Chapter 76 — The Mountains and Rivers, the State and the Altars of Soil and Grain
Sea of Primordial Tribulation · Page 1 of 3
"God of Slaughter?! Ha! Ha!" Bai Qi burst into wild laughter. The otherworldly, aloof air about him vanished utterly; he became a man who looked upon all under heaven as beneath his notice, his aura swelling to a frenzy. Zhou Xuan felt as though heaven and earth alike had bowed down at Bai Qi's feet. For a moment the bright sun hanging on high, the drifting white clouds, the gentle breeze—all seemed to fear Bai Qi and winked out of existence. Time itself seemed to freeze, and in the whole of heaven and earth there remained only the sound of Bai Qi's roaring laughter.
"If heaven blocks my way, I shall destroy heaven! If earth blocks my way, I shall lay waste to earth! If a god blocks my way, I shall slay the god! The title of God of Slaughter—I, Bai Qi, can well bear it!"
There was in Bai Qi's bearing and his words a vast, matchless pressure, and hidden within it a killing intent that split the liver and shattered the gall, forcing Zhou Xuan to summon every ounce of his power to withstand it. "You are no ordinary man! To think you could break through the primordial space and come into this Mountains and Rivers, State and Altars Diagram! It seems I have not traded blows with anyone in over two thousand years—the loneliness has long been unbearable. You dress outlandishly, and your cultivation is uncommon as well. Come, exchange a couple of moves with me!"
Before Zhou Xuan could even begin to ponder the meaning of Bai Qi's words, a fist swelled with terrifying speed before his eyes. In an instant, Bai Qi's fist seemed to fill the whole of heaven and earth, and everything in creation vanished without a trace! To gather heaven and earth into a single mustard seed—what divine power was this! Zhou Xuan knew the sight before him was no illusion. The Eight-Nine Mystic Art he cultivated was the supreme method for tempering divine consciousness, one that could see through all false appearances and strike straight at the thing itself! The heaven and earth that had vanished had truly vanished!
Facing this fist that could not be evaded, Zhou Xuan had no time to think of any stratagem. He roused the Second Primordial Derivative and met it head-on! Bang! Zhou Xuan was blasted three zhang back by the blow, and the Second Primordial Derivative was shaken clean out of his body, revealing its true form: a great silkworm ten zhang long and thick as a water barrel, with four wings upon its back, its whole body gleaming with golden light as though sheathed in gold leaf, yet giving off an impression of invulnerability. Zhou Xuan knew his own business best: the golden silkworm's shell already bore fine cracks, and the thread of divine consciousness he had attached to it had nearly been shattered by the shock! Zhou Xuan's true body suffered the backlash—his qi and blood choked in his chest, and he nearly fainted dead away.
"Has this Bai Qi been cooped up so long he's gone mad? If my divine consciousness hadn't grown so greatly, and my cultivation and true essence not risen with it, that one punch would have scrapped my Second Primordial Derivative for good!" Zhou Xuan cursed and grumbled, yet he was not angry at the other's sudden strike—rather, he rather admired Bai Qi, because he himself was that sort of man. Had the two of them not been unable to tell friend from foe just now, Zhou Xuan would truly have liked to have a talk with this great devil of legend, fierce and vicious, who killed men as easily as drinking water! To exchange a few pointers on experience!