Chapter 1262: Ascend to the Ninth Heaven, Descend to the Nine Springs (Fourth Update!)
Heavenly Lord Hao quickly rolled over and stood up, a chill of fear running through him. But then he saw that the Heart Demon Shepherd Heavenly Lord had not revived, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "Without the power of the Heart Demon, you are far from my match..."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blood and qi within his body surged out like a wild tide, blasting his head up from his neck. His thirty-five celestial palaces nearly completely collapsed!
The full-force clash with Qin Mu just now had worsened his injuries. His wounds had already been extremely severe, and he had relied on devouring and refining the Heart Demon Shepherd Heavenly Lord to recover. However, the Woodcutter’s Restoration divine ability had stuffed the thirty-five celestial palaces, which he had painstakingly expelled from his body, back inside him, nearly killing him.
After his battle with War God Heavenly Master and Bai Yuqiong, his injuries had compounded, becoming even graver.
And now, after that head-on collision with Qin Mu, his injuries could no longer be suppressed.
Even if Qin Mu no longer had the Heart Demon Shepherd Heavenly Lord to command, he could no longer continue this fight.
He had to find a safe place, transform his celestial palaces into Dao cocoons, and devour external things to heal his wounds.
Earlier, if he could heal his injuries, his cultivation and strength would rise to a higher level, surpassing his former self. But now, after all the trouble caused by the Woodcutter, Qin Mu, and the others, even if his wounds healed, the Dao injuries to his thirty-five celestial palaces would likely never fully recover. His cultivation and strength would be greatly diminished compared to before, and returning to his peak state would take an unknown amount of time!
"More critically, if this continues, I will really die..."
Divine blood gushed from Heavenly Lord Hao’s neck as he expelled the excess blood and qi from his body, and his head flew back into place.
He hesitated no longer, flying backward. Before his feet even touched the ground, he stomped, and the earth exploded with a boom as his body shot into the sky.
Qin Mu arrived in an instant with his divine storage domain, grinding away the spot where Heavenly Lord Hao had just stood. Then he soared into the air, and countless sword lights burst forth from the domain, like comets striking Heavenly Lord Hao’s body one after another, piercing straight through him!
Countless sword lights converged behind Heavenly Lord Hao, hiding a technique within the technique, forming a sword domain behind him!
Heavenly Lord Hao’s hair stood on end. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and roared. Countless threads of Dao patterns emerged from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, rapidly forming a cocoon that wrapped around him densely.
Qin Mu’s sword domain erupted, tearing apart the not-yet-formed Dao cocoon. Divine blood sprayed through the air.
Heavenly Lord Hao let out a cry. The Grand Emperor’s Divine Sense Great Luo Heaven flew out, meeting Qin Mu’s sword domain. Qin Mu clenched his five fingers, and the sword domain, which had been expanding, suddenly contracted sharply, narrowly brushing past the Divine Sense Great Luo Heaven without touching it.
The Divine Sense Great Luo Heaven was the Grand Emperor’s divine ability. This technique trapped Heavenly Lord Hao’s primordial spirit. Silkworm Maiden’s Seven Souls Grass, formed from divine sense sacrifices, could penetrate the Divine Sense Great Luo Heaven without triggering its power.
The Seven Souls Grass entered the Great Luo Heaven like a fish in water, taking root in Heavenly Lord Hao’s primordial spirit, absorbing its nutrients and refining its soul.
However, if Qin Mu’s sword domain touched the Divine Sense Great Luo Heaven, it would fall into Heavenly Lord Hao’s scheme of using a borrowed knife to kill and shedding his shell to escape. The Divine Sense Great Luo Heaven’s power would erupt, not only severely wounding Qin Mu but also giving Heavenly Lord Hao’s primordial spirit a chance to escape!
Heavenly Lord Hao inwardly lamented the missed opportunity, accelerating his ascent into the sky. Beyond the sky was the entrance to the Great Void, where there would surely be remnants of the Heavenly Court army fleeing the Great Void.
After his battle with the Grand Emperor, the Heavenly Court would certainly receive word. His direct forces would immediately mobilize and rush to the Great Void. Once he left the Great Void, he would be safe!
Just then, Qin Mu spread his five fingers and struck a palm toward the sky.
Heavenly Lord Hao’s body rose higher and higher. At that moment, he saw the sky thinning, becoming lighter and lighter, losing all thickness.
His body was even stretched and extended, as if it too would become infinitely thin along with the sky, eventually dissolving into the void!
Gathering the Circle on the Great Luo Heaven!
"So it was you who stole the Zhaoyang Hall with Heavenly Lord Yun back then!"
Heavenly Lord Hao’s heart stirred. Back then, he and Heavenly Lord Yun had stolen the Zhaoyang Hall one after the other, encountering another expert who used this technique. However, that person’s magical power was far inferior to his, and he had broken it with overwhelming force.
Now, Qin Mu used this technique again, and he immediately recognized it.
Qin Mu’s voice came: "Heavenly Lord Hao, back then you had the magical power to break my divine ability. Do you still have it now?"
"No, but I have cultivated the Primordial One Qi!"
Countless wounds on Heavenly Lord Hao’s body burst open. He abandoned a portion of his uncontrollable cultivation, his body trembling slightly as he merged with Qin Mu’s Great Luo Heaven. Then, with a light shake, he escaped from the technique of Gathering the Circle on the Great Luo Heaven.
Qin Mu was surprised, but then two more arms sprouted from his armpits. His four arms clasped together in the center, and the Heavenly River surged, encircling Heavenly Lord Hao. The Four Extremes Heaven hummed as it rose!
Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise appeared, all striking at Heavenly Lord Hao in the center!
Surveying the Four Extremes from the Heavenly River!
Boom—
Heavenly Lord Hao spat blood, plummeting from the sky like a comet crashing into the earth, smashing into the Great Void Land. A pillar of fire shot into the sky, and a mushroom cloud slowly rose.
Qin Mu was upside down, his palm pressing downward. His palm force imprinted on the spot where Heavenly Lord Hao had fallen, but instead of sinking, the earth roared as it rose up.
His Dao laws formed a Primeval Tree in the Great Void Land. The tree propped up Heavenly Lord Hao’s tattered body and shot upward to meet Qin Mu’s palm.
The Primeval Tree quickly grew to the top of the mushroom cloud, colliding with Qin Mu’s palm print. A violent tremor spread in all directions, forming a ring of white light in the air. The white light was like a blade, slicing horizontally in all directions, as if to cut the sky of the Great Void Land in half.
Just as Qin Mu’s palm force was about to land, Heavenly Lord Hao’s figure suddenly vanished. The next moment, his body appeared in the Great Void Netherworld, crashing to the ground with a thunderous boom. He tumbled and rolled like a scarecrow, falling, bouncing up, falling again, bouncing again, rolling an unknown distance.
He used the Primordial One Qi to transform into the Netherworld Dao, hiding in the Netherworld to evade Qin Mu’s killing move.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As he rolled, his body kept exploding, frantically dispersing the excess energy within him. Even if it meant discarding part of his cultivation, he was willing to do so as long as he could escape with his life from Qin Mu!
He only needed to reach the territory of the Netherworld Lord, and Qin Mu would be powerless against him. The Netherworld Lord was on the same wavelength as him; for the past million years, he had been taking care of the Netherworld Lord, who would surely protect him!
But then, the sky of the Great Void Netherworld suddenly split open. Rumbling, dark pillars rose from the earth. These pillars, emerging from the ground, were thick with black smoke and accompanied by flames. The flames flowed along the pillars, revealing densely packed Netherworld Dao runes.
"Brother Hao, the Netherworld is not the Netherworld Lord’s territory—it’s mine!"
Qin Mu’s massive body descended from the sky, landing as a bull-headed, human-bodied, tiger-faced demon god, like an ancient god born at the moment of the first death, controlling all souls.
The textures on the black pillars, wreathed in flames, grew clearer, forming faces of Earth Lord. Earth Lord had three eyes, rolling around, fixed on the tumbling Heavenly Lord Hao.
Buzz—
All the pillars blazed with light. From each pillar, Earth Lord’s three eyes shot beams of demonic light, crisscrossing and interweaving, sealing off a thousand-mile radius!
———— The fourth update has arrived! Fellow Daoists, it’s time for double monthly votes again! I earnestly beg you all to cast your monthly votes for The Annals of the Shepherd God and support Zhai Zhu! There’s still one day left in the month, but The Annals of the Shepherd God has already updated 270,000 words this month! Usually, it’s only 200,000 words. I didn’t expect to write so much during my month of study at Lu Xun Academy. Also, please support the Golden Keyboard event; otherwise, I might not even hold onto the top three!