Chapter 303 - The Seal of the Netherworld (3)
The Ancient Tree of Life was connected to the Sidhe Empress’ life. Once the Sidhe Empress had passed on, the Ancient Tree of Life would automatically return to its original state. When the Ancient Tree of Life evolved to its current state, it gained one more ability - producing the Seed of Life.
Before they took part in the Grand Tournament of Saint Lands, the Sidhe Empress had already made full preparations; it was either success or death. Firstly it was because her life was connected to Zhou Weiqing’s - in the event Zhou Weiqing died in the battle, it was impossible for her to survive without him. More importantly, it was because of responsibility - the responsibility of sealing the Lord of the Nether. Even if the Sidhe Empress were to perish together with the Ancient Tree of Life during the battle, the Seed of Life was still able to produce another new Ancient Tree of Life. Even though nurturing it might be a long process, at least it would not influence the survival of the Sidhe Tribe. This was also the reason why the Sidhe Empress instructed the elders to relocate to the Heavenly Bow Empire, where the Peerless Sect resided, if anything were to happen to her, before she left for the abyss where the seal of the Netherworld was.
At this very moment, the shocking appearance of the Ancient Tree of Life had forcefully sustained the entire seal once again with its extremely massive Life Energy.
The Sidhe Empress’ calm voice echoed within the cave, “Lord of the Nether, you were right. At the beginning, my ancestor created the seal of the Netherworld together with Elder Dragon Emperor, which had sealed you for millennia. My ancestor had died here, sacrificing herself in order to complete the seal. Ever since then, Elder Dragon Emperor was the one who had been constantly maintaining the seal, in order for you to be unable to charge out into the human world. However, similarly, the Sidhe Tribe also has the responsibility of maintaining the seal. As long as we’re still alive, we will not allow you to leave the Netherworld or destroy the Mainland.”
There was a cold yet dignified aura amidst the Sidhe Empress’ calmness. At this moment, she was hovering above the Ancient Tree of Life. She had a determined look on her solemn yet absolutely beautiful face. An intense Life aura surged out in a frenzy, and forcefully suppressed the Lord of the Nether’s power that was trying to break out of the seal.
“So you’ve actually brought the Ancient Tree of Life with you? So what? Do you think that your minute Life Saint Energy is able to go against my pure Destructive Energy? You are way too naive.”
The Lord of the Nether’s voice was filled with rage. His two pincers that had already broken through the seal swung violently. Intense Destructive Energy surged out wildly, colliding hard against the Life Energy released by the Ancient Tree of Life.
Amidst the loud collision sounds, at least a fifth of the roots, that were right at the bottom of the Ancient Tree of Life, had been destroyed. The impetuous Destructive Energy swept upwards and dispersed the massive Life Energy by force.
The Sidhe Empress and the Ancient Tree of Life were considered as one entity - since the Ancient Tree of Life had been attacked, she inevitably spat out a mouthful of blood. Nonetheless, her determination was not swayed. She turned around and transformed into Mother Nature. The Mother Nature’s Scepter in her hand emitted bright radiance; the Life Saint Energy became more powerful once again, and managed to resist the Destructive Energy released by the Lord of the Nether’s pair of pincers.
“Weiqing, quick, restore the formation! I can’t hold on for too long,” said the Sidhe Empress, whose voice was filled with anxiety. Indeed, even when she had joined forces with the Ancient Tree of Life, they were still unable to completely suppress the Lord of the Nether. The enormous pair of pincers were digging their way out of the seal’s formation, bit by bit. With every inch that they dug out of the seal, the Destructive Energy would become stronger as a result.
The Dragon Emperor had already received a fatal blow earlier on - he only managed to get pulled back from the brink of death with much difficulty thanks to the massive Life Energy given off by the Ancient Tree of Life. He could no longer take charge of maintaining the seal. The only person capable of doing that was Zhou Weiqing.
Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er hovered in mid-air; his face looked very solemn. He was very clear that the victory or defeat depended on his next move.
The Destructive Energy released from the Lord of the Nether’s pincers was extremely pure without any impurities - Fen Tian’s Destructive Energy could not even come close. Despite being heavily restricted by the seal’s formation, as well as the Ancient Tree of Life, it was still able to display such a strong power and might. Zhou Weiqing knew deep down in his heart that even though his Saint Energy was relatively pure, it was not on the same level as the purity of the Lord of the Nether’s Destructive Energy. All Zhou Weiqing could do right now was to depend on the formation in order to seal him.
The Dual Legendary Hammers appeared within Zhou Weiqing’s hands. In an instant, a myriad of bright Saint Energy starlight appeared on every part of Zhou Weiqing’s ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Set. The dense Saint Energy ripples had increased to its maximum in the blink of an eye.
After being affected by the Saint Energy, the Destructive Energy released by the Lord of the Nether was suppressed and had shrunk quite a bit, whereas the vitality of the other Heavenly Beasts, the Sidhe Empress, as well as the Ancient Tree of Life, became rejuvenated.
“Restore the formation, quick!” shouted Zhou Weiqing. The Dual Legendary Hammers transformed into a single-handle hammer as Zhou Weiqing lifted it above his head. The Astral Celestial Territory was released and the bright nebula began orbiting in a frenzy. The Saint God Core Nucleus leaped out of Zhou Weiqing’s chest and released a bout of extremely intense and massive Saint Energy.
At this moment, Zhou Weiqing, who was a Max Level Heavenly God, had displayed a powerful aura that had surpassed that of the Dragon Emperor earlier on. The pure Saint Energy had boosted the confidence of each and every single Heavenly Beast.
The twelve Heavenly Beasts, including Hui Yao and Duo Si, had returned to their respective positions within the formation, and released their energy aura that merged with Zhou Weiqing’s Saint Energy.
Zhou Weiqing’s eyes were as bright as the splendid stars; twelve rays of whitish golden Saint light were released at the same time from the huge hammer head of his Dual Legendary Hammer, and shone on the twelve Heavenly Beasts’ bodies respectively.
Immediately, the Heavenly Beasts were entirely covered by a layer of whitish golden luster. The massive amount of energy that had been drained from them was significantly restored at this moment.
Just like what she did in the battle between Zhou Weiqing and Fen Tian, Tian’er hugged Zhou Weiqing from the back once again, channeling an unrestrained amount of Saint Energy into Zhou Weiqing’s body.
Merging with Tian’er’s Saint Energy, the whitish golden light that was emitted by Zhou Weiqing’s body became a lot more intense. The rich energy ripples that were filled with Creation aura managed to suppress the Lord of the Nether’s Destructive Energy, allowing the Sidhe Empress and the Ancient Tree of Life to ease up significantly. The Ancient Tree of Life had descended as well, in an attempt to suppress the Lord of the Nether’s Destructive Energy.
“Fen Tian, you piece of trash.” The Lord of the Nether’s bitter and resentful voice rang through the air. If Fen Tian managed to kill Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er earlier, he would have had successfully broken the seal. Even though the Dragon Emperor was fatally injured, the seal of the Netherworld had lasted for millennia - it accumulated a massive amount of energy that could not be broken that easily. After the core of the formation had been destroyed, he still had to mobilize a large amount of energy in order to have a chance at breaking it in one go. However, at this moment, the combined Saint Energy of the Sidhe Empress and Zhou Weiqing had forcefully suppressed the power of his attack.
The Lord of the Nether was not particularly intimidated by the Life Saint Energy released by the Sidhe Empress and the Ancient Tree of Life. The actual Saint Energy within the Life Saint Energy was rather minimal - it was not enough to pose a threat to him.
However, Zhou Weiqing’s Saint Energy was different - it was pure. Even though it was still not the actual Creation Energy, the only difference was that it was slightly less pure in comparison. Even though the Lord of the Nether knew that Zhou Weiqing was unable to become the Creation God as it was impossible for him to possess Creation Energy, the Lord of the Nether was still fearful at this moment. This was because he, who was the most familiar with the seal, knew for a fact that if Zhou Weiqing was at the core of the formation and used his Saint Energy to complete the seal once again, the seal of the Netherworld would become a perfect one, without the slightest flaw.
Even if he were to secretly open a crack from the other side of the seal, it would still seal up after the seal had been perfected. He would henceforth be unable to use the negative emotions of the human beings within the Boundless Mainland to enhance his power.
Only the Lord of the Nether himself knew about his actual predicament. He had to constantly devour in order to strengthen himself, as well as maintain himself.
He was created in the first place as a result of the absorption of the negative emotions in the external world. If he were to lose the supply of negative emotions, not only was he unable to become stronger, he would even continue to weaken until he perished forever.
Hence, no matter what, the Lord of the Nether would never allow Zhou Weiqing to take charge and complete the seal. If that were to happen, it was as good as announcing his death sentence. Currently, his biggest regret was that he did not notice the existence of someone who possessed the actual Saint Energy earlier, and kill him before he became stronger. Till now, he was still adamant that his plan was perfect, excluding the unexpected variable, which was Zhou Weiqing’s appearance. And right now this variable had become so strong that it threatened his own existence. How was it possible for him not to feel resentful?
Suddenly, the Lord of the Nether’s pincers had stopped moving. Thereafter, a tiny black ball of light appeared in the middle of the two pincers. In order to destroy the seal and prevent it from getting completed again, he had exerted his personal source of energy. This source of energy had been refined over millennia, and it was only a small amount. However, at this moment, the Lord of the Nether could not afford to care so much about it. As long as he was able to break the seal and get to the Boundless Mainland, he would be able to restore his energy. He was very ambitious - he wanted to use the Boundless Mainland as a stepping stone to strengthen his body, before achieving his goal of devouring the entire universe and becoming the sole ruler.
The pitch-black light was filled with endless darkness. The ball of light continuously grew bigger and the terrifying Destructive Energy within it had formed a dark green light curtain. Regardless of Zhou Weiqing’s Saint Energy or the Sidhe Empress’ Life Saint Energy, they were unable to penetrate it. The moment they came into contact with the dark green light curtain, they would disintegrate immediately.
Sensing the Destructive Energy within the black light ball that was continuously expanding, Zhou Weiqing trembled in fear. This was because he could clearly sense that it was the purest Destructive Energy that ever existed in this world that could truly rival Creation Energy. It was a powerful energy that he was completely unable to resist. Even though his Saint Energy was considered to be extremely pure, it would automatically vanish upon coming into contact with the aura that was released by this source of Destructive Energy. Furthermore, even the Creation characteristics within the Saint Energy was completely destroyed by it.