Chapter 855: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind
"Imperial Heavenly Lord" shook his head. He saw something white fly out from between his brows.
He raised his hand to touch his forehead, and his fingers came away with white brain matter and red bloodstains.
"This sword strike was truly fast, catching one off guard..."
He extended a finger and poked it into the spot between his brows, the finger sinking into his brain.
He felt the back of his head and found the same situation.
Qin Mu landed at an angle, took two steps forward, and behind him, the vast Heavenly River surged, slowly receding and drifting behind him. Above the Heavenly River, a celestial palace was faintly visible.
Within the celestial palace, divine sounds clamored, as if countless gods and demons were chanting there. As Qin Mu's aura subsided, the chanting gradually lowered and slowly faded away.
Qin Mu's primordial spirit returned with its sword, standing outside the Southern Heavenly Gate of the celestial palace, on the surface of the Heavenly River, watching "Imperial Heavenly Lord" without any extra movement.
"Imperial Heavenly Lord" shook his head again, his mind growing increasingly groggy. He laughed and said, "This body is indeed imperfect; there are many areas that need supplementation. The progress of divine abilities in the lower realm has also exceeded my imagination."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "You are only using the inherent power of this body, not your own strength. This body contains almost all the Dao laws of the ancient gods, but it lacks anything of your own. Are you trying to hide your true identity, or is your power unable to break through the world's barriers? But without anything of your own, you are destined to die by my hand."
He was speaking of a fundamental principle.
When breaking through the world's barriers, the stronger one's cultivation, the greater the resistance. Therefore, those who descend from the Heavenly Court are often ability users, rarely gods or demons.
Unless one is strong enough to shatter the world's barriers, they can traverse the two realms. This situation often occurs during large-scale wars of gods and demons.
For example, during the fall of the Kaihuang Era or the Shanghuang Era, the world's barriers ceased to exist.
Apart from this, there are a few other cases where the limitations of the world's barriers can be bypassed.
For instance, the Spiritual Energy Migration Bridge that Qin Mu and the Black Tiger God designed and built together, or the Phoenix Ship of Red Emperor Qi Xiayu, or the Dream Entry Method of the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha, can all circumvent the world's barriers.
There might be other secret pathways, but Qin Mu was unaware of them.
According to this rule, the strong descending from the Heavenly Court are often ability users. For example, Qi Jiuyi and Prince Qiuming were still ability users when they came to Yuandu, seeking out the strong left by the Heavenly Court in Yuandu to become their followers.
Also, the Heavenly Court envoys in Qingyun Heaven, Xiao Chunfeng, Yu Hongxiu, and the disciples of the Zhou Tian True Gods, were all ability users sent down to perfect the Heavenly Map.
Because Qingyun Heaven was a heaven subordinate to the Heavenly Court's Dao Sect, they didn't need to seek protection from gods or demons; Qingyun Heaven itself could provide it. They just didn't expect Qin Mu and Lin Xuan Dao Master to find their way to Qingyun Heaven, where the battle at the Dao Academy nearly wiped them out.
Back then, figures like Lou Yunqu used the Phoenix Ship of Red Emperor Qi Xiayu to descend to the lower realm, avoiding rejection by the world's barriers. At the same time, due to the similar nature of the Netherworld and the Underworld, they could use the Netherworld Heavenly Gate to travel through the Netherworld.
"Imperial Heavenly Lord" also needed to follow this principle when descending.
"Imperial Heavenly Lord's" realm had to be limited to the level of an ability user, at most cultivating to the peak of the Divine Bridge realm. To accommodate more power, he would be unable to pass through Yuandu's world barriers.
Unless a Heavenly Lord in the Heavenly Court forcefully broke the world's barriers, but that would cause unimaginable turmoil.
Qin Mu was confident he could slay "Imperial Heavenly Lord" precisely because of this reasoning.
He possessed immense confidence and conviction. In this world, no one could defeat the Overlord Body at the same realm, not even if the opponent was the Imperial Heavenly Lord created by the Heavenly Court to house all the Dao laws of the ancient gods!
"Imperial Heavenly Lord's" brain matter continued to flow out. His brain had been shattered by Qin Mu's sword strike, and the divine repository system within his body had also been destroyed.
Qin Mu's primordial spirit wielded the sword, flying skyward, already piercing his physical body and shattering the primordial spirit within this form.
"The thing behind you isn't the Divine Bridge. Why is your seventh divine repository a Heavenly River?"
"Imperial Heavenly Lord" was somewhat puzzled. The brain matter in his head was nearly drained, yet he still studied Qin Mu, examining the Heavenly River divine repository behind him.
Although the Dao within his body was abundant, they were all innate Dao, the Dao of the ancient gods, and the Dao of Creation was not among them.
He couldn't use the Dao of Creation to repair his physical injuries like Qin Mu could, so he had to let his brain matter drain away.
"Have you created a brand-new divine repository? With this repository, you can connect the celestial palace with the other divine repositories, forming a complete whole?"
"Imperial Heavenly Lord" shook his head again; his skull was now empty.
Yet he could still speak and think, saying, "As expected of Mu Heavenly Lord. To have reached this point, you can fully stand alongside the Seven Heavenly Lords. How laughable that others in the Heavenly Court still vie for fame and power, turning a blind eye to the changes in the lower realm. Heh, if the Heavenly Emperor weren't a group of people, things would be much simpler."
Qin Mu stared directly into his eyes and said in a deep voice, "What do you think of my seventh divine repository, Cloud Heavenly Lord?"
"Imperial Heavenly Lord" smiled faintly and said leisurely, "So you imagined me to be him, and thus you didn't hesitate to expose your Heavenly River, using the seventh divine repository to make Cloud Heavenly Lord reveal himself. After all, Cloud Heavenly Lord was the pioneer of the Divine Bridge divine repository. Seeing your seventh divine repository would surely throw him into disarray, because the seventh divine repository you created is better and more wondrous than his Divine Bridge repository. But you guessed wrong; I am not him."
Suddenly, Dao fire ignited all around him. He smiled and said, "Mu Heavenly Lord, you are still too young, revealing your hand so early. This body is merely an experiment of mine; I only wanted to test the Imperial Heavenly Lord's combat power. Now I see that this body still has many shortcomings. I know your hand, but you cannot obtain this body to learn its mysteries. The next time you meet another Imperial Heavenly Lord, it will be your death..."
Suddenly, the Dao fire on him extinguished.
"Imperial Heavenly Lord" was startled and tried to reignite the Dao fire to incinerate this body, but the fire refused to burn!
"Your body, I'll keep it."
A voice came from behind him. "Imperial Heavenly Lord" turned to look, and saw Star Madman walking out of the darkness, carrying a box in one hand, the other hand raised with fingers spread, somehow suppressing his Dao fire.
Star Madman's gaze was fervent. He set down the box, which grew legs and opened with a *da* sound, looking very excited.
But Star Madman's eyes weren't on "Imperial Heavenly Lord"; they were on Qin Mu, on guard against him.
Qin Mu said calmly, "Star Madman, the consciousness hidden in this body has an origin beyond your imagination. Do you want to collect this body and not fear death?"
From the box, many arms reached out, grabbing its edges, and a massive, multi-armed, multi-headed demon god crawled out, carrying a person on its back—it was none other than Mu Qiubai!
Mu Qiubai had actually been captured and turned into a puppet.
Star Madman narrowed his eyes and said softly, "Is it a Heavenly Lord? Even a Heavenly Lord admires this body, which shows it's profoundly mysterious. Then I want it even more. Not only do I want this body, but I also want the Heavenly Lord's consciousness!"
With a slight movement of his fingertips, countless extremely fine needles suddenly pierced into every part of "Imperial Heavenly Lord's" body!
"Imperial Heavenly Lord's" expression changed drastically, but he couldn't move. Even this wisp of his consciousness was sealed within this body, unable to be withdrawn!
"When did the juniors of the lower realm become so arrogant?"
He was furious. Qin Mu killing this body and the primordial spirit within it was one thing—after all, Qin Mu was Mu Heavenly Lord, one of the Nine Heavenly Lords of yore.
But this box-carrying youth—what was he? He actually wanted to get his hands on this wisp of consciousness too!
"I also want to collect a true Heavenly Lord..."
Star Madman narrowed his eyes, like a humanoid venomous snake staring at Qin Mu. "A true Heavenly Lord's body is even more exquisite."
Qin Mu smiled faintly and said, "Star Madman, take your gains and get lost, or I won't mind eliminating you too."
Star Madman snorted, secretly spreading his fingers, with faint glimmers of light flowing between them. He said softly, "Your battle with him must have injured you. I noticed his divine abilities—they were overwhelmingly powerful. You only caught him off guard with abilities like the Painting Dao. His cultivation even surpasses yours."
Qin Mu said nothing, and behind him, the *weng* sound of the Cheng Tian Gate emerged.
Star Madman's eyelids twitched, and he hesitated.
"I'm back again—"
From behind him came the strange laughter of the Heavenly Dragon King: "I see you! Eat you, and I can regrow my body!"
Star Madman's expression shifted. The box immediately stepped forward and swallowed "Imperial Heavenly Lord," while the multi-armed, multi-headed demon god carrying Mu Qiubai quietly retreated, climbed into the box, reached up to grab the door, and closed it.
Star Madman carried the box and vanished into the darkness.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly *pfft*, a spray of blood mist shot from his mouth.
"I smell the scent of blood."
In the darkness, the green-glowing large head of the Heavenly Dragon King flew over, opening its gaping maw to bite at Qin Mu!
Qin Mu's body fell backward, turning into a dark shadow clinging to the ground. However, the Heavenly Dragon King didn't fly away. Suddenly, two green beams of light shone on the shadow Qin Mu had become.
"This corpse dragon, how did it get so clever?"
Qin Mu's expression changed drastically. With a *bang*, the shadow exploded, turning into black smoke that fled.
The Heavenly Dragon King chased the darkness, roaring as it opened its mouth wide and sucked hard, nearly inhaling all the black smoke.
Just then, the black smoke wavered, transforming into a lotus flower. Inside the lotus sat Qin Mu, and the petals began to close, wrapping him layer by layer.
The Heavenly Dragon King swallowed the lotus whole. In the distance, another lotus grew from the darkness, blooming silently. Qin Mu sat inside, hastily rising, suppressing the blood surging to his throat, and hurriedly left, thinking, "Great Venerable, thank you. Next time, I definitely won't beat you to death."
The Heavenly Dragon King, having eaten the lotus, thought it had consumed Qin Mu, and was overjoyed, wandering around in search of other prey.
Not long after, Qin Mu saw a red light in the darkness. His heart stirred, and he quietly approached, only to see a woman carrying a lantern, warily looking around.
"Sister Yan."
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief and staggered forward. Yan saw him and said happily, "Young master, have you seen Fatty Dragon? I lost Fatty Dragon!"
Qin Mu quickly activated the Overlord Body Three-Dan Technique to repair his physical injuries. "Imperial Heavenly Lord's" Heavenly Net and Earth Net divine abilities had beaten him quite badly.
"Fatty Dragon is probably asleep. Don't bother looking for him. When the hanging coffin returns to the Fallen God Valley and opens, we'll see where he is. Star Madman, aren't you leaving yet?"
He suddenly turned his head. In the darkness, two eyes appeared, and Star Madman, carrying his box, quietly retreated.