Chapter 568: Aphotic
“Open!” Li Qiye let out a long cry and channeled his foundation to turn into a Primordial Kun Peng. However, even with its wings spread out, the Kun Peng was unable to fly; it suddenly fell down and created a crashing sound. His dao foundation had lost its fuel, the worldly energy, as well as the power of the grand dao. In this moment, both his dao foundation and dao laws were like deflated balls, he couldn’t fly upward!
“As long as you are inside my grand dao, you will never be able to call for the dao and will forever be sealed here. This is my dao… Aphotic!”
Di Zuo was in complete control of this realm. He looked down at Li Qiye and pointed a finger at his body.
“Boom!” Li Qiye was blown away by this finger. It aimed for his chest and left behind a terrible and bloodied hole as blood spurted out. Li Qiye got up and shouted: “I don’t believe in witchcraft, open for me!”
Li Qiye, once again, channeled his laws in order to activate the grand dao. However, it was no use in this place, the dao did not answer him.
“Boom!” Di Zuo blew him away once again, causing blood to spill. He was not in a hurry to kill Li Qiye since he was certain of his victory. At this point, he arrogantly proclaimed: “Even an emperor’s law would be limited in this place. Like I said, before my Aphotic dao, all myriad dao would lose their colors. If you don’t believe me, then try using an emperor’s law!”
“What kind of dao is this?” Seeing the sudden reversal left everyone dumbstruck in horror.
If all dao and laws, including emperor’s laws, lost their effect once inside Di Zuo’s grand dao, then this would be too frightening. If this was the case, then no matter how powerful one might be, they would still be suppressed by Di Zuo’s grand dao and would become a fish on a platter without being able to resist.
“This… is too terrifying!” Both ghost experts or great characters from the other races were aghast. Such a grand dao was a threat to just about anyone.
Tian Lunhui was also greatly affected by this dao, which was made apparent by his shocked expression. This grand dao terrified him!
An ancestor who was very knowledgeable about the Myriad Bones Throne spoke with a changed expression: “Aphotic, Aphotic… Aphotic! I remember now, this is a part of a certain legend!” He recalled a particular myth and shouted in dismay: “This was conceived by Immortal Emperor Yao Shi. Rumor has it that when he was old, Immortal Emperor Yao Shi obtained a series of mantras from the Death Scripture, one of the Nine Grand Scriptures, and greatly benefited from them. He concocted an idea about a supreme grand dao, but alas, he had already become an Immortal Emperor so he couldn’t carry it out. Nevertheless, he still created an outline for this supreme dao and named it Aphotic!” 1
“Death Scripture? One of the nine? Does such a thing really exist?” Everyone was startled because the scriptures had always been legends since none had seen them before.
“Yes! This is the Aphotic dao created by our Immortal Emperor Yao Shi, and Di Zuo alone is the only one who can use it!” A Myriad Bones Ancestor’s voice came from the Ancestral Mountain.
People took in deep breaths after this was confirmed by an ancestor from the throne of bones. This was a theory created by Immortal Emperor Yao Shi at his old age; what a terrifying and supreme grand dao!
The Myriad Bones Throne had three emperors. In chronological order, they are Immortal Emperor Wan Gu, Immortal Emperor Yang Sheng, and Immortal Emperor Yao Shi. However, Immortal Emperor Yao Shi combined the best characteristics of the previous two emperors to form his own school before becoming an Immortal Emperor. 2
At his old age, he obtained a few pages that contained mantras from the Death Scripture. After studying these pages, he had a bold thought and wanted to walk in an entirely new direction. From this, a new supreme dao was formed in his mind.
Alas, he was already carrying the Heaven’s Will at that moment. It had already accepted his dao and became one with him. If he wanted to create a new grand dao that belonged to himself, then he had to start all over.
Because of this, he chose not to create it and only left behind an outline for the Myriad Bones Throne, naming it Aphotic. He hoped that the disciples of the future generations would be able to complete his supreme grand dao.
It was not until the generation of the brilliant Di Zuo before the mystery of the Aphotic dao was explored to carry on Immortal Emperor Yao Shi’s grand dao.
However, Di Zuo had not completed this supreme dao. Activating it required a tremendous amount of blood energy and even Longevity Blood! It was a very big price to pay in order to use this dao.
“Bang!” Di Zuo blew Li Qiye away again. Li Qiye tried to channel worldly energy and laws once more to see if they could oppose the Aphotic dao, but it was temporarily of no use. At the very least, ordinary merit laws were not working.
“Aphotic!” The crowd gasped when they saw Li Qiye fail to use any merit laws. They all knew that he was heaven-defying, but now, he was only accepting the beating without being able to fight back. They murmured the name “Aphotic” while a chill emanated down their spines. This word was like a curse, and even ghost cultivators were scared.
“Pop!” At this moment, Di Zuo finally lifted Li Qiye by the neck. It seemed as if he could break it at any time.
Daoist Bao Gui’s group were aghast but powerless.
With his firm grip on Li Qiye’s neck while showing a twisted expression, Di Zuo spoke with a murderous air: “This is for the Phoenix Maiden. I will use your head to honor her soul!”
Even when his neck was grasped by Di Zuo, Li Qiye was still as relaxed as ever. He smiled before saying: “Do you want to hear a few words?”
“Speak your last words!” Di Zuo coldly responded. His eyes were full of murderous glints; Li Qiye was no different than a dead man to him at this moment.
“First of all, it is too early for last words. Second, this dao is indeed formidable and could be accepted by the Heaven’s Will in the future. Third, unfortunately, you won’t live to see that day. Fourth, this dao might be strong, but it is not unbeatable. Like I said before, I didn’t want to be a bully so although your dao can stop many of my laws, it cannot block all of them. Of course, this is all in the past as there is no need to use merit laws anymore. Fifth… It is my turn!” Li Qiye calmly spoke.
Everyone became surprised as Li Qiye made his speech. His life was hanging by a thread, yet he still acted so boisterously. Everyone could see that he had no strength to fight back, so not even Di Zuo believed him as he spewed out those words, let alone others.
Di Zuo sneered and said: “It is all too late now. Time to end this!” With a sharp glare, his grip tightened to crush Li Qiye’s neck.
“Indeed, it is time to end this!” Li Qiye said with a smirk.
In an instant, he unleashed his sea of knowledge that was accompanied by roaring explosions. At this time, all of his Fate Palaces were released with their vast divine lights. Strange and spectacular images appeared in the sky as if an Immortal Emperor had arrived and was being worshiped by his subjects.
“Boom!” The heaven and earth prostrated as Li Qiye released all of his palaces. The worldly energy and endless grand dao regained their power. In just a split second, the world that was enveloped by the Aphotic dao had regained its vivacity.
“Pop!” Di Zuo simply couldn’t hold onto Li Qiye any longer at this moment. Li Qiye, as if possessed by a deity, knocked him flying away. The Aphotic dao was heavily weakened and lost the majority of its effect!
“Ten… Eleven… Twelve palaces… Im-impossible!” Someone shouted in horror as they counted Li Qiye’s palaces.
Everyone heard this loud scream and looked at his palaces, finding twelve of them hovering above his head.
At this moment, everyone became scared out of their wits. Having twelve palaces was an impossible matter. No one had ever heard of someone achieving this since the start of time.
But today, this miracle was before them. Twelve palaces, it really was twelve palaces. This was not just a dream told by someone insane or a drunkard.
All of a sudden, everyone was dumbstruck. They were looking at Li Qiye’s twelve palaces with their own eyes!
Di Zuo and Tian Lunhui — these geniuses who never trembled in the face of trouble became pale with quivering legs when they saw the number of Fate Palaces before them.
They were brilliant and unequaled but still suffered a major blow when they saw the palaces!
They knew that after having nine palaces, opening the tenth was very difficult so a twelfth was essentially out of the question.
However, what they considered to be inconceivable had been achieved by Li Qiye, causing their emotions to run rampant.
After a long pause, allowing everyone’s souls to come back to their bodies, an ancestor shouted as if he had just seen a ghost: “The impossible…! Twelve Fate Palaces!”
“Bang!” At this moment, the twelve palaces disappeared as Li Qiye stood tall in the sky. He was above the nine heavens and myriad worlds. The firmament was firmly within his grasp!
1. Yao Shi = Brilliant Era.
2. Wan Gu = Myriad Bones, Yang Sheng = Vitality, Yao Shi = Brilliant Era.