Chapter 641 — One Punch Smashes Through the Imperial Hall

The Second Ancestor and the others watched Shen Mu depart; when they turned back, the First Ancestor Human Emperor had vanished as well.

The First Ancestor Human Emperor had never truly died. He had turned his own flesh to stone, freeing himself from the body, and gone into seclusion in Fengdu. Whether he wished to leave or to return was a matter of a single thought.

His primordial spirit commanded vast divine powers and could come and go with astonishing speed; by now, no doubt, it had already returned to his body.

"What do we do now?"

Many of the Human Emperors looked to the Second Ancestor. "Once those two go, they will surely fight again, and we will be the ones who suffer for it."

The Third Ancestor Human Emperor's face was pinched with worry. "If Emperor Shen loses this time, it will be my bones that get smashed."

The other Human Emperors were just as glum. To rise in less than a year to the point of defeating the First Ancestor Human Emperor at the same realm was simply too hard. Every one of them had been the finest figure of his own age; hemmed in by their times, they had been unable to cultivate to the absolute summit, yet each possessed god-level mastery in his own right.

The First Ancestor, by contrast, had reached the divine level in every aspect, and higher still.

Less than a year had passed since Shen Mu last lost to the First Ancestor Human Emperor. However meteoric his advance, at most he could have raised his cultivation realm.

And mere advancement of realm could not defeat the First Ancestor.

For a wielder of divine abilities, raising one's realm was no great difficulty; but raising one's foundation—that was difficult beyond all telling.

Advancing one's realm was building another storey atop a tower; advancing one's foundation meant reinforcing and expanding the foundation without damaging the high tower already standing, so that it might hold more and rise higher still. The difficulty of such a task could well be imagined.

And only by raising his foundation could he defeat the First Ancestor at the same realm—which demanded that his vision and his depths be lifted to the level of the First Ancestor Human Emperor himself.

"How old is Emperor Shen?" the Second Ancestor asked abruptly.

Emperor Qikang thought for a moment. "That Su kid mentioned his age. By mortal reckoning, he should be nineteen."

"Nineteen..." said the Second Ancestor. "A youth brimming with vitality—yet a man's lifelong achievements most often begin at just such an age. At what age did each of you first settle the rudiments of your arts and divine abilities?"

The Third Ancestor considered. "Old man, I was twelve when you took me as your disciple. In my twentieth year I created the prototype of the Yin-Yang Heaven-Overturning Hand, and it was then too that I first conceived of my art, the Great Nine Vehicles of Yin and Yang. Only after several hundred more years did I perfect both the Heaven-Overturning Hand and the Great Nine Vehicles."

The Fourth Ancestor said, "I never cultivated my master's arts or seal methods. He was a failure; learning from him would only have made me a greater failure. So I created my own arts and divine abilities. I surpassed the old man: in my seventeenth year I conceived of my Dharma Path of Ten Crossings, brought it to great completion in middle age, and gave the old man a thrashing."

The Third Ancestor blew out his beard and glared. "So you beat me—is that such a grand feat?"

The Fourth Ancestor beamed. "Yes. It was quite grand."

The other Human Emperors each named the age at which they had first established their own arts and divine abilities. Most fell between their teens and their thirties or fifties, by which time the course of their lives was already set. Only Emperor Tuoyu and the Sixth Ancestor had come into their own late.

"Emperor Shen is nineteen. That means he stands at the very peak of creation."

The Second Ancestor Human Emperor mused, "Perhaps his arts have already found their own road, and his divine abilities have taken rudimentary form. Perhaps he will not lose against the First Ancestor. A second defeat would strike him too heavy a blow..."

Emperor Lanpo said, "With only rudimentary arts and abilities, he would have a chance against the First Ancestor? The First Ancestor's arts and divine abilities are no rudiments—they have been perfected to flawless, seamless completeness."

The Human Emperors fell silent.

"But he has an Overlord Body..."

Emperor Qikang said, a little timidly, "An Overlord Body must be formidable, surely? That rascal disciple of mine, Su Muzhe, kept bragging that his disciple had an Overlord Body—he nearly blew it up to the heavens..."

The others all shook their heads. "An Overlord Body still has to grow. At nineteen, how far can it have grown?"

After a moment, the Second Ancestor said resolutely, "Let us manifest our spirits and go to the Hall of Human Emperors. Emperor Shen travels from the mortal world, and it will take him a day or two to reach the hall. We go ahead of him; once we are there, we all strike together and gang up on the First Ancestor."

"Good! Gang up on the First Ancestor! We must beat him until he yields of his own accord and dares not contend with Emperor Shen!"

The many Human Emperors, all eagerness, nodded and faded from sight one by one, vanishing from Fengdu.

The bird god Chi Xiu watched them manifest and depart from afar. He twisted his head around to look at King Yan beside him and ventured, "Will the King not stop them? They are all dead. To rush off so recklessly into the mortal world—does that not break the rules of Fengdu?"

"There is no need."

King Yan shook his head. "The Hall of Human Emperors belongs neither to the mortal world nor to the underworld. It is a place beyond our jurisdiction. The Human Emperors of every age have always been a band who fear neither heaven nor earth. When they go to the Hall of Human Emperors, they are not under Fengdu's authority."

Chi Xiu was stunned for a moment. "The Hall of Human Emperors belongs to neither the mortal world nor the underworld?"

"The Hall of Human Emperors is a fragment of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court. Fengdu has no jurisdiction there."

King Yan withdrew his gaze and turned to leave. "Of the fragments of the Heavenly Court, the largest fell to earth and became the Wasteland Ruins. There are other remnants as well—vital remnants—such as the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces and the seventy-two Treasure Halls, and those are places beyond Fengdu's jurisdiction. The place where the Hall of Human Emperors stands is one of those Heavenly Palaces: Yuming Palace. Now that they have gone to Yuming Palace, my power cannot reach directly there to call them back. The reason Fengdu can hold down this land of the Dark Capital is likewise that a Heavenly Palace lies hidden within it, called Pisha Palace—and by it we can subdue ghosts and gods."

Outside Crimson Dragon City, Shen Mu rode the clouds and mist, driving the Human Emperor Seal, following its mark toward the Hall of Human Emperors.

Scarcely had he left when a god-devil with three heads and six arms came into Crimson Dragon City, accompanied by a youth—none other than Chi Xi and Ban Gongcuo.

"Teacher, why do you wish to study the customs and manners of Jingping?"

Ban Gongcuo asked, puzzled, "We barely made it back from Taihuang Heaven. Why not go straight to the Southern Land?"

"The Southern Land has already sunk and become the Southern Sea. It has lain beneath the waves for more than three hundred thousand years; a day more or a day less makes no difference. Since we are back in the ancestral land, there is no hurry."

Chi Xi's three heads looked this way and that, and he said, unhurried, "I have come to study Jingping's customs in order to see what potential this age holds—whether it has the means to contend with the Heavenly Court."

"And what has teacher seen?" Ban Gongcuo asked.

"There are signs of great flourishing—but it is not enough."