Chapter 903 — The Sacrifice of Reform

The White Emperor, the Black Emperor, the Red Emperor, and the Green Emperor—the four Great Emperors of the later-born beings of the Heavenly Court—had all truly arrived. The Lame Elder's heart sank. Despair rose in him and swelled ever larger.

Shen Mu charged at the White Emperor to the west. Dreadful ripples erupted, and the White Emperor drove him back, cutting off the western route.

He turned to face the Netherworld Son, who fought him in the nether sea. After a few exchanges, he was forced to retreat—the northern road was cut off as well. Shen Mu wheeled south.

A qin note rang out, and Red Emperor Qi Xiayu, transformed into a nine-headed phoenix, drove him back.

The Lame Elder saw Shen Mu race past him toward the Green Emperor approaching from the east. Before long, he saw Shen Mu fall back again, tumbling and crashing down beside him. "Shen'er. .

. " Trembling, he reached out but could not catch him. Instead he saw Shen Mu charge forward once more, and once more be knocked back.

"Do not harm the Prince of Youdu. Capture him.

" A voice came from beyond the heavens, indifferent, wholly devoid of emotion: "He is crucial—a weapon to use against Tu Bo. " The Lame Elder watched Shen Mu charge out again and again, only to be hurled back again and again. His wounds grew ever heavier; it grew ever harder for him to rise.

"Shen'er! " The Lame Elder rushed toward him.

There, Shen Mu propped himself on six arms, panting raggedly, each breath carrying bloody mist and shreds of his viscera.

The Lame Elder struggled toward him. Shen Mu seemed to see him, turned his head, and smiled.

"Lame Grandpa. .

. " The Lame Elder saw Shen Mu raise one finger and point it at him.

Countless teleportation runes lit up around the fingertip. "Don't—" The Lame Elder roared, but the runes caught him up, and his form vanished. The world spun around him.

When his form finally steadied, he had been sent no one knew how many myriads of li away.

Shocked and enraged, he rushed with all his might back toward that battlefield, but it was too far. Even he, the peerless Shadow Thief under heaven, could not get there in time.

"Brother, you have to leave now.

" Shen Mu forced himself to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked at the Four Emperors closing in from all sides. He chuckled.

"You can still return to Youdu. You are too important—they cannot be allowed to take you.

If the Heavenly Court gets you, Tu Bo will be in danger.

I'll send you back. " Shen Fengqing shook his head and drove the body toward Red Emperor Qi Xiayu. "You are the more important one!

" Qi Xiayu plucked a string. Shen Fengqing toppled backward, then turned over, leaped up, and charged at Qi Xiayu again.

Shen Mu activated his indestructible divine consciousness, trying to suppress him and force him to return to the Shen Continent.

"Go back! Go back to Youdu!

" Shen Fengqing was knocked back again.

He staggered to his feet, and with a sudden eruption of demonic nature, he withstood Shen Mu's suppression and shouted fiercely, "You go back! " "Stubborn to the core!

" Shen Mu gritted his teeth and pressed down on him with all his might. "They cannot get you! I am not the Prince of Youdu—I am only a consciousness born in this body after you were sealed away!

I have no soul.

The soul is yours! Go back! " Pressed down like an infant, Shen Fengqing lay prostrate on the ground and crawled whimpering toward Qi Xiayu. "You are more important.

.

. the bad little brother is more important.

. .

Mother doesn't like me. Mother is afraid of me.

.

. Mother likes you better. If you live, Mother is happy. .

. " He rose again, fighting for control of the body. Shen Mu sighed, closed his eyes, and murmured, "Heavenly Duke, Tu Bo, lend me your strength. .

.

" Wave after wave of power burst from his body, dragging Shen Fengqing back into the Shen Continent. "Bad little brother—" Shen Fengqing screamed in anguish, but he fell into the Shen Continent nonetheless.

Shen Mu pressed his hand on the Slaughter Tripod.

The faces floating within it stared at him.

He raised a hand, reached into the middle of his forehead, and wrenched out his third eye.

A Heaven-Bearing Gate appeared behind him, and he cast the eye into the Youdu beyond the gate.

The faces in the Slaughter Tripod looked at the youth who no longer had a third eye and whispered, "A-Chou.

" "Yes, I am A-Chou. " Shen Mu wiped the blood from his forehead and grinned.

He rose unsteadily to his feet and looked at the four great emperors of the Heavenly Court walking toward him.