Chapter 1990: Exterminate Ancestor

"Impudent!"

"What an utter display of contempt and provocation!"

Having secluded himself in Hán Gōng Dòng Tiān for decades, successfully attaining the title of Hán Zǔ and wielding the power of a Sacred Ancestor, with the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ in hand, he was practically invincible. Even if not entirely unchallenged, anyone below the Ancestral God realm should not dare to boast so brazenly in front of him.

"So what if he’s a Sān Jiè Shén Yì?"

"So what if he’s a Heavy Arms Overlord?"

He had instantly defeated three minor ancient sword cultivators and a minor Buddhist Sect Saint Emperor. Such a record could easily be replicated by Hán Zǔ.

Why did he dare to bark so wildly and act so arrogantly in front of him, even claiming "one move" and "counting to three"?

At this moment, Hán Zǔ's slight apprehension was completely overwhelmed by his rage. He lightly shook the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ in his hand and laughed furiously, "A frog at the bottom of a well, how can you know the vastness of the sky and sea?!"

A soft whoosh of wind.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Shén Yì, holding his Bawang, transformed into an afterimage, his true body arriving with the staff.

Hán Zǔ's spine tingled. He found it difficult to adapt to such a fast combat rhythm. He had even mentally prepared himself to unleash a spirit skill, giving Shén Yì time to "count."

"At least, you should have a word or two more to say, shouldn't you?"

But who would have thought that this muscle-bound brute, whose brain seemed to consist solely of brawn, would even count silently, disdaining to show off his arrogance and wildness to the world!

Difficult to deal with…

No, this fellow is simply a mindless brute!

Bawang's staff struck down, but it only shattered an afterimage of Hán Zǔ’s Yuè Gōng Qì. Clearly, as an Ancestral God, Yuè Gōng Qì’s combat awareness was not weak, and his reactions were extremely swift; his instant teleportation was also masterful.

Having barely dodged Shén Yì’s first strike, and knowing that a reckless brute was easier to handle, Hán Zǔ already conceived a dozen ingenious ways to toy with this bald man.

"Hán Xī Jié Jiè, suppress!"

He gestured with his fingers, barely activating the slowing power of the Hán Xī Jié Jiè to reduce Shén Yì's speed and reaction time.

Yet, as the Sacred Ancestor's power surged into the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, before he could even unleash a counterattack, a blurry, large bald head reappeared in his vision.

"So fast?!"

Hán Zǔ was greatly alarmed. If Shén Yì had chosen to attack from behind with this strike, he might have taken a hit.

"Chè Tiān Hán!"

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ swept through the air, and Hán Zǔ's power erupted from his Qi Sea.

In an instant, alluring ice-blue crystal flowers bloomed in mid-air, lowering the air temperature to absolute zero.

*Crack—*

A shocking sound reverberated through the void. The space around Shén Yì, all Dao techniques, and a three hundred-zhang radius, were all frozen into ice cones.

Hán Zǔ's lips curled into a sneer, "Fool..."

The ice crystals exploded.

Before his mockery could fully escape his lips, that barbaric figure, like a Kuí Niú, had already broken through the Ancestral Source's freezing power and shattered the defense?

"What?!"

Hán Zǔ was greatly shocked.

"This fellow truly isn't an Ancestral God?"

He wasn't an Ancestral God, but he fought like one!

At the very least, this physical body, if not for the sheer amount of Ancestral Source power, would be impossible to shake in the slightest!

"Suǒ Tiān Lán Shuǐ!"

Hán Zǔ hastily waved his hand while simultaneously retreating.

Immediately, a layer of ice-blue water curtain surged before him, from which dozens of thick, python-like chains of heavy water shot out, trapping the charging Shén Yì.

This technique, enhanced by the Jiǔ Tiān Xuán Zhòng Shuǐ and the power of the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, could, at the very least, hold anyone below the Ancestral God realm for half an incense stick of time, no matter how strong.

And if it was Shén Yì…

*Smack!*

The water curtain exploded, and that bovine figure, dragging hundreds of restraining chains behind him, charged out defiantly.

Hán Zǔ's pupils trembled, and he could no longer hold back, letting out a sharp scream, "How is this possible?!"

Not even half a breath could hold him?

The Kuí Niú, gripping its staff, charged like a wild horse.

That fearless, head-on冲撞之力, regardless of the damage it inflicted, created a deadly psychological impact at that moment—if its momentum wasn't curbed, his life would be forfeit!

"Jiāng Zhòng Mén, go!"

Hán Zǔ had been retreating repeatedly, but at this moment, he stood his ground, flicking his sleeve to unleash six streaks of black light.

The black light tore through the wind, suddenly transforming into six colossal, ancient gates, each a hundred zhang tall and ten zhang thick, guarding him like an impenetrable fortress.

The Jiāng Zhòng Mén, a divine artifact of the Yí Wén Bēi!

Its supreme defensive power, let alone against a Sān Jiè Shén Yì, even when he was merely a Saint Emperor, could likely withstand a blow from an ordinary Ancestral God, let alone now that he was an Ancestral God himself…

*Boom boom boom boom boom boom!*

Six consecutive breaches in an instant, like breaking bamboo.

Yuè Gōng Qì's thought had barely finished when he suddenly stared, dumbfounded.

The bald man with nine戒疤 on his head showed not the slightest bit of compassion expected of a Buddhist cultivator.

As soon as Hán Zǔ unleashed the six gates, he had already broken through them, dragging the restraining chains that were still unbroken but utterly useless, and charged, charged, charged, until he was right in front of him!

What assaulted him was ferocity!

What was about to burst forth was wildness!

It was as if not only Shén Yì was pressing close, but also an invisible, terrifying beast horde behind him, capable of tearing through the Primordial Wilderness, and amidst the sudden changes in wind and cloud, rising dragons and blood phoenixes from the depths of the sea… breaking through the eight directions, their power penetrating through all eternity!

"Ah, Sǐ Shèng Shù!!!"

Hán Zǔ's face changed drastically in horror, almost shouting out the wrong technique.

His scalp felt as if it would be torn apart by the scorching aura emanating from the Kuí Niú. He hastily spat out a mouthful of vital blood, and a phantom Sacred Ancestor's hand emerged from his chest, shooting out a desolate ray of light that pierced through Shén Yì's chest cavity.

"Did it pierce through…?"

"Yes, it did pierce through…"

"But why was it useless, how could it have no effect at all?"

*Rip!*

A soft sound, and blood splattered into the air.

Yet, Shén Yì's momentum showed not the slightest stagnation.

The move, which should have been at least deformed by pain, showed no error whatsoever.

On the contrary, he still held Bawang high, swinging the staff into a full moon, building momentum backward, about to cleave down.

"No…"

"No no no…"

"Absolutely not…"

The wide, furious eyes, the bulging veins on his powerful arms, the dark red glow of Bawang's staff shadow, the single-minded offense with no defense, the arrogant disregard for life and death—all reflected in Yuè Gōng Qì’s eyes, more terrifying than anything in the world, practically tearing his guts apart.

"No!!!"

Yuè Gōng Qì let out a desperate cry, instinctively raising the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ above his head.

But at the same time, he suddenly realized why the three ancient sword cultivators and Saint Emperor Yǒu Xǐ’s countermeasures were so laughable when facing this mindless brute's direct assault, and why they, like him, chose the unadorned "block"…

"There really are no other moves left!"

"His defense was broken!"

Just like a mad, red-eyed wild ox, anything in front of it would only be "plowed through," with no exceptions.

His defensive and parrying techniques were useless, like paper, in front of this raging Kuí Niú—"My life is over!"

The instinctive parry reaction, born from the most fragile moment of life, was impossible to change even upon realizing the danger.

"Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, save me!"

Hán Zǔ screamed in his heart, his eyes bloodshot with rage, forcefully attempting to defy fate.

He no longer cared about the backlash to himself, brutally burning his lifespan and Dao Foundation to activate the power within the Xuán Chǐ, which still needed a little more time to awaken.

Bawang’s staff had not yet swung down.

Yuè Gōng Qì himself was already bleeding from all seven orifices, but the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ above his head vibrated in time, prematurely emitting an ice-blue glow.

"I... I survived…"

At that moment, the furious Hán Zǔ felt a hint of relief in his heart.

In a daze, he found it laughable that he had been so overwhelmed by this wild Kuí Niú, shattering his spirit. If he had responded with full force from the beginning, not underestimating him, he would never have fallen into such a predicament. At least the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ was not much worse than Bawang…

"Wait!"

The defense was activated.

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ also poured out all its power, transforming into a massive ice-blue glowing staff shadow above his head.

At the critical moment, Yuè Gōng Qì was horrified to see that when Shén Yì’s Bawang swung back to its limit, it should have been a vertical chop down, splitting a sacred mountain head-on.

With all that power accumulated, and that breath held!

He actually, actually managed to change his move at the last moment—twisting his waist backward and to the right, his lower body rooted in the void, while his upper body horizontally rotated, forcefully changing Bawang's downward chop into a horizontal sweep towards Yuè Gōng Qì's waist, a sweeping strike against an army!

Among all methods under heaven, none surpass force.

A hundred kinds of Dao techniques are ended here.

From the beginning of the charge to its end, Shén Yì’s Bawang aura, held in his chest, was unbroken and unceasing. At the very end, it suddenly roared like a spring thunderclap, exploding across the four directions of heaven and earth.

"Hè!!!"

*Boom…*

The entire world distorted, ears ringing, vision blurring, scalp tingling.

The vibrant colors of the Saint God Continent were gone; everything in sight had turned into gloomy shades.

"Mother…"

In a trance, Yuè Gōng Qì saw a chubby little child, seemingly just learning to walk, stumbling towards him from a distance.

A long-lost warmth unexpectedly bloomed in his heart.

But the child was too small, too far away, so small and distant that Yuè Gōng Qì could no longer tell if it was Lí’er or Nú’er.

Suddenly snapping back to reality, he was startled to realize that if it were Lí’er or Nú’er, they should be calling "Father," not "Mother."

This meant that it wasn't his child's childhood, but his own childhood…

"No."

"At such a time, how could there be such filial affection?"

"I am Hán Zǔ, secluded beneath the sacred statue, achieving enlightenment in Hán Gōng Dòng Tiān, wielding the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, capable of suppressing the six realms and eight wastes, with unparalleled might, invincible in the world, merely a Shén Yì…"

"This Shén Yì, who is he?"

"Ancient martial Sān Jiè, can he actually contend with an Ancestral God?"

*Bang!*

The void's airflow compressed, producing only a moderately loud sonic boom.

The five regions watched in horror as the supremely arrogant Hán Zǔ was sliced in half at the waist by a single strike from the Sān Jiè Shén Yì.

"Cut in two!"

"Without any hesitation!"

This blunted Bawang was sharper than any sword!

And as Hán Zǔ's breath ceased, the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ above his head, as if startled, suddenly erupted with surging demonic energy.

"Hoo!"

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, now ownerless, activated on its own. Just as Shén Yì's momentum broke, it swung down from above, intending to cut Shén Yì's waist as well.

But who would have thought, after Shén Yì's staff strike on Hán Zǔ, Bawang retracted its power extremely quickly. The primordial immense force suddenly converged, lightly tapping the void as if deflecting a thousand pounds with four ounces, merely shattering the void.

Then, the long staff stood in the air, as if using the ground for leverage. Shén Yì pulled his arm, swiftly pulling his waist to the side, avoiding the heavy downward chop of the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ.

Finally, he flipped over, concentrating his power, his lower body rooted in the void.

His waist twisted to generate force, and he then drew out the Bawang, which was rooted in the void, holding the long staff with one arm and whipping it through the air.

*Bang!*

One strike.

Hán Zǔ's lower body exploded, shattering into dust.

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ seemed enraged, flipping from below and then flying back from a distance like a returning bone, striking again.

Shén Yì flipped and struck with his staff, directly clashing with the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ's edge. But as the tip of the staff and the edge of the ruler met, he retracted his strength and elbowed back, sinking his body and sliding sideways through the air.

Thus, the tip of Bawang’s staff tore past the underside of the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, sparking with friction, and with Shén Yì’s renewed force, it pushed again.

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, striking from afar, was easily tossed upwards, directly into the high sky.

"The opening is wide!"

"No one can save Yuè Gōng Lí's father!"

Shén Yì was resolute, taking three steps as one, like a gecko climbing a wall, sidestepping and pushing off the void, Bawang following with borrowed force, as if about to be let go, but suddenly it lengthened, piercing directly towards where Hán Zǔ's broken body and head were located.

*Bang!*

"One strike!"

Hán Zǔ's head exploded.

His upper body was also shattered into dust by the overflowing force.

As Shén Yì retracted his staff, he lightly picked something up from an unknown place: a half-Saint rank, a Saint Emperor rank, and an Ancestral God fate.

He tossed the three ranks into the air, caught them, and put them into his bag.

The five regions watched in horror. This entire sequence of movements flowed like clouds and water, seamless and effortless.

If this person were not Shén Yì, but the Dao Hall Master, everyone would surely suspect that he had secretly rehearsed it millions of times in his mind!

*Boom!*

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ reacted with furious anger, suddenly expanding in the high sky, transforming into a ten-thousand-zhang mountain, heavily smashing down, like the collapse of the heavens.

From the beginning of the battle until now, Shén Yì, who had only roared out a single "Hè" syllable, finally pressed his brows together and made a sound:

"Tiān! Dào!"

A faint light brightened from his brow.

Shén Yì's figure swelled dramatically, transforming into a ten-thousand-zhang giant. He threw a single punch, shaking the heavens.

*Boom!*

This heavy blow shattered the void into concentric force waves, causing the entire Ghost Buddha Realm to disintegrate. Even the Dao chains of the Ancient War God Stage rumbled and then snapped with a loud crack.

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, which had been falling from the sky, was no longer merely struck by human force; it was punched away into the sky.

However, amidst this back-and-forth, Hán Zǔ's spirit and will gained a slight respite, evidently realizing that this person could not be directly confronted, not even by an Ancestral God.

"He must escape!"

"This fellow is not human, truly not human!"

His momentum grew stronger and stronger, going from a surge, then to a climax, and finally to a grand scale, showing no signs of weakening. The price of head-on confrontation was only death!

Yuè Gōng Qì, the newly advanced Ancestral God, was at this moment filled with dread, both a deep doubt about his own Ancestral God realm and an incomprehension and shock regarding the sheer battle prowess of this mere Shén Yì.

But no matter what, he dared not turn back to glance at Sān Jiè Shén Yì or test the might of Bawang again. His spirit immediately transformed into a thousand streams of light, and without a word, he turned and fled.

"Is face important, or life important?"

"Of course, life is most important!"

"Where do you think you're going?!"

But who would have thought that Tiān Dào Shén Yì, having punched the ten-thousand-zhang Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ away, suddenly returned to a horse stance, elbows touching his ribs, and the back of his fist striking downwards.

"Control with ease!"

That wild posture could suddenly be reined in, transforming back into the normal human form of Shén Yì.

The backlash from such forced "release" and "recollection" of power would likely cause another person to explode.

But the terrifying power had not yet erupted within the human-form Shén Yì. Instead, it subtly shifted from the body Dao to the spirit Dao. Shén Yì opened his mouth and let out a long roar:

"È Guǐ Dào!"

A flash of green light in the void, and the entire Ghost Buddha Realm suddenly darkened.

The human-form Shén Yì transformed fiercely, becoming a ten-thousand-zhang tall Hungry Ghost, clad in thick, green scales. Its fingers and claws were sharp as blades and soul artifacts, its ghost face ferocious, and its eyes blood-red.

Under the Hungry Ghost Dao, he opened the Animal Dao again, drawing upon the bloodline talent of the Liè Dào Guǐ Zhū. The Hungry Ghost Shén Yì crossed his arms and then violently tore at the void, as if to rip apart the sky.

"Qiān Zhū Liè!"

In an instant, Shén Yì's arms transformed into countless spider silks, casting a crisscrossing, sprawling net over the Ghost Buddha Realm, directly ensnaring the thousand streams of light into which Hán Zǔ's spirit had transformed.

His arms condensed back, and he pulled forcefully.

"No—"

A desperate, mournful scream immediately echoed through the void.

Those thousand streams of light, like moths caught in a net, were all captured by Shén Yì's single move!

The gathered net of Hán Zǔ's spirit was gripped by the Hungry Ghost Shén Yì’s spider web束, swung several times in the air, and then violently smashed forward.

The sky above the North Sea shattered, and the ice water below nearly hit rock bottom.

Hán Zǔ's spirit was instantly disoriented, completely losing its ability to think and judge.

This net of spirit was pulled back by the Hungry Ghost Shén Yì, traversing mid-air, and then violently smashed backwards again.

The sky above the South Li Realm shattered.

The nearby Spirit Refiners were terrified, their hearts stopping, as they watched the southern part of the Ghost Buddha Realm smashed into smithereens by the Hungry Ghost Shén Yì.

As for Hán Zǔ's spirit, it was almost completely dead.

*Rumble rumble rumble—*

The Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ arrived belatedly, no longer able to suppress its rage at being repeatedly toyed with by Shén Yì. It radiated spiritual light, fiercely lashing down from the sky, intending to exert the might of the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, which could cleave an Ancestral God's physical body and shatter Shén Yì's unstoppable momentum.

"Ahahaha…"

But the Hungry Ghost Shén Yì was truly like a frenzied starving ghost.

Facing the ten-thousand-zhang spiritual light ruler, he neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, he swung the net of flowing light from behind him, throwing it towards the heavily descending Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ.

"No no no no—"

Hán Zǔ, who had just regained a sliver of consciousness amidst the intense pain, saw his own spirit uncontrollably about to collide with the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, which could cleave an Ancestral God's physical body and spirit.

At this moment, the despair in his heart was like the surging waters of the North Sea, submerging all the gains of his past life.

"I! Am! Hán! Zǔ!"

"Hán Zǔ!!!"

*Slap!*

There was no surprise.

Even if the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ paused for a moment at the critical juncture, its downward momentum was irreversible.

The Hungry Ghost Shén Yì swung the net, and the Hán Zǔ's spirit within the net exploded with a splat, completely pulverized by the power of the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ.

Even his last consciousness was annihilated.

*Whine…*

The entire world suddenly fell silent.

Only the prolonged wail of an Ancestral God’s demise remained.

No one had expected that a powerful figure like Hán Zǔ, arrogant to such an extent, would die so tragically, falling so comically.

And the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, controlled by the Demonic Ancestor's will, seemed to have understood in that instant: without the three-in-one fusion, without the true body's presence, merely remote control of the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ from afar…

Shén Yì hitting the ruler was like a War Ancestor kicking a ball, doing whatever felt most comfortable!

"So... so strong…"

The people of the five regions were completely stunned by this burst of Shén Yì's power, unable to offer a single coherent comment for a long time.

"Is this within the reach of human power?"

He was Hán Zǔ, and he was also Hán Zǔ.

Even the Xī Dào Xuán Chǐ, controlled by the Demonic Ancestor, tried to intervene in the battle repeatedly but was casually batted aside during the intervals when Shén Yì brutalized Hán Zǔ.

"Can an Ancestral God stop the momentum of the Sān Jiè Shén Yì?"

Silence was the state of the Saint God Continent at this moment.

Everyone gazed at the void of the Ghost Buddha Realm. After the ferocious Hungry Ghost effortlessly annihilated Hán Zǔ, he showed no lingering enjoyment of the power surge, quickly retracting and returning to his human form.

The Bawang flower whirled around his waist, and Shén Yì stood in the void with his staff.

He stood alone above the Ghost Buddha Realm, surrounded by desolation and ruin.

Behind him was the refuge of the Central Region, the best viewing platform for the five regions' observers. Ahead, past the North Sea, was the Northern Region Sword Tower, the converging point of the Demonic Ancestor's body and spirit.

"But…"

"The Demonic Ancestor's three-in-one, still lacking the will, can it truly merge?"

The Demonic Ancestor was one of the Ten Ancestors, while Shén Yì was merely Shén Yì. Yet, at this moment, such an absurd thought arose in everyone's hearts, truly a reversal of the cosmic order.

At this moment, Shén Yì, with his imposing aura, held his staff in one hand, pointing his other arm northward, challenging from afar, his arrogant roar making people's scalps tingle:

"Bawang is here! Who dares to fight me?!"