Chapter 1443: The Sole of the Heavenly Duke's Foot (Second Update)
The Heavenly Duke and the Heavenly Dao are not omnipotent and all-pervasive. There are places in this world where the light of the Mystic Capital cannot reach, and places the Heavenly Dao cannot extend to.
The place the Heavenly Duke cannot illuminate is beneath his own feet.
Within the Mystic Capital, he is a four-faced god similar to Qin Mu's divine treasury domain—no matter from which direction one attacks him, one only strikes his front.
To attack him is to attack the Heavenly Dao, and one will suffer the Heavenly Duke's most ferocious counterattack!
The Mystic Capital is the birthplace of the Heavenly Duke. There, his power will be elevated to its peak, absolutely not inferior to the peak period of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor Tai Chu back in the day!
Even a Heavenly Venerable facing such an onslaught would find it difficult to avoid injury or even death.
However, the Heavenly Duke cannot illuminate the soles of his feet. The Mystic Capital is the brightest place, and the Heavenly Duke is also the brightest ancient god in the world, but the darkest place in the world is born precisely because of this.
That place is the Heavenly Yin Realm beneath his feet.
The Heavenly Dao likewise cannot reach here, to the point that this place has become a gathering ground for soul black sand. Here, the Heavenly Dao does not exist, and the soul black sand gathers to become starving ghosts, devouring everything, never able to be sated.
The Great Dao of the Netherworld also cannot reach here. Lord Tu Bo governs the wandering souls of the world, but faced with soul black sand, even Lord Tu Bo is powerless.
Heavenly Yin Empress is the sacred being born in this place.
Heavenly Yin Empress looked at the countless living beings she had awakened with her Dao within the Heavenly Yin Realm, then looked at Ancestral God King. Her strength was simply insufficient to contend with Ancestral God King.
Forcing a battle with Ancestral God King for the sake of the Heavenly Duke would only result in her being slain by Ancestral God King—and even the living beings of the Heavenly Yin Realm would be wiped out clean!
Although she had walked out her own path and was no longer the simple, ignorant ancient god she once was, as Qin Mu had said, her Dao techniques and divine powers were created for the sake of creating life, not for killing, not for battle.
After a moment, Heavenly Yin Empress retreated, guarding the living beings of the Heavenly Yin Realm, and said, "When the God King makes his move, please do not harm the innocent."
Ancestral God King smiled slightly, took out the Heavenly Dao treasure he had refined from the divine gold and divine materials of the Ancestral Court, and assembled it into a supreme Heavenly Dao treasure. He said, "Empress, rest assured. Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life. I am not a cruel and bloodthirsty person either, and I will not let the lives of your Heavenly Yin Realm die out completely. However, when my divine power erupts, it will be difficult to guarantee that it won't spill over into the Heavenly Yin Realm. Empress, do your utmost to protect them. If the living beings of the Heavenly Yin Realm truly all perish, then Empress can simply create another world and evolve all living beings anew."
Heavenly Yin Empress raised an eyebrow but suppressed her anger and did not turn hostile.
Ancestral God King looked up at the sole of the Heavenly Duke's foot, smiling faintly. "No one knows a father better than his son. The Heavenly Duke is my father, my greatest divine father. But he is too radiant and majestic, believing that good and evil are both principles by which this world operates, requiring no interference. He does not think for the demigods, nor does he think for his own children. Whether his children live or die, whether they have glory or shame—none of it concerns him. And yet, he is also too hypocritical."
He let out a cold laugh and said flatly, "The Heavenly Dao is truly selfless, but the Heavenly Dao gave birth to him, and once he had his own consciousness, it became impossible for him to be selfless. If the Heavenly Duke were truly selfless, then why did he give birth to me?"
The mockery on his face grew even thicker. It seemed he was speaking to Heavenly Yin Empress, but it also seemed he was talking to himself. He said leisurely, "He also covets beauty, and he also covets power and influence. He has his own desires as well. In ordinary times, the Heavenly Dao suppresses his desires, maintaining his radiant and majestic image, but the Heavenly Dao always has loopholes."
He sneered. "In the battle to eradicate the Creator race, he found this loophole, and so he split his soul and reincarnated—that is how I came to be. In that battle, Heavenly Emperor Tai Chu seized hold of his weakness, forcing him to submit to the Heavenly Emperor. Heh heh, I saw it all with my own eyes. I understand the desires in my father god's heart better than anyone else, because I am the son born of his desires."
He spoke words that even made Heavenly Yin Empress feel deep fear: "When he became one of us Ten Heavenly Venerables, thinking he could deceive the world, I alone recognized him. How could I not recognize him? I am the child born of his desires! I watched him become Heavenly Venerable Hong, still so transcendent, still so aloof and composed. But when he was controlling the physical body of Heavenly Emperor Tai Chu, I could feel his ambition and desires swelling, growing larger and larger."
He stared at the sole of the Heavenly Duke's foot, gazing up at everything within the Mystic Capital. There, Heavenly Venerable Hong was hurrying toward the Mystic Capital to kill the Heavenly Duke.
"I have been waiting for an opportunity all along, Father God."
Ancestral God King burst into loud laughter, but there was little joy in it—only coldness: "The opportunity I have been waiting for is for you to reveal your true flaw yourself. This flaw can only be exposed by you alone!"
"All along, I have been the most reckless of the Ten Heavenly Venerables—more reckless than Fire Heavenly Venerable, more crude, more lacking in scheming. You knew I was pretending, but you thought I was pretending for the other Heavenly Venerables to see. What you didn't know was that I act as I please—why would I need to pretend for them?"
"I was pretending for you to see!"
"I have been waiting for the moment when you voluntarily expose your fatal weakness. I have waited for this opportunity for far too long, and I have been pretending for far too long! Now, I have finally waited for this opportunity!"
...
The Mystic Capital.
The Heavenly Court's great army advanced steadily. Although Heavenly Venerable Hong, Lang Xuan Divine Emperor, Qiang Heavenly Consort, Shi Qiluo, Fire Heavenly Venerable, and the others were constantly harassed by Moon Heavenly Venerable, Nether Heavenly Venerable, and Lang Wan Divine King, these three did not dare to engage them head-on. They would touch and retreat, never lingering, and thus did not cause them too much trouble.
It was Qiang Heavenly Consort who gave the various Heavenly Venerables a major headache.
The power of the two blood-aura God-Slaying Sabers on the God-Slaying Platform grew stronger and stronger, devouring heavenly baleful energy and sweeping up all the baleful aura within the Mystic Capital, putting the various Heavenly Venerables on silent alert.
Qiang Heavenly Consort's identity as the Grand Emperor was almost an open secret among the Ten Heavenly Venerables. This was also thanks to Qin Mu's mischief-making. Although Qin Mu had not openly proclaimed that Qiang Heavenly Consort was the Grand Emperor, because of Qin Mu's involvement, Qiang Heavenly Consort and the Grand Emperor had suffered repeated heavy blows, and every time, Qiang Heavenly Consort was injured together with the Grand Emperor.
Although the Ten Heavenly Venerables were allies, they also restrained and monitored one another, planting their own spies beside each other, even sending disciples to lurk under each other's command and become their disciples. Truly, no method was too extreme.
Qiang Heavenly Consort's several injuries had not escaped their notice. Not to mention injuries—even what Qiang Heavenly Consort ate at night, what she said, and who she met, they all knew with perfect clarity.
Now that most of the identities of the Ten Heavenly Venerables had been exposed, with the addition of Shi Qiluo, that troublemaker who feared nothing more than chaos in the world, and Qin Mu, that stirrer of trouble, it would be strange if Qiang Heavenly Consort's identity, hidden for hundreds of thousands of years, was not stirred out.
"If she manages to refine these two divine sabers..."
Fire Heavenly Venerable glanced at Qiang Heavenly Consort standing on the God-Slaying Platform, and the corner of his eye twitched.
The God-Slaying Platform he saw had a total of twenty-four steps.
Lang Xuan Divine Emperor's gaze also fell on Qiang Heavenly Consort. The God-Slaying Platform he saw had twenty-eight steps. He thought to himself, "If Qiang Heavenly Consort dies in battle during the campaign against the Heavenly Duke, that would be a glorious death. Ancestral God King is quite talented with words—the declaration of war against the Heavenly Duke was written by his hand. I could have him write a eulogy for Qiang Heavenly Consort... Strange. Ancestral God King has always been at the forefront of charging against his own father. Why is he nowhere to be seen?"