Chapter 524: Chapter 430: Testing the Waters Again

Two hundred years in the blink of an eye.

On this day, at the hour of Chen, the guards at the Southern Heavenly Gate had just completed their shift change, and were wiping the gilded long spear in their hands.

A defiant roar suddenly exploded like a thunderclap, piercing through layers of clouds, shaking the entire heavenly court three times.

"Old Emperor of Heaven, I, Old Sun, want to sit in your seat!"

The guards’ faces changed drastically, looking up to see a golden-red figure standing proudly in the cloud sea outside the gate, wearing a locked Golden Armor and a Purple Gold Crown with phoenix wings, the Treasure Bead on the crown reflects the scene of the sun and moon revolving.

It was none other than the Long-Browed Monkey Venerable from the Lower Realm, who had defeated heavenly expeditions many times over the years.

No one expected this demon to dare attack the heavenly court!

"Bold demon monkey, how dare you utter such madness! Meet your death from this Venerable!"

An angry shout resounded as Immortal Lord Chonglou rushed over, riding on a colorful cloud, carrying the might of ten thousand pounds.

He was a veteran Immortal Lord of the heavenly court, holding a pair of "Sky Splitting Whips" forged from Nine Heaven Profound Copper mixed with Thunder Marsh Divine Iron, the whip bodies entangled with three thousand innate thunder patterns.

At this moment, as the twin whips struck together, blinding thunder light exploded, a thunder column a yard thick condensed at the tips of the whips, striking directly at the Monkey Venerable’s head.

The Monkey Venerable chuckled, lightly flipping his wrist, a pitch-black stream shot from his sleeve, swelling abruptly mid-air to become a golden stick the thickness of a bowl.

He neither dodged nor avoided, the golden stick placed horizontally in front to casually intercept the thunder column.

Immortal Lord Chonglou only felt a terrifying Giant Strength surge from the twin whips, his tiger mouth splitting instantly. His heart trembled immensely; the power of this demon monkey was terrifying to such a level!

Just wanting to retract the whips and retreat to regroup his attack, the Monkey Venerable had already rushed forward on golden light, the golden stick pointing at Chonglou’s chest.

The defensive patterns of the Golden Armor instantly lit up, yet were easily pierced through like paper, a golden light penetrating completely.

In Chonglou Immortal Lord’s incredulous gaze, his immortal body shattered entirely, turning into countless light spots, even his Primordial Spirit failed to escape, perishing along with it.

"Useless waste that’s all show with no substance!"

The Monkey Venerable pointed his golden stick toward Jiuxiao, his voice shaking the heavens, golden sound waves shattered the clouds:

"Old Emperor of Heaven, is this all your followers can muster? Today I will flatten Jiuxiao and seize your bird perch!"

Before the words were complete, he glanced around at the celestial soldiers and generals gathering in the heavens above.

His form flickered, transforming into countless clones of gold and red interwoven, all clad in Golden Armor, wielding golden sticks, flooding into the heavenly gate like a tide.

As the golden sticks waved, the silver armor of celestial soldiers shattered like brittle paper, the long spears in their hands snapped into several pieces, screams and weapon shattering sounded together, echoing through the cloud sea.

"Form the Heavenly River Lock Demon Array! Quickly form the array!"

The leader of the River Army roared, trying to gather the remnants.

Yet the Monkey Venerable’s clones were everywhere, just as an array corner was laid down, it was simultaneously struck by a dozen golden sticks, the core water mirror of the array shattered instantly.

The Monkey Venerable himself stepped atop the heads of countless clones, wielding the golden stick rushing toward Jiuxiao, celestial officers and generals along the way retreated, none daring to meet his edge.

Wherever he passed, the cloud sea churned, immortal light exploded, countless palatial halls collapsed under his imposing pressure.

...

Above the Nine Heavens,

The Heavenly Emperor sat on the Nine-Dragon Imperial Throne, the Hanging Bead Chain of his crown veiled most of his face, only his eyes opening and closing seemed to witness the birth and death of billions of stars.

His imperial Dao Immortal might remained tranquil as an abyss, until that defiant roar pierced the palace, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Buzz—"

A clear treasure light hummed gently, a palm-sized bronze treasure mirror slowly emerged from his mouth.

The mirror surface initially veiled in white mist, until a golden gleam from the Heavenly Emperor’s fingertip infused, the mist scattered abruptly, clearly reflecting the fierce battle scene of Jiuxiao.

Several Immortal Kings and Lords joined forces with countless celestial soldiers and generals to form the Star Array, myriad star blades wove into a net, yet were forcibly torn open by the Monkey Venerable clad in Golden Armor.

"Again a variable from the Lower Realm."

The Heavenly Emperor’s voice conveyed a hint of exhaustion:

"The backlash of the Dao of Dynasties is too strong, yet only merging with Dao allows it in this realm, the Dao of Dynasties cannot reach Perfection."

He raised a hand to lightly brush, the image in the treasure mirror flowed accordingly, clearly revealing the floating celestial corpses and broken weapons in the cloud sea outside the array.

The group of Immortal Kings and Lords grim-faced, urged the array patterns, yet their immortal powers infused into the array were like stones sinking into the sea, unable to halt the Monkey Venerable’s advance.

The Heavenly Emperor lightly shook his head, the Hanging Bead Chain swayed slightly, reflecting the mirror’s view of many fallen immortals, their defeat in battle left him with no ripples in his heart.

To him, the celestial kings and princes in the Heavenly Court were never irreplaceable pieces.

As long as the foundation of the realm remains, he only needs a decree to elevate several cultivators with sufficient accumulation from the ranks of celestial officials, granting them authority and status, and new celestial kings and princes will emerge.

"This demon monkey’s strength is quite impressive."

"At such a young age, possessing the combat power of an Eight-star Ancient Immortal, stronger than the last Sword Cultivator."

"In the earliest golden epochs, it would be considered a peerless prodigy, no wonder it is favored by the source."

To gather the fortune of the three realms and pursue the path of transcending the realm, he suppressed countless ancient legacies in this epoch, firmly binding the cultivation system of the Heavenly Court to ’authority and status.’

The celestial kings and princes of the Heavenly Court, compared to other Heavenly Immortals, are actually quite similar, merely empowered by authority and status to possess the combat power of a Two-star and Three-star Ancient Immortal.

Yet this method ultimately cannot sever all legacies, especially within the origin of each realm, inevitably leaving traces, easily becoming the foundation for the rise of a destined child in the Lower Realm.

The previous Sword Cultivator was such, and this time the demon monkey is the same.

"Last time, the Sword Cultivator was stubbornly unyielding, let me see what fate has befallen you, demon monkey!"

The Emperor lowered his gaze, looking at the army formation about to collapse in the mirror, and finally moved.

He did not rise, merely flipped his palm gently, and instantly, the fortune of the entire Heavenly Court began to churn violently.

The Cloud Sea in the direction of the Southern Heavenly Gate suddenly condensed, five beams of light—blue, red, yellow, white, and black—gathering from all corners of heaven and earth, interweaving into a majestic Divine Mountain in his palm.

Before it descended, it already emanated an awe-inspiring heavenly might that suppressed the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

"Boom——"

The Divine Mountain slowly pressed down from Jiuxiao, the celestial soldiers below felt an awe from deep within their souls surging in their hearts, without even the courage to look up directly.

The remaining celestial kings and princes felt as if granted amnesty, hurriedly collecting the shattered army formation and retreated to the edge of the Cloud Sea.

"Demon monkey, are you willing to submit!"

"Demon monkey, are you willing to submit!"

The heavenly voice exploded like thunder beside the Monkey Sovereign’s ears, carrying the emperor’s celestial might and fortune power, attempting to directly dismantle his will.

The golden armor around the Monkey Sovereign had been sliced open by the star blades, with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, yet the defiance in his blazing eyes remained undiminished.

He looked up at the descending Five-colored Divine Mountain, felt its suffocating pressure, and instead of retreating, he laughed wildly at the sky:

"I refuse to believe that I can’t withstand even a single palm from you!"

Before the words fell, the Monkey Sovereign suddenly raised his head, letting out a howl that resounded through the Cloud Sea.

The golden-red Dao Rhyme around him surged suddenly, his Primordial Spirit essence burned fiercely as fuel, transforming into intense flames enveloping his body, hairs standing on end, glowing like molten lava.

A vague shadow of an Ancient Monkey God could be seen, wielding the Golden Cudgel alongside him, fiercely striking toward the descending Five-colored Divine Mountain.

"Boom——!!!"

The cudgel met the Five-colored Divine Mountain, not with an earth-shattering explosion, but a quiet expanse of white light.

For a long time, the Emperor gazed at the nearly shattered Five-colored Divine Mountain and the completely fallen demon monkey, and sighed softly:

"Not sparing a bit of oneself, truly defiant!"

...

Meanwhile, inside the Sky-seizing Hall, Chen Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, the golden light erupted, reflecting the star map on the hall’s dome with clarity.

At the moment of reaching the incarnation limit, swinging the cudgel, and colliding with the Five-colored Divine Mountain, he clearly saw the true form deep within the Emperor’s divine techniques.

"Indeed, my previous feeling was not wrong!"

"This is not the Emperor’s true body, merely an incarnation evolved from the Heavenly Court’s fortune!"

The golden light in Chen Sheng’s eyes slowly receded, he replayed the scene from the Peach Banquet in his mind, comparing it to the previous instance of the Emperor’s action, growing increasingly certain.

Though that incarnation possessed the power to suppress Shi Fang, it held only ’momentum’ without ’rhyme,’ all divine techniques stemming from the accumulated fortune of the Heavenly Court.

Like a magical treasure of immense power, able to sweep away strong foes, yet lacking genuine depth!

Others might not notice, but with Chen Sheng’s high fortune realm, using an incarnation to probe naturally allowed insight at a glance.

He furrowed his brow, stepped outside the hall with mounting doubts.

"This kind of fortune incarnation consumes tremendous amount of fortune from the realm, the Emperor pursuing the path of fortune realm should not be this way?"

"Unless there is another unavoidable reason to refine an incarnation, what could possibly be the cause? Where is his true body?"