567: Chapter 568 Possession? Here you go!

However, this arrangement naturally has its drawbacks.

The biggest problem is the lack of timeliness.

Only when the "Punishment Dao" is invoked will True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei sense it.

In his daily life, he almost completely ignores the day-to-day trivial operations of the Divine Court, letting it run on its own.

As long as the fundamentals are not touched, even the Celestial Emperor remains silent as if in a deep slumber.

Precisely because of this, when the rebellion of the "Divine Lord of Nine Heavens Moistening, Flowing Waves, and Universal Salvation" occurred back then, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei only found out after the fact.

It is laughable to say, but by the time he received the news, that Divine Lord had already half-constructed the prototype of the Yellow Springs Underworld River.

If not for the Celestial Emperor wielding the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, it would have barely been suppressed.

However, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei did not care much about this matter itself.

After all, he is not some old Devil Head like the Six Desires Heavenly Demon who specializes in manipulating hearts and calculating over thousands of years.

It is perfectly normal for people under the Divine Court's rule to be unwilling to remain ordinary, wanting to climb higher and make progress.

After all, water that is too clear has no fish; when he first let the Divine Court grow on its own, he had long anticipated the various open strife and secret struggles, the ups and downs.

But having said that, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei is not entirely oblivious.

Even if he lets go, the Divine Court is ultimately a framework he built with his own hands; the fundamental principles remain unchanged, and no matter how it evolves, it can never escape the circle he has drawn.

Yet, the actions of that Divine Lord of Nine Heavens Moistening, Flowing Waves, and Universal Salvation were simply too shocking.

Transforming the Yellow Springs Underworld River, peeking into the land of Reincarnation.

Is this something a normal Cultivator could achieve?

Let alone Golden Core Perfection, even an ordinary Nascent Soul True Monarch might not possess such means and insight.

Furthermore, the Great Dao of Reincarnation has long disappeared in the Xuanxiao Realm; even many old monsters have never heard of it. How could a mere Divine Lord touch such a taboo?

Therefore, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei was almost certain that there must be a mastermind behind this.

But this also meant that the Divine Court's plans might have been leaked.

Someone had detected his layout and even secretly extended their tentacles, wanting to get a share of the pie in this chess game.

But the frustrating thing is, he cannot pinpoint who the mastermind is.

The Dao of Reincarnation has long disappeared in the Xuanxiao Realm, and none of the Nascent Soul True Monarchs he is familiar with walk this Great Dao.

But this does not prove anything.

Having reached that level of cultivation, who doesn't have a few hidden trump cards?

Especially those old monsters at the Late Stage of Nascent Soul; they hide so deeply it is appalling.

Among them, it is not impossible for someone to be secretly dual-cultivating or having switched to the Dao of Reincarnation.

Therefore, although True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei was very annoyed, even harboring a trace of embarrassment at having his plans seen through, there was nothing he could do.

On the surface, he could only remain still, pay a little more attention to the Divine Court, and secretly keep an eye on its movements.

As long as the mastermind was not True Monarch Yuji Sitian of the Yujing Dao Court, it would be no major issue.

After all, the Divine Court's plans concern the path of True Monarch Yuji Sitian; once discovered, he would inevitably intervene forcefully, perhaps even flipping the table directly, and it would not have lasted until today.

And if it were anyone else, even if they saw through the plan, they would mostly choose to wait and see, sitting back to reap the benefits.

This gave him room to maneuver; what followed was a test of patience and timing.

Moreover, he was not without confidence. After all, no matter what the other party intended, the Divine Court was ultimately something he founded with his own hands, and the initiative was never in the hands of others.

When the time comes, he will meet soldiers with soldiers and water with earth; he will see the truth in action.

Only, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei did not expect that day to come so quickly.

Just as the divine position of the Divine Lord of Nine Heavens Moistening, Flowing Waves, and Universal Salvation was re-occupied, and the Nine Heavens phenomena spread across the firmament.

In that high and mighty Celestial Emperor Palace, a certain long-dormant [Celestial Emperor] was suddenly stirred.

As mentioned before, the Celestial Emperor has no flesh and blood, no soul, and cannot even be considered a "wise living being" in the true sense.

It is just an external manifestation of the aggregate of the Divine Dao Origin, a massive machine operating according to established Laws—cold, precise, and devoid of emotion.

But It has its own set of operating logic.

When an anomaly occurs in the Divine Court sufficient to shake its foundations, this logic is instantly activated, and It subsequently launches a counterattack autonomously.

However, because the Celestial Emperor cannot utilize Its own [Celestial Emperor] authority—as that authority was tightly suppressed by the Punishment Dao the moment It was imprisoned in the Celestial Emperor Palace—all It can rely on is the power of the Punishment Dao.

Acting on behalf of Heaven to punish, using punishment to suppress chaos.

If the Celestial Emperor had wisdom and emotions, It might seek good fortune and avoid disaster, understand that over-reliance on the Punishment Dao would only lead to deeper entrapment, and try to restrain the impulse to use this power.

But unfortunately, It is merely a collection of rules, lacking self-will, and even less able to resist that instinctual drive.

In the Divine Court, both major and minor matters require the power of the Punishment Dao to adjudicate.

From merit evaluations for official promotions to punishments for Divine Lords' mistakes, there are no exceptions.

Under long-term suppression, the Celestial Emperor has long been in an absolutely disadvantaged position, only one step away from being completely suppressed and devoured.

And this point has long been revealed in Its outward appearance.

If an outsider were to step into the Celestial Emperor Palace at this moment, they would surely see a shocking scene.

In the center of the vast and magnificent hall sat a towering figure clad in an imperial robe.

On the imperial robe, countless fine thunder patterns wound and moved like living creatures, and crackling electric arcs coiled between the hem and cuffs, scorching the originally solemn and majestic twelve-chapter patterns until they were mottled and blurred.

The imperial throne behind It was completely saturated with thunder; purple electricity and green light clung to it like vines, occasionally bursting into a blinding flash of lightning, making the entire hall flicker.

And Itself, that motionless body, was also covered in the erosion marks of lightning.

Its face was blurred, as if shrouded behind a layer of ceaseless thunder curtains.

Only the imperial crown on Its head still emitted a warm and solemn divine radiance.

The bead curtains hung down, the jade color warm, as if it were the last unconquered place in this entire cage swallowed by thunder.

Therefore, in Its hollow pupils, there remained a final trace of clarity belonging to "divinity".

That was the last pure land of the Divine Dao Origin.

However, at this moment, even this last pure land was about to fall.

Nine Heavens phenomena across the sky, water light soaring to the heavens, the Divine Lord returns to the position.

All these changes were like a thunderbolt striking into the Celestial Emperor's operating logic.

Without a word, without a hint of hesitation, the Celestial Emperor moved.

It only slowly raised Its hand.

But in an instant, the entire Celestial Emperor Palace suddenly trembled.

The next moment, the Punishment Dao power permeating the entire Upper Three Heavens surged crazily as if boiling, gathering toward the palm of the Celestial Emperor's raised hand.

At first, electric arcs only jumped between the five fingers, crackling, and then turned into a sea of purple lightning.

Thunder condensed, compressed, and erupted; billions of electric rays exploded between that palm, turning into a purple-green thunder pillar connecting the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

Nine Heavens Divine Lightning!

That is the ultimate power of acting on behalf of Heaven to punish, capable of executing immortals above and destroying gods below; all who defy the Heavenly Dao will be reduced to ashes under this lightning.

The thunder pillar crashed down from the Celestial Emperor Palace, piercing through the Upper Three Heavens and reaching the Middle Three Heavens.

Like a spear of judgment thrust down from the firmament, carrying the pressure of destroying heaven and earth, it struck straight toward that rising aura in the Water Mansion of the Outer Dao City.

Where the lightning passed, the Void Realm shattered, and heaven and earth fell silent.

All the Divine Lords who witnessed this strike changed their expressions in that instant.

Even they had never seen such a terrifying Nine Heavens Divine Lightning.

The power of that strike was enough to wipe out a newly ascended Divine Lord, body and divine status alike, as if they had never existed.

And in the Celestial Emperor Palace, at the same time that the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning left Its hand, the imperial crown on the Celestial Emperor's head was finally completely eroded by the last wisp of lightning.

The jade color dimmed, the bead curtains shattered, and the warm radiance of divinity was extinguished like a dying candle in the wind, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

The hollow pupils beneath the imperial crown suddenly flooded with an endlessly churning sea of lightning.

Purple-green electric light surged and roared in the eye sockets, completely swallowing the last trace of clarity belonging to "divinity".

The Celestial Emperor's pupils turned into an endless sea of lightning.

From this moment on, the Celestial Emperor had vanished, and in Its place was—[True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei]!

At the same time, Lu Ming, who was currently impacting the position of Divine Lord, had water light circulating around his body, and the vast Power Of Faith was continuously pouring into his body like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

The [Divine Lord Talisman of Nine Heavens Moistening, Flowing Waves, and Universal Salvation] floating in his Sea of Consciousness was gradually solidifying and stabilizing.

Dark golden runes lit up layer by layer, like thousands of lamps being lit one after another.

The process of attaining the Divine Lord position was smooth to the point of being unbelievable.

The various expected incidents where someone would intervene or cause trouble in secret had not occurred at all.

The entire Divine Court was eerily quiet, as if everyone was just standing by.

However, there was no joy on Lu Ming's face.

His brows were tightly locked, and his expression was extremely solemn.

Because he could clearly perceive that, at the critical moment when he was about to completely attain the position of Divine Lord, deep within that solidifying divine talisman, a cold, decaying, and heavy, inexplicable power quietly spread.

That power was like a venomous snake lurking in the dark, invading his Divine Soul inch by inch along the connection channel between the divine talisman and the Sea of Consciousness, attempting to seize control of this body.

This was already in Lu Ming's expectations.

From the moment he took the first step, he knew that the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord would never be content.

How could that old Devil Head, who had racked his brains to set up this chess game, really be willing to hand over the position of Divine Lord of Water Virtue?

He must be waiting for the most critical and vulnerable moment to launch a sudden attack, to commit Possession in one fell swoop and usurp the nest.

But since Lu Ming knew, he certainly could not be unprepared; he had long since left himself a way out.

However, the time had not yet come.

"Boom—!!!" Just as Lu Ming's thoughts were racing, an earth-shattering loud noise crashed down from above the Nine Heavens.

The entire Outer Dao City suddenly shook, and all the buildings and the ground trembled in that instant, as if the entire world was in fear.

An indescribable, terrifying sense of oppression pressed down from the firmament like a physical substance, weighing heavily on the hearts of every living creature.

It was as if an invisible spear of judgment was already hanging over everyone's heads.

Lu Ming suddenly looked up, and his pupils contracted sharply.

He saw that above the Nine Heavens, a purple-green thunder pillar connecting heaven and earth was tearing through the firmament, crashing down toward the Water Mansion with an unstoppable force!

That was the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning!

Acting on behalf of Heaven to punish, executing immortals and destroying gods!

Before the lightning arrived, that terrifying pressure had already made the entire Middle Three Heavens unable to breathe; above the firmament, thick clouds had already turned into dust before the lightning descended.

The air was filled with the crackling sound of scorching, as if even the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had been burned away by that divine lightning.

However, at this critical moment, a curve quietly appeared on the corner of Lu Ming's mouth.

Facing this terrifying Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, there was no fear or panic in his eyes, but rather a coldness that bordered on mockery.

"Since you want it... then have it."

His voice was low and calm, like talking to himself.

But the moment his voice fell, his Divine Soul withdrew from this shell like flowing water.

This scene was incredibly fast, as if it had been rehearsed thousands of times.

That inexplicable power attempting to seize control of the body, caught off guard, instantly missed its target.

However, it was too late to withdraw.

The divine lightning was approaching, the opportunity for Possession had opened, and that power, like a wild horse breaking free from its reins, was driven by inertia to crash into Lu Ming's Physical Body.

It then replaced him, firmly occupying this body.

The next moment, that figure sitting cross-legged suddenly opened its eyes.

In those eyes, a murky, turbid light of Reincarnation churned—decayed, aged, carrying a sense of vicissitudes and sinister malice that spanned long years.

It was none other than the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord!

"Haa—" Just after taking over this Physical Body, the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord let out a low, hoarse breath from his throat.

He greedily felt every inch of flesh and blood, every meridian in this fresh shell, as if a long drought had met sweet rain.

But he had not yet had time to enjoy the pleasure of this successful Possession.

Looking up, he saw an earth-destroying purple-green thunder pillar crashing straight down toward his crown.

On the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's face—Lu Ming's face—bewilderment and astonishment appeared for the first time.

"???" In that instant, the expression on his face was extremely colorful.

Greed, satisfaction, shock, terror—all emotions rotated like a revolving lantern in the blink of an eye.

Finally, it settled on unparalleled rage.

But the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord was, after all, no ordinary figure.

At the critical moment, his reaction was lightning-fast.

Although it was just his consciousness that had just entered the Physical Body and had not yet fully fused, the power he could mobilize was far beyond that of his pure consciousness state.

Almost at the very instant the lightning touched his hair, his hands suddenly formed seals, and a murky, vast power of Reincarnation suddenly surged around him, wrapping him in an invisible barrier like a cocoon.

The power of Reincarnation collided head-on with the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning!

"Boom—!!!" That loud noise was earth-shattering!

Lightning and yellow light intertwined, exploded, and annihilated, and the terrifying energy aftermath swept in all directions like a tidal wave.