Chapter 1228: Great Celestial Immortal Body

Within the purple-gold vortex, wind and thunder subtly churned.

At the bottom of the funnel-shaped energy vortex was the somewhat flustered figure of Xuanhuang Malice.

Images of faces from various life forms flashed rapidly within the wind-and-thunder vortex, tearing at Xuanhuang Malice like a hurricane. Consequently, its body gradually became distorted and blurred.

"I am the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao! The father and mother of you cultivators! How dare you treat me like this!"

"Again! Again! All you humans deserve to die!" Xuanhuang Malice roared.

Refusing to wait for its demise, the entity, which had originally resembled Mr. Bai, finally revealed its true form. Its body swelled like a balloon, transforming in the blink of an eye into a hideous, deformed monster covered in blue and purple variegated lumps. Even more terrifying, Xuanhuang Malice's face had vanished. Or rather, the countless clusters of black shadows swiftly moving across its surface were now its many faces!

Each face bore a different expression, none of them positive or active. Madness, hatred, despair, tyranny—every dark, twisted part of living beings was plainly evident on Xuanhuang Malice.

Substantial black malevolent energy surged from its body, shooting skyward and directly confronting the swirling wind and thunder of the purple-gold vortex. In the silent collision, Li Ping's Heaven and Earth Grand Millstone was surprisingly halted for a moment.

Li Ping noticed that about a third of Xuanhuang Malice's faces simultaneously focused on him.

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" Sharp curses erupted and swept towards him.

Xu Ke and the other two, who were guarding the array for Li Ping, all frowned slightly at this moment. Even the blank face of Saint Emperor Li Ping was impacted by this malice, faintly revealing blurred facial features.

Countless tentacles covered in blue-purple fleshy growths extended from Xuanhuang Malice's monstrous body, thrashing wildly, attempting to break free from the restraints of the Myriad Spirits Grand Array. However, this unparalleled grand array, considered the pinnacle of dissociation disk derivation, was not so easily breached.

After a brief pause, the purple-gold vortex slowly began to rotate again. The howling of wind and thunder grew louder than before. Moreover, waves of human prayers emanated from it, forming a unique rhythm through resonance that forcibly suppressed Xuanhuang Malice's earth-shaking roars.

"Evil, in the end, cannot triumph over justice."

"Look at you now; are you even worthy of the title 'Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao'?!" Li Ping's faint voice, tinged with sarcasm, cut through the many chaotic sounds of the array's confrontation and accurately reached Xuanhuang Malice's ears.

"Bastard! Who caused this?!" After a brief stunned silence, it exploded in fury. Clearly, even Xuanhuang Malice itself found it difficult to accept its current predicament. Its body, suppressed by the Heaven and Earth Grand Millstone, surprisingly showed signs of rising and struggling once more.

Li Ping, however, nodded slightly. While continuously provoking Xuanhuang Malice with his words, he focused on controlling the Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits Grand Array, absorbing the fragments peeled away from Xuanhuang Malice into his own body through the vortex. Negative emotions flowed like a steady stream into Li Ping's consciousness.

Seeing this, the three array guardians couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Because they were inside the array, they could more clearly feel the terrifying power of the Myriad Spirits Grand Array. Even after being sealed for thousands of years, it was still a part of this great world's Heavenly Dao. Yet, before this array, it seemed to have no power to resist whatsoever. It even rendered their original preparations useless. They simply had to watch Saint Emperor Li Ping perform.

The more dreadful the array, the more uncontrollable their worry became. If the Saint Emperor were to be influenced by the malice and lose control, it would likely be a disaster far more terrifying than Xuanhuang Malice breaking free. Even though they had great confidence in the Saint Emperor's power, they couldn't help but feel a little nervous at this moment. After all, they were still inside the array.

"No need to worry, I am fine," Li Ping calmly transmitted, seemingly sensing their emotional fluctuations. Aside from Li Ping's own strong will, just the blessing of the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation made it impossible for his personality to be twisted by this Xuanhuang Malice. Not to mention, he wasn't violently devouring it whole; instead, he was using the Heaven and Earth Grand Millstone to slowly grind Xuanhuang Malice down piece by piece and gradually absorb it, minimizing any side effects.

"Furthermore, the will of Daqi's billions of citizens is anchored with me. Billions of sentient beings can refine their spirits. This is merely a part of the original Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao; how could it affect me?" Li Ping's mind was clear. Rather than dealing with "malice," Li Ping's greater challenge at this moment was actually digesting the jumbled, complex, and chaotic memories within the other party. Although most of them had blurred over thousands of years of distortion and despair, these fragmented memories were deeply buried within its consciousness. Now, as its body was dismembered, they flowed into Li Ping's mind.

Scene after scene of fragmented images flashed rapidly through Li Ping's mind. Most details were difficult to discern. Only one sequence of images appeared repeatedly. Clearly, this was a deeply ingrained memory for Xuanhuang Malice. During its sealed years, it had replayed in its mind more than once.

In the endless dark void, a swiftly moving figure suddenly stopped.

"Why aren't you moving?" the voice from the memory asked. The initial emotion was one of slight relief, even joy. But now, it was tinged with doubt.

The figure in white, Mr. Bai, turned and looked back. His expression changed constantly, looking very complex.

"What exactly is wrong?" The perception from the memory, in the deathly silence, gradually became somewhat irritable.

"I cannot leave," Mr. Bai finally took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Why not leave? The catastrophe is already complete, the general trend is irreversible. Instead of staying there, it's better to go to the high wall and fight for a chance; there might be a sliver of hope," the voice from the memory first paused, filled with incomprehension. Then it became somewhat anxious, quickly trying to dissuade him. "With the remains left by the First Grand Heavenly Venerable as protection, and by detonating those several immortal artifacts for power, you and I, working together, have a great chance of crossing the high wall! We've been preparing for so long; how can you suddenly change your mind?!"

Even after a long time, Li Ping could still feel the confusion and rage within this separated Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao consciousness.

Mr. Bai, perhaps knowing he was in the wrong, remained silent.

"Say something!" Only when Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao finally stopped did Mr. Bai slowly respond.

"That place is my home. From birth until now, everyone I've known, everyone I've heard of, and those I've loved and hated, have all lived their lives there. Now that it has encountered calamity, I could indeed walk away. But what about them?" Mr. Bai asked quietly.

Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao simply couldn't comprehend Mr. Bai's emotions; in its view, ensuring its own survival was paramount. "As long as I exist, and we find another suitable world, we can soon birth another Xuanhuang Realm. I can even recreate those people you know," it explained involuntarily.

Mr. Bai merely chuckled softly and shook his head. Without further hesitation, he turned and headed back towards the Xuanhuang Realm. Seeing events unfold in an uncontrollable direction, Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao grew increasingly anxious. It continued to persuade him, but Mr. Bai simply ignored it, his mind made up.

"I know you've treated me well. You always said I was that person's reincarnation. But I know I am myself. Su Bai. An ordinary mortal." Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao's memories became somewhat unstable as its rage intensified. Yet, Mr. Bai's words, though intermittent, remained incredibly clear.

"I never wanted to cultivate or become an immortal. I just want to... save the people I care about. I'm sorry. As for what you gave me, the Grand Heavenly Venerable's immortal body, and those immortal artifacts... even this cultivation base, I will return to you," Mr. Bai said with extreme calm.

The memory, like a bubble, suddenly burst. Having inherited Xuanhuang Malice's power, Li Ping now felt the same intense anger of being deceived and betrayed.

"Die! Just die!" A voice, seemingly that of Xuanhuang Malice, began to echo repeatedly in his mind. Along with it, Li Ping's aura also fluctuated slightly.

And within the array, the deformed body of Xuanhuang Malice, suppressed and crushed by the Heaven and Earth Grand Millstone, seemed to sense the changes occurring in Li Ping. It couldn't help but shriek, "Do you feel it?! Do you understand me?! This pain of being deceived, and then sealed for thousands of years!"

Unexpectedly, its outpouring was abruptly cut short by a single sentence from Li Ping. "I am currently in human form. Therefore, I can empathize more with the one you utterly hate. I believe Mr. Bai did the right thing. Some things, in the end, you will never understand. So... rest assured and depart."

Li Ping's words gradually turned cold. His blurred facial features, which had briefly manifested due to the impact of Xuanhuang Malice's memories, vanished once more. A cold, merciless aura emanated from the Faceless Saint Emperor. Without hesitation, he accelerated the rotation of the Heaven and Earth Grand Millstone. Like an indestructible, towering dam, he completely blocked the onslaught of malice.

Seeing this scene, the three array guardians couldn't help but sigh in relief. They had genuinely been a little afraid of the Saint Emperor being affected by the malice, especially Reverend Yin. He jokingly said to Xu Ke, "Actually, my essence isn't too different from Xuanhuang Malice. If he can swallow it so easily, then swallowing me would be just a simple matter. Looks like I'll have to keep my distance from him in the future."

Xu Ke remained silent. Looking at the figure in the array, which seemed to grow taller and taller, he suddenly felt a mix of gain and loss in his heart. He wondered whether giving up Xuanhuang Malice was truly right or wrong.

The purple-gold vortex spun incessantly, and the sound of wind and thunder grew even louder. Xuanhuang Malice's struggles, meanwhile, grew weaker and weaker. Its complete absorption was merely a matter of time.

As the power of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao was absorbed and refined, the Faceless Saint Emperor's majestic figure grew ever taller, as if it were about to burst through the firmament of the Daqi Small World and reach another realm.

Li Ping's figure appeared on the celestial screen. Daqi's billions of citizens could now clearly see the Saint Emperor's countenance. The fervent will of the people reached its peak at this moment. The gathered destiny instantly broke through purple, transforming into an incredibly dazzling golden light. Even if it only lasted for this fleeting moment, it seemed it would soon fall back. But Li Ping had a feeling, and he acutely seized this sliver of an opportunity.

With a gentle wave of his hand, he sprinkled a portion of Xuanhuang Malice's power, absorbed and transformed by the Heaven and Earth Grand Millstone, into the Daqi Small World. Countless purple-gold specks of light, like scattered flowers from heaven, drifted down among the people. From the perspective of Daqi's common people below, they saw what had been rumored days ago: the Saint Emperor's grace. The purple-gold flowers seemed to possess an innate, captivating magic. This caused the citizens of Daqi, disregarding the Saint Emperor's majesty, to rush forward and try to touch them. And the changes brought about by the purple-gold flowers entering their bodies made those people immediately fall to their knees, loudly praising the Saint Emperor's might.

Daqi's destiny, which had already reached its peak, underwent another transformation, as if catalyzed. This time, under the mountain-like and sea-like collective acclamations of countless Daqi citizens, the previously unstable golden destiny completely stabilized. Billions of beings cheered like mountains and roared like oceans. This caused the three array guardians above Daqi to be momentarily lost in awe.

"This must be what they call 'when one person achieves the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven,' right?" Reverend Yin couldn't help but exclaim. Xu Ke, meanwhile, unconsciously gazed at Saint Emperor Li Ping's motionless body, and for some reason, he saw Mr. Bai's figure in him. "Perhaps, what I did wasn't wrong after all," Xu Ke thought. As for Yi Shu of the Taiyan Sect, his eyes narrowed slightly, seemingly deriving and calculating something. His eyes revealed a look of astonishment.

The Heavenly Emperor Qi Scripture transformed to its final realm and completely stabilized. As power waxed and waned, Xuanhuang Malice finally lost any possibility of resistance.

"I will wait for you. You will eventually meet the same end as me." Before its consciousness completely dissipated, Xuanhuang Malice, for some unknown reason, suddenly uttered such a malevolent curse.

Saint Emperor Li Ping turned a deaf ear, remaining unmoved. The Heaven and Earth Grand Millstone crashed down. The power from Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao continuously flowed into his body. Li Ping felt something, as if an invisible shackles had been broken.

"Is this the Longevity Realm? Or perhaps, an alternative Longevity Realm," he mused.

Meanwhile, at the Immortal Alliance Headquarters, within the Derivation Jade Space, the feedback from his clone's breakthrough abruptly stopped the moment the Saint Emperor reached the power level of the Longevity Realm. Thus, it did not draw the attention of others in the space.

The Saint Emperor's breakthrough was already within Li Fan's expectations. What truly concerned Li Fan, however, were the memories from Xuanhuang Malice.

"Immortal artifacts? And the immortal body of the First Grand Heavenly Venerable?" Li Fan closed his eyes, concealing the shock within them. "Mr. Bai's words, 'I will return them to you.' Does that mean these items are still within the Xuanhuang Realm?"