Chapter 987: A Chance at Life (1/2)

The Exalted Divine Emperor had been a supreme powerhouse in the era of human dao, but no one knew whether he’d been a great emperor or in the chaos realm. In that age, “great emperor” was both a title of honor and a cultivation realm.

He’d been inexplicably murdered before Emperors Fall instead of dying in that great battle, and his death still remained one of the greatest mysteries in the world.

At that time, the Exalted Divine Emperor had been of the same mind as Bai Zhaoju, Ling Weiyang, Chi Biaonu, and the others—willing to sacrifice his great dao and integrate it with the immortal dao for the sake of future descendants.

But someone had killed him before he could do so. The ancient divine court wouldn’t have risen otherwise, going to all that painstaking effort to rule over the immortal dao so they could etch their Sacred Origin Runes into the Dao Flower.

Now that the Exalted Divine Emperor’s true spirit was free, Lu Yun immediately whisked him away. The demon god raised a cupped fist salute and paid his respects at the empty air.

……

With the arrival of the first great emperor beneath the immortal dao, all of heaven and earth resonated in unison. However, life in the world of immortals didn’t know that the demon god was the first great emperor. General knowledge put the dean of monster spirit dao as the first great emperor. Therefore, this second great emperor also originated from the Dao Academy, and he was the dean of the demonic dao!

Monster spirits and demons? Was this age about to see their ascendency?

“Tushan is an anomaly beneath the heavens. She’s an empyrean realm master instead of a great emperor, but to think that the first great emperor would be Ji Du!” There were now many in the world who knew about the demon god.

“Ji Du’s opportunity came from the true spirit of the Exalted Divine Emperor… What a pity that he hid in the Dao Academy after we awoke, making it impossible for us to do anything,” fumed the grand pure experts of the ten lands.

Even Dusk Province was the lair of a tiger to them, to say nothing of the academy. That incredibly vicious sword formation guarding the province could take down great emperors, so it barely needed to activate to exterminate a few grand pure experts.

That was why the factions of the world only dared to ally together and boycott the academy, but refrained from actually invading Dusk Province.

“Torch dragon!” One of the rulers of the ten lands looked in the direction of Heaven Locus Land. “Your race went extinct because of the humans…”

“Scram!” spat the torch dragon coiled around the dragonbolt pillar when he heard his name.

The ruler who’d called out to him scowled ominously. They only knew the torch dragon as the sole surviving member of his species; they didn’t know anything else about him. Thus, they had no idea that this was also the first torch dragon of his kind, a connate demon god birthed by nature. He’d signed a contract with the Flame Emperor of the human race to be a guardian for humanity.

Once a mighty master in the lofty chaos realm, the torch dragon had descended to human king, which was now peak grand pure realm, because he’d voluntarily offered his great dao up to the immortal dao.

The torch dragon had already died by the time of Emperors Fall, but since he was a connate demon god born of hellfire and a signatory with the Flame Emperor, he could continuously be reborn as long as hellfire remained burning. However, the caveat was that he could no longer recover to his peak after rebirth and would forever remain at human king realm.

With all that said, it would be the most fantastical tale ever told if the rulers of the other nine lands convinced him to band with them against the Dao Academy. The headmaster of the academy was the Flame Emperor of the human race!

To take things one step further, the Xuanyuan Divine Nation hailed the Flame Emperor as their god. After all, this was the one who’d enlightened Emperor Xuanyuan and facilitated his rise to the chaos realm.

……

The battle of Witherdew Major raged on. The appearance of the first great emperor beneath the immortal dao instantly boosted academy morale to new heights.

Formations assembled by constellation class fortress ships rampaged through the major, distributing the power of the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals through undulating ripples that massacred any akasha ghost and soul they touched.

The Bell of Chaos hung upside down over the little fox’s head, the actual Scroll of Shepherding Immortals in her hands. Her consciousness was locked onto the Witherdew court. Once the big akasha ghost was thrown out of the premises, she would immediately suppress it with her treasures at hand.

Whether it was the big akasha ghost that was the origin divine or the others, all of them were cowering in the major’s court and didn’t dare show themselves. The Scroll of Shepherding Immortals exerted too much force over them. When Qing Yu had faced her first akasha ghost, she’d used the scroll to kill its replica.

The three dao palaces and a hundred thousand fortress ships had now reached the heart of Witherdew Major. Its capital had been destroyed long ago, leaving only a broken palace hovering over the ruins of its capital city.

As the dao palaces had sealed off the entire major, it was almost impossible for the akasha ghosts to leave the territory. However, a hazy force had coalesced into a bizarre boundary outside the Witherdew court. It would also be very difficult for the Dao Academy to take it down.

……

“Flame Emperor, do you intend to show no mercy?” A big akasha ghost floated out like a wisp of smoke. Formless and intangible, the only part of it that could be made out was its ghostly face that was both laughing and crying.

These ghosts displayed a crudely sketched face without true features to the world, but in this moment, almost everyone glimpsed a trace of inerasable sorrow on this one’s face. Both laughing and crying, but neither at the same time, its expression was a result of being unable to fully express its emotions.

“You lofty masterminds behind Emperors Fall stripped our great dao from us for the sake of so-called righteousness of the heavens and a laughable future. You were the ones who filled human dao with resentment and malice!