Chapter 1773: Ancestral Sect Prison Cage

Moon Heavenly Venerable, You Heavenly Venerable, Xu Sheng Hua, Lan Yu Tian, and others immediately broke free, landing one after another on the Golden Ship of Deliverance. They looked excitedly at the middle-aged man at the ship's bow.

The forty-two-year period was finally here. Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye had emerged from the Golden Ship of Deliverance!

Standing at the bow, Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye's Great Luo Heaven of Sword Dao reappeared behind him, showcasing an even more magnificent splendor of Sword Dao.

Within the Great Luo Heaven of Sword Dao, tens of thousands of sword lights converged, directly forming the Sword Dao Tree.

The speed at which this Great Luo Heaven formed left Emperor Haotian, observing from afar, staring in utter astonishment.

Like Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye, his own Great Luo Heaven had been destroyed, and his Dao Tree annihilated.

When Heavenly Venerable Yun refined and killed the Second Young Master's clone, Emperor Haotian's Great Luo Heaven and Dao Tree were also destroyed. To cultivate his Great Luo Heaven again and achieve Dao through power, he needed continuous refinement and to imprint the void with his own strength.

This process required time.

After several days, he had still not cultivated his Great Luo Heaven a second time.

Emperor Kai Huang, on the other hand, had everything destroyed by the Fourth Young Master Zixiao, with only his Dao Flower surviving to drift into the Golden Ship of Deliverance. Logically, even if Emperor Kai Huang came back to life and re-cultivated his Great Luo Heaven, his progress should have been even slower than Haotian's!

Yet, the moment Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye appeared, he instantly imprinted the void with his thirty-six heavens of Dao Realm, re-cultivating the Great Luo Heaven of Sword Dao. The speed was so astonishing that it left Emperor Haotian speechless and unable to catch up.

More critically, hadn't Emperor Kai Huang already died?

The zither string of the Fourth Young Master Zixiao had been personally retrieved by Emperor Haotian from the chaotic long river in Jade Capital City of the ancestral court and tied to the Divine Artifact of Creation. In the Battle of Youdu, he had planned to use this single string to annihilate all his opponents!

His primary target was to kill Heavenly Venerable Ling!

Ultimately, it was Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye who had blocked the string's immense power for Heavenly Venerable Ling, dying in her place!

Even if Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye had managed to preserve his Dao Flower, it was impossible for him to appear so complete before them. Emperor Haotian had personally witnessed Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye's death; there could be absolutely no mistake!

Anyone killed by the Fourth Young Master Zixiao could not possibly come back to life!

So how did Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye come back to life? Who could have rescued him from the Fourth Young Master Zixiao's divine abilities and sent him back to this present day, forty-two years later?

Emperor Haotian couldn't help but shiver, the shadow of Qin Mu appearing before his eyes. It was as if, when he looked up, he could see Qin Mu's imposing figure and the cold, mocking smile on his face, as if he were observing a puppet.

"The Seventh Young Master Qin Mu, he is secretly orchestrating all of this!"

Emperor Haotian shivered several more times, a spine-chilling sensation creeping over him.

The Seventh Young Master Qin Mu had rescued Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye right under the Fourth Young Master Zixiao's nose, without the Fourth Young Master even noticing. This indicated that after Qin Mu returned to the past, his cultivation, strength, and profound divine abilities had already surpassed the Fourth Young Master's!

In the Battle of Youdu then, the Heavenly Court seemingly achieved a great victory. Although the Fourth Young Master Zixiao did not personally descend, he controlled the future trajectory of the Seventeenth Epoch with a single zither string. However, in reality, the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu had already been secretly vying with the Fourth Young Master, and held a significant advantage!

This was evident from the events that unfolded after the Seventeenth Epoch.

After the Heavenly Court occupied Youdu and unified all heavens and myriad worlds, its power reached an unprecedented peak. It then dispatched its entire army to conquer the Primordial Realm.

In this war, the Heavenly Court first lost the Southern Heavens Granary, then had the Earth Master destroyed in the Battle of Wuyou Township. It suffered successive defeats in the Western Earth, Northern Frontier, Eastern Sea, and Southern Sea, before finally suffering a crushing defeat at Lanfeng Valley!

Since then, the Heavenly Court never recovered, losing Xuandu and Youdu, and fleeing back to the ancestral court!

Now, all of the Heavenly Court's forces had disintegrated completely!

On the surface, this appeared to be a conflict between the Heavenly Court and Yankang, but beneath it, it was likely a chess game played by the Seventh Young Master against the Third and Fourth Young Masters!

The Third and Fourth Young Masters knew nothing of the future, while the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu knew what was to come. Therefore, the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu could prepare various countermeasures in advance to secure a better future!

As Emperor Haotian's thoughts flooded his mind, Emperor Kai Huang's Great Luo Heaven and Dao Tree had already been reborn. The Sword Dao, highly condensed, transformed into a Dao Flower. The Dao Flower then rotated, forming a Dao Fruit.

His Dao Fruit rotated, and the Sword Dao intertwined like bricks, tiles, screens, jade pillars, and flying dragons, forming a holy temple of Sword Dao within the Great Luo Heaven!

The rapid formation of the Sword Dao's holy temple made the faces of the three hall masters — Hehuan, Phoenix, and Zhaoyang — turn grim.

In the center of Hall Master Zhaoyang's brows, a transparent hole appeared, piercing through. This was the wound caused by one of Emperor Kai Huang's swords, and within it, the power of the Sword Dao was continuously expanding, destroying his physical functions and primordial spirit Dao.

For those who achieve Dao through the Dao Realm, their Dao Realm is divided into thirty-six heavens. After reaching the thirty-sixth heaven, one can imprint the ultimate void; this thirty-sixth heaven is the Great Luo Heaven.

However, the Dao Realm can advance even further, cultivating to the thirty-seventh heaven, which is the Dao Tree.

Should a Dao achiever gain further extraordinary insights, they can cultivate to the thirty-eighth heaven, which is the Dao Flower.

A further step leads to the thirty-ninth heaven, where the Dao Fruit is cultivated.

For Dao Realm achievers, cultivating to this point meant there was no path forward; they had reached the peak. This was the cultivation path of Dao achievers from the past sixteen cosmic epochs.

However, the wound inflicted by Emperor Kai Huang's sword contained the fortieth heaven of Dao Realm, compelling Hall Master Zhaoyang to fully mobilize his cultivation to suppress the Sword Dao's injury!

The fortieth heaven of Dao Realm was a level that only ancient existences from Miluo Palace and Tiandu City could cultivate. Miluo Palace had seventy-two individuals who had achieved the fortieth heaven, and these seventy-two were revered as the Seventy-Two Hall Masters.

Tiandu City had thirty-six individuals, known as the Thirty-Six Heavenly Openers, who, alongside the Lord of Tiandu, had once opened up the Seventh Epoch universe.

Cultivating to the fortieth heaven of Dao Realm would transcend the scope of the Dao Tree, with the Great Dao reaching its peak to form a precious hall.

The precious halls of Tiandu City's Thirty-Six Heavenly Openers were in fact learned from Miluo Palace. The fortieth heaven of Dao Realm was pioneered by the master of Miluo Palace to overcome the drawbacks of mimicking the World Tree, leading to the creation of the Eternal Hall.

Tiandu City and Miluo Palace once shared a period of peace, both working together for the future of the universe. They only parted ways in the Seventh Epoch, becoming like fire and water.

Clearly, Emperor Kai Huang had not been idle during these lost forty-two years; his Sword Dao had advanced by another two or three steps!

In the past, although Emperor Kai Huang had cultivated the Great Luo Heaven of Sword Dao and refined the Dao Tree and Dao Flower, he only had a superficial understanding of the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth heavens of the Dao Realm and did not know how to utilize them. This was because there was no path ahead of him; he was the first to achieve Dao through the Dao Realm, creating something from nothing.

He was the pioneer of Dao Realm achievement in the Seventeenth Epoch.

But now, Emperor Kai Huang had cultivated to the fortieth Dao Realm, reaching a level equivalent to the Seventy-Two Hall Masters of Miluo Palace.

"Many things must have happened to this native of the Seventeenth Epoch during these vanished years!" the three hall masters secretly thought to themselves.

What they didn't know was that Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye had once traveled to Jade Capital City of the ancestral court, crossed sixteen chaotic long rivers, and met the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu in the Chaos Hall next to Miluo Palace.

He had a long and detailed discussion with the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu in the Chaos Hall.

It was likely then that he received guidance from the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu, comprehending a more profound Sword Dao. This explained the astonishing progress in his cultivation and strength upon his reappearance forty-two years later!

Hall Masters Phoenix and Hehuan exchanged a glance, then moved behind Hall Master Zhaoyang. Both looked at his head, transparent from front to back, and frowned deeply.

Hall Master Zhaoyang's injuries were very severe. Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye's sudden appearance had caught them off guard. Hall Masters Phoenix and Hehuan each had a Dao Fruit destroyed, and the sword wound in Hall Master Zhaoyang's brow even more severely restricted his cultivation strength.

"Dao Brother, that you can cultivate the Great Dao Precious Hall shows you have a connection with my Miluo Palace."

Hall Master Phoenix courteously said, "Are you Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye? Your abilities are truly extraordinary, aligning with the Great Dao of my Miluo Palace. I observe that you have also received the Daoist legacy of Miluo Palace and are of the same lineage. Given this, why not abandon darkness for light and discuss important matters together? When Miluo Palace descends in the future, Dao Brother, you will be one of the Seventy-Two Hall Masters."

As soon as her voice fell, the ancestral court suddenly rumbled and shook. Hall Master Phoenix frowned and looked towards the source of the tremor. In a distant place, the earth suddenly and continuously rose, like a colossal stone wall connecting heaven and earth, growing higher and higher, reaching beyond the heavens.

The three hall masters were all somewhat puzzled.

Hall Master Phoenix withdrew her gaze and continued, "Dao Brother, although you can already be called a Hall Master, compared to our accumulated foundation, you are still somewhat lacking in experience. Not to mention that Miluo Palace still has dozens of hall masters and thousands of Dao achievers waiting to descend, just considering the three of us, who among us hasn't undergone billions of years of cultivation? We have experienced the baptism and tempering of countless destruction tribulations, so even if a few Dao Fruits are destroyed, it doesn't greatly affect our strength."

As she spoke, the ancestral court's tremors grew even more intense.

Hall Master Phoenix couldn't help but glance again at the colossal stone wall rising between heaven and earth. She saw towering mountains and surging seas on its surface. The wall stretched from the southern to the northern end of the ancestral court, and its height had now surpassed even the ancestral court's World Tree, becoming increasingly magnificent.

The other two hall masters also noticed the scene and couldn't help but look.

On the Golden Ship of Deliverance, Moon Heavenly Venerable, Xu Sheng Hua, and others also turned their heads to look, their expressions showing surprise and uncertainty.

That stone wall was too magnificent!

Even more magnificent was that the mountains, rivers, and geography on the stone wall were constantly transforming themselves. The patterns of the landscape shifted like evolving runes, even presenting splendid scenes of Dao patterns and Dao chains!

This was clearly not a natural formation, but someone was forcefully folding the eastern part of the ancestral court, distorting space!

Lan Yu Tian and You Heavenly Venerable quickly looked at Moon Heavenly Venerable, who shook her head and whispered, "I cannot do it. My magic power is insufficient, and to change geography, using it as runes, Dao patterns, and Dao chains, my knowledge foundation is also not enough..."

She looked at Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye, a puzzled expression on her face.

Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye has now reappeared. Does he already possess such terrifying magic power, cultivation, and insight?

But if he did it, why would he fold the ancestral court?

"I went to see the Seventh Young Master, and he told me some things that would happen in the future. The first thing was that I would die."

Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye clutched the sword light with one hand, looked at the three hall masters in front of the Golden Ship of Deliverance, and calmly said, "The second thing is that the Heavenly Court will be defeated. The third thing is that I would appear forty-two years later to witness the most magnificent dramatic change: the Ancestral Court Prison."

The three hall masters were puzzled, their gaze fixed on his face.

"Ancestral Court Prison?"

Hall Master Zhaoyang's voice was hoarse as he asked, "Dare I ask, Dao Brother, what is the meaning of the Ancestral Court Prison?"

"The Seventh Young Master said that he returned from the desolate land deeply moved, and thus built an Ancestral Court Prison to seal off the ancestral court. Venerable Wuya and Miluo Palace are all sealed within this prison, cutting off their connection with the outside world."

Emperor Kai Huang Qin Ye flicked his sword light and said, "As for us, we will fight to the death within this prison against the forces of Miluo Palace and Venerable Wuya. This is just the first wall. Soon there will be a second, third, and fourth, completely sealing the ancestral court!"