Chapter 1456: Death of the Heavenly Duke (Part 1)
"You Nether Heaven Venerable were already a problem child in the early years of the Dragon Han era—solitary, eccentric, ignoring everyone, caring about nothing. The only thing that could motivate you was seeing your mother. You created the Life and Death Divine Treasury just to see her."
Yan Tianfei unleashed her celestial palaces all at once, forming the Great Heavenly Court. Staring intently at the Nether Heaven Venerable, whose physical body was crumbling yet whose aura grew ever stronger, she thought to herself: "The only thing that held him back was also his mother. He lay dormant in the Nether Capital for a million years, accompanying his mother's soul, never coming to the Yang Realm to stir up trouble. That's why he missed the power struggles of the Heavenly Court—the authority of the Ten Heavenly Venerables had no place for him. If he loses this bond..."
She couldn't help shivering several times, glancing at the severely wounded Palace Heaven Venerable. "When necessary, I'll have to sacrifice my fellow Daoist! After all, it wasn't me who broke the mask—it was Palace Heaven Venerable..."
Whether to die herself or let her fellow Daoist die was never a choice for Yan Tianfei.
Of course, in Palace Heaven Venerable's mind, this wasn't a choice either.
Just as she thought this, the Nether Heaven Venerable suddenly lifted his head. The primordial spirit behind him surged in power, carrying the unique dark aura of the Nether Capital. Layer upon layer of the Nether Capital world expanded outward at terrifying speed, encroaching upon the Mystic Capital!
Beneath his feet, the Nether Capital world stacked and overlapped, forming an enormous Nether Capital domain!
This Nether Capital domain was actually beginning to connect with the true Nether Capital!
The scene was utterly horrifying. As the Nether Capital domain made contact with the real Nether Capital, Yan Tianfei and Palace Heaven Venerable watched in terror as two long, twisted ox horns, curving nine times through eighteen bends, slowly rose from the Nether Capital.
Those two ox horns were colossal, like rivers formed from the magma at the bottom of countless worlds, burning fiercely as they coiled around the horns in winding streams.
But the flow of the magma rivers was not slow—on the contrary, it poured and cascaded like waterfalls crashing down from the heights, roaring and thundering!
"The Nether Heaven Venerable has called his big boss! Cheating... What is the Heavenly Dao doing? Allowing the Nether Capital to invade—utterly irresponsible!" Yan Tianfei laughed in fury.
There was no way to continue this battle.
This was the most ancient invasion of one world by another, and the Nether Heaven Venerable was the bridge for this invasion.
Logically, the Heavenly Dao and the Nether Capital's Great Dao were opposites, mutually restraining and mutually destructive. The two worlds should never meet, never touch.
Even if the Nether Heaven Venerable used heaven-defying divine abilities, these two worlds would never intersect.
Yet this impossible event was shattered because the Mystic Capital had been invaded by the Ten Heavenly Venerables.
In normal times, the Heavenly Dao would certainly resist the Nether Capital's invasion. Even if the Nether Heaven Venerable cultivated his Nether Capital domain, it would be ground down by the Mystic Capital's Heavenly Dao, unable to expand at all!
Moreover, an existence like the Nether Heaven Venerable could never set foot in the Mystic Capital—the Mystic Capital's Heavenly Dao would treat him as an invader and eliminate him immediately.
But now, all the Heavenly Dao of the Mystic Capital was gathered within the Heavenly Duke's body, doing everything possible to protect his life. There was no Heavenly Dao left to resist the Nether Capital's invasion.
These various factors meant that the Heavenly Dao no longer suppressed the Nether Heaven Venerable's power, nor could it resist the Nether Capital domain and the Nether Capital's invasion.
This was a scene that had never appeared since the universe's creation and the formation of the Mystic Capital and Nether Capital, yet now it was happening—and happening as if it were perfectly natural, catching everyone off guard!
When the Earth Lord's twin horns pierced through the sky of the Mystic Capital, all living beings in the Primordial Realm, the Ancestral Court, the Four Extremes Heaven, and the myriad worlds looked up at the sky and saw this breathtaking sight.
Two great horns, wrapped in cascading rivers of magma, burned the sky a blazing red!
This scene filled people with terror.
In truth, ever since the Heavenly Court began attacking the Mystic Capital, the celestial phenomena across the myriad worlds had been in chaos. Stars wandered erratically, constellations abandoned their positions, the sun and moon appeared and disappeared unpredictably. Day and night were not only reversed but terrifying sights appeared—multiple suns rising together, or a dozen moons orbiting a single sun!
Before the people of the myriad worlds could adapt to these bizarre changes, the Earth Lord's horns—enough to silence children's cries and terrify gods and demons—appeared in the sky, as if the apocalypse of the myriad worlds had arrived. It was impossible not to feel fear and dread.
Yan Tianfei and Palace Heaven Venerable exchanged glances. At this moment, whether they could kill the Heavenly Duke was no longer important—what mattered was whether they could save their own lives!
But to their horror, they had already fallen into the Nether Heaven Venerable's Nether Capital domain and could not escape.
"Before the Earth Lord arrives here, kill the Nether Heaven Venerable first!"
Yan Tianfei shouted fiercely, and one after another, Return to Nothingness Great Abysses tore open the sky.
On the other side, Hong Tianzun, Qiang Tianfei, and Shi Qiluo were greatly shaken. The Heavenly Duke personally controlling his own body was different from the Heavenly Dao consciousness controlling it—more agile, more versatile!
Although the Heavenly Duke had been powerful before, he gave the impression of sticking to old rules, fighting mechanically, unable to adapt. Now, his techniques and divine abilities were extremely varied. Though they were still Heavenly Dao techniques, they far surpassed what came before in terms of change!
The pressure on the three Heavenly Venerables instantly intensified. Earlier, they had fought the Heavenly Duke without injury, but now they were beginning to get hurt!
The shock in Hong Tianzun's heart was greater than that of the other Heavenly Venerables.
No one in the world understood the Heavenly Duke better than he did—knew his strengths and weaknesses better—because he and the Heavenly Duke were one. For a long time, their minds had been connected, indistinguishable from each other.
They had fought for the same goal: to break free from the Heavenly Dao's shackles, to leap out of the Heavenly Dao.
But now, he felt that he and the Heavenly Duke were no longer so connected, no longer of one mind. It was as if a veil had been drawn between them, making it hard for him to see the Heavenly Duke's thoughts.
He and the Heavenly Duke—one was the reincarnation of the soul, free and unrestrained, wielding power and enjoying life; the other was the earthly and heavenly souls controlling the physical body, bound by the Heavenly Dao, depressed and unfree.
Now, it seemed that the Heavenly Duke's earthly and heavenly souls had developed their own thoughts, closing themselves off from him.
What made him even more panicked was that the Heavenly Dao's will had retreated, allowing the Heavenly Duke to begin controlling his body. If the Heavenly Dao's will no longer imposed itself on the Heavenly Duke, no longer overrode his will, then did the Heavenly Duke still need him?
Did he still need this Hong Tianzun?
At this moment, a rift appeared between him and the Heavenly Duke.
Not only that, but he also felt that every time he was wounded by the Heavenly Duke, his cultivation and strength were weakening. This weakening came from his own Dao heart—a vast prison of the Dao heart locked the upper limit of his cultivation, and every injury lowered that limit!
Although he still possessed earth-shattering power, the repeated weakening made his Dao heart even more chaotic and panicked.
The intense stabbing pain from his Dao heart only worsened his panic and pain.
Imperceptibly, his body began to twist. The first thing to twist was his face—originally kind and benevolent, it now gradually became ferocious!
Even Shi Qiluo and Langxuan Divine Emperor felt fear at this sight.
"We must kill the Heavenly Duke!" Hong Tianzun roared at them with his twisted face.
Langxuan and Shi Qiluo both frowned deeply. This was completely different from the usual Hong Tianzun—calm and carefree, like a transcendent expert.
"Hong Tianzun's Dao heart has completely failed."
Shi Qiluo blinked and immediately separated out a Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, smiling: "Hong Tianzun, you are stronger. Use this divine artifact!"
In normal times, Hong Tianzun would certainly refuse, because he had already seen that Shi Qiluo had tampered with the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven. But now, he directly used his vast, boundless divine power to control the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven!
Boom, boom, boom—
Behind the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, rings of Dao light spun and danced. One celestial palace after another appeared, forming a Great Heavenly Court!
The aura of this divine artifact was violent and fierce, its cultivation and strength exploding and rising as if by detonation. Its combat power leaped again and again!
The magnitude of the increase, the strength of the enhancement, made even Langxuan Divine Emperor feel his primordial spirit tremble!
Shi Qiluo, on the other hand, was jubilant and overjoyed. Now, she could finally capture the trajectory of Hong Tianzun's cultivation technique!
Among the Heavenly Venerables, she was the weakest besides Qin Mu. Because her cultivation time was short, and she was the ruler of the Zaofu Heavenly Palace with a lower status, she received fewer resources. Her own strength could not catch up to the Ten Heavenly Venerables.
She had to take a different path, using the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven to spy on the cultivation techniques of other Heavenly Venerables. As long as others controlled the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, she could take the opportunity to peek at their techniques.
So far, she had obtained the techniques of Hao Tianzun, Qiang Tianfei, and Fire Heaven Venerable. Hao, Qiang, and Fire each had their strengths, and fusing their techniques into her own Great Heavenly Court technique was not easy.
But for Shi Qiluo, using others' techniques was naturally the more the merrier.
She immediately sensed the operational path of Hong Tianzun's technique, both delighted and shocked.
"This uses the Heavenly Dao method as its theme, fused with various other Imperial Throne techniques. Among them are the achievements of the Kaihuang Reform Era, various acquired great Daos, and even Kaihuang's Sword Dao! Kaihuang's technique is also included, though not complete—still, it's impressive!"
Shi Qiluo glanced at Hong Tianzun with a half-smile: "During the Kaihuang Era, the Heavenly Duke supported the Kaihuang Heavenly Court to compete with the Heavenly Court. I thought the Heavenly Duke's real purpose was to use the Kaihuang Heavenly Court's power to eliminate us. Heh, I underestimated him. The Heavenly Duke's true goal was to transform into Hong Tianzun, using the opportunity to absorb the achievements of the Kaihuang Reform, making himself the first to cultivate the Heavenly Court realm! Old fox..."
Although she had verified the Heavenly Duke's identity through this opportunity, she did not reveal it. Instead, she continued watching Hong Tianzun fight the Heavenly Duke.
Hong Tianzun fully controlled the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, pushing its power to the extreme. Behind the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, even the Martial Dao Heavenly Palace of the Martial Dao Great Emperor, Zhuocha, had appeared!
The achievements of the Kaihuang Era's reform were displayed on him with perfect clarity!
Even Kaihuang himself had never managed to fuse the Imperial Throne techniques of the Kaihuang Era into one, because Kaihuang needed to use all his wisdom to walk only the path of the Sword Dao. If he spent effort on other acquired great Daos, he would not have achieved what he did today.
But Hong Tianzun was different.
He was also part of the Heavenly Duke. The achievements of the Kaihuang Era's reform were not hidden from the Heavenly Duke. The Heavenly Duke's main body could not absorb these reform achievements, but he could.
In a short time, behind the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, thirty-five celestial palaces had already formed a Heavenly Court. Not only that, but the thirty-sixth celestial palace was also taking shape!
This scene horrified Langxuan Divine Emperor and made Shi Qiluo both delighted and regretful.
As she spied on Hong Tianzun's technique, she detected that although Hong Tianzun had a thirty-sixth celestial palace, it was not perfect.
With the addition of the thirty-sixth celestial palace, a flaw appeared in the technique. This flaw caused the pressure on the physical body to reach the limit of what the body could bear!
In other words, even a body as strong as a Heavenly Venerable's could not withstand the pressure of a Great Heavenly Court formed by thirty-six celestial palaces. It would inevitably be crushed by the Great Heavenly Court!
In the past, Hong Tianzun would never dare to use this imperfect technique of his. Now, with the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, he had no such scruples!
Now, the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven's strength had already surpassed Hong Tianzun's. Its offensive power even exceeded Langxuan Divine Emperor's, and its combat power was still rising!
Langxuan Divine Emperor and Shi Qiluo were greatly shaken, unable to understand. The Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven had already reached the Heavenly Court realm—how could it still be increasing its power?
Shi Qiluo quickly detected that this increase did not come from the celestial palaces but from the various divine halls within the Heavenly Court!
The divine halls that provided the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven with power beyond the Heavenly Court realm numbered eight. The power of these eight halls came from eight types of acquired great Daos, not among the innate great Daos!
"The Kaihuang Reform was almost perversely remarkable!"
Shi Qiluo was so excited she almost shed tears. The greatest achievement of the Kaihuang Era's reform was laid out before her.
Although she had not yet seen the path to enlightenment of the Heavenly Court formed by seventy-two divine halls guarding thirty-six celestial palaces, she had already sensed the perfection of this path!
This path, supported by acquired great Daos, greatly reduced the pressure of the Great Heavenly Court formed by thirty-six celestial palaces!
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March 1st has arrived! A new month—begging for everyone's monthly votes! Throw them over! Sacrificing a Heavenly Venerable to beg for monthly votes!
Recommending Piaodang Melbourne's new book "Love at First Sight," a love story about watches and the inheritance of craftsmanship.
Recommending Wenyan Dui Jiu's new book "Don't Ascend," launching today.
March 1st: Begging for Monthly Votes!
First, wishing the lovely Qing'er reader a happy birthday!
March 1st has arrived, a new month, and the Record of the Shepherd God has turned to a new chapter.
Sacrificing a Heavenly Venerable to beg for monthly votes for the Record of the Shepherd God! Stay tuned for tonight's chapter!
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