The Ancient Saint Emperor of the Heaven-shading

Chapter 312 The Burial Pit of the New Chief Priest, Changing of Priests

All the heavens disappeared, and the road to the burial pit of the Heavenly Emperor was opened.

The moment Wang Hongwu returned to the mortal world and his aura was revealed.

Beyond all worlds, the darkest region suddenly shone brightly, illuminating the entire world as if it were transparent.

Huang appeared there, towering and unyielding, conquering all enemies. Opposite him stood several unimaginable beings, their presence shaking the river of time and annihilating all tangible things.

Even the ten chief priests of the Great Sacrifice of All Ages only assisted those few people, joining together to besiege the Peerless Heavenly Emperor.

"It's you who's returned. This time, the timeline will be completely complete." Huang didn't turn around, but his eyes reflected various scenes from the heavens. He was also helping to conceal them. He waved his Emperor Sword and said, "Then I will lend you a hand and eternally silence a high priest!"

Boom! In the next moment, a peerless sword light that could cleave through eternity and surpass all ages swept out, directly splitting a wounded ancestor in two.

"It's useless. Our race is eternally prosperous and has never been afraid of mutual destruction. Even if we are truly wiped out, we will eventually emerge from our ancestral land. This is our foundation. Therefore, we will remain in the world forever, and no race can rival us!" However, the shattered figure quickly reassembled, with a cold smile, unconvinced.

"Who claims to be invincible?" Huang asked calmly and confidently. His sword, which had pierced through the progenitor, did not disappear but instead struck a high priest who was assisting in the encirclement.

May it be forever silenced!

Meanwhile, within the vast world...

As the heavens vanished, Wang Hongwu transformed into the Supreme Being of the Burial Pit, opening a blurred ancient path that carried the aura of eternal desolation, spreading from afar and piercing through the void to this place.

At the end of the road, there are mysterious giants and countless gods and demons, their eyes empty, like corpses, yet they are moving. They are carving and expanding the road, the souls of the dead imprisoned for countless ages.

He strolled upon it, and the void before him slowly twisted, gradually forming a vast abyss-like scene, the Burial Pit of the Heavenly Emperor. It was shaped like a pit, but it was also a vast world.

The surrounding cliff walls were stained with dark red blood and were constantly writhing, emitting muffled sounds like drumming. Wang Hongwu realized that this entrance had once been the heart of the Lord of All Heavens.

Only after stepping inside can one see the full view of this place, which is one of the four ancient sites.

This place is isolated from all the heavens and doesn't seem like the real world. It's hazy, like a projection of some magnificent ancient land, forming a realm beyond the mortal world.

The sky was overcast, an ominous aura permeated the air, and the cold, dark red earth was shrouded in strange substances, creating a dull and oppressive atmosphere. The entire land was filled with undulating terrain and countless mountains. However, upon closer inspection, one could discover that the source of these undulations was that the earth was pieced together from the corpses of emperors, and the mountains were their heads and severed limbs.

Besides the land, the vast oceans are also composed of the fusion of imperial blood and primordial spirit essence. Occasionally, strange creatures will crawl out from them. These are evil spirits bred by the Emperor's Fiend, which are terrifying even among the Immortal Kings.

Wang Hongwu looked up and found that large swathes of sun, moon and stars hung in the sky, all transformed from the eyes and heads of powerful beings who had been sacrificed in the past, adorning the cold sky. This was a terrifying demonic land, a horrifying burial pit formed by dismembering and piecing together the body of the Heavenly Emperor.

“It really is different. Let’s go see the Lord of the Burial Pit. After all, this sacrifice was completed under my supervision.” He stopped paying attention and turned to the place where the cycle of reincarnation intersected in the depths. Occasionally, foragers and hunters would pass by, and sometimes a few strange creatures could be seen. They all bowed to him when they saw him.

The Heavenly Emperor's Burial Pit is also an ultimate place like the River of Souls, where a supreme being once resided. This area was built with the head of a peerless Dao Ancestor from long ago. That head stands at the end of the burial pit, its hair spreading out to form the earth, and its brow becoming the council hall.

As outposts, the four ancient lands are home to supreme beings of the ultimate realm, so there is naturally no strict ranking system. The lord of the burial pit and his deputy are roughly designated, while the other supreme beings are all of equal rank.

When Wang Hongwu arrived at this place, the Dao Ancestors and Supreme Beings who were stationed there also sensed his presence.

"All the heavens, another emperor has fallen. All living beings and history have perished. Another era has ended, the curtain has fallen."

At the gaping mouth of that head, a Taoist ancestor spoke. They were high above, looking down on the joys and sorrows of others, coldly watching their lamentations, long since indifferent.

At the Heavenly Emperor's eye socket, the Lord of the Burial Pit sighed softly, "Another era has ended. From ancient times to the present, how many people can achieve immortality with you and me? Alas, in this heaven and earth, in the underworld and the blue sky, in the vast ocean and the human world, how many living beings can remain? They are all destined to die."

This ancient land lord was very powerful, ranking among the peerless Dao Ancestors, and was even a member of one of the ten major priest clans. He was surrounded by white baleful energy, and his eyes had no pupils, being entirely pure white. There was a lotus mark between his eyebrows, and two tear-like lines extended from the corners of his eyes to his chin. He wore a cloak, and underneath was bronze armor.

Wang Hongwu looked at him and learned from his supreme memories that this person was a powerful figure who came from the Evil Land White Fiend Clan. Just like the Lord of the Soul River came from the Silver Clan, each ancient land had a different chief priest clan supporting it, but some clans did not care about worldly affairs and rarely showed up.

Although the four ancient lands cooperate with each other, they are not entirely close, not to mention the ten chief priest clans in the highland of E'tu. The order of each grand sacrifice is crucial, and therefore conflicts have occurred, but they have never been revealed to the outside world.

"This time, the small sacrifice is complete. We have offered sacrifice to an emperor from all the heavens. This is a merit. Come with me." Then, the Lord of the Burial Pit looked at Wang Hongwu with great appreciation. This time, he was able to snatch the credit from the River of Souls, which was a skill. He was very satisfied.

At this moment, he led Wang Hongwu toward the council hall, where there was an altar where the sacrificial offerings could be sent back to the land of E'tu, and the chief priest would naturally reward them.

“He’s lucky.” The other Dao Ancestors in the burial pits also looked over. Each of them had one cycle of reincarnation after another unfolding in front of them, but they were not cultivating. Instead, they were spreading their own systems and ominous substances, polluting other areas of the Great Thousand World. For the Calamity Land, cultivation in the Dao Ancestor realm was different from the past, and arduous cultivation was meaningless.

Their progress depends on the expansion and growth of the evolutionary path, constantly moving forward, or spreading their own path in various worlds, attracting more and more beings to cultivate. In this way, there will be human sources to bless them, giving birth to pathfinders and geniuses who fill the gaps in the system.

Therefore, the territories ruled by each ominous Dao Ancestor are incredibly vast, and the beings they corrupt and erode are numerous. They use this to promote their own system and path, and the cycle of reincarnation is the medium through which they invade other realms to spread misfortune.

Inside the council hall of the burial pit, besides the altar leading to the land of evil, there was also a stele standing quietly.

"That stele doesn't belong to us; it was left behind by someone else." When the burial pit lord saw the stele, his expression darkened, as if he was quite wary of that person.

Wasteland? Wang Hongwu was naturally very familiar with this aura. When he stared at it, he saw a line of words on it. The characters were strong and powerful, and the sound of swords could be faintly heard.

Through it, he saw some remaining information, which was meant for him and could only be understood when he activated the Imperial Law.

Back then, after Wang Hongwu left the heavens, peace did not last long before another fierce battle broke out. In that terrifying battle, beings that surpassed the chief priest appeared in the land of Calamity.

"The Ancestor did indeed make a move." Wang Hongwu was not surprised. He also knew about the birth of the Black Blood Ancestor through the perspective of the Lord of the Soul River, but that was not the root cause of the defeat of the Heavens. The fundamental reason was that after the Pollen Emperor made a move, the Calamity Earth discovered how troublesome the Heavens were, so it dispatched many Ancestors to try to kill the Pollen Emperor. The battle entered the Sacrifice Sea and disappeared.

The Celestial Emperor of the Heavens was also severely injured and destroyed by the Ancestor of Calamity. The Great Red Sacrifice was finally coming. However, this time the Heavens were prepared and preserved some of their strength. They struggled to restore the Heavens to their full glory by reflecting the heavens.

However, in the memories of the Lord of the Soul River, the Lord of the Guiding Hall did not die, and Shi Hao seemed to have broken through to the highest level in that battle, turned the tide, and fought his way out of the encirclement.

Since then, Etu has been recuperating while sending people to fight against the Desolate Emperor, a practice that continues to this day.

"Before he left, his combat power was unparalleled. He went to find the source of the Four Extremes Floating Soil and to excavate the ancient underworld. After that, he traveled through time and space and appeared in various eras. These are the traces of the Great Dao he left behind. Do not touch them," the Lord of the Burial Pit warned, showing great fear of him.

Wang Hongwu's expression was strange. He hadn't expected Shi Hao to actually come to the Four Ancient Lands to find him. It was a pity that they missed the timing and couldn't meet. He then looked at the Lord of the Burial Pit and said, "With each sacrifice, the heavens will become more and more decadent. What if one day the heavens disappear?"

"If all the heavens and myriad realms disappear, then only the Heavenly Realm and the other realms of the Great Thousand Worlds will remain." The Lord of the Burial Pit didn't think much of it and casually replied. Then Wang Hongwu asked, "What if those also disappear?"

"They're all gone?" The Lord of the Burial Pit's expression shifted slightly. "Then..."

"Perhaps, we should start with sacrifices from our own race. After all, we are immortal and will always return," Wang Hongwu suggested. Upon hearing this, the Lord of the Burial Pit suddenly felt a chill. If things really came to that point, the grand sacrifice would be indispensable, and such signs might not be uncommon. Not to mention them, perhaps even the Supreme Being would become a sacrifice.

"Alright, we don't need to worry about these things for now. Give me the tribute from the heavens." He didn't want to waste any more words and reached out to take the resources of the Fallen Emperor's Years from Wang Hongwu.

But that didn't happen.

“Indeed, it’s time.” Wang Hongwu nodded slightly. Four figures had appeared around him without his noticing. The four emperors, Cang Hongyu and Mie, appeared together, sealing off the surrounding area. No matter what happened here, no disturbance would leak out.

"What do you mean by this?" The Lord of the Burial Pit's expression changed. How could four supreme Dao Ancestors have suddenly appeared?!

Is this guy trying to usurp the throne?

Without wasting words, Wang Hongwu launched a full-scale attack. Since perfecting the Imperial Law, when he integrated the enlightened self and occupied the origin, he was no longer restricted by the original body and could unleash his power to the fullest, because it was now the true Imperial Law.

"When did a supreme being become a peerless Dao Ancestor? Let me capture you and take a closer look." The Lord of the Burial Pit made his move, and behind him were scenes of the fallen emperors, all interwoven to form an inevitable future. It belonged to Wang Hongwu, his fallen emperor and human tragedy, forcibly covering the long river of time, rewriting his history and distorting his future.

"Meaningless." Wang Hongwu didn't care at all. The Tai Sui system spread out, radiating out layers of the Great Dao, and literally shrunk the future into one, making it impossible to be rewritten or distorted. Then, figures intertwined, blood and bones exploded, and his peerless fist light was eternal, destroying the eternal blue sky.

Bang! The Lord of the Burial Pit was thrown back, his arms mangled and covered in blood. His body had been crushed, and both his hands had been blown apart. His expression darkened slightly, and in an instant, he unleashed thousands of unparalleled secret techniques, all of which were great laws recorded in the supreme scriptures. However, Wang Hongwu still only used his two mother metal fists to strike, breaking through space and time and tearing apart fate. This kind of terrifying power was destructive, like some kind of horrifying heavy weapon falling down, capable of destroying everything in its path.

The light of rules, the power of cause and effect, and the traces of the Great Dao were all shattered by this punch. Truly, nothing was invincible. Under this crushing force, the Lord of the Burial Pit's ever-changing and unparalleled secret techniques were shattered. Even he himself was pierced through, and blood splattered everywhere.

He intended to use his pseudo-supreme technique, but Wang Hongwu didn't give him the chance at all. He strode over and used a major secret technique from the Supreme Scripture of the Physical Body Path. During this process, terrifying ripples appeared between heaven and earth. His footsteps were like surging waves, spreading outwards, all of which were ripples of the Great Dao and illusory supreme symbols.

These symbols rippled outwards, exerting immense pressure in all directions. The terrifying rhythm of these footsteps caused even the Lord of the Burial Pit to change color, coughing up blood under the pressure, his body covered in cracks. This was the Great Dao stirring and suppressing.

Finally, his body cracked and exploded in many places, a truly tragic sight. He relentlessly shattered his own body and reassembled it from the ultimate point of existence. At this level, his body was indestructible and his soul immortal. Even if he was broken and exploded countless times, he could always reassemble himself. He was a level that could not be broken, and few in the world could kill him.

Seeing his adversary closing in, the Lord of the Burial Pit attempted to traverse time and space to leave the area, but the Four Emperors blocked his way, leaving him with no escape. Meanwhile, Wang Hongwu's every step spanned eras and traversed the vicissitudes of history, eventually bringing him right before him.

The two fought fiercely, exchanging many blows in a short time. The Lord of the Burial Pit's face turned extremely ugly. He already knew that without using pseudo-supreme techniques, he was no match for him.

Upon seeing this, he did not hesitate to issue the Supreme Decree!

The four ancient lands all possess such profound foundations, and once unleashed, they have the power to annihilate all Dao Ancestors; however, Wang Hongwu scoffed, "It's just a decree, how dare you shine such a glimmer of light as a firefly!"

Behind him, a divine lamp suddenly flew out, pressing down on the decree, dispelling all darkness and misfortune, and illuminating the eternal space and time.

For all eternity, a single lamp will illuminate!
Around the candlelight on the Great Road, a river of time flowed and swirled, creating an extremely terrifying sight. Upon closer inspection, the so-called wick was actually the myriad worlds that had been sacrificed during the Black Era!
"Use the heavens as fire to illuminate my eternal path!" Its oppressive aura suppressed even the imperial decree, rendering it powerless to resist. Then, the lord of the burial pit cried out in anguish, utterly powerless to fight back. No matter how many supernatural powers it possessed, or how the light of its rules shone forth, they all vanished like bubbles.

He was extremely frustrated, having been defeated without even using his trump card, and was filled with resentment. Wang Hongwu remained silent, directly activating the Imperial Law, which merged entirely into his body, occupying the origin.

Throughout history, each of the burial pit masters has looked bewildered, with a Wang Hongwu appearing behind them, placing a hand on their head and tracing back to the very beginning. The burial pit masters realize that they were already part of the Heavenly Father at the time of their birth.

That person, who is present throughout his own history, is a part of God, a fragment of the whole spirit, a bewildered version of himself.

In the end, with the help of the supreme artifact, the master of the burial pit was directly occupied by Wang Hongwu. He stretched out his body and swallowed all the white evil matter in his body, merging it into the origin mother metal.

In an instant, the mother gold substance changed again, sublimated, and reflected five colors: black, white, gray, silver, and purple.

Among those five colors, there were also human figures composed of different substances. Some were covered in animal fur and dripped with black blood; some walked out of the gray mist; some exhaled white evil energy from their mouths and noses; some had silver patterns all over their bodies and guided the souls of the heavens to rebirth; some were covered in purple crystals... The five ominous substances were one!
Then, the sacrificial fire appeared, melting these five substances with the primordial gold to create an even more terrifying primordial gold, which caused violent anomalies in the four ancient lands.

In a dark swamp, an endless fog rose, plunging the world into darkness. It covered the sky, causing the heavens and earth to crack and crumble.

Meanwhile, a sea of ​​fire suddenly reignited, raging and burning the sky, distorting the entire heavens, causing space to collapse, and the flames seemed to cover the thirty-three heavens.

The desert trembled, the yellow sand rose violently, revealing the endless and terrifying truth of the prehistoric land. Blood surged up like rivers, and then the sky dripped blood as it fell downwards.

Strange phenomena were occurring in various places, and they were extremely frightening.

“Very good. From now on, I will be the master of the Heavenly Emperor’s Burial Pit.” Wang Hongwu nodded in satisfaction and stood in front of the stone tablet. At the same time, he looked towards the altar, where a talisman from the Calamity Land was falling.

It records some things, specifically to announce to the peerless Dao Ancestors who are substitute chief priests that a great change has occurred in the Evil Land, and they may be about to be promoted!

Meanwhile, another of the four ancient sites is the final location of the Soul River.

Splash! The silver waves grew even larger, washing over the sky and engulfing it.

Just then, a powerful and malevolent aura appeared, as if some creature was awakening from an ancient slumber.

"The Lord of the Soul River has been revived!" All the creatures in this area sensed it and looked toward the Ultimate Land, bowing deeply in worship.

There, a figure slowly emerged; it was none other than the Lord of the Soul River of yesteryear. Since the battle of the Red Era, he had been severely injured and had been in a deep slumber ever since.

"News from the depths of the Evil Land?" He also looked up and received a talisman with some messages inscribed on it, which were also summoning him back.

After reading it, the Lord of the Soul River couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh? Interesting. A high priest followed the ancestor to intercept Shi Hao and was eternally silenced. Now, a new high priest needs to be selected to fill the vacancy?"

"It seems he's helping me. Now that two of the four ancient lands are in my hands, there's no need to delay any longer. This time, I'm determined to get the position of chief priest." The Lord of the Soul River smiled slightly, and the outline of Wang Hongwu appeared deep in his eyes. Then, he suddenly used his pseudo-supreme technique and combined it with the Soul River.

The next moment, the enormous Soul Light Spider reappeared, weaving a giant web that covered the entire Soul River, encompassing every living being in the Soul River and making them a node.

It's time to enlighten the entire River of Souls!
At the same time, Wang Hongwu in the Heavenly Emperor's Burial Pit was doing the same thing, with the Origin Mother Gold beginning to permeate the earth and completely cover this world.

He wanted it all: the alluring ancient underworld, the fragrant burial pit of the Heavenly Emperor, the clear River of Souls, and the beautiful floating soil of the four poles!
Meanwhile, outside, as the cycle of reincarnation continues, some strange things are discovered.

"Where have all the heavens and myriad realms disappeared?!" An supreme being from the ancient underworld appeared, looking at the void with astonishment and uncertainty. The place that originally belonged to all the heavens and myriad realms had become completely empty!
what happened?
He searched carefully, even tracing back through history, flipping through scenes from the past, but to no avail. History had been severed by a higher power, and the whole thing had vanished.

"Let's gather our forces and study this carefully. The object of our sacrifice is gone, and this is a big deal." Upon seeing this, the Supreme Being of the Underworld did not hesitate. He took out a conch shell, half of which was snow-white and half of which was pitch black, and suddenly blew it.

He is summoning the Heavenly Emperor's Burial Pit, calling upon the creatures beneath the Four Extremes Floating Soil, awakening the monsters beneath the River of Souls, and gathering the strongest beings.

Meanwhile, in the chaotic frontier, the six people and one dog who had hurriedly walked out of the broken cycle of reincarnation were also dumbfounded. They had only explored the ruins of civilizations beyond the heavens, and it hadn't been long. How come their home was gone when they came back?
What about the heavens?
Where did all those countless worlds go?

(End of this chapter)