The Final Dead End, the Mysterious Lord of Hell
The Final Dead End, the Mysterious Lord of Hell
Hearing these words, the faces of the remnants of the Fourth Palace all changed drastically, some even unable to believe what they had heard.
Many felt their heads buzzing, as if a world-shaking thunderbolt had struck down upon them.
The Fourth Palace Lord had already surrendered?
How was that possible?
As one of the most ancient existences of Neraka, the Fourth Palace Lord’s cultivation was peerless.
Even that most mysterious Lord of Hell treated him with a measure of respect.
In their view, the Fourth Palace Lord could die in battle, could perish in defeat, but he could absolutely never submit.
A figure like that—standing tall between heaven and earth, unyielding even in death, with ambitions higher than the sky—how could he choose to bow before Gu Changge?
Impossible. No matter how strong Gu Changge’s cultivation was, even if he could defeat the Fourth Palace Lord, he could never make the Fourth Palace Lord submit.
The Fourth Palace Lord’s trusted confidants found it even harder to believe all of this, their words trembling.
Many felt as if the sky itself had collapsed, the faith in their hearts crumbling step by step, shattering into pieces.
“If you refuse to believe it, then feel free to try—see whether any of you can escape alive today.”
Several black-robed True Daoists gazed on coldly, standing at the edge of the starry sky, their bodies radiating overwhelming pressure that seemed to crush this entire stretch of heaven and earth into collapse.
They were merely puppets, devoid of their own emotions, able only to act according to Gu Changge’s orders.
So if this group before them harbored any thought of resistance, what awaited them next would be their thunderous strike.
“Impossible!”
“Fight them! The Fourth Palace Lord cannot have submitted! He must be recuperating somewhere—once his injuries heal, the Fourth Palace Lord will summon us again!”
Some refused to believe any of it, roaring as they charged forward, burning their Blood Essence, their entire bodies seemingly set ablaze.
Though they came from Neraka, this assassin’s kingdom, they were not ones who lived only to cling to life.
At this point, their only remaining thought was to fight the enemy to the death, without regret even in death.
Seeing this, the others hesitated for a moment, then also charged forward, intending to battle these several True Daoists.
“Truly foolish.”
The several black-robed True Daoists merely watched all of this coldly, utterly unmoved, and raised their palms.
The entire sky seemed to become a plaything in their grasp, slowly grinding down and crashing toward them.
Endless mists of blood once again burst open across this region.
In the following days, the various palaces of Neraka in the other worlds all suffered assaults from the various forces.
At a time like this, even True Daoists could hardly protect themselves, and in the end could only flee while gravely wounded.
But before long, their enemies would still hunt them down.
They were either captured and suppressed, or perished body and soul.
By this point, even the Palace Lords of Neraka’s various palaces were powerless to reverse the situation.
They could only watch as Neraka’s many experts were harvested like weeds, falling across every battlefield.
This was an incomparably brutal battle.
Heaven and earth were dyed a bloody red, ancient worlds collapsed, corpses drifted about, and everywhere lay shattered bones and the wreckage of Ancient Battleships.
Neraka paid its heaviest price in countless years—the various ancient worlds hidden in the shadows were utterly destroyed, uprooted completely.
Of course, what drew the most attention from the various forces and Dao lineages was Neraka’s hidden foundation.
Even as each palace was destroyed, Neraka’s foundation was never brought out.
To many supreme experts, this reeked of deep strangeness.
After all, in terms of how long it had existed, Neraka was no inferior to the vast majority of Dao lineages and forces of the Upper Realm.
By all reason, it should not lack a foundation holding the fort.
Yet even now, even as Palace Lords fell, Neraka had not been seen bringing out a single immortal artifact.
Even True Daoist weapons were few and far between, rarely seen.
Deep in the sky beyond the Battlefield of Hundred Worlds, mist shrouded everything, Ancient Battleships hovered in dense masses.
Several enormous, blurry figures stood tall, like primordial mountains undying since ancient times.
They came from the various Cults of Immortality and Supreme Dao Lineages of the Upper Realm, their cultivations all at the level of True Daoists.
“Could it be that Neraka truly has no foundation? Or is it playing some trick?”
Gazing down at the ancient world that had become a stretch of ruins, a terrifying figure wreathed in crimson light spoke slowly, endless arcs of lightning seemingly interweaving around his body.
His voice was cold, carrying a chilling killing intent—he held an irresolvable hatred toward Neraka.
When he was still young, the greatest prodigy of his clan—his own elder brother—had suffered Neraka’s assassination.
It was said that his skull was later made into a wine cup, kept within Neraka.
In this campaign against Neraka, he had personally revived, determined to recover his brother’s remains.
Unfortunately, even after ransacking every palace of Neraka, he never found that legendary hall displaying the skulls and remains of the prodigies and ancestors of various clans.
He suspected Neraka had another headquarters.
As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows—let alone this assassin’s kingdom that had endured since ancient times.
“The Palace Lords of Neraka’s various palaces have all been executed, with only a very few escaping. It doesn’t look like they have any tricks left.”
“On the contrary, that Lord of Hell has shown no trace of himself even now.”
“Even watching Neraka’s destruction with his own eyes, there’s been no word of him.”
“Could it be that the Lord of Hell has long since passed away in meditation?”
The other ancient existences here murmured softly, still quite wary of that Lord of Hell.
However, they were also very cautious, never truly venturing deep into Neraka’s worlds, merely sending great armies to besiege them.
Every True Daoist who had reached this stage cherished their life.
They would not risk their lives without any benefit at stake.
“Right, where is Gu Changge now? Logically speaking, since he intends to destroy Neraka, he couldn’t possibly be indifferent to the whereabouts of that Lord of Hell.”
Suddenly, someone thought of this and couldn’t help asking.
“During this time, there has been no news of him... It is said that Neraka’s Fourth Palace was destroyed by his hand alone.”
Another True Daoist spoke slowly, and between the opening and closing of his eyes, terrifying scenes of universes being born evolved.
“The Fourth Palace’s Lord, hailed as Neraka’s second strongest, is now of unknown fate—likely more dead than alive, having fallen victim to Gu Changge’s poisonous hand.”
The several True Daoists here flickered their gazes, speculating one after another, their wariness of Gu Changge reaching its peak.
During the campaign against the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains, Gu Changge had already displayed strength that crushed ordinary True Daoists.
In just these few short years, Gu Changge’s power had grown ever more unfathomable—simply an inconceivable miracle that left them utterly unable to comprehend.
“No matter what, Gu Changge reaching this point has already made many people deeply wary and reluctant to speak of him. Once this matter with Neraka is settled, someone will likely move against him next.”
“We need only sit back and enjoy the show.”
Amid the dense mist, a cold laugh that made one’s eardrums ache rang out, echoing through this stretch of the universe.
In truth, this matter was already a tacit understanding among the various immortal Dao lineages and great sects.
As ancestor-level figures, they had naturally long since caught wind of it.
Though the Longevity Gu Family had kept a low profile these years, its foundation was absolutely not to be underestimated.
The battle that annihilated the Purple Mansion years ago had shaken the entire Upper Realm.
Later, during the campaign against the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains, the Longevity Gu Family even had an old ancestor with the strength of a Remnant Immortal.
But no matter how strong the Longevity Gu Family was, could it really stand against so many immortal Dao lineages and supreme great sects of the entire Upper Realm?
Blood-stained fragments of bone flew about, flesh and organs turning to mud.
This was a heart-palpitating asura field, the stench of blood assailing the nostrils, nauseating and dreadful.
Wails rose in waves; amid the blood-dyed scenes, corpse after corpse fell onto the piles of the dead.
Everywhere was slaughter and terrifying battle—describing it as rivers of blood and mountains of bones would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.
This was the ancient world where Neraka’s Third Palace resided, and also Neraka’s final ground of resistance.
The vast armies of various clans and forces descended, piloting Ancient Battleships, tearing apart the sky.
All along the way were traces of great battles; every Cultivator and living being was locked in combat, life and death uncertain.
Even the Sacred Emperor Realm and Quasi-Emperor experts, at this moment, were fighting until their eyes turned red, their bodies drenched in blood, their forms shattered.
Terrifying fluctuations surged like a raging sea, rushing toward the Eight Wastelands of the world, pulverizing everything into ash and dust.
“Today, Neraka shall perish here. No one can stop this.”
A giant wreathed in surging golden light stood between heaven and earth, his voice booming out like a great bell, shaking all directions.
With a single strike, his golden fist seemed to pierce through this decaying world, causing all the corpses and pools of blood to collapse into ash and smoke.
The living beings and Cultivators before him all exploded, body and soul annihilated.
This was the Sacred Emperor Realm supreme expert of the Ancient Golden Godly Clan, his blood energy towering to the heavens, like a peerless furnace. A single wisp of the aura he emitted was enough to suppress everything.
He gazed at the blood-soaked scene before him, swinging his fists down again and again, fighting desperately against one of Neraka’s Sacred Emperor Realm experts. His expression showed not the slightest ripple—no mercy, no compassion.
All the experts who had come to slaughter their way here were like evil spirits walking out of another realm.
Toward Neraka’s assassins, they showed no quarter whatsoever. Their hatred ran bone-deep, an irreconcilable enmity.
This was already the seventh ancient world they had destroyed.
In days past, the great assassin organizations ran rampant across the world, slaughtering countless prodigies, leaving all the heavens in misery, poisoning the Eight Wastelands. But today, they had finally suffered their retribution, welcoming the day of their annihilation.
Above the firmament, Ancient Battleships rumbled forward one after another, blotting out the sky and sun, cascading down a crushing aura.
Gu Changge stood atop an Ancient Battleship, gazing down at the scene below, his face calm and untroubled as a breeze.
Although Neraka was being destroyed because of him, he felt no psychological burden whatsoever.
After all, they could only blame Neraka for standing in his way.
“Within the Third Palace now, the remaining high-level figures of Neraka number only a few Palace Lords, along with Old Lady Meng and the others. I wonder whether that Lord of Hell is currently within the Third Palace.”
Bai Lian’er stood behind Gu Changge, watching the scene ahead, her gaze filled with ambition.
Boom!!!
From the Ancient Battleships, divine radiance spewed forth in streams, sheets of Grand Runes enshrouding everything, transforming into the light of the death god, reaping all life below.
Chapter 698: Palm of True World, a Genuine Ancient Godly Spirit (Seeking Subscriptions)
The Lord of Hell still showed no intention of appearing even now.
Gu Changge gazed at this ancient world saturated with blood and slaughter, his divine sense sweeping across it.
Of Neraka’s Ten Palace Lords, aside from the few who had fallen and been executed, the rest had all, without exception, submitted and pledged allegiance to him.
Beyond that, there were several True Daoists who had been too obstinate and unyielding, preferring death over surrender. In the end, Gu Changge erased their consciousness and refined them into puppets.
In this campaign to annihilate Neraka, his harvest could be called immensely bountiful—the number of True Daoists under his command had multiplied severalfold.
After Ah Da absorbed numerous fragmented Sources, he had originally been just one step away from the True Daoist realm. Gu Changge bestowed upon him a wisp of True Blood aura, allowing him to break through that final shackle.
Of course, in Gu Changge’s eyes, the most important thing was still sweeping away the obstacle that was Neraka.
As for the Floating Land?
That had never been part of his considerations. Once Neraka fell, the Floating Land would naturally be nothing to worry about.
“This shall be Neraka’s final resistance.”
“Today, Neraka shall surely be destroyed.”
The Ancient Battleships rumbled onward, the banners of countless orthodoxies and forces unfurling in the void, radiating a bone-chilling intent.
Everyone roared as they charged into the slaughter, becoming an unstoppable torrent that shattered all in its path, shaking heaven and earth, sweeping across the Eight Wastelands.
The terrifying energy was like a bursting dam of mountains and rivers, surging and unimaginable.
Neraka’s destruction was unavoidable—this was the consensus in the hearts of nearly all Cultivators.
By now, of Neraka’s Ten Palaces, nine had already been destroyed, leaving only this Third Palace making its last stand from a corner.
However, this place had indeed gathered all of Neraka’s remaining experts.
“Even if you can destroy us, you will pay a grievous price today.”
Numerous Sacred Emperor Realm experts stood before the collapsing ancient world, coldly watching the many Ancient Battleships descending from the firmament above.
They were Neraka’s last backbone force, the strongest beneath the True Daoists and Quasi-Emperors.
Facing the divine radiance cascading down from the heavens, endless experts...
They roared and strode forward, their bodies erupting with ten thousand zhang of light.
Even as assassins, they still possessed fighting spirit, and would not easily beg for mercy or surrender.
Billions of divine rays blossomed and interwove here, like fireworks of ultimate splendor blooming.
Small worlds were annihilated one after another, vanishing soundlessly.
Deep in the firmament, the weapons of True Daoists rose and fell, spanning the sky like suns, cascading down billions of strands of Chaos Energy, suppressing everything.
This was a battle of utmost brutality. Blood and bone blossomed, transforming into a surging sea of blood, mingled with terrifying gore, enough to frighten ordinary people unconscious.
The cries of slaughter shook the heavens, shaking this universe. Vast swathes of armies charged in, penetrating deep into the heartland of this world.
No assassin could escape. This was a fight to the death. The various orthodoxies of the Beyond were determined to annihilate Neraka, to uproot this Dark Empire.
Beacon fires stretched to the heavens, blood dyed the earth. This world began to collapse, its World Barriers shattering, countless cracks appearing.
Though this world was ancient and long-lived, it could not withstand the fluctuations of so many experts battling. It was already on the brink of destruction.
“Founding Ancestors, rest in peace. Today we shall destroy Neraka and bring back your remains, granting your souls tranquility.”
Amid the sounds of war, many people’s eyes turned red as they roared again and again, venting the hatred they had long held toward Neraka.
Not only their ancestors—even their own kin had suffered Neraka’s poisonous hand.
For Neraka, there was no honor to speak of. As long as the price was right, they would even kill brothers or slay fathers.
Many of the fratricidal tragedies within various orthodoxies and clans actually had Neraka’s shadow behind them.
To the Beyond, assassin dominions like Neraka and the Floating Land were simply tumors that should have been excised long ago.
Countless Cultivators and living beings harbored deep loathing for these two powers.
Cries of slaughter shook the heavens, terrifying fluctuations swept in all directions. All the Godly Islands, mountains, and ancient palaces were shattering, rapidly collapsing.
How could the Neraka of today withstand such a terrifying army of the Beyond?
This entire world trembled. Billions upon billions of troops surged forward, treading across the sky like celestial soldiers and generals, like the nether soldiers of the underworld—irresistible.
Neraka’s assassins fought and roared, yet they were harvested like weeds, no longer resembling living beings but mere grass, falling in wave after wave beneath the iron cavalry of the great army.
“Who is that person from Neraka?”
At this moment, Gu Changge, high in the sky, suddenly noticed a tall figure walking out from the deepest part of this world, and asked with some interest.
“Reporting to Gongzi, this person is Neraka’s Third Palace Lord.”
One of the surrendered Palace Lords behind him respectfully explained.
“Neraka’s Third Palace Lord? The only remaining Palace Lord?”
Gu Changge was rather curious. With matters having reached this point, what was this Third Palace Lord still holding out for?
Could Neraka still have some means yet to be unleashed?
Was he counting on the Lord of Hell to act, or was something still hidden?
And the moment the Third Palace Lord appeared, a dazzling light suddenly surged from his hand.
A world-suppressing aura emerged, like an eternal, indestructible divine radiance, piercing through the sky and connecting to the deepest reaches of the universe.
Sheets of divine light flew up, layers of Dao traces emerged. The aura was vast and boundless, like a small world erupting, its energy towering to the heavens, brilliant and blinding.
“Palm of True World... a refined Divine Small World.”
Gu Changge raised an eyebrow.
In this world, traces of a Divine Small World actually still existed. This was somewhat beyond his expectations.
After all, this kind of godly spirit was no god of later eras who lit divine fire.
It was an innate god, a true godly spirit, whose cultivation even surpassed that of True Daoists.
A Divine Small World, in certain respects, possessed sturdiness beyond imagination, and could even evolve into a divine kingdom.
As long as the godly spirit did not fall, that divine kingdom would endure immortally.
This actually shared a wondrous similarity with Gu Changge’s current Inner Universe.
And the moment the Third Palace Lord brought out the Palm of True World, the collapsing ancient world before them seemed to suddenly stabilize considerably.
In the unseen depths, some power and set of rules seemed to be slowly seeping through, mending those broken cracks.
Between heaven and earth, an eerie yet holy aura appeared.
Sheets of light rain scattered down, blooming from unknown voids, extending into blood-colored vines that seemed to absorb the blood and Sources from every region.
“This world’s aura has changed. Could this be Neraka’s final plan?”
“Drawing everyone here to catch them like turtles in a jar? To wipe them all out in one net?”
Sensing this scene, Gu Changge’s brow furrowed slightly, and a subtle sense of foreboding arose in his heart.
He felt that he had perhaps somewhat underestimated Neraka’s vicious resolve.
In certain respects, what Neraka was doing actually coincided with his own thinking.
“What happened?”
“Why do I feel this world’s aura has changed? The rules of heaven and earth no longer seem as clear as before.”
At this moment, the True Daoists of the various orthodoxies and forces, who had stood deep in the firmament without acting all this time, also sensed something amiss.
Their expressions shifted slightly as they extended their divine senses, sweeping in all directions, trying to locate the source of this eerie aura.
The many armies locked in battle were also forced to halt, feeling as though they had sunk into a quagmire, unable to move.
Every inch of the surrounding void seemed to have transformed into a thick pool of blood, heavy and gory, carrying an oppressive aura.
“Hahahaha, a bunch of self-righteous trash. Did you really think numbers would be enough?”
“Today, all of you shall be buried alongside my Neraka. Did you truly think that after lying dormant for countless years, we made no preparations for this day?”
“Utterly laughable. Even if you destroy my Neraka, a second and a third Neraka will emerge afterward. My Neraka can never be exterminated.”
“You are merely being used as guns by that Gu Changge. Do you really think the Nephrite Breeze Pavilion has nothing to do with him? Destroy my Neraka, and soon the Nephrite Breeze Pavilion will become the second Neraka, you ridiculous fools.”
From the supreme palace in the deepest reaches, cold laughter rang out, sweeping forth like a great bell, shaking all directions.
The remaining True Daoists besides the Third Palace Lord also revealed themselves at this moment.
Their numbers were few, but each one exuded a shocking baleful aura, like dark sovereigns—cold and terrifying, as if they had once slaughtered billions upon billions.
They swept their gazes across the armies of the many orthodoxies within this world, their eyes filled with undisguised mockery.
Originally, this world of Neraka was no different from an ordinary ancient world.
But once blood and heroic souls drenched every inch of its void and soil, the ancient Sacrificial Scripture inscribed upon this world was ignited.
The Third Palace Lord’s Palm of True World did not belong to anyone else—it belonged to that most mysterious Lord of Hell.
Once the Palm of True World completely fused and overlapped with this ancient world...
The life and death of every living being who had stepped into this world would be decided entirely by the Lord of Hell.
This was the foundation of Neraka’s confidence in making all the forces and orthodoxies pay a grievous price.
The Lord of Hell was a genuine ancient godly spirit, one who had survived from an immeasurably distant era all the way to the present day.