Chapter 140: Laughing aloud, I stride out the door; we attain immortality in our dreams.

Before he could finish, Luo Huawu interrupted him with a wave of her hand. Twisting her delicate waist, she bowed courteously to Hantu and asked, "May I ask how to address you, Fellow Daoist?"

"Titles do not matter. Since I am one of the Unicorn Steeds, you may simply call me Black-Horned Dark Horse!" Hantu looked past everything. His gaze blazed like a torch, but he failed to find his nominal parents.

"Where are the parents of this physical vessel I inhabit?" Hantu asked, inadvertently letting slip a trace of imperial majesty from his imperial bones. This aura instantly overawed the nine Immortal Kings and the inner sect elders, stripping them of all resentment and arrogance.

"How could he possess imperial majesty? We have never heard of the Immortal Emperor Hantu ever having a mount at the Immortal Emperor tier!"

While murmuring and discussions riounded below, Bai Wan stepped forward and opened the immortal artifact specifically designated for housing mounts. This revealed Old Bai and his biological mother, Zisi. The two Unicorn Steeds were bickering like quarreling spouses; once exposed, they immediately turned their backs on each other, refusing to exchange a single glance.

Seeing that these two horses were still alive, Hantu hesitated. Just as he was about to speak, Immortal King Yangchi chimed in, "All mounts within my pagoda bear my soul imprint. There was never any possibility of the two of them sneaking away. Since you are the mount of Emperor Hantu and have reached the rank of an Immortal Emperor yourself, you should know how to leave this place."

"What's the use of asking that nonsense!" Immortal King Hei'er was burning with anxiety and suddenly made a ruthless decision. He struck down Nine-Phoenix 朝歌, who now possessed only a single head!

After a long moment, Nine-Phoenix 朝歌 did not undergo Nirvana, falling instead into a deep silence. The long-awaited exit failed to appear, nor was there any sign of loosening within the spatial barrier.

"You..." Hantu did not know what to say. How could someone still be so hot-tempered even after attaining the rank of an Immortal King?

Luo Huawu furrowed her brow. Suddenly, the space trembled. Hei'er rejoiced, "Just as I said! As long as we destroy the array spirit, we can leave this place. This space is about to show a flaw!"

"You..." Hantu roared, "This firebird must not be killed!"

Hei'er sneered. He was merely a dark horse, after all. Observing the violently vibrating space, he realized the tremors were not coming from the space itself, but from the stellar debris formed by the extinguished fire embers.

Whether they had been subdued, reduced to ashes, or hidden within the souls of the various immortals and gods, all these remnants condensed into a stream of vapor that gathered at the very center.

Hei'er led the ninth inner sect elder, Wang Qing, the tenth elder, Tui Lao, and the sixth elder, Qing He, as they cautiously approached. That vapor truly transformed into a gate made of swirling qi, studded with stars and indescribably beautiful.

Hantu shook his head. The others would no longer listen to a word he said, and even Luo Huawu projected her divine sense outward to investigate.

The very instant Hei'er drew close, the starlit qi gate suddenly radiated waves of scorching heat. Before the sixth, ninth, and tenth elders—along with six other inner sect elders—could dodge, with a series of crisp snaps, they were swallowed whole by nine suddenly manifested heads.

Nine-Phoenix 朝歌 abruptly reappeared out of the void, morphing from a single head into nine, and its power increased exponentially. All the immortals it had previously slain now became a part of its strength.

Furthermore, this Nine-Phoenix 朝歌 specifically targeted and crushed those with weak strength, displaying an extremely high level of intelligence.

This spectacle terrified Hei'er. Scrambling backward in a panicked retreat, he was struck by the firebird's tail. Instantly, his soul caught fire, and his physical body was burned to absolute nothingness in a split second.

The destruction of his physical form meant that he was not a body-cultivator; his soul was powerful enough to reconstruct a golden body. Yet this flame continued to smolder incessantly, neither extinguishing nor growing, as if it were an innate part of his very soul.

"This is the divine ability of Immortal Emperor Famen—Microcosmic Womb!" Luo Huawu rushed over to assist, only to discover that the little flame grew larger the more it twitched. In the blink of an eye, it expanded from the size of a soybean to that of an apple.

Hei'er’s agonized screams echoed throughout the entire space. To a soul, this seemingly harmless little flame inflicted pain that pierced right down to the marrow and clawed at the nerves deep within the mind. Within moments, Hei'er was driven mad, and the other Immortal Kings had to step in and seal him to stop his thrashing.

Yet Nine-Phoenix 朝歌 exclusively hunted the weak. Before Hei'er could be gathered into the Pagoda of a Hundred Towns and a Thousand Evils, another sheet of blazing inferno engulfed all the surrounding immortals.

When Luo Huawu finally burst out from the raging flames, the Immortal Kings discovered that Hei'er was gone.

Hei'er was now resting in serene peace deep within the body of Nine-Phoenix 朝歌. The flame inside him had shrunk to the size of a needle eye, causing him no further pain at all.

"I cannot endure this agony any longer," Hei'er muttered helplessly, shaking his head.

The closer he got to the firebird, the more his pain subsided. Once inside the firebird's body, he actually felt a profound sense of liberation.

His entire Immortal King soul force slowly drifted away and vanished.

Hei'er was gone, his soul obliterated without a trace. If not for the obstruction of this space, he could at least have relied on his natal immortal artifact to escort him back to the lower realms, but now...

"You reap what you sow, and none can escape!" Deaf Elder roared in fury. He had enjoyed an exceptionally close relationship with Wang Qing, never expecting that he would meet the same wretched fate alongside Hei'er.

When Luo Huawu once again wielded the Pagoda of a Hundred Towns and a Thousand Evils to do battle with Nine-Phoenix 朝歌, she was no longer a match for the creature. Had it not been for the remaining eight Immortal Kings unleashing endless arrays, the immortals would have suffered total defeat long ago.

"We must not fight it head-on!" As Luo Huawu’s words fell, Old Bai and Zisi looked on anxiously. They had assumed their biological son would rescue them first, but instead, Hantu declared, "Only when this firebird is reduced to a single head does this grand array reach its weakest state. We must trap it, prevent its recovery, and then figure out a way to escape this space."

Even as Hantu spoke, Bai Wan could not help interjecting, "Go and help them quickly, and I will release your parents!"

"Hahaha! I am the mount of Emperor Hantu, and we are both beings of the Immortal Emperor tier. How could I still be shackled by such mundane filial sentiments?"

Bai Wan’s face turned alternately pale and flushed. Before she could speak, Luo Huawu said, "Fellow Daoist Black Horse, if you can help us defeat this firebird, you may name any condition you desire!"

Hantu was thoroughly satisfied. Old Bear muttered under his breath, "Shameless, still playing mind games at a time like this!"

The King of Fighters cut off his remaining three sentences, whispering a quiet warning before Old Bear finally slinked into silence. Beside them, Dragon One let out a cold snort and bluntly blurted out, "When the Senior was here, he gave us a hard time. Now that the Senior is gone, this dark horse is ready to feast on meat!"

Having reached an agreement with Luo Huawu, Hantu projected his divine sense. The remaining eight Immortal Kings of the Hundred Flowers Valley joined forces with Rong Ya to form the Mysterious Yellow Nine-Palace Array, directly facing the nine heads of Nine-Phoenix 朝歌.

To prevent the beast from spreading its wings like a roc and shattering the restraining array, Luo Huawu volunteered herself as the eye of the formation, taking the brunt of the pressure.

The remaining inner sect grand elders and other middle-to-late stage Mysterious Immortals also formed a three-dimensional triangular grand array, continuously channeling immortal power and the power of faith into the pagoda, enhancing its celestial might by three parts.

In this manner, the firebird was precisely trapped, robbing it of any possibility of being shattered into pieces again.

"As time drags on, our side is bound to triumph. When that happens, the moment it is reduced to a single head and weakened, we can strike with one concerted effort, annihilating its remaining seven heads and leaving only the final one to break through this space!"

As Hantu spoke on and on, he seemed to locate the position previously held by Wuyun, holding forth with a torrent of eloquence.

Having once been an emperor, his experience was vast and deep. The spatial restriction array of the Three Emperors Piercing the Heavens had already been punctured by Wuyun and further disrupted by the corpse of the Dragon Emperor, rendering its power vastly inferior to its former glory.

He could spot the flaw at a single glance!

Surveying the surroundings from all directions, Hantu summoned his parents over. Especially as he looked at Old Bai, a complex swirl of emotions churned within his heart.

"No matter what, the two of you are my parents!"

Hantu handed Zisi a shattered bone fragment within which an imperial artifact was concealed. Hesitating slightly, Old Bai urged Zisi to take it, consoling her, "We gave birth to a son, only for some reincarnated soul to hijack the opportunity. This is compensation—reparations! Just take it and set your mind at ease!"

Zisi transformed back into her human form and stared at Hantu for a long while. She then heard him say, "Everything is governed by fate; there is no need for sorrow. Once this spatial array is shattered, I will ask Yangchi to sever your soul shackles, and the two of you elders will be free to roam the starry skies of the entire immortal realm!"

With a wave of Hantu’s hand, the two of them departed. Watching closely, Old Bear shouted indignantly, "You give away an imperial artifact given by a Senior just like that—you just hand it over!"

The King of Fighters hastily tried to pull him back, but he was a split second too late. Old Bear was sent flying by a kick from a horse hoof, howling in pain and daring not utter another word.

"If not for the presence of Moon Seven in your ears, I would have kicked out every single tooth in that bear mouth of yours!"

Hantu growled fiercely. Noticing that Dragon One was sitting with his eyes closed in deep thought, he snapped angrily, "Still daydreaming? Go help!"

He directed the War Alliance Valley to join the fray. These remaining six individuals were all mid-to-late stage Mysterious Immortals, and when they joined forces alongside Gao Le, the suppression of the firebird grew even more formidable.

As time passed, amidst Old Bear’s cowardly shrinking away, a tender, baby-faced, insect-bodied infant slowly crawled out from a cocoon wrapped in green leaves that had gradually turned white.

Upon birth, the infant grew rapidly against the wind. Once he reached a height of one hundred meters, a ray of Buddha light descended within the enclosed space, imprinting itself upon his newly sprouted hair. Instantly, a Buddhist mark was formed.

Little Chong rubbed his head with some reluctance. He inspected his own cultivation level, then glanced at Old Bear’s pathetic demeanor. Just as he was about to throw his head back and roar with laughter as he strode out into the world—chanting that his generation would achieve immortality even in their dreams—he sensed that the atmosphere was wrong.

"Where is the Senior?"

"Dead!"

Hearing this, Little Bug froze. Yet these words came straight from the mouths of Old Bear and the King of Fighters, and even he found it hard to disbelieve. He therefore asked his mount, the green leaf; when the leaf projected a stream of imagery, Little Bug wailed to the heavens.

"Senior... I have just entered the Great Buddha path and have yet to expound the scriptures for you, why have you left us..." Little Bug wept bitterly, bearing not a shred of the demeanor expected of a Mysterious Immortal Great Buddha. Hantu felt somewhat irritated and kicked him with a hoof, instantly stirring up a hornet's nest.

Little Bug began chanting the Rebirth Scriptures to deliver Wuyun's soul.

Confrontation knows no passage of years. In the blink of an eye, Moon Seven was seven years old and grew all the more lively. Old Bear could no longer conceal his ears, and thanks to a succession of all sorts of gemstone drops, his cultivation level skyrocketed by leaps and bounds, abruptly soaring to the Great Immortal Perfection realm.

Old Bear and the King of Fighters flushed with shame. Before following Wuyun, how dashing and glorious they had been in the Qianluo Space, always believing themselves to be preternaturally clever and able to grasp anything at the mere hint. Never had they imagined that Moon Seven would be like a prodigod child; whatever he saw and heard, he understood at a single glance.

"Master Wuyun once imparted teachings to me in a dream, telling me many things!" Though Moon Seven possessed the physical body and mental faculties of an eleven or twelve-year-old child, and remained willful at times, most of the time he applied himself diligently to cultivation, occasionally wandering off to listen to Little Bug chant scriptures.

Within the space, the battle remained intensely fierce. The energy of Nine-Phoenix 朝歌 was firmly locked down by the array deployed by Hantu. Now, all nine of its heads drooped limply and sluggishly, lacking only a single opportunity to slay it once, and then, amidst its resurrection process, slaughter it seven more times in rapid succession. Once only a single head remained, they would be able to find the flaw and escape.

That single opportunity actually lay with Hantu. He still possessed three imperial artifacts; unleashing the offensive power of any one of them would allow him to break free. Conserving his energy and carefully listening to Little Bug's scripture chanting, his own cultivation had likewise reached the Great Immortal Peak, pressing hard against the barrier of the Mysterious Immortal realm.

Yet every time he prepared to breakthrough to the Mysterious Immortal realm, he discovered that the issue was not with his cultivation technique, but rather that his physical body was far too ordinary. It required long years of tempering to transform and elevate its physical quality, remodeling the celestial form of his body before he could achieve success in one go.

This was similar to Old Bear and the King of Fighters. Born in the mundane world, no matter how heaven-defying their cultivation techniques were, they still required a thousand hammer blows and ten thousand grindings to achieve perfect harmony with their mismatched bodies. They even needed various treasures to elevate their physical forms. Unless one abandoned body cultivation and focused solely on the soul, the ultimate fate of those who achieved immortality and divinity through that path was utterly bleak.

——Water without roots, no matter how mighty, remains merely a beverage in someone else's bowl.