Ch. 698 - Meeting The Eternal Godly Monarch

Xu Zimo didn’t linger on the second level. With another palm strike, the two faceless men were reduced to dust.

When he reached the third level, he found the pattern continued: three faceless men, each three minor realms higher than his displayed cultivation.

Outside, due to Jiuyou’s performance, many had become curious and turned their attention to Xu Zimo.

The layers of the God Ascension Staircase lit up one by one, not quickly, but steadily.

When the sixth level lit up, many people’s expressions grew animated.

“Wow!” a burst of noise came from the crowd.

“The seventh level! He reached the seventh level!”

Before the astonishment could even settle, the dark gold wall of the eighth level lit up immediately after.

“The eighth level?”

The crowd seemed to erupt. Since the God Ascension Staircase had been built, millions had tried to ascend it.

But no one had ever reached the eighth level. This completely shattered the record.

Even Yue Lun, who was still recovering below, furrowed his brow and looked toward the staircase, deep in thought.

Forget the eighth level, just the seventh was already inhumanly difficult.

Seven faceless men, each seven minor realms above him.

By Yue Lun’s estimates, those enemies were already at the Grand Empyrean realm.

Seven Grand Empyreans at once, he had no chance of winning. As for the difficulty of the eighth level, he didn’t even dare imagine it.

Before Yue Lun could process his thoughts, someone nearby nearly bit their tongue and stammered, “N-ninth level.”

Following the crowd’s gaze, Yue Lun saw that person had cleared the eighth level and reached the highest level of the staircase.

His pupils contracted, and he stared blankly toward the God Ascension Staircase.

“Did that person just meet the Godly Monarch?”

……

Inside the staircase, after Xu Zimo effortlessly defeated the enemies on the eighth level, he proceeded directly to the ninth.

The eighth level’s enemies had indeed been powerful, their numbers and strength exponentially greater. For most people, passing that level was nearly impossible.

Upon entering the ninth level, Xu Zimo found it different from the dark spaces of the previous levels.

It resembled a grand hall.

All around were statues, some with human faces and beast bodies, some vicious beasts with eight claws.

There were figures wielding giant axes, seemingly ready to split the heavens in two.

Others brandished swords that could cause half the world to collapse.

Besides the lifelike statues, the hall's walls were made of finely carved blue stones.

The carvings depicted scenes of war.

Xu Zimo glanced over them and realized they told the story of the invasion from beyond the Immortal Dao Bridge.

At the front of the hall, a pillar of light shot toward the sky, illuminating the entire chamber.

Inside that beam stood a figure.

An elderly man in a green robe, appearing to be in his twilight years.

His hair was white, and his face was lined with deep wrinkles. He looked like he could pass away at any moment.

“You’ve arrived,” the elder smiled as he watched Xu Zimo approach.

“Are you the Eternal Godly Monarch?” Xu Zimo asked cautiously.

“Strictly speaking, I’m just a fragment of the Godly Monarch’s soul. But you can call me Godly Monarch,” the elder smiled.

“May I ask your name?”

“Xu Zimo,” he replied plainly.

“I sensed it from the moment you entered, this staircase can’t hold you,” the elder said.

“Even Grand Empyreans struggle to reach the top here. Only true peerless talents, or another Godly Monarch, can defy the rules.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Xu Zimo replied with a smile.

“Why have you come, if I may ask?” the elder smiled. “I doubt you care much for the inheritance here.”

“Not really here for anything. Just curious when I saw the staircase,” Xu Zimo chuckled. “Where is your true self?”

“When you cross the Immortal Dao Bridge, perhaps we’ll meet again on the other side,” the elder replied with a smile. “When do you plan to go there?”

“No rush,” Xu Zimo shook his head. “Can you tell me about the world beyond the Immortal Dao Bridge?”

“In truth, this soul fragment isn’t connected to the main body. I don’t know what he's done in that world,” the elder said, shaking his head regretfully. “But I can tell you about the great war back then.”

Xu Zimo nodded slightly. He wasn’t in a hurry.

He believed that the Great World the Grand Emperors reached after ascending, whether it was the Outer Heavens or beyond the Immortal Dao Bridge, was all the same place.

So before going to Outer Heavens, he had to be fully prepared.

The elder took his time, reminiscing about the past.

After he finished, Xu Zimo asked in surprise, “So you're saying that even now, there are still remnants of the Outer Heaven forces on the Eternal Lands?”

“Yes,” the elder nodded. “We destroyed their main force in the war, but many of their remnants survived. They might know more about the other world than I do.”

“I see,” Xu Zimo nodded.

“Are you leaving now?” the elder asked with a smile.

“No point in staying longer,” Xu Zimo replied.

“I’ve been alone here for tens of thousands of years. Would you spar with me before you go?” the elder smiled.

“Same realm, no spiritforce, pure technique.”

“If you want to test me, then come on,” Xu Zimo smiled.

At that moment, the elder's expression turned serious.

He stood in a Tai-Chi stance, bowing slightly with both hands. His right arm pulled back.

“Guarding the Palace,” the elder said softly.

With no spiritforce used, he still crossed dozens of meters in a blink, appearing behind Xu Zimo.

“Guarding the Crane,” he called out again, reaching to seize Xu Zimo’s right arm in a grappling move.

But when he grabbed Xu Zimo’s arm, it was like grabbing a block of iron, solid and immovable.

The elder understood, they weren’t using any abilities, only technique and form.

“You’re still not enough,” Xu Zimo smiled.

He threw a punch.

The elder felt a bizarre sense of inevitability, he couldn’t dodge.

He hadn’t felt that way in years.

He clapped his hands together and took the punch head-on.

But the force of it exceeded expectations, and he couldn’t hold his stance, he was sent flying uncontrollably.

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