The Styx's raging torrents stirred up a thousand-zhang muddy surge, and the bronze Heaven Rank emerged from the depths of the Nine Netherworld.
Lu Qingyang stood in the air, treading on the Profound Nether Mirror. The Xuan Ming Sword Canon in his sleeve suddenly reacted, and the ancient script flowing between its pages resonated with the totems of the floating coffins, transforming into seventy-two streams of Sword Qi that pierced straight through the Yellow Springs.
The woman in the crystal coffin gently raised her slender hand, and nine reverse-scale chains descended from the Void Realm, melting thousands of floating coffins into a coiled Dragon pillar. The 'amnesty' (amnesty means 'forgive' or 'pardon') character Talisman inscribed on the pillar's body caused the stars of the heavens to shift.
"The appearance of the Saint Ruins requires Dragon blood as a guide." The woman's fair wrist gently vibrated, and Ao Lie's Red Dragon Dharma Idol was pierced through its seven orifices by the Netherworld chains.
The Dragon's roar shattered three thousand li of the Styx, and blood beads fell to the ground, congealing into eighty-one colossal bronze tripods. The Nine Netherworld Fire burning within the tripods illuminated a phantom image of an ancient immortal-demon battlefield—on the broken remnants of the Jianmu (a mythical tree) that had been cut down, half of a Dao Seed Origin was clearly nailed.
The Drunken Old Man of the South Sea conjured his Mountain River Pot, and the Weak Water gushing from its mouth transformed into the Three Thousand Weak Water Sword Array, only to see the gate of the Saint Ruins open with a roar.
Within the gate, thirty-six inverted layers of heavenly palaces shot out Ziwei (Purple Star) starlight. The bells hanging from the eaves were not ordinary bronze bells, but primordial chaos bells that sealed ancient Dragon souls.
Su Meiniang's Nascent Soul trembled violently, and the Red Dragon reverse scale in her embrace uncontrollably flew towards the central hub of the heavenly palace. The moment the scale embedded itself into the array's eye, the entire Saint Ruins transformed into a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon Dharma Idol coiling among the Nine Heavens.
"This is... the Ancestral Dragon's remains?" Yin Jiuyou's face was filled with astonishment as he looked at the colossal entity before him in disbelief. The witch staff in his hand seemed to have suffered a tremendous impact, emitting 'crack, crack' sounds as it cracked inch by inch.
As the witch staff shattered, the Nine Netherworld Filth erupted from the cracks like a volcanic eruption, carrying a strong stench of decay and death. However, when this filth touched the Ancestral Dragon's scales, it was as if it had encountered something extremely cold, instantly congealing into a thick layer of profound ice.
Seeing this, Lu Qingyang's expression changed slightly. His sword incantation suddenly shifted, and the longsword that had been thrust forward suddenly reversed. The Profound Nether Mirror on the sword's body also flipped over, and wherever the mirror's surface shone, the originally ancient and heavy bronze Heaven Rank began to shed its layers, revealing the myriad ancient Sword Intent sealed within.
That was the 'Seven Tribulations of Immortal Slaying' left behind by the First Sword Master when he cut down the Jianmu. Each strand of Sword Intent contained endless killing Qi, as if it could tear through the Void Realm and sever everything.
Just then, the woman in the crystal coffin suddenly moved. She stepped out of the coffin with light steps, as if treading in the Void Realm. Every step contained a profound Dao rhythm. At the center of her brows, a purple light suddenly illuminated, like the Nine Revolutions Reincarnation Seal, emitting a heart-palpitating aura.
The woman used her finger as a blade, unhesitatingly slicing open her own chest. A gush of crimson heart blood spurted out like a spring. This heart blood rapidly condensed in the air into eighty-four thousand Talismans, each Talisman flickering with mysterious light, as if containing endless power.
These Talismans, like a group of agile butterflies, flew towards the Ancestral Dragon's Dharma Idol and tightly adhered to it. As the number of Talismans continuously increased, the Ancestral Dragon's Dharma Idol was forcibly compressed into a Jade Slip about a zhang (a unit of length) in size.
On the Jade Slip, ancient characters appeared faintly, which were precisely the legendary 'Ancient Alliance Book'. And this 'Ancient Alliance Book' produced a wondrous resonance with the Dao Seed in Lu Qingyang's embrace, causing the Void Realm outside the Nine Heavens to suddenly split open, and a world-ending Lightning Tribulation as thick as a bucket roared down like a giant Dragon.
Seeing this, the Drunken Old Man of the South Sea's face changed drastically. He suddenly let out a furious roar, and the Mountain River Pot in his hand suddenly exploded. An Incomplete Manual of the River Diagram and Luo (River Diagram and Luo Book - ancient Chinese divination diagrams) flew out like lightning, rapidly piecing together a formation diagram that covered the sky and sun amidst the lightning.
"Break the tribulation!" Lu Qingyang pointed his fingers and wiped the sword's edge. The Immortal-Slaying Sword Qi, carrying the Dao Seed Origin, shot straight into the sky. In the crack where the thunderclouds were split open, the true body of a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, whose spine was pierced by bronze chains, was revealed—each reverse scale was branded with an Immortal Court Edict, and the primordial chaos bell hanging from the Dragon's head was resonating with the Profound Nether Mirror.
As the bell chimed, the phantom images of one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers on a punitive expedition materialized from the long river of time, their spear tips all pointing towards the location of the Dao Seed.
Yin Jiuyou's expression was grim. He suddenly gritted his teeth and crushed his own Natal Witch Core!
With the shattering of the Natal Witch Core, a powerful force of filth erupted like a bursting dam, instantly condensing into a massive Taotie Dharma Idol.
This Taotie Dharma Idol opened its bloody maw and fiercely swallowed half of the thundercloud. The thundercloud crackled in the Taotie's mouth, as if being chewed to pieces.
Seeing this, Su Meiniang's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning. She seized the opportunity to conjure her Natal Fox Fire. The Fox Fire rapidly expanded in the air, transforming into a Nine-Tailed phantom, carrying the essence of the Red Dragon, and, like a burning meteor, directly crashed into the primordial chaos bell.
With a loud 'bang', the primordial chaos bell trembled violently, and cracks on its body rapidly spread like a spiderweb.
At this very moment, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the Dome of the Saint Ruins, as if the entire sky was about to collapse.
Everyone looked up in astonishment, only to see twenty-eight meteorites falling from the sky, like burning meteors, directly smashing into the Saint Ruins.
As these meteorites fell, they suddenly erupted into dazzling starlight, and within that starlight, a figure emerged—it was the remnant soul of the Seven Kill Star Lord who had fallen three hundred years ago!
"Star Lord, return to your position!"
With a loud shout, the remnant soul of the Seven Kill Star Lord, like a bolt of lightning, rushed straight towards Lu Qingyang.
At the same time, the woman in the crystal coffin flipped her fair wrist, and seven Star Souls streaked across the Void Realm like meteors, entering the major acupoints around Lu Qingyang's body.
In an instant, Lu Qingyang's body seemed to be ignited, emitting dazzling light.
His Xuanming Dharma Idol also surged to a height of a hundred zhang at this moment, and he even condensed a giant Tribulation Lightning Sword in his hand.
Lu Qingyang, holding the Tribulation Lightning Sword, fiercely thrust a sword towards the primordial chaos bell.
With a crisp 'crack' sound, the Seal on the primordial chaos bell was finally pierced, and a torrent of Chaos Qi poured out like a flood.
In that Chaos Qi, everyone was surprised to find that the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's reverse scale suddenly peeled off and merged with the Dao Seed, forming a bronze command arrow inscribed with the words "Slaying Heaven."
Just then, the Drunken Old Man of the South Sea's face suddenly changed. He abruptly opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of vital blood, which rapidly condensed in the air into the form of the River Diagram and Luo Book.
The River Diagram and Luo Book spun rapidly in the Void Realm, eventually piecing together four bloody characters—"Heaven's Secret Backlash"!
These four characters, like a prophecy, sent shivers down one's spine.
And at this very moment, the entire Saint Ruins began to shake violently, as if it could collapse at any moment.
The waters of the Styx also surged upwards at this moment, forming a massive Returning to the Void whirlpool.
In the depths of that whirlpool, a giant bronze stele slowly emerged.
This giant bronze stele was a hundred zhang tall, covered with densely packed runes, and the first line of the inscription actually flowed down like blood and tears: "Xuanhuang has endured nine tribulations, Lu Tianji attained Dao by slaying saints here."
The moment Lu Qingyang gripped the bronze command arrow, all the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's spinal chains snapped. From the cracks where the Dragon Prison opened, a chaotic Dragon roar emanated, and nine world-ending tribulation lightning bolts shot out from the inscription, sweeping everyone into an unknown space-time...