#508 - Forbidden Zone Old Friends

The golden light constructed a divine bridge that pierced through the entire forbidden zone of life.

The sounds of the Great Dao reverberated throughout every corner.

Within the forbidden zone, the fiery red sky transformed into a dazzling array of colors, with streaks of auspicious energy taking the form of dragons, soaring through the heavens.

The God-Phoenix Mountain forbidden zone world saw all thirteen branch families alarmed.

Within those branch families, slumbering old monsters awakened, their Dharma bodies manifesting, larger than planets, gazing towards this place.

But immediately after, all the Dharma bodies vanished in an instant.

In that instant, hundreds of powerful, suffocating auras within the forbidden zone disappeared without a trace.

The entire forbidden zone of life, both outer and middle regions, fell into silent stillness.

"Who dares to trespass into my forbidden zone of life?"

From the deepest part of the forbidden zone, within the mountain range that soared into the starry sky, a pair of golden-red eyes appeared, resembling two blazing suns burning.

"Fellow Daoist, you have crossed the line!"

Another pair of sun-like, brilliant eyes appeared.

"Who exactly are you?"

A third pair of terrifying eyes emerged.

Instantly, it was as if six suns had appeared at the edge of the sky.

At the same time, a terrifying aura swept over.

It was a field of crimson flame Dao patterns, burning the firmament, causing even space-time to tremble.

Those Dao patterns evolved into crimson flame phoenixes, emitting a long cry that tore through the universe, charging towards Heavenly Sword One, attempting to stop his advance.

"Do you want to fight?" With a wave of his sleeve, Heavenly Sword One unleashed a torrent of sword energy, annihilating the crimson flame phoenixes in the starry sky. He stepped forward towards the depths, saying, "Sublimate to your utmost, display the strongest form of your lives, and perhaps you can withstand a thousand or hundreds of exchanges in my hands."

"Arrogant! How many in this world dare to utter such arrogance before us emperors!"

The three beings deep within the forbidden zone were clearly enraged by Heavenly Sword One's words.

Instantly, billowing crimson flames surged skyward, covering the endless starry sky, turning half of the forbidden zone's universe into a sea of fire.

Clang!

From within Heavenly Sword One's body, a sword formation diagram and four ancient swords shot out.

The formation diagram covered the heavens, and the four ancient swords shuttled within, displaying terrifying scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, of immortals and gods falling.

The intent of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword was about to tear apart the forbidden zone's universe, causing massive cosmic rifts to appear above the firmament, constantly spreading.

In that instant, throughout the entire forbidden zone, all living beings of the God-Phoenix race below the Great Emperor level prostrated on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, their hearts filled with fear, and sweat pouring down like rain.

"Back then, you were no match. Now, you are still no match."

Heavenly Sword One's words were calm, yet filled with invincible confidence, powerful and overbearing.

The formation diagram floated, the four swords hummed, and the Immortal Slaughtering Sword light astonished the world.

Deep within the forbidden zone, the sun-like eyes of the three beings contracted violently, and then the fluctuations of their auras became extremely manic in an instant!

"It's you!"

"How could it be you!"

"The Immortal Slaughtering Sword Master!"

"No, he fell nine epochs ago, perishing together with the five great Emperor Lords under the command of the Darkness Supreme!"

"You scoundrel, you actually didn't die, preserving your complete Dao fruit, and living out a second life!"

"Good, we haven't settled the score with you for what happened back then. Today, we will make you shed a layer of skin!"

Three divine phoenixes soared into the sky, their massive bodies shrouding the starfield, their auras violent, as if they had encountered a mortal enemy, their killing intent soaring to the heavens!

"It seems that I was too lenient in my actions back then, not subduing you properly. Very well, I will subdue you again today, but I will be mindful of my actions, after all, you are Huang'er's own younger brothers."

"Shut up, what qualifications do you have to mention Royal Sister's name, you scoundrel!"

Hearing him mention the name Huang'er, the three became even more violent, the terrifying Emperor-level flames incinerating that universe, causing it to continuously collapse.

Their bodies transformed into three youths wearing crimson flame battle armor in the滔天flames, wielding Emperor-level battle sabers. Stepping across endless light-years, the three battle sabers were raised high, the crimson flame saber lights they unleashed pierced through billions of light-years, instantly arriving before Heavenly Sword One.

Just as Heavenly Sword One was about to activate the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation Diagram, a radiant rain of crimson flame light flew out from the depths of the forbidden zone, instantly arriving before him.

Some of the light rain condensed into God-Phoenix feathers, acting like a shield, blocking the three saber lights.

The remaining light rain condensed into a stunningly beautiful woman wearing a God-Phoenix feather dress.

She slowly turned around, a pair of eyes burning with golden flames staring intently at Heavenly Sword One.

Heavenly Sword One's body trembled, his lips trembling slightly, the face before him somewhat unfamiliar.

The long epochs, too distant, so distant that he had almost forgotten what she looked like.

"Sword One?"

The woman's voice carried a hint of trembling, even a little choked up.

Tears welled up in her eyes, falling down like golden flames.

"It is I." Heavenly Sword One's voice was somewhat hoarse, slightly choked up: "Huang'er, are you well?"

"Not well! A woman abandoned by her husband, raising her daughter alone, how can she be well?"

Her voice was full of resentment, the firelight in her pupils gradually receding, her gaze resentful and sorrowful.

Heavenly Sword One opened his mouth, saying: "It is I who have let you down, let down our daughter..."

"I don't want to hear 'I'm sorry', I just want you to come back, to be with us forever!"

"Huang'er, you know this is impossible. Before the Darkness Supreme is quelled, how can there be forever..." Heavenly Sword One stepped forward, lowered his head to gaze at her, saying: "In this life, what we are fighting for is a glimmer of hope. If it succeeds, I promise you forever, how about it?"

"But...we cannot win. Back then, the hundred races were at their peak, each race had Great Immortal Emperors, even Extreme Immortal Emperors! Joining forces, they were almost completely annihilated. Of the strongest hundred races back then, those that survived are now self-sealing forbidden zones in the four great Origin Universes, eking out an existence. After countless ages, I am afraid that some forbidden zones have already submitted to the will of the Darkness Supreme. Compared to back then, in this life, we are far from being able to match..."

Heavenly Sword One said: "There will be hope, you must have confidence!"

"Where does confidence come from?" The woman shook her head and sighed: "Sword One, back then, that existence, how peerless and invincible, single-handedly suppressed the nine heavens, severing the Darkness Supreme's strongest arm! He created a new cultivation system, abandoning the Immortal Dao contaminated by the Darkness Supreme, raising the path of cultivation to new heights, astonishing the ages..."

"But such an existence, venturing deep into the Darkness Supreme's ancestral land, intending to sweep away the darkness, ultimately failed, even his only daughter was severely injured by his opponent as a result, and banished to the long river of time and space, difficult to find her way home..."

"Royal Sister, what is there to say to such a heartless person? We will join forces today to suppress him, to vent your anger!"

Three youths came to the scene, glaring at Heavenly Sword One.

"They are your brother-in-law, do not be rude! He was not wrong for what happened back then, otherwise, our God-Phoenix race would probably not have escaped that great calamity..."

"Royal Sister, do not be deceived by him, if you are unwilling to act, we will!"

The three youths completely lacked the demeanor of Great Emperors, appearing like hot-headed sister-protecting maniacs.

"Enough, I am the master of the God-Phoenix race, do you intend to defy me?"

The woman glared at them coldly, and the three reluctantly shut their mouths, but their eyes seemed as if they wanted to devour him.

Heavenly Sword One could not help but laugh. These three brothers, back in those distant years, he had known them when they were still small cultivators. Originally, they had a good relationship, but because he and Huang'er fell in love, they disliked him in every way.

There were many misunderstandings that made them feel that he had let Huang'er down time and time again.

Even after they all became Emperors, the three's attitude towards him still had not changed.

The years passed, and nine epochs had gone by.

This tens of millions of years, how long, it could be said to have obliterated many things, but it had not obliterated their prejudice against him.

Heavenly Sword One followed the Phoenix Master to the deepest part of the forbidden zone.

This place was located in the vast mountain range, an endless forest of parasol trees, with a delicate small courtyard inside, and several houses built.

"Have you been staying here all these years?"

Heavenly Sword One looked at the simple courtyard, every plant and tree here stained with her aura.

"I have been sleeping here. If your Immortal Slaughtering Sword intent had not awakened me today, I am afraid I would have continued to slumber."

The Phoenix Master took out a set of tea utensils and brewed tea very carefully.

"Back then, you were seriously injured?"

Heavenly Sword One discovered that her origin seemed to have some problems.

"Being able to survive and reunite with you in this life, nothing else matters." She did not seem to care much about her injuries, "Moreover, it has almost recovered now, and with some more time, the damaged origin can be repaired to a flawless state."

Heavenly Sword One walked to her side and sat down, reaching out to embrace her, his voice trembling: "It is my fault, I made you a promise back then, but I made you endure the loneliness of the years. Is our daughter Lingxi well?"

"Xi'er is sleeping in my inner world, I sealed her back then. You know, with the fragmentation of the heavens, it is difficult to become an Emperor. If not sealed, with her cultivation, without becoming an Emperor, it would be difficult to survive these long years."

Heavenly Sword One's eyes revealed runes, and in the Phoenix Master's inner world, he saw a divine crystal stone, inside which was sealed a girl wearing a five-colored dress.

She was very beautiful, her features somewhat similar to her mother, and also somewhat similar to him.

She lay there quietly, completely unaware of the passage of time in the outside world.

"When I left you back then, Lingxi was only three years old, now she is a big girl, I am an incompetent father..."

Heavenly Sword One's head was slightly raised, his heart very uncomfortable, he owed her and their daughter too much.

"Sword One, it is not your fault, you left back then to protect us, I know all of that. So in these years, besides missing you and thinking of you, I have never blamed you, nor have I ever regretted being with you..." The Phoenix Master looked at him gently, saying: "Can you tell me, what exactly happened? I always thought that you had already fallen back then, but I had expectations in my heart, feeling that one day, you would come back to see us mother and daughter..."

"Actually, I didn't fully understand what happened back then. Before the final battle, I left a contingency plan, preserving a wisp of my true soul and Dao fruit. If I died in battle, I would go to reincarnation and rebuild in the second life. But what I didn't expect was that I actually preserved my Dao fruit perfectly..."

"When I returned in this life, I didn't initially awaken my memories. It wasn't until that sword embryo that fought alongside me, the power of darkness sealed within it, wasn't completely erased. It contaminated me and grew crazily by borrowing the power of my Dao fruit. My Dao fruit, in self-preservation, allowed me to recover some fragments of memory."

"At that time, I remembered a method of the Burial Clan, so I buried myself. Later, my mind was lost, and I should have been unable to escape the devouring of darkness. I never thought that I would actually encounter..."

"Encounter what?"

"The successor of that being, but I think it's likely his daughter. She secretly took action, igniting my memory points and releasing the seal on my Dao fruit. I later slowly recovered some memories, until I learned about the various events of my previous life, and then I went to the Burial Clan. There, there is the Millstone of the World, and with its power, I purified the power of darkness in my body."

"Millstone of the World?" The Phoenix Empress looked at him in shock and said, "Are you talking about the millstone that that being spent all his effort refining, which can grind away dark matter and dark will?"

"That's right, so that being may not have fallen after all. Perhaps he is waiting for an opportunity, waiting for this great era! I wasn't so sure before, but I discovered a person who seems to have an extremely deep connection with that being and that being's daughter. This is definitely not a coincidence, so he is very likely to be the biggest variable in this era and the entire situation in the future!"

"Sword One, who are you talking about?"

"A disciple of my Zhuxian Sword Sect, who is now the master of the Sword Sect, a young man of the Sect Emperor realm. He has too many secrets that even I can't see through. Not only does he have a connection with that being, but he also has a string of women's bracelets in his hand. If I'm not mistaken, that's a Heavenly Emperor-level artifact!"

The Phoenix Empress was taken aback: "So, there is also a female Heavenly Emperor behind him?"

"That should be the case, but he himself is completely unaware of this. This young man's fate is very difficult, and the road ahead is full of blood and bones. His background involves the grand scheme of the heavens, and too many people place their hopes on his future..."

Speaking of this, Heavenly Sword One's eyes turned slightly cold, and he said, "Now, the strongest major forces in the world all want to kill him. That's fine, but even your Divine Phoenix Mountain has gotten involved!"

"Who?" The Phoenix Empress's expression changed drastically, and she said, "Sword One, don't be angry, I didn't know about it. Since that young man carries such hope, my Divine Phoenix Mountain will not only not harm him, but will also protect him. Besides, he is your disciple, so he is also my disciple."

"There's no need for protection, let him slowly solve the external enemies himself. He needs to move forward in difficulties, and temper himself in blood and bones, otherwise, how will he face the darkness in the future?" He said, changing the subject, "But some people in the thirteenth branch of your Divine Phoenix Mountain are unforgivable and must be severely punished!"

"Okay, I'll see who is so presumptuous that they ran out of the restricted area to attack the juniors outside!"

The Phoenix Empress's face was very cold. Even if it wasn't targeting her husband's disciple, she couldn't tolerate it if it were anyone else.

The restricted area is too powerful for the outside world. This kind of bullying touched her bottom line.

Powerful Emperor-level divine thoughts spread out, covering the entire thirteenth branch.

In an instant, all the thoughts of those people, what they had done recently, what ideas they had, what they had said, and who they had seen, were all clearly seen by her.

Immediately, with a thought, a middle-aged man was directly taken from somewhere in the area of the thirteenth branch and slammed to the ground with a bang.

The man hadn't recovered yet. When he raised his head and saw the Phoenix Empress's face, he was immediately so frightened that his whole body went limp.

He had never seen the Phoenix Empress, but there were statues of the Phoenix Empress in the ancestral lands of each branch, exactly the same as the woman in front of him.

Immediately afterwards, crackling sounds were heard, and a dozen people fell down, some middle-aged and some elderly.

These were all high-level figures in the thirteenth branch, old guys who had lived for countless years.

"Phoenix Empress, spare us, spare us!"

They knelt on the ground, trembling. When they saw the Phoenix Empress and the man who entered the restricted area sitting together, they knew they were finished.

"How can this Queen spare you?" The Phoenix Empress's face was icy cold, and she said, "You are really majestic, seven Saint Emperors, eight Saint Ancestors. Since you all knew about this, why didn't anyone come out to stop it? Back then, when this Queen was in deep sleep, I left a ban, strictly prohibiting anyone from my Divine Phoenix Clan from participating in external affairs. Unless you leave the Divine Phoenix Clan first, then this Queen will not interfere in anything!"

"Phoenix Empress, we were wrong, we will never dare to do it again!"

They begged in terror.

The Phoenix Empress ignored them, but looked at Heavenly Sword One and said, "Sword One, they are handed over to you to deal with, don't be angry anymore."

Heavenly Sword One nodded and said, "I'll go deal with them first and then come back to accompany you, or will you go to the Zhuxian Sword Sect with me?"

"Then let's go to the Zhuxian Sword Sect."

The Phoenix Empress stood up. Staying here was too boring, and she had had enough of loneliness these years.

Although Heavenly Sword One said he would accompany her, he couldn't possibly ignore the Zhuxian Sword Sect, and he often had to go back.

They had just reunited, and she didn't want to be separated again, so she simply went with him.

Heavenly Sword One waved his sleeve, wrapping up a dozen terrified high-level figures from the thirteenth branch.

In an instant, he and the Phoenix Empress appeared in front of the restricted area.