Chapter 667: The Immortal Ascension Stairway
A battle surpassing the great war of the Nine Thousand Years Ago in the Immortal Realm had begun. The Immortal Realm shook, turned upside down, as if in an earthquake. The gathered immortals couldn’t even stand steadily.
The Thirty-Six Heavens were immensely thick and heavy; even Golden Immortals could not pierce through them. Yet, in the clash between the Divine Vault Sovereign and Jiang Li, they were as fragile as a sheet of paper, breaking with a single poke.
The division of the Immortal Realm’s Thirty-Six Heavens was rendered meaningless. Even the most substantial of them all, the Great Brahma Heaven, was easily shattered.
The Buddha and the Confucius Sage gasped in shock. When the two of them had fought in the Great Brahma Heaven, they hadn’t managed to destroy it. Yet, from the very beginning of the clash between the Divine Vault Sovereign and Jiang Li, the Great Brahma Heaven was utterly devastated.
“The Venerable is using his full power from the start, holding nothing back.”
Logically, when two sides engage in battle, they should start with probing moves, familiarize themselves with the opponent’s patterns, then gradually escalate the fight, intensifying it until the true great battle begins.
The Divine Vault Sovereign and Jiang Li defied convention; their first exchange was the decisive battle.
“About the level of the First Emperor.” Jiang Li felt reassured and threw a punch.
Although, in theory, the Divine Vault Sovereign shouldn’t be a match for him, a conclusion could only be drawn after practical experience.
Boom—
The Divine Vault Sovereign was shattered into pieces by Jiang Li.
“Workings of Creation!” The Divine Vault Sovereign roared, his body reassembling, maintaining peak condition as if the previous clash had no effect.
But the Divine Vault Sovereign knew: energy is conserved. He could not remain at peak state forever.
“Hmph!”
“Ha!”
The ‘Hmph’ sound erupted from the Divine Vault Sovereign’s nostrils; the ‘Ha’ sound emanated from his dantian.
“The Hmph-Ha Dual Qi! A divine ability targeting the soul! Those struck by the Hmph-Ha Dual Qi, the weak will be utterly annihilated, the strong will have their souls forcibly ejected. No one can remain unscathed under this technique!” The Confucius Sage recognized this move.
However, Jiang Li’s soul was exceptionally stable. He withstood the Hmph-Ha Dual Qi head-on, completely unharmed.
“Space is Impermanent!”
The Divine Vault Sovereign unleashed a grand spatial divine ability, disrupting the space around Jiang Li.
Seizing the moment Jiang Li was momentarily fixed, the Divine Vault Sovereign unleashed another grand spatial divine ability.
“Transposition!”
The entire Immortal Realm vanished. The space where Jiang Li stood became the void.
It appeared as if Jiang Li had been moved, but in reality, the Divine Vault Sovereign had used the grand spatial divine ability to move the entire Immortal Realm away. Jiang Li’s position had not changed.
“Venerable, this is…” The Immortal Emperor was puzzled. The Divine Vault Sovereign and Jiang Li were fighting so fiercely; how had they become the fleeing party in the blink of an eye?
“Fight? Fight what? The moment I first laid eyes on him, I knew I was no match for him at all! All my previous actions were just to buy time!” The Divine Vault Sovereign abandoned his usual calm tone, speaking with furious exasperation.
If they continued fighting, any talk of destruction rules was empty. Their Immortal Realm would be destroyed by Jiang Li first.
How could such a powerful existence exist!
The Divine Vault Sovereign wanted to settle accounts with the Executor of Karma, but a sense of crisis persistently lingered in his heart, indicating the danger was not yet resolved. They must flee swiftly, the farther the better.
As for the plan to destroy the myriad heavens and worlds, they could deliberate on that later. Surviving this hurdle came first.
…
Jiang Li remained in the void, blinking, not quite understanding what had happened.
Why did they run? He hadn’t even finished warming up.
As the Heavenly Dao, don’t you have any determination for a fight to the death, a no-holds-barred struggle to the end?
Jiang Li took out the obtained Immortal Realm coordinates, attempting to locate it. The Immortal Realm coordinates were a formula; the Immortal Realm moved according to the trajectory defined by the formula.
Jiang Li searched for a while but still couldn’t find the Immortal Realm.
“It seems the Immortal Realm has abandoned its original coordinates.”
Jiang Li felt regretful. It seemed finding the Immortal Realm wouldn’t be possible for a while.
[Issuing Special Mission ‘Find Celestial Ascension Ladder Fragments’: …]
The familiar system notification sounded. Jiang Li was momentarily stunned, then took out the nearly assembled Celestial Ascension Ladder.
“Right, the mission to find the Celestial Ascension Ladder fragments isn’t complete yet.”
Jiang Li had a new idea. He cleared his throat and, using Word as Law, declared, “Complete all special missions ‘Find Celestial Ascension Ladder Fragments’.”
Jiang Li waited quietly. Soon, the system responded.
[Congratulations, Host, on completing the mission. Settle rewards?]
[Issuing Special Mission ‘Find Celestial Ascension Ladder Fragments’: …]
[Congratulations, Host, on completing the mission. Settle rewards?]
Five congratulatory messages sounded.
“Settle.”
Five Celestial Ascension Ladder fragments appeared in Jiang Li’s hand, automatically filling the gaps in the ladder, assembling into a complete Celestial Ascension Ladder.
As recorded in ancient texts, the Celestial Ascension Ladder was golden and brilliant, as if cast from gold, yet its materials were far more precious than gold. It contained various arts like the Dao of Space and the Dao of Time, representing the pinnacle achievement of the Immortal Realm.
There was even an extra fragment in Jiang Li’s hand, one that had been squeezed out during the assembly.
“That’s right, this is the Celestial Ascension Ladder fragment obtained from the Zombie World.”
“I went to the Zombie World because the Brahma Tower developed sentience and fled there. In the original world line, five hundred years ago, immortal artifacts hadn’t developed sentience, so the Brahma Tower wouldn’t have fled.”
Jiang Li tossed out the Celestial Ascension Ladder. The golden ladder extended infinitely, one end connecting to the Nine Provinces, the other connecting to the Immortal Realm.
“Although I don’t know where this system came from, I’ll thank it for now.”
Jiang Li paused, then added, “Sever the system.”
A halo of light emerged from within Jiang Li’s body, or rather, from the space attached to his body.
“Well then, goodbye.”
Under the mandatory command of Word as Law, the light halo twisted, shattered into pieces, then turned to fine dust, completely vanishing. The entire process was utterly silent.
Jiang Li stepped onto the Celestial Ascension Ladder, heading towards the Immortal Realm.
…
A silent collision occurred. The entire Nine Provinces World trembled, mountains shook, the earth quaked, and buildings collapsed.
Within the palace, a man in black robes sitting on the imperial throne emerged from seclusion, slowly opening his eyes.
His pupils were bright; no clue could escape his gaze.
“The Nine Provinces World is shaking.”
The man in black made his judgment, slowly rose, flew out of the grand hall, and arrived in the air. He stood upon the void, his steps matching the exact frequency of the spatial vibrations.
The Nine Provinces World ceased its shaking.
“Your Majesty.” Commander Liu flew towards the man in black, his attitude respectful.
“We have located the source of the vibration. You shall remain and guard the Nine Provinces. We shall return shortly.” The man in black’s expression was cold and detached, like ten-thousand-year-old ice, devoid of any emotion.
However, Commander Liu could see that the man in black had slightly furrowed his brow a moment ago, indicating anger.
If the shaking of the Nine Provinces World was a natural disaster, so be it. But if it was man-made, then the other party should start praying for blessings.
“Commander Liu, what happened? Why is the entire world shaking? And where is His Majesty?” Countless cultivators at the Unity Stage and Tribulation Transcendence Stage arrived above the grand hall, questioning Commander Liu.
Commander Liu shook his head, pointing in a direction.
“The cause is still unknown. His Majesty has gone to investigate. Please, everyone, remain at ease and guard the Nine Provinces.”
The man in black looked at what should have been the boundary of the Nine Provinces, somewhat puzzled.
“This should be the dimensional barrier. Why has it become a starry sky?”
Just as the man in black was confused, space distorted not far away, and countless powerful figures appeared.
A hundred at the Unity Stage, eight at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
Seeing the man in black alone, these people were momentarily stunned, then slight smiles appeared on their faces.
The other side had only one person.
Among the eight at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, one was at the peak. These people regarded him as their leader.
The leader cupped his fists and said, “I am the Qian Desolation Lord. We hail from the Eight Desolations World. The accidental world collision was not our intention. May I ask, what is your world called?”
The man in black stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down upon these people from a superior position, and said coldly:
“This is the Nine Provinces. We are the Lord of the Nine Provinces, the Sovereign of Ten Thousand Chariots. You shall address Us as the First Emperor.”