Chapter 1692: The Lonely Sovereign
"The flesh of the Lingguan Hall Master is too ancient. Every part of his body has been cultivated into an ancient god. If someone like that, when your battlefield is deadlocked, suddenly transforms into thirty of the most supreme ancient gods and kills your generals, how would you respond?"
Yun Heavenly Lord picked up white stones one by one, placing them continuously, throwing thirty white stones into Qin Mu's game. "Thirty beings, with strength nearly that of Heavenly Lord or Earth Lord, suddenly appearing on various battlefields would be enough to overturn the war. Which general on any side could withstand that?"
Qin Mu frowned slightly, looking at the game.
The Lingguan Hall Master's cultivation method was extremely peculiar. He had noticed this too. When he and Shangjun killed the Lingguan Hall Master, every part of that Hall Master's body was like a living ancient god. Even when Shangjun cut him into dozens of pieces, each piece could still act independently.
Shangjun and he had joined forces, but in the end, they only damaged his Dao tree, preventing him from attaining Dao in this universe.
In the end, Qin Mu had devised a plan, using supreme sword Dao and Dao techniques to break one of his Dao fruits and destroy his head.
These days, he didn't know if the Lingguan Hall Master had managed to heal the Dao wounds left by Qin Mu's sword Dao and restore his head. Even if he could heal the Dao wounds, he probably couldn't refine a new head to the same level of strength as before.
"The Lingguan Hall Master still has two Dao fruits and one Dao flower left, equivalent to three Dao attainers. The strength of three Dao attainers matches thirty of the most supreme ancient gods."
Qin Mu stared at Yun Heavenly Lord's game board. The game they played had no crisscrossing lines; they placed stones directly in the air. Even more peculiar was that the game seemed to have no rules—they could place as many stones as they wanted wherever they wanted.
For example, when Yun Heavenly Lord said the Lingguan Hall Master could transform into thirty Heavenly Lords, he placed thirty stones, scattering them on both sides of the dragon heads of each major dragon in Qin Mu's formation, ready to sever the dragon heads.
"The four ancient god emperors—none will be spared. The four Heavenly Masters of Carefree Realm, the four Heavenly Kings—all will lose their heads! The new master of the Beast Realm, Long Pi; the Yan Kingdom National Teacher, Jiang Baigui; the Heavenly Saint Old Sect Leader, Wei Suifeng; Emperor Yanfeng; Gongsun Yan; the First Ancestor Human Sovereign; the Chiming Two Emperors; Lady Tianyin; Qin Fengqing; Heavenly Lord and Achou—all these forces will be destroyed one by one as the Lingguan Hall Master joins the battle!"
Yun Heavenly Lord placed another stone. "And Hao Heavenly Lord still has strength to spare. He can even send a stone to the World Tree in the Ancestral Court to kill Xu Shenghua! With Xu Shenghua broken, the prehistoric invaders will be endless."
Qin Mu shook his head. "The Hao Heavenly Emperor won't do that."
"But the Lingguan Hall Master will."
Yun Heavenly Lord said, "The Lingguan Hall Master is the Hall Master of the Jade Capital in the Ancestral Court. He helps Hao Heavenly Emperor for the sake of the Jade Capital in the Ancestral Court, to facilitate the descent of Dao attainers from the Jade Capital. When Dao attainers cannot descend, opening the passage through the World Tree in the Great Dark Mountain to let prehistoric stowaways descend can help him achieve his goals."
Qin Mu said, "Those who stow away through the roots of the World Tree are not from the same faction as those in the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court. There are even grudges between them."
Yun Heavenly Lord said, "But for the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court, these stowaways can be used. Their appearance can accelerate the descent of Dao attainers from the Jade Capital. And Hao Heavenly Emperor is waiting for you to spread out the battlefield, to expose all his enemies, and then wipe out all the strong ones on your side in one fell swoop! So this move of the Lingguan Hall Master, he will definitely use it! If he uses it, it will be a thunderous strike, catching you off guard!"
Qin Mu looked at the game. In the Carefree Realm area he had set up—the Southern Sea, Western Lands, Northern Frontier, Beast Realm, and Yan Kingdom—the dragon heads of each major dragon were tightly clamped, with no path to survival.
Although Shangjun was strong, he couldn't transform into thirty Heavenly Lord-level beings to protect the generals of each army.
Qin Mu also didn't have such means.
If Hao Heavenly Emperor laid out his formation as Yun Heavenly Lord said, then Yan Kingdom would ultimately be left with only Qin Mu, Yun Heavenly Lord, You Heavenly Lord, Yue Heavenly Lord, Lang Wan, and others, with no strength left to fight the Heavenly Court!
How to break the situation became his biggest problem now.
"My battle lines are spread too far—Western Lands, Northern Frontier, Southern Sea, Southern Heaven, Carefree Realm, plus the World Tree in the Ancestral Court. These lines are too long. If I could gather these lines, destroy the enemies there, and then contract, focusing only on Carefree Realm..."
Qin Mu moved the stones on the board. "If the Lingguan Hall Master transforms into ancient gods to assassinate the leaders of each army, we can support them at any time, or even set an ambush to kill the Lingguan Hall Master. Would that resolve the situation?"
Yun Heavenly Lord shook his head. "Now, the four ancient god emperors have already mobilized—Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird, Northern Emperor Black Tortoise, Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon, Western Emperor White Tiger—all appearing at once. And Long Xiao of the Beast Realm was killed by Little Earth Lord, with Long Pi taking his place. For Hao Heavenly Emperor, all enemies have already surfaced. This is the best time for him to close the net."
Cold sweat broke out on Qin Mu's forehead, and the back of his neck was also drenched. Suddenly he laughed. "Hao Heavenly Emperor shouldn't be that smart, right?"
"Assume the worst of your enemy."
Yun Heavenly Lord's face was calm. "Back then, I also thought Hao Heavenly Emperor wasn't that smart. Later, I lost. I underestimated his crown prince, Xie Wuqi, and died miserably. I underestimated his ancient god Heavenly Emperor, and died miserably. I underestimated myself, and died miserably too."
Qin Mu laughed heartily, but sweat kept pouring out.
"I have a plan to break Hao Heavenly Emperor's game."
Yun Heavenly Lord looked at him. "I can block the Second Young Master for you. You Heavenly Lord can block Xu Heavenly Lord. Yue Heavenly Lord can go to stop the Ancestral God King. Taishi can block the Taiji Ancient God. Lang Wan can go to block Taichu. Shangjun can go to kill Lady Yuanmu. That way, there will be no Dao attainers left by Hao Heavenly Emperor's side, no obstacles. You go kill Hao Heavenly Emperor, and the situation is settled!"
Qin Mu stared straight at him, his voice hoarse. "At that time, Hao Heavenly Emperor will indeed be dead. But the four ancient god emperors, Di Yiyue, Tian Shu, Di Shitian, Qing Huang, the Woodcutter, the Farmer, the Scholar, the Fisherman, Long Pi, Jiang Baigui, Wei Suifeng, Emperor Yanfeng, Gongsun Yan, the First Ancestor, Emperor Chi and Emperor Ming, Lady Tianyin, Qin Fengqing, Heavenly Lord, Achou—all of them will be dead!"
He spoke faster and faster, finally saying coldly, "Lang Wan going to kill Taichu is also sending her to her death! Lang Wan has the strongest divine consciousness besides you. If Taichu kills her and gains her divine consciousness, he might even be able to attain Dao as Taichu. So he will definitely go, and Lang Wan will definitely die! And you will also die! What use is this victory?"
"It is useful!"
Yun Heavenly Lord stood up. "With Hao Heavenly Emperor dead, the dragon has no head! Xu Heavenly Lord and the Ancestral God King have no ability to control the Heavenly Court's vast power, and the Heavenly Court won't submit to the Lingguan Hall Master! At that time, you will still have You Heavenly Lord and Yue Heavenly Lord to assist you. You will still have Lan Yutian, the Imperial Lord, by your side. You will still have Shangjun. You will have the immense prestige of killing Hao Heavenly Emperor! At that time, the Heavenly Court will fall into your hands!"
He swept the game board into chaos and stepped forward. "Mu Heavenly Lord is the Heavenly Lord of Dharma Transmission. Your prestige surpasses even Lan Yutian, the Imperial Lord! A Mu Heavenly Lord freed from all restraints will be an invincible existence. Killing the Lingguan Hall Master, killing Xu Heavenly Lord and the Ancestral God King—looking across the universe, there will be no enemy left for you! On the ruins, you can rebuild Yan Kingdom, shaping this world into the form you imagine!"
Qin Mu slumped down, shaking his head. "At that time, I will be the lonely sovereign..."
Yun Heavenly Lord revealed a smile. "That's right. You may not be able to revive us. You may become the lonely sovereign. But these sacrifices are worth it. For a million years, we have been longing for a true revolution, a true reformation, hoping to fulfill our wishes and realize our ambitions!"
He couldn't help getting excited, pacing around Qin Mu, laughing heartily. "And you will help us achieve all of this! So these sacrifices are worth it! Mu Heavenly Lord, this game can be won! As long as you treat us as the sacrificial offerings of the Yan Kingdom reformation, it can be won!"
"Hesitation leads to defeat! Hao Heavenly Emperor won't give you time to hesitate!"
His hands rested on Qin Mu's shoulders, while Qin Mu sat there motionless, listening to his passionate voice echoing in his ears. "A dream of a million years, right before our eyes! Mu Heavenly Lord, don't hesitate or waver anymore! In this battle, we are willing to be the sacrificial offerings for your victory!"
Qin Mu was silent.
"Western Emperor White Tiger, Northern Emperor Black Tortoise—when they descend with their ancestral lands, that will be the moment Hao Heavenly Emperor makes his move!"
Yun Heavenly Lord shook his shoulders vigorously, his voice deep. "Brother Mu, I know Hao Heavenly Emperor too well. He will definitely act! If you hesitate, you will lose everything! Don't hesitate anymore. Give the order to act!"
Qin Mu clenched his fists, looking up at his excited face. Unconsciously, tears slid down his cheeks, wetting his graying temples. His voice was hoarse. "Yun Heavenly Lord, you are forcing me to become another you, another Yun Heavenly Lord, Yun Heavenly Emperor! This isn't me, it isn't me..."
"But we can win!"
Yun Heavenly Lord's eyes were bright. "Do you have a better way to break the situation? Do you have another way to stop the Lingguan Hall Master? Make up your mind, Mu Heavenly Lord! Time waits for no one!"
Qin Mu gazed at the scattered stones on the ground.
If a good person wants to defeat a bad person, they must be even more unscrupulous than the bad person. But at that time, is the good person still a good person?
If he defeated the Ten Heavenly Lords, defeated Hao Heavenly Emperor, and at that time, he sat alone on the Heavenly Emperor's throne, a lonely sovereign, would he be just another Ten Heavenly Lord?
He clenched his fists. What meaning would the Yan Kingdom reformation have then?
What meaning would the Longhan Revolution, the Chiming Revolution, the Shanghuang Reformation, the Kaikaang Reformation have?
He looked at the stones, and in a daze, he saw himself covered in dragon scales, growing sharp claws and fangs, his face ferocious.
Qin Mu stood up and walked to the edge of the Taiqing Pure Land. There, the Heavenly Court's army was mobilizing. The Heavenly Court was ready to begin the decisive battle against Carefree Realm!
Behind Qin Mu, Yun Heavenly Lord walked over, his voice deep. "Mu Heavenly Lord, have you decided? The Lingguan Hall Master should be about to move!"
Qin Mu said softly, "Yun, do you think Hao Heavenly Lord will separate from the Second Young Master?"
Yun Heavenly Lord was stunned.
In the Heavenly Court camp, Hao Heavenly Emperor looked up, watching the omens formed by the descent of Western Emperor White Tiger and Northern Emperor Black Tortoise, and smiled slightly.
Behind him, the Lingguan Hall Master let out a low shout, and his body suddenly split apart, landing as ancient gods of various forms, their auras immensely powerful!
"Hall Master, I leave it to you," Hao Heavenly Emperor said with a smile.
Those ancient gods suddenly turned into streaks of light, flying in all directions!
At the border between Yan Kingdom and the Southern Sea, there was a range of Jade Cliff Mountains, where the Yan Kingdom people had built Jade Cliff Pass.
Jade Cliff Pass was extremely steep, like a smooth, flat cliff face, blocking the surging waves of the sea.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign, Qin Wu, led the Yan Kingdom army under the command of successive Human Sovereigns, stationed at Jade Cliff Pass.
On the sea surface before Jade Cliff Pass, suddenly meteors fell, crashing into the sea, raising towering waves that connected to the sky, roaring and surging toward Jade Cliff Pass!
Behind the waves were the remnants of the Heavenly Court's Southern Heaven Thirty-Nine Route Army Commanders, following the waves like wildfire spreading across the sea, their momentum rolling toward Jade Cliff Pass!
In the sky, flames surged again, and countless fire meteors, like raindrops, dragged long fiery tails and thick smoke, crashing toward Jade Cliff Pass!
"The heavens spin, the earth turns, but the heart does not change."
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign stood on Jade Cliff Pass, his hands crossing and moving slowly. His divine ability erupted, and instantly the countless fire meteors and towering waves twisted in distorted space, moving backward, crashing into the remnants of the Southern Heaven Route Army Commanders!
Although the scattered troops of the Southern Heaven were defeated by Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird, Red Emperor Qi Xiyu, and others, their formations were not chaotic. The generals of each army had high cultivation, and the formations were strict. Immediately, each gave orders, and the formations activated, splitting the waves and extinguishing the countless fire meteors!
The generals of the Thirty-Nine Route Army Commanders led their troops through the split waves, charging forward, shouting, "Who comes?"
"Kaikaang Qin Clan, Yuming Heaven Human Sovereign, Qin Wu!"