Chapter 746: Eternal Heroes Compete for Freedom

Ancient beings slowly approached.

Blazing flames seemed to scorch the entire dark underworld.

Battle intent soared.

“Ancient beings...” Xu Yingluo and Li Sansheng were greatly shaken.

From the Gates of Hell emerged mythical figures from antiquity, their boundless aura billowing forth, painting the skies of the underworld.

They were unimaginably powerful.

Facing them, they felt an instinctive, overwhelming pressure on their own abilities, as if confronting a heaven-defying talent, compelling them to bow down in worship.

Too strong!Simply too strong.

At this moment, they seemed to witness a magnificent era of ancient myths, countless eons ago, when these ancient powerful beings roared through calamities, destruction, and conquests against the legendary supreme existence!

There was no time to say more.

“Today is the final battle, to sever the past and future, and it happens now!” Xu Yingluo bowed slowly, with immense reverence and solemnity, saying, “The situation is urgent. We must now storm the underworld, enter the dead realm, and break through hell. Only by combining the strength of all eras can we hope to fight!”

“Ancient predecessors, please assist us in this battle!”

Beside them, Mao Tiao was the most terrified.

He looked at the Abandoned Heaven Emperor, a majestic and noble peerless emperor, whose presence highlighted the Martial God's sanctity and sorrow for the world.

“How can this be? They really exist?”

“These are clearly arcade characters I fabricated repeatedly with Lord Samsara in the Arcade Hell, figures from Earth. Only Jue Wushen was a real person among them...”

“Could it be...”

As Mao Tiao looked at the gentle, elegant, and magnificent ancient heroes, an incredible hypothesis arose in his mind:

“That's it... They existed originally and must have been suppressed in Avici Hell for too long. The passage of time and the cleansing of karmic fire, this burning pain, made them lose all their memories. And Lord Samsara clearly wasn't just having me deceive outsiders; he also wanted me to deceive these ancient heroes who had lost their memories...”

“To add fictional memories to those who had lost theirs!”

The conclusion Mao Tiao reached was horrifying.

It utterly terrified him.

But it was indeed perfectly logical.

In the Avici Hell, where suffering is endless, they had long since been incinerated, losing their self-awareness over countless ages.

“This is too terrifying... Is this the true face of Avici Hell? Not only can anyone control their bodies in the arcade now, but I'm also supposed to modify their memories!” Mao Tiao's heart trembled with fear.

This purgatory was too cruel.

“However, Lord Samsara miscalculated. No matter how many memories are added to those who've lost them, their core obsessions cannot be easily shattered. For Lord Samsara, they remain a grave concern.”

Mao Tiao felt deep admiration.

“Even if their memories are overwritten and they become different people, these heroic spirits have not forgotten their past glory, their surging battle intent! That emotion is etched into their very bones: to overturn samsara and reclaim their true names.”

“Though dead, they still fight!”

Mao Tiao was shaken.

Meanwhile, events unfolding nearby further solidified Mao Tiao's hypothesis.

At this moment, Emperor Yun and Lord Yunzhong slowly emerged, delighting Xu Yingluo and Li Sansheng.

“Emperor Yun!” Xu Yingluo exclaimed.

“Is it Lord Youshan?” Emperor Yun softly asked, “Did he send you? To break hell's chains? To rescue us?”

Emperor Yun, being incredibly shrewd, instantly realized that such an earth-shattering move could only have been orchestrated by Lord Youshan, who had once schemed against him; it perfectly matched his style.

“Yes,” Xu Yingluo replied. “Your Majesty Emperor Yun, ancient Sages, what is the situation now?”

Emperor Yun shook his head with a bitter smile. “They no longer remember many ancient events. No matter how we ask, their replies are vague, and even inquiring about Lord Youshan's deeds from the old era elicits no response... But it's only natural. In such a terrifying environment of karmic fire, constantly being controlled... If you had come a few centuries later, even with our resolute wills, Yunzhong-jun and I would likely have our consciousness completely blurred, becoming like them.”

So it was.

Mao Tiao was now completely convinced, filled with immense admiration and a complex mix of sorrow.

“Everyone, do you have any thoughts on the remaining half of Samsara?” Xu Yingluo suddenly looked up, gazing at the Samsara in the sky above the dark underworld.

The Abandoned Heaven Emperor shook his head, gazing into the distance, and coldly stated, “That is not a world-governing artifact we can seize and master. It's impossible in the short term. Now, fighting Lord Samsara is the best approach!”

“With so many ancient Emperors and Kings fully revived, and all power from past and present converged in one era, he cannot escape his doom!”

“He might easily handle the beings of a single era, but with all of them swarming out...”

“Emperor, your downfall is today!”

The Beast Path.

The entire Beast Path had been virtually annihilated.

It was completely boiling, a scene of chaotic distortion.

Xu Zhi continued to calmly engage, his posture elegant, as countless rays of light cascaded from his hands, striking Lord Youshan's body and shattering it repeatedly.

Even with terrifying, heaven-defying talents that granted various immunities, he had reached his limit of endurance, and his body was gradually perishing.

“Agh!” Lord Youshan roared with all his might; it was the first time he had truly witnessed such immense terror.

This exaggerated combat power utterly terrified him. Although he was a master strategist and his own combat power could reach the heavens, he appeared so weak in the face of absolute might.

The Emperor seemed to have cultivated all the techniques of the myriad worlds, a perfectly complete being in soul, flesh, body, and energy.

“We will not lose!”

He let out a long howl heavenward, unleashing earth-shattering pressure that awed the entire world, and endless Buddhist light illuminated the entire Buddhist land.

“It's no use,” the Emperor said with a cold gaze, reaching out to grab. “Everything ends here.”

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared in the distance.

*Humming sound*

A peerless purple divine sword plunged directly between the two combatants.

Xu Zhi turned his head in surprise.

A resonant poetic declaration rang out:Half-god, half-saint, half-immortal; entirely Confucian, entirely Daoist, entirely virtuous.With a myriad of true texts in mind, mastering half the heavens in both wisdom and might.

A white-haired, handsome cultivator slowly appeared in the void, and with a grasp, the purple longsword returned to his hand.

“Su Huan-Chen, by invitation.”

He wore a dark Daoist robe, a lotus crown, carried a sword sheath on his back, held a whisk in one hand and a purple-gold sword in the other, and had a cinnabar mark between his brows. He elegantly stated, “On the blood-soaked paths of the jianghu, the lotus heart endures suffering. Today, with these righteous heroes, we shall battle the jianghu, uphold the immortal gates, and embark on the ancient immortal path of conquest!”

*Boom!*

Instantly, all the Sages within felt a great shock.

Who was this?

So domineering in his emergence?

A peerless powerful being from ancient times?

Their minds were greatly stirred.

These Sages sensed that this person's talent was a uniquely powerful hybrid, more than ten times stronger than any single Sage's talent. Even if it wasn't currently as strong as their combined talents, it was still incredibly potent.

Most of them had only undergone dozens of reincarnations. At this rate, they would need five or six hundred more reincarnations for their accumulated talents and obsessions to reach such a terrifying and complete level!

Xu Zhi's eyes flickered.

Lord Youshan truly was a brilliant strategist, having planned everything to merely buy time.

And this move, striking at the very root.

“Li Sansheng?” Xu Zhi paused, his gaze calm. “Living beings entering the dead realm, breaking through hell, rescuing those beings—is that your biggest trump card?”

Before his words had even faded.

“Boom!”

Another sound came, and another ancient god-buddha, capable of astonishing heaven and earth, revived.

And another earth-shattering poetic declaration:Northern steeds arrive with great pride, southern winds sing songs of death!

“I am Nan Feng Bu Jing!”

This was a handsome, tall young man, dashing and carefree. After merely stating his name, he said nothing more.

What a domineering, elegant, and peerless ancient Emperor this poetic declaration belonged to...

They seemed to see a jianghu knight riding high and singing, his presence striking terror into bandits wherever he went.

Everyone was greatly alarmed, before they could even react.

“Whir!”

A soaring blade intent pierced straight into the sky.

A white storm swept across the heavens, like a torrential downpour.

A transparent long blade descended from the sky, plunging straight into the earth. The massive blade was as vast as a perilous peak.

The wind it generated made everyone stumble.

A poetic declaration echoed:One step forward with a blade, one step back with a blade, I wield but one blade, who dares to block it?Kill in life, kill in death, my name is Jiesha, none shall not be killed!

“This is??”

The entire Six Paths of Reincarnation was utterly shaken.

Many supreme mighty beings from the Deva Path, Beast Path, and Mortal Path had not chosen to participate directly, leaving only a portion, but they were closely monitoring this terrifying mythological war, their divine senses colliding as they watched.

“Who is this?”

“That overlord from the ancient era?”

“The Blade Emperor of antiquity?”

“Unimaginable!”

“An extreme killing intent, solidified into a talent!”

This was a fearsome-looking peerless blademaster with gray-black hair draped over his shoulders, holding a massive blade, his face stern with a coiled beard, appearing ferocious and wild, as if his entire life had been steeped in endless slaughter and bloodshed.

Killing intent spread.

“My name is Jiesha, none shall not be killed!” The blademaster stared at the ancient Emperor, this profound young man in black, his battle intent blazing.

Everyone was aghast.

Lord Youshan's schemes were terrifying.

One by one, god-devils from ancient times, suppressed and capable of astonishing heaven and earth, had now emerged!

In the distance, Lord Youshan spat out a mouthful of blood, then burst into roaring laughter, addressing the Sages within him and the entire world.

“Hahahaha!”

“They are all former Emperors and Kings who once ruled this shattered primordial universe in bygone eras. They ascended to the imperial throne. They were once worshipped by all living beings. Each of them was supreme in their own era... And today, they have all awakened from the ancient hell, liberated.”

Lord Youshan spoke with triumphant satisfaction, laughing aloud, “Emperor, you have cut across eras! You disregard the golden ages of geniuses in every period! To continue cultivating the Heavenly Emperor realm, you deliberately chose not to break through to godhood, blocking others from breaking through!”

“When I had not yet become a god, there were no gods in the world.”

“But today, all the geniuses of past and present eras, all the Emperors and Kings who once fell by your hand, have come to find you. What will you do now?”

His voice gradually turned cold and stern. “Today, is the day you bow down!”

“What about me?” the Emperor said softly, his hands clasped behind his back. “They are merely a group of losers. Even if all of them are dug out from ancient divine tombs, can they defy the heavens?”

“Another fine day,” the Emperor muttered, looking up at the sky in a daze. “All of this today is destined to be extraordinary. Everything must be settled here and now. When it's all over, I can go back and have some tea.”

All the Asura Path warriors shivered with fear.

The Emperor was indeed terrifying; the defeats he had dealt out across various eras could circle the Earth, giving an indescribable sense of immense oppression.

Yuan Qinghua's expression shifted several times. He gazed blankly at the sky filled with gods and Buddhas, then spoke, moved by emotion, “Dao strikes the vast sky, Buddha soars in the shallow depths; myriad gods and devils vie for freedom, lamenting Samsara, asking the Six Paths of the earth, who rules over rise and fall?”

The next moment, the Abandoned Heaven Emperor made his appearance.

His poetic declaration covered the heavens and earth:The Twin Realms of Dao's Suffering meet demonic calamity, a divine descent upon a world facing apocalypse.

All beings across the entire Six Paths of Reincarnation had no time to be horrified.

And then, another terrifying aura swept between heaven and earth, another forbidden existence of the same caliber, accompanied by a poetic declaration:In the Age of Dharma Decline, the Heavenly Dao is destroyed; Papiyas kills the Tathagata!

This was the shortest poetic declaration, yet its context was the most captivating.

“This is...”

“What kind of terrifying demon is this?”

Countless powerhouses across the entire Six Paths of Reincarnation looked over.

It was a black Buddha.

It was tall and upright, with a strange yet sacred halo behind it, appearing exceptionally noble and extraordinary.

Even Su Huan-Chen turned to look, his expression changing.

“The Lord of the Sixth Heaven of the Desire Realm from ancient times, the ancient Demon Buddha Papiyas. He possesses a terrifying talent: as long as there is darkness among living beings, his demonic heart will not perish. He is immortal and indestructible, a supreme ancient evil existence intolerable to heaven and earth.”

Xu Zhi's expression remained exceptionally calm as he looked at the Demon Buddha.

Following this, various poetic declarations, one after another, echoed through antiquity.

One after another, beings seemed to climb along the long river of time into the present world, emerging from the depths of hell, truly astonishing.

Lord Youshan's earth-shattering scheme finally unfolded before their eyes.

He had gathered the power of the entire past and future; hundreds of ancient Emperors and Kings had reappeared today.

One by one, the unyielding figures of ancient myth and legend reappeared in this world, composing a tragic ode to the final battle on the path to immortality!

“Is this the final formation of the Samsara beings?”

Xu Zhi's gaze finally turned solemn and incredibly grave as he looked at the mythical figures in the Arcade Hell. “Lord Youshan, you have surprised me time and again.”

Their talents were different from ordinary beings reincarnated in Samsara.

They were special.

Their talents were formed from the terrifying collective power of vows from all beings, from countless wronged souls on the Yellow Springs Road, and from the worship, reverence, offerings, and incense burned across countless eras.

Among those who worshipped and offered incense were even top Sages present, Heavenly Emperor giants, and stunning existences of unparalleled brilliance from the current age. After their deaths, they saw the Three-Life Stone, understood their past and present lives, and, lamenting their failures through countless lifetimes, went to worship and mourn the unyielding spirit of the ancient Emperors and Kings!

For thousands of years, every person of every era, through countless cycles of reincarnation, worshipped.

Only then did such terrifying monsters with extremely heaven-defying talents appear.

Their talents were unique; they could not be achieved by ordinary Samsara beings through mere accumulation of individual grievances.

Ordinary talent wielders would need to accumulate hundreds of reincarnations to reach the height of their obsessions.

“Everyone, merge into one and conquer the immortal path!”

The Abandoned Heaven Emperor stated coldly.

The talent of Fusion Emperors was formidable, capable of consolidating talents into a single entity, which was also central to Lord Youshan's current campaign. However, many of the hundreds of ancient Sages present also possessed the ability to merge talents.

“You may enter my sleeve,” Su Huan-Chen said, flicking his sleeve. “In the Miro Palace, accomplished Sages discuss the Dao within painted murals. My sleeve contains a universe, capable of holding heaven and earth.”

One by one, the Sages—Nan Feng Bu Jing, Emperor Yun, Lord Yunzhong, and others—instantly entered.

Su Huan-Chen's aura surged dramatically.

The Abandoned Heaven Emperor's expression was calm. “I cultivate the Sacred Origin Demonic Embryo; you may enter my Otherworld Demonic Realm, the Mortal Realm of Suffering.”

One by one, the Sages simultaneously entered.

Those like Jiesha, who loved slaughter and were naturally ferocious, rushed in.

The Demon Buddha Papiyas quickly transformed into a three-faced, six-armed demonic Buddha. “Enter my Buddha-land. The Buddha does not save sentient beings; I save sentient beings through myself.”

In an instant, countless demonic path giants, Jue Wushen and others, surged in.

The Demon Buddha Papiyas, with continuous merging, transformed into a thousand-Buddha, thousand-faced form.

“Brothers, let's go, it's our time to shine!” Even the players from the Asura Path, seeing this, secretly brought a group of people and their top-secret Gatling weapons, sneaking in.

Instantly, the Demon Buddha Papiyas's form changed again.

This ancient Demon Buddha had a black, exquisitely vast Buddhist halo behind him, and held a colossal black Gatling gun in both hands, appearing majestic, imposing, and remarkably modern.

“Good, Evil, and Demonic—you have unified all the ancient powers suppressed in hell. Do you wish to fight me?” Xu Zhi's gaze turned to Lord Youshan. “And the powers of the present age are all here too.”

Four mighty beings took positions at the four corners, heavily encircling the Emperor in the center, transforming into a terrifying storm.

At this moment, everyone's blood boiled. This battle would be their best chance for victory.

“Heroes of all eras, past and present, I am not your opponent.” Surrounded in the center, the Emperor quietly said, “The talents a single being can contain are limited. Even if I possess many talented beings, I cannot merge too many, just as you four have reached your individual limits and cannot merge into one. However...”

Xu Zhi's form continuously grew, transforming into a giant, reaching out into the void.

“Samsara True Spirit Sword.”

The colossal Samsara rapidly changed form, transforming into a sky-piercing black, exquisitely mechanical demonic sword, which landed in Xu Zhi's hand. “Then, let us fully unleash all our trump cards and fight with all our might.”