Chapter 942 — The Old Senior Descends

Long Qilin glanced at him with contempt and said, with maddening composure, "You see only that I sleep; you do not know how diligent and eager to learn I am. I was feigning sleep to cultivate! The most diligent man in this world is the Sect Master; the second most diligent is me."

Yan'er praised him lavishly and took out a spirit pill. Long Qilin opened his mouth at just the right moment, and Yan'er's spirit pill arrived at just the right moment, delivered into his mouth.

Chewing the spirit pill, Long Qilin narrowed his eyes and said mildly, "I have followed the Sect Master for so many years, and the people I have seen are all gods of great renown, some of unfathomable cultivation, some of unfathomable cunning, some mighty in the arts of transformation, some Heavenly Venerables and holy ones. So naturally my own vision and knowledge have risen with the tide!"

Yun Chuxiu's Great Abyss of Guixu devoured Shen Mu's divine ability along with those shattered buildings. The abyss quaked and twisted, then suddenly erupted, and all that it had swallowed became a dark torrent about to spew toward Shen Mu, when the river of stars that followed on its heels abruptly transformed into a phantom of the Lord of Heaven, and a fist smashed down into the Great Abyss of Guixu!

Yun Chuxiu's expression shifted slightly. Shen Mu had first used primordial magnetic power to unleash his art; the primordial magnetism between the stars was exceedingly strong, yet unexpectedly he had borrowed the stars to evolve the Lord of Heaven.

That earlier move had seemed to be one technique, but in truth it was two!

Between the Earth Mother Sovereign and the Lord of Heaven there had always been many murky relations. Mother Earth had even stolen into Xuandu and robbed the Lord of Heaven of his vital essence, bearing several children by it.

The Great Daos of these two ancient gods complemented each other. Yet the Earth Mother Sovereign also had murky relations with other ancient gods. This Mother Earth had likewise stolen into Youdu, robbed Tubo of his vital essence and borne several children, and other ancient gods too had repeatedly suffered the theft of their essence at her hands. Hence the Lord of Heaven did not much care for Mother Earth.

Shen Mu's move succeeded, and his body had already arrived in the air above Yun Chuxiu. The great divine ability of the martial path erupted, and he struck down with his fist!

"Did you not say you had already broken free of the shackles of the ancient gods?"

Shen Mu's whole cultivation burst forth, free and uninhibited, and he sneered, "Then why do you still wield the divine abilities of the ancient gods?"

The great hall beneath Yun Chuxiu's feet split into four and shattered. With a whistle, the two of them crushed the hall and fell like meteors, vanishing from everyone's sight.

The next moment, a long river appeared. Yun Chuxiu stood upon the long river, and the five great cloud thunders became firebell divine weapons. Great bells, one after another, quivered around Shen Mu, and the Heavenly River coiled about, locking him in tight.

Behind her the dragon turtle and the flying serpent coiled and roared in fury. The thousand-feathered great serpent merged with the Heavenly River; the great river revolved, its wings like blades, slashing through the water with swish, swish, swish at Shen Mu trapped at the center, swift as lightning, fierce as rolling thunder!

And the firebell divine weapons formed by the five great cloud thunders quivered without cease, pounding the space around Shen Mu until it crumbled and cracked.

The dragon turtle shook its body, and plate after plate of its shell rose into the air, joining together with bang after bang into a thick and weighty cubical seal that trapped Shen Mu within, leaving him no escape, only to be refined to death by the five great cloud thunders and the Heavenly River's flying serpent!

"If Yun Chuxiu truly is the Empress or Lady Yuanmu, then she has indeed broken free of the shackles of the ancient gods!"

Qi Jiuyi's expression shifted slightly, and he turned to Yun Jianli. "Sickly Young Master, how did you come to know her, to swear brotherhood with her?"

Yun Jianli's face was somewhat pale. He smiled bitterly and said, "How was I to know her strength was so great? In a battle of the same realm, even Heavenly Venerable Mu cannot defeat her..."

Just then, Chang Xiting, the eldest disciple of Heavenly Venerable Lang, came flying through the air, and from afar he pounced at Shen Mu and Yun Chuxiu. He had been gravely wounded by the Core of the Origin Wood, and the Langxuan Divine Palace had been smashed to pieces, a tremendous loss. Rage consumed him; no other thought remained in his mind but to finish Shen Mu!

Yan'er spread her wings and rose, becoming a dragon sparrow, her primordial spirit flying out to forcibly block his blow.

Chang Xiting was beside himself with fury, and was about to fight Yan'er to the death, when suddenly Yun Jianli said in a loud voice, "Senior Brother Chang, calm yourself! It was not Heavenly Venerable Mu who destroyed your Langxuan Divine Palace, but the Empress herself!"

"Go screw your mother—"

Chang Xiting was about to curse aloud when suddenly it was as though a basin of cold water had been poured over him, chilling him to the bone. He said in a trembling voice, "Sickly Young Master, what did you say?"

Yun Jianli, unperturbed, said, "Her Majesty the Empress borrowed Heavenly Venerable Mu's divine weapon and destroyed your Langxuan Divine Palace."

Chang Xiting's face changed drastically. He looked at the girl and Shen Mu slaughtering each other amid the chaotic ruins and said, trembling, "Her Majesty the Empress?"

Long Qilin glanced at him and said slowly, "Whether it is still in time for you to flee now, I cannot say. The Langxuan Divine Palace has been destroyed, and your master, Heavenly Venerable Lang, will not forgive you. And now you know that it was Her Majesty the Empress working mischief behind the scenes, so the Empress will not forgive you either..."

Chang Xiting's hands and feet turned to ice, and in the next moment he flew off, howling away.

He knew well enough: the Langxuan Divine Sovereign would not spare him, but would make him wish for death and be unable to die, and he did not know how many years he would be sealed away before he was let out. After all, with the Langxuan Divine Palace destroyed, this Heavenly Venerable had lost enormous face, and he must be punished.

But to learn that Her Majesty the Empress had made the move, that was another matter altogether.

The Empress would certainly not let him go, would not let him tell the Langxuan Divine Sovereign the truth of what had happened!

So he made his decision on the spot, and straightaway abandoned the Langxuan Divine Palace to flee for his life alone.

On the other side, the Black Tortoise Seal suddenly burst apart. Shen Mu, gripping a blade in both hands, cleaved straight through Yun Chuxiu's great divine ability and slashed at the girl, his mana grown wild and violent beyond measure.

"You, Shen, know not when to stop!"

Yun Chuxiu had nearly been struck on her fair head by his blade and could not help but grow angry. Lowering her voice, she said, "I have already yielded to you; otherwise, do you think your mana could contend with mine? This chamber pot is a gift I bestow on you. Carry it well!"