Chapter 1616: Twelve Kinds of Attainments
"Truly powerful!"
On the Độ Thế Kim Thuyền, Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing, and Thái Thủy all exclaimed in unison.
The combat power that Hỏa Thiên Tôn displayed at this moment was truly too formidable. Around his palm, space itself rotated, and Hư Thiên Tôn could barely maintain her footing.
Both were among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, and Hư Thiên Tôn considered herself not the slightest bit inferior to Hỏa Thiên Tôn. Especially after Thổ Bá's death, she had spent these days refining the Great Dao of U Minh, her cultivation and strength advancing by leaps and bounds, making her hold herself in even higher regard.
Although she had not obtained all of U Minh's Dao, nor the complete physical body of Thổ Bá, the benefits she gained in U Minh far surpassed what Hỏa Thiên Tôn had gained in Nam Thiên.
The ancestral land of Đạo Hỏa in Nam Thiên could never compare to U Minh.
Yet despite gaining such tremendous benefits, she still felt the gap—the gap between herself and Hỏa Thiên Tôn.
This gap was almost equivalent to the difference between thirty-five Heavenly Palaces and thirty-six Heavenly Palaces.
A difference of merely one Heavenly Palace meant a world of difference.
Hỏa Thiên Tôn's soul was not his weakness, only a shortcoming—and this shortcoming was deliberately cultivated by him. His Đạo Hỏa could refine his soul, and he could also refine his soul to become incomparably powerful.
Since the Long Hán Era, he had continuously forged his soul with Đạo Hỏa. After obtaining the ancestral land of Đạo Hỏa in Nam Thiên, he used it to cultivate his soul, making it unprecedentedly powerful.
However, his soul still lacked the ability to reach a level comparable to U Thiên Tôn's.
A hundred refinements to become diamond-hard—his physical body, vital energy, Divine Depositories, Heavenly Palaces, runes, Dao patterns, Dao chains, divine powers, and domains were all tempered to the extreme by Đạo Hỏa, reaching a state of indestructibility.
Yet his soul was still missing a crucial element to reach perfection—that was the demonic fire of U Minh.
From beginning to end, Hỏa Thiên Tôn knew he had this shortcoming, but it could only be called a shortcoming, not a weakness.
He could not obtain the demonic fire from U Thiên Tôn. That withdrawn man had long seen through his true nature. Therefore, he could only obtain it from the battle to kill Thổ Bá, or from Hư Thiên Tôn and the U Minh Thần Tử.
Back when Qin Mu was the U Minh Thần Tử, Hỏa Thiên Tôn had tried to win him over, hoping he would join his camp.
Later, that hope was shattered. Qin Mu became his most staunch opponent, and he had to try to win over Hư Thiên Tôn instead. If Hư Thiên Tôn married him, he could use her demonic fire to cultivate his soul.
However, Hư Thiên Tôn sought counsel from Thiên Sư Mạnh Vân Quy, and Mạnh Vân Quy's words directly shattered his illusions about Hư Thiên Tôn.
In the U Minh War, Qin Mu struck first, killing Thổ Bá before anyone else could, allowing Qin Fengqing to absorb the Dao of U Minh and inherit Thổ Bá's legacy. Hư Thiên Tôn forcibly seized the Dao of U Minh, engaging in a massive battle with Qin Fengqing, Thiên Công, and others. As for Hỏa Thiên Tôn, he was held back by Nguyệt Thiên Tôn and Lãng Oản, with no opportunity at all.
He had only one chance left—to make Hư Thiên Tôn come kill him. How to make Hư Thiên Tôn come kill him became the final puzzle. But the opportunity arrived quietly. Lang Hiên Thần Hoàng's reincarnated body fled to Nam Thiên, giving him the capital to ally with Thái Sơ.
He decisively pledged allegiance to Thái Sơ, and after the coronation ceremony, he turned against Hạo Thiên Đế. Hạo Thiên Đế could not tolerate his betrayal and would surely kill him. But Hạo Thiên Đế needed to guard against Thái Sơ and Thái Cực, so the only people he could deploy were Hư Thiên Tôn, Tổ Thần Vương, and the like.
And long ago, he had deliberately exposed the "weakness" that his cultivation method could not refine his soul. Therefore, Hư Thiên Tôn would surely use demonic fire to burn his soul, attempting to kill him in one strike.
He had been laying this plan since the Thượng Hoàng Era, only reaping the rewards today—persisting for three to four hundred thousand years, finally achieving great success and getting what he wanted!
Hỏa Thiên Tôn felt the enhancement that demonic fire brought to his soul as it tempered it, and his heart was filled with immense satisfaction.
What did temporary honor or disgrace matter?
What did betraying friends and family matter?
What did enslaving the humans of Nam Thiên and using countless human flesh and blood to curry favor with the demigods matter?
What did the fact that Nam Thiên's humans had been so thoroughly enslaved that they had no will to resist matter?
One general's glory is built upon ten thousand bones!
As long as he, Hỏa Thiên Tôn, became the most powerful existence in the world, became the emperor of this universe, became an invincible being, he could rewrite history and leave the most brilliant and glorious image of himself in the annals of the civil officials.
He only needed to kill all those who knew the truth, and he would have no blemishes at all!
Ever since one million years ago, when Ngự Thiên Tôn died in the Mạn Hồi Corridor Pavilion, he had understood a truth: to survive, one must become the powerful authority, grasp the strongest power!
And before becoming the powerful authority, before grasping the strongest power, one could only cling to the powerful authority, could only be the powerful authority's dog.
People always say dogs are humanity's best friends, but dogs have never thought so!
When a dog grasps power stronger than its master's, the situation reverses.
Hư Thiên Tôn continuously counterattacked within his palm. Her divine powers and Dao techniques were utterly masterful. Having obtained Thổ Bá's Dao of U Minh, her comprehension of the demonic path reached unprecedented heights, and her number of Heavenly Palaces reached as many as thirty-five.
If this were a few decades ago, such cultivation could already be called the pinnacle among the Ten Heavenly Venerables!
But that was a few decades ago.
After Hỏa Thiên Tôn obtained her Đạo Hỏa, his magical power, divine consciousness, physical body, spirit, soul, runes, Dao patterns, Dao chains, domains, blood energy, Divine Depositories, and Heavenly Palaces all had no weaknesses whatsoever—diamond-indestructible, diamond-unbreakable.
The twelve kinds of attainments, all cultivated to the extreme—under heaven, this was the first time anyone had managed to reach this step.
His palm pressed down, blotting out the sky and covering the sun. Hư Thiên Tôn looked up from within his palm, as if gazing at a burning canopy of heaven.
All her attacks could only shake the five fingers of Hỏa Thiên Tôn, but with a flick of his fingers, he could shatter her divine powers!
Hư Thiên Tôn attacked madly, her physical body continuously expanding, growing larger, but space twisted under the might of Đạo Hỏa. No matter how large she became, she could never escape Hỏa Thiên Tôn's control.
When Hỏa Thiên Tôn's palm descended, the center of his palm was like a burning canopy of heaven, leaving her no escape. Even her Heavenly Palaces were burning!
That was the most blazing fire, like desire itself, devouring everything.
Suddenly, above Nam Thiên, the Huyền Đô World appeared. Tổ Thần Vương, controlling the colossal body of Thiên Công, leaned out half his body and pressed a palm toward Hỏa Thiên Tôn's head.
"People of Nam Thiên, listen! Hỏa Thiên Tôn has rebelled, murdering Âm Thiên Tôn and Thanh Long Thiên Tôn!"
Tổ Thần Vương was majestic and imposing, shouting loudly: "Hỏa Thiên Tôn's crimes are unforgivable! Hạo Thiên Đế has already issued the decree to campaign against the traitor Hỏa! All people of Nam Thiên, kneel! Anyone who stands will be considered an accomplice of the traitor Hỏa!"
The entire Nam Thiên erupted in an uproar.
Countless heavens in Nam Thiên housed untold numbers of demigods and humans, as well as deities among the demigods and deities among the humans. They had established divine cities one after another—they were the divine and demonic armies guarding Nam Thiên.
At this moment, even the divine and demonic armies of Nam Thiên, upon hearing Tổ Thần Vương's command, knelt down one after another. Not a single person stood up.
Meanwhile, in Hỏa Thiên Tôn's Heavenly Palace, his disciples—some polishing Hỏa Thiên Tôn's statue, others busy with various tasks—all trembled violently upon hearing the words, confusion spreading across their faces. They turned to look at Viêm Nhai Tử.
Viêm Nhai Tử was Hỏa Thiên Tôn's disciple. Hearing Tổ Thần Vương's words, his mind was thrown into chaos, and for a moment he did not know what to do.
"Senior brother, what should we do?" Hỏa Thiên Tôn's many disciples asked in succession.
Viêm Nhai Tử suppressed his chaotic thoughts, thought for a moment, and shouted: "The sage has taught: The ruler is the guide of the minister, the father is the guide of the son, the husband is the guide of the wife! Although Hỏa Thiên Tôn is our master, he is not greater than the ruler or the father! Kneel! All of you kneel!"
In Hỏa Thiên Tôn's Heavenly Palace, the many disciples hesitated. Viêm Nhai Tử had already knelt, lowering his head. Seeing this, the other disciples knelt and prostrated themselves one after another. Even those who wanted to resist had all thoughts of resistance dispelled by this sight and knelt down as well.
In the distance, Đông Đế Thanh Long's head spun, and he thought to himself in confusion: "I'm clearly still alive, so why does Tổ Thần Vương say Hỏa Thiên Tôn killed me? Damn it, it seems pledging allegiance to Hạo Thiên Đế was a mistake..."
Tổ Thần Vương's strike arrived above Hỏa Thiên Tôn's head, and he laughed heartily: "Hỏa, you never imagined you'd see this day, did you? The disciples you painstakingly taught won't help you at all, won't be of any use whatsoever. The Nam Thiên you worked so hard to manage has instead become the best slaves you tamed for the Heavenly Court!"
Hỏa Thiên Tôn's other palm rose to meet Thiên Công's hand, sneering: "Tổ Thần Vương, you want to break my Dao heart? You're far from capable! If I win, who will write history in the future? Isn't it still my word that decides?"
Boom—
Tổ Thần Vương, controlling Thiên Công's physical body, could be said to possess the strongest magical power and the strongest physical body. Yet even he felt an incomparable impact when facing an existence like Hỏa Thiên Tôn who had no weaknesses whatsoever!
This strike, he gained no advantage at all!
"Even if all the humans of Nam Thiên die, even if all the humans of the myriad worlds die, as long as I still live, then humanity will not be extinguished!"
Hỏa Thiên Tôn's blood energy surged, then stabilized. He laughed heartily and struck viciously at the two of them, his voice resounding without end: "I am humanity! I am the Supreme! What Ngự Thiên Tôn sought back then was too little—he only wanted humans to stand on equal footing with other races, but even that, he could not achieve!"
Hư Thiên Tôn, seizing the moment when his blood energy surged, pulled the long horn from her head and viciously stabbed it into Hỏa Thiên Tôn's palm.
Xuy.
The long horn pierced through Hỏa Thiên Tôn's palm, shooting out from the back of his hand and flying toward his brow.
Hỏa Thiên Tôn's eyes spat out two streams of Đạo Hỏa, his gaze like torches, shining upon the flying horn. This horn was a Heavenly Venerable treasure refined by Hư Thiên Tôn, but under the illumination of his gaze, it instantly melted away!
Hỏa Thiên Tôn punched Hư Thiên Tôn, who let out a muffled groan and flew backward, blood spraying from her mouth. Her demonic blood directly turned into flames in the starry sky, burning fiercely.
"But as long as I win, even if only I alone remain, humanity will be the most honored race in the world!"
Behind Hỏa Thiên Tôn's head, a Heavenly Court appeared, with his primordial spirit seated within it. He reached out and grabbed Thiên Công's physical body, pulling Tổ Thần Vương along with the body of Thiên Công, attempting to drag him out of Huyền Đô. He sneered: "What Ngự Thiên Tôn could not accomplish will be completed in my hands!"
Tổ Thần Vương clashed with him head-on, the might of Heavenly Dao pushed to its absolute limit, using heavenly fire to combat Đạo Hỏa.
Hỏa Thiên Tôn activated his magical power. Behind his head, layers of Đạo Hỏa spun like wheels, twisting Huyền Đô itself. Even Thiên Công's physical body was distorted, its form lengthening and thinning, showing a tendency to transform into the wheel of fire behind his head!
His strength was so formidable—truly rare to behold.
At this moment, at the edge of Nam Thiên, Hạo Thiên Đế walked through the starry sky. The Nhất Khí Đại La Thiên appeared, and the branches of the Dao Tree danced.
He would personally come to campaign against Hỏa Thiên Tôn.
Just as he stepped into Nam Thiên, another Nhất Khí Đại La Thiên appeared in the void ahead. Beneath it, two Thái Cực Ancient Gods flanked Thái Sơ, blocking his path.