578: You call me uncle, I call me ancestor

“Letting him off easy?”

Hearing Jiang Ziya’s words, the colossal phantom in the sky paused slightly.

Immediately after, its eyes narrowed, emitting a powerful light akin to the scorching sun.

Jiang Ziya turned around, cupped his hands, and said, “That’s right. With Erlang Shen’s cultivation, even if he only used twenty percent of his strength, he should still be superior to the current Evil Emperor. Yet, the current battle shows them evenly matched, which is truly suspicious.”

At this point, Jiang Ziya fell silent for a moment, then cast a gloomy glance at the Eight Trigrams Heavenly Well, and cupped his hands again, saying, “Your subject suspects that Erlang Shen is dissatisfied with the Heavenly Court and has developed ulterior motives.”

“What!?”

Hearing this, the Generals of the Thunder Department and the Four Constellations surrounding the Eight Trigrams Heavenly Gate were all incredibly shocked.

“Although Erlang Shen is aloof and only listens to orders from the Heavenly Court but doesn’t necessarily follow them, he did achieve remarkable merits on the Battle of the Gods battlefield.”

“Exactly, he is also the Heavenly Emperor’s nephew. How could such a person side with the Evil Emperor and betray the Heavenly Court?”

“I’ve observed Erlang Shen cultivating the Jianmu for a long time, and he’s about to succeed. He doesn’t look like he has ulterior motives at all. Grand Duke Jiang’s words are hard to believe.”

As the immortals discussed animatedly,

Nezha glared fiercely at Jiang Ziya.

“That old scoundrel!”

“He never has a good thought!”

“But… he really did see through it.”

Jiang Ziya looked sideways at Nezha, seemingly sensing his gaze.

However, he ignored Nezha, merely cupping his hands and bowing towards the heavens, saying, “Before this, the Howling Celestial Dog had already made a move to betray the Heavenly Court, attempting to escape with the Evil Emperor’s offspring, but was struck down to the Lower Realm by your subject’s Immortal Slaying Flying Knife. As everyone knows, the Howling Celestial Dog is extremely loyal to Erlang Shen. How could he betray his master?”

At these words, the immortals immediately fell silent.

Jiang Ziya was right.

The probability of the Howling Celestial Dog betraying Yang Jian was even lower than Yang Jian betraying the Heavenly Court.

Without Yang Jian’s nod, how could the Howling Celestial Dog harbor such a delusion?

From this perspective, the matter was indeed a bit suspicious.

After a moment of silence, the golden phantom in the sky spoke, “You mean, my nephew has sided with the Evil Emperor?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Ziya seemed to be on solid ground, raising his head and saying to the Heavenly Emperor, “Erlang Shen has never submitted to the Heavenly Dao, and no one can fathom the thoughts in his heart. Moreover, besides Erlang Shen, the Heavenly Court still has many former Shang-Zhou loyalists. We must be on guard!”

As soon as Jiang Ziya spoke, a figure stepped out from among the Thunder Department gods and sternly asked, “Jiang Ziya, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by former Shang-Zhou loyalists?”

Jiang Ziya sneered, stroking his beard, and said, “This Venerable One addresses matters, not people. I ask Celestial Worthy Puhua not to take it personally.”

Crack!

With a clap of thunder,

Celestial Worthy Puhua’s Heavenly Eye on his forehead suddenly opened, emitting streaks of lightning, and he said in a deep voice, “I am taking it personally! Explain yourself clearly!”

Jiang Ziya showed no fear and said, “If there’s nothing to hide, why be so eager to take it personally, wouldn’t you agree? Grand Tutor of Yin-Shang!”

Boom!

The two gods, one above and one below, glared at each other across the void.

Just the clash of their gazes unleashed waves of power, stirring the sea of clouds and causing thunder to rumble.

Just as the two sides were at loggerheads, the Heavenly Emperor slightly raised his hand.

Instantly, the power emanating from the two gods subsided, like ripples on water gently smoothed by a hand.

This scene left Nezha, who was nearby, dumbfounded.

“Your old uncle is still your old uncle; the Heavenly Emperor’s strength is truly unfathomable!”

As Nezha was thinking, he heard the Heavenly Emperor say, “Yang Jian’s strength is limited, and the Evil Emperor possesses a Divine Artifact. It’s not strange for them to be evenly matched. Grand Duke Jiang is overthinking it.”

The strong had spoken.

Jiang Ziya could only take a deep breath, retract his gaze, and lower his head, saying, “Your subject is ashamed.”

The Heavenly Emperor nodded slightly, “Let me assist Yang Jian.”

With that, he raised his hand and pointed at the well below.

Immediately, a golden light shot out from his fingertip, heading straight for the Lower Realm… Bang!

The Human Emperor Avatar fell from the sky, crashing heavily into the ground.

Qin Yang, inside the avatar, suddenly vomited a mouthful of golden blood, feeling his internal organs churning and his Qi flowing in reverse.

After a violent cough, he asked Yang Jian in his mind, “What’s going on! How did you suddenly become so much stronger!”

Just moments ago, Qin Yang and Yang Jian had fought to the hundredth round.

These first hundred rounds were all head-on clashes, evenly matched, with neither gaining an advantage.

But in the hundred and first round, Yang Jian’s strength doubled. When Qin Yang clashed with him again, he couldn’t even withstand a single move.

After barely parrying two or three moves, he was struck down to the ground by Yang Jian’s Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, and the xuanyuan sword he used to block was also shaken loose, falling to a distant spot.

Boom!

Another tremor.

Yang Jian descended from the sky, straddling the Human Emperor Avatar’s body, and raised his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, aiming directly at the Human Emperor Avatar’s throat.

Qin Yang was horrified. He raised the Axe of Creation horizontally to block, while simultaneously clasping his remaining arm together, in a bare-handed disarming posture, firmly gripping the hilt of the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade.

Qin Yang looked into Yang Jian’s stern eyes and asked, “Are you serious?”

“The Heavenly Emperor has acted. He has blessed me with the Heavenly Dao Avatar…”

Yang Jian’s voice echoed in Qin Yang’s mind, his tone very solemn.

Heavenly Dao Avatar?

Qin Yang paused slightly, concentrating his gaze.

He saw a faint golden phantom behind Yang Jian, so subtle that it was almost imperceptible without close inspection.

But now, Qin Yang saw it clearly.

It was a humanoid figure clad in a loose robe.

Its eyes were coldly staring at him. When their gazes met, he felt a chilling sensation throughout his body, a sense of being suppressed and constrained.

“Is that your uncle?” Qin Yang asked.

Yang Jian nodded: “Mm…”

Qin Yang sighed and said, “Aren’t you ashamed? Fighting halfway and calling your family’s elder?”

Yang Jian’s mouth twitched, “I didn’t want to either, but since the Heavenly Emperor has bestowed power, I cannot visibly hold back.”

At this, Yang Jian sighed, saying, “This is troublesome now. In this state, you absolutely won’t be my opponent, even without waiting for Nezha’s support.”

Qin Yang was silent for a moment, then a corner of his mouth curved into a smile, saying, “I think it’s fine. Haven’t I blocked your attack?”

“What time is it, and you’re still joking.”

Yang Jian shook his head slightly, and the Heavenly Eye on his forehead lit up, condensing a golden orb of light.

“If you can’t dodge this attack, your avatar will surely be shattered.”

Before attacking, Yang Jian reminded him in his mind, “This act can’t continue. After your avatar is shattered, immediately flee to another world. As long as the green hills remain, there will always be wood to burn.”

Qin Yang frowned and asked, “If I leave, what about the others?”

Yang Jian pondered for a moment and said, “I will keep your family as hostages. As for the others…”

At this point, Yang Jian fell silent. The latter half of the sentence didn’t need to be spoken.

Qin Yang naturally understood Yang Jian’s meaning.

He shook his head and smiled, saying, “That won’t do. My principles do not allow me to abandon my people.”

With that, he looked to the side with his eyes and said, “Look, who’s here.”

Yang Jian frowned and looked with his peripheral vision, immediately stunned.

He saw that the xuanyuan sword, which had fallen to the side, had already been picked up by a giant.

Qin Yang smiled at the giant and asked, “Does this sword feel good in your hand?”

“Hahahahaha! How could it not feel good? This is the weapon I reforged by sacrificing myself!”

The giant gently stroked the sword in his hand, as if filled with emotion, and said, “I never thought that one day, I would once again wield the xuanyuan sword and fight for the Human Emperor!”