial Valley.

The great hall was sealed, becoming a cage from which no one could leave for a short time!

"Xiao Chen, time to hit the road…" A mocking grin spread across Wu Ming's lips.

All the foreign kings and the countless cultivators fixed their gazes on Xiao Chen. They believed that in this sealed hall, Xiao Chen could not possibly escape. With so many people, crushing him would be as easy as squashing an ant.

Xiao Chen gave a faint smile. "You all honor me too much. There must be at least a dozen Heavenly Kings at the Perfected Man realm here!" Despite being perfectly calm and unhurried, he tapped the sovereign banner and extracted a jet-black skull that had been sealed inside the treasure. It was the skull containing the Ancestral God's corpse venom, which he had snatched from the Yellow Diamond Skeleton King in the ancient ruins. He had carefully preserved this devastatingly lethal weapon, not daring to keep it in his spatial ring. He had sealed it inside the sovereign banner, so that it would not be destroyed when he returned to the Death World.

"So, all of you here are absolutely determined to kill me?"

"Of course. Today, we will surely destroy you!"

"Very well." Xiao Chen nodded.

The pitch-black skull gleamed with a sinister light, black mist churning inside. But the crowd did not realize the danger. Even if it were a half-ancestor supreme treasure, with so many people here, killing their great enemy would be effortless.

"Bang!"

The seal on the skull was broken in an instant. Xiao Chen hurled the black skull toward Wu Ming and the foreign kings. Black mist surged and rushed outward.

Xiao Chen transformed into a bolt of lightning, charging in the opposite direction. The Eight Aspect Worlds materialized around him, shielding him from attack, and he used them to guard against the Ancestral God's corpse venom.

"Ah…"

In a single instant, screams rose one after another. Rows upon rows of cultivators fell. In the blink of an eye, more than two hundred people died unnatural deaths, their bodies dissolving into putrid liquid. These were all powerful cultivators, yet they had not the slightest resistance to the Ancestral God's corpse venom.

Even Xiao Chen was greatly startled. Based on what he knew, the venom was highly lethal, but he had not expected it to injure so many. He had thought it might kill a few.

The corpse miasma did not disperse. The black mist rolled swiftly, and wherever it passed, cultivators died in droves.

He watched with his own eyes as two Artifact Refining Sect elders at the Perfected Man realm dissolved into putrid liquid. The Ancestral God's corpse venom was way too potent.

In the span of a breath, more than half the experts in the great hall had died. And the corpse venom was still spreading rapidly.

Even Perfected Man Heavenly Kings could be poisoned to death—this was truly terrifying. Everyone began to frantically assault the seals, trying to escape.

The seals had been placed to trap Xiao Chen, and they were immensely strong. Yet, instead of breaking the seals, the cultivators only accelerated their own deaths by channeling their divine power. A Ye family elder, a woman in her prime who had reached the Perfected Man realm years ago, was utterly annihilated the moment she slightly activated her power.

Holding the breath, divine light shielding the body—none of it worked. The Ancestral God's corpse venom corroded everything!

Even Xiao Chen, protected by the Eight Aspect Worlds divine power in the farthest corner, untouched by even a wisp of the black mist, still felt his head swim and his mind grow groggy. The terror of the Ancestral God's corpse venom was beyond imagination!

Screams did not cease. The experts outside finally sensed the abnormality within and swiftly began to break the seals.

"Boom!"

When the seal on the front gate was shattered, the thirty or so people who charged in instantly dissolved into putrid liquid.

The cultivators outside were horrified. Within the great hall, only five people remained. Over a thousand cultivators were gone, the floor covered in pools of liquid.

Wu Ming, the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell above his head, transformed into a beam of golden light and fled without looking back toward the distant palaces. The Yasha Queen, protected by her 'Ten Thousand Laws, Do Not Touch' divine power, vanished in the same instant. War King Mabaoo, his face somewhat darkened, shot out without a word. Next came the Earth King, staggering out of the great hall.

It was clear that even they, having escaped, were almost incapacitated.

Finally, Xiao Chen escaped using the Eight Aspect Extreme.

On the cultivation world's side, over a thousand elite experts, including more than a dozen Perfected Man experts from several major sects, had been utterly annihilated—body and soul.

And of the nearly twenty foreign kings, only three had escaped—a near-total wipeout.

Without a doubt, this would be a major event that shook the five realms!