Chapter 444: Supreme Grand Celestial Venerable of the Heavenly Court Sect

Wu Youdao looked at the holy goddess before him with uncertainty and suspicion, a wave of unease rising within his heart.

He had allowed Governor Lu to strike, for even if Qiu Jin'an and the man in the white paper hat stepped in later to save the day, victory would remain firmly in his grasp; before absolute might, such people could raise no waves.

Yet now, he felt as though things were spiraling toward an uncontrollable direction.

Never since his birth had he ever experienced such a sensation.

"What is the Heavenly Court Sect? And who is the Fighting Heavenly Venerable?" Venerable Pale Thunder and the Shaman Priest exchanged glances, seeing the panic in each other’s eyes.

The very purpose of their journey was the power of the national fortune, and just moments ago, when Wu Youdao had moved to seize it, they had both been scanning the surroundings for any movement.

It could be said that if so much as a blade of grass stirred in the vicinity, it could not have escaped their sight.

Yet this woman had appeared before the eyes of the entire crowd, and not a single soul had discovered how she manifested.

How was this possible!

The two rapidly searched the intelligence they had gathered in their minds, but from antiquity to the present day, nothing could ever be matched with the names of the Heavenly Court Sect and the Fighting Heavenly Venerable.

The only close matches were the current Four Great Demonic Sects: the Immortal Sect, the Nine Nether Sect, the Radiance Sect, and the Heartless Sect.

"There seem to be records concerning the Heavenly Court in ancient texts!" the Shaman Priest's voice trembled as fear began to spread through his heart.

"An ancient organization?!" Venerable Pale Thunder gasped in a low voice. He subscribed to the philosophy that the older something was, the more powerful it became; as someone from over a hundred thousand years ago, he looked down upon the current Great Xia and believed that the cultivators of their Great Yu were the strongest.

Yet the Fighting Heavenly Venerable who had appeared now seemed to hail from the most ancient of antiquity.

Furthermore, to bear the character 'Dou'—meaning to fight—as a title of honor, this person must be someone exceptionally skilled in combat!

"Wait, did she not just refer to herself as 'This Immortal'?!" Venerable Pale Thunder recalled a piece of critical information that had been overlooked from the very beginning.

"She is an immortal?!"

Through all their calculations, they had never anticipated that a true immortal would be hidden within Hanshui City!

An immortal honored with the title of combat would likely possess a battle prowess that was by no means weak, even among immortals!

"The Supreme Great Heavenly Venerable of the Heavenly Court Sect?" At first, when the man in the white paper hat saw the Immortal Fairy appear, he was thoroughly bewildered, having no idea who she was.

Now that the Immortal Fairy had declared her identity, the truth finally dawned on him.

He recalled the transmission given to him by Vice Sect Master Shi, which mentioned that people from the Heavenly Court Sect had arrived in Hanshui City, and that they were somewhat displeased to hear rumors that the ghost calamity was suspected to be the work of the Nine Nether Sect; fortunately, Vice Sect Master Shi had worried this matter might affect the cooperation between the two sects and had already explained everything clearly.

Thinking back on it now, a cold sweat broke out over the man in the white paper hat; the so-called member of the Heavenly Court Sect was likely the Supreme Great Heavenly Venerable standing right before his eyes.

"Fortunately, it was explained clearly."

What kind of figure was the Supreme Great Heavenly Venerable? The first to attain immortality in antiquity, a supreme existence whom even the Four Immortals of Antiquity had to fear!

"Do you know this person?" Qiu Jin'an noticed the strange expression on the face of the man in the white paper hat and quietly sent him a divine transmission.

"This is an unspeakable, prominent figure." The man in the white paper hat dared not and wished not to discuss the Supreme Great Heavenly Venerable in detail.

Qiu Jin'an’s brow twitched; he hesitated to speak, but the words died on his lips before they could be uttered.

"Lord Lu, are you all right?"

Everyone else was drawn to the Immortal Fairy who was bathed in the power of the national fortune; of everyone present, only Lu Yang paid attention to Governor Lu, who was still coughing up blood.

"Cough, cough... I'll manage." Governor Lu stood up with difficulty, drew a few medicinal pills from his storage ring, swallowed them, and sat cross-legged to meditate.

Only then did Lu Yang raise his eyes to gaze at the focal point of everyone's attention high up in the sky, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his lips as he remembered the last words the Immortal Fairy had spoken before joining the fray.

"This Immortal said I would guarantee your safety in Huangzhou."

"Hmph, what immortal? Nothing but a bluff!" Wu Youdao calmed himself down; if the person before him truly were an immortal, he would have been dead from that strike just now.

The Immortal Fairy chuckled softly, looking down at Wu Youdao with disdain: "Ignorant. What stands here is merely a sliver of This Immortal’s consciousness. Seeing that this power of the national fortune is decent, I have simply borrowed it for a moment. Can a junior of the later generations not even see through something so simple?"

Wu Youdao held the title of the second strongest emperor of the successive Yu dynasties, after all, so he was not to be easily frightened.

"The power of the national fortune can at most elevate you to the early Tribulation Transmutation Stage, matching the three of us. Do you truly believe you stand a chance at winning against three opponents alone?"

Venerable Pale Thunder and the Shaman Priest also came to their senses; the opponent might truly be an immortal, but her true body was not here, and what remained was merely a sliver of consciousness controlling the power of the national fortune.

Since the opponent's strength was still limited to the early Tribulation Transmutation Stage, there was nothing to fear.

Being equally at the early Tribulation Transmutation Stage, who could possibly be weaker than whom?

The Immortal Fairy spoke once more, her tone indifferent: "If Ying Tian, Qilin, and Jiuchong were at the early Tribulation Transmutation Stage, they might pose a slight threat to This Immortal. As for the three of you trash..."

She shook her head gently, saying no more.

The so-called second strongest emperor of the successive Yu dynasties was nothing more than ordinary in the eyes of the Immortal Fairy; the second strongest of the successive emperors did not mean the second strongest cultivator of the Great Yu Dynasty over its hundred thousand years of existence.

Seeing the Immortal Fairy adopt such an attitude, Wu Youdao flew into a violent rage and roared: "Universe in the Palm!"

Though it was clearly daytime, the entirety of Hanshui City suddenly plunged into darkness, and countless commoners instinctively looked up, their bodies trembling all over.

A colossal hand that blotted out the sky shrouded Hanshui City; with the eyesight of these mortals, they could not discern just how massive this hand truly was, feeling only that this great hand obstructed everything, and even the heavens were no exception.

Qiu Jin'an and the man in the white paper hat, however, perceived far more intricate details; the palm of this colossal hand contained all creation within the universe, housing countless grotto-heavens of immeasurable weight, and once it pressed down, the entire Hanshui City would be utterly destroyed, reduced to fine powder.

Facing this terrifyingly massive hand, the Immortal Fairy did not even lift an eyelash.

"This Immortal said that this kind of toy is not qualified to be called the Universe in the Palm. Today, This Immortal shall let you witness what a true Universe in the Palm looks like."

Wu Youdao's heart skipped a beat, and he snapped his head upward, a look of absolute disbelief on his face.

The crowd was at the very bottom and could not see the situation above the sky-blotting handprint, but Wu Youdao could see it clearly.

A massive pillar pierced through layer upon layer of cloud barriers, appearing directly above the giant hand, with clouds that had not yet had time to dissipate still clinging to the tip of the pillar.

What kind of pillar was that? It was clearly a finger!

A single finger that was even more colossal than the giant hand!

"It is merely a bit larger, I refuse to believe a single finger of yours can best my palm!" Wu Youdao roared in anger, frantically circulating his spiritual energy as the great hand flipped over with its palm facing the heavens; it was a mere turning of the hand, yet it whipped up a hurricane within Hanshui City.

Within Wu Youdao's great hand, one grotto-heaven after another manifested, filled with exotic flowers and rare herbs vying in splendor, along with countless and varied heavenly treasures.

Each grotto-heaven was both a minor world and a treasury!

The Immortal Fairy looked indifferently at the frenzied Wu Youdao, exerting a fraction of force with her fingertip.

This fingertip contained endless universes and stars; the stars shattered and pieced themselves back together, repeating the cycle continuously, erupting with immense energy.

The fingertip collided with the giant hand, and Wu Youdao's great hand did not hold out for long before being pierced and blown apart by a single finger.

Boom—

Blown apart along with it was the law that Wu Youdao had established—that within a single day, no information could be transmitted out of Hanshui City.

A law that had remained intact even during the Shaman Priest's tribulation was pierced through by a single finger from the Immortal Fairy!

Heaven and earth fell into absolute silence.

The Immortal Fairy withdrew her hand and looked at Wu Youdao, who was heavily injured and coughing up blood due to the backlash of the law, her tone remaining just as indifferent as before.

"This is the true Universe in the Palm."