The Eternal God Emperor and the Demon Ancestor

Ling Che was reading an ancient treatise on gods in the Ancient Tranquil Pavilion of Tianfang when a sudden, unannounced feeling of unease gripped his mind. His brow furrowed sharply, as if an invisible thread of cause and effect was being subtly manipulated by eyes from beyond the heavens. He raised his hand and touched his brow, a wisp of spiritual energy transforming into a recording jade slip that floated before Xi Yin. Ripples spread through the surrounding space, and his figure vanished from Tianfang Valley in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, Ling Che had traversed space to a desolate Gobi Desert in the far west of the central region of the Kunlun Realm. This place was barren, with only endless yellow sand swirling in the howling winds, devoid of sunlight and moonlight. It was the burial place of an ancient god from the ancient times of the Kunlun Realm, a perfect place to isolate one from the secrets of heaven. He clasped his hands together, and a radiant light flowed from his palms, slowly revealing an ancient bronze mirror. This mirror was called the Mirror of the Past, a replica of the Kunlun Realm's divine artifact, the Mirror of Destiny, a sub-god-level supreme sacred artifact, crafted by the Venerable Monk Sumeru. The edge of the mirror was engraved with dense, ancient runes, exuding a sense of vicissitude. The mirror surface did not reflect reality, but only countless fragmented images of light and shadow floated, sometimes revealing remnants of the past, sometimes showing fragments of the future, infinitely mysterious.

"Looking at the past and future, tracing back to the source!"

Ling Che closed his eyes slightly, and a point of spiritual light suddenly bloomed between his brows. A beam of spiritual energy materialized and shot out like a sharp sword, piercing into the Mirror of the Past. In an instant, the mirror surface burst forth with dazzling light, and countless fragments of light and shadow flowed, collided, and stitched together wildly. Under the guidance of his divine power, the originally chaotic spacetime gradually condensed into a clear picture.

In the scene, in the endless starry sky beyond the Kunlun Realm, a mysterious convoy is slowly approaching. Leading the procession is an elderly man with a youthful face and blood-red hair, tall and imposing. His long robe is imprinted with countless divine beast patterns, each pattern containing a powerful life force. The oppressive aura emanating from him causes the surrounding star field to tremble slightly. Behind the old man, several guards follow respectfully, some carrying green lanterns, others wielding staffs; all possessing the aura of true gods, they stand respectfully behind the old man.

The moment Ling Che's gaze fell upon the old man's face, the old man seemed to sense something and abruptly turned his head. A meaningful smile bloomed on his face, and his eyes, as deep as black holes in the universe, seemed capable of devouring all light and soul. They even pierced through the spacetime barrier of the Mirror of the Past and collided with Ling Che's gaze in the void!

"Interesting. Is it Jiwang, or someone from the Heavenly Court?"

A seemingly ordinary voice, however, resounded like a thunderclap, echoing deep within Ling Che's mind.

Ling Che felt a tremendous shock, an unprecedented sense of crisis washing over him: "Not good! We've been detected! Cut it off!"

He abruptly severed the connection between his mental energy and the Mirror of the Past, but it was too late.

In the mirror, the old man with blood-red hair slowly raised his right hand and lightly touched the mirror surface.

"Since you're here, leave something behind before you go. This is the price of peeking into fate."

A single, casual remark was uttered, without any earth-shattering divine power fluctuations or world-destroying phenomena. Instead, a hazy gray light emanated from the fingertip, instantly piercing through the mirror's protective barrier.

Click!

Countless fine cracks spread across the mirror's surface, the once flowing light and shadow instantly dissipated, and the spirit of the artifact let out a mournful cry before exploding with a deafening roar. The light of the Past Mirror dimmed at a visible speed, nearly shattering completely.

However, that gray light, like a malignant tumor, actually penetrated the barrier of the magic weapon and, following the causal connection between Ling Che and the Mirror of the Past, went straight towards his Qi Sea acupoint!

"Damn it!"

Ling Che was shocked. His entire body activated its Sacred Dao rules frantically, unleashing over fifty trillion Sacred Dao rules that surged forth like a tidal wave, condensing into a golden bell-like light barrier around him. But the gray light was incredibly strange; the barrier was as fragile as paper, easily pierced through. The Sacred Dao rules crumbled upon contact, completely assimilated and devoured. The gray light surged forward, drilling into his meridians, domineeringly eroding his fundamental power.

At the critical moment of life and death, Ling Che let out a bitter laugh, no longer caring about concealing himself, and abruptly broke the seal deep within his soul. Nine black stone tablets, engraved with demonic runes, slowly emerged from his body, radiating overwhelming demonic power. At the same time, a divine soul dharma image tens of thousands of miles high behind him suddenly condensed, with the sun, moon, and stars revolving around it, drawing upon the power of heaven and earth within tens of thousands of miles, transforming it into billions of golden divine runes that surged into his body, setting up a massive array that sealed the heavens and earth.

Under layers of sealing, the gray light was finally temporarily trapped within the meridians.

"Destroy them!"

Ling Che roared, activating the great formation with his divine soul power, intending to completely obliterate the gray light. But just as the power of the formation was about to crush down, the gray light suddenly shone brightly, its power increasing a hundredfold in an instant!

"not good!"

Ling Che's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly pressed the nine Heavenly Demon Stone Carvings into his body, but he was still a step too late.

Bang-!

With a muffled thud, the gray light exploded within his meridians.

Ling Che was struck as if by a heavy blow, his body flying backward and crashing heavily into the yellow sand. His body was covered in cracks like porcelain, and golden holy blood gushed out, staining the Gobi Desert beneath him red. The once perfect, lustrous, and radiant divine soul constellation instantly dimmed, and his vast Dharma form became tattered and broken, with countless divine runes shattering and dissipating.

"cough--!"

Ling Che coughed up a mouthful of blood, the crimson mixed with fragments of his divine soul. He struggled to his feet, feeling his dantian depleted, seventy percent of the sacred rules within his body annihilated, nearly half of his divine soul consumed, and less than one-tenth of his combat power remaining.

Just one finger!

Across endless time and space, the old man nearly caused his Confucian and Taoist avatar to perish with just a thought!

"The God of Fortune and Prosperity... I never expected it would be him personally leading the people to the Kunlun Realm." Ling Che wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes. "It seems that the spies sent to the Kunlun Realm by the Hell Realm this time are from the Temple of Destiny. To be able to severely injure me through the Mirror of the Past, his spiritual power must have reached the Heavenly Perfection Realm of over the ninetyth level. Besides Xu Fengjin, the Temple of Destiny only has this hidden Kui Liang Emperor!"

Even with the protection of the Heavenly Demon Stone Carving, Ling Che still suffered a calamity while trying to spy on a perfect spiritual power deity. If he hadn't been forced to break the spiritual power seal, he would have been annihilated by now. Even so, this clone had already suffered irreversible damage.

"It's time for this clone to leave the Kunlun Realm. The rest can only be handled by the Dao Body."

Ling Che pondered to himself. This Confucian-Taoist avatar had already cultivated to the eightieth level of spiritual power, but it was sealed by the main body using the Heavenly Demon Stone to prevent the divine aura from being exposed. After all, in the current Kunlun Realm, the appearance of a god was absolutely unacceptable. Once the old monsters of the Heavenly Court and Hell Realms discovered it, it would surely bring about annihilation.

With this in mind, Ling Che mustered his remaining divine power and unleashed the Divine Step. His figure transformed into a streak of light, traversing tens of thousands of miles along the spatial veins, and instantly returned to Tianfang Valley.

In the valley, Xi Yin had long since exited her state of enlightenment and was pacing anxiously back and forth. Her pretty face was pale, and she was filled with panic. As Ling Che's personal disciple, she knew better than anyone how powerful her master was—even the Ming Emperor, who was also at the peak of the Great Saint realm, only lasted thirty moves against her master, and her master hadn't even gotten up once. Looking at the history of the Kunlun Realm, perhaps only the legendary Thousand Bones Empress could rival her master when she was at the Saint realm.

The master's message only mentioned encountering trouble. Perhaps the only things that even the master would find troublesome are those gods that only exist in legends!

Just then, ripples spread through the space, and Ling Che's figure slowly emerged. His face was pale, his breath extremely weak, and his usual composure and elegance were nowhere to be seen.

"Teacher!" Xi Yin exclaimed in surprise and quickly stepped forward to help him up.

Ling Che waved his hand, his voice hoarse: "Xi Yin, immediately send a message to Cang Xuan. The three-month period for the righteous and demonic conference within the sect is too long; it must be convened ahead of schedule! Some things are urgent."

"Teacher, what kind of enemy did you encounter? How did you get so badly injured?" Xi Yin supported him, her eyes reddening with worry.

Ling Che gave a wry smile, looked up at the sky outside the valley, and a trace of apprehension flashed in his eyes: "We have indeed encountered a terrifying enemy. Fortunately, he cannot enter the Kunlun Realm for the time being."

This was truly bad luck; they had run into the God of Fortune and Prosperity. Previously, the highest-ranking spies sent to infiltrate the Kunlun Realm were at the Great God level; even those at the Boundless Realm rarely appeared. After all, the Kunlun Realm was a sensitive area. If a God-level expert appeared, the entire Heavenly Court would instantly be on high alert, and the Hell Realm was unwilling to engage in a large-scale divine war with the Heavenly Court—the wounds inflicted on the Hell Realm by the Kunlun Realm's desperate counterattack tens of thousands of years ago had yet to heal.

"The enemy outside the Kunlun Realm... could it be the extraterrestrial gods who invaded the Kunlun Realm 50,000 years ago?" Xi Yin's heart skipped a beat as she pondered to herself. She was originally a princess of the human-snake half-human race, and had read the clan's secret scriptures. She knew the former glory of the Kunlun Realm and was also clear about the root cause of its decline.

"Master, I'll rush back to Wuding Mountain right away to help Senior Brother Cangxuan prepare for the Righteous and Demonic Assembly!" Xiyin didn't dare to delay and was about to set off immediately.

"Wait." Ling Che called out to her, raised his hand and pointed, and the Ten Directions Chaos Pearl, the treasure of the Moon Worshiping Demon Sect, floated in his palm. With a flash of light, three jade bottles flew out.

He handed the jade bottles to Xiyin and said in a deep voice, "These three jade bottles contain the Profound Lotus Enlightenment Pill, the Divine Dragon Severing Thought Pill, and the Immortal Primordial Chaos Pill, respectively. The Profound Lotus Enlightenment Pill can help you comprehend the rules of the Holy Will; the Immortal Primordial Chaos Pill will allow you to condense a perfect immortal holy body when you break through to the Great Saint realm; as for this Divine Dragon Severing Thought Pill, give it to Cangxuan and tell him that he must break through to the Thousand Questions Realm before the Righteous and Demonic Assembly!"

Xi Yin solemnly accepted the jade bottle, her fingertips trembling slightly. "Teacher, rest assured, I will personally deliver the pill to my senior brother. Once I break through to the Great Saint realm, I will definitely be able to help you with many more tasks!"

Looking at her determined eyes, Ling Che couldn't help but smile and waved his hand, saying, "Little girl, you have quite the ambition. With your foundation, barring any unforeseen circumstances, condensing a third-grade Saintly Intent is not difficult at all. Only in this way will it be more advantageous for my next plan."

"Rest assured, Master!" Xi Yin straightened her chest, her pretty face full of confidence. "All my senior brothers and sisters have condensed the third-grade Saintly Intent. How could I, Xi Yin, be content to lag behind? If I still couldn't do it with your help, wouldn't I be utterly disgracing you?"

Looking at her charming appearance, Ling Che chuckled and shook his head. This girl had truly been spoiled rotten by him. Condensing a third-grade Saintly Intent—a rare feat even among the Great Saints of the entire universe—was described as a trivial matter in her mouth. If the Great Saints of Heaven and Hell heard this, they would probably be furious.

But that is the truth. His disciples are all Yuanhui-level geniuses whom he painstakingly selected from among the billions of beings in the Kunlun Realm. With the profound heritage of the Kunlun Realm and the accumulation of massive resources, each of them has the capital to look down on their peers.

"Alright, there's no time to lose, you should get going." Ling Che waved his hand, his gaze returning to the horizon, a cold glint in his eyes. "As for me... I should go and meet those 'rats' who just crawled in."

Before he finished speaking, the remaining spatial divine power within his body surged once more. Just then, from the direction of the endless abyss, hundreds of thousands of miles away, a subtle spatial fluctuation was keenly detected by the great array he had set up.

The spies sent by the God of Fortune and Prosperity have finally managed to infiltrate the area.