Chapter 1560: The Unfathomable Human Heart
Tai Su Goddess suddenly turned around and saw Hao Tianzun’s face, an expression impossible to read as either sorrow or joy.
Her heart gradually sank, yet she still refused to give up, forcing a smile as she asked, “When did Hao’er arrive?”
“I have been here all along.”
Hao Tianzun’s words plunged her into an icy abyss: “I have been right behind you, Aunt, the entire time. Palace Heavenly Lord’s divine consciousness illusion has already entered the Dao. When she cast the illusion, even you could not detect it, could you? The path of divine consciousness belongs to the path of Tai Chu. You are Tai Su, and you understand far too little of the path of Tai Chu.”
A great terror arose in Tai Su Goddess’s heart. All along?
Did this mean that Hao Tianzun had been following them ever since they left the Heavenly Court?
Had Hao Tianzun heard everything they said?
“Mu Heavenly Lord, Palace Yun’s divine consciousness illusion could never stump you. Did you notice nothing along the way?”
She whirled around abruptly, staring at Qin Mu within the Wheel of Ten Thousand Daos, her voice no longer as beautiful and melodious as before, but harsh and shrill: “You could see through her divine consciousness illusion, yet you remained silent the entire time! You wanted to see me die, didn’t you?”
“Tai Su, you are far too arrogant and self-centered.”
Qin Mu said, “Do not forget one thing: from beginning to end, you and I have always been enemies. Your death would only make me happier.”
Tai Su was furious.
Hao Tianzun laughed, “Aunt, Mu Heavenly Lord is still merciful. He wanted to use this opportunity to dispel my intention to kill you. Do not misunderstand his meaning.”
Tai Su turned around again, smiling sweetly at Hao Tianzun: “The human heart is truly complex. I thought I could grasp it, toy with you post-natal beings in the palm of my hand. But I never expected your human hearts and natures to be far more complicated than I imagined. It turns out that in the end, I am the most naive one in your eyes.”
In Hao Tianzun’s eyes, she appeared as Yuan Mu Madam—charming and pitiful, yet also strangely clever and mischievous.
She still wanted to manipulate the human heart; it was almost her instinct.
“Hao’er, Aunt was wrong.”
She said softly, “I know I was wrong. Can you forgive me just this once? I will agree to do anything you ask. Whatever request you make, I can fulfill it.”
Her voice grew softer and softer, so soft it seemed to drip with seduction: “Any request. You can have me transform into any form, do any shameful thing. I can lick your toes, or any other place…”
“A woman like me has many uses, countless uses. How many emperors, generals, and ministers have dreamed of having me but could never obtain me. But if I die, I become utterly useless. You will never find another woman like me.”
Hao Tianzun listened quietly, then suddenly laughed, “What a tempting proposal.”
Hope rekindled in Tai Su’s heart. As long as she lived, the future was still possible!
“Aunt, even now you still do not understand why the Ten Heavenly Lords could coexist peacefully with each other for hundreds of thousands of years.”
Hao Tianzun said leisurely, “It is because we share a common interest. For the sake of that common interest, we can compromise, tolerate, and cooperate with one another. There are also conflicts among us, but if we lose in those conflicts, we will submit to the victor.”
He smiled, “Do you know why?”
Without waiting for Tai Su’s answer, he continued, “Because we know that even if we lose to our opponent, as long as we are willing to bow our heads and submit, the opponent will not take our lives. From beginning to end, we share the same interests. Submitting to the opponent still allows us to preserve our interests.”
“And the victor spares the loser’s life because he knows that, due to the shared interests, the loser will not betray him. Keeping the loser alive is more useful. That is why, after I won, I did not execute Palace Heavenly Lord, nor Ancestral God King, nor my brother, Lang Xuan Divine Emperor.”
He smiled, “That is also why Palace Heavenly Lord has not betrayed me. You tried to persuade her to surrender, and that was a grave mistake. Not only could you not persuade her, but you could not persuade any of the other Heavenly Lords either.”
Tai Su Goddess’s face turned ashen.
Within the Wheel of Ten Thousand Daos, Qin Mu was lost in thought.
He had once believed that perhaps one or two of the Ten Heavenly Lords could be persuaded to join his side. Hearing Hao Tianzun’s words, he realized how naive he had been.
The Ten Heavenly Lords were a community of shared interests. No matter how fiercely they fought among themselves, they were still a single entity.
“Unfortunately, Aunt, you are not one of the Ten Heavenly Lords. You share no common interest with us.”
Hao Tianzun sighed, “And you are so arrogant, thinking so highly of yourself, believing that as one of the Five Primordial Tai, you are above all else, never learning from your mistakes. How can I possibly feel at ease?”
Tai Su was filled with despair. Suddenly, she activated her companion innate treasure, transforming it into the Tai Cauldron, and suppressed it toward Hao Tianzun.
She herself retreated rapidly, fleeing far away, and shouted harshly, “Hao Tianzun, without me adding the final heavenly palace for you, you will never become an accomplished Daoist! Killing me means cutting off your own path to Dao attainment!”
Hao Tianzun allowed the Tai Cauldron to suppress him. This cauldron was also battered and broken, covered in Dao wounds left by Qin Mu on this companion innate treasure.
The Tai Cauldron could pose no threat to Hao Tianzun at all.
Hao Tianzun raised his hand, and the Tai Cauldron was suppressed by immense pressure, shrinking uncontrollably until it fell into his palm.
He clenched his hand heavily, and the great cauldron emitted creaking sounds as it twisted into a ball.
Bang!
The Tai Emperor exploded, transforming into a mass of Tai Su Qi. Within the Tai Su Qi, the rhythm of the Great Dao flowed. It was Hao Tianzun using his own understanding of the Tai Su Dao to repair the damage to this companion innate treasure!
In the distance, Tai Su fled, but she found that she could never escape this divine city.
Hao Tianzun stood in the center of the city, and around him, it was as if an absolute inwardly collapsing spacetime had formed, constantly collapsing toward him!
She looked back and saw the magnificent scene of thirty-six heavenly palaces forming behind Hao Tianzun’s head. Without relying on her power, Hao Tianzun, with only his own understanding, was enough to form a complete Heavenly Court!
Not only that, but she also saw another Heavenly Court, one led by the Guixu Dao, also consisting of thirty-six heavenly palaces.
The two Heavenly Courts were one positive and one negative—one eternally bright, the other forever dark!
Even more terrifying, she saw the Tai Su Qi in Hao Tianzun’s palm and the Tai Su Dao within it.
Her heart sank deeper and deeper. She had still underestimated the Nine Heavenly Lords of the Longhan Era.
Among the nine Heavenly Lords of the Longhan Era, Yu Heavenly Lord was the foremost, with Hao Tianzun second. Yu Heavenly Lord had opened the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, and Hao Tianzun had opened the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury. As the second person in that ignorant age to open a cultivation realm, his talent and comprehension were unparalleled!
In the years she had interacted with Hao Tianzun, he had already comprehended the Tai Su Dao from observing her. In fact, Hao Tianzun’s understanding was even deeper than her own!
Hao Tianzun had been playing along with her all along, constantly probing her power, comprehending her Great Dao, and squeezing out her value!
Now, to Hao Tianzun, her last remaining value was herself—her own Dao.
Hao Tianzun completed the Tai Su Qi in his hand and swallowed it whole.
He turned around and reached out his hand toward Tai Su Goddess.
Tai Su Goddess screamed repeatedly, struggling with all her might, but any of her divine abilities or Dao techniques were utterly useless before an existence possessing two Heavenly Courts.
Qin Mu watched this scene silently. Tai Su could see little, but he could see much more.
Hao Tianzun’s two Heavenly Courts—the one led by the Tai Chu Dao, with its power center at Lingxiao Treasure Hall, and the one led by the Guixu Dao, with its power center at Zixiao Treasure Hall.
“That is to say, he simultaneously possesses the power of the Third Young Master and the Fourth Young Master of Miluo Palace.”
“He has sided with the Fourth Young Master of Miluo Palace. Logically, he should have replaced all his heavenly palaces with Zixiao Treasure Halls, but he did not. He only replaced half.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered, and he thought to himself, “His purpose in doing this is probably to prepare for eliminating Xiao Heavenly Lord. Eliminating Xiao Heavenly Lord would gain him the support of the Third Young Master of Miluo Palace. Once Xiao Heavenly Lord dies, the Third Young Master, in order to achieve his own goals, would have no choice but to support him. In this way, his position would be eternally secure, and no one could overthrow him.”
Hao Tianzun’s methods and ambition sent a chill down even his spine.
This Heavenly Lord was even more difficult to deal with than he had imagined!
Tai Su’s fate was already sealed, and no one could change it. Qin Mu could only feel regret.
He had tried to save Tai Su before, more than once, but she had repeatedly rejected his goodwill, misunderstood or simply failed to understand his intentions, leaving him with nothing but helpless sighs.
Tai Su Goddess fell into Hao Tianzun’s palm, and like the Tai Cauldron, she exploded with a bang, turning into a mass of Tai Su Qi and Tai Su Dao.
A look of delight appeared in Hao Tianzun’s eyes. He examined and scrutinized the Tai Su Qi and Tai Su Dao in his hand over and over again, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Finally, he erased Tai Su’s consciousness, swallowed it, and refined it.
Qin Mu sighed and sank back into the Wheel of Ten Thousand Daos.
Of the Five Primordial Tai, two were now gone.
Xiao Heavenly Lord had become a solitary figure, with only the two Taiji Ancient Gods by his side. But the Taiji Ancient Gods were useless and could not contend with Hao Tianzun and the other Heavenly Lords supporting him.
“Xiao Heavenly Lord has obtained Tai Chu’s physical body. That body is incredibly powerful, but it is covered in wounds, all Dao wounds. If it were me, I would take this body to the Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court and ask the Third Young Master to heal it. Only then could he stand against Hao Tianzun.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered, and he thought to himself, “Presumably, Xiao Heavenly Lord has already set off for the Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court. But even so, his chances of victory are slim. Hao Tianzun’s momentum is already established. The next step is for him to imprint his power onto the Ultimate Void and grow his Dao Tree! How terrifying will he be then?”
In the Heavenly Court, Hao Tianzun had said in front of everyone that during the battle in the Great Luo Heaven, he had understood the method of imprinting power onto the Ultimate Void. He said he needed some time to recuperate before going to the Ultimate Void to attain the Dao.
This statement was half true and half false. The truth was that he had indeed understood the method of imprinting power onto the Ultimate Void. The falsehood was that he did not need to recuperate.
His physical body could not withstand the power of the Ultimate Void. If he went there, even if he could imprint and entrust his power to achieve the Great Luo Heaven, his physical body would be destroyed.
What he had understood was the method of devouring the Tai Su Dao, using it to preserve his physical body!
That was what he meant by “recuperation”!
And now, he had achieved this goal!
“Congratulations, Brother Hao, on your imminent attainment of the Dao.” Qin Mu said calmly from within the Wheel of Ten Thousand Daos.
Hao Tianzun bowed to Qin Mu in the wheel, smiled, and said, “Thank you for your kind words. There are few in this world who understand me, and Brother Mu is one of them. Palace Heavenly Lord, take him to fill the sea eye.” With that, he turned and left.