Chapter 56: The Escaping Immortal Artifacts

Although Jiang Li was confident in his own strength, the attacks of the Immortal Artifacts were unpredictable and mysterious. He had no guarantee of victory, so he took out the Desolate Heaven Halberd.

One of his incarnations wielded a longsword, unleashing the Heart Sword, aiming to obliterate the will of the Immortal Artifacts. Another incarnation fused various techniques, seamlessly displaying Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian arts in succession.

Bai Hongtu felt as if he were seeing Jiang Li at the Soul Formation Stage once again—before he had become the Human Sovereign. Even back then, his mastery of spells had reached perfection, his physical body was unbelievably strong, and his arsenal of techniques was impossible to defend against, allowing him to sweep through cultivators of the same realm.

At that time, Jiang Li had already been so powerful without a proper weapon. Now, with the Desolate Heaven Halberd in hand, Bai Hongtu could no longer fathom just how strong Jiang Li had become.

If anyone could quell the chaos caused by the Immortal Artifacts, Bai Hongtu believed that it had to be Jiang Li.

The four Confucian Protectors each wielded a Gentleman’s Sword in one hand and a Dragon Pearl in the other. The Gentleman’s Swords were unstoppable, while the Dragon Pearls had unparalleled defense—their presence alone exuded an aura far beyond what the Tribulation Stage should possess.

Jiang Li swept his halberd across, shattering four Gentleman’s Swords and sending the four Protectors flying. If not for the Dragon Pearls’ defense, that single strike would have sent them crashing back into their own “Battle” Manuscripts!

“Ouch!”
“How barbaric!”
“He’s even stronger than us dragons!”

The four Dragon Pearls cried out in unison. Having developed sentience, they also gained pain receptors and emotions.

A “Death” Manuscript stuck itself onto one of Jiang Li’s incarnations. However, the incarnation immediately performed the Golden Cicada Shedding technique, and a new incarnation emerged from the top of his head while the old one disintegrated into ash.

Still unwilling to give up, the Great Scholar Manuscript threw out a “Burn” Manuscript. Yet, the new incarnation bathed in Buddhist light, was reborn in flames, and took on a golden body, resembling an indestructible Vajra Arhat.

Another incarnation slashed out with the Heart Sword, striking at the consciousness of the Great Scholar Manuscript. The blow not only injured the Great Scholar Manuscript itself but also the unwritten “Extinguish” Manuscript that had yet to take form. The Sword Intent did not stop—it carried an overwhelming momentum, as if it would not cease until it had completely annihilated its target.

Terrified, the Great Scholar Manuscript hurriedly wrote out a “Tranquility” Manuscript, calming its mind and barely avoiding disaster.

The Ruyi Gourd once again unleashed a Heavenly Tribulation, but Jiang Li’s incarnation performed the Free and Unfettered Art, skillfully evading the tribulation’s strikes without a single injury.

The Brahma Tower relied on its sheer weight to create a black hole, engaging Jiang Li in direct combat.

However, the Desolate Heaven Halberd was a weapon of absolute strength and pure yang energy—it could not be worn down by attacks, only altered through refining techniques.

Unafraid of the black hole, the Desolate Heaven Halberd smashed into the Brahma Tower’s body. There were no tricks or techniques—just a direct contest of brute strength.

Jiang Li gripped his halberd tightly, his body unmoving.

Meanwhile, the Brahma Tower’s surface was left covered in large craters. Its once straight and towering form had now taken on a gourd-like shape.

A few more strikes, and it would be split in half, in dire need of reforging!

The spectators below were trembling in fear, worried that the Human Sovereign might not be able to overcome the Immortal Artifacts.

Yet, the Immortal Artifacts themselves were even more terrified, fearing their own destruction.

Jiang Li sensed something watching him with malice. Trusting his instincts, he looked up, but he saw nothing.

Believing in his own intuition, he hurled the Desolate Heaven Halberd at speeds beyond light. The halberd vanished, only to reappear almost instantly.

It bore an uncanny resemblance to how the Third and Fourth Princes of Great Zhou used “Time Reversal.”

“Human, you’re quite impressive!”

The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal had finally found its missing piece. Seizing the moment while Jiang Li was entangled with the other Immortal Artifacts, it fused the lost fragment back into itself.

“This is your doing! I will make sure you suffer eternal damnation!”

The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal’s voice carried a vicious tone—it had the means to back up its threats.

After all, it wielded control over the karma of the Nine Provinces.

“You will face endless misfortune, every step a struggle!”

Its words became reality. Ordinarily, this would mean Jiang Li would suffer a series of bizarre coincidences—his spiritual energy becoming chaotic, losing his cultivation, suddenly being marked as an enemy by all, or even being thrown into the mists of time, reverting to his weakest self from five hundred years ago…

But none of that happened.

Jiang Li remained completely unaffected.

“How can I not see your karma?! How can I not see your karma?!”

The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal screamed in disbelief, unable to comprehend what it was witnessing.

It could see the karma of everyone—cultivators, spirit treasures, and Immortal Artifacts alike—except for Jiang Li. He seemed completely detached from the Nine Provinces, as if he had no karma at all!

Jiang Li didn’t know why either, but this was no time to dwell on it.

All three of his incarnations attacked simultaneously, each using different techniques, striking the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal until cracks appeared on its surface.

Overcome with pain, the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal burst into tears. “Waaah! I’m not playing anymore! You’re bullying me!”

It wasn’t alone. The other Immortal Artifacts were crying too.

They had only just been born today, their intelligence akin to five- or six-year-old children. They had wanted to roam the Nine Provinces freely, believing that no one could stop them.

Who would have thought that before they could even take their first steps, they would be brutally beaten by Jiang Li?

“Little Tower, take the others and run! Get out of the Nine Provinces!”

The Brahma Tower had been prepared for this. It tore open six spatial rifts, and upon seeing them, the other Immortal Artifacts scrambled to escape.

[Unknown World Detected]
[Unknown World Detected]
…
[Unknown World Detected]

The system suddenly chimed six times.

…

With the Immortal Artifacts having fled, the remaining sentient spirit treasures were no longer a major threat. Faced with the overwhelming might of the Nine Provinces’ experts, they quickly surrendered, abandoning their ambition of establishing a Spirit Treasure Empire.

However, everyone knew that the issue of sentient spirit treasures was far from over.

Though they had submitted for now, it was only temporary. If a cultivator continued using a sentient spirit treasure in battle and the treasure chose to slack off at a critical moment, the owner would be doomed.

Cultivators had long grown accustomed to relying on spirit treasures. Without them, the overall strength of the Nine Provinces would decline significantly.

But what should be done with these treasures? Keeping them in the hands of cultivators was dangerous. Gathering them together would truly form a Spirit Treasure Empire. Destroying them all seemed too wasteful.

And most importantly—what about the Immortal Artifacts?

Before Jiang Li’s time, the previous Human Sovereigns had relied on various methods to fend off the Outer World Demons, and the Immortal Artifacts were a crucial part of that effort.

If Jiang Li found the Celestial Realm but could not return, or if he perished of old age, how would the next Human Sovereign defend against the Outer World Demons?

Jiang Li was optimistic. Those Immortal Artifacts were stronger than the Outer World Demons—if he could bring them back, the Nine Provinces would have lasting peace.

From his battle with them, he knew they weren’t inherently evil. The Great Scholar Manuscript could have used the “Death” Manuscript on his real body but didn’t. The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal could have declared “Jiang Li must die” but only said “his steps would be hindered.”

They simply didn’t like being controlled.

Besides, Jiang Li wanted to use the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal to trace karma and find the Ascended Seniors—leading him to the Celestial Realm.

“No one has ever mastered the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal well enough to do this,” he mused. “But now that it has sentience, I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

“I’ll go find them,” Jiang Li declared at the great assembly, shocking everyone.

Find them? How? Where?

“Recently, I’ve gained some insights into the Dao of Space. I can follow their trail and locate them.”

Jiang Li had already confirmed with the system—the coordinates of the six unknown worlds the Immortal Artifacts had fled to were recorded. As long as he spent Source Points, he could teleport there.