Chapter 1509: Cannot Be Cured, No Hope
The Ancestral God King snorted coldly, "If you have the guts, then come!"
Even as he said this, seeing the tragic state of the Fire Celestial Venerable, he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. He quickly moved to the side of the Hao Celestial Venerable, not daring to act alone.
On the Dao Tree, the Fire Celestial Venerable's face was completely destroyed, and most of the bones in his face were shattered. Between the broken bones, strands of chaotic energy dripped down from the wounds. The Ancestral God King could even see the Fire Celestial Venerable's bulging eyeballs, the internal structure of his nasal cavity, and even his brain!
Even more terrifying was that the Fire Celestial Venerable's teeth had been dissolved, leaving only three or five. His tongue, however, remained, but his mouth could no longer contain it, with half the tongue hanging out.
In the past, the Fire Celestial Venerable had a handsome and extraordinary appearance, dignified and imposing, with an air of righteousness that inspired awe and reverence.
Now, he had become a hideous figure that no one dared to look at directly—truly a pitiful sight.
One of his arms was broken, and the other had turned into a white bone covered in sword scars. Within those scars, sword light occasionally flickered.
The Hao Celestial Venerable carefully examined the Fire Celestial Venerable's injuries. Suddenly, he raised his hand and chopped off the Fire Celestial Venerable's skeletal arm at the shoulder, saying in a deep voice, "Can you use the Creation Mystic Art to regenerate both arms?"
The Fire Celestial Venerable remained silent.
The Hao Celestial Venerable smiled faintly and said leisurely, "During the Yan Kang Reforms, you also hid a reincarnated body in Yan Kang to secretly learn the results of the reforms. Don't tell me you haven't studied Yan Kang's Creation Mystic Art."
The Fire Celestial Venerable's voice was hoarse as he said, "I can't hide it from Brother Hao."
He activated the Creation Mystic Art, and at the severed ends of his arms, flesh and blood began to grow, and broken bones regenerated. Soon, two small arms grew out, like a baby's arms, with short hands and short arms.
The techniques circulating in Yan Kang were all built on the foundation of the reforms. Without opening the Heavenly River Divine Treasury, it was very difficult to cultivate Yan Kang's techniques.
The Fire Celestial Venerable had not opened the Heavenly River Divine Treasury. Opening the Heavenly River was too risky for him, so his reincarnated body cultivated Yan Kang's techniques, while his main body still followed the traditional Divine Bridge Divine Treasury path.
His Creation Mystic Art had to be re-derived based on his own understanding. However, it was clear that the Creation Mystic Art he derived could not yet achieve the perfect regeneration of the physical body and primordial spirit as quickly and flexibly as Qin Mu could.
He would have to wait for his two short arms and hands to grow gradually before they could return to normal, which would take a few days.
The Hao Celestial Venerable laughed and said, "The Mu Celestial Venerable boasted that the injuries caused by his techniques could never be healed by anyone. Now it seems it was just bragging."
The Fire Celestial Venerable's voice grew even hoarser: "The injuries on my face cannot be healed by the Creation Mystic Art!"
The Hao Celestial Venerable was momentarily stunned. He carefully examined the Fire Celestial Venerable's face and saw that it was exactly the same as before—no flesh or blood had grown at all!
The Creation Mystic Art was completely useless!
The Hao Celestial Venerable pondered for a moment, then stepped back two paces and said, "God King, completely cut off the injured flesh on his face."
The Ancestral God King stepped forward and came before the Fire Celestial Venerable, laughing, "Brother Fire, there are residual traces of the Mu Thief's techniques in the wounds on your face. His techniques are hard to break, so I'll have to cut off your flesh along with the residual techniques. However, the wounds are deep. I'm afraid I might cut off your eyes and tongue as well, and maybe even half your brain. Do you really want me to do this?"
The Fire Celestial Venerable stood there motionless: "God King, just do it!"
The Ancestral God King transformed the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure into a Heavenly Blade and slashed down, completely cutting off the Fire Celestial Venerable's face, along with his tongue, eyes, and half his brain!
Having half of one's head missing is a terrifying thing. Even the remaining half of the brain might fall out of the skull. But the Fire Celestial Venerable still stood there calmly and composedly, his composure so great that even the Ancestral God King couldn't help but admire him.
However, the next moment, something miraculous happened. The Fire Celestial Venerable activated the Creation Mystic Art, and the face that grew back still had no skin or flesh—only broken bones, a tongue, and exposed eyeballs!
The Fire Celestial Venerable could no longer remain calm. His newly grown short arms and hands trembled as he struggled to lift them to touch his face, but his arms were too short to reach.
Moreover, even if he could touch them, it would probably only make him more devastated!
The Ancestral God King stepped back, frowning deeply.
Logically, after cutting off the wounds along with the residual traces of Qin Mu's techniques, the Fire Celestial Venerable's newly grown face should have returned to normal, and it definitely shouldn't have grown back exactly the same as the wounded face.
—This couldn't even be called a face!
Strangely enough, the face that grew back when the Fire Celestial Venerable activated the Creation Mystic Art was still the injured face, not his original appearance at all!
The Fire Celestial Venerable's voice was hoarse and trembling: "God King, cut it off again!"
The Ancestral God King frowned and slashed down again. The ugly face fell to the ground. The Fire Celestial Venerable activated the Creation Mystic Art once more, and a new face grew back, identical to the previous one—equally hideous!
"One more time!" the Fire Celestial Venerable nearly collapsed, his voice harsh and fierce.
The Ancestral God King shook his head and said, "It's useless, Brother Fire. When the Mu Celestial Venerable injured you, he must have used some kind of bizarre technique. Without breaking that technique, you'll never restore your appearance. No matter how many times you cut off your face, it won't make any difference."
The Fire Celestial Venerable let out a furious roar. Suddenly, he activated his immensely powerful divine power, surging it toward his ruined face. Dao Fire blazed fiercely, burning on his face!
He tried to find traces of Qin Mu's techniques and completely erase them!
As long as he could erase Qin Mu's techniques, he could recover!
But no matter how fierce his Dao Fire was, he couldn't find any trace of Qin Mu's techniques, as if such traces didn't exist at all.
The Fire Celestial Venerable screamed as the Dao Fire burrowed through his ruined face, but it encountered no resistance.
There was no enemy, no opposition, leaving all his power completely useless.
"This kind of injury, I can't heal it either."
Behind the Hao Celestial Venerable, the voice of the Tai Su came, saying, "This is not sword Dao, nor is it simply the Dao of Tai Su, the Dao of Tai Chu, or the Dao of Tai Shi. It contains a bit of all kinds of great Dao techniques. Among them are the Unchanging Technique, the Dao of Creation, and it seems there is also some of the Reincarnation Dao that the Yin Celestial Emperor comprehended."
The Fire Celestial Venerable's body trembled as he frantically activated the Dao Fire.
The Tai Su continued, "When the Mu Celestial Venerable's sword Dao struck your face, he had probably already activated his great Dao techniques to invade your body."
The Fire Celestial Venerable forced himself to calm down. His eyes bloodshot, he looked behind the Hao Celestial Venerable and said hoarsely, "Please, Lady, speak! I want to know how his techniques invaded my body!"
"It's very difficult for techniques to invade the body of a Celestial Venerable, as they will encounter resistance from the Celestial Venerable's own functions. But for egg-born ancient gods like me and Tai Chu, it's not so difficult."
A shadow flickered behind the Hao Celestial Venerable, and the voice of the Tai Su Goddess came from there, saying, "The Dao of Tai Chu is divided into Divine Consciousness and Primordial One Qi. The Tai Emperor only learned Divine Consciousness, and he could already roam the world without meeting a worthy opponent. When his Divine Consciousness invaded your bodies, you couldn't resist it, could you?"
The Hao Celestial Venerable and the Ancestral God King nodded.
"And the Mu Celestial Venerable is very proficient in my Dao of Tai Su, the Heavenly Emperor's Dao of Tai Chu, as well as the Dao of Tai Shi and the Dao of Tai Ji. When he attacked your face, he must have used one of these Four Tai Great Daos."
The Tai Su inquired, "Is my guess correct?"
The Fire Celestial Venerable nodded and said, "His sword technique was extremely strange. He held the sword and bowed once, and I felt a sword strike coming from the chaos, impossible to avoid. When that sword pierced my face, everything before my eyes was chaotic energy."
"This is a technique evolved from the Great Dao of Tai Chu."
The Tai Su Goddess said, "This technique turns everything the sword light passes through into chaotic energy, called Hunyuan One Qi. When he used this move to attack your face, the Great Dao of Tai Chu had already invaded your body, injecting another of his techniques into you. How many moves did he hit your face with?"
A glimmer of hope rose in the Fire Celestial Venerable's heart, and he quickly said, "He bowed three times before being pulled away by the Qiang Tian Consort."
"Then you were hit with three moves."
The shadow behind the Hao Celestial Venerable drifted out, came before the Fire Celestial Venerable, and examined him up and down. Suddenly, it burrowed into the Fire Celestial Venerable's body, roamed around, came out from his back, and drifted back behind the Hao Celestial Venerable.
"The Mu Celestial Venerable's first move, Hunyuan One Qi, injected the Dao of Tai Shi, the Dao of Tai Su, and the Dao of Tai Ji into your body, putting your physical structure in a state of having form but no substance and no body, making it easier for him to modify. After the first move, although you didn't feel any abnormality, your physical structure had already gone through three stages."
The Tai Su Goddess's voice came from behind the Hao Celestial Venerable, ethereal and elusive. Everyone heard a different voice, unhurriedly: "The first stage is the Tai Shi stage, having form but no substance and no body. The second stage is the Tai Su stage, having form and substance but no body. The third stage is the Tai Ji stage, having form, substance, and body. Your own Dao cultivation and great Dao cultivation didn't change at all, so you didn't notice. Since you didn't notice, it was difficult for you to resist his second move."
The Hao Celestial Venerable and the Ancestral God King, listening to her analyze Qin Mu's attack, both felt a chill run down their spines.
This shiver rose from their hearts, crawled up their spines, reached the back of their heads, and drilled into their brains!
"The second move was still Hunyuan One Qi. When this move struck your face, it was exactly when the second stage erupted. He injected the Yin Celestial Emperor's Reincarnation Dao into your body along with the Hunyuan One Qi. The Reincarnation Dao combined with the Dao of Tai Su, and your physical form was completely changed."
The more the Tai Su spoke, the more terrifying everyone found it.
"At the same time, he planted the Dao of Creation in your body. This was his second move technique."
"His third move technique was still Hunyuan One Qi, striking your face. This move was extraordinary. He injected the Unchanging Technique into your body, and at that moment, it was exactly the third stage!"
The Tai Su couldn't help but reveal admiration in her words, praising, "When his Unchanging Technique entered your body, it coincided with the fusion of the Dao of Creation and your physical body. At the same time, the Dao of Tai Ji from the third stage erupted, restoring your body to its previous state. However, this 'previous state' was not the true previous state."
The admiration in her words grew stronger, and she almost moaned softly in praise, saying, "This 'previous state' was the state of your face after being hit by his three attacks. He permanently fixed your appearance in its current form!"
She couldn't help but laugh: "Fire Celestial Venerable, you should be grateful that the Mu Celestial Venerable's cultivation is far inferior to yours, and also grateful that the Qiang Tian Consort pulled him away. His divine power is weaker than yours, so these three moves couldn't spread throughout your entire body, only managing to change the structure of your head. If these three moves had invaded your entire body, then even your two arms wouldn't have been able to grow back!"
The Fire Celestial Venerable's anger surged into the sky, dispersing the chaotic mist above his head!
He had suffered such severe injuries, and yet this woman could still laugh, which was unbearable!
Suddenly, the Hao Celestial Venerable's voice came at the right time, saying calmly, "Fortunately, the Mu Celestial Venerable's cultivation is weak, so he didn't harm your life. That's a blessing in disguise."
Hearing his voice, the Fire Celestial Venerable's anger gradually subsided, suppressed.
The Hao Celestial Venerable continued, "Aunt, can you heal the Fire Celestial Venerable's injuries?"
"I cannot."
The Tai Su Goddess said, "I don't have the means to break the Unchanging Technique deeply planted in the Fire Celestial Venerable's body, nor can I break the Reincarnation Dao and the Dao of Creation within him. Unless the Tai Chu Heavenly Emperor returns to his peak state and merges the Divine Consciousness Dao into a complete Tai Chu Dao, it might be possible to resolve the Fire Celestial Venerable's injuries."
The Hao Celestial Venerable raised an eyebrow.
"At that time, the Tai Chu Heavenly Emperor would need to use the Tai Chu Dao to reduce the Fire Celestial Venerable to the Tai Chu form, turning him into Primordial One Qi, formless and substanceless. Then the Tai Shi would need to act, turning the Primordial One Qi into the Tai Shi form, having form but no substance. Then I would act, turning him into a state of having form and substance but no body. At this point, the Yin Celestial Emperor would need to break the Reincarnation Dao left by the Mu Celestial Venerable, and the Ling Celestial Venerable would need to break the Unchanging Technique left by the Mu Celestial Venerable."
The Tai Su Goddess said, "Then, the two Tai Ji ancient gods would need to act to reshape his body. So..."
She said calmly, "There's no hope."
The Fire Celestial Venerable's heart gradually sank into an icy valley, freezing cold.
The Yin Celestial Emperor and the Tai Su were manageable, but the others would never come to save him.
The Hao Celestial Venerable frowned and asked, "Then, will the Fire Celestial Venerable's injuries affect his strength?"
"They will, but not significantly."
The Hao Celestial Venerable breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, it doesn't affect his cultivation and strength much. Brother Fire, a man's ambition lies in all directions. What does being handsome matter? Just forge a mask and wear it on your face."
The Fire Celestial Venerable acknowledged.
The Hao Celestial Venerable said to the Ancestral God King, "Don't go alone to seek out the Mu Celestial Venerable. He has the Qiang Tian Consort by his side, and you are no match for them."
The Ancestral God King laughed heartily: "How could I be afraid of him? But this guy's techniques are indeed bizarre... Where is the Gong Celestial Venerable?"
—Happy birthday to 2017 Fu Sheng Mo Xi!
Zhai Zhu has been too tired these past few days, and his heart rhythm has been irregular. When lying in bed at night, his heartbeat occasionally skips a beat. My wife has asked me to go to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow. I'll try to update on time at noon.