Chapter 1339: The Road to Despair (Fourth Update)
At the northern border of Diên Khang, suddenly red light descended from the sky. Within the red light were two wandering souls—one Earth Soul, one Spirit Soul—miserable and wretched, riddled with holes shot by Tần Mục!
Fortunately, the two souls of the Heavenly Emperor were extremely powerful, so they were not immediately scattered into oblivion by the arrows.
However, the Earth Soul and Spirit Soul of Thiên Đế Thái Sơ had also suffered severe damage to their vital energy.
These two souls originally belonged to nineteen years ago, before the outbreak of the Diên Khang Calamity. Tần Mục, in order to get the Heavenly Emperor to help Diên Khang survive the disaster, had to summon his souls according to the Heavenly Emperor's conditions.
At that time, the Heavenly Emperor's two souls had already shattered into black sand of souls. Tần Mục, in order to reshape these two souls, did not hesitate to borrow power from Thiên Công and Thổ Bá, kowtowing repeatedly to them before obtaining their strength.
After reshaping the two souls, Tần Mục even suffered severe damage to his vital energy, collapsing unconscious from exhaustion.
However, after the Heavenly Emperor's two souls were reshaped, he did not directly act to protect Diên Khang during the Calamity. The Diên Khang Calamity still erupted, killing countless mortals and practitioners.
It was only after the Heavenly Emperor obtained dominion over Nguyên Giới that he ordered the gods of the Heavenly Court to stop targeting Diên Khang, allowing it to survive. Yet he then went back on his word, ordering the suppression of the reform movement, crushing Diên Phong Đế and Diên Khang National Teacher Giang Bạch Khuê, and executing Thái Tự Linh Ngọc Thư.
A series of bloody measures plunged Diên Khang into great terror.
At that time, Tần Mục had already lost his souls—he had given them to his elder brother Tần Phượng Thanh—leaving only his indestructible divine consciousness and physical body. He was nothing more than a walking corpse.
Tần Mục fought desperately to protect Diên Khang, and only then did Diên Khang gain a future.
The Earth Soul and Spirit Soul of Thiên Đế Thái Sơ also reincarnated into Diên Khang at that time. Tần Mục wandered soullessly for two or three years before arriving at the Heavenly Court. Now Tần Mục was sixteen, about to turn seventeen, so he deduced that the reincarnated body of Thiên Đế Thái Sơ in Diên Khang was nineteen years old.
"Pastoral Heavenly Lord is a jumping jack of a man, so vicious, assassinating my reincarnated body! I cannot tolerate him!"
The Heavenly Emperor's Earth Soul and Spirit Soul tangled together in the air, burning with fury: "I have indulged him too much, never expecting him to be so presumptuous! This Nguyên Đô is my territory. He survives under my roof, and still dares to act so boldly—I cannot allow it!"
Nguyên Giới was originally called Nguyên Đô, but later Địa Mẫu changed the name to Nguyên Giới, declaring it her territory. However, some ancient gods still called Nguyên Giới by its old name, Nguyên Đô.
"He was able to find me, likely using Thổ Bá's Book of Life and Death, and also because my name contains the character 'Hiểu.' It seems I can no longer use the character 'Hiểu' in the future!"
Thái Sơ was the name given to him by Thái Đế, while Hiểu was a name he chose for himself. He actually hated the name Thái Sơ. Therefore, every reincarnation, his name had to contain the character 'Hiểu.'
Cổ Hiểu, Sơ Hiểu, Hiểu Vị Tô, Hiểu Thiên Cơ, Hiểu Sơ Giác—all contained the character 'Hiểu.'
Suddenly, violent tremors came from the sky. One majestic divine figure after another descended from above Nguyên Giới into the realm. They did not enter through the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridges but descended directly!
The energy of these majestic divine figures was immense, causing the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridges throughout Nguyên Giới to continuously spew forth massive columns of spirit energy to maintain the realm's energy balance.
After these divine figures descended, warships and great vessels could be seen sailing into Nguyên Giới from the sky, causing the spirit energy erupting from the transfer bridges to become even more violent!
When Hiểu Thiên Tôn's divine artifact Ngự Thiên Tôn and Nguyên Mộc had been suppressing Nguyên Giới, no one would have dared to commit such a treasonous act!
But now that the divine artifact Ngự Thiên Tôn and Nguyên Mộc had disappeared, Nguyên Giới was masterless land. Certain existences in the Heavenly Court could no longer sit still, unable to resist reaching their hands toward Nguyên Giới!
"Damn it! I was exiled by Nguyệt Thiên Tôn, and this Nguyên Đô may not be able to be preserved!"
The two souls were alarmed and quickly went into hiding, anxious and uneasy: "The fierce battle last night caused too much commotion. Although I used Nguyên Mộc to seal Nguyên Đô, preventing the Heavenly Court from noticing the great war in Nguyên Giới, they will certainly send powerful experts to investigate. Seeing that I have disappeared, these cunning bastards who worm their way into every crack will definitely seize this opportunity to take Nguyên Đô!"
From the warships in the sky, black dogs with slender waists and long legs suddenly leaped out, flooding forth like a torrent, scattering in all directions!
"Baying Hounds!"
The Heavenly Emperor's two souls grew even more alarmed. The Heavenly Court had an enormous number of Baying Hounds, and these hounds excelled at tracking people. However, these hounds were in the hands of the Divine Capture Camp, which meant all the divine captors had likely been mobilized!
But the one capable of mobilizing all divine captors must wield tremendous authority—at minimum, an existence at the level of the Four Emperors!
More and more Baying Hounds descended from the sky, sniffing around everywhere. Some hounds even charged straight toward the crescent moon in the sky, transforming into primordial beasts and opening their massive jaws, intending to devour the moon of Nguyên Giới.
On the moon was a goddess. A beam of sword light severed the dog's head, and the other Baying Hounds quickly scattered in panic.
Just then, the sky suddenly grew bright. Three-legged Golden Crows pulling golden chariots entered Nguyên Giới. The massive golden crows pulled the chariots, their blazing fire turning into miniature suns, rolling across the sky above Nguyên Giới!
"The Golden Crow Army under Đại Nhật Tinh Quân!"
The Heavenly Emperor's two souls grew even more alarmed. The Golden Crow Army was the personal guard under Tổ Thần Vương, commanded by Đại Nhật Tinh Quân Đan Phượng Lai.
These Golden Crows had incredibly sharp eyes, capable of detecting the slightest detail. Clearly, the Golden Crow Army had also come to search for Hiểu Thiên Tôn's whereabouts!
"This is bad this time!"
The Heavenly Emperor's two souls were deeply anxious: "All thanks to Pastoral Heavenly Lord's handiwork!"
Suddenly, a white cat descended from the sky, leaping nimbly through the air, jumping from one Golden Crow chariot to another with lightning speed.
The Golden Crow soldiers dared not speak out in anger.
The white cat then leaped onto the back of a Baying Hound, widening its cat eyes to survey the mountains and rivers of Nguyên Giới.
The Heavenly Emperor's two souls shuddered involuntarily. This white cat, Tiểu Thất, was a handsome man in the Heavenly Court—the lover of Nghiên Thiên Phi. Nghiên Thiên Phi had now released the white cat, and her purpose was obvious: to search for Hiểu Thiên Tôn!
"Vicious woman! Sending her lover to kill me!" The Heavenly Emperor's two souls fled at top speed.
The sky grew even brighter. It was daytime, yet countless stars appeared in the sky. Upon the myriad stars stood divine figures, their right hands shading their foreheads as they gazed down at Nguyên Giới.
Those divine figures were Heavenly Court generals guarding the star charts, many of them commanders from the Heavenly Eye Divine Clan. Even these gods had now been mobilized!
The Heavenly Emperor's two souls' hearts sank like stones into an abyss. The one capable of mobilizing all the gods of the entire star chart could only be an existence among the Ten Heavenly Lords!
"When the wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a push. Now that my Hiểu Thiên Tôn has been exiled, these bastards are all coming to push the wall!"
The Heavenly Emperor's two souls attached themselves to a tree. Suddenly, mournful cries of "Đại Hồng! Đại Hồng!" echoed from the sky. A giant blue bird soared through the air, like a floating continent.
"When did Hồng Thiên Tôn, that goody-two-shoes, become so eager?"
The Heavenly Emperor's two souls were furious but helpless. After Hồng Thiên Tôn flew into the distance, they continued onward, thinking: "I need to reincarnate quickly. My Spirit Soul and Earth Soul are wounded now. I must find a young body to conceal the aura of my souls."
The Place of Exile. Chaotic space.
Hiểu Thiên Tôn fell with Nguyên Mộc into the maze of this space. Fragments of incomplete cosmic spaces collided with each other all around, large and small. He was at the center of this chaotic space, unable to see the full picture.
If he stood outside this chaotic space and could see into its deepest reaches, he would see a floating realm at the periphery of this space.
That was the territory of the Xích Minh remnants—a bizarre spacetime formed from the physical body of Xích Hoàng.