Chapter 1431: Sword Beheading the Nether Emperor (Second Update)
Attaining the Dao.
This word was often spoken by the Ancient God of Taiji, and his tone was always filled with envy. Kaihuang was not invincible; if they were to unleash their full power, they could still keep him here. But the Ancient God of Taiji was unwilling to make another move, and with only Yan Tianfei and the unwilling-to-reveal-himself Heavenly Lord Hao, she could not stop Kaihuang either.
Yan Tianfei was somewhat puzzled. A post-heavenly being was actually envied by an existence like the Ancient God of Taiji, who shared the same origins as the Heavenly Emperor Taichu. He even said outright that Kaihuang was about to attain the Dao.
"Could it be that our path has truly been wrong?"
Yan Tianfei's heart was filled with mixed emotions. Imperial Lord Yu had pioneered the Heavenly Palace cultivation system, and Qin Mu and Heavenly Lord Hao had spread the teachings on his behalf. The Heavenly Palace cultivation system was to become the cultivation path for countless beings over the next million years.
Even Yan Tianfei herself was a seeker on this path. She had immersed herself in the Heavenly Palace system for far too long. When Kaihuang had left Wuyou Township, he had said he had pioneered the Dao Realm cultivation system. At the time, the Ten Heavenly Lords had all treated the Dao Realm system as a supplement to the Heavenly Palace system—they valued it, but not to any great degree.
But now, the Ancient God of Taiji was saying that Kaihuang was about to attain the Dao, and even that he would do so before the Ancient God of Taiji herself. This left her with a hundred bitter flavors swirling in her heart—some sour, some astringent. For a moment, she could not step out from under this blow.
Gong Tianzun staggered to her feet and looked back, but Kaihuang was already long gone without a trace.
"Kaihuang would not come to kill me without reason. So who asked her to make a move against me?"
Suddenly, the figure of Qin Mu surfaced in her mind, and she had her answer. Stumbling, she flew up and hurriedly returned to her own heavenly palace, preparing to go into seclusion immediately to purge the wounds brought by the sword dao.
At that moment, Heavenly Lord Hao's voice pierced into her ears: "Kaihuang came to kill you at someone's request. Palace Master Gong, surely you can guess who that person is? You were the one who pushed Qin Mu to become the Alliance Master of the Heavenly Alliance, and yet this ally of yours has betrayed you. Palace Master Gong, can you bear that?"
He had appeared in her heavenly palace at some unknown time and was now walking toward her. The seals she had laid down seemed utterly useless against him.
Vaguely, Palace Master Gong saw a shadow swaying behind him, but her injuries were too severe, and she could not see it clearly.
Heavenly Lord Hao came before her and said with a half-smile, "Palace Master Gong, the Grand Emperor betrayed you, Taichu betrayed you, your son, my elder brother, the Divine Emperor Langxuan, also betrayed you, and now, the Heavenly Lord Mu you regarded as an ally has betrayed you as well. Have you ever thought about the reason behind all this?"
Palace Master Gong's figure swayed, and she said coldly, "I have never regarded Heavenly Lord Mu as an ally. Our relationship is nothing more than mutual exploitation. Nor do I have deep feelings for the Grand Emperor. The reason I married him was that the marriage alliance between the Nüxin clan and the Juyu clan was beneficial for suppressing other races. I have no feelings for your father Taichu either. I merely used him to take revenge on the Grand Emperor. As for your elder brother Langxuan, he was merely an accidental product. I have not the slightest feeling for him."
Heavenly Lord Hao laughed. "That is precisely why you have been wounded time and again. You treat everyone as mere tools of convenience, with no true allies. How can others dare to treat you with wholehearted sincerity?"
Palace Master Gong snorted but said nothing.
In her past life, she had been a Primordial Divine King; in this life, a Heavenly Lord. Her position was lofty and her power immense—she could not lower her head and admit fault.
Heavenly Lord Hao smiled. "You insist that you are not a Creator, that you no longer have a race. But when Heavenly Lord Mu sent Kaihuang to kill you, have you thought about the reason behind it?"
Palace Master Gong suppressed her dao wounds and said flatly, "He is afraid that I will go to see the Divine King Langwan."
Heavenly Lord Hao smiled faintly. "Then will you go to see the Divine King Langwan?"
Palace Master Gong was silent for a moment, then raised her head resolutely. "I will! This battle at Xuan Du is the perfect opportunity for me to meet the Divine King Langwan! I now wield boundless authority, yet among the Ten Heavenly Lords, I have always been alone, without allies. Therefore, I need the Creators. I need the power of the Creator race, and I need Langwan to assist me! Most importantly, I now have the capital to give the Creators a chance to live!"
"More importantly, in your heart, you still consider yourself a Creator. You still consider yourself the Divine King Gong Yun!"
Heavenly Lord Hao exposed her innermost thoughts with a single sentence, saying coldly, "You have never forgotten the glory of the Creators. You have never forgotten that you are one of the Three Primordial Kings. You have never once given up on your race. You cannot forget your hatred for the Grand Emperor and Taichu, and even more so, you cannot forget that you are a Creator! And now, with your severe injuries, you can no longer go to see Langwan."
Palace Master Gong said hoarsely, "I need an ally..."
"Wrong!"
Heavenly Lord Hao said coldly, "You need someone to pledge loyalty to. You need to submit! In the past, you had room to bargain with me. Now, you no longer have that qualification! Submit to me, bow to me, and I will heal your wounds, return you to your peak, and let you go see the Divine King Langwan!"
He stood before Palace Master Gong, extended his hand, and said in a tone that brooked no argument: "If your Creator race wants to survive in this universe, you can only rely on me! Not on yourself, not on the Divine King Langwan, and certainly not on Heavenly Lord Mu! I can return you to the glory of a Divine King and let your Creators reclaim the honor of the past! Kneel, bow to me, kiss the back of my hand, and I will pull you up from the depths of your fall!"
Palace Master Gong looked at his outstretched palm, and again vaguely saw that shadow behind him, but still could not make out its form.
Her gaze dimmed.
On the Heavenly River, in a small boat, Qin Mu, the Butcher, Zhe Huali, and Tian Shu were laughing heartily, utterly unrestrained. Each held a jar of wine, laughing so hard their eyes seemed about to pop out.
"The Nether Emperor!"
Tian Shu laughed so hard that wine sprayed from his nostrils and eyes, gasping for breath as he said, "This bastard built the Nether Capital, and everywhere in it are statues of Tubo, and he even carved Tubo's face into totems, painted all over the place!"
Qin Mu laughed until he could barely breathe: "Every time he meets Di Yiyue, he runs with his tail between his legs, yet he still claims he's not afraid of her! He's been a pretty boy since the beginning of the Longhan Era! Even the Nether Capital's Heavenly Gate was completed with Di Yiyue's help. This bastard shamelessly fawned over her, and on their wedding night, he ambushed her—stabbed her in the back!"
"I heard he also used his pretty face to ambush the Lady Tianyin!"
The Butcher laughed until he was out of breath, his voice like thunder: "Some people even say he's the consort of the palace lady—could it be the Lady Hao of Heavenly Lord Hao?"
Zhe Huali shot two streams of wine from his nostrils, laughing so hard he was rolling on the ground: "Butcher, you didn't see how pathetic the Nether Emperor looked. Look, look, his face turned white again, and he's still pretending to watch the dancing girls!"
The small boat drew closer to the Nether Capital's Heavenly Gate, and the four men's laughter grew even louder, constantly glancing in the Nether Emperor's direction. Luo Wushuang remained composed as always, uncomfortable with such occasions, and did not join in.
The Nether Emperor rested his chin on his hand, watching the singing and dancing before the Heavenly Gate from the side, while the jeering laughter of Qin Mu and the others reached his ears, all of them recounting his embarrassing stories—true or false, every disgusting thing they could think of was piled onto his head.
"Didn't you see the time in the Nether Capital when I chopped off his head!"
Tian Shu laughed. "I cut his head off right under the Nether Capital's Heavenly Gate—one swing of the blade! This bastard's skills are weak. Without relying on Lady Hao, could he have survived to this day?"
Crack!
The smile on the Nether Emperor's face froze, and his other hand had already crushed the armrest of his throne to dust.
"Quiet down. At least give him some face in front of his Nether Capital army."
Qin Mu laughed until tears sprayed from his eyes, gasping for breath as he said, "Didn't you see the scene when he met my elder brother in the Taixu Land? That was truly embarrassing! I killed his son, killed his beloved wife, and I even beat him until he pissed and shat himself in front of the Four Heavenly Masters and Four Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Court!"
"Silence!"
The Nether Emperor could no longer hold back. He rose abruptly, his voice shrill and fierce: "Heavenly Lord Mu, do you think I'm giving you face? To be honest, I have come on the orders of Heavenly Lord Hao to stop you from going up to Xuan Du. If you insist on going, then this place will be your burial ground today!"
Zhe Huali snickered. "Heavenly Lord Hao? You mean Lady Hao, right?"
The four men on the small boat burst into laughter, laughing so hard they were falling over each other. Even the ever-serious Luo Wushuang could not help but crack a smile.
"You are all out of line!"
The Nether Emperor could no longer endure it. He soared into the air, his robes fluttering, his great red cloak billowing. Behind him floated four great heavenly palaces, and the Nether Capital's Heavenly Gate stood tall and majestic. Within the gate's portal, four more heavenly palaces emerged—eight heavenly palaces in total—crushing down toward the five men on the small boat. He roared, "Today, I'll send you five bastards to the afterlife!"
Before the eyes of his entire Nether Capital army in the Northern Heaven, he pressed down from the sky, determined to establish his authority and dignity before his own troops. He had not ascended to the position of Nether Emperor of the Nether Capital by relying on others' power, but through his own true ability!
Though he was not a Heavenly Lord in the Heavenly Court, he was still a minor Heavenly Lord with eight heavenly palaces!
The Nether Emperor's might was overwhelming. But before he could even reach the small boat, the expressions of the five men on board suddenly turned serious, utterly solemn. Their figures crossed and interwove, and in an instant, a blade split open thirty layers of void!
Shing!
A divine saber slashed down from the sky. The Nether Emperor was beheaded, his body severed, the heavenly palaces behind him split apart, and the Nether Capital's Heavenly Gate was also cleaved in two with a thunderous boom!