On the Avenue.

Chapter 659 The Strongest Spiritual Root

As the exquisite pagoda descended, the vines in the sky shattered and burned, and mud flowed from the broken parts of the vines, like waterfalls of muddy water falling from the sky.

Li Tianwang floated behind the pagoda, his clothes fluttering, staring at the spot where the exquisite pagoda was pressing down.

He led 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals to conquer the Nirvana Great World. Several years have passed since then, and he has not achieved many victories during these years, all for this moment.

Find the powerful heretic behind the Great World of Nirvana!
"boom!"

The exquisite pagoda collided with the surging external radiance. The external radiance here was vying for supremacy with the avatar of the Heavenly Court giant. Suddenly, the exquisite pagoda appeared, and under its immense pressure, the external radiance collapsed with a roar.

The twenty-eight avatars of the Jade Emperor and other celestial giants remained composed in the face of this scene.

They were clones summoned by Chen Shi through the Star-Unifying Platform. Their cultivation level did not exceed that of Chen Shi, but they stood between heaven and earth, displaying extraordinary power.

They had just swept through the enemy lines, unstoppable. Neither the demon soldiers nor the skeletons of the great demons, nor the vine-like creatures of the Sky Forest, were a match for them.

They seemed poised to flatten the Great World of Nili, forcing the hidden heretical powerhouses within this world to intervene, unleashing the power of heaven and earth to resist these celestial giants.

The exquisite golden pagoda struck at this moment, crushing the external radiance and pressing forward along the energy flow.

The earth in front trembled violently like ripples, and the original mountains and rivers, like piles of sand, turned into dust and scattered, becoming flatter and flatter.

Before Chen Shi and the others, as well as the avatars of the Heavenly Court giants such as the Jade Emperor, the vast and boundless land suddenly became as flat as a mirror.

Light can discern people.

This is a near-perfect plane.

A plane composed of mud.

It's like the surface of a pool of mud that has calmed down after being slightly shaken.

The flat surface slowly rose up, and even though the mud surface was upright, there was still no unevenness or water flow.

"boom!"

The exquisite golden pagoda struck this vast, boundless world of mud, shattering the smooth mirror surface and sending mud flying, but the near-perfect circle quickly returned to calm.

"Li Tianwang has hit the wrong place."

Chen Shi, Xiahou Feng, and the others stopped in their tracks, only to hear the voice of the Antarctic Longevity Emperor coming from ahead.

The Ziwei Emperor nodded and said, "That powerful heretic is not on earth, but in heaven. Li Tianwang is attacking his Dao realm."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shi and the others immediately looked up at the sky and saw a divine tree slowly emerging. The tree had a large canopy that covered hundreds of acres, but its root system was even more enormous.

Its root system is countless times larger than the tree canopy. The roots are dense and varied in thickness and length, covering the sky of the Nirvana Great World and forming an enormous network of roots!
Normally, this divine tree is hidden among countless vines, its roots penetrating into the void, creating an inverted, bizarre phenomenon.

Its canopy is not large, and you can't tell what's special about it until now.

Beneath this divine tree, an eight-armed demon god sat majestically. The divine tree was rooted in the sky, and he sat head down, feet up, motionless, as if in seclusion.

A huge mirror-like surface of mud rose slowly, transforming into a muddy moon that stood behind his head.

The rays of light emanating from the outer path emanated from his surroundings.

Chen Shi, Niu Jingjing, and the others looked up and carefully examined the eight-armed demon god, but it was too far away to see clearly.

The voice of the Goddess Houtu came: "This person uses the sky as the earth and the earth as the sky, reversing the way of cultivation, which is quite unique."

"This is inherently the demonic path."

The Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, said, "When the Three Pure Ones swept through the Immortal Realm, they encountered similar beings."

Chen Shi quietly moved closer to Houtu Niangniang, and whispered, "Godmother."

Houtu Niangniang glanced at him, a half-smile on her face, and said, "Didn't I tell you to come back and visit me often? Why didn't you go to the Xuanhuang Sea, but instead ran around everywhere? Have you been tricked?"

Chen Shi suddenly remembered that when he inquired about the destruction of the Heavenly Dao treasure and sought advice from Empress Houtu, she had told him to frequently visit the Xuanhuang Sea so that the two of them could chat more. He then realized that Empress Houtu probably knew about the Heavenly Court's schemes against them, the immortals who had received the Heavenly Dao imprint, but since she couldn't speak directly, she could only hint that he should go to the Xuanhuang Sea to avoid disaster.

"I never knew the court had such sinister intentions," Chen Shi said softly.

Immediately, a series of coughs, tinged with warning, came from the side; even the Jade Emperor coughed twice.

Chen Shi pretended not to hear.

When Li Tianwang's attack missed, he immediately retrieved the Linglong Pagoda, summoned it, and flew into the sky.

The pagoda floated slightly behind his head. It was a thirty-three-story pagoda, with each story containing a hidden Dao realm. The thirty-three Dao realms stacked together made Li Tianwang resemble a sage or immortal being like the Three Pure Ones, with an imposing and boundless aura, as he attacked the eight-armed demon god under the divine tree!
"Thirty-three levels of the Dao Realm?" Chen Shi was extremely surprised.

Houtu Niangniang laughed and said, "The Dao realm in this tower is not an ordinary Dao realm. It is a world created in the void by Fellow Daoist Ran Deng of the Western Paradise with his immense magical power. It seems real yet illusory, but it does not truly exist. He merely used a magic weapon to simulate the supreme realm of the Three Pure Ones. It is not truly that realm."

Chen Shi asked in confusion, "Why can the ancient Buddha Dipankara of Buddhism simulate the realm of the Three Pure Ones?"

Houtu Niangniang said, "When Dipankara Buddha was still a Taoist, he studied under the Yuqing Sect, so he was very knowledgeable about the Taoist cultivation methods."

As they were talking, the eight-armed demon god under the divine tree had already stood up and confronted Li Tianwang head-on.

Although Li Tianwang was only simulating the highest realm with the help of a magic weapon, he was still extraordinary. In a daze, Chen Shi felt that Li Tianwang was like a saint who stood tall and upright, mobilizing the thirty-three realms of Dao and unleashing unparalleled Dao techniques!

The gap between him and Li Tianwang was too great, and he didn't know how far Li Tianwang was from the level of an immortal saint. He only felt that Li Tianwang was incomparable.

"The realm of Tao within this pagoda is indeed the realm of Buddhist Taoism."

He observed carefully and found that the Dao realm of the exquisite pagoda was different from the extraordinary phenomena of the normal Dao realm. The Dao realm in the pagoda displayed the scenery of the Buddhist kingdom, Mount Sumeru, the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, the stupa containing relics, the precious elephant, and the Bodhi tree. It should be a magic treasure refined using the Dao methods of Buddhism.

"The methods of Buddhism are different from those of Taoism, and they are worth studying," he thought to himself.

Li Tianwang clashed with the eight-armed demon under the tree. Li Tianwang unleashed the full power of the Exquisite Pagoda, breaking both of the eight-armed demon's arms in just a few moves.

He is a deity who follows the path of the gods, attaining godhood and enlightenment through incense and faith. The exquisite pagoda is also a path of immortality. Although he does not cultivate both immortality and divinity, he can simultaneously mobilize the power of the immortal and divine paths!
The combination of divine and immortal power made him no less powerful than a Grand Luo Golden Immortal!
"Li Tianwang truly deserves to be the Grand Marshal of the Heavenly Army, second only to the Emperor," praised the Ziwei Emperor from the side.

Chen Shi turned to ask, "Your Majesty, Li Tianwang's status is clearly not that high, so why is he still second only to the Emperor in the Heavenly Court?"

The Ziwei Emperor had no ill will towards him and laughed, "The others who are stronger than him are not in the Heavenly Court, but each have their own Heavenly Palace outside the Heavenly Court. Li Tianwang is naturally second only to the Heavenly Emperor in the Heavenly Court."

Chen Shi suddenly realized: "So that's how it is!"

The answer from the Ziwei Emperor solved a problem that had troubled him for many years.

Seeing that the Ziwei Emperor was easy to talk to, Chen Shi asked, "Li Tianwang is the Grand Marshal of the Heavenly Court, so why does he possess Buddhist magic treasures? Moreover, the pagoda's power seems to be much greater than his. Is he a traitor, colluding with the Western Paradise to plot something sinister?" The Ziwei Emperor couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Li Tianwang is a confidant of the Great Heavenly Venerable; he is not a traitor."

Chen Shi said regretfully, "I always felt that he was a spy planted in the Heavenly Court by the Western Paradise. I think the Heavenly Court should investigate him; they're sure to find something out."

The Heavenly Emperor couldn't help but say, "Young fellow Daoist, you have ulterior motives. Who in this world can withstand investigation? Without investigation, everyone is a saint; with investigation, everyone is a scoundrel. You want to harm Heavenly King Li!"

Before Chen Shi could speak, Houtu Niangniang quietly tugged at his sleeve, and Chen Shi stopped talking.

He did indeed harbor resentment towards Li Tianwang, and the incident involving the Thirty-Three Heavens Gods was caused by a transfer order issued by Li Tianwang.

Although it wasn't Li Tianwang's idea, it was Li Tianwang's order to send Chen Shi and the others to Siyuan Mountain Pass.

At this moment, the eight-armed demon was in retreat, when suddenly the exquisite golden pagoda behind Li Tianwang's head flew out and hit him on the forehead.

The eight-armed demon was struck so hard that his brains splattered, and he fell backward, sitting motionless under the tree.

Li Tianwang let out a soft exclamation, put away the exquisite pagoda, and stepped forward to examine it.

“Let’s go take a look,” said the Jade Emperor.

The group walked over and arrived at the sacred tree.

Li Tianwang, holding a pagoda, pays homage to the great emperors and celestial beings.

"Fellow Daoist Li, there's no need for such formalities," the crowd said.

Chen Shi took a few steps closer to the eight-armed demon god, but felt his cultivation being suppressed and dared not approach.

He examined the eight-armed demon closely and exclaimed in surprise, "It's a corpse!"

"Correct."

Li Tianwang said, "This heretical demon god has been dead for a long time. Those demon warriors, great demons, and the vine forest are merely manifestations of his magic. In fact, there is no living thing in this world except for this divine tree."

Chen Shi was puzzled.

Houtu Niangniang said, "The divine consciousness of the heretical demon god was too strong. After his death, his divine consciousness spread and unknowingly affected the Great World of Nirvana. The Great Dao of Heaven and Earth here combined with his consciousness, manifesting all kinds of strange phenomena, creating the illusion that the Great World of Nirvana is full of people."

Chu Xiangxiu, who was not far away, exclaimed upon hearing this, "I have lived here for decades, and even attained Dao here. Could it be that..."

He didn't dare say any more.

When he arrived here, he had a complicated relationship with the native demons, filled with both love and hate.

It was a legendary experience. A native boy from the Earthly Immortal Realm ventured across the Xuanhuang Sea, wandered into the Dark Sea, and arrived at a strange continent inhabited by humanoid creatures who had developed a demonic civilization. As an outsider, he was ostracized and even hunted down, and was regarded as an outcast.

He struggled to survive here for decades, during which time he gained friendships and even budding romances with women.

Ultimately, he successfully attained enlightenment in Nirvana, parted ways with Nirvana, and embarked on his journey home.

These experiences over the past few decades are etched in my heart and unforgettable.

Chu Xiangxiu suddenly felt a sense of disillusionment. Her unforgettable experiences over the past few decades were actually just a dream in the world formed by the collapse of consciousness after the death of the Dark Sea Demon God.
It's like a person's revolving lantern before death, reviewing all the experiences of their life.

Chu Xiangxiu's experience was equivalent to entering the demon god's revolving lantern before his death, experiencing several decades, and comprehending the true meaning of the heretical path in the Great World of Nirvana.

So, what is real and what is illusory?
He was a little confused for a moment.

"This powerful figure from the Dark Sea was extremely strong in life."

The Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, said, "He is not necessarily inferior to you or me. But why did he die here?"

He was somewhat confused. How could someone so powerful kill him?
"Godmother, what is this sacred tree?"

Chen Shi examined the divine tree, a thought stirring within him. He said, "This divine tree is somewhat similar to those things in Qianyang Mountain."

Houtu Niangniang whispered, "Don't call me godmother in front of outsiders."

She carefully examined the divine tree, a thought stirring in her heart. She wondered what Chen Shi meant by the things in Qianyang Mountain, and suddenly said, "Great Celestial Venerable, do you think this divine tree is a rare earth-treasure spiritual root?"

Everyone was stunned, and hurriedly looked at the sacred tree, their expressions becoming more and more solemn as they looked.

"It is indeed a rare earth-treasure spiritual root!"

The Earthly Emperor murmured, "But I've never seen such a massive Earthly Treasure Root before, its roots covering an entire great world. And it was this Earthly Treasure Root that controlled this demon god in the battle against Li Tianwang just now. How could there be such a powerful Earthly Treasure Root?"

Emperor Liubo examined the divine tree and said, "I have heard that some Grand Luo Golden Immortals, fearing that their tribulations are too severe to escape, have entered the Dark Sea to search for earth-treasure spiritual roots to overcome their tribulations, but none have found any. Can this divine tree help Grand Luo Golden Immortals overcome their tribulations?"

Everyone looked solemn.

Treasures and spiritual roots of the earth are found in the Dark Sea, but no one has ever found one that can help a Great Luo Golden Immortal overcome tribulation.

This divine tree may be the first time that a rare earth-treasure spiritual root at the level of a Great Luo Golden Immortal has been discovered!

"keep it!"

The Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, resolutely declared, "King Li, you must keep this treasure and escort it back to the Heavenly Court. We cannot allow it to fall into the hands of a Great Luo Golden Immortal!"

Li Tianwang looked dignified and hurriedly agreed.

He glanced at Chen Shi, Xiahou Feng, and the others, then hesitated, saying, "Your Majesty, there are six outsiders here. What do you think..."

He raised his hand in a cutting motion and said, "Your Majesty, they have become celestial beings, so they are no longer outsiders."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shi gave the Ziwei Emperor a resentful look.

The Ziwei Emperor looked slightly embarrassed and turned his head to the side.

At this moment, the Goddess Houtu said, "Your Majesty, I suspect that Heavenly King Li is a traitor within the Western Paradise! The exquisite pagoda in his hand is clearly a magical treasure of the Western Paradise! I suggest that Heavenly King Li be investigated!"

Li Tianwang secretly groaned, thinking to himself, "I've heard that Chen Shi is from Houtu, and now the rumors are true!"

The Ziwei Emperor coughed and said, “Your Majesty, Buddhas and immortals are all one family, all cultivating immortal arts, and are not of the same kind as us gods. At this critical moment, King Li is wielding a magic weapon made by the Ancient Buddha Dipankara. I believe we should indeed investigate him.”

Li Tianwang grunted, thinking to himself, "How have I offended the Ziwei Emperor this time?"

(End of this chapter)