Chapter 1489: I Am the Wind, the Unfettered Wind
Long Xiao hesitated, forcibly suppressing the urge to flee. He descended from the sky once more, his voice rolling through the air like thunder: "Let me make this clear first—if I sense I'm outmatched, I'll leave immediately. I won't throw my life away for this! Mu Tianzun, do you understand?"
Qin Mu did not look at him. His gaze remained locked on the gaunt, elongated figure. His tone was light and casual: "As you wish."
Long Xiao's colossal body fully detached from the Beast Realm, hurtling toward the gaunt figure. Wind and thunder churned in his wake. Nine heads blotted out the sky over the Ancestral Court. Eight of them performed visualization and spellcraft, unleashing a torrent of soul-consciousness divine abilities that crashed toward the gaunt figure. The ninth head spoke loudly: "Mu Tianzun, remember this—my son Long Pi has a good relationship with you. If I die, given his current cultivation and strength, he cannot yet inherit my position! The other giant beasts of the Beast Realm will tear him to shreds!"
As his claws extended and his soul-consciousness divine abilities struck the gaunt figure, his immensely powerful body—honed through countless sacrifices by Creators—exploded with unparalleled might. His claws, as sharp as the keenest blades, tore toward the gaunt figure!
Times had changed. The old Long Xiao had been stagnant, dormant in the shadow of the Ancestral Court, ruling over the ancient giant beasts with arrogance. But now, he had clearly learned much from Long Qilin about the knowledge of Eternal Peace. Both his divine ability power and physical strength had grown far beyond before!
At his level, progress was nearly impossible, but Long Xiao was different from others. His knowledge had been limited to the era of the Creators. When he absorbed the fruits of Eternal Peace's reforms, his foundation erupted, and his cultivation and strength soared!
He was also a Tianzun-level existence. In the past, the Creators had used him to intimidate the ancient gods, forcing even Celestial Lord and Earth Lord to yield to him. Now, with wings added to his tiger, his body shrank rapidly as he descended!
Shrinking his body allowed his power to condense highly, making his physical attacks far more potent.
He could also tell that the strange eye in the Black Mountain of the Ancestral Court and the figure within it were no ordinary threats. Thus, he went all out from the very start!
The gaunt figure looked utterly wretched—one arm severed, his brow bloodied, his body covered in wounds. Yet he showed nothing but disdain for Long Xiao's ferocious assault.
*Boom!*
Long Xiao's soul-consciousness divine abilities, highly condensed, surged into the gaunt figure's body, attempting to visualize within him and burst him apart from the inside. But as the divine abilities from Long Xiao's eight heads entered the gaunt figure's body, there came a series of eight muffled thuds. Before his soul-consciousness could even begin visualization, it was crushed by the gaunt figure's terrifyingly powerful physique!
*Shiiing!*
Long Xiao's claws descended. The gaunt figure raised a hand to meet them, his five fingers closing around Long Xiao's massive paw.
Long Xiao let out a roar and exerted force. The gaunt figure did the same. A series of cracking sounds followed. Long Xiao's tears streamed from the pain. His nine heads writhed, and he suddenly opened his massive jaws to bite down on the gaunt figure!
Half of the gaunt figure's body was in the past universe, the other half outside the cracked Black Mountain, making it hard for him to dodge. Long Xiao's fangs sank into his body, piercing deep!
Suddenly, the power of the vertical eye on the gaunt figure's brow erupted. He turned his head slightly, and a beam of light swept out horizontally. Blood sprayed into the air as one of Long Xiao's heads was severed, then a second, then a third!
Long Xiao screamed in agony. His other claw drove toward the gaunt figure's heart, plunging into his chest. But then, a surge of immense power erupted from the heart his claw had seized, causing his claw to begin melting!
Terror flooded Long Xiao's mind. What kind of being was this?
Half a body, embedded in that strange eye and unable to move, yet with just one hand, he could grievously wound an existence like Long Xiao!
Was there anyone in the world this powerful?
He quickly released his bite, struggled, and launched himself into the air, abandoning his three severed heads in a desperate attempt to flee back to the Beast Realm.
But the gaunt figure still held his claw, refusing to let go. Instead, he pulled Long Xiao back down from the sky.
Panic-stricken, Long Xiao attacked the figure with all his might. He shook his body, sending countless dragon scales flying. Each scale was like a mirror, sharp as a blade, slicing toward the figure!
The strange eye behind the figure hummed with vibration. Countless dragon scales suddenly lost control, flying into the eye. Even Long Xiao's severed heads rose and flew toward it.
"Am *I* the sacrifice?"
A chill ran down Long Xiao's spine. He saw the vertical eye on the gaunt figure's brow glowing again. This strike would likely sever all his remaining heads!
Fear gripped him. Among the Ten Tianzun, even the strongest could not suppress him so thoroughly with one hand, nor defeat him in a single blow!
But now, this figure could kill him with one strike, using him as a sacrifice, as nourishment!
Just then, he suddenly spotted a tiny figure weaving through the falling dragon scales, moving at incredible speed beneath them, rapidly closing in on the gaunt figure.
"Mu Tianzun..."
Long Xiao had no time to think. His six heads darted about frantically, trying to dodge the light from the figure's eye, but he couldn't avoid it entirely. Another beam struck him, severing another head.
He was like a multi-headed serpent being decapitated, letting out earth-shaking screams, but he couldn't escape death.
Suddenly, Qin Mu had already flown before the gaunt figure. His five fingers spread wide, and he pressed a seal into the figure's chest!
*Hum!*
A blinding, brilliant light erupted—a sprawling Taiji Diagram, forcibly imprinted into the figure's body!
Taiji Evolves, Yin and Yang Move!
Qin Mu alternated his hands, his arms raining down blows like a storm, madly stamping seals onto the figure's chest!
Wherever his palm struck, the figure's body rapidly petrified. The petrified area grew larger, the process accelerating!
The figure let out a thunderous roar, releasing Long Xiao and reaching for Qin Mu.
Qin Mu moved across his body, each strike unleashing his Twenty-Third Heaven's Dao-Entering Divine Ability: Taiji Evolves, Yin and Yang Move. He fought his way from the figure's abdomen to his Adam's apple, then from there to his single arm.
The figure's hand, reaching for Qin Mu, gradually slowed. His shoulder had already petrified, preventing his hand from grasping Qin Mu. But the vertical eye on his brow shot a beam of light at Qin Mu.
Long Xiao knew this was the critical moment. Forcing down his terror, he raised his claw to shield Qin Mu.
The light from the eye was incredibly sharp. With a *shiiing*, it severed his claw.
Long Xiao howled in pain, his five remaining heads raised high, but his tail swept around to block the next strike.
His tail snapped!
Meanwhile, the figure's entire arm had petrified, the petrification spreading up his neck.
Qin Mu had already circled back from the arm, charging at the figure's face. Blow after blow landed precisely on acupoints like Chengjiang, Dicang, Duiduan, Daying, Jiache, Renzhong, and Yingxiang.
Qin Mu didn't stop. He kept moving upward, sprinting around the figure's head in circles, all the way to the crown at Baihui. With his final seal, the figure's upper body was completely petrified!
*Whoosh!*
Qin Mu raced back down the figure's body, imprinting seal after seal of Taiji Evolves, Yin and Yang Move onto his legs, front, and back.
Finally, his last seal struck the figure's toes, petrifying them as well!
Qin Mu landed, stumbling. His body swayed, and he nearly collapsed.
"Such an existence can't be sealed with just Taiji Evolves, Yin and Yang Move!"
He forced himself to take a breath, activating his divine storage domain. The remnants of his energy circulated through the World Tree, frantically fueling his technique. He launched himself into the air again, pressing more seals onto the figure!
Taixu Suddenly Opens the Chaotic Bud!
Taishi Asks the Azure Vault of Form and Substance!
He alternated between these two divine abilities, causing the petrified gaunt figure's body to grow increasingly ethereal, transforming into an energy form, turning him into something with form but no substance!
Suddenly, Qin Mu's divine power ran dry. He fell from midair.
Long Xiao dove down from the sky, using his own body as a cushion to catch him. Man and dragon crashed into the ground, sliding for dozens of miles before finally stopping.
Qin Mu struggled to rise, but swayed and collapsed again, rolling off Long Xiao's body into the dust.
Long Xiao's body crackled and popped as he shrank, transforming into a strange creature with no hands and five heads, dragging a remnant tail behind him.
He quickly visualized, conjuring new arms and a tail. But nearly all his dragon scales had been devoured by the strange eye behind the figure, leaving his body riddled with bloody holes.
Enraged, Long Xiao grabbed Qin Mu by the collar and hoisted him up, laughing bitterly: "Mu Tianzun, I agreed to do three things for you! But the first one nearly killed me! I'm not doing the other two! If you've got the guts, send your brother to eat me!"
Qin Mu lifted his head with difficulty, his voice hoarse: "Strike... quickly, shatter him..."
Long Xiao sneered: "I can shatter him for you, but that counts as the second task. The third task—our agreement about Little Earth Lord is null and void. What do you think?"
"Quickly shatter him!"
Qin Mu roared with all his remaining strength: "His eye is his Dao Fruit, the only part that can't be petrified—a Dao Fruit condensed from the Great Dao! His other half is in the past universe, not petrified! He's activating that half! My divine abilities won't hold him for long!"
Long Xiao set him down and was about to charge forward to shatter the figure's body when suddenly the gaunt figure moved. Streams of light, like flowing water, cascaded from the strange eye on his brow.
The petrified body trembled, the stone form swaying unsteadily.
Long Xiao was startled and stopped in his tracks. Qin Mu hissed: "Attack his eye! That's his only weakness! Shatter his eye, and he dies! He has a Dao Fruit, but it hasn't merged into the Ultimate Void! This is when he's weakest!"
Long Xiao hesitated, turning back: "Easy for you to say! You do it!"
He paused, mustered his courage, and flew forward. Suddenly, the vertical eye on the figure's brow blazed with light. Startled, Long Xiao shot upward, streaking through the sky. In a flash of light, he had returned to the Beast Realm.
His courage was broken. He dared not fight anymore.
Qin Mu gritted his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
He reached out, grabbed Taiyi's staff, and hobbled toward the gaunt figure, muttering: "I am the wind..."
"The free and unfettered wind!"
He panted heavily, forcing himself to speed up. The words that escaped his lips were lessons taught to him in his youth by the Cripple of the Remnant Village.
"When I'm fast enough, when my heart is calm enough, when I feel light enough, I can sense the power of the wind."
His steps grew faster, and soon wind stirred beneath his feet.
"Then I can chase the wind, ride its crest, and soar freely through the sky..."
He walked through the air, his speed increasing.
"I am the wind, the unfettered wind, no one can catch me..."
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His skin split open as he ran, pushing his speed higher and higher.
He pointed Taiyi's staff at the gaunt figure's brow, at that vertical eye. His vision grew blurry, his gaze lost.
"I am the wind, the boy chasing the wind..."
He staggered through the air, struggling to accelerate. Suddenly, a gaunt figure appeared beside him. An old, gentle voice whispered in his ear: "Mu'er, give me the staff."
A strong hand took the staff from him. Qin Mu's pupils contracted as he focused his sight, seeing the Cripple's face.
"Don't go."
He grabbed the Cripple's sleeve: "Don't go, you'll die..."
The Cripple pushed his hand away. His steps were light, turning into a streak of light as he sped away, aiming the tip of the staff at the gaunt figure's brow.
Qin Mu's mind was in chaos. His feet could no longer ride the wind's crest. His body fell helplessly from the sky.
"Don't go!" he screamed with all his might.
The Cripple's blue robe fluttered, leaving a trail of azure light in the air. In that moment, his form broke through space, surpassing his own limits.
"I am the wind! The unfettered wind!"
His voice exploded through the air: "The wind that no one can catch!"
*Shiiing!*
Taiyi's wooden staff, along with the Cripple's figure, pierced into the vertical eye on the gaunt figure's brow. After a brief silence, an earth-shattering wave of power erupted!
The gaunt figure's head exploded. His body crumbled, pieces of stone falling from the sky. A blinding light surged forth, and a massive shockwave sent Qin Mu flying.
He slammed hard into the ground, tumbling and rolling. It was a long time before he stopped. He struggled to get up but couldn't.
A staff spun through the air, then suddenly stuck into the ground before him.
Qin Mu looked up. Red blood was trickling down the staff.
He reached out, gripping the staff tightly, and hugged it to his chest. Tears mingled with the blood on the wooden staff as they flowed down.
He lay there, clutching the staff like a child, not moving for a long time.
That old man could no longer compete with him for candied hawthorns. Could no longer steal him back.