Omnipotent Sage

“Plotting against me?”

By now, outside the Treasure-snatching Rock, Jade Emperor Sage looked thin and pallid. His bright yellow Imperial Robe was somewhat tattered as if it had been torn apart by a thousand shrews. His expression was very odd. He looked excited and pleasantly surprised, but mainly he looked worried about the outcome. Such an expression would be quite normal on a common person; however, on a Celestial Immortal’s face it looked very strange and was even frightening. This was because even when the eras ended and the whole universe was destroyed, a Celestial Immortal would never look like this.

But now, Jade Emperor Sage’s expression was so intense. There were two other Celestial Immortals standing close behind him. The two looked to be in a far better condition than he, but their expressions were worse.

“Jade Emperor, we’re surprised you are willing to release the Three Daoist Abilities!”

Nine-headed Fierce Beast Sage, a Celestial Immortal with a pale gray complexion, said this, while glaring at Jade Emperor Sage. He looked helpless and a little rueful.

“You have to lose something in order to gain something in return!” Jade Emperor Sage smiled. “I gave up three incarnations and in return, two people agreed not to interfere. It was worth it!”

“You’re right. We won’t meddle any longer. But you don’t have any room for maneuver!” Gale Sage replied.

“No, I don’t have any room for maneuver. As you know, I have practiced the Way of the Emperor. Even though I have achieved the Celestial Immortal’s Way, it would not go far and only if I can move forward. But you won’t give me the chance! Sooner or later I will have to face my opponents and take a gamble. If I win, then…”

Jade Emperor Sage laughed mischievously and said no more.

Gale Sage and Nine-headed Fierce Beast Sage looked at each other. Gale Sage said, “Fine. Let’s see if your luck is good enough to get you through this. If you lose, then we won’t mention it. If you win, then neither of us need worry about it.”

Having spoken, both he and Nine-headed Fierce Beast Sage disappeared simultaneously.

“Phew!” Jade Emperor Sage let out a long breath. Although it could be said that he already passed the test, with the two old-school Celestial Immortals facing him, he couldn’t deny that he felt the pressure. Supposing one of them became confused and attacked, his countless years as a practitioner would have gone to waste. Thankfully, the two Celestial Immortals were the type who kept their promises and abided by the rules. They would not make things difficult for him.

The Celestial Immortal level divine thoughts fluctuated slightly and Jade Emperor Sage immediately understood the Treasure-snatching Rock’s situation. This time, it was Yu An who plotted against Zhou Bao and all of his Dharma power had been sucked in by the mysterious fog.

Ah, luck!

Jade Emperor Sage was not the slightest bit surprised about this, because this script was written by him. He focused all his attention on the cloud surrounding Zhou Bao like the thick golden mist of the pinnacle cultivation of an Earthly Immortal.

It was his luck!

His luck was extremely strong by now and was blazing away fiercely.

“Roar—!” Zhou Bao let out a massive roar and the white hair covering his Real Body of Zhuyan from head to foot, exploded. “Infinite Trembling Contemplation, break it open!”

At this moment, Zhou Bao activated all of his Dharma power and used his Infinite Trembling Contemplation.

Within seconds, a piercing buzzing sound filled the space.

In a few moments, Zhou Bao’s Dharma power had been shaken millions of times over and the black fog created by Yu An was unable to suck in any more. Zhou Bao took this moment to take a step backwards and in the blink of an eye, he escaped from Yu An’s control.

After being freed from the restraint of the black mist, Zhou Bao panted heavily. Although his encounter with Yu An was brief, he had managed to absorb more than a third of his Dharma Power and his body was considerably weakened.

But he also knew that this was not the time to relax. By now, there were countless eyes watching him and as a Tribulation Taker, he was extremely valuable. One false move and he could be dead inside the Treasure-snatching Rock. There was no space for negotiation.

Although his body was weakened, he had a stronger Qi Power than before. The Real Body of Zhuyan had also become incredibly aggressive. “Yu An, plotting against me is not as easy as you think!”

By now Yu An had evolved completely into a mass of black fog which warped continuously. As mentioned before, Zhou Bao’s Dharma power could not be absorbed that easily. Yu An had used some mysterious powers to absorb a third of Zhou Bao’s Dharma power, but it was almost impossible to ingest it. The black fog exuded an ice-blue vapor, freezing the space into chunks of ice. This was the Icy Divine Light and the Mysterious Divine Light inside the vapor became indigestible pneuma that could not even be expelled.

Seemingly understanding Yu An’s predicament, a cruel smile flashed over Zhou Bao’s space. “Yu An, it seems like you’ve reached the end of your luck! Today, it will truly be over!” As he was speaking, the rays of the Tree of Seven Wonders burst forth and infused with Zhou Bao’s body. He transformed into a colorful light which shot straight at Yu An.

All of the Earthly Immortals inside the Treasure-snatching Rock gasped. Zhou Bao’s colorful light did not leak the tiniest bit of spirit, but the gas coming in gave them an indescribable, oppressive feeling. The Earthly Immortal realm’s spirit consciousness told them that these colorful rays could be deadly if they touched the body, let alone subject to a full attack.

“Is Yu An done for?”

This thought flashed through the minds of nearly all Earthly Immortals. The colorful lights ruthlessly struck the black fog and in a short while, the immensely thick fog scattered from the strike.

Poof!

It was as if a large stone had been dropped into a bonfire; clouds of ashes flew everywhere. The black fog dispersed rapidly, greatly surprising the Earthly Immortals inside the Treasure-snatching Rock. Every single one of their bodies started flickering and they scrambled to take shelter from this black fog. Who knew whether this black fog could also engulf all of their Dharma power?

“Whoosh!” A bolt of lightning split the space inside the Treasure-snatching Rock and turned into a huge lightning axe, which hacked violently away at the colorful light.

Boom!

The lightning axe and colorful light collided, creating destructive ripples which scattered in all directions. The space inside the Treasure-snatching Rock could not hold up under the collision of the two powers and shake.

In this collision, Zhou Bao’s colorful light dimmed completely, before finally forming a glorious, cryptic Tree of Seven Wonders. Zhou Bao’s own body was forced out.

“The Jade Emperor princess!”

She chuckled. “Zhou Bao, I said I was going to teach you a good lesson, but I never thought it would happen so quickly!”

After the Jade Emperor princess appeared, Zhou Bao was filled with an ominous premonition. At that moment, he decided to run for it.

But sadly, he couldn’t run.

A silver chain reached out into the hollow and coiled around Zhou Bao, binding him tightly.

“Roar!” Zhou Bao roared and the Real Body of Zhuyan inflated. He wanted to get out of these chains, but he was totally helpless, even with the strength of the Real Body of Zhuyan.

“You should stop trying, Zhou Bao!” A faint voice came through the space inside the rock and all the unusual movements inside the rock stopped. Everything came to a standstill.

“The respected Jade Emperor Sage!”

Once the bright yellow light appeared, half of the Earthly Immortals in the crowd bowed in respect and the other half left the Treasure-snatching Rock without saying a word.

It was the Celestial Immortal!

The Celestial Immortal’s might could never be blocked by an Earthly Immortal. Even the most confident Earthly Immortal would not be stupid enough to try.

Jade Emperor Sage revealed himself in the Treasure-snatching Rock and looked at Zhou Bao, eyes fixated on his body.

“Your luck is still burning in your body. Now that you’ve reached this stage, I’m very curious to see whether your luck can help you get through this tribulation.”

Luck was an extremely mysterious and respected thing for most practitioners. But reaching peak Earthly Immortal level, there is nothing mysterious about it anymore. Even some of the stronger Earthly Immortals could consciously influence luck and for Celestial Immortals it was completely natural. Jade Emperor Sage of yesteryear used his luck to successfully force an attack on the Celestial Immortal Realm. Therefore, it was completely useless and ill-advised to rely on luck when facing a Celestial Immortal.

But both strong Earthly Immortals and Celestial Immortals have a limited influence on their luck. At most they could guide it. For someone with great luck like Zhou Bao, even if he were a Celestial Immortal, he could not control it completely. But this was a special situation. Jade Emperor Sage had been waiting all along for this moment, so he could not just let Zhou Bao carry on doing as he wished. He could not let him get away with disrupting his carefully laid out plans.

“What are you actually going to do?” Zhou Bao asked, looking aghast, at the emperor. Although he was constrained by the silver chains, he could still feel distinctly that his own strength was not deteriorating. On the contrary, through the chains came a formidable pneuma fluctuation which was absorbed by his Mysterious Icy Divine Light. This hugely increased his power.

“What’s going on?” Zhu Bao had never felt as good as he did at this moment. He felt as if he could quickly break through the Earthly Immortal Realm and achieve Celestial Immortal status.

It was a beautiful feeling, but it did not reflect reality. While it was transmitting the mighty pneuma, the chain’s binds grew stronger and stronger until finally, he was completely immobile. It was then that he realized that he was like a pig in a pen, being fattened up so he could be killed and eaten. But he had no way of escaping. He had heard all about the mightiness of Celestial Immortals. It was only now when he was facing one, that he realized he had always insultingly underestimated them.

The might of Celestial Immortals was unimaginable; it flew in the face of reason and could not be resisted.

“What am I going to do? For millions of years, ever since I’ve attained Celestial Immortal status, I’ve been waiting for this day. I’ve been waiting for you, Tribulation Taker, to appear inside this rock, waited until this moment when the Cundi Remains appeared.” Now, Jade Emperor Sage felt he had nothing to hide and could clearly state his intentions.

“Cundi?” Zhou Bao was shocked. He pondered for a moment and seemed to come to some realization. But before he could think any more about it, his luck burst into fire. Right at that moment he could clearly feel that inside the Treasure-snatching Rock there was a mysterious place that corresponded with his spirit, or more precisely, with his Seven Wonderful Techniques.

“It’s the—!”

“Has it finally appeared? The Cundi Remains? It has been quiet inside this Treasure-snatching Rock for countless eras. Can I finally feel a hope of their resurrection?”

Zhou Bao stood there shocked. His mind was focused totally on the two words “Cundi Remains”. It was a huge surprise that this rock contained the Cundi Remains. Only, it was uncertain whether they pertained to the very same Cundi himself. Ever since he knew where his conscious essence came from, Zhou Bao doubted all the myths from his previous life. Maybe, these myths were passed on from the various legends about Celestial and Earthly Immortals that had become mixed up, like the Ancestor of Earthly Immortals’ Zhen Yuan or this Cundi.

Similarly, at this moment, Zhou Bao felt an extreme sense of failure. Maybe everything he had experienced had been planned by other people. It was only now, inside the Treasure-snatching Rock that the conclusion of the mighty Celestial Immortals would be decided. No matter how it ended, he was only a chess piece in the mighty Celestial Immortals’ game, that was all. And just one chess piece at that!

Unless he could become a Celestial Immortal himself!

But did he have a chance?

At that moment, Zhou Bao felt almost completely disheartened. Before, he had prosperous luck and no-one could match him. Although he had experienced setbacks on his path, he had always forged ahead. He had two trump cards in his hand, so that even in the worst situation he could leave a trail of blood.

But now, facing the Celestial Immortal Jade Emperor, he felt that no matter what method he used, he could not get away. Facing a Celestial Immortal, all of his trump cards seemed too flimsy.