Even, pressure was highly strong yet how could the dragon bloodline accept kneeling before someone?!
Primordial Dragon Bloodline: 26%
27℅
28%
29%
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sound of snapping bones echoed like gunshots in the silent crater. Tianmo's legs, compressed under the weight of the Immortal Emperor's will, began to fracture. The tibia and fibula shattered, the jagged ends of bone tearing through the pristine skin of his regenerated calves.
Blood, thick, dark, and glowing with a faint violet luminescence, pooled on the ground. However, unlike before it didn't heal.
It was the Emperor's might—the weight of a soul that had traversed eons, crushing the reality of the present, capable of suppressing the Dao rhythm.
"Come forth: Domain—The True gate of the eternal peace."
The Immortal Emperor, inhabiting Li Chen's body, spoke with a voice that commanded the laws of reality, summing forth his domain.
The sky above the ruined Azure Cloud Sect vanished.
In its place stretched a grotesque paradise. The sun was replaced by a colossal, weeping eye, shedding tears of mercury that sizzled when they hit the ground. Below, the jagged rocks of the crater smoothed over, transforming into a field of soft, pale grass that swayed without wind.
Massive trees, their bark the color of dried bone and their veins pulsing with dark gold, erupted from the earth. They grew in seconds, towering into the heavens, their branches heavy not with leaves, but with fruit.
Heads. Thousands of them.
Men, women, beasts, demons. They hung from the branches like ripe apples, their eyes closed in expressions of ecstatic peace, their mouths open in silent songs. This was the "True Gate of Eternal Peace"—a graveyard disguised as a garden, where the dead found eternal rest under the absolute dominion of the Emperor.
"Behold the power of a GOD," the Immortal Emperor said, his voice echoing from every tree, every fruit, every blade of grass. "This is the weight of a true Sovereign. Do you feel it, mongrel? The despair of the void? Don't you feel proud to meet your demise in such a beautiful domain?"
He hovered above, Li Chen's body radiating a blinding golden light. The Supreme Nine Yang physique was reacting to the domain, burning so hotly that the air around him distorted, turning the space around him into a lens.
"Kneel deeper," the Emperor commanded, pushing down with his psychic will. "Bury your head in the dirt of my garden. Become fertilizer for my trees."
"Oh! You can stand in my presence?!" Immortal Emperor raised his eyebrows unable to fathom how could a mere soul formation cultivation could dare to stand before the domain of the Emperor.
One can only unlock the domain after reaching the True Emperor realm and obtaining Domain enlightenment.
Cultivation above Soul Emperor: Void Refining, Holy Saint, Divine Saint, Saint King, Saint Emperor, Saint Sovereign, Great Sage, True Sage, True Emperor, Mahayana, Ascension.
Mahayana is the ceiling of this world, comprehending Ascension means you will ascend to the Immortal realm after passing the world-crossing lightning tribulation.
The Immortal Emperor, observing Tianmo's struggle, felt a flicker of genuine surprise—a rare emotion for a being who had long since grown bored of the mundane.
"He withstands the Domain?" The voice that left Li Chen's lips was layered, a thousand echoes of a dead god speaking in unison. "Interesting. The Formless Spiritual Root adapts to the pressure, mimicking the void to disperse the weight. And that bloodline... the Primordial Dragon refuses to bend its knee to anyone. What a powerful bloodline."
The Emperor raised a hand, his fingers slender and pale within the golden radiance of the Nine Yang physique.
"Very well. If words and pressure cannot tame you, then let us see if your flesh is as stubborn as your spirit."
He snapped his fingers.
Snap.
The sound was like a starting gun for a race of death.
In the "True Gate of Eternal Peace," the thousands of heads hanging from the bone-like trees snapped their eyes open simultaneously.
"OBEY."
"SURRENDER."
"SUBMIT."
A cacophony of whispers erupted, a psychic storm that surged towards Tianmo like a tsunami of sound. It wasn't just noise; it was the collective will of the thousands of souls the Emperor had consumed over eons.
It was despair, madness, and the crushing weight of absolute servitude. Each voice laced with Dao.
Simultaneously, the mercury tears falling from the weeping eye in the sky turned into streaks of liquid metal, raining down with the velocity of meteorites.
Tianmo felt his consciousness blur.
Is this the end?!
No...
Woosh!
He gathered the purple aura in his hand. Li Chen, the protagonist has already died, which means that as long as he can simply touch his body, he can instantly steal the Dual Pupils and Supreme Nine Yang Body.
"Senior... I admit defeat. I can't fight so, I shall allow you to possess this body, however, I have a simple request."
The Immortal Emperor paused, the mercury rain halting in mid-air, suspended by his sheer will. The cacophony of whispers from the hanging heads died down, replaced by a silence so profound it felt heavy.
He looked down at Tianmo, a cruel, amused smile stretching Li Chen's lips.
"Request?" The Emperor laughed, the sound like grinding stones. "An ant speaks of terms to the boot that crushes it? Very well. Entertain me, boy. What could a dying mongrel possibly want to request?"
"Thank you! Thank you senior..." Tianmo began to kowtow, causing Immortal Emperor to smile. "Your majesty, before I die... I wish to spread my yang so, my descendants could carry my name and legacy."
Immortal Emperor: "..."
This boy... Heh. Well, it has some logic to it. However, it is pointless.
"A dead one has no legacy... Be obedient, at best, this emperor shall breed your mother and give her another child for the loss of one to balance the karma," the Immortal Emperor stated, his voice devoid of empathy, his eyes narrowing with a cruel, calculating light.
Woosh!
With a wave of his hand, a spear made out of first appeared containing profound dao rhythm, and it shot towards Tianmo.
Tianmo's eyes didn't waver. He didn't dodge. He didn't try to block. Instead, he did the unthinkable.
He stepped forward, into the spear.
Shlck.
The tip of the ice spear, sharp enough to pierce the scales of a dragon, entered Tianmo's chest with ease. It exited his back, dripping with violet blood, the wound steaming in the cold air of the Domain.
Woosh!
Ice Qi erupted instantly freezing the Tianmo's body from the inside out. Crystals of frost bloomed across his skin like a deadly rash, turning his flesh into a grotesque statue of frozen violet glass.
His heart stopped. The flow of Qi in his meridians ceased. Even the Formless Spiritual Root, that boundless well of potential, seemed to freeze under the absolute zero of the Emperor's attack.
He floated down, his feet touching the grass of his domain. He extended a hand, his fingers glowing with a complex, ancient runic array—the Soul Seizing Array.
"Come, boy. Your existence ends here. Your potential becomes my foundation."
He placed his hand on Tianmo's frozen forehead.
The moment their skin made contact, the world turned upside down.
The Immortal Emperor expected to feel a soul. A consciousness. A terrified mind begging for mercy or raging in defiance. Instead, he felt... a hook.
A jagged, metaphysical hook made of pure, unadulterated greed, buried deep in the fabric of Li Chen's soul.
"What is this?!" The Emperor recoiled, his mental voice screaming. He tried to pull his hand back, but he was stuck. No, he was being pulled.
Woosh!
A sinister purple aura erupted from Tianmo.
Cheat the cheater.
"This brat... Not good." he pulled back, but nothing happened, his or Li Chen's body was covered in a purple aura.
"Interesting.... This body is being refined. Dual pupils and Supreme Yang Body. How amusing." Immortal Emperor, possessing Li Chen began to cum while the body was being refined.
Primordial Bloodline, Supreme Dao bones, Zodiac meridians, Immortal Dao body, the Formless Spiritual Root, the true devil heart, the all-refining devil fire, and is that Immortal damtian as well?! And now with added Dual Pupils and Supreme Nine Yang Physique.
"Oh lord have mercy!!! I am about to bust the best of my life!!"
True ecstasy. The nirvana of orgasm.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Immortal Emperor erupted just like how Tianmo erupted inside Liu Ruyan.
Swish!
Immortal Emperor's soul came out of Li Chen's body, before it could turn into dust, "Interesting... What a perfect vessel. It's only natural that it should belong to me..."
Tianmo's cultivation further progressed by one minor realm, reaching an early-sixth-stage soul formation realm cultivator.
Since, he was in soul form, Immortal Emperor didn't dare rush into Tianmo's body, his soul would be instantly sucked by the spirit root.
Now he has two choices in front of him.
Kill this brat right now. Which he can easily do with his powerful soul cultivation base, and, only obtains 8 supreme Dao bones.
Or,
He can find another body to possess and come, but he can't make the same mistake again. That Purple aura is a conceptual-level thing.
To think such a brat exists in the lower realm. How amusing.
He would really kill this brat... After all, that's the most logical option here. But primordial bloodline?! Dual pupils... Such things won't come often. He has a high chance to seize his soul and body so, it's better to let him live for a few days.
Just then.
"Senior... How about a game?!"
"A game?!"
"Yes. I will stand here... You can possess me. I swear in the name of Heavenly Dao, my Dao heart and my family, I shall not cheat, the battle will be between you and my spirit root, if my spirit root wins, you shall be my stepping stone, if you win I shall be your stepping stone."
The golden light of the Heavenly Dao oath coiled around Tianmo like a serpent of judgment, sinking into his skin and sealing his fate with the immutable laws of the realm. It was a binding that could not be broken, a contract written in the very fabric of reality.
If he lost, his soul would be extinguished, and his body would become the eternal chariot for the Immortal Emperor.
If he won, the Emperor would be refined into pure energy, fueling Tianmo's ascent to godhood.
The Immortal Emperor's soul, a translucent giant radiating the majesty of the cosmos, hovered in the air. He looked down at the Tianmo with his divine soul.
If he is really only against the spirit root without Dual pupils and refining he has a 73% chance to seize the soul and body. He has a devil heart so, him swearing on the Dao heart makes no sense.
Should he take a chance?! After all, it's a nascent soul. ( second soul ) If he wins, he wins the ultimate jackpot. If he fails, he will lose a divine soul.
But he worked very hard to send his divine soul to the lower realm.
After a few seconds, he decided it was worth a try. Since heaven has acknowledged his vow it's perfect. If he can't use him as a vessel, no one can.
But with that logic... He can also simply end him and get 8 Supreme bones. It's a gain.
Gamble or not.
"Foolish child," the Immortal Emperor sneered, his voice echoing across the ruined garden of his domain. "You gamble your eternal soul on a technicality? You think a mere oath can bind the Heavens to protect your treachery?"
He drifted closer, the translucent form of his soul pulsating with terrifying pressure. "Very well. I accept your game. Not because I believe in your honor, but because I wish to crush that hope personally. I want to see the look in your eyes when your own 'Formless Root' devours you, becoming the fuel for my eternal reign."
The Immortal Emperor didn't hesitate. With a speed that defied the laws of physics, he lunged—the Emperor shot forward like a shooting star made of divine will, diving straight into Tianmo's forehead.
"SUBMIT!"
The command slammed into Tianmo's consciousness like a nuclear detonation.
Inside the Mindscape, the world was a chaotic storm of violet lightning and golden fire. Tianmo's lips curved faintly.
Poor guy... Tianmo doesn't fear heaven. And his family and bloodkins? They are on earth and they can die, it's not like they are going to live forever.
He immediately sat in the lotus position and began to absorb and refine the Immortal Emperor's soul.
Inside the Mindscape, the Immortal Emperor's soul, a colossal giant of translucent energy, roared with the fury of a thousand dying suns. He slammed his will against the walls of Tianmo's consciousness, trying to crush the ant that dared to trap him.
"INSOLENCE! I AM THE EMPEROR! I AM THE HEAVENS!"
But thick roots came forth and began to absorb his very existence, his memories, his comprehension of laws, and the understanding of the Dao.
Woosh!
A primary fear came from his soul... He was in the presence of Primordial. Above him, two eyes made of pure light and dark chaos looked down upon him.
"You dare cheat?! Heavens—"
Woosh!
Boom!
Soul wandering realm.
First stage → Second stage → Third stage →... stage → Ninth stage.
The ascent was violent, a rocket fueled by the essence of a god.
Boom!
Nascent soul.
A strong sensation moved through his body... His body was creating a divine soul.
The sensation was not merely an increase in power; it was a fundamental rewriting of his existence. The shackles of the mortal realm, the invisible chains that bound all living beings to the cycle of reincarnation, were being incinerated by the golden fire of the Emperor's essence.
His Dantian, the "Immortal Dantian," expanded. It was no longer just a reservoir of Qi; it was becoming a galaxy. The liquid spiritual power inside swirled into a vortex, spinning faster and faster until the friction ignited a new form of energy—Nascent Soul Qi.
It was denser, heavier, and possessed a distinct will of its own.
Then, from the center of that spinning galaxy, a spark ignited.
It was small, barely the size of a grain of rice, but it outshone the sun. It was the condensation of his Dao, the crystallization of his very soul.
Crystallization.
The spark grew, feeding on the torrent of energy provided by the refining Immortal Emperor. It took shape—a figure of pure violet light, seated cross-legged, mirroring Tianmo's physical posture.
Its features were indistinct, shrouded in mist, but the aura it radiated was terrifying. It was not just a second body; it was a god in the making.
The figure solidified. A face formed—cold, handsome, and regal. It opened its eyes, and two beams of violet light shot out, piercing the void of his Dantian.
The Nascent Soul was formed.
Early Stage.
Mid Stage.
Late Stage.
Peak Stage.
The ascent didn't stop. The momentum of the Immortal Emperor's soul was too vast, the energy too pure. It was like trying to stop a tidal wave with a teacup.
Second stage nascent soul.
First Stage.
Second Stage.
Third Stage.
...
It finally stopped at the Early-second stage of the Soul Lord realm.
The heavenly finger, void step?! Instant perfection.
All 8 Supreme Dao bones unsealed.
The sky above began to crackle... First, he broke the oath he made on the name of heaven, second, he reached the nascent soul, and third, he even dared to break through to the Soul Lord realm.
However, lightning quickly vanished. Tianmo possesses Formless spirit root, striking him will only strengthen him.
Tianmo looked above and simply muttered "Cowards."
The gain was insane, from near-death experience to this?! Sun Tzu was right, if you can't think of a good move then wait for the enemy to make dumb moves. Both protagonists, both useless.