The fist was simple, gold, and ridiculously small—but it moved with the divine authority of the Taihao Origin Sutra. The punch, born from the newly unified spiritual essence of the cosmos, tore through the sky with an unstoppable, terrifying fist light. Its sheer kinetic power was so overwhelming, so absolute, that the fabric of reality itself groaned under the pressure.
The gathered legions of angry dark clouds, the swirling vortex of red lightning, and the trillions of volts of Heavenly Punishment—all the terrifying spiritual wrath aimed at purging the new Immortal Anomaly—were instantly disintegrated. They didn't dissipate; they were vaporized, reduced to spiritual powder by a casual, bored strike.
Lord Pig stood proudly in the now serene void, his newly strengthened, golden limbs crossed behind his back, his eyes gazing down at the sky with an expression of profound, weary disdain.
The next moment, the cosmic scars began to heal. The dark clouds vanished, the shattered space sealed itself up like a wound, and the sky above the Southwest Death Swamp was restored to a pristine, impossibly clear blue, stretching for billions of miles.
"Well, that was dreadfully underwhelming," Lord Pig sighed, shaking his head. "Lord Pig is already invincible. The master is truly lonely."
The overwhelming, crushing sense of being the single most powerful entity in existence settled upon him like a comfortable—if slightly depressing—mantle. The only drawback was that no one important had been there to witness his magnificent, sky-shattering punch, which dampened his triumph slightly.
His momentary depression vanished as he fixed his attention on the peculiar, five-sided transparent stone still resting innocently in his tiny, powerful paw.
Before the integration of the Taihao Origin Sutra, he had simply sensed it was a treasure. Now, his vision was infinite. He saw that the small stone was not merely a stone; it was a condensed ocean of Life Essence.
Within its crystalline structure, an entire minor world thrummed with the fundamental Laws of Wood. This was a legendary treasure—a solidified fragment of Shinto power that could grant instant godhood to anyone who successfully absorbed it.
"This thing is rather… redundant for Lord Pig," he mused, tossing the stone in the air and catching it. Even if he consumed this core of the Wood Law, his strength increase would be negligible, and since he was already holding back his ascent to Level Six (and true dimensional travel) just to stick around, wasting such potent energy would be inefficient.
He decided this priceless cosmic treasure was too good to waste on himself.
"Ah, a gift is in order! A grand, dimensional-shattering gift!"
A familiar, loving image sprang into his mind. "Ah Yin! Her true form is the Blue Silver Emperor—the very pinnacle of wood and life elementals. This little stone is perfect for her!"
His small, fat face widened into a calculating, smug grin. By gifting her this stone, Ah Yin could bypass the agonizing, century-long cultivation needed for a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast to regain human form and power. She could use the essence of the Wood Law to ascend to godhood immediately upon her reincarnation, transforming into her human form at the peak of divine power.
"Yes, yes! A gift for my dear friend, and a fantastic dividend for Lord Pig!" he chuckled, already anticipating the rewards. "When Ah Yin achieves god-level transformation, the experience and energy returns Lord Pig will receive for providing the catalyst will be astronomical! Truly a win-win scenario!"
He carefully tucked the celestial stone away, sealing it with a spiritual lock only he could bypass, and turned his attention back to the silent, titanic structure before him.
His gaze settled upon the massive, primordial tree—the very essence of the Zhu Xian world.
"If my utterly correct hypothesis holds, this giant is the original World Tree, the anchor of this entire plane of existence," Lord Pig hypothesized. "Taking it would be a treasure beyond measure."
But an immediate, alarming thought followed: If I take the whole thing, this entire realm will implode and vanish.
"That would be quite the geopolitical mess, not to mention rude," he decided. "And I still haven't finished my critique of Jin Ping'er's new embroidery pattern. Full removal is off the table. A sample, however…"
He decided to test the limits of the world's stability and his own power.
ROAR!
With a sound that ripped the consciousness out of every living creature on the planet, Lord Pig invoked the divine power of the Taihao Origin Sutra and swelled his form.
In an instant, he grew to a staggering ten thousand feet tall—a golden, colossal juggernaut that shattered the surrounding space with its raw, overwhelming presence. His powerful aura made the very mountains quake.
The entire Zhu Xian world was plunged into chaos. The sky darkened, obscured by the colossal, porcine giant that now towered over the clouds.
"Oh my heavens, what is that thing?" "It's so unbelievably huge!" "The Demon God has truly descended! Please, spare us, O Deity!"
Countless people across the plains and peaks of the world collapsed, prostrating themselves and praying frantically to anything that might save them from the walking apocalypse. Even hardened cultivators were paralyzed with fright, unable to reconcile the scale of this monster with their previous understanding of reality.
At the newly repaired Qingyun Gate, Daoxuan and the surviving Peak Masters watched the towering shadow in utter dread.
"Head Master," one quavered, "That is a power that is simply… unreachable. It defies every law of cultivation!"
Lu Xueqi, however, stared intently at the golden colossus, her beautiful eyes narrowed in contemplation. "Master… why does that feel and look exactly like Lord Pig? Just… much, much larger?" she whispered.
The others heard her, and the terrifying realization washed over them. It was the pig. It had become an immortal!
"RISE!"
The command, resonant and powerful, echoed from the colossal golden figure, shaking the air like a thousand crashing cymbals. Lord Pig's voice, with its familiar high-pitched undertone, confirmed the horrifying truth.
"It is Lord Pig!" the Qingyun disciples cried out, but their previous excitement was replaced by paralyzing terror.
At Fox Mountain, Bi Yao clutched the Hehuan Bell Lord Pig had given her, a sudden, profound sense of loss and emptiness washing over her. He has ascended. He is truly gone. You Ji stood silently beside her, eyes distant, pondering a future without the golden menace.
In Yudu City, at Jinxiufang, Jin Ping'er stared up at the impossible figure. "The Lord Pig has actually become an Immortal! I suppose that means no more pastry critiques for me," she muttered, a deep wave of melancholy passing over her.
The ground of the Death Swamp roared in protest. Lord Pig wrapped his gigantic, sky-pillar-like claws around the immense trunk and pulled.
BOOM!
The entire world shuddered violently, the ground cracking open for hundreds of miles. Dark clouds gathered again above his head, and billions of new thunderbolts struck him—the final, desperate defense of the planar dimension.
"This is an explicit statement: Do not uproot the planet," Lord Pig concluded logically, releasing the trunk. He saw the world stabilizer. "Very well. Lord Pig respects boundaries. But that does not mean I will leave empty-hooved."
He looked down, focusing on one single root of the primordial tree—a root that was still a hundred feet thick.
"Death Scythe!"
His giant, golden claw instantly transformed, sharpening into a colossal, scythe-like blade imbued with the sharp, spiritual energy of annihilation. He brought it down with devastating force.
SWISH!
The scythe only managed to penetrate two feet into the root before it stuck fast.
Lord Pig, however, was delighted. "Excellent! This wood is tougher than a dozen divine artifacts combined! The quality is superb!"
SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!
He began to chop, dozens of furious, focused swings from his immortal scythe-claw. Finally, with a sound like a mountain being cleaved, the thousand-foot-long root was severed from the main tree. He pulled the prodigious length of primal wood free of the ground.
"Receive!"
He focused his mind and enveloped the massive root in his divine power, instantly transferring it into the golden sea of clouds within his dantian.
As soon as the root entered his spiritual core, it sprang to life, instantly rooting itself deep within the swirling, primordial golden energy. Lord Pig felt his entire dantian expand and stabilize, the cosmic clouds becoming even more profound.
"It truly worked! A perfect spiritual host!" Lord Pig was ecstatic. Though he hadn't captured the entire World Tree, the root was a supreme seed. "From this day forth, you shall be known as the World Tree!" he declared, christening the spiritual treasure in his internal cosmos.
Satisfied with his loot, Lord Pig quickly shrunk his form back to his customary, adorable size. He then reached out and snatched up the captured Yellow Bird, which was still helplessly entangled in the golden dragnet.
"Now, you overgrown, mythological chicken, be a good bird for Lord Pig, or I shall absolutely stew you into a delicious, high-energy broth."
CHIRP! CHIRP!
The Yellow Bird, its spirit broken by the sheer spectacle of cosmic power it had just witnessed, nodded frantically, bobbing its massive head like a scared hatchling.
"Excellent. Obedience suits you. Now, un-net yourself and prepare for immediate departure. Target: Qingyun Mountain!" Lord Pig ordered, climbing onto the bird's neck. He pointed the Zhuxian Sword forward like a conductor's baton.
CHIRP!
The Yellow Bird spread its wings, which now spanned ninety thousand miles, and shot into the sky like a golden arrow—a terrifyingly fast, mythological taxi for the divine swine.
As the bird soared over the majestic mountains and vast, rolling clouds, Lord Pig's small, fat face was alight with smiles. He was filled with lofty, immortal sentiments. He couldn't help but burst into a triumphant, slightly off-key song, his voice echoing over the vast expanse of the world.
"Let the bird fly through the sky, And roam freely in the world! I won't bow down to a beautiful woman! Loyalty is higher than the sky! A cold and proud character, forged by heaven and earth! Holding the Sword of Setting Sun and Blood, And holding the Knife of Cold Moon and Frost in my heart! From the top you can see all the other mountains!"