<h4>Chapter 1041: The World in Chaos</h4>
In thend of Lujiang, at the grand Confucian Temple of Schrs.
Thousands of Confucian schrs gathered to recite the <i>Analects of Confucius</i>, their collective faith converging upon the colossal statue of Confucius, a manifestation of their boundless reverence. The towering statue of Confucius radiated millions of beams of light, transmitting the unceasing faith to the four continents where Confucius''s presence was most revered.
"Boom!"
A thunderous roar shook the heavens and the earth. An endless crimson cloud spread across the sky, drenching thend below in a torrential downpour of blood. A vast mist of blood rose from the earth, engulfing everything in sight.
The voices of the Confucian schrs of Lujiang fell silent, their hearts ovee by an immense sense of destion and despair. A terrifying sorrow permeated their souls.
The fall of a Sage had caused the heavens and earth to mourn in unison!
Across the world, every Confucian schr felt a sharp pain in their hearts as the essence of the grand Confucian Dao that had been bestowed upon them suddenly copsed.
A horrifying realization struck them all at once.
Confucius had fallen!
Confucius had truly fallen?
It was as if the sky itself had copsed. In the Confucian Temple of Schrs, many of the great Confucian sages began to wail in grief. The leader of the Confucian Dao had perished? Their revered teacher had perished?
How could a Sage like their teacher fall? Countless schrs knelt in reverence, weeping in anguish and cursing the heavens. They could not ept this heartbreaking truth.
"Confucius once said, ''Isn''t it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Isn''t it also great when friends visit from distant ces?''"
In their panic, some of the great Confucian sages hastily resumed reciting the <i>Analects</i>, attempting to gather faith once more at the statue of Confucius. However, the statue now stood dim and lifeless, no longer epting their faith.
Confucius was truly gone!
"Master!"
"Great Sage!"
The entirend of Lujiang was engulfed in overwhelming grief. The schrs mourned the copse of their spiritual pir, themon peoplemented the death of their beloved Confucius, and many feared that Lujiang, once one of the most powerful territories under Confucius''s protection, would now fall into decline.
The cries of sorrow echoed through the heavens, especially from the countless great Confucian sages gathered around the statue.
Yet, no one noticed that at this moment, a faint white light flickered in the eyes of the statue.
The white light shed and shot towards the grand Confucian Temple of Schrs not far away.
"Swish!"
The white light entered the temple.
Inside the grand Confucian Temple of Schrs, at its center, a man in white robes sat cross-legged, his back facing the entrance.
As the white light entered the temple, it transformed into a transparent human figure. Had Zhong Shan been present, he would have been astonished to see that this figure bore an uncanny resemnce to Zixia, who had earlier been torn apart by Ying''s wings.
"Zixia, why are you not outside?" the transparent figure asked in a deep voice, a hint of confusion in its tone.
"Zixia? Why don''t you answer me?"
"Zixia, what technique are you practicing now? Didn''t I tell you, aside from the techniques I gave you, you are not to practice any others?"
"Don''t ruin my body..."
The transparent figure, filled with urgency, dashed towards the white-robed figure, cing a hand on his shoulder.
As the white-robed man turned around, the transparent figure''s face twisted in shock. It was not the familiar face of Zixia that he had expected. What he saw was not a human head at all—it was a grotesque, writhing mass, swollen and pulsating in a sickening manner. The sight was revolting, resembling a disgusting worm''s head that made one''s skin crawl at a mere nce.
"Divine Beast, Qu''nián!" the transparent figure cried out in horror.
"It''s me, Great Ancestor!" The monstrous creature suddenly spoke in a sinister voice.
"Sekong!" the transparent figure eximed, his voice filled with terror.
But as he tried to pull his hand away, it seemed to be stuck to Sekong''s shoulder as if it were glued there.
"I''ve waited for this day for a long time, and it came sooner than I expected. Don''t worry, your grandson is already inside my belly—he''s waiting to be reunited with you!" Sekong''s voice dripped with malice.
Suddenly, Sekong''s mouth stretched wide, unleashing a terrifying suction force from within.
It was as though Sekong''s mouth was the nemesis of the transparent figure, rendering him powerless to resist.
"No! I refuse to ept this! I won''t die like this!" The transparent figure screamed in agony, his voice filled with despair. But it was all in vain. Despite his lifelong dominance, he was now meeting an unjust end in the maw of this cowardly and despicable creature.
"Your grandson said the same thing before I devoured him. Truly, the apple doesn''t fall far from the tree," the monstrous Qu''nián head sneered as it shook.
Meanwhile, at the Heavenly Court.
Ying had just devoured a Sage! The world was in shock, and with the absorption of Confucius''s Heaven and Earth Altar, no one could now say for sure what kind of celestial rank Ying had attained.
With a roar and a dragon''s cry, Ying''s Dao vanished. He then turned his gaze towards another Sage—Mitiān!
But it wasn''t just Ying; in that moment, every eye suddenly turned towards Sage Mitiān.
Haotian, Taishang, Jieyin, Zhunti, and Ying—all five of them looked at him with cold indifference.
A Sage was frightened by five Ancestor Immortals? In any other context, such a im would be met with ridicule, aughable absurdity. But here, it was not a joke; it was reality.
After all, another Sage had just been devoured right before their eyes!
Two Sages had faced off against five Ancestor Immortals, and one of them had already been killed. Now only Sage Mitiān remained! Fear wasn''t just appropriate—it was overwhelming, especially given Mitiān''s infamous cowardice.
Standing atop his Heaven and Earth Altar, Mitiān fell silent.
The gathered spectators looked on in disbelief. One Sage had already fallen today—could it be that another would soon follow?
These five were terrifyingly ruthless!
Though Mitiān was fearful, he was different from Confucius. Ying had exploited a fatal w in Confucius, leading to his downfall, but Mitiān''s vulnerabilities were unknown to the others. However, despite this, the familiarity among them was undeniable, and Mitiān was still terrified.
"Let''s end it here," Taishang suddenly said in a calm tone.
At his words, Zhunti and Jieyin both nodded in agreement.
Mitiān let out a silent sigh of relief, though his nerves remained taut.
"End it here? If I recall correctly, Mitiān is no gentleman. Aren''t you afraid he might take you down one by one in the future?" Ying remarked casually.
"You!" Mitiān red at Ying in fury.
Taishang, Zhunti, and Jieyin suddenly turned their angry gazes toward Ying, clearly unwilling to escte the conflict any further.
"Indeed, let''s ughter another Sage today!" the Jade Emperor suddenly dered.
"Very well! Since you are all so resolute, I won''t let you have it easy either!" Mitiān roared in fury.
Disaster!
Taishang, Jieyin, and Zhunti''s expressions changed instantly—they had pushed Mitiān too far!
"Attack, quickly!" Taishang urgentlymanded.
Jieyin and Zhunti swiftly made their moves. Ying, however, stood coldly atop the Heaven and Earth Altar, not making a move, and the Jade Emperor did the same.
"Boom!"
It was as if the Heaven and Earth Altar beneath Mitiān exploded. The space around them suddenly copsed, and a massive ck hole enveloped Mitiān, pulling him toward one of the heavenly veins.
"Buzz!"
The entire heavenly vein began to tremble violently.
"Boom!"
Another earth-shattering explosion erupted. The already thick blood clouds in the sky tripled in density, and the terrifying blood rain turned into a torrential downpour, with geysers of blood erupting from the ground.
"Another Sage has fallen?" Hao Meili eximed in shock.
"No, Mitiān hasn''t fallen!" Mr. Corpse suddenly interjected.
"He hasn''t? Then why is the world reacting like this?"
"Sage Mitiān has sacrificed his ''Sage Position'' to forcibly activate the heavenly veins, defying the order of the heavens and triggering the heavenly retribution!" Mr. Corpse exined.
"Sacrificing his Sage Position?" Zhong Shan frowned.
"Yes, earlier Jieyin mentioned that two Sages could use the heavenly veins to trigger the heavenly retribution, but a single Sage couldn''t. Mitiān, being closest to the heavenly vein, sacrificed his Sage Position. Though he has fallen from the Sage rank, he has sessfully triggered the heavenly retribution. A great disaster is about to unfold! Jieyin is in trouble!" Mr. Corpse said with concern.
"Boom!"
As Mr. Corpse finished speaking, the massive <i>Forty-Nine Heavenly Dao Formation</i> in the distance suddenly copsed.
The shattered Heavenly Court also fell from the sky, crashing down to the earth below.
The only thing left trembling was that single heavenly vein.
In an instant, the earth quaked, and countless fissures appeared across the four continents, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Many powerful beings found themselves unable to even fly in this moment.
The endless blood clouds in the sky were suddenly pushed aside by a mass of yellow clouds.
"Buzz!"
The blood geysers on the ground stopped erupting, instead rising into pirs of heavenly energy.
Countless pirs of heavenly energy sprang up across the four continents, and the entire world suddenly became chaotic, with the energy flow disrupted. Many cultivators in seclusion were suddenly thrown into a state of demonic deviation.
Endless spiritual energy converged toward the Heavenly Court. The amount was overwhelming, surpassing even the effect caused by Zhong Shan''s previous actions at Xianyang Holy Capital.
Without hesitation, the <i>Eye of Heavenly Retribution</i> within Zhong Shan''s divine realm began to throb violently.
The endless spiritual energy was drawn in, and pirs of heavenly energy rose one after another, being replicated madly within the divine realm.
Above Zhong Shan''s head, a vortex of spiritual energy formed.
Zhong Shan quickly absorbed the energy.
The sixty-first pir of heavenly energy, the sixty-second, the sixty-third... the hundredth!
The red lotus between Zhong Shan''s brows suddenly turned blue. Zhong Shan swiftly severed the connection between his divine realm and the greater world, stopping the absorption.
At that moment, countless people fell to their knees in worship.
Among those kneeling were Zhong Shan''s subordinates: Hao Meili, Mr. Corpse, Luo Xingchen, Xidu Huang, and Nangong Sheng.
Even on another mountain, someone as powerful as Kong Xuan also knelt down.
The sky hadpletely turned yellow, shrouded in yellow clouds.
Almost everyone knelt in submission.
Only those who held the positions of Heaven and Earth in life did not kneel.
Zhong Shan stepped onto the Heaven and Earth Altar.
Ying stood on his own Heaven and Earth Altar, as did the Jade Emperor. Even Taishang, Zhunti, and Jieyin somehow stepped onto a phantom-like Heaven and Earth Altar.
They all looked up at the sky, where a massive fissure had opened in the yellow clouds. Seeing this fissure, Taishang, Zhunti, and Jieyin all wore bitter smiles.
No one dared to raise their heads, except for those standing on the Heaven and Earth Altars. Everyone else seemed to be oppressed to the core of their souls by the pressure, even someone as powerful as Kong Xuan. This pressure was iprehensibly immense.
To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8