Ch. 323 - The Man On The Throne

After saying goodbye to the Ancient Star God, Xu Zimo walked straight north.

After walking for a long time, he finally saw the exit of the Ghastly Tree Forest in the distance.

He let out a light breath.

After walking through this seemingly endless forest of identical trees, it was hard not to feel suffocated.

Fortunately, he hadn’t been attacked along the way.

It seemed the forest belonged to the Ancient Star God, and no creatures dared to enter it.

After walking for a while longer, Xu Zimo finally emerged from the forest.

His vision suddenly widened.

...

Looking straight ahead, Xu Zimo saw a plain beyond the forest.

But this plain was filled with mounds of various sizes.

The mounds looked more like burial mounds.

In front of many of the mounds were planted locust and cypress trees.

Light rain began falling from the sky.

Strangely, the rain only fell on the plain.

Once one stepped into the forest, it would stop again.

The atmosphere was very eerie.

A light breeze blew by, and the locust trees in the distance swayed their branches,

As if they were ghosts or demons, clawing and reaching out.

A piece of yellowed, tattered cloth floated through the air with the wind.

“Compared to true terror, what is this really?”

Xu Zimo chuckled, stepped onto the plain, and slowly walked in.

He had only walked a few steps when the earth under the mounds began to shift.

Skeletons began crawling out from beneath the ground.

These skeletons were roughly human-sized, with hollow blue flames burning in their eyes.

The plain stretched endlessly, and the mounds were countless.

As more skeletons climbed out,

It became an army of bones.

More terrifying still, all of these tens of thousands of skeletons were at the Imperial Meridian Realm.

Some even had the aura of the Empyrean Meridian Realm.

Such a formation would make many people tremble at a glance.

...

The skeleton army growled and all charged toward Xu Zimo.

“Looks like I can’t avoid a big fight.”

Xu Zimo slowly drew Shadow Tyrant, laughing wildly as he charged alone into the skeleton army.

It was the spirit of charging ahead even against thousands.

He swung Shadow Tyrant, and the power of creation fused with heavenly lightning, earth fire, floodwaters, and gales, all surging around him.

With each swing of his blade, the spiritual energy burst like a tidal wave, unstoppable.

At the same time, he used the Nineteen Forms of Dao-Seeking.

These forms were a chained sequence:

First Form: Dawn’s Light,

Second Form: Drifting On Green Duckweed,

Third Form: Hundred Battles, Never Broken,

Fourth Form: Rising Against The Current,

Fifth Form: Windstorm Rises,

Sixth Form: Blade of Slaughter,

Seventh Form: Draconic Storm,

Eighth Form: Deepblue World,

Ninth Form: Celestial Rift,

Tenth Form: Death Canopy,

Eleventh Form: Heaven Blood,

Twelfth Form: Void Oblivion.

As these twelve forms connected in succession, the skies above filled with lightning and thunder.

Though the skeleton army was massive in number, they had no consciousness and could only attack mechanically.

With each swing from Xu Zimo, several skeletons shattered.

The skeletons surged forward fearlessly.

Xu Zimo kept slaughtering relentlessly, equally unyielding.

Fighting was also a form of cultivation.

It strengthened his combat experience, refined his use of meridian techniques and brought insights.

Shadow Tyrant rang lightly, and the sound of spiritual energy exploding echoed in his ears.

The space around him shattered completely.

Xu Zimo was surrounded tightly by the skeleton army.

He was like a death god, eyes bloodshot as he carved out a path through the bones.

Every step forward was marked by several skeletons falling.

...

The rain kept falling steadily.

He thrust Shadow Tyrant into the mud at his feet, held the hilt with his right hand, and half-knelt on the ground.

His whole body trembled slightly, breathing heavily.

Sweat poured down his forehead in large beads. It had been a long time since he’d been this exhausted.

And a long time since he’d fought so freely.

Behind him lay a field of broken bones.

It was as if heaven and earth were playing a requiem for the dead.

He slowly looked forward.

There stood a grave marked by a stone stele.

There were no inscriptions, a nameless tomb.

At that moment, the ground beneath him began to shake.

Cracks spread from all directions.

Explosions rumbled beneath the grave.

A massive throne rose from underground, hovering in the air.

The throne slowly rotated toward him. Sitting on it was a headless corpse.

Wild laughter erupted from the corpse.

It had no head, yet somehow, laughter rang out.

The corpse looked long dead.

Yet it was perfectly preserved, wearing a deep purple robe.

The robe was embroidered with golden dragons.

What caught Xu Zimo’s eye was the sword the corpse held.

“Grand Emperor True Treasure,” Xu Zimo said with narrowed eyes.

The sword was deep blue, three feet long.

On its blade were several slots carved with different patterns:

A river, a giant beast, and a human.

It seemed to be telling a story.

The laughter continued as the headless corpse slowly stood up from the throne.

Its purple robe fluttered, and a vast imperial might radiated from the sword in its hand.

Even more concerning was the aura of the God Meridian Realm surging around it.

The pressure grew stronger and stronger, shaking the entire sky.

“I am the God Child of the Grand River God Sect! The Heaven's Will should have been mine! How could insects like you compete with me? How could you possibly compete?!”

An angry roar full of unwillingness echoed across the sky.

The headless corpse stepped down from the throne, its aura growing stronger.

Step by step, it walked toward Xu Zimo.

It kept muttering under its breath.

“Insects, insects, all should die.”

It raised the Grand River Sword in its hand, and with the full power of the peak God Meridian Realm, slashed at Xu Zimo.

With a loud boom, Xu Zimo narrowly dodged the strike.

Where he had just stood, a mighty river surged, reflecting all creation under the setting sun.

The entire land was smashed down.

...

“Insect, stop dodging,” the headless corpse said, dragging the Grand River Sword behind it.

The tip of the sword scratched along the ground as it rushed toward Xu Zimo.

The dragging blade drew a half-circle, then suddenly lifted high,

Like a blazing sun rising, slamming into Xu Zimo with unstoppable force.

This time Xu Zimo didn’t dodge. He slowly raised Shadow Tyrant and unleashed one move: Void Oblivion.

Their attacks collided in midair.

Xu Zimo was sent flying backward.

He quickly stood up, stretched his numb right arm, and laughed lightly.

“Sure enough, clashing head-on with a God Meridian expert is still a bit too much. But that’s what makes it exciting!”

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