Chapter 1271 — Attachment to His Mother

Void Heaven Venerable sighed.

"You are loyal to him, I will grant you that. " The two Venerables hurried together toward the battlefield, only to find the void collapsing without cease, space itself shrinking, until the soldiers and generals of the Heavenly Court who guarded the void passage were forced to retreat into the Great Void.

No small number of the Heavenly Court's gods and devils had been stationed here; the Court had raised city after divine city upon this ground, and now even those cities were crumbling, shattering, ground into dust. Myriad gods, devils, soldiers and generals fled madly toward the Great Void, and one after another the annihilating void caught up with them; their bodies burst apart in an instant, reduced to dust, and then even the dust could no longer be found.

They had at first still resisted, trying to steer the West Emperor's artifact against the aftershocks of divine arts that drifted through the collapsing void, but they could not hold out at all. The commanding general stationed here saw how the wind blew and immediately fled aboard the West Emperor's artifact; countless Heavenly Court divinities tried to catch up to that artifact and clamber onto it, only to be blasted down by the divine weapons raised by the god-and-devil commanders aboard it, with grievous casualties.

When the two Venerables arrived, each shook his head. Fire Heaven Venerable was about to shield them from the aftershocks of Hao Heaven Venerable's and the Grand Emperor's divine arts when he noticed Sovereign Kai and Langwan, the Divine King, flying over; his heart went cold, and he did not go to the rescue of those Heavenly Court soldiers. The collapse of the void, mighty as it was, could not harm figures of their rank. Sovereign Kai and Langwan noticed them as well, and each slowed his pace.

The four of them, each wary of the others, did not strike, but turned their eyes to the battle between the Grand Emperor and Hao Heaven Venerable. All four noticed that within the collapsing void there was a string that drifted ceaselessly, yet at this moment their attention was wholly captured by that battle such as the world had never seen, and they paid the string little heed.

By now the Grand Emperor, strongest being of the ancient era, was being crushed almost utterly; his incomplete Great Luotian of Divine Consciousness could no longer stand invincible against Hao Heaven Venerable and the artifact, Imperial Heaven Venerable.

"The Dao Realm is, after all, only a lesser path; it cannot compare with the Heavenly Palaces and the Heavenly Court.

" The halo behind Fire Heaven Venerable's head turned, and he spoke with studied indifference.

Sovereign Kai heard this and smiled faintly. "That the Grand Emperor cultivated it astray does not mean the Dao Realm system is wanting.

I have not cultivated it astray. " Void Heaven Venerable said mildly, "Those who can cultivate the Dao Realm are, in the end, few.

The Dao Realm system cannot benefit all living beings.

The Divine Treasury Heavenly Palace is the system that benefits all living beings.

" Sovereign Kai said leisurely, "That is where I fall short of Imperial Heaven Venerable. But I am the pioneer of the Dao Realm, whereas Hao Heaven Venerable merely learned from Imperial Heaven Venerable.

That is where he falls short of me. " Boom— A radiance of incomparable splendor burst forth in the void.

Hao Heaven Venerable unleashed the Innate Primordial Qi, and the artifact, Imperial Heaven Venerable, unleashed the Great Way of the Returning Abyss; caught between the two, the Grand Emperor's chest was pierced through, and even the back of his skull was smashed open in a great hole.

The Grand Emperor dropped to his knees with a thud. His divine consciousness was very hard to erase, yet when it met the Great Way of the Returning Abyss, it could not withstand such crushing force.

Of the three great Divine Kings of the ancient era, only one had died utterly: Divine King Boyang, and Divine King Boyang had died beneath the Returning Abyss divine art of the Empress's sisters.

Apart from the Immutable Divine Art, the Returning Abyss divine art was also the Grand Emperor's bane, only it was not as direct as the Immutable Divine Art. The Returning Abyss divine art required the support of a mighty realm and vast dharma power, whereas the Immutable Divine Art simply sealed off divine consciousness, leaving it no way to transform.

Hao Heaven Venerable and the artifact, Imperial Heaven Venerable, one to the left and one to the right, the one suppressing with the Innate Primordial Qi and the other erasing with the Returning Abyss divine art, attacked the kneeling Grand Emperor at the same time.

With this strike, he could slay the Grand Emperor, that undefeated emperor.

Just as the Grand Emperor was about to perish beneath the power of that blow, suddenly another tiny figure came charging like lightning, straight for the back of Hao Heaven Venerable's skull.

Compared with the towering bodies of the Grand Emperor and the artifact, Imperial Heaven Venerable, this tiny figure was like a speck of dust, utterly insignificant.

And yet, small as this figure was, the sense of power it gave off was beyond compare.

The strength of the artifact, Imperial Heaven Venerable, could be called unmatched in all the world; to crush an existence of the Emperor Throne realm to death by sheer force alone was easy for it.

Yet when this small figure made its move, the surging, abundant power it displayed was not the least bit weaker than the artifact, Imperial Heaven Venerable—it was even stronger.

Hao Heaven Venerable smiled, as though he had long foreseen this. The divine art aimed at the Grand Emperor turned with ease, meeting that tiny figure head-on.

"Fellow Venerables though we are, you and I have both hidden our strength.

Grand Emperor, now is the time to see which of us has come out ahead over these million years.

" His dharma power surged vast and mighty; the Innate Primordial Qi commanded the myriad Daos, and the Daos and dharma power gathered from thirty-five Heavenly Palaces were already invincible in all the world.

That tiny figure had originally concealed her true face, shrouding it in divine light lest he discern her origins; yet beneath the assault of Hao Heaven Venerable's Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel art, the divine light guarding her body shattered with a crash. Hao Heaven Venerable saw her face and could not help but start.

What he saw was the face of Lady Yuanmu.

"Damn it—it is a divine-consciousness art blinding my divine consciousness.

" Hao Heaven Venerable roared, "Break!

" At the same moment, the Grand Emperor laughed aloud, his laughter surging; behind him Heavenly Palace after Heavenly Palace swelled and rose, new palaces emerging without cease.

Hao Heaven Venerable had been waiting for this chance to deal a grievous blow to the Grand Emperor hidden among the Ten Venerables, and the Grand Emperor had likewise been waiting for this chance: Consort Qiang, wearing the face of Lady Yuanmu, would disturb Hao Heaven Venerable's thoughts and consciousness, giving him the moment to strike by surprise and wound him gravely.

Among the strong there are ever stronger; behind one mountain rises another higher still. He had used the reborn Consort Qiang to lurk within the Heavenly Emperor's rear palace; she had much contact with the other Venerables and knew each of them exceedingly well.

As the foremost master of divine consciousness, the Grand Emperor's mighty divine consciousness let him easily grasp the weakness of every person, and he had long since sounded out Hao Heaven Venerable's weakness.

Hao Heaven Venerable was attached to his mother.

This was Hao Heaven Venerable's weakness.

Consort Qiang used her divine consciousness to disturb Hao Heaven Venerable, making him believe she was Lady Yuanmu, granting him that sliver of a moment.