My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1296: Immortal Ancestor Battles the Holy Emperor

TL Note: I've corrected 混元金丹 from Primordial Golden Core to Primordial Unity Golden Core. The earlier translation missed part of the meaning contained in 混元, which is a Daoist concept referring to the primordial, undivided state of creation. "Primordial Unity" better captures the original term, so future chapters will use the updated translation for consistency.

“The Heavenly Sovereign has returned.”

Lu Xichan, along with all the formation masters present, froze slightly the moment they heard these words.

Then, unavoidably, intense fear surged into their hearts, and they lowered their heads.

Even their bodies could not stop trembling slightly.

This was the overwhelming oppressive force of the Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereign who had suppressed the Xuanhuang Realm for thousands of years and single-handedly created the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.

Following Dharma-Transmitter Ren’s words, across every prefecture of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, the Holy Emperor talismans affixed to the enormous Dharma-Transmitting stone statues suddenly began to flutter despite the absence of wind.

They continuously flapped, as though they might be blown away at any moment.

The stone statues suppressed beneath the talismans also seemed to come alive, emitting faint tremors.

The Holy Emperor talismans radiated violet-gold starlight, while the Dharma-Transmitting stone statues emitted white radiance.

The two forces continuously clashed.

Across the Xuanhuang Realm, heaven and earth changed color.

The Holy Emperor also seemed to sense something. While continuing his preaching, he casually raised his head to look toward the heavens.

Yet the Dao principles flowing from his mouth did not stop.

Only his speaking pace unconsciously quickened slightly.

Amid the strange phenomena shaking the Xuanhuang Realm, some Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance cultivators had already guessed what was happening.

Their faces turned pale, cold sweat poured from their foreheads. They no longer had any mind to listen to what the Holy Emperor was saying, their bodies trembling uncontrollably in fear.

Yet some cultivators had flickering eyes as they concentrated on listening to the Holy Emperor’s teachings, while inwardly praying that Immortal Ancestor would return just a little later.

“The transformations of past and present, the principles of the Great Dao.”

“The Dharma-Transmitting method has no place in Xuanhuang.”

“Now that I have attained the Dao, I shall attempt to change it…”

At last, the Holy Emperor’s preaching came to its conclusion.

The Holy Emperor’s gaze fully shifted away from the countless living beings below and toward that figure standing in the starry sky beyond the Xuanhuang Realm.

He gave a slight nod, then suddenly vanished into the heavens.

Without the Holy Emperor’s protection, all manner of strange phenomena abruptly descended upon the Xuanhuang Realm.

Rolling dark clouds emerged from nowhere. Layer upon layer, they slowly covered the bright moon formed by Holy Dynasty Great Qi.

Across the earth, birds and beasts that had previously come out to listen to the Holy Emperor’s preaching were startled into panicked flight, rushing back to their nests for shelter.

Even flowers, grasses, and trees were shattered and scattered by the increasingly violent winds.

Boom!

Bolt after bolt of thunder exploded within the dark clouds.

Then torrential rain crashed down upon the earth.

Wind, rain, and thunder roared together, and in an instant the entire Xuanhuang Realm resembled the end of the world.

Although Immortal Ancestor’s true body had not yet arrived, all living beings beneath heaven were already trembling beneath His shadow.

Those Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance cultivators whose hearts had wavered after hearing the Holy Emperor’s teachings felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads, instantly cooling their feverish thoughts and restoring clarity.

“What was I thinking? That is Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Ancestor! The Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Ancestor who has suppressed the Xuanhuang Realm with a single hand for thousands of years! I actually imagined that the Holy... no, that these bandits could win?”

“The Holy Emperor... the Holy Emperor may be strong, but he is absolutely no match for Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Ancestor. Damn it, I need to forget this new path immediately.”

“Immortal Ancestor above, please forgive this lowly one’s momentary lapse into delusion…”

“Once Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Ancestor acts, everything will be restored!”

The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance cultivators were cowed by Immortal Ancestor’s’s might, their courage shattered.

The soldiers of the Holy Dynasty, due to the immense disparity in cultivation realms, also experienced a brief moment of fear.

But very quickly, their eyes became firm once more.

Some of them remembered the words the Holy Emperor had spoken before this campaign began.

And so someone shouted toward the heavens, “The Holy Dynasty will triumph, the Holy Emperor will triumph!”

At first, it was only scattered cries.

But very quickly it spread like wildfire.

Without anyone deliberately commanding them, every soldier of the Holy Dynasty seemed connected in spirit, shouting in perfect unison.

Their voices grew louder and louder, from shouting to roaring, from roaring to furious howling.

The voices of Great Qi’s soldiers surged like overwhelming tidal waves, spreading across the entire Xuanhuang Realm with the force of collapsing mountains and overturning seas.

As though responding to their call, the bright moon in the heavens erupted with violet-gold radiance.

It broke free from the endless dark clouds once more.

The chaotic storms shaking Xuanhuang actually began to show signs of gradually subsiding beneath these earth-shaking cries.

Dharma-Transmitter Ren listened to the distant voices and let out a cold sneer.

“Merely the death throes of the doomed.”

As if in response to his words, portals began appearing across the four central prefectures of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.

Massive flying vessel formations continuously emerged, and in mere moments filled the skies above the four prefectures.

At the prows of each vessel stood a Dharma-Transmitter.

The Dharma-Transmitters gazed upward and offered slight bows toward the Immortal Ancestor beyond the starry sky.

Lu Xichan secretly observed the scene, inwardly shocked.

“These must be the cultivation forces each Dharma-Transmitter has nurtured within their own small worlds. Since Heavenly Sovereign has appeared, naturally they no longer need to remain hidden.”

“Judging by the auras radiating from those flying vessels, there are even Dao Integration cultivators among them.”

“The hidden strength of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is even greater than I imagined…”

As Lu Xichan pondered, a voice dripping with mockery suddenly came from above.

“You deployed the Dissociation Disc, along with nineteen Tianxuan secondary bodies, and after all this time you still have not broken a mere trapping formation.”

“Your Formation Strategic Hall truly grows worse with every generation. If Lu Xia knew, he would probably be so angry he would come back to life.”

Hearing her master’s name mentioned alongside such ridicule, anger surged within Lu Xichan’s heart.

But she also recognized the speaker as one of the Dharma-Transmitters, Dou.

So despite her anger, she did not dare reveal the slightest trace of it.

She only lowered her head and said, “This subordinate is incompetent.”

“Enough. Have your people step aside.”

Following Dharma-Transmitter Dou’s lazy command, a group of child attendants drifted down from the flying vessel above.

They first gave a slight salute to the Mirror Holder overseeing the Dissociation Disc. After receiving the formation analysis data gathered so far, they immediately began the process of breaking the formation.

There were thirty-six of these child attendants.

Their faces were utterly expressionless.

Even their eyes contained not the slightest emotional fluctuation.

One of them extended a hand into the light beam of the Bright Moon Starlight Grand Formation.

Then, his body instantly began to turn illusory.

Starting from his hand and spreading through the rest of his body, he gradually became identical to the starlight of the formation.

Just as the child attendant testing the formation with his own body was about to be completely swallowed by the starlight, his figure suddenly vanished, transforming into a streak of light that flew before another child attendant.

This second child attendant likewise touched the formation with his hand, then tested it with his own body.

This process repeated continuously.

Until the thirty-sixth child attendant, just as he was about to completely transform into starlight...

His body trembled, shaking out the original thirty companions from within himself. He too returned to his normal appearance.

The thirty-six Dao children gathered together, whispering among themselves.

Then, as if they had reached a consensus, they all nodded in unison.

They split into two groups. One group began working on breaking the formation. The other once again repeated the process of testing the formation with their own bodies.

The Immortal Alliance formation masters observing from the side almost immediately sensed how extraordinary this group of Dao children was.

Judging by their speed of breaking the formation, the Bright Moon Starlight Grand Formation would definitely be torn open within less than half a day at most.

As the Chief of the Formation Strategic Hall, Lu Xichan was even more shaken than anyone else.

As she looked at these thirty-six formation-breaking children, four words surfaced in her mind: Formation Spirit Sacred Physique.

This was an extremely special constitution, as if the body itself were naturally formed from formations. Not only did they possess an innate sensitivity and affinity toward all formations, but they could also merge body and formation as one, greatly increasing a formation's power.

Just as artifact spirits were to dharma treasures, they could transform into formation spirits, causing formations to undergo sublimation and transformation.

Formation Spirit Sacred Physique was something not seen even once in a hundred years.

Lu Xichan's master, Lu Xia, had spent his entire life hoping to find a cultivator with this constitution to inherit his legacy. Unfortunately, even until his death, he never achieved that wish, and in the end could only reluctantly pass all his lifelong knowledge to Lu Xichan.

Yet today, more than thirty of them had appeared at once.

Lu Xichan raised her head to look at the sky, at the figures standing atop the densely packed flying vessels floating overhead.

A chill rose in her heart.

"Just how many things have these Dharma-Transmitters been hiding?"

After Dharma-Transmitter Ren learned of the progress in breaking the formation, killing intent flashed through his eyes.

This time, the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance had been humiliated so badly that punishment from the Heavenly Sovereign was inevitable.

Since that was the case, before receiving punishment, he would first vent his fury brutally upon these troublemakers.

With a wave of his hand, the black-robed cultivators who had originally been gathering attacks, but had been forced to stop because of the Holy Emperor's preaching, resumed their actions.

Several cultivators wearing green Dao robes, holding horsetail whisks and talismans, quietly descended from the flying vessels above.

Waving their horsetail whisks and talismans, they molded the power accumulated within the light spheres into vicious-looking bodies resembling divine beings, filled with killing intent.

As these energy deities descended, the might radiating from them caused even Lu Xichan, a Dao Integration cultivator, to feel genuine fear.

The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance's counterattack was ready to erupt.

Outside the Bright Moon Starlight Grand Formation, the soldiers of the Holy Dynasty had already prepared for close combat against the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.

The supreme battlefield commander, Sun Erlang, was methodically issuing orders through the Holy Emperor Star Network.

"Those below Nascent Soul are to remain at their positions and must not move recklessly. Continue supervising the construction progress of the suppression formations. Remember, completing the formation on time counts as a great merit."

"As for cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above, I am making the following deployment adjustments."

The brighter stars within the star sea were dispersed and reorganized under Sun Erlang's mental control.

"Do not clash head-on with the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance. Stretch the battle lines across every part of the alliance."

"We do not need to invade the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance headquarters. What we need is to wait for the Holy Emperor to return victorious from the star sea."

Sun Erlang spoke with absolute firmness.

The soldiers of Great Qi roared in acknowledgment.

After everyone's emotions had been fully stirred, Sun Erlang observed the scene inside the Bright Moon Starlight Grand Formation and made final adjustments to military appointments.

At the same time, part of his remaining focus had already connected to the quietly standing dark-gold Holy Punishment Puppet.

"Finally, I can stretch my limbs a little."

Beneath Sun Erlang's calm gaze surged an incomparably blazing battle intent.

Three hours later.

The Bright Moon Starlight Grand Formation, which had firmly sealed the four states of the Immortal Alliance for seven whole days, was finally torn open by a small gap.

In the very next instant, the powerful attacks filled with the fury of the Immortal Alliance cultivators poured out through that opening.

Manifested spell techniques, furious divine beings with glaring eyes, and countless treasures radiating light...

All erupted together in dazzling splendor.

The terrifying energy, enough to flatten several Immortal Alliance states into the ground, eagerly searched for targets to destroy.

Yet what awaited the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance's long-accumulated counterstrike...

Was merely an ordinary black gate.

As the black gate opened, all of the violent attack methods were completely swallowed by it.

Like an abyssal beast opening its bloody maw.

Not even the slightest energy ripple was left behind for the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.

After swallowing all the explosive energy that had accumulated, the black gate vanished silently once more, just as it had appeared.

Leaving only the somewhat stunned members of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance behind.

"The Dark Sea?" Dharma-Transmitter Ren's expression changed slightly. He had sensed a somewhat familiar aura from that gate.

And just as he had expected, the "massive" energies swallowed into the Dark Sea merely formed another accumulation cloud deep within it. Aside from that, they stirred no other waves.

"It seems the recent disturbance in the Dark Sea was also related to these thieves."

With new hatred added to old grudges, Dharma-Transmitter Ren's anger had reached its peak.

The thirty-six Dao children continued breaking the formation, intending to completely tear apart the Bright Moon Starlight Grand Formation.

The cultivators under the other Dharma-Transmitters also streamed out through the opening in the formation, intending to sweep through and exterminate the rebels in each prefecture.

However, Dharma-Transmitter Ren's plan encountered a setback in the very first prefecture.

The entire prefecture was completely empty.

It seemed the rebels had fully withdrawn, and even the Heavenly City had been completely looted.

Not a single person remained behind.

"They ran?" Dharma-Transmitter Ren was somewhat uncertain.

Just as the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance cultivators stood there in confusion, swords drawn and looking around aimlessly, flashes of light lit up from every corner of the state.

They rapidly launched toward them.

The silver lights seemed to have received special enhancement, making them several times faster than before during flight.

They arrived in an instant.

"Hm? This is..."

"Sky-Patrolling Arrows?!"

Some of the Dharma-Transmitters recognized the objects right before their eyes.

Their expressions changed drastically.

The next moment...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

An endless series of violent explosions echoed across the heavens.

...

And at this moment, outside the Xuanhuang Realm, within the Darkest Star Sea.

That figure rapidly returning toward the Xuanhuang Realm encountered almost the same treatment.

Only, what exploded within the star sea was not mere Sky-Patrolling Arrows.

But rather the True Immortal residual power scattered everywhere throughout the star sea.

Holy Emperor Li Ping was not some rigid person who insisted on an upright and honorable duel against the Immortal Ancestor.

What he wanted was simply victory.

Using the great wind currently sweeping through the star sea, Li Ping utilized the star sea's revival power to alter the original positions of the lingering True Immortal power.

Afterward, it was concealed with formations, forming a trap in a certain sense.

This road home, the Immortal Ancestor had walked countless times.

He was familiar with it beyond familiarity itself.

Yet he had never expected that this time, he would actually suffer an ambush.

Like wind rising and waves surging, that figure became flickering and unstable under the influence of different remnants of True Immortal power, illusory and distorted.

He appeared somewhat battered.

The Holy Emperor gazed at the other party from afar. That appearance was exactly the same as the towering stone statues standing throughout the Xuanhuang Realm.

There was no doubt in revealing the other's identity.

High crown, long beard.

The Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Ancestor.

Yet even though this figure had suffered an ambush, the expression on his face remained exactly the same as the stone statues below, without the slightest change.

The Holy Emperor did not wait for the other party to recover from the sneak attack.

Behind him, the phantom of the Holy Dynasty instantly emerged, accompanied by swirling starlight.

"The Heavenly Mandate is with me..."

"The Great Dao is with me..."

"The fu