Chapter 981: Chapter 973: Merit Suppressing God Heavenly Monarch

The words of the Nine Nether Emperor made the faces of Zhang Buku and Xu You turn grim. By now, the Nine Nether Emperor was already their greatest support—if even the Nine Nether Emperor dreaded this power, how could they possibly resist it?

“This matter… does the Celestial Court know?”

Xu You spoke, his tone grave.

As someone who had once been a Son of Heaven, he understood very well how terrifying any force that could threaten the Nine Nether Emperor must be. Such a being could certainly threaten the Celestial Court as well.

“Perhaps they know, perhaps not, but this power is coming directly for the Heavenly Dao.” The Nine Nether Emperor said gloomily.

Zhang Buku’s brow knitted; he felt the pressure mounting.

He had managed to resurrect his father with great difficulty—he didn’t want to lose him, nor fall into enmity with him.

Zhang Chunqiu’s expression was just as unsightly, his eyes flickered with unease, as if pondering many things.

Xu You turned to look at Zhang Buku, waiting for him to decide.

Zhang Buku took a deep breath and spoke: “Since you cannot aid me, can you at least point the way?”

The Nine Nether Emperor did not answer. After a long silence, Zhang Buku finally turned and left.

“Father, let’s go.”

Zhang Buku said to Zhang Chunqiu, then walked past him.

Xu You followed in Zhang Buku’s footsteps, and the lagging Zhang Chunqiu looked back—only to find that amid the endless fog, the figure of the Nine Nether Emperor had already vanished.

Immediately, Zhang Chunqiu turned and hastened his pace, catching up to the other two.

…

Celestial Court, Palace of the Polestar.

The lofty Celestial Emperor looked down at the kneeling Xuanqing Star Lord within the hall, his face cold and indifferent. In a mocking tone, he asked, “Are you telling me that a newly ascended deity of the Celestial Court should rise straight to the top and become a Celestial Dao Venerable? Are you joking, or did I mishear you?”

Xuanqing Star Lord lifted his head in a panic and said, “Your Majesty, though he has no feats to his name, his merit is real; you may specially create an Immortal Position for him—above Supreme Immortal, yet not quite Celestial Dao Venerable. If you wish to support the Merit Immortal, you must grant a high enough Immortal Position. Now there are so many Merit Immortals, but their influence in the Celestial Court is minimal. If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may go meet that existence yourself.”

The Celestial Emperor’s gaze remained icy as he said coldly, “Ancestor Master Wushi, is it? I have indeed witnessed his merit, but it falls short of deserving such treatment. Yet his strength does qualify.”

On hearing these words, Xuanqing Star Lord showed surprise and hurriedly asked, “Your Majesty, do you know his cultivation level?”

“In the past, he confronted the Heavenly Emperor—do you think I would not know of him?”

The Celestial Emperor answered, his tone betraying no emotion whatsoever.

Xuanqing Star Lord, hearing this, recalled with care, then his face suddenly changed, and he cried in shock, “Years ago, someone hindered the Celestial Army from purging the Chaos Evil Demons in the Three Thousand Great Worlds, and the Heavenly Emperor descended to the Lower Realm to capture him, but returned in failure—was that person really Ancestor Master Wushi?”

With the Heavenly Emperor’s decline, many truths from the past had surfaced, discussed in private among the Immortal Gods; Xuanqing Star Lord had heard some things as well. It was said that the reason for the Heavenly Emperor’s past failure was precisely because of a supreme being in the Lower Realm.

Had the Heavenly Emperor not failed that time, there would have been no subsequent chaos; as long as the Three Thousand Great Worlds remained stable, he would have been able to face the Dark Heavenly Court’s invasion with ease.

The Celestial Emperor did not reply, only tapping his hand on the armrest of the Dragon Throne, as if deep in thought.

Xuanqing Star Lord grew anxious, fearing His Majesty would now grow wary of Ancestor Master Wushi.

After all, when the Heavenly Emperor was at full strength, the Celestial Emperor was still just an unknown minor Son of Heaven.

He did not suspect Ancestor Master Wushi of evil schemes; with Wushi’s strength, there had never been any need to shelter any one realm, or protect the Three Thousand Great Worlds.

Such powers, to Ascend to Immortality, would have been all too easy—there was no need to labor and accumulate merit.

Moreover, merit cannot deceive!

“Let it be. I will grant him the title of Merit Suppressing God Heavenly Monarch, permitted to reside in the Twenty-Nine Layers of Heaven, overseeing all divine steeds and relevant Heavenly Officials in the Celestial Court. Supreme Immortals, upon seeing him, must pay respects.”

The Celestial Emperor pronounced, to the Xuanqing Star Lord’s delight; he immediately prostrated himself in thanks.

At once, the Celestial Emperor raised his hand, gathering the Celestial Dao Destiny into his palm. Golden light surged, and faint images of immortals flew in from all directions, entering the golden radiance. There were also flickering images of divine steeds galloping within.

Xuanqing Star Lord looked up, sensing the Celestial Emperor drawing together the vast destiny of the Heavenly Dao, making him all the more excited.

The Celestial Emperor was serious!

He feared the Celestial Emperor would feign sincerity with Ancestor Master Wushi, as the Jade Emperor did with Sun Wukong in Journey to the West.

But Ancestor Master Wushi is far more powerful than Sun Wukong; if he were to wreak havoc in the Celestial Palace, the destruction would be unfathomable.

What’s more, Ancestor Master Wushi had already warned: the Celestial Court would soon face a catastrophe from the Chaos.

After a while, a golden order, thirty centimeters long, appeared above the Celestial Emperor’s palm. Its blade shone like a sword, with two divine steeds intertwined on its surface.

The golden order swiftly flew toward Xuanqing Star Lord, who instantly reached out to receive it.

“Place this Merit Divine Horse Order into the Heavenly Tao Immortal Book. In a hundred years, the two shall merge.” The Celestial Emperor spoke impassively. With a flourish of the hand that created the order, a ray of golden light shot up and vanished into the Celestial Vault.

Xuanqing Star Lord was inwardly shocked. The Celestial Emperor’s destiny, to be so formidable—he’d only just ascended to his position, and already could achieve such feats at will?

After some hesitation, he said, “Your Majesty, Ancestor Master once said he joined the Celestial Court to assist the Heavenly Dao in facing the calamity from Chaos. Can Chaos truly threaten the Heavenly Dao?”

The Celestial Emperor’s lips curled into a scornful smile. “From days of old, how many forces from Chaos have invaded the Celestial Court? And what became of them?”

On hearing these words, Xuanqing Star Lord only felt His Majesty was too arrogant; he had yet to experience an invasion from the power of Chaos since ascending his throne.

No wonder Ancestor Master Wushi would join the Celestial Court.

Xuanqing Star Lord watched Emperor Taihao, now the Celestial Emperor Taihao, and always felt Taihao was still young. This was why he strove unceasingly to gather up the Merit Immortals—he wanted to aid the Emperor.

He knew that saying more now was meaningless, so he did not challenge the Celestial Emperor’s words.

He rose and saluted the Celestial Emperor, then turned to leave.

Once his back was turned, the wild and arrogant smile on the Celestial Emperor’s face vanished, replaced instead by icy cold.

…

A hundred years after Xuanqing Star Lord left, disciples still came by from time to time to visit Gu An, inquiring when Xuanqing Star Lord would appear again.

The Second Generation Disciples all considered Gu An’s ascension a major event. The higher Gu An’s Immortal Position, the more glorious they would feel. Some were even more anxious than Gu An himself, and a few even harbored dreams of their own ascension.

On this day, Gu An was practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard. His swordplay was graceful; every move made Shen Zhen feel a Dao Intent within it.

Boom—

An earth-shaking roar suddenly erupted. The Mountain of No End trembled, drawing Shen Zhen’s gaze over in alarm, his brow tightly knit.

Gu An did not stop and continued his sword practice.

The shaking came quickly and subsided just as fast. Shen Zhen swept his Divine Sense over the area, but could not find the source.

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