Chapter 1421 — Brilliant Diction

Heavenly Venerable Gong's assault upon Heavenly Venerable Yue followed precisely the steps once taken by Divine Emperor Langxuan, the Ancestral God King, Heavenly Venerable Huo, Heavenly Venerable Hao, Heavenly Venerable Xiao and the rest when they laid their ambush for Heavenly Venerable Yue and Heavenly Venerable Ling—every one of them used divine consciousness to disrupt Heavenly Venerable Yue! Her Way of Space was not without flaw, and divine consciousness was the finest means of meddling with her divine ability. Once her consciousness was thrown into disorder, her command of her powers would lose its precision; she might even fail to bring the might of the Way of Space to bear at all, and that would give others the opening they needed.

This was exactly why Shen Mu had to block Heavenly Venerable Gong.

Heavenly Venerable Gong's consciousness was mighty; in the very instant it clashed with Shen Mu's, his consciousness plunged headlong into illusion. Her mastery of consciousness-illusions was without peer—when Shen Mu had first laid eyes on her at the Ancestral Court, he had fallen into the illusion of her consciousness, and even rousing the Primordial Stone had failed to free him from it.

"The Way of Divine Consciousness, advance!

" Shen Mu's body never stirred from where he stood; his consciousness erupted and became a divine ability of consciousness.

The Way of Divine Consciousness advanced—the sixteenth heaven of the Dao-entering divine ability! His consciousness pierced the void and broke free of Heavenly Venerable Gong's illusion. She gave a soft cry of surprise, and in the instant their consciousnesses clashed they at once held converse, each knowing the other's intent.

"Heavenly Venerable Gong, will you truly take action?

" "Heavenly Venerable Mu, you may be led astray by first impressions, believing me your ally—after all, I did save you once.

But you have forgotten something.

I saved you because you saved me; I was merely repaying a debt. That debt repaid, there is nothing left between us.

Between you and me, only dealings remain.

" Once more Heavenly Venerable Gong's consciousness surged toward Heavenly Venerable Yue, and Shen Mu's consciousness flowed and turned, straining to hold it back. "Heavenly Venerable Mu, have you truly never thought it over? " Their consciousnesses clashed again, and Heavenly Venerable Gong said, "You ought to think on it: why have I been able to stand firm among the Ten Heavenly Venerables and never once fall? Precisely because my interests and the interests of the Ten Heavenly Venerables are one—that is why I joined them.

And the reason they make room for me is that I approve of most of what they do.

" Shen Mu's body trembled slightly.

Heavenly Venerable Gong sensed the flaw in his consciousness at once and pressed it down. "Most of what they have done, I have taken part in—including things you would rather not have seen. The war that toppled the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, the war that toppled the Chiming Divine Dynasty, and even the wars that toppled the Shanghuang Heavenly Court and the Kaihuang Heavenly Court. In every one of them, I had a hand.

" At last Shen Mu could endure no more.

He rose to his full height and made straight for Heavenly Venerable Yue, his Divine Treasury Domain on the verge of bursting forth. "Among all the daos and divine arts under heaven, Heavenly Venerable Yue's Way of Space, wielded in support, is a peerless auxiliary art—it can swell a cultivator's power enormously, letting Kaihuang hold the upper hand against five foes at once! " Shen Mu's consciousness rippled and clashed once more with Heavenly Venerable Gong's. He said coldly, "And yet Heavenly Venerable Yue's divine art has fallen behind the times. In all the world today, when it comes to support, none can surpass my Divine Treasury Domain!

Once I spread my divine treasury, it will be enough to set them on ground where they cannot be beaten—enough to stand against all Ten Heavenly Venerables!

" "And yet your cultivation is too weak! " Heavenly Venerable Gong moved to cut him off, saying calmly, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, stay your hand. Stay your hand, and you remain one of us, with endless benefits to enjoy.

" Both moved with tremendous speed. Shen Mu's Heaven-Stealing Divine Step, driven to its utmost, could almost disregard space itself; but Heavenly Venerable Gong's strength was great, and however fast he might be, he could not reach Heavenly Venerable Yue's side a single step ahead of her. Just as the two seemed about to collide, Heavenly Venerable Yue suddenly roused her divine ability and shifted Kaihuang; the next instant he appeared before them both, his Carefree Sword striking at each of them at once, and laughed aloud, "Seven Heavenly Venerables strike, all joining hands against us—and even Heavenly Venerable Mu, the Grand Alliance Lord himself, turns his hand on us! What honor you do us!

" Heavenly Venerable Gong's expression changed drastically, and she hurried to fend off Kaihuang's sword.

On the other side Shen Mu drew his blade, and the Broken Sword met the Carefree Sword. Clang— The two swordsmanships were weighed at once.

Shen Mu broke Kaihuang's sword technique, yet he could not withstand Kaihuang's Sword Dao, and the Broken Sword in his hand shattered to fragments! "Good swordsmanship! What I learned from you still falls short of you, after all.

" Kaihuang drove the two back, then turned his blade and thrust at Heavenly Venerable Yue. She rose drifting into the air, an ancient zither cradled in her arms, and came to rest upon the tip of the Carefree Sword. "Heavenly Venerable Mu, Lord of the Heaven Alliance, you have already betrayed the Heaven Alliance! " Kaihuang whirled his sword; in a flash of sword light, the Sword Dao imprinted itself upon the thirty-fifth void.

Heavenly Venerable Huo, Hong, Xu, Lang, Zu, Gong, Qiang, and Yan—eight Heavenly Venerables—came killing toward him, and lunged at empty air. Kaihuang and Heavenly Venerable Yue, standing upon his blade, had already intruded into the thirty-fifth void and slipped past their attack.

Heavenly Venerable Hong's white hair streamed; his great hand slapped toward the thirty-fifth void.

The back of that hand was like a giant turtle's shell, the flesh swollen and risen, and the flesh upon it transformed into wondrous and extraordinary patterns. One blow punched through layer upon layer of void and struck straight at Kaihuang and Heavenly Venerable Yue within the thirty-fifth void!

The power of that blow was so immense, so dreadful, that even after smashing through layer upon layer of void it lost none of its force—the other Heavenly Venerables watched with twitching eyes.

Heavenly Venerable Gong, Qiang, Yan, Huo and the rest struck in that same instant, driving through the passage Heavenly Venerable Hong had torn open straight to the depths of the void, blasting at the two within the thirty-fifth void. How dreadful, how overbearing was the attack of eight Heavenly Venerables!

Had that blow landed, Kaihuang and Heavenly Venerable Yue would surely both have perished!

But no sooner had Kaihuang used his Sword Dao to reach the thirty-fifth void, no sooner had he landed, than Heavenly Venerable Yue's divine ability erupted of itself. She plucked the zither strings, and at once a gateway appeared within the thirty-fifth void.

Heavenly Venerable Yue opened the gate and went; Kaihuang stepped through after her, watching the Heavenly Venerables' divine abilities churn through the thirty-fifth void and come rushing at his face, and laughed long and loud: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, Lord of the Alliance, today I have wrecked your grand gathering and shaved away your dignity with my sword, and there is nothing you can do about it!