Chapter 1537: The First Battle
At the source of the Surging River, the Celestial River had already changed course as the Heavenly Court migrated to the Ancestral Court, returning to its original position. The Surging River’s channel no longer held the magnificent, surging currents.
The riverbed remained, but the Celestial River had drifted into the sky.
Water still flowed in the river, but it was shallow and murky, containing only some fish, shrimp, and aquatic races. The dragon race that once lived here had migrated into the sky along with the Celestial River, establishing splendid palaces in the aerial Celestial River.
However, many gods and demons were stationed along the riverbanks, on high alert.
When the Seven Heavenly Lords visited the Black Mountain Sacred Land, Fire Heavenly Lord, Palace Heavenly Lord, and the Lady of Grand Yin heard that Qin Mu had come to rescue Ling Heavenly Lord, so they rushed over in a flurry, only to find nothing.
Their status was extraordinary, and they couldn’t wait indefinitely for Qin Mu, so they naturally wouldn’t stay here forever. The gods and demons stationed here were their subordinates.
Qin Mu glanced around and saw that those gods and demons had already set up camps and built small divine cities. When they saw him, they acted as if facing a great enemy.
From those camps and divine cities, divine messenger after divine messenger sped away, presumably to notify Fire Heavenly Lord and the others.
Qin Mu paid them no mind and walked straight to the edge of a divine city, smiling, “Who will go and inform Dawn Heavenly Lord for me?”
The garrison commander in the city trembled with fear and shouted loudly, “Pastoral Heavenly Lord, don’t be arrogant! This is no place for you to run wild—”
Qin Mu’s gaze swept over, and a great abyss of Return to Void appeared above the divine city.
The commander’s face turned pale, and all the gods and demons in the city dared not make a move.
The great abyss of Return to Void rotated, and a tremendous gravitational tide locked onto all of them. If the abyss’s power erupted, it could swallow them all without a trace!
Qin Mu’s expression was kind, and he smiled gently, “No need to be afraid. I am, after all, a Heavenly Lord, not some demon who kills without blinking. Who will go and inform Dawn Heavenly Lord for me?”
“Your servant will go at once!”
The commander hurriedly transformed into a beam of divine light and fled far away, heading straight for the nearest Spirit Energy Teleportation Bridge.
Qin Mu dispersed the Return to Void technique and walked into the divine city. He went straight to the city tower and sat down. The gods and demons in the city were silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to speak. A few clever divine soldiers quickly presented fine tea, fine wine, and dried fruits, and ordered singing girls to come forward, playing string and bamboo instruments, singing and dancing to entertain the Heavenly Lord.
Qin Mu opened his mouth, and the divine maiden beside him hastily placed a peeled purple jade grape into his mouth—the seeds had even been removed.
After eating the grape, Qin Mu pursed his lips, and immediately a divine maiden brought fine tea to his lips.
Qin Mu drank the tea, watching the dancers’ graceful figures and beautiful movements, their songs touching the soul. He couldn’t help raising his hands.
The divine maidens on either side quickly grabbed this Heavenly Lord’s hands to help him clap.
“Clap, clap, clap!”
Qin Mu applauded and praised, “Truly wonderful. This song is a tribute to the soldiers who died gloriously for the Heavenly Court in the Valley of the Sun, isn’t it? A song of praise, extolling the loyalty and filial piety of the Heavenly Court’s soldiers, their loyal hearts and righteous courage, unbending and unyielding, preferring death to surrender! Truly wonderful! The singing is so good, I almost shed tears!”
The Heavenly Court divine generals in the tower laughed awkwardly. One general said, “The singer is my daughter. Shall I send her to your chambers tonight?”
Qin Mu leaned sideways and said, “Your daughter has a beautiful voice. Then her mother must be no less talented…”
The general quickly said, “If the Heavenly Lord likes, I can send her to your chambers as well…”
Qin Mu burst into laughter, and the generals in the tower joined in. Suddenly, Qin Mu’s face turned cold, and the smiles on the soldiers’ faces vanished instantly. The tower fell deathly silent, and even the string and bamboo music stopped.
Qin Mu slowly opened his mouth, and the divine maiden beside him hastily placed a peeled grape into his hand. The Heavenly Court generals finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the music resumed.
Suddenly, Qin Mu stood up and laughed heartily, “Grand Emperor, you’ve finally come!”
The music stopped, and everyone in the tower turned to look at Qin Mu, speaking in unison, “Pastoral Heavenly Lord, you are courting death!”
“I warned you long ago, don’t harbor vain hopes!”
“Don’t try to rescue Ling Heavenly Lord!”
Qin Mu laughed as he walked out of the tower. All the Heavenly Court gods and demons in the city turned to look at him—a thousand faces, a thousand expressions, yet all were the Grand Emperor alone.
“And yet you persist in your own way, repeatedly seeking death!”
The tens of thousands of gods and demons in the city let out a earth-shattering roar: “I don’t even need to act personally; the other Heavenly Lords will kill you!”
Qin Mu looked toward the camps of the other Heavenly Lords’ armies in the distance. In those camps and divine cities, gods and demons turned their necks one by one to look at him, a scene of extreme eeriness.
On both banks of the Surging River, all the Heavenly Court armies spoke in unison: “I could tolerate you before, but now, I cannot tolerate you!”
Qin Mu raised his hand, and the Execution Platform spun out from his Embryonic Divine Treasure. Two Execution Divine Blades coiled around the platform like two evil dragons, exuding overwhelming killing intent.
“Grand Emperor, do you see the Execution Platform and the Execution Divine Blades?”
A smile curled at the corner of Qin Mu’s mouth, and he said leisurely, “Your Qiang Heavenly Consort’s reincarnated body has already been killed by me, and the Execution Platform and Execution Divine Blades have fallen into my hands. Seeing this, don’t you understand yet?”
Around him, the gazes of countless gods and demons from the camps and divine cities all fell on the Execution Platform and Execution Divine Blades, showing shock and fury.
“I slowly sank Qiang Heavenly Consort into the Chaos River of the Ancestral Court’s Jade Capital City, watching her slowly annihilate, turning into calamity ash.”
Qin Mu smiled, “Grand Emperor, you are old and useless. Even if you entrust your divine consciousness in the Grand Luo Heaven, immortal and indestructible, what can you do? You can only cower there, silently waiting, until someone grows to surpass you, then ascend to the Grand Luo Heaven and erase you completely!”
Tens of thousands of Heavenly Court soldiers let out a furious snort in unison.
“You’re outdated, you know? Now, there are no fewer than four people capable of ascending to the Grand Luo Heaven and killing you!”
Qin Mu smiled faintly, “Give up your resistance against me. Return Cloud Heavenly Lord to me, let me rescue Ling Heavenly Lord, and I won’t trouble your primordial spirit, Ming Fangyu. The Heavenly Emperor’s physical body can also be taken by you as you wish. Otherwise, this calamity, you will not escape, and like Yan Heavenly Consort, you will also turn into calamity ash!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the sky suddenly twisted. In the south, rolling flames surged, and a Vermilion Bird flew over. Its overwhelming divine might caused the water of the Surging River to boil instantly. The fish, shrimp, and aquatic races in the water were scorched red and died on the spot!
“Fire Heavenly Lord hasn’t arrived yet, but the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird’s physical body has come first.”
Qin Mu showed a mocking expression, “Fire Heavenly Lord is indeed the fastest when it comes to killing his own kind.”
“Just a treasure-delivering boy!”
The tens of thousands of Heavenly Court soldiers roared in unison. An incredibly terrifying divine consciousness descended from the sky, surging from the Divine Consciousness Grand Luo Heaven in the Ultimate Void, rushing toward the flying Southern Emperor’s physical body!
The Southern Emperor’s physical body had been refined by Fire Heavenly Lord. When Fire Heavenly Lord learned that Qin Mu had arrived at the source of the Surging River, knowing it would take some time to get there, he drove the Southern Emperor’s physical body directly while traveling.
The Southern Emperor’s physical body was the body of the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird, born of Dao fire. Wherever it passed, the sky melted, space collapsed, and distant space twisted, forming layers of spatial halos around the Vermilion Bird, extremely hot and bright.
The power of this physical body was immense, comparable to a Heavenly Lord.
But the next moment, the Southern Emperor’s physical body was forcibly invaded by the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness, directly erasing Fire Heavenly Lord’s imprint and taking control of the Southern Emperor’s physical body!
The Vermilion Bird flapped its wings, the flames growing fiercer, its speed increasing. The next moment, it arrived at the Surging River, its claws tearing through the air as it lunged at Qin Mu on the city tower!
Fire Heavenly Lord, who was rushing over, was enraged: “Grand Emperor, you broken-down wretch, how dare you contend with me?”
He was truly furious. Just then, suddenly, a brilliant sword light rose from the Grand Void Land. That sword light pierced through the terrifying space formed by the collapse of thirty-five layers of void across the Void Bridge, skewering the Heavenly Court camp stationed there. Wherever the sword light passed, Heavenly Court soldiers turned to dust.
Fire Heavenly Lord saw this sword light from afar, and his heart leaped.
That sword light was the sword path of the Founding Emperor. Clearly, Founding Emperor Qin Ye had launched a sudden attack at this critical moment!
The Heavenly Court’s army was stationed before the Void Bridge in the Grand Void Land, with Heavenly Masters and Heavenly Kings garrisoning it, and the weapons of the four ancient emperors suppressing it. They had been at peace all along.
Now, the Founding Emperor had killed his way out of the Other Shore Void into the Grand Void Land. Was he planning to take advantage of the Heavenly Lords’ absence from the Grand Void Land to slaughter the Heavenly Court’s divine demon army?
Just as he thought this, he saw another magnificent sight.
From the Other Shore Void, a magnificent ship carrying the thirty-three heavens of the Land of No Worries crossed the Void Bridge, arriving opposite the Heavenly Court army!
Fire Heavenly Lord’s heart shook violently: “Qin Ye has gone mad! How dare he leave the Other Shore Void? Is he trying to commit suicide?”
Now he hesitated, uncertain whether he should go to the source of the Surging River or to the Void Bridge.
Both Founding Emperor and Qin Mu were humans. The two had repeatedly opposed the Heavenly Court and the demigods, making it hard for him to maintain face in the Heavenly Court. He wanted to eliminate both.
But now that both were making major moves simultaneously, it was difficult for him to decide who to kill first.
“Qin Mu’s threat is greater! If he succeeds, there will likely be another Ling Heavenly Lord!”
Fire Heavenly Lord’s eyes flickered, but he flew toward the Grand Void Land, thinking to himself, “However, Pastoral Heavenly Lord is held back by the Grand Emperor, so he can’t succeed. Therefore, the greatest threat is still Founding Emperor Qin Ye!”
Meanwhile, Hao Heavenly Lord frowned deeply. He was also on his way to the Surging River, traveling with Palace, Void, Ancestor, and Lang Heavenly Lords, but the upheaval in the Grand Void Land left him in a dilemma.
“The Heavenly Court’s army cannot be slaughtered by the Founding Emperor and the Land of No Worries, or it will severely damage the Heavenly Court’s control over the myriad worlds.”
Hao Heavenly Lord quickly made up his mind and continued toward the Surging River: “But compared to Founding Emperor Qin Ye, Pastoral Heavenly Lord is the key. Moreover, the Heavenly Emperor’s physical body absolutely cannot fall into Dawn Heavenly Lord’s hands! His naturally unmatched physical body is the strongest weapon in the world!”
Others didn’t know the terror of the Heavenly Emperor’s physical body, but he knew it all too well.
The physical body of Heavenly Emperor Grand Beginning had never been injured!
Even beings like the Heavenly Duke and the Earth Lord couldn’t injure the Heavenly Emperor’s physical body.
If Dawn Heavenly Lord seized the physical body, his Heavenly Palace would be complete, allowing him to ascend directly to the Ultimate Void and imprint his power into the Grand Luo Heaven there.
Others’ physical bodies couldn’t enter the Ultimate Void; they would be assimilated by it. But the Heavenly Emperor Grand Beginning’s physical body would not.
“If Dawn Heavenly Lord takes the throne before me, he will certainly strike ruthlessly and dismantle us all!”
Just as the Southern Emperor’s physical body flew in with flapping wings, Qin Mu had already taken out his hairpin, drew it through the air, and a Celestial River from over forty thousand years in the past reappeared in the world!