Chapter 1541: The Moment Ling Tianzun Was Attacked
Above the Yong River, the mist grew heavier and heavier. Within the fog, the Imperial Emperor's divine consciousness controlled the Vermilion Bird's physical body as it flew at great speed. Through the haze, he could vaguely see figures standing on the river's surface, and the scenery on both banks was changing rapidly.
Mountains rose and fell. Seas turned to mulberry fields.
He chased forward and saw figures of Qin Mu, one after another, each with a different posture.
When he reached them, he realized these Qin Mus were all phantom images, like imprints left in the river of time, or like time itself flowing backward, returning to the past.
He looked back and saw his own series of phantom images, stretching from afar to where he stood. As the Vermilion Bird's body flew, these phantoms continued to increase.
Although the Vermilion Bird's physical body flew swiftly, the scenery on both banks gave the Imperial Emperor the feeling of always staying in place. No matter how he flew, he was merely traveling into the past, returning to history.
In truth, he had never moved at all. He had always remained in the same spot. What moved was only the reversal of history.
This kind of divine art was incomprehensible even to the Imperial Emperor as he was now.
Many of the current Heavenly Sovereigns, including Hao Tianzun and Xiao Tianzun, would likely be unable to understand this Unchanging Divine Art either.
"If he manages to rescue Ling Tianzun, what then?"
Traveling through this mist, he lost track of time. He never caught up to Qin Mu. He could only see faint, shifting shadows ahead, vaguely revealing Qin Mu's figure. But whenever he chased after them, he found they were just phantoms left by Qin Mu in history.
He passed directly through one phantom after another, as if passing through mist.
Suddenly, the mist ahead began to thin. The water of the Heavenly River below was no longer flowing backward—ever since entering the mist, the river beneath their feet had been reversing its flow.
Finally, the Heavenly River's current changed from east-west to west-east. At that moment, the surrounding mist dissipated. The Imperial Emperor looked into the distance and saw a Heavenly Court shrouded in divine light appearing before him.
He was stunned, staring in disbelief at that Heavenly Court, from which beams of divine light shot into the sky.
The Shanghuang Heavenly Court!
Or rather, the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court!
This Heavenly Court, which had vanished long ago, was now appearing right before his eyes!
"Could it be that we have returned to the Shanghuang Era?" he thought, deeply shocked.
He drew his gaze closer and saw Qin Mu walking on the river's surface, heading toward the Shanghuang Heavenly Court.
At the same time, the Imperial Emperor saw Ling Tianzun standing before the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court. This scene felt both familiar and strange to him.
The Vermilion Bird shook its head, steadying itself.
Through the Vermilion Bird's eyes, the Imperial Emperor saw the Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court—a human race Heavenly Emperor, the last human Heavenly Emperor of the Shanghuang Era, standing beneath the Southern Heavenly Gate, behind Ling Tianzun.
With him were many divine generals and officials of the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court, including Ling Tianzun's disciple, Yi Shisheng.
"This scene... it seems to be the moment when Ling Tianzun's Unchanging Divine Art was perfected, the first time she fully executed it! The first time Ling Tianzun used the Unchanging Divine Art, which means..."
The Imperial Emperor suddenly realized and quickly looked up. The sky was splitting open!
He saw the Heavenly Emperor Taichu!
Or rather, his own primordial spirit, the Heavenly Sovereign Ming Fangyu, controlling the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, charging down from the Outer Dao Heavenly Court, aiming straight for Ling Tianzun!
At that time, the Imperial Emperor had two identities: one was Ming Fangyu, and the other was Qiang Tianfei. Ming Fangyu was his primordial spirit's reincarnated body, while Qiang Tianfei was a body born from his divine consciousness.
The Imperial Emperor stopped in his tracks and looked up. The Heavenly Emperor Taichu's immensely vast and powerful body descended from the sky, holding a long spear. At the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court, Ling Tianzun was executing the Unchanging Divine Art!
At that moment, Qin Mu ahead also stopped. Everything froze.
Completely frozen.
Whether it was the Imperial Emperor Ming Fangyu controlling the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, or Ling Tianzun executing the Unchanging Divine Art, or the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Emperor, Yi Shisheng, and the others—all were frozen.
The wind that had been howling over the river, the divine light surging from the Shanghuang Heavenly Court, the water of the Heavenly River flowing in its channel—all were now frozen!
The Imperial Emperor wanted to attack Qin Mu, but he was horrified to find that he could not move!
Not only could the Vermilion Bird's physical body not move, but even the Imperial Emperor's divine consciousness could not budge an inch. Terror filled his heart: "What kind of terrifying power is this? Has the Dao Achiever Taiyi made a move?"
"It is not Taiyi or any other Dao Achiever."
Qin Mu seemed to sense his thoughts and spoke ahead of him, unhurriedly: "I used Ling Tianzun's hairpin to summon her Unchanging Divine Art. You and I are both within this divine art now. You, Imperial Emperor, have become the unchanging substance within the art, while I am an outsider, observing the changes in the unchanging substance."
Qin Mu turned his head and smiled at him, but to the Imperial Emperor, that smile seemed like the grin of the most evil demon!
"Unchanging substance can be seen as the process of material flow. Time does not exist, but it can serve as a unit of measurement. Every step I take—if I move forward, time flows backward, reversing. If I move backward, time flows forward, advancing."
Qin Mu explained to him: "If I stand still, all the unchanging substance within this divine art will freeze. The only thing not frozen is me. Saying this, Imperial Emperor, do you understand?"
The Imperial Emperor understood. His voice hoarse, he said: "You mean I have become unchanging substance? But why did I not notice?"
Qin Mu turned around. As he turned, the substance within the entire Unchanging Divine Art underwent subtle changes. Time flowed forward and backward intermittently.
This situation made the whole world seem like an illusion, a falsehood pieced together from countless pictures. Qin Mu's existence caused this false world to stutter.
When Qin Mu steadied himself, the fluctuations disappeared.
"Within the Unchanging Divine Art, time flowing backward, forward, or pausing are all results of changes in the unchanging substance."
Qin Mu walked toward him, but the Imperial Emperor was horrified to find that even though Qin Mu was moving now, he himself still could not budge!
Strangely, as Qin Mu moved, the surrounding scenery kept changing. Ming Fangyu, controlling the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, thrust his spear through Ling Tianzun's back, piercing the woman's body, lifting her, and smashing her into the Heavenly River!
At the same time, Ling Tianzun's Unchanging Divine Art erupted, cutting off the Heavenly River and pulling Ming Fangyu into the divine art.
Even in that situation, Ling Tianzun was still extremely restrained, not pulling the Shanghuang Heavenly Emperor, Yi Shisheng, or the others at the Southern Heavenly Gate into the divine art.
"You said that when your body moves, the unchanging substance changes accordingly, didn't you?"
The Imperial Emperor was greatly puzzled: "Why am I not changing?"
"You are different."
Qin Mu patiently explained: "You were not turned into unchanging substance by Ling Tianzun's Unchanging Divine Art. You are indeed unchanging substance now, but you were turned into it by my Unchanging Divine Art."
He smiled faintly, not looking at the scene of Ming Fangyu killing Ling Tianzun, and continued: "You fell into my Unchanging Divine Art and became the unchanging substance within my art."
He came to the Vermilion Bird's side, looked up at the ancient god's nearly perfect body, and said calmly: "You chased me all the way. Did you see the phantoms I left on the Heavenly River? Did you pass through them?"
The Imperial Emperor stood rigid on the river's surface, the Vermilion Bird's wings spread wide, blazing with fire.
"Those were the Unchanging Divine Arts I left behind."
Qin Mu was very patient, saying: "As long as you passed through the first phantom, you had already fallen into my Unchanging Divine Art. My cultivation is inferior to yours, so the first divine art would have difficulty assimilating you. But you must have passed through more than one phantom. With my current strength, three phantoms are enough to completely assimilate you."
He raised his hand and slowly pressed it against the Vermilion Bird's forehead, bit by bit extracting the Imperial Emperor's divine consciousness from within the bird's body, very carefully: "You passed through a total of twenty-six thousand four hundred and twenty-three times. Actually, that many weren't necessary."
More of the Imperial Emperor's divine consciousness was stripped away, gradually forming the Imperial Emperor's figure before him, though it was composed of divine consciousness, not a real physical body.
"The reason I left so many Unchanging Divine Arts was not entirely to deal with you, but to deal with Taichu and the other Heavenly Sovereigns who entered this place."
Qin Mu extended a finger and slowly pressed it against the divine consciousness Imperial Emperor's forehead, smiling: "Your divine consciousness descended to the lower realm, not in your full-strength state. The full-strength Imperial Emperor no longer exists. Your physical body is dead, Qiang Tianfei is dead, and Ming Fangyu has turned to ashes. But you still have one strongest state—the divine consciousness Imperial Emperor imprinted in the Divine Consciousness Grand Heaven."
His finger seemed very light, but as it pressed down, the structure of the divine consciousness Imperial Emperor's body underwent an unimaginable transformation.
Starting from the forehead, the divine consciousness Imperial Emperor was turned into Taichu Primordial Qi by this finger, which was then absorbed by Qin Mu.
Qin Mu said unhurriedly: "My target is not the current you, but the you in the Grand Heaven. The goal of my rescue is not only Ling Tianzun but also the imprisoned primordial spirit of Yun Tianzun."
The divine consciousness Imperial Emperor's head had already been assimilated more than half, turning into Taichu Primordial Qi.
The divine consciousness Imperial Emperor struggled desperately, trying to resist, but could not break free or fight back.
Only his mouth remained of his head, and soon even that disappeared.
"Beyond that, I have another purpose: to take the opportunity to eliminate Xiao Tianzun and Hao Tianzun."
Qin Mu said: "I left so many divine arts. As long as Xiao Tianzun and Hao Tianzun pass through those Unchanging Divine Arts, they will end up the same as you. Imperial Emperor, as the Mu Heavenly Sovereign who established the Dao of divine consciousness, am I qualified to be your opponent?"
The Imperial Emperor could no longer answer. He had completely turned into Taichu Primordial Qi, absorbed by Qin Mu, and ceased to exist!
The Imperial Emperor, controlling the Vermilion Bird's physical body, was immensely powerful, comparable to a Heavenly Sovereign-level expert.
Yet Qin Mu, with a flip of his hand, easily killed him, not even giving him a chance to resist!
After experiencing the death of Cripple, Qin Mu's demeanor and personality had undergone a great change, whether in handling matters or in his character.
"This is the Unchanging Divine Art. Even if you die, the divine consciousness Imperial Emperor in the Divine Consciousness Grand Heaven cannot know what happened here."
Qin Mu put away the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird's physical body, turned around, and walked forward, observing the changes around him, muttering to himself: "But I will still give you a chance to discover this place and discover me. And when you attack, I will find your Divine Consciousness Grand Heaven and storm it. I will bring a few good friends along, like Second Brother, like the Kaihuang, or Hao Tianzun..."