Chapter 1334: Huang Tian Awakens

Chapter 1334: Huangtian Awakens

Stirring the primal essence of the Houtu Star Ring, it radiates outward—Houtu walking abroad in the world.

This… is the Immortal of Houtu!

At this moment, Huangtian surges!

The phantom of Houtu, summoned by Seventh Uncle’s descending right hand, hurtles toward the corpse of the Huangtian Divine Emperor.

As it descends, it blazes with resplendent light, repelling all foreign essences—and especially rejecting the Ascendant aura.

Yet clearly, the source of Houtu ranks beneath the Ascendant; thus, as their forces intertwine, Houtu’s essence is steadily eroded. Yet even in its dissolution, it unleashes Houtu’s vast and indomitable will.

That will is the collective consciousness of every living being across all Houtu universes—the unified resolve of warriors fallen long ago.

The instant it erupts, its might shakes the heavens and annihilates the eight directions!

Huangtian itself roars in response.

Xu Qing, suspended midair, gazes upon this spectacle, his thoughts stirred.

He senses the spirit and aspiration of those first-generation cultivators who journeyed from Houtu to Huangtian so long ago.

They sought to raise Houtu within Huangtian—to supplant Huangtian entirely, so that the fruit of cultivation might bloom fully here.

But alas… Huangtian is but a fragment of the Ninth Star Ring, and the Ninth Star Ring itself is merely one among thirty-six.

The Ascendant Realm is the domain of gods.

With the cultivation systems of that era, such an ambition was utterly impossible!

Merely constructing Wanggu had already pushed them to their absolute limit.

Throughout history, only the Fifth Star Ring has witnessed true upheaval.

As Xu Qing’s thoughts churned, the power of Houtu summoned by Seventh Uncle settled completely upon the corpse of the Huangtian Divine Emperor.

It did not interfere with the worm-like creatures born from Er Niu’s flesh.

Instead, it sank inward!

From within the corpse, it relentlessly unraveled and destroyed, making it easier for Er Niu’s worms to devour!

Under this external suppression, the Divine Emperor’s corpse trembled violently—as if some primal instinct still lingered within. Sensing its own erosion, a muffled thunderclap erupted from the chest of the corpse.

The sound shook heaven and earth.

It was… the Divine Pulse of the Huangtian Divine Emperor, beating once more!

Simultaneously, at the very instant that pulse thrummed, the skies and lands of Huangtian shifted color. Boundless foreign essences surged from all directions, and brilliant light emerged from the void, converging upon the corpse.

As though driven by instinct, the corpse sought to absorb all of Huangtian to resist Houtu’s erosion.

Witnessing this, Xu Qing raised his hand and swept it forward.

Instantly, space rippled like water, concentric waves unfolding layer upon layer of spacetime, silently parting before him.

From within those countless temporal layers, identical beast hides surfaced one after another.

“Seal!”

Xu Qing spoke calmly.

The moment his voice rang out, every beast hide emerging from the spacetimes burst into flame, unleashing boundless array-sealing power!

These hides bore the name Si Jiu Zhen Jin—the Four-Nine Array Seal!

Long ago, when Xu Qing first entered the Fifth Star Ring, he obtained them from a Sovereign cultivator. Through his own study, he discovered that the seals inscribed upon them could manifest through spoken words.

And if cultivated to their ultimate stage, the seal’s activation could be condensed into just two syllables!

Two syllables—because arrays divide into yin and yang, and seals split between life and death; singularity is forbidden.

Yet with Xu Qing’s cultivation, especially empowered by his unique Constitution and the Laws of Dimensions, what was once forbidden became singular in this instant.

It collapsed into a single character!

With that one word uttered, the seal became Heaven-forged—transforming into Law itself, resonating as divine decree!

Upon the corpse of the Huangtian Divine Emperor, its effect was immediate: the foreign essences gathering around the corpse were instantly intercepted—not blocked from without, but *sealed*.

The torrential foreign essences of Huangtian were frozen in place by that single character—rendered immobile, inert, unable to converge, and thus powerless to hinder Er Niu’s gnawing.

The worm-born form of Er Niu grew even more frenzied, devouring ravenously.

Both Seventh Uncle and Xu Qing acted with one purpose: to suppress the corpse’s primal instincts, easing Er Niu’s task.

Otherwise, if they truly sought annihilation… Seventh Uncle might not manage it, but Xu Qing could erase this Huangtian corpse with but a flick of his wrist.

Under their combined suppression, Er Niu exerted every ounce of strength.

Even his remaining head lunged downward with savage force, plunging into the colossal corpse and vanishing into its flesh.

As his head merged with the body, the worm-forms born from Er Niu’s flesh began to mutate—splitting endlessly, multiplying beyond count.

Amidst this tearing and division, some worms, having devoured to their limits, transformed—becoming strands of blue flesh that seamlessly grafted onto the areas they had consumed.

They became part of the corpse itself!

This was replacement!

Ten percent… twenty… thirty…

Gazing outward, the expanse of blue flesh on the corpse grew ever wider, its interior changing with terrifying speed.

Gradually reaching forty percent!

Er Niu’s ecstasy peaked.

Finally—it hit fifty percent!

Half the corpse’s entire form, inside and out, had been replaced by blue worm-flesh.

Especially the left arm—seemingly the origin—its blue skin now crystallizing with frost, poised to spread further.

But at that precise moment, Seventh Uncle’s eyes gleamed strangely, and Xu Qing narrowed his gaze…

Disaster struck without warning!

A faint glimmer of light suddenly flickered at the chest of the Huangtian Divine Emperor’s corpse—then vanished.

Immediately after, an aura of primordial antiquity erupted skyward!

Terrifying divine might surged alongside it, rising from the corpse and flooding the heavens and earth.

The firmament itself changed hue!

From the chest, the pulsing rhythm of the Divine Pulse thundered louder than ever before.

And throughout Huangtian, the threads of foreign essence that Xu Qing had sealed now writhed with desperate struggle, twisting violently as if striving to break free—

Stirring the earth to roar.

With it came also the ancient, murmuring voice of divinity, echoing in all directions.

“The Sea of Divine Blood is a special place.”

“Gathering remnants in a special manner.”

“A rootless spirit serves as the special guide.”

“Only thus… can the path of return be opened.”

The divine voice, heavy with the weight of ages, carried an overwhelming yearning for return. The moment it sounded, this longing erupted like a tidal wave from the corpse of the Divine Emperor!

All of Huangtian trembled.

Temples that Zhou Zhengli and his companions had not yet destroyed now shook with the heavens and earth—and within them, every statue of the gods knelt in unison, uttering deep, resonant cries:

“Our Emperor awakens!”

“Our Emperor awakens!!”

The voices grew louder and louder, soon swelling into a celestial chorus, ringing like great bronze bells. At that very instant, radiant spears of light burst forth from the wound where the Divine Emperor’s head had once been severed.

Thirty-six in total!

The moment they interlaced, they formed a face—visible to all.

To Seventh Brother, that face was one he had seen long ago.

And in the next heartbeat, those eyes—closed for eons—suddenly snapped open!

Sacred golden radiance poured forth, dyeing heaven and earth in gold.

The Divine Emperor had awakened!

Through Er Niu’s return,

at a special place,

by a special method,

with a special guide—

the ritual of return was complete!

And at the very instant of awakening, the faint glimmer that had lingered in His chest suddenly blazed forth with tremendous force!

Within it swirled seven-colored light, and boundless mystery surged upward.

This radiance was none other than the Primordial Light venerated by the Huangtian Divine Clan!

Formless by nature, it had seemed to vanish with the sealing of the Divine Emperor—but now, at the moment of His return, it appeared reborn, shining once more with brilliant clarity!

Even as this Primordial Light blazed, the half of the Divine Emperor’s body that had been replaced by Er Niu’s flesh began visibly dissolving!

The transformation was fierce—the blue hue faded before their very eyes.

Soon even the last remnant, His left arm, seemed destined to lose its borrowed color.

But just then—Er Niu’s mad, defiant will surged forth from the Divine Emperor’s left arm:

“You schemed against me—but I schemed against you too!”

“Old Divine Head, I originally devoured you to claim your divine essence and grow strong enough to help Old Man.”

“But now that the Wanggu Crisis is resolved, the reason I still devour you… is for your light!”

“That light your clan has worshipped—if Little Aqing can absorb it, it must surely benefit him.”

“What has Mi Ming ever given the Divine Maiden? As the eldest senior brother, I’ll take your clan’s light and offer it to Little Aqing as my gift!”

These thoughts exploded outward in an instant—frenzied, reckless, utterly characteristic of Er Niu.

As they echoed across the world, he seized control of the Divine Emperor’s left hand and drove it fiercely into His own chest, grasping that mysterious, ancient source of light within the flesh.

Then—he yanked it out!

Holding it aloft, he hurled it toward Xu Qing with all his might.

“Little Aqing, catch it!”

“And hurry… come save me!!”