As the Immortal Emperor secretly plotted to reform heaven, a sword had risen from Earth, summoning Wang Sheng.

News of the Nether Realm selecting a new tenth King of Hell spread throughout the Immortal Saint Realm and the four great sky regions. Experts from every region poured into Fengdu City within the Nether Realm.

The sudden influx put enormous pressure on the city's order and stability.

The powers within the Nether Realm had long been tangled together in a web of competing interests. Feng Jiu's faction, the Nether Realm's original forces, Qinghua's new anti–Heavenly Court alliance, and the remnants of the old anti–Heavenly Court alliance all clashed openly and in secret over control of the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation.

After accepting the Great Dao of Creation and emerging from his seclusion on Earth, Wang Sheng immediately rushed to the Nether Realm. Together with Xu Zhongliang, he secretly devised a plan to establish contact with the Nether Realm's original forces.

He concealed both his Dao of the Sword and the Great Dao of Creation under the Dao of Slaughter. After disguising himself, he infiltrated the Nether Realm and delved deep into its underworld. Step by step, he drew closer to the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation. He eventually entered it and met Houtu, allowing him to finally uncover the Jade Emperor's schemes.

Because of Feng Jiu's schemes, the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation had been pushed to the verge of collapse.

Using the Great Dao of Creation, Wang Sheng resolved the crisis of the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation. He then had a brief discussion with Houtu about counterattacking. They sealed the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation and temporarily cut off the cycle of reincarnation itself.

Soon after, Houtu transmitted her voice throughout Fengdu City, exposing Feng Jiu's origins and schemes to all living beings in the city.

The moment the news spread, Feng Jiu's forces were mobilized. The ambush they had prepared in advance sealed the city so tightly that not even water could pass through.

This had been part of Feng Jiu's plan from the very beginning.

Her desire to seize control of the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation was genuine. After all, owning it meant that the celestial soldiers under her command could undergo precise reincarnation after dying in battle and return straight to her faction's territories.

Her desire to wipe out the experts she couldn't control was equally real. Doing so would clear away half the obstacles standing in the way of her second Immortal Saint Realm conquest and the establishment of a Heavenly Court that was free from the Three Pure Ones' control.

Meanwhile, the new anti-Heaven alliance revolved around Earth's cultivation world. They had poured countless resources and years of accumulated strength into the war within the Nether Realm. At the most critical moment, they disrupted Feng Jiu's plan to control the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation.

How could she possibly tolerate that?

One after another, large numbers of experts from her faction arrived. The forces she had concealed for years finally revealed themselves before the experts of Fengdu City.

The villains had taken the initiative.

The situation left Wang Sheng, Xu Zhongliang, and the other experts from Earth's cultivation world deeply frustrated.

The unaffiliated practitioners trapped within the city mostly remained on the sidelines, observing instead of taking a side. In truth, most of them would not stubbornly risk their lives against Feng Jiu's forces if surrendering could spare them the trouble. The four great sky regions were vast beyond measure. Once this battle ended, they could simply flee elsewhere.

What difference was there between Feng Jiu and the Immortal Emperor of the Heavenly Court? And what weight did words like justice truly carry? Who could define righteousness and evil, immortals and devils?

In the end, they were only empty words.

The moral values of Earth's cultivation world could hardly restrain the long-lived beings scattered across the endless space.

Earth's cultivators soon fell into a passive position. Left with no other choice, they prepared to fight with their backs against the wall and force the final battle to start early.

Qinghua and Erlang came to reinforce them. Feng Jiu appeared personally, and the great battle finally began.

Wang Sheng, Erlang, and Feng Jiu then entered a pitch-black domain that resembled a massive black hole. No immortal outside could see what was happening within.

For a time, Earth's cultivators were filled with anxiety.

Meanwhile, Feng Jiu's side remained strangely calm, without the slightest sign of concern. They either thought poorly of her or had absolute confidence in her. Judging from the light burning in the eyes of the experts who arrived with her, though, the answer was clearly the latter.

On paper, Earth's cultivators did not possess great odds of victory in this battle. However, unexpected changes soon appeared across the battlefield.

First, the battle between Qinghua, who commanded the Great Dao of Death, and the Black Emperor quickly came to an end. Entangled in waves of death aura, the Black Emperor slowly lost ground. The black energy tainted even the very source of his Great Dao.

Fortunately, he had spent years building his forces. At a crucial moment, more than a dozen Grand Dao Golden Immortals rushed forward and managed to hold Qinghua back, albeit barely.

Soon after, large numbers of experts from Feng Jiu's faction surrounded Qinghua and launched a fierce assault. The battlefield descended into utter chaos, yet Qinghua himself stood in overwhelming glory.

Dressed in black robes, he stood atop a stone coffin. Two streaks of white hang beside his temples. Lives vanished without hope of return with a mere wave of his hand.

Through his mastery of the Great Dao of Life, he had stood as one of the Four Heavenly Ministers and the ruler of the Eastern Sky Region at the height of the Heavenly Court. After falling into despair, he transformed life into death and comprehended the Five Heavenly Declines. He mastered the Great Dao of Death through that enlightenment and rose beyond the Immortal Saint Realm itself.

Without his support all these years, Earth's cultivators would never have survived to this day.

As his might shook the battlefield, Chun Yangzi, the so-called greatest prodigy of the ancient Heavenly Court, finally revealed the true depth of his Daoist realm.

One man, one sword. White robes fluttered like a soaring swan.

In the past, the stories most often associated with him were tales of romance. After all, he had stirred the hearts of countless fairy maidens, which wouldn't have been a problem had he intended to take responsibility for all of them.

Today, the sword in his hand finally revealed its edge. Once he advanced, nothing could stop him.

The Dao of Pure Yang blazing around him shone like the sun itself. To the cultivators who practiced childlike purity techniques, its brilliance felt like the greatest mockery imaginable.

Qinghua and the Pure Yang Sword Immortal weren't Earth's only source of combat strength, either. Immortals like Zhi Bing; Wu Tianshou; Lishang, who tore through space itself to reach the battlefield; and Xu Zhongliang, who was said to be unsuited for combat, displayed dazzling brilliance across different parts of the battlefield.

Despite everything, though, the overall situation outside remained locked in a stalemate. The true deciding point of the battle was the mass of darkness. Within it were Erlang, the war god of the old Heavenly Court; Wang Sheng, Nuwa's successor; and Feng Jiu, the reincarnated vessel of the Ancient Era Immortal Emperor.

Whichever side emerged victorious would determine the outcome of today's battle.

The only difference lay in whether the victory would be absolute or hard fought.

Junior Brother...

Mu Wanxuan pressed her lips together lightly. Mysterious and profound Dao Rhythm from the Great Dao of Life coiled around her as she drifted like mist through the chaotic battlefield of the Nether Realm.

Her brow remained tightly furrowed, worry filling her delicate features. Again and again, she looked at the black sphere in an attempt to see the battle raging within.

She couldn't care less about Erlang. However, her husband—her junior brother—was inside. He faced Feng Jiu with both the Great Dao of Creation, which he had just recently grasped, and his Dao of the Sword. Feng Jiu was unfathomable, her origins immeasurably mysterious. Just thinking about it filled Mu Wanxuan with unease.

In truth, she already had a decent understanding of Feng Jiu's background from what the surrounding experts had said.

Feng Jiu's identity was exceedingly complicated. She had once been the Immortal Emperor of the Heavenly Court, yet she had also personally destroyed the Heavenly Court. Not only was she an invading devil from beyond this universe, but she was also capable of standing against the Three Pure Ones.

Moreover, she had also schemed relentlessly until she indirectly caused Nuwa's death and once manipulated the Three Realms in the palm of her hand. She built the Heavenly Court with her own hands, then destroyed it with those same hands. Step by step, she reduced the influence of the Three Pure Ones over heaven and earth, coming closer than anyone to becoming the true ruler of all existence.

How is Junior Brother supposed to win against someone like her?

Mu Wanxuan's heart trembled with unease, as though Wang Sheng had already been lost within that darkness forever.

We've been apart for ten thousand years. Are we truly destined to meet again only to part once more?

She bit her lip tightly. Suppressing the urge to rush into the sphere herself, she continued flickering across the battlefield outside Fengdu City. The Nether Realm seemed packed with both living souls and ghosts.

What she saw before her eyes was utter chaos. Countless ghostly figures rose across the eastern skies while boundless immortal light gathered in the west. Some formed massive battle formations with tens of thousands of immortals. Others unleashed devastating attacks that annihilated countless lives in an instant.

Feng Jiu had assembled an enormous immortal force. They had originally sealed Fengdu City from every direction, surrounding both sky and earth like an iron fortress.

However, more and more streaks of light continued flying out from the city, tearing cracks open in the encirclement.

Many experts unrelated to this conflict had already fought their way out. After all, there was no reason for them to stay here.

Mu Wanxuan sighed softly to herself.

In her ten to twenty thousand years of cultivation, she had seen too much indifference among cultivators. She had long grown accustomed to their coldness.

For these cultivators, unless they possessed ambitions for fame or power, it made little difference who ruled the Immortal Saint Realm. It was Feng Jiu herself who had orchestrated the entire destruction of the Heavenly Court. Unaffiliated practitioners had barely played any role in it.

Mu Wanxuan pondered briefly as she weaved across the battlefield. Her graceful hands danced through the air as her immortal robes fluttered. Against the dim world of the Nether Realm, her presence appeared all the more radiant.

As Qinghua's disciple, she had already fully mastered the Great Dao of Life.

She still could not compare to Qinghua at the height of his power during the Heavenly Court's era, but the difference wasn't that great anymore. Calling her a quasi–powerful being would not be an exaggeration.

The vitality she spread through the Great Dao of Life right now gave Earth's cultivators immense reassurance.

Life and death were both under their control. Even if the enemy possessed greater numbers and stronger forces, what did it matter?

Amid the countless battles in the skies, experts from Feng Jiu's faction naturally noticed Mu Wanxuan constantly rescuing the wounded.

However, there was little they could do. She was too elusive, making it impossible to pin her down. Moreover, Earth's cultivators clearly understood how important she was. A support cultivator capable of preserving the lives of the severely wounded and rapidly healing lighter injuries naturally received heavy protection from their side.

To top it all off, several figures had appeared behind Mu Wanxuan, quietly guarding her. All of them were women. Veils covered their faces, yet the pressure they radiated was incomparably terrifying. Every one of them was among the strongest combatants in heaven and earth.

They were friends Mu Wanxuan had known in her previous life when she served as the Cyan-Wood Goddess. Although they had not directly joined the battle against Feng Jiu, their actions clearly showed that they intended to protect her.

The battle only grew fiercer with time. Meanwhile, the black sphere remained completely motionless, causing experts from both sides to grow increasingly uneasy and curious.

What exactly is happening inside?

Several mighty figures attempted to peer into the sphere. They used countless methods, divine abilities, treasured artifacts, and spirit treasures, yet they all still failed to even get a glimpse into it.

Qinghua was even more direct. He seized a woman at the peak of the Golden Immortal Realm from the enemy side and casually hurled her into the sphere. The moment she neared the edge, the black aura surrounding it blocked her completely. She could not enter at all.

Mm?

Qinghua frowned slightly. Through the gaps between the enemies surrounding him, he stared intently at the sphere and immediately prepared to investigate it personally.

As for the experts attacking him, the infamous meme, "Apologies. Everyone here is trash," perfectly described them.

At that moment, a deep rumbling erupted from within the black aura that Feng Jiu had spread. Hundreds of dazzling lights burst forth at once and forcefully expelled a figure from within!

Countless streams of light instantly engulfed the pitch-black sphere. They were manifestations of the Great Dao itself, yet every living being witnessing their radiance instinctively felt uncomfortable.

The figure thrown out soon steadied himself. Erlang shook the long spear in his hand as all three of his eyes narrowed at the flashing lights ahead.

Mu Wanxuan's face instantly turned deathly pale.

Junior Brother...