Seeing this, Meng Wan instead grew calm, continuing to speak as she looked at Yan Zhaoge, “With my understanding of senior apprentice-sister Feng, while she loves to act spontaneously without prior discussion, she would definitely not like you taking on any unnecessary risks for her sake.”
“While I do like to take risks, I never act in a suicidal manner. Since I have committed myself to something, I would definitely have some level of confidence in it. It is the same this time too…” Gazing at the Brocade Emperor who was visible within that purple sea of clouds, Yan Zhaoge wondered aloud, “…Probably, I guess?”
He looked at the Brocade Emperor before gazing again at the distant battlefield, “Being able to survive a major calamity and see the Brocade Emperor again, this Yan really is lucky. I just wonder how the Encompassing Emperor is?”
While the Brocade Emperor’s aura was slightly weak at this moment, his expression was as per usual and even with a bit of geniality as it was like he had never experienced that earlier great battle at all.
Seeing Yan Zhaoge and Meng Wan, he smiled, “With the situation chaotic and all sides tied up, crisis instead lessens. Since you have already escaped, Fellow Daoist Li has no need to stay there and fight with the ones from the Immortal Court. So long as he is careful, he can surely still extricate himself.”
Yan Zhaoge raised his brows, “It is Mars Halberd who is in a difficult situation?”
Though he was asking a question, Yan Zhaoge seemed certain of this.
From the words of that Sovereign of the Immortal Court in the form of an ice phoenix, the Immortal Court seemed to have Mars Halberd as a wanted fugitive too.
While the reason was unclear, Yan Zhaoge guessed that it was most likely related to the Exalted Fire Luminary.
Now that Yan Zhaoge and the Dim Radiant Wheel were gone, they would naturally focus completely on Mars Halberd.
The Encompassing Emperor would instead be ignored somewhat as they primarily stayed cautious of the numerous devils of the Nine Underworlds.
Now that Mars Halberd was the target of the two Sovereigns of the Immortal Court while also being harassed by great Devils of the Nine Underworlds whose motives were fickle, it was not just trouble that had befallen him. If he was even the least bit careless, he would be doomed to fall in the Nine Underworlds.
“Mars Halberd and I had arranged for another battle. I was originally going to battle against him after we had finished looking for Little Friend Feng and exited the Nine Underworlds.”
The Brocade Emperor said mildly, “Who would have thought that the Immortal Court might interfere, resulting in such a situation.”
Yan Zhaoge said after a while, “Previously, Mars Halberd’s attack sent me and your daughter, Fu Ting, to the Immortal Court, causing your daughter difficulties. That should have been unintentional on his part, though.”
The Brocade Emperor smiled, “I understand. It is just that I am inevitably unhappy with him. Even so, I still hope that nothing will happen to him. Regardless of whatever enmity exists between us, we are all of orthodox Daoism at the end of the day.”
Yan Zhaoge watched him calmly, not saying anything.
A chill rose in Meng Wan’s heart as her father whom she was already unfamiliar with in the first place felt even more foreign to her now.
She was not clear on the enmity between the Brocade Emperor and Mars Halberd, only knowing some parts of it from the earlier conversations between the Brocade Emperor, the Encompassing Emperor and Yan Zhaoge.
Still, with her intelligence and what Yan Zhaoge had told her earlier about the state the Brocade Emperor was currently in, it was not difficult for her to realise the truth of this matter.
In today’s battle, the first victim to the Brocade Emperor’s schemes was neither Yan Zhaoge nor her as it was instead Mars Halberd!
If in his normal state of mind, the Brocade Emperor would naturally not have done this kind of thing.
Yet, he was extremely unstable mentally right now as even his style of handling affairs diverged from his usual way.
The current Brocade Emperor had his mind split in two.
His feeling side hated and raged against Mars Halberd over what had happened to Fu Ting back then.
Still, his feeling side had its pride and arrogance as he would only engage in a proper battle to the death with Mars Halberd to decide a victor between them.
His unfeeling side saw Mars Halberd as a threat that it would be best to exterminate for good.
Still, as the whereabouts of the Exalted Fire Luminary were unknown, whether he failed or succeeded in exterminating him, it could ultimately lead to situations detrimental to him.
Therefore, the best method was to kill with a borrowed blade rather than acting himself.
Both these versions of him desired to kill Mars Halberd, just that their methods differed.
Meng Wan’s heart grew extremely cold at the thought of what had just transpired.
Yan Zhaoge’s guesses were gradually coming to fruition and being actualised.
In the inner struggle of the Brocade Emperor, it was indeed his unfeeling side that was gradually gaining the upper hand!
“Do not be panicked, Wan’er,” The Brocade Emperor seemed to see through Meng Wan’s thoughts as he suddenly smiled, “From the way you seem now, Little Friend Yan must have said much to you.”
“A venomous tiger does not devour its offspring. The situation is still not as bad as you believe. Your father is unceasingly searching for a better method of resolving it.”
The Brocade Emperor sighed, “It is just a pity that after having finally been able to reunite not long ago with much difficulty, our hearts have grown yet further apart.”
“I do not blame you for this. This is from a problem with I, your father. It is just that some matters within this world really leave one feeling regretful yet helpless.”
Meng Wan was startled, “Father…”
The Brocade Emperor smiled, raising a hand to stop her, “Relax, Wan’er. It’s okay.”
He gazed in Yan Zhaoge’s direction, “I would instead ask-Why did you have to expose this matter, Little Friend Yan?”
“What difference does it make?” Yan Zhaoge spread his hands apart, “Even as you kill two birds with one stone, dealing with Mars Halberd while shaking off the Encompassing Emperor, your next target can only be either me or your daughter.”
“If your daughter is your target, you yourself would expose things. If it is me, whether I wreck your happiness or not, won’t you still be wanting to kill me anyway?”
The Brocade Emperor was momentarily silent before he smiled widely, “Yes, I have been too full of myself. You lecture me rightly, Little Friend Yan.”
As he lowered himself from his lofty pedestal and spoke earnestly and politely, a strong premonition arose in Yan Zhaoge’s mind!
Indeed, the very next moment, the Brocade Emperor raised a hand before bringing it straight down towards him!
His upraised palm contained the combined qis of yin and yang.
Through his palm, he sent Meng Wan away while getting rid of the devilish qi around Yan Zhaoge’s body. Time became blurry with space no longer existing as all things returned to the primordial qis, yin and yang.
A massive Taiji diagram appeared between the heavens and earth of the dark devilish domain as it enveloped Yan Zhaoge.
Yan Zhaoge felt as if his body was spinning alongside this as even if he had myriad transformations, being infinitely capable, it seemed that it would still be difficult for him to escape this Taiji diagram.
This was the might of a True Immortal.
Yan Zhaoge had once personally experienced the Heaven Emperor in action in the Royal Reed Sea.
Still, as he had been protected by the Earth Mother Dao Ritual and the Later Earth Text back then, only now with that layer stripped away did he truly comprehend what the divide between mortal and Immortal was. It was like the difference between the heavens and earth as even he was hard pressed
to surpass it right now.
Still, Yan Zhaoge did not grow panicked.
He roared, resembling the enraged howls of countless devils of the deep abyss and also the chanting of numerous Buddhas of the blessed lands.
An ancient green Buddha with four faces and eight arms appeared above Yan Zhaoge’s head once more.
It was just that this time, Yan Zhaoge’s body was completely integrated within this Buddha idol.
The next moment, boundless devilish qi converged to coil around that ancient Buddha before congregating to form an even more gigantic black Buddha!
The massive black Buddha had the ‘’ symbol that was circulating in reverse on its foreheads, chests and palms.
“Your action proves my guess,” Yan Zhaoge’s voice resounded from the mouth of that gigantic Buddha, “If you cultivate in the unfeeling dao, Brocade Emperor, to completely rid yourself of all future complications and reach a higher level, you will have to cultivate my father’s Grand Simplicity Splendour Cloud as expected.”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 1095: The real ace up Yan Zhaoge’s sleeve
The real ace up Yan Zhaoge’s sleeve
The massive black Buddha resembled a tribulation from the end of the world and the overlord of the devilish domain as it sat cross-legged between the heavens and earth of the Nine Underworlds.
It was just that this Buddha showed no propensity for peace and tranquillity whatsoever as a devilish qi that seemed to cause one to become crazed nourished and disrupted the area.
“Evaṃ mayā-śrutam, devils illuminate the myriad lifeforms.”
Yan Zhaoge’s voice that resounded from the mouth of the gigantic Buddha was also different from usual as a sinister, vicious intent emanated from within.
Seeing the gigantic Buddha that was completely pitch black and had a reversed ‘’ symbol on its foreheads, chests and palms, the Brocade Emperor too was rather taken aback, “You actually are proficient in the Faceless Devilish Scripture to this extent? I have never seen you exhibit signs of potentially plummeting to the devilish dao, though.”
He clicked his tongue in wonder, “Is it that you have truly concealed it well or is your mind so unwavering? Not falling to the dark side but still successfully cultivating the Faceless Devilish Scripture to this extent-this is a rare accomplishment indeed.”
The pitch black Buddha said, “As your current thoughts are too difficult to guess, this Yan would surely have to be careful. I would never have dared to enter the Nine Underworlds alongside you without having made any preparations beforehand. After all, you could easily kill someone covertly here.”
“This makes no difference,” The Brocade Emperor smiled, with no intention of showing mercy at all.
The massive Taiji diagram obscured the heavens and concealed the sun, enveloping the heavens and earth of the Nine Underworlds as all things turned illusory and returned to primordial yin and yang.
The gigantic Buddha raised its palms simultaneously, the reversed ‘’ symbols circulating with the boundless devilish sea and avowed to a path of no return forcibly blocking the Brocade Emperor’s Taiji Yin Yang Palm.
Yan Zhaoge had not spent much time cultivating in the Faceless Devilish Scripture as he would indeed be unable to display such prowess under normal circumstances.
Still, they were in the Nine Underworlds right now.
Meanwhile, Yan Zhaoge’s martial foundation was the Peerless Heavenly Scripture!
Extinguishing all things, birthing all things, accepting and encompassing all things.
This was the ultimate scripture that was most proficient at projecting other martial arts in this world!
Every acupoint within Yan Zhaoge’s body was displaying the phenomenon of the peerless infinity of chaos at this moment.
Next, boundless devilish qi congregated within from the external world of the Nine Underworlds all around him, transforming into countless pitch black Buddhas.
The numerous Buddhas chanted, numerous devils roaring.
Yan Zhaoge completely combined his true essence with devilish qi at this moment, relying on peerless infinity to guard his core before he manifested the form of the Peerless Heavenly Devil.
This was something that he could only do in the Nine Underworlds. As boundless devilish qi surged, even as the gigantic Buddha was becoming more solemn and dignified, it was becoming eviler too!
“While you can gather devilish qi to guard your body and manifest the form of devils and Buddhas here, it is only an imitation of its appearance,” The Brocade Emperor said mildly, “A late Immortal Bridge Martial Saint or even Human Exalt who is versed in the Faceless Heavenly Scripture might already be unable to beat you as you normally are.”
“Right now, you are actually throwing away your advantage just to execute the Faceless Devilish Scripture. This is a totally self-defeating trade-off.”
The terrifying Taiji diagram pressured downwards unceasingly as the reversed ‘’ symbols on the surface of the gigantic Buddha’s body gradually ceased to rotate.
The body of the gigantic Buddha even began shaking non-stop, with fragments beginning to fly off.
“Even a Human Exalt who is proficient in the Faceless Devilish Scripture would naturally be unable to defeat me, even when in the Nine Underworlds.”
As if corroborating his words, the pitch black Buddha that Yan Zhaoge was manifested as now looked like it was soon to fall apart.
The pitch black Buddha spoke, “While this Yan has always been full of myself, I still possess that basic level of self-awareness at the very least. If I believed that I would be able to withstand you, the Brocade Emperor, just like that, that would not be me insulting you, but me asking for it.”
“So, you are waiting for this Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder?” The Brocade Emperor asked mildly.
As Yan Zhaoge was drawing devilish qi over, the surrounding boundless devilish qi of the Nine Underworlds was correspondingly converging as well.
Some more distant entities were drawn over too.
Now, amidst the dense devilish qi throughout the boundless darkness, a strange light of thunder suddenly flickered.
The next moment, a clump of thunder-light that seemed crystalline appeared within their fields of vision.
Within this thunder-light was densely riddled layers upon layers of spatial wrinkles, stacked together in an alarming fashion.
Layers of thunder-light refracted and penetrated as it was like countless screens of light had stacked together to form a thundercloud that resembled a crystalline solid.
This crystalline solid was incomparable huge as it seemed only slightly smaller than Yan Zhaoge in his Devil-Buddha form.
It was none other than a thundercloud condensed from the Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder of the Nine Heavenly Immortal Thunders after it had been stacked and accumulated to a certain extent.
The spatial dimension formed of two sword-lights that after Yan Zhaoge and the others had encountered after having entered the Nine Underworlds had been formed because of this thundercloud.
It was just that the thundercloud had drifted off afterwards, leaving for another location.
Still, because that Dijiang who also bore Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder had been active in the vicinity, their thunderbolts had attracted each other with this thundercloud gradually approaching.
Now, as Yan Zhaoge drew devilish qi over and influenced the devilish qi cycle of their surroundings, the thundercloud formed of this Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder was drawn over close to he and the Brocade Emperor.
If such an oceanic amount of Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder from the thundercloud exploded, it was sufficient to completely shatter this region of the Nine Underworlds.
Even a True Emperor would be swept away by the chaotic flow of space to who knew where, even if he was able to withstand it.
Yan Zhaoge had naturally been paying attention to that Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder. Still, this had been noticed by the Brocade Emperor too.
He had been long since prepared for it as while casually suppressing the pitch black Buddha with one hand, he waved lightly towards that thundercloud with his other hand.
The Grand Beginning Bright Emptiness Form was not only used for self-protection.
As the Brocade Emperor waved his hand, amidst the changes in dimensional space, that thundercloud was instantly locked down where it was, unable to move any closer.
Now, however, that gigantic Buddha that already seemed on the brink of collapse suddenly chanted once more.
“Evaṃ mayā-śrutam, devils illuminate the myriad lifeforms!”
The Brocade Emperor’s initially perpetually calm expression suddenly changed at this moment!
It was as though something had exploded within his heart!
“…Heart’s Will Thunder?!” The Brocade Emperor blurted out.
This was none other than the strangest thunderbolt between the heavens and earth and another of the Nine Heavenly Immortal Thunders, the Heart’s Will Thunder!
The Grand Illusory Spatial Thunder had merely been a feint to obscure things.
Yan Zhaoge’s true trump card against the Brocade Emperor was this Heart’s Will Thunder!
Despite being a thunderbolt, it did not visibly exist in the form of electricity.
Within the entire wide universe, it was never visible to anyone as it only ever resounded at the very core of one’s being, being an explosion of thunderbolts manifested of a person’s thoughts!
The difficulty in using it against an enemy was how to cause heart thunder to explode within them.
If this succeeded, it would be hard to defend against externally. One’s cultivation base would be meaningless as things would only depend on whether they could vanquish their own heart devil which had suddenly been drawn out to the fore.
Yan Zhaoge had given up his usual advantage and forcibly gathered devilish qi to simulate a rise of his cultivation base for the short term so as to get this thunder to explode in the Brocade Emperor’s heart!
He had not pushed open the door to Immortality at the end of the day. If he had been facing other True Immortals, it would surely be difficult for him to succeed.
History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474 Page 598