Chapter 342

"It seems so." Tai Hao nodded.

"Tsk…" Huang Tu looked displeased.

"As it stands, we can only return first. This matter requires Tai Yi to decide. I only hope the domain rift hasn't been interfered with; if that happens, we won't even be able to go back."

Tai Hao sighed. "Also, please let us know if there is any news from the Goddess of Salvation. This is no longer just our individual business."

"We understand." The Lord of the Underworld nodded.

"By the way, has the Goddess of Salvation replied to you? I haven't received any news from Tai Yi yet. I'm just afraid… that we might not even be able to send messages and will be completely cut off."

Tai Hao's concern was not without reason. Although their method of transmitting messages could break through domain restrictions, logically speaking, within a single domain, it shouldn't be intercepted.

But many of the things they were encountering now had never been seen before. The possibility of communication being intercepted was not zero; in fact, it was quite high.

"Nothing…" The Lord of the Underworld's expression was also grim, but it improved slightly a moment later. "Wait, I received a reply… Hmm? Wait… What?"

After reading the reply, the Lord of the Underworld's expression turned grim again.

"What is it?" Tai Hao frowned, but soon realized why the Lord of the Underworld's expression had changed several times. His own expression darkened, and he spoke coldly, "How dare they…"

"What happened?" Shao Hao rarely saw his brother in such a rage; in the past ten thousand years, this was the first time. Tai Hao had always been calm and rational.

Tai Hao scanned the crowd. "That group of worms in the gutter has actually attacked the Immortal Palace!"

The Lord of the Underworld's face was as dark as water. "They have also started attacking the Netherworld."

"Isn't the Goddess of Salvation there?" Huang Tu looked at the Lord of the Underworld in confusion.

"Qin Honglian and the Laughing Wine Immortal have held back the Goddess of Salvation. Ksitigarbha is also helping them. That is why it took so long for the Goddess to reply to us," the Lord of the Underworld explained calmly.

"And what about General Xianhe?"

"General Xianhe is over at the Immortal Palace."

Tai Hao calmed his emotions, his expression returning to calmness, though it was like a suppressed volcano—once it erupted, it would inevitably cause heaven and earth to collapse. "And those fellows to whom we gave a way out have rebelled again, catching us off guard."

"Tai Yi is facing off against General Xianhe, and Si Zhong and Si Ming have been held back."

Tai Hao did not mention Chang Yi. It was good enough that Chang Yi didn't cause them trouble. Even if Chang Yi turned from a friend to an enemy and helped General Xianhe and the others fight against Tai Yi and his group, he would consider it normal.

"…Chang Yi has defected." Tai Hao opened the message he had just received, was silent for a moment, and then spoke softly.

"Where do they get the confidence? Do they think that by trapping us here, they can succeed? Behind us, there is…" Huang Tu sneered.

"We must return quickly. Although they are destined to be in vain, some things still need to be done." The Lord of the Underworld stroked his long beard.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to return." A clear, youthful voice rang out abruptly. A figure holding a moon-white gold-patterned Sword approached from the Xun Wood.

"Hmm?"

Chapter 455: He and His Child.

Let us dial the time back to before. From Lin Yi's perspective, the aura of the seven Immortal Kings and Demon Lords disappeared from the Xun Wood, expelled from the Three Realms.

Lin Yi took a jade pendant from the Creation Realm and crushed it. A faint fluctuation carried his message across.

On the other side was the Mingguang Army, already guarding outside the Yueming Domain. General Xianhe held another jade pendant capable of cross-domain communication.

Before the turn of the year, General Xianhe, Qin Honglian, and the Laughing Wine Immortal had secretly left the Yueming Domain.

Compared to before, when they had to enter through the Xun Wood, this time Lin Yi had personally sent them out. It didn't take much time, nor did they need to hide from those Immortal Kings and Demon Lords, avoiding another chase if discovered.

These dozens of days were enough for them to take the Mingguang Army to the outside of the Yueming Domain. They had already been waiting for a few days, but Lin Yi wanted to see what the Blood God was up to, so he had held them back for the time being.

And now, it was time for them to fight back against the Immortal Palace and the Netherworld, to take revenge on the twelve Immortal Kings and Demon Lords and those who had betrayed Immortal Emperor Qiming!

"Hmm?" In the void, General Xianhe opened his eyes. Before him, Qin Honglian and the Laughing Wine Immortal sat cross-legged. Behind them was a Small World—this Small World was the Mingguang Army's trump card for avoiding pursuit and escaping at any time!

"General?" The Laughing Wine Immortal also opened his eyes, looking a bit sleepy. Lying in the void, he looked quite carefree. "Did the Emperor send us a message?"

"General?" Qin Honglian also thought of this. Her eyebrows arched slightly, and her cold, calm expression became vivid, like a red lotus blooming wantonly.

General Xianhe took out the jade pendant. The three of them watched quietly as it shattered, and a stream of information flowed out, transmitting into their Divine Sense, which they captured and digested.

There was only one word inside. — "Proceed."

Qin Honglian stood up abruptly, her smile beautiful and charming. She sighed, "Finally… finally we don't have to be stray dogs anymore."

"Hehehehe…" The weariness on the Laughing Wine Immortal's face vanished. He casually took his wine gourd, gracefully drew a stream of wine, and smacked his lips a few times, clearly using this to suppress the excitement in his heart.

"We are not stray dogs. It's just that we've let them stay in that place for so long; it's time to take it back."

Even as steady as General Xianhe was, he couldn't help but lose control at this moment. He took a deep breath, and the Small World behind him began to fluctuate.

In front of him was a large domain adjacent to the Yueming Domain. In the void, a door opened.

General Xianhe understood that this was the Emperor cutting off the passage between the two domains and opening the gates to the Immortal Realm and the Netherworld directly to where they were.

"Let's go. According to the plan, you go to the Netherworld side. You don't need to achieve victory; just hold them off."

"There should only be two or three Demon Lords left there. With the battle Formation and the combined power of the Mingguang Army, you shouldn't have to fear. Just wait for the Emperor to free up his hands."

"You can ask Ksitigarbha for help. Back then, Her Majesty was magnanimous and tolerated him, not expelling him, allowing him to stay in the Netherworld to preach and save sentient beings."

"He needs to repay this favor. Although he won't be able to use his full strength, holding back one Demon Lord should be possible."

Although Ksitigarbha had previously wanted to intervene more deeply in the affairs of the Three Realms, ordering Buddhism to use the Barbarian race as a Foundation to seize a territory from the Five Great Immortal Sects and the Six Paths Sect, so that he could integrate into the ruling order of the twelve Immortal Kings and Demon Lords and turn the twelve Kings into thirteen…

but ever since he learned that the Barbarian race had been wiped out and Buddhism had declined, he had withdrawn his hand and done nothing unnecessary.

Besides, even though the Nine Provinces designated Buddhism as the state religion, looking at these days, it was just a name. Compared to its previous prosperity, it was now extremely weak.

As the leader, Cang Tianjiao didn't even care about matters much anymore, thinking about snatching meat from Nangong Wan and the others every day. She didn't have the appearance of a Bodhisattva at all!

This matter could be settled with him later. He had to repay the favor of seeking the Dao first. This moment was the time for him to repay it…

"As for Tai Yi, please be careful, General." Qin Honglian cupped her hands. The Netherworld they were responsible for was much weaker compared to the Immortal Realm.

There were a large number of "Innate Sages" in the Netherworld, and the six Demon Lords were also constrained. The danger during the fight would not be great. After all, everyone dared not collapse the Netherworld; if those Innate Sages woke up, they would be in big trouble.

But the Immortal Realm was different. In the Immortal Realm, it was almost exclusively controlled by the six Immortal Kings. Except for the Sun and Moon, the ancient stars reflecting into this realm from the void, other places could be ground to dust without issue. As long as the Sun and Moon were not damaged, those places could be rebuilt.

This meant that Tai Yi and his group would have many means at their disposal.

"It's fine." General Xianhe waved his hand, a hearty smile on his face. "It is you all I worry about. I hope that after this battle, I can still share the joy of victory with you. General Qin, Wine Immortal, be careful. Don't die before the dawn arrives!"

"Heh, your old bones haven't fallen apart yet, so what do I have to fear?" The Laughing Wine Immortal laughed and scolded, stretched, and tucked his wine gourd behind his back. "Alright, don't keep them waiting."

"General, when you lose, I will carve 'Defeated by Tai Yi, can you still eat?' on your grave, so that later generations can admire your 'heroic posture' and see how you, an old general, face them!" Qin Honglian said with a smile.

"General Qin, isn't that too vicious?!" General Xianhe's eyes widened, looking like he was furious, but his eyes held a smile.

"If it weren't a bit vicious, you old guy would still be holding back. Let everyone see how much you've improved over these ten thousand years. You wouldn't be surpassed by those guys again, would you?" The Laughing Wine Immortal retorted from the side.

The few of them laughed and scolded each other for a while, watching the door in front of them open wide. From the Small World behind them, rays of light flew out. In each ray of light was a small unit of the Mingguang Army, passing by their side, plunging into the door in front of them, passing through the Xun Wood—one going up to reach the Immortal Realm, the other going down directly to the Netherworld.

"Alright, you two, take care." General Xianhe became serious and cupped his hands.

"Take care, General." Qin Honglian and the Laughing Wine Immortal also cupped their hands in return. The three of them fell silent. In this battle, who knew how many Mingguang Army soldiers would die? But no one regretted it.

They had gathered under Immortal Emperor Qiming for that noble ideal in the first place. Rather than saying they followed Immortal Emperor Qiming, it was better to say they followed Immortal Emperor Qiming's ideal of Great Unity in the world, and for this, they were willing to sacrifice everything.

Those who were unwilling had long ago surrendered or left. Those standing here now were the true Mingguang!

The three of them didn't say anything more. Each turned into a stream of light, blending into the countless rays of light, merging into the door. They were all about to begin their respective battles.

The Mingguang Army was also in action… Lin Yi received the reply, his gaze dropping.

The entire Human Realm was silent. All living beings were under his pressure, not daring to move in the slightest. Even the sound of the wind, the water, the waves, the chirping of insects and birds, the clamor of human voices… all had ceased.

The Blood God Child in Lin Yi's palm slowly flew up. As his will moved, the Formations branded in various parts of the Human Realm activated. The Essence of Reason in the center of the Formations also emerged, emitting a mysterious and unfathomable fluctuation, making one feel as if they were about to achieve Immortality on the spot just by looking at it.

In these two days, the Formation at the Xuanji Pavilion had barely been set up. Although there were still some Sects where the Formation was just a shell and hadn't been fully deployed in time, it was enough.

These were already within the scope of "wear and tear"; without them, it wouldn't matter. To put it plainly, setting the anchor point was not a delicate job; a little more or a little less didn't matter. This was why Lin Yi didn't care about those remote, low-spiritual-concentration areas.

Behind Lin Yi, the phantom of the Creation Realm slowly emerged. Within the phantom, a jade white gold-patterned Sword flew out with a graceful arc, landing by Lin Yi's hand. Lin Yi casually grasped the Sword, which was also a bit excited at this moment, and lightly brushed his fingertips across the blade.

Inside the Creation Realm, Pei Yuhan, Shao Shenyun, and others stood in various places, stabilizing the world.

Immortal Emperor Qiming looked up, watching the scene of the Human Realm faintly appearing outside the sky of the Creation Realm. Beside her, Fairy Mingguang's expression was cold, like a block of ancient, unchanging ice. Zhao Qingqing was slightly nervous; such a grand scene was still too stimulating for her.

"It is time." Immortal Emperor Qiming nodded.

"Yes." Fairy Mingguang nodded calmly. The two finally looked at Zhao Qingqing on the side.

Zhao Qingqing also nodded. Then, between the three, a pure white light like glaze slowly rose, enveloping the three of them. A moment later, the white light slowly converged, revealing the figure within.

The three had dispersed, leaving only one Fairy, or rather, this was the true, complete Immortal Emperor Qiming!

Zhao Qingqing was the remnant soul of Immortal Emperor Qiming, Fairy Mingguang was the Incarnation of Immortal Emperor Qiming, and the original Immortal Emperor Qiming was the main body.