Chapter 867: Son of the Heavenly Duke
The moment those gods and demons stirred with murderous intent, the first of them had already fallen. His eyes, once radiant with vitality, became hollow and vacant in an instant, their brilliance vanished without a trace. His physical body remained intact, but his breath ceased abruptly, as if some terrifying force had drained his primordial spirit in a flash, killing him with unimaginable speed!
The other gods and demons, however, were charging toward Qin Mu, and no one noticed him.
Yet in the next instant, the eyes of the second god and demon dimmed, his forward-charging figure collapsing into a falling one. Another moment later, it was the third, then the fourth...
By the time the first one to reach Qin Mu unleashed his divine ability as a Lord of the Heavens, the sound of gods and demons collapsing echoed behind him.
He turned his head and stared, his gaze frozen.
The Lords of the Heavens of the Northern Heavens seemed like a series of afterimages left in midair as they leaped, but these figures fell one after another. Their hands reached forward, their eyes turned a ghastly white, and their faces bore expressions of utter terror.
"Little Earth Lord..."
The surviving god and demon barely uttered these words when darkness suddenly engulfed him. Within the darkness, a butterfly-shaped radiance appeared, bursting outward on both sides, dazzlingly beautiful.
It was an eye of breathtaking beauty, yet brimming with demonic nature. The moment it glanced at him, he lost all consciousness.
Thud.
The last corpse fell.
The other Lords of the Heavens were seized with terror, retreating in all directions, but it was too late.
One Lord of the Heavens suddenly had his soul drained, his hands clutching his own throat, his mouth wide open, tongue lolling out, as he knelt down and lost all breath.
Then came the second Lord of the Heavens, the third.
The others were plunged into immense panic, fleeing in every direction, but death clung to them like a shadow, following like a bone-gnawing maggot, claiming their lives one by one.
"Great Dark Heaven, save me!" a Lord of the Heavens shrieked in the darkness, his cry cut short as he turned into a corpse, falling from the sky and crashing helplessly to the ground.
Great Dark Heaven, however, did not open his eyes. He had long anticipated what would happen in the darkness, but this defeat of "Imperial Heaven" had resolved him to sacrifice these old subordinates, refusing to intervene.
Not all Lords of the Heavens had harbored murderous intent toward Qin Mu, yet death seemed indifferent to whether they had such intent. This master of death, controlling the reaper, stubbornly followed the Little Earth Lord's Pact they had signed to harvest their souls!
As long as they had signed the Little Earth Lord's Pact and failed to uphold their bet with the Woodcutter Sage by merging the Northern Heavens into Eternal Peace, they were all subject to his judgment!
In a pool of blood, Qin Mu's white bones were still regenerating flesh. The young man weakly raised his hand, wanting to spare some Lords of the Heavens to become combat power for Eternal Peace, but he was too weak.
In his battle with "Imperial Heaven," the opponent's Dao-embodying ultimate techniques had reached twenty-eight heavens.
This was an existence that had mastered nearly all the great Daos of the ancient gods, with a Dao realm of twenty-eight heavens. Qin Mu had managed to fight him to the death by consolidating all the fruits of Eternal Peace's reforms into himself, relying on his far greater reserves of divine power.
Even so, he had nearly been annihilated in both form and spirit.
Now, he was powerless to stop his other self.
His brother, Qin Fengqing, must be trembling with excitement, joyfully harvesting the souls of the Lords of the Heavens of the Northern Heavens according to the Little Earth Lord's Pact, storing them in the Life-Slaying Cauldron to savor slowly.
Qin Fengqing had no concept of reason. In his mind, aside from their mother, all things in the world, all living beings, were only divided into what could be eaten and what could not.
Even his father, Qin Hanzhen, and his younger brother, Qin Mu, fell into the category of "edible." It was only because their mother didn't want him to eat Qin Mu that he reluctantly spared his brother's life.
"If this batch of Jade Capital realm Lords of the Heavens had come to Eternal Peace, to what heights would Eternal Peace's strength have risen..." Qin Mu's mouth gushed blood, his heart aching unbearably.
Finally, the last god and demon fell in the darkness.
Great Dark Heaven opened his eyes, his expression indifferent as he looked at Qin Mu: "I thought you would spare them, but I didn't expect you to be so ruthless."
In the pool of blood, Qin Mu's heart ached even more, blood spurting from his mouth like a fountain.
Great Dark Heaven turned and walked toward the Great Dark Palace, saying, "Leave. I'll give you half a day. If you can't escape the bounds of the Great Dark Palace alive, then I'll personally kill you. If you do escape, I'll swallow my pride and won't trouble your Eternal Peace."
Dragon Qilin hurriedly rushed over, carrying Qin Mu, whose flesh was still regenerating, onto his back, and without a word, he ran down the mountain.
Inside the Great Dark Palace, Great Dark Heaven's many disciples exchanged uneasy glances, quietly sizing up the silent Great Dark Heaven.
This time, Great Dark Heaven had suffered a great loss. The Woodcutter and Zi Xi, two Heavenly Masters, had stirred up trouble, sparking a conflict between the Northern Heavens and the Eternal Peace Overlord Body. If not for Great Dark Heaven's intervention, all the Lords of the Heavens of the Northern Heavens would have been taken away to submit to Eternal Peace in a bid to save their lives.
Yet even with Great Dark Heaven's intervention, all three hundred and sixteen Lords of the Heavens of the Northern Heavens had still perished!
These Lords of the Heavens represented the highest combat power under his command, and when combined with the elite cultivators selected from each heaven, countless young talents had been buried. Great Dark Heaven was known for holding grudges, especially after suffering such a loss!
But he held back, suppressing his anger, even making the seemingly foolish decision to give Qin Mu half a day to leave his territory.
"At the same realm, defeating the Heavenly Court's ultimate weapon—truly worthy of being the Overlord Body. If he can survive, then the future may not be entirely bleak."
Great Dark Heaven stared blankly into space, then suddenly laughed: "You think letting him go disgraces the Northern Heavens, don't you?"
Mo Santong, Xue Taidou, and the others dared not speak.
"As your teacher, I want to tell you a secret."
Great Dark Heaven chuckled darkly: "I was born before the Dragon Han Era. The reason I've survived from ancient times to the present is that I have no shame."
Mo Santong and the others wore strange expressions, no one responding.
Great Dark Heaven stood up, darkness flowing behind him, and laughed: "Back then, there were far too many beings stronger than me, far too many smarter than me, yet few survived. I, however, have endured through the ages, revered as the Demon Ancestor. If I cared about face and pride, I would have died long ago."
Mo Santong and the others rolled their eyes.
In truth, the behavior of these disciples also bore a strong resemblance to Great Dark Heaven's style.
For instance, during the days Qin Mu stayed in the Great Dark Palace, many of Great Dark Heaven's disciples openly challenged Qin Mu, but secretly sought his guidance on their cultivation shortcomings.
They weren't stupid; they knew their actions would expose Great Dark Heaven's Dark Demon Garment Sutra to Qin Mu, yet they still did it to improve their own strength—this was a legacy passed down.
"The more chaotic this world, the better for us demons."
Great Dark Heaven said leisurely: "Only in chaos can we demons have a chance to survive. If the Heavenly Court creates a completely rigid future, that would be the end of our demon race. By inviting that existence from the Heavenly Court to act, I actually wanted to see if the Heavenly Court's weapon could truly be invincible. Now it seems, the Heavenly Court cannot achieve that."
He laughed with great delight: "Suddenly, a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. For this reason alone, I cannot kill the Eternal Peace Overlord Body. Besides, I'm not sure I could kill him."
Mo Santong and the others were momentarily stunned, not understanding why he valued Qin Mu so highly.
"The Little Earth Lord is this Eternal Peace Overlord Body."
Great Dark Heaven finally spoke the words that made their hair stand on end, his expression strange: "He and I were both born in the Netherworld. I was born from the resentful thoughts and demonic energy of the Netherworld, the first demon god, while he was the first womb-born life. We both have extraordinary qualities. But in terms of innate nature, I fall slightly short of him. What's strange, though, is that he seems unable to control his power—it seems to have a will of its own..."
In the Heavenly Court's Scripture Repository Pavilion.
The Dao Master of the Heavenly Court's Dao Sect cut a piece of fine jade from the top floor of the repository, watching as the jade pillar grew and quickly filled the gap.
The old Daoist shook his head, sending the jade bearing the imprint of "Imperial Heaven" downstairs to the messenger, and asked: "Patriarch God King, what happened to the last weapon?"
"It shattered."
The visitor was a handsome man, radiating a blended white light, his pupils also pure white. He shook his head: "That weapon still had flaws. The Heavenly Duke's Dao was not perfect. I sent that weapon down to the mortal world, and it was shattered by the Overlord Body."
The old Daoist was surprised: "The Overlord Body?"
"Speaking of which, this Overlord Body is also a Heavenly Venerate."
Patriarch God King's expression was strange, and he said: "Back during the Jasper Lake Banquet, I was congratulating the Heavenly Emperor on his ascension, while he was causing a ruckus at Jasper Lake. Later, I saw the scars left by his sword techniques. This time, I recognized him from his sword techniques. I never expected him to be the Dragon Han Overlord Body from back then, even beating that existence half to death..."
He stopped mentioning that existence and laughed: "I descended to test the weapon this time because that old scoundrel Great Dark Heaven invited me to deal with him. I lost a round, so I have to make another one. Hahaha!"
He laughed heartily, patting the old Daoist on the shoulder: "Why am I telling you all this? If you weren't the Dao Master, devoted solely to the Dao and indifferent to worldly affairs, just those few words would have been enough for me to kill you to silence you."
The old Daoist lowered his head, smiling without a word.
Patriarch God King said: "Send this treasure to the Creation Divine Artifact, have another weapon made, and deliver it to my palace. Also, haven't the Heavenly Duke's Dao runes been fully compiled yet?"
The old Daoist shook his head: "The Heavenly Duke of the Mystic Capital has too large a physical form; it's very difficult to fully map out. Moreover, the Heavenly Duke is too powerful, and the gods stationed there dare not overstep."
"The old man is indeed very strong, very robust, with such a sturdy frame."
Patriarch God King strode away, saying leisurely: "But the time for me to take his place is not far off. I will personally go to the Mystic Capital to compile the remaining Dao runes."
The old Daoist watched him disappear into the distance, hearing Patriarch God King's voice, tinged with joy, enter his ears: "My father god, soon I will replace you, become you, surpass you..."
In the darkness, Dragon Qilin carried Qin Mu as they sped through the gloom. All around was pitch black, with no discernible path, no way to tell north from south.
Dragon Qilin gradually lost his way, his heart growing panicked. In this pure darkness, if he lost direction, he would never be able to carry Qin Mu out of this place within half a day.
Qin Mu was still struggling to regenerate his flesh, speaking weakly: "Fatty Dragon, fly upward, to the sky dome. Follow the celestial chart."
Dragon Qilin came to his senses, pouring all his strength into flying upward as fast as possible.
The half-day deadline was drawing closer. Dragon Qilin sped like the wind, with qilin fire beneath his feet, even lightning and thunder crackling around him, pushing his speed to the limit.
Gradually, light appeared in the sky.
Dragon Qilin rejoiced, approaching the light. He saw that the sky was broken, and the light spilled down from the breach.
Within the breach, a massive formation could be faintly seen, likely the moon in the celestial chart. The formation operated here, twisted and distorted by the damage to the chart, causing moonlight to scatter wildly in all directions.
When Qin Mu saw this moon, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Dragon Qilin's heart trembled: "Sect Leader, are you still alive?"
Qin Mu tremblingly raised his hand, pointing at the twisted moon, and said shakily: "Ugly... find another place..."
"Sect Leader, be grateful!"
Dragon Qilin carried him toward the broken moon formation, saying angrily: "If we don't leave the Great Dark Palace's territory soon, Great Dark Heaven will come out and kill you!"
Qin Mu was about to insist on dying rather than submit, but Dragon Qilin had already charged into the celestial chart, stepping into the formation that emitted a bright moonlight radiance.
"I wonder if there are still Heavenly Court gods in this celestial chart?"
Dragon Qilin cautiously peered around, whispering: "With the celestial phenomena in chaos now, the gods stationed here by the Heavenly Court should have fled long ago, right?"
"Who's there?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind the moonlight.
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