Chapter 932 — Purple Qi Fills the Heavens, Fist Intent Cleaves the Firmament

At the same time he knew the true identity of the Ancient God Heaven Emperor, and he did a great many things for him.

And if all of it sprang from a stratagem he had settled with Lord Yun hundreds of thousands of years earlier, then everything could be explained.

Yun Jianli's move was vast in power, yet before Shen Mu's half-stroke of the Heaven Seal divine ability it could not hold, and Xiaohan of the Nine Heavens shattered into fragments.

This was inevitable. Lord Yun had died at the end of the Longhan era, four or five hundred thousand years ago.

To pit a divine ability of several hundred thousand years past against one of today — of course it would be broken with ease.

Yun Jianli was not surprised by this.

Yet after Xiaohan of the Nine Heavens came Xiaohan of the Nine Heavens again — only this time, when he unleashed the move once more, it was no longer Lord Yun's divine ability of old.

It had merged the newest and most complete heaven's dao that the Heavenly Court's Daoist sects had researched.

Xiaohan of the Nine Heavens was like nine layers of purple empyrean heaven, nine heavenly palaces, and in each palace sat a Heaven Emperor enthroned! What was more, the reach of Yun Jianli's divine ability had shrunk by countless times.

A moment before, his Xiaohan of the Nine Heavens had covered several li all around; it had looked mighty and far-reaching, but in truth its strength was scattered. Against ordinary folk it would have frightened them to death, but against a powerhouse like Shen Mu it was mere ornament.

Now the move covered only a single zhang across, its power condensed to the highest degree, utterly terrifying, forcing Shen Mu to take it seriously! Yun Jianli's earlier divine ability and this one could no longer be mentioned in the same breath!

Shen Mu could not help but be moved.

Lord Yun's Purple Empyrean Azure Void Art had indeed seized hold of that one word, change.

Beyond absorbing the researches of the Heavenly Court's Daoist sects, this move also bore the traits of the dao arts and divine abilities of Kaihuang's era.

The hallmark of Kaihuang's age was this: no pursuit of vast and magnificent momentum, but every effort to compress a divine ability's might into a square inch, striving to break a surface with a point, to slay the enemy while doing the least harm to the surroundings, to bring forth the greatest power at the smallest cost. Yun Jianli's move did precisely that.

"The Yun clan's divine abilities are indeed very strong. " Shen Mu's eyes flashed with keen light; the Mystic Body Three Core Art stirred, and the surging vital essence within him was summoned up: "But I am stronger! " The martial spirit in his body erupted; he threw one punch, and the boundless force drove straight through Xiaohan of the Nine Heavens!

In the very instant their fists and seals clashed, two great waves rose from the Jade Sea behind them and went racing off into the distance.

The towering swells they raised even carried the giant divine turtles of the Jade Sea up into the sky — turtles that bore divine mountains on their backs, and on those mountains stood many palaces and treasure halls, where the divine maidens of the Jade Pool made their home.

The turtles swam through the surging waters, straining to steady themselves, the divine mountains upon their backs rocking as though in an earthquake.

Many divine maidens came forth from the palaces to look, and between the two great waves they saw the shapes of two youths flitting across the sea, clashing at flying speed, swift as lightning — and yet their moves and divine abilities were utterly terrifying!

Before the Manhui Pavilion, Qi Jiuyi was startled awake by the two men's momentum, roused from the infatuation that Yun Chuxiu had brought upon him, and he looked toward the two in the Jade Sea.

"Yun Jianli is stronger than before. " Qi Jiuyi's expression shifted slightly.

He had crossed hands with Yun Jianli and knew well how strong and how frightful the man was. Sickly though this eldest son of the Yun clan might be, heaven had favored him beyond measure; his cultivation stood out among the younger generation of the Heavenly Court, and his divine abilities were terrifyingly formidable. That time, when he fought Yun Jianli, he had lost on the very first move; Yun Jianli granted him time to rest, and in the second exchange he lost even more cleanly; by the third, he lost faster still.

Qi Jiuyi had studied under the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu and the Black Emperor Yin Zhaojin, possessing the peerless arts of two great emperors, and yet before Yun Jianli he could not walk a single move.

From that day he was wholly convinced of Yun Jianli's superiority.

"I was defeated by Cult Master Shen down in the lower world and learned my own weaknesses; then from Xu Shenghua I learned the fruits of the Jingping Reform, and I thought I might stand alongside Yun Jianli.

Now it seems I am still short of seasoning. The crux of it is entering the dao.

" Qi Jiuyi watched the two in the sea. Yun Jianli abruptly pressed a palm down upon the water's surface; the sea shuddered, the great waves stilled, and the towering swells that had risen on the sea suddenly turned utterly calm, leaving only the divine turtles that had been treading the waves still hanging in the air.

Those turtles, bearing mountains and islands on their backs, paddled their limbs slowly through the sky so as not to come falling down. Below them the sea burst open and water shot to the heavens, and at once banners wrought of seawater rose up from the surface.

Upon the banners appeared runes and patterns of every kind, and the differing patterns together formed the likenesses of three hundred and sixty distinct gods! Before this, Yun Jianli's divine ability had excelled in the small; now it excelled in the large. The banners of three hundred and sixty gods shrouded a hundred li around and formed a vast battle formation.

"Yun Jianli's art. . .

is complete.

.

.

" Qi Jiuyi looked somewhat distraught.

Once the formation was set, Yun Jianli suddenly fell back, like a startled swan evading Shen Mu's attack, and the next moment he struck a huge banner and his figure vanished into it.

"Mo—" A resonant sound issued from the banner, and a god of majestic stature stepped down from its surface — the Great Unity God among the three hundred and sixty gods!

This Great Unity God had no face: no eyes, ears, mouth, or nose, no hair upon his head, all four sides of him a blank void. He was also called the North Pole Great Unity Emperor Lord, the Supreme Unity Emperor Lord, chief of all the stars.

Yun Jianli had now become the Supreme Unity Emperor Lord, as though that lord had come in person, a purple star hanging high behind him, his every gesture carrying immeasurable divine power as he struck down at Shen Mu!

That power carried the dao-rhyme of the great dao of heaven and earth; the divine ability was heaven-formed, its might immeasurable.

Before him Shen Mu was pitifully small, insignificant — and yet the force of Shen Mu's blow was enormous beyond measure, and he held the Supreme Unity Emperor Lord's divine ability at bay by sheer strength. One great, one small, the two collided upon the sea, fists and feet trading blows, battering heaven and earth asunder.

Suddenly the Supreme Unity Emperor Lord was struck by Shen Mu until he collapsed where he stood, his colossal body breaking apart inch by inch; the Emperor Lord flew backward, his flesh dissolving without cease, and with a boom he crashed into another banner. The banner burst; water mist filled the air; and out of the mist walked another god.

This one had a bird's head and a man's body, a scroll cradled in one hand and a brush in the other: the Wenchang God, also called the Wenchang Emperor Lord.

This ancient god's words became law. The mighty aspect of Lord Yun's art was at last revealed in Yun Jianli.