Chapter 962: Grand Venerable Yinglong

"Lord Ghost of the Great Qian Dynasty pays his humblest respects to the Immortal Ying Tian." Lord Ghost stepped into the miniature world within the ancient ring, bowing deeply with hands clasped.

He held a total of four tokens in his possession; so long as one of the four ancient immortals was nearby, the corresponding token would react. Upon entering this realm, the token bearing the characters "Ying Tian" grew burning hot, almost to the point of searing.

The existence before him was none other than the legendary Immortal Ying Tian—the one who had defined the ancient order, commanded the power of heavenly tribulations, and held the title of the Ancestor of Artifact Refining!

Merely being subjected to his gaze evoked an involuntary shudder, a spine-chilling sensation akin to standing before the Sovereign Emperor himself.

"You may look upon Our immortal countenance."

Granted permission by the Immortal Ying Tian, Lord Ghost raised his gaze.

As he lifted his head, a colossal golden wall filled his vision, its surface adorned with patterns resembling fish scales. When the golden wall shifted, a sudden realization struck Lord Ghost like a thunderbolt—this was no wall of gold, but the immense coil of a true golden dragon!

He craned his neck even higher, locking eyes directly with the gaze of the golden dragon's head.

Within the pure white space, the golden dragon lay coiled, its head slightly lowered as it stared down at Lord Ghost, devoid of any discernible expression.

The dragon's length spanned an unimaginable tens of thousands of feet, far surpassing any true dragon Lord Ghost had ever witnessed. Its entire body appeared as if cast from molten gold, with majestic wings unfurled upon its back; the dragon's head exuded an innate, awe-inspiring majesty, possessing a divine aura that even the most master craftsman could not hope to capture even a fraction of.

A faint smile remained fixed on Lord Ghost's face, though his mind raced with the realization that the legends claiming Immortal Ying Tian was the Great Venerable Yinglong of the Eastern Sea were indeed true.

White draconic breath billowed from the dragon's nostrils as its ruthless eyes locked onto the token in Lord Ghost's hand, its deep voice echoing through the entire miniature world of the ancient ring, causing Lord Ghost's ears to buzz violently.

"It seems your Great Qian possesses some measure of ability to have traced Our whereabouts."

"Attacking Jinghong to force Our hand—what business do you have with Us?" The Great Venerable Yinglong's words carried an undercurrent of interrogation.

The moment he intervened, Lu Yang would likely notice the anomaly here and discover his presence.

"My master wishes to gather the strength of the four ancient immortals to shatter the cage's seal and open a path to the outside world. We humbly pray for the Immortal Venerable's fulfillment of this wish."

The Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian had discovered that the seal of this six-sided world was constructed using the power of the Dao Fruits of the four ancient immortals. To undo the seal of this caged world, the intervention of the four ancient immortals was required. Thus, the four tokens had been forged to locate and subsequently persuade them.

If they could win Immortal Ying Tian over to the side of the Great Qian, it would be a merit far greater than felling the Ancestral Laurel Tree.

Furthermore, the Ancestral Laurel Tree was right here and could be observed at any time, whereas an opportunity to meet Immortal Ying Tian would only come once.

"To break the seal? Very well."

Lord Ghost was overjoyed, never expecting the legendary Immortal Ying Tian to be so amenable; the elaborate speech he had prepared for half the day was rendered entirely useless: "Then..."

"But not now."

"May I venture to ask when the Immortal Venerable intends to break the seal?"

"Upon the death of the Sixth Immortal."

Lord Ghost did not comprehend who the Sixth Immortal spoken of by Ying Tian was. Was it the enemy from that ancient war where stars were refined into continents?

Then who was the Fifth Immortal?

"And when exactly might this Sixth Immortal be found?"

"We know not."

"You know not?"

Lord Ghost was dumbfounded. If the time was unknown, how long would they have to wait? Must the Emperor wait another three hundred thousand years, and must they slumber for another three hundred thousand years as well?

"Setting aside the fact that the Immortal One has not yet resurrected and the seal cannot be broken, the Sixth Immortal is a person who stops at nothing to achieve his ends. In days of old, the extinguishing of the Kindling and the misery of all living creation were due to his machinations. If the world's seal is broken and he is allowed to escape, it will surely bring further disaster and harm to the mortal realm. Can your Great Qian bear such a responsibility?"

"The Immortal Venerable is benevolent, but what do the common people of the world have to do with us cultivators?" Lord Ghost laughed. If they cared for the common mortals, they would not have allowed the Great Qian to fall and plunged the world into chaotic warfare.

"The common people possess a resilient vitality; destroy one generation, and a new one will be born. Why should the Immortal Venerable fret over the life and death of these commoners?"

"This matter is of grave importance, and my master attaches great weight to it. We pray the Immortal Venerable will move his steps to converse with my master. What say you?"

"And what if We refuse?"

"Then please do not blame this junior for being impolite, Immortal Venerable."

"In this junior's estimation, your current state is likely far from ideal, Immortal Venerable. I have heard that the entity that perished in the Sword Pavilion was a creature born from your own corpse. Deprived of your physical body, how many layers of your heaven-shaking cultivation can you truly deploy?"

At this point, the smile on Lord Ghost's face remained, yet it was no longer a sycophantic grin; it had transformed into an expressive, deeply mocking sneer.

Lord Ghost had assessed the strength of the Corpse of Ying Tian that appeared in the Sword Pavilion. The Corpse of Ying Tian possessed only a physical body without a Dao Fruit; it could barely be called an immortal, making it the weakest among its kind.

Yet, Immortal Ying Tian's soul was separated from his flesh, and he had failed to slay the Corpse of Ying Tian to reclaim his body. This implied that Immortal Ying Tian did not even possess the certainty of defeating his own corpse, meaning their strengths were roughly equal.

Since that was the case, he would proceed with his initial plan: slay Immortal Ying Tian and seize the Dao Fruit of Tribulation.

"Courting death."

Simultaneously, the Great Venerable Yinglong transmitted his voice to Jinghong, warning her under no circumstances to enter the ancient ring until the matter was resolved.

"Then please leave your life behind, Immortal Venerable!"

A divine talisman manifested at the center of Lord Ghost's brow, its runes rapidly evolving into an emperor who reigned over the nine heavens—the very Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian, of whom not a single portrait had been left behind in history!

The emperor opened his eyes, seemingly capable of crushing the heavens, stifling any thought of resistance in the hearts of men.

"Merely an avatar formed from the power of incense offerings, yet you think you can overturn the heavens?" The Great Venerable Yinglong sneered. If the true body of the Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian had come, he would indeed be no match in his current state. But for a mere avatar to attempt to deal with him was nothing short of an idiot's dream.

The Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian extended a massive hand, placing it squarely upon Lord Ghost's crown. Lord Ghost, as if having long anticipated this action from his master's avatar, offered no resistance, allowing himself to be absorbed by it.

The Great Venerable Yinglong raised an eyebrow, seemingly discerning some hidden trick.

He sensed that the avatar of the Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian devouring Lord Ghost was not simply done to strengthen the avatar; there had to be another purpose.

"Nine Heavens Profound Thunder."

In an instant, the sky above the miniature world of the ancient ring grew dense with dark clouds, flickering with flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder. Each strand of lightning was potent enough to scatter the soul of a Body Integration Stage cultivator, and there were tens of millions of such lightning strands present here!

The tens of millions of lightning strands continuously condensed and merged, forming a single, crimson-red profound thunderbolt. It locked onto the karma of the Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian's avatar and struck down decisively.

To his surprise, a massive black vortex opened above the head of the Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian's avatar. As the crimson-red profound thunder crashed down, it was entirely swallowed by the black vortex, failing to stir even the slightest ripple.

"Devouring? Storing? Transferring?" Various thoughts flashed through the Great Venerable Yinglong's mind as he speculated on exactly what kind of Dao Fruit the Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian possessed.

A second profound thunderbolt struck down, carrying terrifying might and boundless light, yet it was once again consumed by the black vortex above the avatar's head, as though no heavenly tribulation had ever fallen.

Having undergone the baptism of the heavenly tribulation, the avatar of the Sovereign Emperor of Zhongtian remained completely unscathed by the lightning, strolling through the tribulation with leisurely ease and ample competence.

"Intriguing. The immortals of the later generations do indeed possess some skill."