Chapter 1683 — Unrivaled in This World

Haotian Zun's gaze slid off Ling Tianzun and settled once more on Shen Mu. He studied those two stubby little legs, then suddenly burst out laughing. "It seems the Retired Emperor did not come away empty-handed after all. I had thought him beaten beyond recovery, yet he still left you a lesson worth remembering.

" Shen Mu roared with laughter, climbed to his feet, and came striding over on his short little legs.

He tipped his head back and looked up at the man.

Haotian Di lowered his head, and their eyes met.

Once, Shen Mu had stood a little taller than Haotian Di; now he came barely to his chest.

Haotian Di stifled his smile.

"Mu—" BOOM! Smiling, Shen Mu drove a fist into his chest, and Haotian Di went flying backward.

A string of thunderous crashes followed as that receding figure smashed through one void after another!

Lady Yuanmu turned her head and stared blankly at the rents torn through the thirty-six voids, struck dumb. The force of that single blow was truly dreadful, and it had come with no warning at all.

How mighty was Haotian Di? Yet one punch had driven him into the ultimate void!

Shen Mu walked over to her on his short little legs, looked up, and said with a laugh, "Lady Yuanmu, under my Dao of Reincarnation, you would not last a single move against me.

" Lady Yuanmu giggled and retreated; Guixu split open behind her, and her figure vanished in an instant. Shen Mu tilted his head.

"Ling, Lady Yuanmu is the sort who will not shed a tear until she sees the coffin.

I will go have a word with Haotian Zun. Look after yourself.

" Ling Tianzun walked out of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall and said calmly, "Go, by all means. " Shen Mu drew a long breath.

A great door plank came whistling toward him through the hall; he leaped and landed on it, and the plank carried him hurtling into the void!

The layers of void Haotian Di had shattered were closing at furious speed, yet the plank flew faster still, plunging into the ultimate void before the thirty-six voids could seal. The plank halted. Shen Mu looked around: the void lay silent and empty, with no sign of Haotian Di.

In the distance two Daluo Heavens suddenly came into being and collided, all but overlapping. Beneath two Dao trees, Taichu and Yun Tianzun clashed, and the dao flowers and dao fruits formed of Innate Qi and supreme consciousness seemed on the verge of fusing into one!

Each sought to devour and refine the other's attainments into a Taichu dao fruit, and so both struck with utter ruthlessness—this collision was perilous in the extreme! Shen Mu swept it a glance, and abruptly his heart went on alert.

The next moment a Dao tree lashed over and, with a thunderous crash, struck him and sent him flying! Man and plank together went tumbling through the air, and there was the Dao tree rocking, its branches whipping, like a giant octopus grown countless tentacles, coming hard on his heels.

Haotian Di stood upon a jutting treetop. A dao flower flew out and arrived before Shen Mu's face; before he could react, it spun and bloomed.

The flower's interior was like no other—ring upon ring of darkness, layer of dark paired with layer of light, revolving without cease. Shhk—Shen Mu was swallowed into the dao flower.

Haotian Di raised his hand; the flower flew back and he pinched it between his fingers.

"Striking from hiding, my dear Minister Mu—you go too far.

" Suddenly his expression changed drastically.

The dao flower had split open; Shen Mu swung the massive plank and carved it apart. Haotian Di's fingers bled, and he hurriedly let go as Shen Mu broke free.

Haotian Di sneered, and behind his head seventy-two heavenly palaces suddenly appeared: one the Great Heavenly Court of Innate Qi, one the Dao of Guixu's Destruction. They merged, revolved like a wheel, and were refined into one!

His magic power climbed in a straight line.

The two heavens revolved and rose to meet the plank Shen Mu hacked down. Both pushed their power to the utmost. Haotian Di at once sensed Shen Mu's weakness in magic power and rejoiced—then immediately perceived the terror of Shen Mu's flesh.

As he swung that plank up, it split even the cold lonely wind of the ultimate void clean in two!

Shen Mu possessed invincible strength, while Haotian Di's magic power was unrivaled in all the world! Shen Mu used the plank as a saber, employing nothing but the Dao of the Saber from among his battle arts, while Haotian Di drove the might of the Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel to its limit!

In the mere instant of their collision, Haotian Di shattered Shen Mu's magic power—yet the plank cut through the Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel, slicing the two heavens apart, and came down upon his head. Haotian Di roared.

The Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel revolved; the power of the thirty-first heaven of the Dao Realm burst forth, wave after wave of terrifying force crashing against Shen Mu's body. At the same time, the Innate Qi above his head shot skyward and bloomed in midair like a Dao tree! Another Haotian Di stood upon that Dao tree formed of Innate Qi, and struck sideways with one finger, tapping Shen Mu between the brows—the Innate Qi erupted!

Above Haotian Di's true body, another Dao of Guixu soared skyward and became yet another Haotian Di, whose hands clasped together and produced a lotus. Its petals flew, swish, swish, swish, binding Shen Mu fast.

The plank chopped down onto Haotian Di's head, while Haotian Di's strike, holding the power of the thirty-first heaven of the Dao Realm, slammed into Shen Mu without the least reservation. Their forms crossed and parted. Shen Mu's flesh rippled and shattered the lotus petals wrapped around him; a great hole split open in his brow, transparent from front to back.

Then, slowly, the hole healed. Haotian Di's skull had been all but cut in two by that plank—but his other two bodies dissolved into Innate Qi and the Dao of Guixu and flew back, and the two halves of his head slowly knit together, restored as before.

Shen Mu shook the plank and turned around. The Qi Daluo Heaven revolved, and Haotian Di faced him squarely.

Their eyes met, and they said in unison, "You are not bad at all!

" Shen Mu laughed heartily. Studying that healed skull, he asked curiously, "This is the zero and the one formed by your Innate Qi and your Dao of Guixu? The Dao of Guixu is the Dao of destruction, reducing all things to zero, while Innate Qi is the One born of the Dao—the one of 'the Dao gives birth to the One.

' And so you can fight without pause, and heal swiftly however badly you are wounded.

Did you comprehend this in your battle with Emperor Tai in the Great Void?

" Haotian Di nodded and said approvingly, "I have you to thank as well, my dear Minister Mu.

Even then I was already comprehending how to reach this step. My injuries were grave at the time, and I meant to be reborn through nirvana, but you found me and hunted me sixty thousand li, until Taisu appeared and saved me. From Taisu I grasped the principle of unifying my arts into one. " Shen Mu said thoughtfully, "Taisu—that is the transformation of substance and form. Taisu wished to control you, but she was too green, and so fell under your control instead, until all her cultivation and attainments became yours.

Switching freely between zero and one is very hard for you, but comprehending the Dao of Taisu and devouring the Goddess Taisu gave you the means to unify your arts. " Haotian Di smiled faintly. A stream of Taisu qi welled up, ever-changing, taking the shapes of all manner of wondrous treasures. He said unhurriedly, "My dear Minister Mu, you are no small matter either.