Chapter 467: The Reawakening in Qitian Temple

Qitian Temple!

Inside the temple, turbulent energy surged and interwove as the terrifying power of Second Calamity Divine Calamity cultivators roared in like tornadoes!

Yet at this moment, many Second Calamity Divine Calamity masters inside the temple felt an incomparable, overwhelming pressure!

It was spine-chilling!

A scene straight from a horror tale left even the strongest present with hairs standing on end and eyes filled with disbelief.

Then, with a cry that defied belief, Zhang Wuji, the Sect Leader of the Purple Mansion Divine Sect, decisively withdrew, his silver talisman retracting as it transformed into a brilliant streak of light and sped away.

In merely two or three breaths he had retreated to the temple’s entrance!

The other Second Calamity Divine Calamity exalted figures did not react as dramatically as Zhang Wuji, though the revival of Qitian had indeed sent shivers down their spines.

After all, this was a legendary deity!

Even the weakest deity was far beyond the strength of these Second Calamity masters.

Not even a Supreme master could face a deity head-on!

They simply could not contend with divine power!

Thus, no one scorned Zhang Wuji’s reaction; it was a natural, life-preserving instinct.

Inside the Bizarre Temple, the atmosphere grew oppressively tense—almost suffocating.

Not even a hint of noise could be heard.

It was as if only the treasure stick, swaying near the stone coffin, caused the air to vibrate with tiny ripples, reminding everyone that time was neither frozen nor paused.

The coffin began to creak open…

The Mixed Yuan Ruyi Golden Hoop Staff shot forth, rising upright from within!

It trembled from side to side, as if celebrated with cheers and surging excitement!

The overwhelming impact of the scene was so intense it felt as though one’s blood might freeze in terror.

Ascetic Monk Chanting, Former Great Jing Emperor Lv Wenchang, Goddess Guanyin, and Witch God Priest—four Second Calamity Divine Calamity masters—reacted with far less alarm than Zhang Wuji.

Though they were tense, none turned tail without hesitation to flee the temple.

“Qitian…has it truly been reborn?”

“Impossible! How could Qitian possibly revive now?!”

Ascetic Monk Chanting’s voice rumbled gravely.

“The Daughter of Yulian hasn’t broken through to divine calamity—Yulian’s fate has not yet rotated. Qitian cannot awaken!”

Hailing from the Western Lands of Buddhism and backed by the Black Xumi pantheon, he seemed privy to many secrets.

“I don’t believe it!”

The markings above the Ascetic Monk’s eyes flared like living flames, burning fiercely!

“I refuse to believe it. The gods declared that Qitian’s revival, if it were to occur, would come with such harsh conditions that it might descend into eternal slumber and complete downfall!”

“After the last Divine Tide, with Yulian collapsing and all its deities perishing—even if the Bizarre Temple were to serve as a conduit for reincarnation, it wouldn’t be an easy feat!”

Lv Wenchang, dressed in a golden dragon robe that whipped wildly, brandished a massive dragon banner spear. The weapon flew with a momentum as deep and unfathomable as an abyss!

A Second Calamity Divine Calamity master on the mortal plane was already a peerless force!

Their inner strength was formidable, capable of facing any oddity head-on.

Thus, none abandoned the fight by fleeing the temple or relinquishing the Qitian relic or the Ruyi staff—divine weapons beyond compare!

“I want to see—if Qitian truly revives!”

“Even if it just revived, it couldn’t regain its divine might. What’s there to fear?”

Lv Wenchang said coldly.

Behind them stood representatives of numerous factions, each driven by their own ambitions.

They couldn’t be scared off by an automatically opening coffin spectacle.

With a fierce twist, Yu’s dragon banner spear tore through the void as if piercing it!

His golden robe fluttered like a cascade of gold, and with a powerful step in his golden boots he reached the coffin. His eyes shimmered with twin beams of golden light as he cautiously peered into the gap widening with each subtle shift of the coffin lid.

It was a risky move, exposing himself—but if Qitian had not revived, Lv Wenchang would at least be closer to the Qitian relic!

Now, not only did the stone coffin contain Qitian’s remains—

but it also housed the Ruyi staff!

All of these…were once inextricably linked to fate!

And fate always favors the bold!

The Ascetic Monk from the Western Lands of Buddhism hesitated, unsure whether to move.

Goddess Guanyin of the South Sea Purple Bamboo Grove took a small, tentative step barefoot, wavering in her resolve!

The Witch God Priest of Witch God Mountain seemed unmoved, even showing a reluctance to advance similar to Zhang Wuji’s earlier retreat.

In the end, he paused to watch Lv Wenchang inch closer to the Qitian stone coffin.

Not only them—even Li Che’s heart gradually steadied.

His eyes flickered with astonishment.

Was Qitian’s revival really on the horizon?

Could it possibly be true?

Li Che’s face, scarred by purple flames so that only a golden skull remained, betrayed a hint of eager expectation.

He even wondered if it was because he had bonded with the Mixed Yuan Ruyi Golden Hoop Staff?

Could that have stimulated Qitian’s reawakening?

“Could it be that this divine weapon, at the Three Pure Ones rank, carries the breath of a deity? Although I haven’t fully awakened or unlocked that divine aura—it’s because I hold the means to command it that…”

He pondered furiously, the possibility growing ever stronger in his mind.

It was highly likely!

In other words, Qitian’s revival was very probable!

Li Che’s heart surged with excitement.

In a flash, his eyes gleamed as his five fingers tensed!

Before anyone knew it, Li Che had vanished in an instant, teleporting to the side of the Qitian stone coffin, where a gap in the slowly shifting lid widened!

Lv Wenchang, empowered with golden fortune, glared fiercely; his eyes burned as if ignited by an inferno descending from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds!

Li Che’s five fingers and his Thunder Demon Three-Pronged Twin-Edged Blade trembled violently; although the Mixed Yuan Qitian Ruyi Golden Hoop Staff had acknowledged him as its master, it now seemed dormant.

For now, Li Che could only use his Three-Pronged Blade to fight!

The forces of Dao Calamity, divinity, and vitality swirled and intermingled as they poured into the blade, shattering a vortex within the divine weapon as if unfastening a peculiar cosmic lock!

The divine weapon began to unlock once more!

A surge of divine aura exploded forth like a river breaking its dam!

“Everyone! If you don’t want to be the one drawing unwanted attention, block him! Do not let him interfere as I probe Qitian’s revival!”

Lv Wenchang strode forward with booming golden aura, every step imbued with an earth-shattering presence that made the entire Divine Sanctuary and Bizarre Temple tremble!

Without hesitation, Ascetic Monk Chanting’s staff lashed out and struck a golden bowl, sending shockwaves toward Li Che!

Meanwhile, behind Goddess Guanyin, a billowing white veil swept like drifting clouds, and a pristine jade-like bottle appeared in her hand!

The Witch God Priest on Witch God Mountain, after a brief thought, produced a bone tooth which he suddenly hurled forth!

Almost simultaneously, the divine weapon’s seal broke, unleashing its divine aura!

It roared as it barreled toward Li Che!

At the moment when three clashing waves of energy collided, Lv Wenchang exploded with speed. Already perilously close to the stone coffin, he vaulted over it and landed at its side!

With a swirling twist of his dragon banner spear, its tip whirled like a hurricane and thrust toward the treasure stick looming within the coffin!

There was a deafening clash as the spear tip met the treasure stick!

A fierce rebound shattered Lv Wenchang’s arm, cracks spreading rapidly and blood spurting everywhere!

“I can feel it—a force so terrifying and unparalleled!”

Lv Wenchang’s face went pale.

It was as if someone from within the coffin had gripped the other end of the treasure stick and countered his unreserved thrust!

His face trembled. Could it really be that the supposedly dead deity had come back to life?

How could a dead deity suddenly revive like this?!

Lv Wenchang refused to believe it!

His dragon banner spear pressed against the Ruyi staff as he leaned forward, peering through the gap in the shifted coffin lid.

He was desperate to catch a glimpse of the monkey-like figure inside—had Qitian truly awakened?

“Ah—!!!”

Lv Wenchang roared in anguish!

Bathed in dazzling golden light, his eyes were wide with terror!

He could see it!

He was about to see it!

Above Qitian Inner City, a maelstrom of darkness churned as eerie mists gave way to flashes of red blood!

In an instant, that crimson tide swept across the entire inner city, as if the sky of the Bizarre Temple had turned bloodred!

Omens spread far and wide, overwhelming everything!

High above the dome, the supreme essences of various factions collided with the protective might of the Temple Protection Corpse King crafted by the Qitian Temple’s founder, plunging everything into a profound silence.

Not a sound could be heard!

Yet within Qitian Inner City remained an eerie dead silence.

Many strong cultivators, trembling, could only lift their heads in the face of supreme pressure,

their eyes fixed on the heavens where, through the bloody haze, the mists split apart!

Cultivators like Lü Taibai, Lü Qiankun, and other Second Calamity masters who had not yet escaped the inner city strained every effort to observe.

They saw the heavy, dissolved mists over Qitian Inner City vanish like bursting bubbles, leaving no trace behind.

Above the dome, the once brilliant essences of various top-tier factions dimmed!

For instance, the alchemical furnace Zhang Wuji once invoked, the Buddha Beads offered by the Western Lands of Buddhism’ Ascetic Monk Chanting, the Demon Pill proclaimed by Black Bull Demon God Supreme Supreme, the dual-faced lotus pedestal from Goddess Guanyin, and even a severed finger bone from Witch God Mountain—all lay shattered.

The terrifying pall of death and decay roiled wildly across heaven and earth!

“Roar!”

The ancestral founder of the Fang Clan let out a mighty howl, his body swirling with curse marks as chains, as if emerging from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds, lashed out ferociously!

In an instant, five pieces of supreme essence were plunged into utter darkness, bombarded by a devastating surge of power!

A Supreme Demon Pill exploded completely!

Every Buddha Bead cracked, its luster forever lost.

The lotus pedestal was pierced, stripped of its divinity.

A severed finger bone crumbled to powder, and the alchemical furnace sank inward as if struck by a mighty force.

Everyone stared at the dome, as if witnessing time and space being held in stasis under the relentless pressure.

After a brief moment of stillness came an eruption of rapid, tumultuous energy!

The five streams of supreme essence seemed suspended in the air before reforming into flowing ribbons that crushed space, flung aside by the Fang Clan’s ancestral founder’s terrifying power!

They were hurled toward the rolling, endless mists outside Qitian Inner City, disappearing without a trace.

Clattering chains twined around bodies relentlessly.

The once withered, almost dismissive Fang Clan founder roared in fury after thousands of years of confinement.

A gaunt, decrepit old man erupted with an incongruous ferocity and brutality!

Undoubtedly…

This battle, meant to subdue the Temple Protection Corpse King with supreme essence, had reached its climax!

Those five pieces of supreme essence were ultimately not delivered by the deity itself—they were blasted away!

And following that,

the Temple Protection Corpse King swiftly turned, its eyes emanating dreadful eerie light as waves of death and decay crashed down, shaking Qitian Inner City to its core.

Many felt the calamity looming over them, their bodies chilled as if trapped in an icy tomb.

With a thunderous step, as if a cloak of deathing energy billowed behind him, the Temple Protection Corpse King crushed all opposition!

After decimating the supreme essences of the factions, it finally returned to Qitian Temple to deal with the unfolding chaos and defend Qitian!

At the entrance of Qitian Temple,

Zhang Wuji had fled there, effectively withdrawing from Qitian Temple while still peering in to observe the events within.

As the supreme showdown above Qitian Inner City ended, his expression subtly changed.

A twinge of sorrow welled up as he recalled the dented, divinity-lost alchemical furnace that had been flung across the Bizarre Temple.

For Zhang Wuji, it was a deep heartbreak!

After all, that was the supreme essence of the Purple Mansion Divine Sect!

“So, after all, they couldn’t stop it, huh?”

Zhang Wuji glanced upward.

Holding his silver talisman, he scanned the temple with determined eyes. Contemplating the possible outcomes, he gritted his teeth and, his robe billowing like a soaring crane, dashed away beyond Qitian Inner City.

To survive, one must be cautious first!

When faced with peril, discernment is key!

One cannot act recklessly if one wishes to live long!

A mighty, rumbling surge of supreme pressure raced toward the Bizarre Temple like a tidal wave.

However, just as Zhang Wuji reached the threshold of Qitian Inner City, his eyes narrowed.

His hair and robe whipped wildly as he looked up to see the Temple Protection Corpse King—the divine guardian forged by the Qitian Temple’s founder—suspended in midair.

It hung there, as though time itself had frozen, its posture reminiscent of a young swallow returning to its nest.

“Roar!”

The Temple Protection Corpse King, with chains thrashing behind it and eyes glowing with a spectral light, fixed its gaze upon the heavens over Qitian Inner City!

Zhang Wuji exhaled slowly.

“So, it’s finally come…”

“Suppress Yulian’s spirit, for it is formidable!”

As his words died down, the Temple Protection Corpse King surged skyward with a torrent of deathly energy and decay, its pressure swelling like an unstoppable tide!

Yet—

High above Qitian Inner City, in the endless expanse of blood-red sky,

a massive hand suddenly appeared, every detail of its palm etched clearly.

Boom!

That enormous hand crashed down upon the Temple Protection Corpse King!

The Corpse King’s form convulsed violently, as if about to shatter completely, its inky blood and decay cascading down like shattered black jade.

The colossal hand, imbued with a terrifying aura, slowly retracted and transformed into a portly, kindly monk bathed in Buddha light!

“Amitabha. At last, in this Bizarre Temple I have found my place.”

The rotund monk laughed heartily.

In his hands he held a string of completely dim Buddha Beads—the very supreme essence that Ascetic Monk Chanting had once offered!

This jovial monk, exuding an aura of supreme energy, tore open the fabric of the void!

Cracks shuddered into existence as a figure clad in Xuan Silver Armor with a billowing cape—one of the Heavenly Soldier Generals—emerged.

He held aloft a Ju Xian Flag, though its divine energy had been utterly spent, his face twisted in a cold, implacable expression.

All the supreme essences blasted away by the Temple Protection Corpse King now rushed back at once—

and with them returned five Supreme experts of the Three Calamity level!

These formidable masters might be inconspicuous in the mortal realm but in the Bizarre Temple they unleashed their power without restraint!

Meanwhile, the chains of the Temple Protection Corpse King lashed out in defiance against the aura of five Supreme experts—evidently no match for the vengeful power of the Fang Clan founder’s transformed guardian, who had yet to recover his full might.

At the threshold, Zhang Wuji gulped hard.

“It’s working. The so-called supreme essence serves both to restrain the Temple Protection Corpse King and as a marker for positioning our targets…”

“This is the true trump card and backup plan of the top-tier forces of all factions!”

Zhang Wuji shook his head.

“It’s a pity. Had we captured Qitian’s remains and the Ruyi staff before those supreme energies from Black Xumi, Dark Heavenly Court, and Weird Demon Sanctuary convened, it would have been a tremendous victory…”

“Now, our merit is greatly diminished…”

“But at least… it’s almost over.”

Zhang Wuji showed no haste to escape; instead, he lingered at the entrance.

“Though Qitian Inner City lies within the Bizarre Temple, its vastness renders it nearly untraceable at the boundary of the Inner and Earthly Weird Sanctuaries,” he mused,

shaking his head lightly as his eyes swept over Qitian Temple.

“It’s over…”

“Even if Qitian revives, what then?”

“A newly revived Qitian can change nothing. Far mightier forces will soon emerge to suppress it.

“Yulian…will be utterly destroyed by this rising Divine Tide!”

At that moment, as Zhang Wuji’s voice rang with resolute sorrow,

high in the heavens, the Temple Protection Corpse King—its flesh nearly cracking apart, its hair flying wildly and chains lashing behind—faced five Supreme experts.

It trembled as though its very body could shatter.

Then—

the Temple Protection Corpse King slowly turned its head to glance back at Qitian Temple.

In its previously chaotic eyes a certain clarity emerged.

“Master…”

“Disciple—I’ve done all I can.”

In the next moment, the Temple Protection Corpse King spun around sharply!

Its corpse aura surged, and from its spine eight vortices of death and decay converged and exploded!

It was strikingly similar to the activation of the Eight Mysterious Gates!

Once the burst of death and decay passed, the sky above Qitian Inner City was once more enveloped in rolling darkness!

The Temple Protection Corpse King ascended into the clouds!

In a desperate bid, it staked everything in a one-against-five battle!

Just as it had endured countless millennia in Qitian Inner City without regret,

today, even if it were to be shattered to dust, it would have no regrets!

Under the dim orange glow of streetlamps,

in a quiet alley,

outside a restaurant,

the Boss casually flicked a rolled cigarette between two fingers as smoke wreathed upward in crooked spirals.

Seated in a chair was XiXi, clutching a rice ball with remnants of rice sticking to the corner of her mouth. She looked up in silent awe at the scene unfolding as smoke coalesced into a grim spectacle.

In that display was none other than the Temple Protection Corpse King, charging resolutely toward the heavens, locked in a battle against five seemingly invincible foes.

“Boss—he’ll die, won’t he?”

A trace of sorrow surfaced in XiXi’s eyes.

“Yeah, he will—although he might already be dead… But a mere physical or spiritual death is not true death. Only when his existence is completely extinguished does death truly come.”

The Boss took a drag from his cigarette, exhaled a plume of smoke, and replied.

“Why must he do this?”

XiXi bit into her rice ball. Even though the Boss made excellent rice balls, she suddenly lost her appetite.

“Because… he’s a good kid.”

The Boss blew away the ash, his eyes tinged with sadness.

“Once, a noble’s illegitimate son was nearly beaten to death by his rivals. By fate, he came into possession of a firestick that housed a monkey. The monkey taught him cultivation, strength, and how to survive against the powerful—”

“They relied on each other, surviving through countless seasons.”

“In the end, the monkey died.”

“The monkey guarded him all his life… and now, he protects the monkey in return.”

“That’s all there is to it.”

“He taught his disciples, his children, that they must protect the monkey—but he knew they might not follow his will, so he fought on, struggling to survive in this world—”

All for the sake of one final act of protection.

“It isn’t that he fears death; he’s just a kid who hates pain.”

“The passage of time cuts deep, and it hurts terribly.”

“But he’s still a good kid—a filial, devoted soul,” the Boss murmured.

Dog Master let out a low bark, his head resting lightly on his paws as he let out a soft sigh.

The world was harsh, and Dog Master sighed in agreement.

XiXi couldn’t help but sigh too.

She found herself pondering: if the one who had always protected her Father were to die one day,

would she, like the Temple Protection Corpse King, fight with all her might to protect him?

Would she?

XiXi bit into her rice ball determinedly.

Yes, she would!

Her inner determination, like that of the Great Emperor, would not fail!

Inside Qitian Temple,

the limitless inner space around the stone coffin was alive with clashing powerful auras, as if everything had come to a standstill.

Silence fell completely, time frozen.

Former Great Jing Emperor Lv Wenchang pressed his dragon banner spear against the Ruyi staff, craning his neck to peer through the shifted coffin lid…

but his face froze in horror.

Because—

Lv Wenchang met a pair of enormous, gleaming golden eyes.

Just one glance and he felt as if his very will was torn from his body, shattered by an unspeakable force!

“Ah—!!!”

A shrill cry erupted as Lv Wenchang spat forth a mouthful of blood.

He clutched his dragon banner spear and recoiled rapidly.

With each heavy step he took, the tiles of Qitian Temple cracked and fanned out in spiderweb patterns beneath his feet.

That agonized cry—

however, sent a wave of fear through everyone present.

Ascetic Monk Chanting, Goddess Guanyin, and Witch God Priest—the trio who had joined forces to subdue the Underworld Ghost Emperor—watched in horror as Lv Wenchang retreated in disarray.

They quickly realized his dire state!

For it was evident from Lv Wenchang’s miserable condition that the stone coffin was compromised!

Or rather…

Qitian Temple’s deity…

had indeed been resurrected!

“Flee!”

The roars of Ascetic Monk Chanting, the loudest of them all, echoed as he grabbed his golden bowl and dashed out of the Bizarre Temple at full speed.

And the Underworld Ghost Emperor—Li Che—was suddenly left to his own devices.

Li Che gripped his Thunder Demon Three-Pronged Twin-Edged Blade, its edge trembling continuously.

He turned his head toward the stone coffin.

“Smack! A brittle, monkey-furred hand struck the coffin’s edge.

The extremely sturdy stone coffin—crafted from some indestructible material—required every ounce of Li Che’s strength to shift its lid,

yet one single strike cracked it.

Li Che’s eyes narrowed.

The aura between heaven and earth seemed utterly frozen, as if time itself stood still!

An overwhelming pressure, a divine majesty of unimaginable scale, began to spread.

Thump, thump, thump—the sound of his heartbeat reverberated like war drums,

as if every heart were about to shatter in synchrony with the pounding!

Li Che’s Dao Fruit trembled, his Seven Aperture Luminous Heart radiated divine power, allowing him to break free from constraints.

Yet a trace of exhilaration shone in his eyes.

The bloodstained visage of Lv Wenchang and the rapid retreat of Ascetic Monk Chanting, Goddess Guanyin, and Witch God Priest—all revealed how their divine energies had become disastrously chaotic.

“Flee!”

Boom!!!

The entrance to Qitian Temple slammed shut!

A terrifying roar summoned a tempest that swept the three Second Calamity masters away with brutal force.

Lv Wenchang’s eyes bled profusely; he was blinded, his ability to sense even the slightest aspect of existence shattered!

For a mighty Second Calamity Divine Calamity master to lose all connection with the world was a terrifying ordeal.

Then—

inside the stone coffin,

the Mixed Yuan Ruyi Golden Hoop Staff suddenly elongated with a loud pop and

impaled Lv Wenchang’s chest.

It then slammed into the closed entrance of Qitian Temple with a resounding thud.

With that, Lv Wenchang’s life was snuffed out completely.

Inside the coffin, a skinny, matted monkey slowly sat up, leaning against the stone with fuzzy arms at its sides and golden eyes clouded with confusion.

It tilted its head briefly,

then turned to gaze at the dome of the Bizarre Temple.

“Gulp…”

“Foolish disciple.”