On the Avenue.

Chapter 726 Divine Power First
Houtu Huangdiqi's gaze swept over these immortals and Buddhas; to her, these five immortals and Buddhas were all familiar.

Guangchengzi of Jiuxian Mountain and Dingguang Buddha of the Western Paradise, this monk and Taoist priest were both outstanding figures in the Taoist path in their time.

Guang Chengzi was a disciple of Yuqing Sect, the leader of the Twelve Immortals, and had long been a Great Luo Golden Immortal with unfathomable cultivation.

Dingguang Buddha was once a highly accomplished disciple of Tongtian, but later betrayed the Jie Sect, entered the Western Paradise, and became a Buddha, also known as Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata. His cultivation was unfathomable, possessing the methods of immortals, Buddhas, and gods. His magical power and Taoist magic were even greater than those of Guangchengzi.

Besides these two, the immortals and Buddhas behind them were also extraordinary figures.

The woodcutter, a large man named Wang Zhi, wielded a large axe and was an immortal from his ancestral home, known as the Rotten Axe Immortal.

Another monk was named Kshatriya, also known as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. He came from Jambudvipa, held a meditation staff, and was imbued with great vows.

The last Taoist was named Anqi, an overseas Qi cultivator from the pre-Qin period. He carried a long sword and was once famous throughout the world, known as Emperor Anqi. The First Emperor once sent people overseas to find him and ask for the elixir of immortality in his possession.

All three were Great Golden Immortals, and they had a long-standing feud with the Earth Goddess Houtu.

The woodcutter Wang Zhi cultivated the Dao of Xuanhuang and sought the Dao patterns of Xuanhuang from Houtu Huangdiqi, but failed. He then harbored resentment towards Houtu Huangdiqi and later joined the Celestial Court, where he repeatedly opposed Huangdiqi.

When Houtu Huangdiqi sensed the incense offerings coming from Xiniu Xinzhou, he descended in his avatar and encountered Wang Zhi's obstruction on his way to Xiniu Xinzhou.

Although this Great Immortal did not descend in person, he raised the Rotten Axe in an attempt to block her path.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva has a conflict with the Emperor of Earth regarding the lineage of the Dao. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva made a great vow that he would not become a Buddha until the hells are emptied. He interfered with the operation of hells in various worlds and clashed with the Emperor of Earth's hell avatars in various realms countless times.

Chen Shi was attaining enlightenment beside the Bagua Demon-Suppressing Well when a goddess named Houtu came to borrow a white bone whisk to deal with an incarnation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

Emperor Anqi was an immortal from overseas who interfered with the fate of the ancestral court and the change of dynasties, but was blocked by the Imperial Earth God.

Later, he went even further, attempting to turn the ancestral temple into his own Dao realm so that he could easily pass through the tribulation. However, this was destroyed by the Imperial Earth God, and he held a grudge in his heart.

He was the one who colluded with Feng Huixue to shatter the Heavenly Dao Treasure, the Myriad Worlds Mirror. He also cultivated the Dao of Reincarnation, and while destroying the Myriad Worlds Mirror, he absorbed and refined the Dao patterns within it.

The deaths of tens of thousands of female immortals in Houde Heavenly Palace were all attributed to Daoist Anqi.

Empress Houtu's gaze fell on Feng Huixue, and she frowned slightly: "Huixue, why?"

Feng Huixue said, "I am, after all, an immortal who ascended to the Earthly Immortal Realm, not here to serve as a servant to the gods. Over the years, I have served the Empress. When she is happy, she gives me a little bit of insignificant reward; when she is unhappy, she gives me a cold look and scolds me. In the mortal realm, I am above millions of people. Why should I suffer and cultivate to come to the Earthly Immortal Realm to be bullied?"

Houtu, the Earth Goddess, said, "After you ascended to heaven, you worked in the Heavenly Court. I took pity on you and allowed you to follow me. Otherwise, you would have fallen into the world and become a low-level immortal. Your fate is now uncertain! Do you think you could have risen to prominence if I hadn't taken you in back then?"

"No."

Feng Huixue said, "If Your Majesty had not taken me in, I fear I would be at most a True Immortal now, perhaps a concubine to another Immortal Lord, or perhaps I would have died in the Earthly Immortal Realm without even reaching the True Immortal level. But isn't it you, my multitude of gods, who are responsible for the difficult circumstances faced by immortals?"

The Earth Goddess Houtu smiled faintly and said, "So your way of repaying my nurturing is to let wolves into the house, leading a group of immortal experts to storm Houde Palace and destroy the Heavenly Dao treasure, the Myriad Worlds Mirror? There are countless female immortals like you in the palace. I took them in and saved them from dying outside. But because of your actions, my senior sister, tens of thousands of female immortals have died!"

Feng Huixue's face darkened as she said, "I have failed these junior sisters. But the conflict between immortals and gods is escalating, and I must make a choice. To escape the oppression of the gods in Heaven, some sacrifices are inevitable."

Houtu Huangdizhi was somewhat disappointed: "Last time you sacrificed tens of thousands of female immortals from Houde Palace, how many more will you sacrifice this time?"

Feng Huixue pursed her lips but did not answer.

“You are no different from those villains in my ledger, or even worse.”

Houtu Huangdizhi did not look at her again, stepped out of the Nine Phoenix Chariot, and said to Guangchengzi and the others, "Fellow Daoists, my Heavenly Palace is mostly inhabited by female immortals. If we fight here, we will inevitably harm them. This place is also my Daoist temple. If we fight here, you will not gain any advantage. Why don't we go to the Xuanhuang Sea?"

Guang Chengzi was somewhat tempted.

Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata said, "If we take action here, we will disturb the Empress's mind and make her hesitate to act."

Lan Ke Xianjun, Wang Zhi, and the others nodded in agreement.

Guang Chengzi shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it will offend the heavens. Although the goddess is a deity, the palace is full of female immortals. She doesn't care about the lives of female immortals, but she makes us feel restricted. Let's go to the Xuanhuang Sea and let her take advantage of us."

Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata said, "Let her take advantage of us. We will wait for Your Majesty on the Xuanhuang Sea."

Just as Wang Zhi, the Immortal Lord of Rotten Chessboard, was about to speak, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva transmitted his voice, saying, "Fellow Daoist, this place is the Daoist temple of the Imperial Earth Goddess, and it also has her heavenly palace. Her magical treasures are everywhere. If we fight here, we will not gain any advantage. Let's proceed according to plan."

The Immortal Lord of Rotten Axe stood solemnly and nodded in agreement, saying, "Let her take advantage of us a little."

The five immortals and Buddhas, their robes fluttering, left the Great Heavenly Palace of Virtue and Light with a few steps.

Houtu Huangdiqi rose and followed.

Both sides proceeded at a leisurely pace, as if they were enjoying a leisurely trip at sea, showing no intention of engaging in hostility.

Houtu Huangdiqi said to Guangchengzi, "Fellow Daoist, you and I come from the same ancestral court, we are one family, we once called each other fellow Daoists, and we once studied the Great Dao together. Why are we now fighting each other?"

Guang Chengzi, reflecting on the past, was filled with emotion, saying, "Back then, we shared hardships and had to join forces to fight against floods and ferocious beasts, and to combat the tyranny of the Shang Dynasty. We had a common enemy. But the moment the immortals and gods left the ancestral court, everything changed. The current Earthly Immortal Realm is more than ten thousand times larger than the ancestral court. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Heavenly Emperor and the Earthly Empress of the past were merely deities within the ancestral court. You have rendered meritorious service to the ancestral court, but have you ever rendered meritorious service to the Earthly Immortal Realm and the myriad realms? You are unworthy of your positions, yet you control the sacred land and enslave the immortals; this calamity befits you."

Houtu Huangdiqi said, "The establishment of the Heavenly Court was determined by the Three Pure Ones. The gods maintain the order of the world, so how can you say they control it?"

Guang Chengzi argued, "The Heavenly Court was established by the Three Pure Ones, with the original intention of gods ruling the world and immortals living in peace. But you have enslaved the immortals; how have the immortals ever lived in peace?"

Houtu Huangdizhi sneered, "So you all act like thieves, masked and deceiving the treasures of the Thirty-Three Heavens, thus undermining the foundation of the Heavenly Court?"

Guang Chengzi laughed and said, "Does the Heavenly Court not want to destroy the Thirty-Three Heavens Dao Treasures? You're just going with the flow, you can't just throw all the blame at us."

Houtu Huangdiqi was also speechless.

The Heavenly Court did indeed use the hands of immortals to destroy the Heavenly Dao treasures refined by the Three Pure Ones, attempting to take this opportunity to completely control them.

When Emperor Anqi attacked, the Empress turned a blind eye, symbolically exchanged ten blows with him, and then let him leave.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the Xuanhuang Sea. There, they saw waves rising and falling, leaving white ripples on the surface, some large, some small, some tall, some short, some thick, some thin. Some waves even flew into the air, transforming into stars and leaving the sea, flying swiftly into the distance.

Some stars also fell, drifting down the Milky Way into the sea, their size decreasing, becoming smaller and smaller, like water droplets falling into the ocean.

The five Great Luo Golden Immortals unconsciously slowed their pace, each wearing a smile.

There is no distinction between realms for deities.

Whether it's the village gods or grass-root gods of the incense-burning deities, the star lords who gather the power of stars and uphold the thoughts of all living beings, or the Dao gods who have comprehended the Great Dao and achieved extraordinary status, there is no difference in realm.

Immortals are different.

Immortals are cultivated step by step, from refining essence into qi to comprehending the divine, and then to merging with the Dao of Heaven and Earth, all of which involve borrowing the power of the Great Dao.

Upon reaching the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm and attaining enlightenment, a qualitative change occurs.

The so-called "attaining the Great Luo" refers to a mysterious phenomenon where an immortal's own Dao field breaks free from the power of heaven and earth, truly masters the extraordinary phenomena of the Great Dao, and transforms the power of heaven and earth into personal great power.

Reaching this stage is called enlightenment.

Even if the place where a Golden Immortal attains enlightenment is destroyed, it will not affect their cultivation. Even if heretical forces invade, they cannot corrupt their cultivation.

Guang Chengzi and the other four were Golden Immortals who had attained enlightenment.

Their magical arts flowed smoothly and naturally, without any stagnation. "Your Majesty, this place is far enough away from Houde Palace, there's no need to go any further," said Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

The Goddess Houtu stopped and looked around. She saw that this place was where the Milky Way flowed into the sea. The Milky Way flowed mightily down from the sky, carrying countless stars into the Xuanhuang Sea, a magnificent and extraordinary sight.

The Milky Way was incredibly heavy; every wave contained the essence of millions of stars, and every drop of water concealed the power of the Dao.

With a look of reluctance on his face, Guang Chengzi bowed to the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, I apologize."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Earth Goddess's magic erupted, and in the next instant, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva coughed up blood, flew backward, crashed through the Milky Way with a loud bang, and flew out into the heavens.

At the same time, the Xuanhuang Sea trembled violently. Guang Chengzi and the others felt unsteady on their feet and hurriedly flew in all directions. They saw that the Xuanhuang Sea was in constant turmoil, and a massive amount of Xuanhuang Qi was transformed into thick, enormous swirls that rose slowly from the seabed!
Even the magnificent Milky Way was distorted, and the surging river flowed into the six realms of reincarnation!

The river was made of stars, so bright that it made the six realms of reincarnation shine brightly as well!
Guang Chengzi and the others looked up and were horrified.

The six paths of reincarnation, composed of countless stars, are vast and boundless. The stars are compressed into tiny shapes by the Milky Way, appearing even more minute within the cycle of reincarnation.

Reincarnation is like a series of clear mirrors, reflecting countless worlds and all living beings!

Suddenly, a goddess Houtu emerged from one of the cycles of reincarnation, her divine power boundless as she raised her hand and attacked Guang Chengzi.

Without hesitation, Guang Chengzi summoned the Fantian Seal, a treasured artifact used in the war against Shang, which had been instrumental in causing chaos and defeat for immortals and gods.

After entering the Earthly Immortal Realm, Guang Chengzi refined this treasure even more powerfully. When he activated the treasure seal, it was made of jade and imprinted with the Dao patterns he had comprehended throughout his life. The other end of the treasure seal was connected to his Great Luo Dao Realm!

With a single seal, carrying the might of the Great Luo Dao Realm, it was invincible and crushed everything!
But the next moment, the seal was lifted up by the goddess Houtu and could not be lowered.

The goddess Houtu had lotus flowers growing in her palm, with petals appearing and disappearing endlessly, in a continuous cycle. No matter how powerful the Fantian Seal was, it could not fall down.

Houtu Niangniang struck Guang Chengzi with her other palm. Guang Chengzi clashed with her head-on, his blood and qi surging. He was shocked: "This Houtu Dizhi seems to be different from the previous Dizhi!"

This goddess Houtu was surrounded by an ethereal aura and was enveloped in divine light, which was divided into seven colors and was known as the Seven-Colored Radiant Body.

However, the Earth Emperor was dignified and solemn, blessed by the power of the myriad realms' radiant light, and did not possess such an otherworldly and ethereal aura.

On the other side, Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata also encountered a Houtu Niangniang. The goddess looked similar to Houtu Huangdiqi, but her almond eyes were vertical and her face was covered with fleshy folds, making her look extremely fierce.

Her supernatural powers activated extremely quickly, and before the Tathagata of Dipankara could react, they were already complete, casting him into one of the cycles of reincarnation.

As soon as Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata fell into it, his physical body rapidly transformed into a two-headed, four-armed Asura, who then charged towards him.

"This Empress Houtu is the Asura form of the Imperial Earth God!"

He suddenly realized, "In her Asura Path, she is the ruler, the master of the path! I have fallen into her cycle of reincarnation, how could I possibly be her match?"

Immediately, the Tathagata Dipankara activated the Dharma, reversed the cycle of reincarnation, and transformed into a great Buddha, ready to rush out of the cycle of reincarnation.

Shura Houtu laughed, "How can the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation compare to mine?"

Just as Dipankara Buddha transformed into a great Buddha, he immediately felt that his own reincarnation power had not stopped and was still circulating within his body. Involuntarily, he transformed into a giant elephant with long ears, a long trunk, and long hair, its two tusks being incomparably white and piercing the sky.

Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata was both surprised and angry. He was a mammoth who had become a human and then an immortal. This fact had become a secret after he went to the Western Paradise, and few people knew about it.

Unexpectedly, here he was struck down and returned to his original form by the Goddess Houtu!
"Even if you are Houtu, I will not tolerate you!"

At this moment, the Immortal Lord of Rotten Chess also encountered a Lady Houtu. This lady was like a human immortal, with a human body and a human soul. She was like a mortal woman who had become an immortal, but the power she possessed was extraordinary and no less than his.

Meanwhile, Emperor Anqi also encountered a goddess named Houtu, who had three heads: one with a blue face and fangs, one with red hair and a ghostly face, and the other with a ferocious and malevolent appearance, like a vengeful ghost, and fought him in close combat.

On the other side, after being knocked away, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had just regained his footing and coughed up blood when he was met by Houtu Niangniang from the Hell Path. She gathered the power of the Hell Path and her supernatural powers were launched at an extremely fast speed!

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva hurriedly roused his staff to meet the attack.

The moment the two collided, the nine-ringed staff was bent, and the nine copper rings jingled, revealing the nine Dao realms, finally blocking the attack.

She had just received the blow when she felt a gust of wind behind her head, and she quickly reached back with her right hand to meet it.

"boom!"

The shockwave from the clash of supernatural powers caught Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva off guard. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out another mouthful of blood.

She hurriedly looked over and saw that Houtu Niangniang had appeared behind her at some point, with a pair of bull horns on her head, who was the incarnation of the animal realm among the six realms.

The Earth Goddess of the Animal Realm and the Earth Goddess of Hell attacked her from the front and back, respectively, leaving her struggling to defend herself.

"Listen to my voice, help me!"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva shouted, and a giant beast rushed out from hell. Before it could get close, it was knocked down by a punch from Ox Horn Houtu and thrown into the animal realm.

"How can the Earth Goddess Houtu's divine response speed be so fast?"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva felt a chill run down his spine. Logically speaking, the magical powers and abilities of deities are slightly slower to react than those of immortals. Even a being at the level of the Four Emperors would find it difficult to cope with the attack of a Great Luo Golden Immortal.

But to her surprise, the magic and supernatural powers of the Earth Goddess Houtu were faster than those of a Great Luo Golden Immortal like herself. Di Ting didn't even have a chance to intervene before being sent to reincarnate!

"Dingguang Buddha, what are you still hesitating for?"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva shouted, "Why haven't you struck yet?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a black aura shot up from behind the head of Dingguang Buddha, who was fighting against Shura Houtu. Within the black aura stood a large banner.

As soon as this banner appeared, a chilling wind swept through the area, and heretics poured down from all sides, polluting the Xuanhuang Sea!

This large banner is called the Six Souls Banner. It was a magical artifact that Tongtian Shengren forged by outsiders during the war against Shang. He planned to have Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata shake this banner during the battle to harm the Three Pure Ones!
However, Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata saw that the Jie Sect was doomed, so he took the Six Soul Banner and defected to the enemy, causing Tongtian Shengren to fail at the last moment.

The primordial spirit of Dingguang Huanxi Tathagata soared into the sky, grabbed the Six Soul Banner, and vigorously shook it towards the Six Paths of Houtu!

The six goddesses of Houtu changed their expressions immediately, each summoning their own reincarnations to fight against the Six Soul Banner.

The six paths of reincarnation grew smaller and smaller, and the figures of the six goddesses Houtu also grew smaller and smaller. In the end, the six paths of reincarnation were reduced to a size of three to five zhang (approximately 10-15 meters), and the six goddesses each stood in the incomparably bright cycle of reincarnation.

Before the Six Paths of Reincarnation, a deity about sixteen or seventeen feet tall stood on the surface of the Xuanhuang Sea; this was the true form of the Emperor Earth Deity.

The Six Soul Banner swayed, causing the spirit of the Earth Goddess Houtu to waver slightly.

"What a wonderful magic weapon!" praised Houtu Huangdiqi.

She stayed in the Heavenly Court for half a month, replacing her own divine Dao patterns with the Yuan Talisman passed down by Chen Shi. Her cultivation level was now incredibly high, and she could operate it with complete ease.

With the blessing of the Yuanfu, even though the Six Soul Banner used unorthodox methods, it could not shake her soul!

Guang Chengzi, Dingguang Buddha, Lanke Immortal Lord and others were shocked upon seeing this.

This Empress Houtu is terrifyingly powerful.

(End of this chapter)