The Immortal Lord is someone who has actually transcended the world, the laws, concepts and even human limitations. He could not die. Any Dú ké hán who dares to combat him would be only asking for a beating.
First of all, this immortàl is the very first to be born, and even if he is the enemy, humanity couldn't help but show him deep and profound respect.
He had taken control over the Mainline river of time, the six borderline rivers of time are also under his control, which means— the entire universes we're under his supremacy.
The man stared calmly at Zishan Meng and muttered.
"You had almost reached immortality. But foolishly, you sacrificed yourself for more power."
Zishan Hui suddenly shouted.
"Why have you plotted against my Zishan family? You even connived with the four ruling powers just to annihilate my Xingu mountain."
The Immortal Lord's aura shifted.
"Mind you, I did not connive. Rather, I controlled. They were merely pawns in this game. Unless you tell me where Little Yao's been hidden."
Mengmeng smiled.
"I'm afraid, he's the only one destined to become immortàl and stop you."
The Immortal Lord's expression darkened.
"Maybe allowing you to die would be an easy punishment. I should just let you live, without your cultivation, unable to cultivate, completely crippled and miserable. What do you think?"
Zishan Meng's face paled instantly.
The spirit depletion inscription still drained away the spiritual energy around them and also from them that even Xingu Mountain lost power and started to crack. The Zishan clan had stood for countless generations and so did Xingu mountain, however now during this era, things are beginning to fall apart, especially with the Immortal Lord involved.
Mengmeng however realized the implications of remaining alive— falling down from her original glory. It would be horrible, which is why she preferred death.
Immediately, Mengmeng circulated the remaining spirit energy backwards with the intention of committing suicide but instead of the usual death in an instant, it was her spitting out a mouthful of blood but still alive because, the Immortal Lord must have done something that settled her almost empty cultivation channel.
As an immortàl, he could do things that even Dú ké háns could not do… for example, keeping someone alive without their permission.
The Immortal Lord scoffed. "Suicide attempt? Very pathetic."
Zishan Hui quickly turned towards Mengmeng, also not believing that she had tried to end her life. He did not want her to die, but in the end, he had to accept that staying alive after sacrificing her cultivation is the worst possible fate.
Then, the Immortal Lord waved his hands causing a flood of spiritual energy to descend like a river.
The spirit depletion inscription absorbed from the river, yet it did not completely absorb everything because it dissipated right after it had appeared, leaving only six figures frozen in a dream-like state.
Zishan Hui and Mengmeng pupils shrank back rapidly.
"Ancestor Yui? Ancestress Hong?"
Mengmeng muttered their names too. "Li, Miaomiao, Yuan and Zhi."
These were the six frozen Zishan ancestors whom the Immortal Lord had captured.
If they had not been captured, the four ruling powers would not have been bold enough to come to Xingu Mountain and Ku Deng wouldn't have brazenly targeted the Twelve Marquises that Ancestor Zhi had taken over two centuries to groom.
Mengmeng muttered.
"Those are our ancestors. Why do you have them?"
The Immortal Lord laughed.
"You see, these are six powerhouses at the peak of Kû realm. Chances are, they would have broken through to Immortality like I did so I am only taking safety precautions, so I would be using their bodies as conduits to create more of my dark aura. Anyone who cultivated the dark aura would obviously be on my side. This would be the next choice for humanity."
Angry, Zishan Hui looked at Mengmeng and smiled. "Let's do it now!"
They immediately brought out fresh blood that they had extracted from Yao's body right before he was sealed away by Sheng.
The moment a drop of the boy's blood touched the ground, the place was instantly touched by divinity and that instantly chased away the Immortal Lord's dark aura.
Mengmeng and Hui still had a bit of spiritual energy left so they needed to channel their last array.
The Immortal Lord saw them and tried to invade, but Yao's divine blood aura was like a terrifying barricade.
He groaned angrily and trembled. "That child must be killed. I must find out where he is being hidden. Turns out, Seishan cultivating human emotions is so useless. I expected him to have figured it out."
He stared right at the duo and decided to interfere.
Zishan Hui and Mengmeng drew barriers with Yao's blood, spiritual energy taking the blood and creating immortal-like barriers around them that the Immortal Lord found very difficult to break. Not that he couldn't break it, but he felt like these barriers were almost two times tougher than his current ability— if he didn't go all out.
Then mysteriously, the spirit depletion inscription dissolved into the sky and appeared right in front of Hui.
The amount of spiritual energy in it was too exaggerated. Even Dú ké hán could not absorb this amount, it was all too terrifying.
Then, Mengmeng gorged out one of her eyes, drifting out towards the spirit depletion inscription. They merged.
Then lastly…
Yao's blood sprinkled upon the inscription, transforming it into a strange round orb. And with Yao's blood on it, it drifted through space, going to find wherever Yao's been hidden away.
Finally—
More of Yao's blood dropped, just for one last surprise attack and then… an explosion of light spread swiftly, the force blasting the Immortal Lord backwards, canceling his dark unfathomable aura and reducing his power level temporarily.
The Immortal Lord could not take it, he disappeared instantly leaving behind six frozen in dream-like state, ancestors.
Then, Mengmeng felt the Immortal Lord's hold on her life loosen and she held Hui tight.
"I'll be going to the great beyond. But you must listen to me! The Immortal Lord would find a way and return so, take six elders with you. Now that the spirit energy is repairing itself, find the hidden dimensional portal and activate it. Let the Zishan surname be forgotten. But it can only start with Yao. Let most of the clans be mixed into the world and start afresh…"
Right now, her body was dissipating like countless white dust into the air.
Zishan Hui smiled at Mengmeng, knowing fully well that she's already destined to die. But right now, he'd be the hero since he had a few things to settle.
He watched as his wife disappeared forever. Picking up courage, he used the constellation domain to increase his cultivation realm, just so he would be able to affect the entire six ancestors of the Zishan clan.
He disappeared with them, appearing atop Xingu Mountain and seeing the sight of dead bodies scattered around.
"They had only wanted to kill Twelve Marquises but ended up massacring my entire clan. I'll remember this debt."
The Xingu Mountain was starting to repair itself since spiritual energy had found its way into the core.
Barrier manifested, accompanied by a drop of Yao's blood.
Luckily, they had extracted his divine blood, if not, accomplishing this would have been difficult, especially an obstacle like the Immortal Lord.
When Hui reached the dimensional portal, the Immortal Lord arrived and struck at the barrier.
It didn't break.
Hui then focused on activating the portal. The runes and array attracted a lot of spiritual energy that the barrier weakened and almost defected. The portal was activated, burning through the spiritual energy from the universe and from Zishan.
The six ancestors were sucked in.
It did not take long and the barrier shattered— meaning, the Immortal Lord would be here in a single moment.
Earlier, before he and Mengmeng had gone down the mountain to confront the four ruling powers, Hui had picked up a few Zishan cultivators, trapping them in a mystical ring.
While Mengmeng had rescued Nian Nian from the Xi'an river. Normally, the Xi'an river doesn't allow anything that enters to float, so Nian Nian had been at a disadvantage, but Mengmeng acted on time.
Then, Hui released these few cultivators, wiped their memories and sealed their cultivation, meaning that they would be starting all over again. He immediately stoned them away, allowing their figures to drift like particles.
Zishan Hui muttered softly.
"You'd only regain sapience after fifteen years."
The spiritual energy was starting to thin out and the Immortal Lord appeared…
It was exactly at this moment that Zishan Hui smiled and took a step back, disappearing into the portal which had a few drops of Yao's blood.
So even if the Immortal Lord wanted to enter, he could not because that blood countered his dark aura perfectly. So he helplessly watched as the spiritual energy thinned out and simply vanished, the dimensional portal, closing with it.
And this became the tragic end of the Zishan's era.
While that happened, the core of Xingu Mountain ceased to function. The main primary function is— the Zishan surname, which must have been snuffed out.
The other survivors were merely mindless particles. Yao is sealed, the ancestors and Hui are gone from this zone. Just nothing!
So Xingu Mountain started to suffer. The Immortal Lord seemed to have lost since even exiling them couldn't reveal the child's location.
If that child was allowed to appear and grow, then the eternal life realm would be threatened and karma would restrict them all. He did not want to be restricted.
He flew into the void and calmly watched as Xingu Mountain shattered in an explosion, leaving behind a dead core that sank deep into the earth.
The Immortal Lord shook his head. What did he need that core for?
He simply left things the way they were and vanished.
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A/N:
Consider this as the end of Volume 1 or take it as a prologue. But this chapter marks the end of this volume. Our MC would appear in the next chapter. Who's excited?