Ch. 1364 - Unkillable Sage Monarch, Grand Desolate Desert

“Of course. Our immortality is true immortality, one acknowledged and permitted by Heaven itself,” said the Undying Sage Monarch without hesitation.

He spoke with absolute confidence.

He believed that apart from the Heavenly Dao, no one could truly kill him.

The nirvana of the phoenix race existed within the rules of Heaven.

Put simply those who cannot kill me only make me stronger.

He had come to hunt Xu Zimo not merely to repay the favor owed to the Holy Progenitor, but also to use the Ancient Demons’ power to force himself into death after death, hoping that through repeated rebirths, he might rebuild his Dao foundation.

Otherwise, his life’s path would end here forever.

“You may be an ancient, lingering phoenix from ages past,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head, “but it seems your clan’s ancestors never told you the truth.”

“What do you mean?” The Undying Sage Monarch frowned, a faint unease rising in his heart. Though he did not know why, he sensed something dreadful was coming.

“Back in the Demon Descent Era,” Xu Zimo said calmly, “when I roamed the world, even heaven and earth gave way before me. All Ancient Demons followed in my wake. The so-called Heavenly Court were but worms cowering in the shadows.”

He continued, “If your Undying Phoenix Race were truly immortal, why did you hide from the world back then?”

“Ha! Heroes shouldn’t dwell on the past,” the Undying Sage Monarch sneered. “You, a mighty Infernal Lord, do you only know how to cling to yesterday’s glory?”

“You’re mistaken,” Xu Zimo said quietly. “I speak not out of nostalgia, but to remind you that during the era of the Ancient Demons, your so-called Sixteen Beast Races were nothing more than ants beneath our feet. I once used my divine power to bind the fate of your beast races together, forcing you to sign the Beast Compendium. From that day onward, whoever possessed the Beast Compendium would hold dominion over your lives and deaths.”

“That’s impossible!” The phoenix’s massive body trembled. “Nonsense! My beast race is proud beyond compare. Even in retreat, we would never bow in submission!”

“You’re wrong,” Xu Zimo said with a faint shake of his head. “Had you not yielded back then, I would have exterminated your kind entirely. Submission is merely another way of surviving.”

The beast races were not weaker than humanity.

For anyone else to speak of annihilating them would be laughable, but Xu Zimo was not exaggerating.

In the ancient age, he had waged war against the heavens themselves, and nearly destroyed the world.

To erase one beast race would have been nothing to him.

But the former Infernal Lord of that era created the Beast Compendium, binding the fate of the beast races and sparing them from extinction.

In that distant time, his command alone could make all beasts tremble and obey.

Later, when the Infernal Lord perished in his attempt to destroy the world, the Beast Compendium was lost to time.

When Xu Zimo returned to the world, someone had spent countless ages searching and finally placed the Beast Compendium back into his hands.

Through his journey across the Nine Heavens, the Beast Compendium had already recorded the Roaring Beast, the Primordial Dragon…

And now, it seemed, another would soon be added, the Undying Phoenix.

When the sixteen beast races were all recorded, a new Era of Beasts would once again dawn.

…

“I don’t wish to discuss the past,” said the Undying Sage Monarch. “What’s done is dust. Who can truly judge it now? I came today only to kill you, and to rebuild my Dao foundation.”

Xu Zimo did not answer him. He only turned to Paimon and the others and said, “Suppress him. Don’t kill him.”

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

Terrifying infernal energy surged across the land.

The void rippled as their power intertwined, forming a vast square cage.

“What are you doing?” demanded the Undying Sage Monarch.

Xu Zimo didn’t answer. Power surged around him as he raised his hands.

Between his palms floated an ancient tome, the Beast Compendium.

An overwhelming aura of primal beast energy emanated from it.

“What… what is that?” The Undying Sage Monarch’s voice trembled. From that book, he felt a deep and instinctive loathing, an ancient pressure that seemed to target his very soul.

Panic seized him.

He tried to break through the cage of infernal energy.

He was indeed powerful, so powerful that even the prison forged by Paimon and the other demon lords shuddered under his strikes, threatening to collapse at any moment.

“Master, we can’t hold him much longer,” Paimon warned. “If he breaks free and flees, it’ll be troublesome.”

“I know,” Xu Zimo said calmly.

He turned another page of the Beast Compendium, until he reached the third, which was blank.

Instantly, the page erupted in golden light that shot to the heavens.

Within that light stirred a mysterious power.

Chains of divine radiance emerged from the page, extending toward the struggling phoenix.

“Stay back! What in the hells is that thing?” the Undying Phoenix roared.

But the moment the chains wrapped around his colossal form, all struggle became meaningless.

The flames of Nirvana flared wildly upon him, as if trying to burn through the chains.

“My lord! I was wrong!” he cried out in panic. “I was blind, I didn’t recognize your greatness! Spare me this once, I will never oppose you again!”

But his enormous body was already being drawn, inch by inch, into the Beast Compendium.

A terrible realization struck him, once he was sealed within, there would be no rebirth.

He would never rise again.

He would become the eternal sinner of the phoenix race.

“It’s too late,” Xu Zimo said, smiling faintly. “I’ve been searching for the Sixteen Beast Races, and you’ve saved me the trouble of finding you. Heaven gave you a path, yet you chose to walk straight into hell.”

As the Undying Sage Monarch screamed, the Beast Compendium swallowed him completely.

When it closed, a new image appeared upon its third page, a radiant phoenix, wings spread wide.

Xu Zimo put the Beast Compendium away, and Paimon and the others returned to the God World.

He looked up at the sky, eyes narrowing slightly.

“So… that was a test.”

…

“Young Master Xu, you…” said the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign, standing nearby, unsure what to say.

They had known Xu Zimo was from the Ancient Demon Race, but they had not expected this. The hidden Infernal Lord himself, the one commanding four Infernal Archons as his followers.

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Xu Zimo replied.

“It’s nothing,” the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign said awkwardly. “It’s just… the change in identity is a bit hard to process.”

“I’m still me,” Xu Zimo said with a faint smile. “Nothing has changed. Now, do you know where we are?”

The two shook their heads.

A vast desert stretched endlessly around them, barren and lifeless.

It was no surprise they couldn’t tell their location.

“The teleportation formation was destroyed. Let’s look around and ask someone, see how far we are from the Lotus Pathway,” Xu Zimo said. “And remember, what happened today, you saw nothing. Speak of it, and you’ll only invite disaster.”

“Of course,” the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign said quickly, nodding.

The three of them took to the air, searching for a way out.

But all they saw was endless yellow sand, not a single trace of life.

With no better option, they picked a direction and began flying.

For three days they traveled across the desert.

At last, they saw a wisp of smoke curling into the sky.

“There’s an inn ahead,” said the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign.

“Let’s go ask,” Xu Zimo nodded.

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