Chapter 1783 — When Schemes Are Exhausted, the Blade Appears

Though Yue Tianzun played no tune, the plucking of the strings stirred the ultimate killing intent left within the wound Lord Shang had given her, so that at any moment it might erupt. To her, the dao wound Lord Shang had left could not kill her, but it was by no means a small threat.

If they came to blows and that ultimate killing intent erupted, her strength would sharply diminish; in a battle between those who had attained the Dao, the slightest misstep might mean death and the dissolution of the Dao — she could not afford to be careless. Huang Tang of the four Elders of Fengshu laughed up at the sky, tears of blood streaming from his eyes, his aged voice thick and mighty: "At Huang Tang the wind turns, the emerald banners unfurl!

" Cang Yancui wept: "Strange rocks, grey cliffs, shadow of emerald mist! " "The common folk of the four seas lean upon their fields!

" "New fragrance in the Yan Pavilion, three blooms!

" The four chanted together: "From the tower, a thousand peaks of green; above the terrace, the peak becomes a lotus! Eldest Brother, if we do not avenge this, what use is our attaining the Dao?

We cannot hold our dao hearts —" "We four once swore an oath: we ask not to be born the same year, the same month, the same day, but we ask to die the same year, the same month, the same day!

" "Eldest Brother, wait for us to avenge you!

" Emperor Haotian knew things had gone badly; he hastily bowed and said, "The four Elders of Fengshu are obstinate and unrepentant.

Fourth Young Master, I beg you to slay the enemy!

Sacrifice this place in blood! " The four Elders of Fengshu roared in unison, and the altar suddenly activated.

In an instant the altar seemed a vast sea of blood; the dao patterns and dao chains buried beneath the whole altar sprang to life, and with shua, shua, shua, they pierced through the bodies of all upon it.

Shen Mu sat there unmoving; behind him the Chaos Hall abruptly appeared, and the dao chains that entered his body were shattered to powder by the Chaos Hall and turned into chaos qi.

At the same time Yue Tianzun plucked her strings, and the lute rang out loud; countless spaces around her split open to ward off the altar's power, and her figure drifted unsteadily through one space after another — a tiny altar, and yet it seemed to hold a great world for her to shuttle back and forth within.

On the other side, the Hall Master of Joy drove her dao tree and cried, "Four Elders of Fengshu, do you mean to be buried here, every one of you? You dug a pit beneath the World Tree and hid there for cosmic era after cosmic era — why throw your lives away for a moment's temper?

" Her dao tree spun, its branches great and small whirling; the branches lashed at the dao chains while the roots twined about them, reducing the altar's power. Suddenly the lute note pierced her ear, and her heart skipped: "The Zixiao Dao-Proving Melody!

That girl is interfering with the Fourth Young Master! " She could spare no thought for persuading the four Elders of Fengshu; at once she struck ruthlessly at Yue Tianzun to disrupt her playing.

In the first clash of the two women, the Hall Master of Joy immediately perceived that Yue Tianzun's cultivation was insufficient, and rejoiced inwardly: "Her attainment of the Dao is not perfect; in dharma power she is far beneath me! " When Yue Tianzun played the Zixiao Dao-Proving Melody, the Fourth Young Master's lute string that Emperor Haotian had drawn forth stirred not at all — as though the Fourth Young Master, Zixiao, had heard this melody amid the great calamity that destroyed the Sixteenth Era and forgotten to rouse his divine power.

Pu, pu, pu — Emperor Haotian was at once beset; dao chain after dao chain pierced his body and hung him in the air.

The four Elders of Fengshu charged over, each driving their dao tree and dao fruit, each fetching their treasure of attainment.

Huang Tang brandished his precious banner; the banner spun and, with a whoosh, pierced through the defense of the Hall Master of Joy's dao tree; a single forceful stir, and her dao tree shattered to pieces.

The old man's strength was overbearing in the extreme — he possessed fighting power not inferior to a Hall Master's. Of course, this was also because the Hall Master of Joy had been gravely wounded by Lord Shang the moment she descended, then frightened by Shen Mu, and had had no time to re-entrust the void and attain the Dao anew.

The Elders of Fengshu, meanwhile, had descended long ago, each re-entrusting the void, and had already attained the Dao in the Seventeenth Era, so that in strength they even surpassed the Hall Master of Joy. Cang Yancui, one of the three elders, drove a swath of emerald mist to envelop Shen Mu, and drove his dao tree and dao fruit to strike at Shen Mu's brow.

The other two elders likewise drove their treasures of attainment, and the might of their dao trees and dao fruits burst forth at once, striking ruthlessly at Emperor Haotian and Yue Tianzun.

At that very moment, Yue Tianzun's Zixiao Dao-Proving Melody was disrupted by the Hall Master of Joy, and the music broke off. The lute string behind Emperor Haotian's head at once vibrated, and the Fourth Young Master's divine power burst forth through that string. In the instant that string's power erupted, Shen Mu raised his hand and there was a great Guixu Abyss; he stuffed Cang Yancui into the abyss, flashed to the back of Emperor Haotian's head, and pinched the string between two fingers!

Boom!

The altar burst apart!