Chapter 1723 — The Simplehearted Venerable
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
When this force seeped outward and invaded the myriad heavens and worlds, Shen Mu at last sensed where the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon's soul was hidden.
The Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon's soul lay within Taichu's One Qi Great Luotian, and Taichu's One Qi Great Luotian now floated above the Heavenly Court's main camp, facing the thirty-three heavens of Carefree Village across a vast distance. The very moment Shen Mu's power invaded the One Qi Great Luotian, beneath the Dao tree within it Taichu rose to his feet, smiling.
"Heavenly Venerable Mu, you came after all! You cannot bear to lose fighting strength like the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon; you need him to conquer the world for you! But you do not know that I have been waiting for you a long while!
" Beneath the Dao tree, beside its roots, stood a bronze jar taller than a man, its mouth sealed tight.
Now that bronze jar trembled without cease, as though some force were shaking it, striving to shatter it and release what lay within. "When your power reaches my Luotian, it has already grown weak, and at that moment I can injure your spirit-origin in return — and your fleshly body as well!
" Taichu bellowed, and in the blink of an eye his fleshly body became immeasurably burly. Through the long ages his flesh had always been the finest under heaven, able even to withstand the blows of a Dao Achiever — until recent years, when Shen Mu surpassed him.
Shen Mu had forged a Hongmeng body, unmatched in toughness, stronger even than Taichu's ancient god Heavenly Emperor body!
And matching the ancient god Heavenly Emperor body was his vital qi, the Innate One Qi! The Innate One Qi was both vital qi and the Great Dao; it could transform into any Great Dao under heaven. Though his Innate One Qi had not been cultivated to the point of achieving the Dao, it was no small thing either.
He walked the path of achieving the Dao through force, borrowing the power of the Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City, and in the sheer depth of his mana he far surpassed those who achieved the Dao through the Dao realm.
"And what you never expected is that my treasured halls are now complete!
" Taichu stirred the Innate One Qi, and behind him the Great Heavenly Court appeared, its seventy-two treasured halls ringing the thirty-six heavenly palaces. Ever since the battle in the Ultimate Void between Heavenly Emperor Hao and Shen Mu, after which Heavenly Emperor Hao had no choice but to retreat, he and Taichu had reached an understanding: father and son exchanged their respective great halls, holding nothing back.
Both Heavenly Emperor Hao and Taichu had cultivated the seventy-two treasured halls; in achieving the Dao through force, father and son had both reached perfection.
Taichu's mana was stronger than ever.
His ancient god Heavenly Emperor body strode forward, circling the bronze jar without pause, arms whirling, the Innate One Qi turning into divine arts that met Shen Mu's soul-drawing power head-on, running counter to it. His divine arts moistened all things in silence, tracing Shen Mu's power all the way back, following the Soul-Summoning Charm to injure Shen Mu's fleshly body and spirit-origin in return.
This was the prepared striking the unprepared. Shen Mu was pouring every ounce of his strength into drawing out the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon's soul; neither his fleshly body nor his spirit-origin had any defense at all.
To strike him down now, at this moment, was the perfect opportunity. Taichu's spirits soared; he let out long whistles again and again, one divine art after another following the vine to the melon, killing toward Shen Mu.