Chapter 1638: The Battle to Break the Stalemate
Tai Chu laughed heartily, his voice booming, shaking the void.
His strength was immense. Standing there, he caused layers of space to warp and tilt toward him.
He had reclaimed his physical body, attained enlightenment through power, and cultivated the One Qi Grand Celestial Realm. Although he was overshadowed by the Heavenly Emperor Hao, he remained one of the most formidable existences in this world!
His laughter shook the starry sky violently. The stars that had just faded were jolted back into view, flickering and dimming.
Qin Mu, however, wore a faint smile, watching him calmly.
"Celestial Venerable Mu, how many times have you been defeated?"
Tai Chu's laughter subsided, and he said leisurely, "The Yan Kang Calamity was your first defeat. You lost at my hands, and life became worse than death. The survival or destruction of Yan Kang hung on my whim. In that battle, heaven turned a deaf ear to your cries, earth refused to answer your pleas. You were cornered, with no way out. You had to separate yourself from Qin Fengqing, and you couldn't even hold onto your identity as the Prince of You Du. In the end, Emperor Yan Feng and the Yan Kang National Teacher became prisoners of the Heavenly Court, Yan Kang was nearly destroyed, and you almost lost everything!"
Qin Mu smiled slightly and said, "That was also my first encounter with Second Brother. Second Brother was cunning and scheming, and he made me suffer greatly."
Tai Chu chuckled. "At that time, you were just a brash young man. Though you were riding high and seemed deeply strategic, to me, you were nothing more than a cricket in a jar. Every move you made, every thought you had, was laughable in my eyes. Your second defeat was even more severe—the Xuan Du battle. You suffered a crushing defeat. You appeared to save the Heavenly Lord, but you lost the entire Xuan Du and the Heavenly Lord's physical body."
He sneered, "Without the Heavenly Lord's physical body, the Heavenly Lord was just a mortal. Without Xuan Du, Yan Kang was exposed beneath it, vulnerable to natural disasters at will! The human race is such a weak species. Unlike demigods, who are born strong, humans possess extraordinary reproductive and survival abilities. But if Xuan Du fell into the hands of the Heavenly Court, no amount of human resilience could withstand the calamities from above! Your second defeat cost humanity its future!"
Qin Mu was unperturbed, saying calmly, "I don't consider the Xuan Du battle a defeat. Second Brother, you overestimate yourself, Xuan Du, and the Heavenly Court. In that battle, I revived the Heavenly Lord and obtained the fifty Heavenly Dao treasures. With the Heavenly Lord and those treasures, the Heavenly Court had no chance of sending disasters down from Xuan Du."
"Fourth Brother, there's no need to gild the lily."
Tai Chu laughed heartily. "Your third defeat was at You Du. In the You Du battle, you launched a surprise attack on the Earth Lord, killing him before we could. That was indeed a stroke of genius. If the Heavenly Emperor Hao hadn't had the contingency plans of the Third and Fourth Young Masters, you might have achieved a great victory and seized You Du! Unfortunately, there is no 'if.'"
He showed a hint of respect and said solemnly, "In that battle, you weren't defeated by the Heavenly Emperor Hao but by the Third and Fourth Young Masters of the Mi Luo Palace. Though a defeat, it was an honorable one."
Qin Mu bowed slightly. "Second Brother flatters me. I didn't lose completely in the You Du battle either. At the very least, Qin Fengqing grew, and the Earth Lord was preserved. To you, it was a great defeat, but to me, I truly gained the Earth Lord as an ally. At the same time—"
He smiled brightly. "I also gained a tremendous opportunity. The Heavenly Emperor Hao consolidated his power, Lang Xuan died, Fire Celestial Venerable died, and the Ten Celestial Venerables fell apart. This was great hope born from great despair."
Tai Chu said seriously, "In the past, I could see through you as clearly as reading the lines on my palm. But by the You Du battle, you had already surpassed my expectations. Your growth has indeed been astonishing. In just a hundred years, you've reached this level—admirable and fearsome. However, your three great defeats in this life have exhausted your luck."
"After the You Du battle, knowing you couldn't resist the Heavenly Court, you pretended to surrender, bided your time, and even married to delay the inevitable. But you never imagined that the Heavenly Emperor Hao would surpass me. He wouldn't give you that time, let alone let you live."
He said calmly, "Once you signed the Yan Kang surrender agreement, your usefulness was over. The Heavenly Emperor Hao sent me to see you off. He gave me two choices: one was to kill you, which I might not be able to do. The other was to sink you into the Chaotic River of the Jade Capital in the Ancestral Court. If you didn't die, you could return to the past universe and become the Seventh Young Master of the Mi Luo Palace. The Heavenly Emperor Hao's thoughts and methods far surpass mine. I am sincerely convinced of my defeat at his hands."
Behind him, the One Qi Grand Celestial Realm grew brighter, and the Dao tree exuded an increasingly astonishing aura of the Great Way. He said leisurely, "Only after attaining the Dao do you realize the gap between that state and the unenlightened. Fourth Brother, for the sake of our sworn brotherhood back then, I'll give you a way out. Enter the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court willingly and jump into the Chaotic River. I won't make things difficult for you. You won't die either—you are, after all, the Seventh Young Master of the Mi Luo Palace. In the past universe, you can still live well."
Qin Mu laughed heartily, clasping his hands behind his back, and said desolately, "Back then, the four of us swore brotherhood: 'We may not have been born on the same day, the same month, or the same year, but we wish to die on the same day, the same month, and the same year.' Third Brother Luo Xiao died early. The three of us were all big liars, and none of us went to accompany him. Later, Second Brother and I sent Big Brother Tai Di to accompany him. I was very relieved. Today, it's time to send Second Brother to accompany Big Brother and Third Brother."
Tai Chu's pupils contracted. Behind him, in the One Qi Grand Celestial Realm, an imperial sword slowly flew out, radiating imperial might. He said calmly, "You won't shed tears until you see the coffin. You still have that temper."
Qin Mu slowly drew the Calamity Sword, tossing aside the scabbard, and said calmly, "Second Brother, I'll give you a chance too. Now that the situation in Yan Kang is excellent, if you're willing to join me against the Heavenly Emperor Hao, you can still be a Dao Attainer in the future and won't have to die. The two of us, sworn brothers, can join forces to resist the prehistoric invasion and atone for your past sins."
Tai Chu sighed, his hand gripping the Tai Chu Imperial Sword. Though it was a replica of the true imperial sword, it was still personally forged by him.
He said desolately, "The four of us became sworn brothers, but I never thought that today, only I would remain."
Qin Mu plucked the sword string, his gaze fixed on the sword tip, his eyes distant. "In this life, I've risen and fallen three times, with great ups and downs. That's all there is to it. After the settling of these three great rises and falls, the only one in this world who can defeat me is myself. This sword of mine no longer needs to hide its edge."
He flicked the sword with his finger. The sword rang out, and its light instantly pierced through layers of space, filling the sky.
Qin Mu gently swung it, pointing the tip downward toward the Origin Realm. In an instant, a rainbow of sword light stretched across the sky of the Origin Realm, from the Western Wastelands across countless miles to the eastern sea.
Qin Mu's vertical eye on his forehead slowly opened, and he said softly, "Sever!"
In Yan Kang, a divine being saw this sword light and urgently notified Emperor Yan Feng and the Yan Kang National Teacher. Emperor Yan Feng was thrilled, while the Yan Kang National Teacher remained calm, immediately rushing to the Wen Dao Academy and shouting, "A sword light has appeared in the sky! Sever the transfer bridges, quickly sever the transfer bridges!"
In the Wen Dao Academy, the Heavenly Master of the Carefree Realm, Woodcutter Wen Tian Ge, raised his axe and swung it. A series of commands were issued. Across the Origin Realm and the myriad realms, countless spiritual energy transfer bridges were immediately destroyed by the divine beings of the Heavenly Court's Dao Sect and the Yan Kang Dao Sect.
Chaos erupted across the myriad realms. The divine beings tasked with severing the divine bridges immediately clashed with the Heavenly Court's garrison forces guarding the transfer bridges, resulting in fierce slaughter!
In the Lang Cang realm, over a dozen Daoists, accompanied by the Black Tiger God, fought through a sea of blood, charging onto the altar of the spiritual energy transfer bridge. The Heavenly Court's stationed demon-god army surged forward endlessly. The Daoists shouted in unison, combining their strength to form a sword array, manifesting the Twenty-Eight Heavens of the Dao Sword to block the enemy.
The Black Tiger God charged forward with all his might, roaring as he activated the spiritual energy transfer bridge. The bridge's structures expanded outward, rotating in different directions.
Suddenly, a Daoist was pierced through by a divine spear. His physical body was impaled, and his primordial spirit flew out, nailed to the altar.
The Black Tiger God turned a blind eye, focusing all his energy on activating the altar, disrupting the sequence of calculations.
The Lang Cang realm was one of the Heavenly Court's most powerful realms. With hundreds of thousands of troops stationed there to guard the transfer bridge, they could respond quickly, reaching the Origin Realm in no time or sending messages to the Heavenly Court instantly!
Therefore, destroying the spiritual energy transfer bridge here was absolutely critical, or everything would be lost!
Another Daoist fell in battle. The sword array was broken, and the Heavenly Court's garrison troops surged forward like wolves and tigers, overwhelming the remaining dozen Daoists!
The Black Tiger God gritted his teeth, roared in fury, and pulled the core from the spiritual energy transfer bridge. The entire bridge collapsed!
He turned and charged into the scattered Heavenly Court army, trying to rescue the dozen Daoists.
"Run—"
A Daoist, pierced by dozens of swords, his body riddled with holes, held off six or seven Heavenly Court divine beings. He turned back with a bloody grin, his teeth stained red: "We've succeeded! Save whoever you can! Run—"
The Black Tiger God's tiger eyes brimmed with tears. He turned and activated countless teleportation runes, which engulfed him.
As he teleported away, the Daoist's voice came from the collapsing bridge: "Our Dao Sect views truth through calculations and seeks the Great Way! Don't underestimate the Dao techniques of the Yan Kang Dao Sect! Minor Celestial Star Dao Resolution—"
Boom—
Infinite starlight erupted from that spot, spinning wildly and expanding outward. It was the microscopic calculations of Yan Kang's mathematics, using calculations to analyze the phenomenon of a stellar explosion. The power was terrifying, soon engulfing the area.
"All spiritual energy transfer bridges from the myriad realms to the Heavenly Court have been severed."
Outside the Origin Realm, Qin Mu's vertical eye slowly opened. "The Heavenly Emperor Hao's move is simply to have the Void Celestial Venerable strike from You Du, annihilating all life in Yan Kang or the Carefree Realm. Or to strike from Xuan Du, plunging the Origin Realm into eternal darkness, letting the Ancestral God King send calamities down upon the Origin Realm. But I have long prepared countermeasures for all of this."
Tai Chu's pupils contracted sharply, his gaze falling on the Origin Realm behind him.
There, in Yan Kang of the Origin Realm, a young man's body was expanding wildly, growing taller than the Yuan Tree of Yan Kang. His head rose into the clouds, and his two horns twisted in nine bends and eighteen curves, piercing straight into the heavens!
"Where my body stands is You Du!"
The young Earth Lord's voice boomed with the heavy demonic tongue of You Du. In an instant, the space of Yan Kang split, forming an overlapping phenomenon of a small You Du and Yan Kang!
At the same time, at the position of the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Carefree Realm, the You Celestial Venerable sat on a paper boat, raising his hand to light the lantern before him.
The light flared, and his shadow instantly covered the earth. His primordial spirit was as vast as his shadow, establishing another You Du in the western part of the Origin Realm!
The two You Dus overlapped. Where the edges and corners were not covered, the Feng Du world emerged. The steles of the Realm of the Dead rose higher and higher, like a great mountain standing in the Origin Realm, protecting these areas.
The King of Yan's cloak fluttered in the wind. He stood sword in hand, enveloping Feng Du, standing in the darkness.
At the same time, the Heavenly Lord arrived at the center of the Origin Realm, thrusting the Heavenly Net treasure into the ground. His body straightened, and the other forty-nine Heavenly Dao treasures soared into the air!
Hum.
Treasures like Heavenly Mechanism, Heavenly Authority, and Heavenly Calamity rose into the sky of the Origin Realm, instantly forming forty-nine layers of barriers!
Within the Origin Realm, forty-nine inner heavens were hidden. The stars and constellations of the myriad realms appeared within these forty-nine inner heavens, complete with suns and moons, forming a small Xuan Du.
Tai Chu watched this scene, his voice hoarse. "Fourth Brother, you've prepared thoroughly."
Qin Mu smiled slightly. "Second Brother flatters me."
Behind him, a grand Heavenly Court suddenly appeared, with seventy-two halls guarding the thirty-three heavenly palaces. Qin Mu's primordial spirit stood before the Chaos Hall, his voice speaking in Dao language, vast and far-reaching: "Second Brother, you know I am the Seventh Young Master of the Mi Luo Palace, but you don't know that I didn't become the Seventh Young Master in the past universe."
Qin Mu stood beneath his own Heavenly Court, appearing extremely small. He looked up at the massive-bodied Tai Chu and said calmly, "I became the Seventh Young Master of the Mi Luo Palace right here, in this universe!"