Chapter 1461: 炸鱼少年

Palace Heavenly Venerate sensed something was amiss. You Heavenly Venerate's body was rapidly regenerating, quickly transforming from an old man into a young boy.

Previously, You Heavenly Venerate resembled a frail old man. This was why he was known as the "Old Ghostly Messenger." He had spent years in Youdu, his physical body having long withered, devoid of vitality. He also seemed gloomy, always appearing alone in the darkness, illuminated by a horse lamp, folding paper figures and horses. His reputation was notorious; across the myriad heavens, the mere mention of the "Old Ghostly Messenger" was enough to silence even the most audacious demon gods and make children stop crying.

Now, as You Heavenly Venerate reverted to his youthful form, the heavy, aged aura vanished from him. He seemed to transform back into that somewhat reclusive boy who preferred sitting alone by the water, crafting a divine art, and tossing it into the Jade Pool to blast fish. He was not the muscular, robust type of boy who bulged with muscles at the slightest effort. Instead, he was slender, with a somewhat pale complexion, and did not exude a strong sense of threat. However, compared to his days blasting fish by the Jade Pool, he was noticeably more cheerful and confident. His eyes now brimmed with a fighting spirit!

"Divine power doesn't age, but the mind does; yet upon return, one is still a youth—"

You Heavenly Venerate slowly raised his head. Behind him, his immensely vast primordial spirit also slowly ascended. Palace Heavenly Venerate looked up. The sheer magnitude of this primordial spirit was enough to stand on par with beings like Heavenly Duke and Earth Count!

For a long time, everyone believed You Heavenly Venerate had fallen into decline. That he remained dormant in Youdu, untouched by external divine arts and doctrines. Having not experienced the Dragon Han Revolution, the Crimson Light Revolution, the Supreme Emperor's reforms, the Founding Emperor's reforms, and the Eternal Peace reforms, his Dao arts and divine powers must be outdated and unable to keep pace with the times. However, the Ten Heavenly Venerates of the Celestial Heavens did not overlook him. The Celestial Heavens established the Netherworld, placing the Yin Heavenly Son in charge to counterbalance Youdu, diverting deceased beings, gods, and devils to the Netherworld. The Celestial Heavens' objective, aside from weakening Youdu's power, was to prevent You Heavenly Venerate from acquiring the world's Dao arts and divine powers through these deceased souls. Only the Nine Heavenly Venerates of the Dragon Han era truly understood the terrifying potential of You Heavenly Venerate, one of their own. This is why Hao Heavenly Venerate and Fire Heavenly Venerate would never grant him an opportunity to grow.

Yet, everyone overlooked one crucial point: You Heavenly Venerate possessed billions of avatars within Youdu. His avatars were dispersed across all the myriad heavens, guiding the departed. Each of these avatars possessed power equivalent to an ordinary god or devil. While the Dao arts and divine powers brought by the deceased to Youdu certainly contributed to his growth, it was truly his avatars that enabled him to grow to an unimaginable degree. He was originally You Heavenly Venerate, who established his Dao through the soul and spirit, the first peerless genius to break through the boundaries of life and death. After arriving in Youdu, his primordial spirit had grown increasingly powerful. Billions of avatars were a testament to his mighty primordial spirit. And in this battle in Xuandu, Youdu was already empty, all ghostly messengers having been recalled by him. When all these ghostly messengers returned to his true form, his primordial spirit would be powerful enough to shake the very cosmos!

Before Palace Heavenly Venerate, the moment this primordial spirit raised its head, the deep, resonant Dao of Youdu erupted with Dao sounds, like the murmurs of countless souls, like mortals chanting scriptures in temples, filled with unfathomable mystery. Sixty-four distinct Dao of Youdu converged behind his head. His primordial spirit, and the Dao of Youdu it embodied, stood on equal footing with the Dao of Heaven in Xuandu, carving out a section of Xuandu to form an independent Youdu!

"Perhaps... perhaps Void Heavenly Venerate isn't the most perfect successor to Earth Count. Perhaps he is..." This terrifying thought suddenly materialized in Palace Heavenly Venerate's mind. You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit was so immense and powerful that it filled her with a tremor, as if she were facing Earth Count himself. Although she was no longer a Creator, and had long since overcome the Creator race's inherent weakness in their souls, the tremor returned when she faced You Heavenly Venerate. It made her heart convulse, her muscles quiver, and her bones shake. Even her primordial spirit trembled!

"However, the era of the Dragon Han Nine Heavenly Venerates is long past. Now, it is the dominion of the Ten Heavenly Venerates!" Palace Heavenly Venerate let out a fierce, long roar. The Celestial Heavens, comprised of thirty-five celestial palaces, emitted a resounding horn blast, causing her blood to boil and her combat prowess to skyrocket. This woman was incredibly valiant, one of the few who dared to attack Grand Emperor and Grand Beginning. Even with You Heavenly Venerate possessing the strongest primordial spirit in history, she was fearless and ready to fight!

The Ancestral Court Divine Whip in her hand trembled, becoming as straight as a spear, pointing directly at You Heavenly Venerate, and charging forward with fierce resolve! Even if You Heavenly Venerate possessed the strongest primordial spirit, having just fallen into her divine sense illusion, he must have sustained significant injuries from her relentless onslaught. His actual strength must certainly be greatly diminished! She was employing the Grand Emperor's spear technique!

With a single spear thrust, the treasure, a manifestation of the Ancestral Court's Dragon Vein, instantly seemed to come alive as a ten-thousand-mile-long dragon vein, twisting and transforming in the air, shaking space! Its majestic mountain-like body resembled dragon scales, its dragon-like form winding, and its mountain roots appeared like dragon claws, displaying its full ferocity! This attack was grand and powerful; coupled with the immense magical power of the Grand Celestial Heavens, formed by thirty-five celestial palaces, her power had reached the absolute peak she could ever achieve in her lifetime! You Heavenly Venerate's magical power must certainly be far inferior to hers. This was the key to her victory! She intended to use her own magical power and treasure to force You Heavenly Venerate from his youthful form back to old age, from cheerful to depressed!

Buzz—

A tremor reverberated. Wrinkles appeared on Palace Heavenly Venerate's beautiful cheeks from the vibration. Buzz, buzz, buzz, more tremors followed. The vibrations formed creases on her face that refused to smooth out. She witnessed an astonishing sight. With each reverberation, behind You Heavenly Venerate's immensely colossal primordial spirit, the second layer of the Youdu world emerged, followed by the third, fourth, and fifth layers! Layer upon layer of Youdu worlds unfolded. Palace Heavenly Venerate's eye twitched violently. These Youdu worlds were like layers of heavens, similar to the Founding Emperor's Sword Dao Heavens. However, the Founding Emperor's Sword Dao Heavens were a post-celestial Dao, a realm no one had ever set foot in, requiring the Founding Emperor to perfect and expand it step by step. But You Heavenly Venerate's Youdu Heavens were directly comprehended from the sixty-four Dao of Youdu. From the very beginning, You Heavenly Venerate had cultivated the Dao of Youdu. To resurrect his mother, he had dedicated himself to studying it with more diligence and seriousness than anyone else! Compared to the Founding Emperor, he possessed a massive advantage. The Founding Emperor created the Sword Dao from scratch, a feat of immense difficulty, whereas he had Earth Count by his side; if he didn't understand something, he could simply ask Earth Count. Of course, if Earth Count himself didn't understand, he could also ask You Heavenly Venerate. He had remained in Youdu for a million years. Throughout those millions of years, his mastery of the Youdu Dao had become so profound that he could now stand on par with Earth Count. His only inferiority to Earth Count was his lack of Earth Count's formidable physical body. Compared to innate gods like Earth Count, his physical body was immeasurably weaker.

"Yes, the Founding Emperor could ignore my divine sense illusion because his Dao heart was too strong. His Dao heart and Dao realm had already reached the thirty-fifth heaven." Palace Heavenly Venerate gritted her teeth, refusing to retreat. She poured all her strength into a single spear thrust, still thrusting forward relentlessly at You Heavenly Venerate. She thought to herself, "Even Shepherd Heavenly Venerate couldn't escape my divine sense illusion, yet You Heavenly Venerate did. This indicates that his Dao heart surpasses even Shepherd Heavenly Venerate's..."

However, it was clear that You Heavenly Venerate was new to the Dao realm and hadn't diligently cultivated it. This was his first time elevating his Dao realm, thus, the speed of its activation was slower. After all, not many years had passed since the Founding Emperor introduced the Dao realm cultivation system, and even the Ten Heavenly Venerates did not possess profound mastery in this aspect. You Heavenly Venerate's current situation was akin to achieving enlightenment just before battle, elevating his Dao realm without prior preparation. This gave Palace Heavenly Venerate a glimmer of hope.

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

As Palace Heavenly Venerate's spear thrust reached You Heavenly Venerate, the Youdu worlds behind his primordial spirit had already expanded to eighteen layers. His primordial spirit's colossal hand reached out, swatting down against Palace Heavenly Venerate's spear. Palace Heavenly Venerate grunted; the great spear in her hand bent, and her body was forced to bend! Her magical power, the power she prided herself on, the power stored within the thirty-five heavenly palaces, was surprisingly still inferior to the power contained within You Heavenly Venerate's immeasurably vast primordial spirit. Her legs buckled. The Celestial Heavens' horn blared, boosting her vital energy once more!

Palace Heavenly Venerate straightened her body. Her long spear transformed into a whip, swiftly coiling around You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit's arm. Meanwhile, she swiftly moved, her legs flying as she aimed a kick at You Heavenly Venerate's true form's head!

Buzz—

Another wave of vibrations swept over her. The nineteenth wrinkle appeared on Palace Heavenly Venerate's face, making her look like an old hag. Her physical body was aging, and her vitality was draining away, which startled her. But her strength remained undiminished. Her legs were charged with terrifying explosive power. If she could just kick You Heavenly Venerate's head, even for a moment, she could burst his skull! At this very moment, the nineteenth layer of the Youdu world slowly unfurled behind You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit. The long whip, coiled around the primordial spirit's palm, with a powerful flick, sent Palace Heavenly Venerate involuntarily flying, only to be pulled back with a whoosh! What met her was the other arm of You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit—a gigantic fist, which slammed powerfully into her body! Terrifying tremors erupted in all directions. A rapidly expanding ring of brilliant white light blades formed, causing all the stars in Xuandu to pulsate with a hum!

Palace Heavenly Venerate was sent flying backward, retracting her long whip. Propelling herself with her feet, her body was nearly flat against the starry sky, leaving two spatial rifts in the starry expanse. She halted her backward trajectory. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. The long whip swiftly coiled around her right hand. A louder horn blast emanated from her Celestial Heavens, causing her vital energy to surge even higher. Palace Heavenly Venerate strode forward with incredible speed, pouncing fiercely like a raging tiger descending a mountain. Her battle intent was even stronger!

Buzz—

Another vibration struck her, adding another wrinkle to her face—the twentieth. And behind You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit, the twentieth layer of the Youdu world slowly unfurled. Palace Heavenly Venerate rushed forward to his front. The long whip danced like a dragon, interweaving attacks. Various divine powers flew from her flowing sleeves, from her brow. The long whip even emerged from her sleeves unexpectedly at times, making it impossible to defend against. You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit's hands danced, blocking every one of her attacks, preventing her from penetrating the primordial spirit's defenses to attack You Heavenly Venerate's true form. You Heavenly Venerate had weaknesses, had flaws, yet she was utterly unable to exploit them!

Buzz, buzz!

Twenty-three wrinkles now marred Palace Heavenly Venerate's face. Her physical body showed signs of advanced age. Her beautiful jet-black hair had turned streaky white. Yet You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit's power grew even more formidable, repeatedly forcing her to cough up blood. One fist sent Palace Heavenly Venerate sprawling. Palace Heavenly Venerate shakily rose, only to be knocked down again by another fist. Palace Heavenly Venerate once again shakily stood up. You Heavenly Venerate's primordial spirit raised its fist again. Palace Heavenly Venerate's knees buckled, and she suddenly collapsed.

"I don't enjoy conversing with you." At the foot of the colossal primordial spirit, You Heavenly Venerate looked at her, seemingly reverting to the mindset of the fish-blasting boy from his youth, his voice tinged with pride: "Because all of you are quite foolish."