886 Inside the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock and the Six Kingdoms
Zhou Bao actually felt quite good right now. Having become an Earthly, he had taken complete control over Azure Big World and wiped out any hidden dangers. You could say that now, when compared to the other Tribulation Takers, he had a huge advantage.
Of the five great Tribulation Takers, three were dead and two of those had their luck stolen by another. Now, only Kong Ti was left and another half: the Jade Emperor Princess.
But by now these two were not a threat to him.
“The Dharma Ending Tribulation has arrived and this era should enter it slowly. First, I’m going to the s.p.a.ce inside the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock. If I guess correctly, the Jade Emperor Sage should be planning on getting inside the rock. The Treasure s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock is nicknamed the King of Heavenly Fairy Weapons, because it has a superiority that cannot be matched by the other fairy weapons. It has been in the Immortal Realm for so many years that everybody knows about it. If nothing else, the three Celestial Immortals must have known too. However, I don’t know why, but they did not attack. Perhaps they had too many misgivings!”
Zhou Bao left the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock to find a safe place to practice the Heaven and Earth Secret Technique, so he could go and find the Sky-walking Emperor. In the end, he ended up being ambushed by Yu An and was nearly beaten half to death. After he escaped, strange things started happening. When he was facing the Earthly Immortal Tribulation, he gained an insight into all the Heaven and Earth Secret Techniques. This meant that he did not need to find a secret place to practice. He was inspired; it was as if he had realized something. While his body flashed, layers upon layers of s.p.a.cetime opened up. In a second, he had reached the Rock Cliff Sect and the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock.
“Interesting. My guess was correct. Every single one of these guys has started their attacks!”
Once he was an Earthly Immortal, the more he sent his feelings into the universe, the denser the Deva’s Five Decrepit Phenomena spirit became. The s.p.a.ce in the Immortal Realm had once been completely solid, but now it was becoming ragged. Zhou Bao thought that there were lots of loopholes, making the rips in the s.p.a.ce possible. But after a short instant of the s.p.a.ce being ripped, Zhou Bao seemed to have sensed the presence of the human world. Pieces of s.p.a.ce fell away in front of him like bits of tissue. With the loopholes that appeared under the effect of the Qi of Decay, the s.p.a.ce slowly opened. Within a truly short time, he reached the Rock Cliff Sect. But by now, the ruins of the sect had turned into one huge battlefield. Countless pract.i.tioners were battling with each other; lots of magic weapons and fairy weapons were flying around. They seemed to be fighting over something and Zhou Bao could immediately see what it was – they were fighting over gaining entry to the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock.
Zhou Bao did not join them, he just went straight into the rock. The other pract.i.tioners took a lot of time to get into the rock, because they had to get through countless battles to open the entrance and win the right to enter. For Zhou Bao there was no such thing as needing time to open the rock and enter.
But like him, other pract.i.tioners with the Earthly Immortal rank like him, also did not exist.
“Oh? Emperor Yu An!”
Having just entered the first layer of the rock, Zhou Bao felt the endless energetic gas attacking. He used his Snake-like Breath Holding Skill to check the surroundings carefully. This guy actually replayed the storyline of the Six Kingdoms opera inside the first layer of the rock. Isn’t it amazing?
“Yu An, I’m surprised you’ve dared to come out! I heard that your dad made you go and kill that Tribulation Taker Zhou Bao. I can’t believe you scared him away, there really was no point!”
“Hahahaha. Whoever says there’s no point must be a match for his father. Jade Emperor Sage, hahahaha, he actually thought that killing several Tribulation Takers would be enough to stop others becoming Earthly Immortals in the Dharma Ending Tribulation. Looking for the Omnipotent Sage’s luck to withstand other Earthly Immortals, he did not think that the Emperor of Netherworld could also have comprehended the Celestial Immortal’s Way and become a Celestial Immortal. Even if this could allow Jade Emperor Sage to wipe out all of the Tribulation Takers, it would only end up helping the others!”
“That’s right, helping the others. Now, Jade Emperor Sage could certainly not attain the Omnipotent Sage status. The other sages would probably attack. I heard that recently, the Eye of the Storm and the Chaotic Poisonous Sea have both changed—!”
“That’s right, there was a ma.s.sive change. I’m afraid those two Earthly Immortals will attack. The Jade Emperor’s good days will soon come to an end.”
…
The divine thoughts inside the first layer of the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock were having a similar discussion. Only the ancient, mighty pract.i.tioners were able to freely enter the rock. Although these pract.i.tioners had not reached the Earthly Immortal rank, each of them had their own fearsome special skills and a lot of secret information that no one else knew. Each one had their own special methods, therefore many things that were secrets to other people meant nothing at all to them. At most, they would be considered gossip.
Emperor Yu An stood with a sober expression in the first layer of the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock. He emitted an extremely gloomy spirit from head to toe, which seemed to freeze all the s.p.a.ce around him.
Bad news travels faster than good news. He didn’t realize that these guys knew about the brief event that had just happened. And he really had not considered that the Emperor of Netherworld could have practiced the Celestial Immortal’s Way, achieved sage status and helped Zhou Bao out. If he had known earlier, then he would not have gotten involved with the Zhou Bao situation. But seeing as he had already gotten involved, there was no way of getting uninvolved again. The Emperor of Netherworld Sage could help Zhou Bao once, but he might not necessarily be able to help him a second or a third time. What was more, he had also received the news that the Emperor of Netherworld Sage had left the Immortal Realm and had gone to the Extraterritorial Area to practice his Taoist rites. Clearly, he could not return to this Dharma Ending Tribulation, or even back to this era. This meant that he still had a chance to deal with Zhou Bao.
This was why it was so urgent to deal with him. It was not that he hated him so much. But because he almost killed Zhou Bao, Zhou Bao had a great hatred for him.
If it were someone else, he would just forget about it. But Zhou Bao was different; he was a Tribulation Taker. Since ancient times, any guy dealing with a Tribulation Taker would have one of two results, kill the Tribulation Taker or be killed by him. The annoying thing was that Tribulation Takers were not only tough, but they grew very quickly. After experiencing a life or death situation, they would grow like crazy and able to deal a severe blow to the experts who had once suppressed them. This was the law of Tribulation Takers since time immemorial and it was an unchanging truth. He attacked Zhou Bao once, but did not kill him. So, according to the unchanging truth, he would soon find himself in an unfortunate situation. The best solution would be to kill Zhou Bao before he grew completely. This was why he had come to the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock.
Zhou Bao left the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock. Inside the rock, he had been nurturing a Genuine Spirit reincarnation. Entering the Human World and becoming a Tribulation Taker, he had an unbreakable karma with the rock. When the Dharma Ending Tribulation began, many ancient immortals tried to get hold of the Treasure-s.n.a.t.c.hing Rock, but Zhou Bao was so deeply involved with the rock that he would certainly not sit back and let anybody take it. He was certain to return and if he wanted to redeem a favor from the rock, then this would be his chance.
But he had not considered that inside the rock there would be so many ancient Earthly Immortals. Several of them had roughly the same strength as him. The rest were weaker and easier to defeat, but killing them was difficult. They were all difficult characters to deal with.
“Hmph. That guy’s business has nothing to do with me. The reason I want to kill Zhou Bao is that he killed my brother!”
“Hehehehe, really? Nothing to do with that guy? Why do you sound so unsure?” A wave of cold laughter resounded through the s.p.a.cetime. “Since you are going to cause trouble with Zhou Bao, are you not involved with the rock’s business? If you’re not, then sure. I’m afraid you’re kidding yourself.
“Ying the Rat, if you have the guts, come out and say it. What do you call this, talking nonsense while hiding away in your secret, dark place?”
He chuckled. “Are you not called Emperor An – ‘the Dark Emperor’? How is it the ‘Dark Emperor’ has not gotten hold of me, the rat, in my dark hiding place?” The gloating voice continued to float through the air, never revealing the ultimate meaning.