Chapter 2045: Late Law

“Who said that Xu Xiaoshou should be left to them for handling, and that only if he were genuinely injured would their cooperation be needed to take him down?”

Upon hearing Medicine Ancestor's roar, Saint Xin was seething with rage. The word "worthless" wasn't even enough to describe it. How could a dignified Zero-Ancestor God be reduced to such a pathetic state by a mere Xu Xiaoshou? They couldn't even force him to reveal whether he had truly attained Ancestorhood, whether he could be referred to as "He," to what degree he had ascended if so, or how many Zero-level trump cards he still held. Having lost his footing, he now faced the risk of being completely overwhelmed and defeated!

“At most, he should only have the 'Body Path Long River' left to reveal; surely there couldn't be anything more?”

Unlike Medicine Ancestor, Xu Xiaoshou's growth had been closely monitored. Saint Xin was largely aware of where he had been, what he had experienced, and what treasures he had acquired throughout his life. It was highly unlikely he could suddenly produce Heavenly Realm rarities such as the “Birth Wheel Fruit” or “Fallen World Sky Crystal.” Put simply, his foundation was insufficient. What kind of foundation could a young man who had only pursued the Dao for three years possibly possess? However, even after three years of Dao cultivation, and despite receiving assistance from Name and Nuo, their help would be very limited due to the vast distances spanning multiple planes.

“Shennong Hundred Herbs, are you utterly useless to be beaten to such a state?”

“Heh.” Saint Xin sighed and looked away. Instead, he focused his mind on the Heavenly Dao, beginning to perceive the Holy God Continent's newly elevated Dao Law level. Nourished by the Tree of Memory, the new Heavenly Realm, though not yet fully refined, had imbued this plane's Dao Law level with approximately seventy percent of a true Heavenly Realm's strength across all aspects. This was evident from the vast amounts of unowned holy power that had begun to emanate and flow across the continent. However, amidst the ongoing Ancestor God War, these minor changes garnered little attention.

“Seventy percent, enough for a Zero-Ancestor God to exert their full power. Naturally, it should also be able to withstand my move. However, for the sake of caution, I should still decree and stabilize the Heavenly and Earthly Dao Laws to prevent the new Heavenly Realm from suddenly collapsing.”

With a decision made, Saint Xin no longer hesitated. He maintained the Heavenly and Earthly Sealing while freeing one hand to activate the God-Demon Dao Sea, drawing forth perfectly balanced divine and demonic power.

“Heavenly and Earthly Dao Laws, Threefold Reinforcement and Suppression! Decree!”

With a flick of his finger, the Primordial Mother Coffin, the Dao Extinguishing Profound Ruler, and the Cloud Silk Robe all shot forth. These three Ancestor-level holy weapons were not only for combat. At that moment, the Primordial Mother Coffin sank into the earth, exhaling a powerful and dense yellow earth aura, while the Cloud Silk Robe merged into the sky, transforming into a cloudy shroud that confined this plane. Meanwhile, the Dao Extinguishing Profound Ruler struck directly into the fabric of the Dao Laws, shattering the fragile balance and causing a momentary spiritual energy disruption throughout heaven and earth, after which the Heavenly Dao was completely supplanted by the Holy Dao.

“Huh?” In that very instant, Xu Xiaoshou detected an anomaly. His Ancestral Source Power, Boundless Energy, and even the Body Dao and Battle Dao that his physical body could integrate with, all slipped from his control at that moment. It felt as if he were caught within a Dead Sea Forbidden Law barrier. However, even indirect combat abilities like the Sword Dao and Ancient Martial Arts were unusable; he was completely incapacitated. Yet, before he could fully grasp the situation, after that fleeting moment of alarm, everything returned to his control, as if nothing had happened.

“Whirring!” The Green Time Spirit Demon continued to furiously whittle away at Medicine Ancestor's consciousness tumor. From its initial size of a thousand zhang, it had been cut down to less than a hundred zhang in a short time. Medicine Ancestor was driven to near madness by the assault, yet remained powerless to resist. Xu Xiaoshou, on his part, no longer dared to be content with simply facing Medicine Ancestor. When a sudden premonition warned him of impending danger, he immediately freed a hand and re-secured the erratically flying Cang Ku.

The Sword Dao Disk unfolded. Heaven and Man united as one. Beneath his feet, the illusory and massive Sword Observation Scripture's pages fluttered rapidly, and sword verses began to resonate:

“The Dao also comes in dreams!”

“What?” The moment these Dao sounds left his lips, even before he finished chanting, Saint Xin's expression drastically changed. “You also wish to summon Qing Ju?” He dared not delay for a moment. All his power surged frantically to his fingertips, and with a light touch like a dragonfly skimming water, he tapped the void:

“Divine Court Decree Summoning: Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom.”

His fingertip touched the void as if it were a water curtain. A faint glimmer spread, sweeping across the void. It swept through Xu Xiaoshou's body, permeated Medicine Ancestor's consciousness tumor, and surged toward all parts of the Five Regions.

Boom! Another tremendous roar echoed, and ten thousand-zhang waves surged upward from the Dead Sea. In the four regions of the Holy God Continent—southeast, northwest—intricate Dao principles materialized out of thin air. The Dao principles merged with the surging waves, where the illusory intertwined with the real, forming a barrier that closed upward, ultimately encasing everything in a spherical shape, delineating a massive, rule-bound Heavenly Kingdom.

“A Divine Court?!” The expressions of the observers from Almond Realm drastically changed. Xu Xiaoshou, encircled by the Divine Court, felt a sudden chill. He had seen many Divine Courts before: Dye Ming's Star River Divine Court, Ghost Ancestor's Divine Court of the Underworld, each with its unique characteristics. And the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom Divine Court that Saint Xin now revealed, its characteristic was...

“Law prohibition?” This was too extraordinary! The peculiar sensation that had flickered moments ago now returned. This time, Xu Xiaoshou distinctly felt that not only were his Boundless Energy, Ancestral Source Power, Sword Intent, and Dao Laws unusable, but even the Fallen Blossom Realm and Green Time Spirit Demon he had conjured earlier were directly pulverized into nothingness by the power of the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom.

“Xu Xiaoshou—”

Once freed, Medicine Ancestor rebounded as if springing from rock bottom. His fragmented consciousness rapidly pieced itself together, becoming whole again, and instantly, vitality surged, re-condensing his physical body. Evidently, within the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom, only Xu Xiaoshou was subject to the law prohibition.

“Die—” Medicine Ancestor dared not retreat further. Seizing the opportunity of Xu Xiaoshou's vulnerability, he raised a palm and struck directly at his head.

“Decaying Leaf Death Art!”

That palm, brimming with surging vitality, reached its peak power, then shifted from “life” to its opposite extreme, exuding a potent “death” energy. One could easily imagine the consequences if it truly struck. Not only would his lifespan be instantly depleted, but his Body, Spirit, Will, and Self Daos would all be utterly crippled by that single strike.

“One Step to Heaven!” In a flash, Xu Xiaoshou took a step. However, this usually infallible awakened ability was now ineffective. “One Step to Heaven” relied on borrowing Dao Laws for rapid movement, and under the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom, all Daos were prohibited.

“Immovable Wisdom King!” Unable to escape, Xu Xiaoshou chose to block. But upon activating Immovable Wisdom King, the golden light likewise failed to appear. Evidently, this technique, which relied on the Body Dao and Shock Dao, also failed to mobilize the Heavenly Dao, leaving him unable to retaliate.

“Independent of the World!” He instinctively tried to conceal himself. However, the Dao of Forgetting was also on the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom's list of prohibited techniques; he couldn't even hide. He was utterly helpless! The situation rapidly deteriorated!

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Saint Xin, the "oriole," had observed everything that had transpired thus far. Saint Xin might not have known the names of Xu Xiaoshou's various skills, but he was intimately familiar with their capabilities and the Dao Laws they invoked. Saint Xin not only prohibited all peculiar techniques related to the Dao of Name that could allow Xu Xiaoshou to escape, but also specifically intensified the restrictions on "Sword" and "Self." The precaution was to prevent Xu Xiaoshou, even if he couldn't escape, from somehow returning from nothingness after death through special means like the Sword Dao or Heaven and Earth, via the principle of Yin-Yang. In essence, this Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom, meticulously prepared for a long time, was originally intended for Ba Zun'an. Xu Xiaoshou had merely walked straight into its trap.

At this very moment! Within the Divine Court's boundaries! With a single strike, Saint Xin intended to annihilate both Xu Xiaoshou and Cang Ku, eliminating any possibility of their resurrection.

“Ah, haha!” Medicine Ancestor lunged forward, palm raised, eyes bloodshot. “Spit out everything you devoured from this Ancestor!”

“Roar—” However, just as the palm was about to strike his face, three blood marks appeared on Xu Xiaoshou's brow, and nine massive white tails extended from his lower back. He instantly underwent a Ghost Beast transformation, his body yielding to the control of Greedy God, directly becoming the Nine-Tailed Beast, Greedy God.

“Devour!”

The colossal beast, Greedy God, appeared as if it had returned to its peak moment above Jade Capital City. With a powerful gulp, the surging death energy from Medicine Ancestor's palm was directly absorbed into its belly, completely consumed. While the prohibition of various Daos was a severe handicap for Xu Xiaoshou, for Greedy God, devouring and digestion were primal instincts, as natural as flexing a finger, leaving Medicine Ancestor entirely defenseless.

“Crunch!” Medicine Ancestor even lunged too far, unable to stop, nearly propelling himself into Greedy God's maw. Forcibly altering his trajectory, he twisted his body away, but still caught within Greedy God's gaping maw, he had two of his thighs bitten clean off.

“Hiss!” Blood gushed forth, and Medicine Ancestor collapsed, roaring in despair: “Saint Xin, what are you doing?!” This was a pure betrayal. His Shennong Hundred Herbs' Divine Court had, during the Heavenly Realm God War, completely merged into the Divine Court of the Underworld after the split with Ghost Ancestor. Now fragmented, he had no choice but to re-forge the Sorrowful Emperor Realm into a Divine Court, which was still untold millennia away from perfection. Therefore, Medicine Ancestor's current Divine Court was utterly useless in this battle. But Saint Xin's Divine Court was perfectly preserved! While the Ghost Beast's bloodline talent and devouring power certainly involved Nuo Ancestor's abilities, did the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom truly fail to prohibit them?

“My apologies, I was careless.” Beside the Temporal Realm, Saint Xin frowned, inwardly scolding himself for forgetting about Greedy God. He wondered if he had fallen victim to some guiding influence.

“Suppress!” He flicked his finger once more. This time, the Divine Court directly targeted him. It specifically prohibited only Greedy God's individual bloodline talent, along with all devouring Daos and devouring powers within the Divine Court's confines.

Greedy God, who had barely managed to digest most of the death energy, suddenly had its pupils contract, its body convulsed, and it collapsed, writhing on the ground. Its abdomen instantly turned black. Its entire body began to rot from the inside out. In mere moments, its snowy white fur almost completely fell off, leaving it bald and as hideous as a colossal rat. A putrid stench emanated from its body, smelling as foul as the intestines of a crushed cat carcass left exposed on a street for three days under the sun.

“Death Power!” The hearts of the observers from Almond Realm tightened with dread. What had been a one-sided battle instantly turned around with Saint Xin's intervention; Medicine Ancestor had directly reversed the situation, and a single strike of death energy crippled Greedy God, even putting it at risk of destruction?

“Where's Lord Shou?”

“Given that Ghost Beast transformation blurs the lines between them, he should also be affected by the death energy, right?”

Just then, a streak of light shot forth from Greedy God's decaying corpse. The light, with one movement, flung Cang Ku away, then split into two distinct parts, each streaking off in opposite directions, east and west.

“It's Lord Shou!” The Almond Realm's transmission screen only caught an afterimage, yet everyone excitedly rose to their feet.

“That's it, run in separate directions! As long as either Lord Shou or Cang Ku can escape the Divine Court's range, they'll regain ample power, control, and offensive capabilities to utterly defeat Saint Xin!”

Yet, some noticed the foul-smelling, decaying cat lying on the ground, barely clinging to life, and silently murmured: “What about Greedy God? Has Lord Shou abandoned Greedy God?”

This was an act of desperation! A gecko severing its tail signifies alarm, but more importantly, it signals having reached a desperate impasse! Medicine Ancestor instantly understood the message, laughing menacingly. “Run? Where can you possibly go? Weren't you full of vigor when you attacked me just now?” He fixed his gaze on Xu Xiaoshou's figure in the distant sky, his face contorted with hatred, and clapped his hands together, striking the ground:

“Progenitor's Domain!”

A thick wave of life energy surged forth from the earth. As Xu Xiaoshou sensed danger and ascended to a high altitude, the energy transformed into a massive field, ensnaring him; he was utterly helpless and unable to escape its range.

“Snap, snap, snap...” In an instant, a horrifying transformation began. From the Almond Realm's celestial screen, Lord Shou was seen convulsing, his limbs twisted and broken. Flesh tumors grew wildly from various fractures on his body, transforming into grotesque giant eyeballs and fleshy, pink protuberances that appeared in utterly inappropriate places: lodged in his throat, embedded in his chest. Lord Shou violently twisted his head, seemingly realizing there was no escape, and looked toward another direction as if pleading for help. Yet, three or four toes sprouted from his forehead, his eyes were replaced by two chrysanthemums, and as his terror-stricken mouth, desperate to scream, finally opened, no tongue was visible; instead, a fleshy whip suddenly flopped out, silencing all words.

A deathly silence fell. Merely by having his laws prohibited, Lord Shou was utterly defenseless against Medicine Ancestor's single strike?

“'This damn fool dares to call himself "this Ancestor"? He's not even worthy of being called "Lord"; he's utterly worthless!' someone in Almond Realm cursed furiously."

Meanwhile, Cang Ku, flying high above on the other side, was dealt with even more swiftly. Having lost its master's control, and under the various restrictions of the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom, it was directly struck down by Saint Xin's Golden Profound Finger from beside the Temporal Realm.

“A useless sword! Still attempting to rival Qing Ju? A worthless person matched with a worthless sword—a perfectly worthless pair!”

“The dust has settled.” Saint Xin spread his hands and gave a helpless shrug, though inwardly, he felt no ripples of emotion. Was Xu Xiaoshou strong? He was indeed somewhat strong, but comparable only to Wen Ting, and based on his current display, he could barely even match Gou Wuyue. Perhaps he still possessed some unknown, unrevealed trump cards that could unleash the combat power of a Zero-Ancestor God, briefly rivaling Ba Zun'an. But that's just how this world is. There are always those with a miserly nature, who hoard their treasures and become so accustomed to concealing them that they never know the optimal moment to reveal them. As for Saint Xin, under the finger of a Zero-Ancestor God, individuals like Wen Ting, Gou Wuyue, and Xu Xiaoshou were all cut from the same cloth, easily crushed regardless of any hidden trump cards they might possess. This was true power! This was an Ancestor God! The only entity Saint Xin had ever truly feared in this world, from beginning to end, was Ba Zun'an. Unfortunately, the new Heavenly Realm God War was now declared over, and Ba Zun'an had yet to return. Conversely, as for the two Ancestors, Medicine and Dao, Saint Xin's Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom had been meticulously prepared for a long time. With Xu Xiaoshou's demise serving as proof that the Dao of Sword and Self was unbreakable, these two Ancestors naturally had no choice but to bow in submission. Should Ba return, no matter how powerful, by then he would only be able to kneel and lick his feet.

Whoosh! The Almond Realm's transmission screen swept toward Number Zero. Except for a few radicals, most people were unwilling to believe that Lord Shou would fall so easily. His body was broken, but his Spirit and Will had not yet perished. Lord Shou's final gaze had also been directed at Number Zero. One could say that if Number Zero were to act, using the immense power of the Fallen World Sky Crystal—which even the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom couldn't suppress—a fissure could be opened in the Divine Court's Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom. Lord Shou could absolutely make a comeback! He was his Dao. He was his Xu. They were mutual friends, assisting each other. Surely, he would save Lord Shou's life?

Just then, Saint Xin, with his hands clasped behind his back, also cast a sideways glance at Number Zero, a slight smile gracing his lips: “Yi Ji, make your final choice.” Evidently, he had also understood Xu Xiaoshou's final glance, yet remained completely unconcerned, even daring to openly allow Number Zero to make the choice. Choosing Xu Xiaoshou meant declaring war on Saint Xin, and the consequence was death. Not saving Xu Xiaoshou meant surrendering to Saint Xin and Shennong Hundred Herbs, which might allow for a tenuous survival, or perhaps the seizure of one's Dao.

“Dao Palace Master!” The masses in Almond Realm, unwilling to suffer such humiliation, cried out in alarm. For if Dao Qiongcang were to bow in submission, all those within Almond Realm would subsequently face repercussions. After all, many had just been shouting “Ancestor Shou,” and Almond Realm, newly linked, completely distrusted the two Demon-Medicine Ancestors. Alas, Almond Realm was still separated from the Holy God Continent by a plane, and the frenzied shouts from this place could not reach the ears of the figure standing above Number Zero on the Holy God Continent.

Dao Qiongcang's eyelids were slightly lowered, revealing no discernible expression. He gazed from afar at Xu Xiaoshou, who had transformed into a colossal tumor, his spirit body and consciousness deeply mired in the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom's quagmire, utterly incapable of action. “The Dao of Spirit is incomplete, completely suppressed by the Divine Court... While the Sea of Will Dao is undoubtedly powerful, the God-Demon Dao Sea is a force of the same tier, sufficient to completely suppress it...” Dao Qiongcang observed Xu Xiaoshou under the Law-Delaying Heavenly Kingdom, just as he had observed Yue Gongli under Cui Yin's command in the Four Symbols Secret Realm back then.

How could he be saved? There was no way to save him! He took a long, deep look, as if to imprint Xu Xiaoshou's final, miserable state before his demise, then withdrew his gaze and cast a glance at Saint Xin.

Number Zero spread his hands. Dao Qiongcang also spread his hands.

“I have lost. Lord Saint Xin, may Medicine Ancestor be prevented from seizing my Dao? I am willing to become your servant.”