Ch. 1361 - Violet Mist Rises, Once Westward Never To Return

“In the ancient era, there was one who called himself the Burier of Bones, a being who specialized in collecting the corpses of others. It was said that wherever the Burier appeared, a storm of blood and slaughter was sure to follow,” Xu Zimo said calmly.

“But after the end of the ancient age, through the middle eras until now, no one has heard that name again.”

“The Burier of Bones… the Undying Sage Monarch,” said the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign gravely.

They were both of the Sage Monarch realm, yet the pressure radiating from this old man made even him feel small.

It was as though the man sitting there had merged with heaven and earth itself, his Dao utterly complete.

“His title, Undying, means exactly that, he cannot die,” said the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign.

“It’s said he cultivated the Undying Scripture, which allows reincarnation across lifetimes. Each time his life ends, he begins anew. Far beyond your own reincarnation technique,” Xu Zimo added with a faint smile.

“Then the question is,” said Moonlight Fairy, ever the realist, “do we fight or run?”

Even as a Saint Sovereign, facing the old man, she felt an insurmountable sense of dread.

“Do you think you can run?” the old man chuckled from his perch atop the sand dune.

He slowly lifted his fishing rod and smiled. “The fish have taken the bait.”

“Fishing? In a desert?” Moonlight Fairy asked.

“I’m fishing for you,” the old man replied, shaking his head.

“I don’t back down before a fight,” Xu Zimo said, smiling. “Let’s do this.”

Powerful Primal Dao energy erupted around the three.

Moonlight Fairy’s Primal Dao was ice.

The Violet Mist Saint Sovereign’s Primal Daos were dual in nature, one of wind, the other a mutation of the Primal Dao of light, the Violet Mist Primal Dao.

Neither was strictly superior to the other; it simply suited him more.

Even as the three surrounded him, the old man remained utterly calm, slowly coiling his fishing line as if nothing in the world concerned him.

“Fight!” the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign roared, unleashing his true fate.

Behind him blazed a radiant purple sun.

“Purple mist rises in the east; once it sets in the west, it shall never return!”

The Violet Mist Primal Dao flowed like a river of violet mist, swirling around the Saint before coiling into a great dragon that charged toward the old man.

The old man merely raised his eyes. From them shot two beams of blood-red light.

In an instant, the violet dragon was swallowed by the blood glow, twisting violently within the void.

The Violet Mist Saint Sovereign realized with alarm that his own Primal Daos were slipping out of his control.

“Not bad talent,” the old man said mildly. “But you’ve just broken through, haven’t you? Your foundation is still unstable.”

“Enough of that detached sage act,” the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign shouted, fury flashing in his eyes. “Even if I die here today, I’ll make sure to take a piece of your flesh!”

He fused his Wind Primal Dao and Violet Mist Primal Dao together.

The purple sun behind him blazed brighter than ever.

Within that sun, the power of an apocalyptic storm spun wildly, forming a world of raging winds that devoured spatial turbulence itself.

Outside, the radiant purple light hung high in the heavens, casting brilliance across the world.

“Your Violet Mist Primal Dao is mediocre,” the old man commented, “but your mastery of wind is superb. The one who first created that technique must have been one of the ancients, a true pioneer.”

Even he, for all his strength, could not speak of the Ancient Gods without respect.

The purple sun began its descent. Slow, yet suffused with suffocating might.

The entire sky cracked apart under its weight.

The shockwaves tore the void to shreds.

Afraid the old man might escape, Moonlight Fairy also revealed her true fate.

A luminous moon rose high in the heavens.

Even though it was broad daylight, when the moon ascended, darkness swept across the world.

Only that brilliant moon stood, bright and eternal.

“Frozen Palace of Cold Moon!”

Moonlight Fairy looked like a goddess descending from the heavens. Clad in white, she stepped through the air, ribbons of frost swirling around her.

Each step she took shattered layers of glacial light, until the entire sky seemed sealed beneath an ocean of ice.

The moon above transformed into a palace of frost, descending directly onto the old man and sealing him within.

“Not bad,” the old man said with his ever-present smile. “The moon as your core, ice as your Primal Dao, your potential is limitless.”

“Save your compliments until you’ve survived this,” the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign snorted coldly.

His purple sun finally struck.

The old man slowly raised his hand.

Power surged through his frail frame; his robe fluttered in the storm.

He lifted a single finger.

At that motion, heaven and earth roared in unison.

When he moved, the world itself seemed to move with him.

The might of the cosmos gathered in one finger.

Smoke rose straight from the desert. The endless sands raged into the sky.

That single finger grew vast beyond measure, piercing through the purple sun, shattering the sky, and extinguishing the moon.

…

The Violet Mist Saint Sovereign stood dumbstruck, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

“This… this…”

He couldn’t speak, couldn’t even find words to describe what he had just witnessed.

“This is what a Sage Monarch truly is… even an Infinite Dao cultivator might not reach such strength.”

“Child,” the old man chuckled, shaking his head, “you’ve never seen the absolute power of an Infinite Dao. You’re still far from it.”

“To die at the hands of someone like you, no regrets then,” the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign said with a bitter smile. “I just didn’t expect that our feud with the Heavenly Court would alarm the Holy Progenitor himself.”

As the ruler of the Heavenly Court, the Holy Progenitor’s name was like the eternal sun, immortal through the ages.

Since ancient times, he had been the one to preach the Dao to the Nine Heavens.

For countless generations he had not emerged.

Though the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign had clashed with the Heavenly Court, it had been nothing more than stealing a few things from the Paradise of Gods.

He hadn’t thought such a minor grudge would draw the Patriarch’s personal attention, let alone send such a terrifying being.

“Child, you flatter yourself,” the old man said with a soft laugh. “I’m not here for you two.”

“Then who?” the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign asked instinctively, then immediately realized the answer.

Both he and Moonlight Fairy turned toward Xu Zimo.

If not for them, then it could only be because of the Ancient Demon Race.

…

The old man’s eyes also shifted to Xu Zimo.

Smiling faintly, he said, “When the Holy Progenitor told me, I almost didn’t believe it. The Infernal Lord, after a thousand lifetimes of reincarnation, you’ve returned once more. Truly remarkable. Not even High Heaven himself could kill you.”

“And yet you still came,” Xu Zimo said quietly. “Do you think yourself greater than High Heaven?”

“I’m nothing more than a speck of dust beneath it,” the old man said with a shake of his head and a small smile.

“I’ve heard your legends, but I never saw your era with my own eyes. To finally meet you today, my regret is gone.”

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