Chapter 1549: Forty Thousand Years of Solitude
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, a glint of excitement shining in his eyes. The strength of the Imperial Emperor had indeed exceeded his expectations. He had never imagined that the Heavenly Emperor within the Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven could be so terrifyingly powerful.
This was inconsistent with the Imperial Emperor's previous displays of power.
If the Imperial Emperor truly possessed such strength, why would he need to play along with the Ten Celestial Venerables?
Why would he go to such lengths to retrieve his own physical body?
Why would he repeatedly shatter and break his own body in battle after battle?
Why would he go so far as to deploy his reincarnated incarnation, Ming Fangyu, using the Heavenly Emperor's physical form to assassinate Ling Tianzun?
"The Imperial Emperor was most likely ambushed by the Primordial Sage of the Miluo Palace within the Fragrant Incense Hall. After imprinting his divine consciousness onto the Ultimate Void and forging the Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven, he only then realized he had been trapped. Perhaps he cannot manifest his full divine consciousness, only a small portion each time. Therefore, by charging into the Great Luo Heaven, we have actually fallen into his trap."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered. "He can take the opportunity to wipe us all out in one fell swoop! However, the physical body of the Heavenly Emperor, Tai Chu, is not so easily controlled."
He had planted some small tricks within the Heavenly Emperor's body, originally intended to ambush either Xiao Tianzun or Hao Tianzun. As long as either of them tried to seize the body, the "small tricks" he had left behind would activate!
He never expected that the Imperial Emperor within the Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven would be so powerful that he would be the first to snatch the Heavenly Emperor's body from Qin Mu's hands!
The small trick Qin Mu had planted in the Heavenly Emperor's body was none other than a Primordial Qi runic array, branded with Primordial runes. This served two purposes: first, to make it easier for him to control the Heavenly Emperor's body, and second, to lie in wait for anyone else who might try to steal it!
"The Imperial Emperor is this strong, making him truly difficult to defeat. But now that he has seized the Heavenly Emperor's body, there is a possibility of defeating him!"
Just as Qin Mu reached this thought, the Heavenly Emperor's body suddenly spoke, its voice shaking heaven and earth: "What a powerful body! Tai Chu, I have envied you, envied you for a very long time!"
The Imperial Emperor, now controlling this body, looked at Xiao Tianzun and said admiringly, "From the moment you were born, you didn't need to learn anything, didn't need to ask anything. You were the foremost Primordial God under heaven, possessing boundless, unrivaled strength, controlling the Primordial One Qi, with the number one physical body in the world. I am different. I had to absorb knowledge from other Creators, comprehend various divine consciousness techniques, and cultivate step by step. I had to face challenges from other Creators, climbing one step at a time, to achieve anything."
He clenched his fist tightly, feeling the peerless power surging from this body.
Even a Celestial Venerable would find it difficult to fully unleash the power within this body. If Qin Mu, when he had controlled the Heavenly Emperor's body earlier, had been able to fully utilize its strength, he would have beaten Hao Tianzun to death long ago.
To unleash the full power of the Heavenly Emperor's body required not only a profound understanding of the Path of Tai Chu but also an immensely deep cultivation base.
The Imperial Emperor already satisfied both conditions!
The Path of Divine Consciousness was born from the Path of Tai Chu, and as Qiang Tianfei and the Celestial Venerable Ming Fangyu, he had studied the Heavenly Emperor's body and Tai Chu runes for countless years.
He had a tremendous advantage in comprehending the Path of Tai Chu.
As for his magical power, his cultivation realm was even above that of the Kai Huang. Having cultivated a Dao Fruit, his magical power was absolutely unmatched!
He could fully unleash the power of the Heavenly Emperor's body, perhaps even more perfectly than Xiao Tianzun himself!
"Obtaining this body is not my goal."
The Imperial Emperor looked around and smiled. "My goal is also the Path of Tai Chu. To truly master the Path of Tai Chu, besides absorbing the divine consciousness of all Creators, I also need to control the physical body of Tai Chu, and even devour Tai Chu himself! In the past, the Ten Celestial Venerables restrained each other, making it difficult for me to have the chance to control Tai Chu's body alone, let alone devour him. Because Tai Chu had already reincarnated, I didn't know who he was. So I needed Tai Chu to deliver himself to my doorstep. What could be easier than having Tai Chu come to me willingly, allowing me to devour him?"
He laughed heartily. "Besides devouring Tai Chu, I also need to eliminate a group of opponents who pose a threat to me. You all delivering yourselves to me saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one."
With his back against the Dao Tree, his body moved, and the Great Luo Heaven and the Dao Tree shifted with him. The next moment, he appeared before Xiao Tianzun and threw a simple, straightforward punch!
Xiao Tianzun let out a long howl. The celestial palaces and treasured halls behind him burst with intense light. In an instant, he pushed his cultivation and power to their absolute limits!
Not only that, but his comprehension of the Path of Tai Chu also broke through at this moment, allowing him to grasp the twenty-eighth level of the Dao Realm of the Path of Tai Chu in one go!
He was not like Langxuan Divine Sovereign, who relied on others' Dao Fruits to comprehend the higher realms of the Path of Tai Chu, nor was he like Hao Tianzun, whose cultivation was too mixed.
His twenty-eight heavens were a pure twenty-eight heavens of the Path of Tai Chu!
It was important to know that if he could comprehend the thirty-six heavens of the Path of Tai Chu, he would no longer need the Tai Chu Primeval Stone or the Tai Chu Divine Stone, nor would he need to devour and absorb the divine consciousness of the Creators. He could achieve enlightenment solely through his Dao Realm.
It was precisely because entering the Path of Tai Chu was so difficult, with such a high threshold, that he had conceived the idea of devouring the Creators and the Imperial Emperor.
But even so, the twenty-eighth level of the Dao Realm of the Path of Tai Chu was an unimaginable achievement!
If not for the pressure the Imperial Emperor placed on him, he would never have been able to elevate his Dao Realm comprehension by another level in such a short time.
Boom!
Xiao Tianzun spat blood, his bones breaking and tendons snapping, tumbling and rolling backward as he crashed away.
No matter how astonishingly powerful his Tai Chu enlightenment great divine ability was, it could not withstand the force of a single punch from the Imperial Emperor!
The Imperial Emperor took another step forward, his large hand reaching down. Xiao Tianzun was forcibly sucked back, falling into his grasp.
The Imperial Emperor grabbed Xiao Tianzun by the head and lifted him up.
On the other side, a streak of sword light shot forward, aiming for the eyes of the Heavenly Emperor's body. It was Kai Huang, making a move to rescue Xiao Tianzun.
They had been mortal enemies before, both eager to eliminate the other, but the Imperial Emperor was simply too strong. They had no choice but to join forces. If Xiao Tianzun were killed or devoured by the Imperial Emperor, none of them would be able to leave alive!
The Imperial Emperor raised his other hand, placing two fingers in front of his eyes. Kai Huang's sword light clanged twice against his fingers, piercing them and causing two drops of blood to flow.
"Not bad."
The Imperial Emperor praised. "But still far from enough. Qin Ye, you are half a step behind me, and that is the difference between heaven and earth! Now that I have obtained Tai Chu's physical body, the gap between you and me is even wider!"
He flipped his hand and struck out with a palm. Kai Huang thrust his sword, expanding his Sword Dao Great Luo Heaven outward, colliding violently with the Imperial Emperor's palm. The Sword Dao howled, but the Sword Dao Great Luo Heaven shattered upon contact with the Imperial Emperor's palm!
Just then, Hao Tianzun roared in fury, striking with a Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel, which chopped into the wrist of the Heavenly Emperor's body. The power of this strike contained the divine abilities of the thirtieth level of the Dao Realm, erupting in succession. Thirty consecutive great divine abilities bombarded the tendons and meridians of the Heavenly Emperor's wrist, finally forcing the hand to loosen its grip.
Xiao Tianzun broke free and immediately activated his Tai Chu divine abilities, striking the forehead of the Heavenly Emperor's body again and again, trying to shatter the Imperial Emperor's divine consciousness that had invaded the body!
But after so many of his divine abilities landed, the Imperial Emperor's head merely tilted back slightly. Then, two massive beams of Tai Chu primordial light shot from his eyes, blasting Xiao Tianzun away.
The Imperial Emperor raised his other hand and slapped Hao Tianzun. Hao Tianzun's body exploded, blood and flesh flying, bone fragments shooting everywhere!
Tai Su Divine Maiden flew over, activating her companion innate treasure, which transformed into a tattered and broken great bell, and struck it towards the Imperial Emperor. At the same time, she activated the Path of Tai Su to rescue Hao Tianzun and help him regenerate his body.
Clang!
The Imperial Emperor punched the great bell, shattering it into four pieces and blasting it into dust!
He reached for Tai Su Divine Maiden, who shook her body and transformed into the appearance of Gong Tianzun. The Imperial Emperor's expression turned infatuated, but then he grinned and slapped her, smashing her to pieces!
Although Tai Su Divine Maiden was shattered, she immediately transformed into Tai Su Qi and reformed her body, but her aura was greatly diminished. She was both shocked and furious: "Is an Achiever of the Dao this powerful? I don't believe it!"
On the other side, Qin Mu joined up with Ling Tianzun. Ling Tianzun was about to charge forward, but Qin Mu raised his hand to stop her, shaking his head. "Let them fight!"
Ling Tianzun was taken aback. Qin Mu said solemnly, his divine consciousness fluctuating, "Ling, I'm afraid we have to part ways."
Ling Tianzun was momentarily stunned.
Qin Mu transmitted the insights he had gained from studying the Miluo Palace Dao patterns to her, then took out the two Qiankun Mirrors imprinted with those patterns and pressed them into her hands.
Ling Tianzun's heart sank. "Mu, what are you...?"
"The Imperial Emperor must die. But this is the time when the Shang Huang era has fallen and the Kai Huang era has not yet been established. It is forty thousand years ago."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered as he said solemnly, "I need you to activate the Unchanging Divine Ability and send us back to our own era, forty thousand years from now. At that time, the Ultimate Void will contain Kai Huang's Sword Dao Great Luo Heaven, his Dao Tree, and his Dao Flower. Only then will we have the strength to fight the Imperial Emperor. The contingency I left in the Heavenly Emperor's body may not be enough to deal with him."
Ling Tianzun's heart trembled. Her voice hoarse, she said, "I am not a person from forty thousand years in the future. I cannot return to that time. I can only send you all away and remain here in the present."
"Forty thousand years from now, we will meet again. And by then, having studied the Miluo Palace Dao patterns for forty thousand years, you should be able to comprehend their mysteries."
Qin Mu nodded and smiled. "If we still cannot eliminate the Imperial Emperor by then, we will need you to ascend to the Great Luo Heaven and decide the outcome with a single strike!"
His eyes were fervent. "Ling, can you endure forty thousand years of solitude? I need you to endure forty thousand years of solitude in order to rescue Yun Tianzun's primordial spirit!"
Ling Tianzun's eyes gradually dimmed. After a moment, her gaze slowly brightened again, and a smile appeared on her face, carrying a hint of proud aloofness. "Forty thousand years? I have already endured a million years studying the Unchanging Divine Ability alone. What is forty thousand years? Mu, forty thousand years from now, we will meet again in the Great Luo Heaven!"
"I will send you out of the Great Luo Heaven!"
Qin Mu surged his primal energy, and a golden ship flew out from between his brows. Ling Tianzun leaped onto the golden ship, which shot out of the Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven, carrying the woman out of the Ultimate Void.
"Mu, forty thousand years from now, I will return!"
The woman stood at the bow of the ship, waving to him from afar. "Live! Survive!"
Qin Mu sent her through layer after layer of void. Soon, the Ferry World Golden Ship carried Ling Tianzun to the ruins of the Shang Huang era. Ling Tianzun stepped off the golden ship, and it whistled away, disappearing into the depths of the void.
Ling Tianzun looked up. In the Ultimate Void, the Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven flickered in and out of sight.
She took out her peachwood hairpin and began to perform the Unchanging Divine Ability towards the Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven. The divine ability was activated with immense difficulty.
She was casting a spell on the Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven, and within it were all Celestial Venerable-level beings, three Achievers of the Dao, the terrifying Imperial Emperor, and the Heavenly Emperor's body!
Ling Tianzun struggled to cast the spell, exerting all her strength to activate the divine ability, sending Qin Mu and the others towards their own era.
Her magical power surged, and she felt the tremors coming from within the Great Luo Heaven—the backlash against her.
Soon, her magical power was completely drained, but she still forced the divine ability to completion.
Finally, this Unchanging Divine Ability enveloped the entire Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven. Ling Tianzun let out a sharp cry, and the divine ability erupted. The Divine Consciousness Great Luo Heaven vanished with a whoosh!
Ling Tianzun's body went limp, and she knelt down, her aura utterly depleted.
After a long time, she staggered to her feet, her expression a mix of sorrow and joy.
"I'm all alone again..."
A clear tear slid from the corner of her eye, and she murmured, "Still just me alone... But I will keep going. Wait for me!"
She looked at the two Qiankun Mirrors Qin Mu had given her, put them away, turned around, and walked away, her figure gradually fading into the distance.
Several thousand years later, the Kai Huang Heavenly Court was established, and Kai Huang ascended the throne as Emperor. One day, while Kai Huang was reviewing memorials, a woman dressed in green robes with a hairpin in her hair walked out of the night.
Kai Huang looked up and saw the green-robed woman. His entire body trembled violently.
The green-robed woman revealed a smile. "Celestial Venerable Qin, it has been a long time. I have waited for you. It has been very hard."