Chapter 1628 — The Decisive Battle of the Netherworld
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The palm came down upon the Book of Life and Death, and its force nearly tore apart that supreme treasure of Youdu. The You Heavenly Venerable raised his head and looked beyond the heavens; the demonic radiance pouring from the primordial spirit at his back made him seem as though he were ablaze.
Beyond the heavens of Youdu, the Void Heavenly Venerable's wrath rose to the sky. Behind her the heavenly palaces emerged and assembled into a Heavenly Court, with twenty-six treasure halls ranged in guard around it. Her second strike thundered out; she meant to wipe the imprint within the Book of Life and Death entirely away and claim the treasure for her own.
But plainly she did not know that no imprint at all existed within the Book of Life and Death. It was the Youdu Great Dao itself that chose its master of its own accord, and whoever held the treasure need impose no imprint whatsoever.
If one were the master chosen by the Book of Life and Death, then without any imprint he could rouse the full power of the book. And the book's choosing of a master was precisely as when the You Heavenly Venerable had used the book to test Shen Mu and Shen Fengqing.
Shen Mu had been able to withstand the demonic nature of the book, and so he could bring forth a portion of its might.
Shen Fengqing was not moved by the book's demonic nature in the least; therefore the Book of Life and Death chose him as its master, and he could bring forth every power the book possessed.
The Void Heavenly Venerable knew none of this, and so she moved of her own will to seize the treasure, never realizing that even if she won the Book of Life and Death by the brute force of her dharma power, whether it would prove blessing or calamity was still far from certain.
Far more likely, the book would rouse her demonic nature until she disowned kin and stranger alike and became a demon lord, rather than that she would master the book.
And behind her, the Ancestral God-King held the Heaven Lord's fleshly body in his grip, its vast face blotting out the sky, ready at any moment to invade Youdu.
Invading Youdu was no easy matter for him. The Xuandu Heavenly Dao and the Youdu Great Dao clashed with one another; to depart from Xuandu would weaken the strength of the Heaven Lord's fleshly body and likewise diminish the power of the Heavenly Dao.
But if the Void Heavenly Venerable were to absorb the Youdu Great Dao and take command of Youdu, then the burden of invading it would weigh far less heavily upon him.
At this moment the Ancestral God-King frowned deeply; in his heart he still could not accept that the Earth Lord was dead.
"How could the Earth Lord have died so silently, without so much as a whisper?"
In the battle of Xuandu, how hard the Heaven Lord had been to kill!
The Ten Heavenly Venerables had nearly all stirred themselves, and even the Taiji Ancient God lent aid; yet slaying the Heaven Lord had still cost enormous pains. Untold soldiers of the Heavenly Court had died, and many of the Heavenly Venerables who joined that battle bore wounds, before the Heaven Lord was finally cut down.
True, the Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court were now far mightier than before, but to slay the Earth Lord, whose name stood on a level with the Heaven Lord's, was still no easy feat, unless the Hao Heavenly Venerable and Taichu, those two beings who had attained the Dao through sheer power, made their move.
And what was more, this time the Hao Heavenly Venerable was not merely out to slay the Earth Lord; it was also an encirclement and extermination aimed at Kaihuang Shen Ye, the Ling Heavenly Venerable, the Moon Heavenly Venerable, and others besides!
Yet what astonished the Ancestral God-King was that the Earth Lord had simply died, just like that!
Had all their long preparations been for nothing?
Who on earth had killed the Earth Lord?
Why had the Earth Lord died without a sound?