Chapter 1246: Disaster Looms (Fourth Update)
The heavenly palace behind the four of them crackled and burst apart, countless buildings within the Celestial Court collapsing and crumbling. Dazzling divine light enveloped a hundred thousand miles in all directions. Even Qin Mu and Bai Yuqiong could only see flickering shadows within the radiance, figures darting and shifting like startled hares or swooping falcons, lightning-fast in their changes, yet unable to discern what was actually happening inside.
"Third Divine Eye!"
Qin Mu immediately opened the vertical eye on his forehead, pouring all his power into it to gaze toward the center of the divine light. He trembled with excitement, his fists clenched tightly.
Bai Yuqiong could not make out the details within the light. No longer watching the battle, she carefully maneuvered the lantern to control the light strings. Seeing Qin Mu in this state, she shook her head inwardly, thinking to herself: "The esteemed Mu Tianzun, how can he be so curious? It's like a moth drawn to a flame... No, it's like a silly roe deer in the snow—he'll end up dying of curiosity sooner or later!"
She decided that once Qin Mu had satisfied his curiosity, she would point out this weakness to him.
As this thought crossed her mind, Bai Yuqiong suddenly froze: "Mu Tianzun is clearly an enemy. Why would I tell an enemy about his weakness? Wouldn't his death be better for me?"
Her heart was in turmoil. This could only mean that her stance was slowly shifting.
In the past, she had considered herself a Celestial Court Heavenly Master, always acting in the Celestial Court's best interests. Even though she was locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Black Emperor and the Netherworld Sovereign, she had never contemplated betraying the Celestial Court.
Since meeting Qin Mu, she had even entertained thoughts of killing him more than once, though she had never acted on them.
However, ever since she learned of the conflict between Fire Tianzun and Qin Mu and went to the Southern Heaven, she had gradually come to understand him.
It was this understanding that had unknowingly placed her on Qin Mu's side.
Regarding Fire Tianzun's Southern Heaven and Qin Mu's Eternal Peace, she had never made a judgment about right or wrong, better or worse. Yet deep down, she had already decided.
She did not consider herself the reincarnated soul of the Southern Emperor, but she had always identified herself as a human.
It was from the standpoint of humanity that she chose to stand with Qin Mu.
Realizing all this, a sudden sense of relief washed over her, and she broke into a smile.
As a Heavenly Master, she was a Heavenly Master of humanity, not of the Celestial Court.
Qin Mu activated the vertical eye on his brow and finally captured the changes at the center of the light. Combined with Moon Tianzun's strings, countless tiny Qin Mu in his dream began to work diligently, intensifying their efforts to decipher the Dao sounds, perfect the Primordial Unity Qi, and crack the Taichu Dao runes.
If he could fully decode the Taichu Dao runes on the eggshell, he would effectively gain half of the Taichu Dao—perhaps even more than the Celestial Emperor Taichu himself possessed.
Moreover, his innate heavenly palace was growing and taking shape at an astonishing speed. Countless bricks, stones, and pillars flew into place as palaces and halls assembled themselves automatically.
His divine consciousness heavenly palace was also becoming more complete and majestic due to the battle between the Imperial Emperor and Hao Tianzun!
In this battle between Taichu and Hao, others might not dare to claim anything, but Qin Mu was undoubtedly the one who benefited the most.
Just as he clearly saw the scene within the light, several more figures suddenly appeared in the radiance!
Qin Mu saw sword light that filled heaven and earth, infinite sacred flames that consumed everything, the cold and emotionless presence of Langhuan, and Void Tianzun shrouded in darkness and the blazing flames of magma!
The Kai Emperor's sword struck Hao Tianzun, and the thirty-four-layered sword domain erupted, its fierce light nearly tearing Hao Tianzun apart!
Fire Tianzun ambushed the Kai Emperor, unleashing a flame domain more terrifying than the birthplace of the Southern Emperor. Even the Carefree Sword began to melt, dripping molten divine metal like iron water.
Even the Kai Emperor's physical body, primordial spirit, and even his sword heavenly palace were ignited by his unparalleled fury.
Langhuan Divine King struck at the Imperial Emperor, while Void Tianzun charged at Qiang Heavenly Consort. But they were too close to each other, and as enemies, they attacked almost simultaneously.
Both women were struck at nearly the same moment, yet they also landed their own blows on Qiang Heavenly Consort and the Imperial Emperor.
Hao Tianzun was grievously wounded. Struggling to escape from beneath the Kai Emperor's sword, he fled and hid inside the artifact Imperial Sovereign's body. But the one-armed Imperial Emperor charged through various attacks, and with his remaining arm, punched the artifact Imperial Sovereign, shattering it into pieces.
Within the light strings, Qin Mu watched with wide eyes, clapping and cheering repeatedly.
The sheer number of changes in such a short time was dizzying, and the transformations of various divine abilities were breathtaking.
"But the music of the zither is gradually falling into chaos."
Qin Mu sighed, somewhat regretfully.
The chaotic battle among the various Tianzun-level beings sent shockwaves rippling through Moon Tianzun's strings, disrupting the melody.
Earlier, when the Imperial Emperor and Hao Tianzun fought, they used divine consciousness abilities and Primordial Unity Qi, both derived from the Taichu Dao. Although there was interference from the Guixu Dao, it was relatively minor. Now, however, the interference was far too great.
With the music now in disarray, it was difficult to distinguish which melodies belonged to Primordial Unity Qi, which to the sword Dao, and which to the divine consciousness Dao.
Still, Qin Mu was already quite content.
"Eight Tianzun are fighting—we have to leave!" Bai Yuqiong's exasperated voice rang out.
Qin Mu quickly said, "Let me watch a little more..."
"Watch your big head!"
Bai Yuqiong was furious, scolding, "Go home and watch your brother Qin Fengqing! With eight Tianzun-level beings fighting, even Moon Master's strings can't hold up. If we don't leave now, we'll all die here!"
Qin Mu hastily dispersed his dream-state enlightenment and looked around. The fluctuations of the light strings were growing more intense, their amplitude increasing rapidly. Just as Bai Yuqiong had said, this string could no longer bear the strain.
Bai Yuqiong retracted the light strings. The shortened strings vibrated continuously, dodging waves of terrifying residual energy as they sped toward the Taixu Realm.
Qin Mu glanced at Lan Yutian. The chubby boy was still in a state of enlightenment, pondering something unknown.
He looked down and saw that the collapsing void had already annihilated most of the area. Countless Celestial Court divine soldiers and generals were frantically fleeing toward the Taixu Realm.
Ships raced at top speed, war chariots charged forward madly, crushing countless of their own comrades along the way.
Additionally, divine and demonic commanders, wielding the artifacts of the Northern Emperor and the Western Emperor, charged along the void passage. Soldiers who couldn't dodge in time were directly trampled or crushed to pieces by these two great artifacts.
"When disaster looms, the lofty gods and demons are really no different from ordinary people."
Qin Mu couldn't help but feel a sense of irony. "How laughable that you consider yourselves exalted and invincible."
Suddenly, the light strings retracted sharply, transforming back into a lantern in Bai Yuqiong's hand. She held it aloft, its light guiding the three of them as they sped onward, drawing closer and closer to the Taixu Realm.
By the time the fluctuations reached this point, they were no longer too severe. But the truly terrifying thing was the collapsing and annihilating void.
The annihilation of the void released an incredibly fearsome energy. Without the lantern, even Bai Yuqiong would not have lasted long.
Finally, Bai Yuqiong brought them into the Taixu Realm, flying downward from the high sky.
"The Taixu Realm might also collapse. Let's head to the Void Bridge first!" Qin Mu said in a deep voice.
Just then, they saw corpse walkers plummeting straight down from the sky, turning into streaks of blazing fire as they fell into the Taixu Realm.
"These corpse walkers contain a great deal of divine consciousness from the collapsing void," Qin Mu remarked, startled.
Boom—
The sky shook violently. Something the size of a planet fell from the heavens of the Taixu Realm, hurtling downward with a roar.
Qin Mu's sharp eyes caught sight of it, and he was shocked. "It's the head of the artifact Imperial Sovereign! Wait, that person is Hao Tianzun!"
He saw Hao Tianzun lying spread-eagled on the tip of the artifact Imperial Sovereign head's nose.
Boom, boom, boom—
Another series of loud crashes rang out. Fire Tianzun and the Kai Emperor were both bleeding, each wounded and fleeing. Void Tianzun and Langhuan Divine King were also mutually injured, each retreating separately. But the Imperial Emperor and Qiang Heavenly Consort were nowhere to be seen.
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly grew excited: "Heavenly Master Bai, I have a bold idea!"
"Don't even think about it!" Bai Yuqiong flatly refused.
Qin Mu acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing excitedly: "Let's hunt down Hao Tianzun! Strike while the iron is hot—take advantage of his weakness to kill him!"