Chapter 1516: Prehistoric Invasion, Heavenly Court Falls
The Right Imperial Guard hadn't yet made a move when suddenly the young man vanished, reappearing beside the Burial Dao Divine Coffin. His speed was so fast that even these Imperial Guard soldiers couldn't track him!
Of the Ten Heavenly Court Guards, any single army, when formed into formation, could contend head-on with a Heavenly Venerable. Especially when deploying the formation created by Meng Yungui, their power was even more astonishing!
Among the Ten Heavenly Court Guards, the Imperial Guard possessed the strongest combat power, known as the Wings of the Heavenly Emperor!
The first generation Imperial Guard commander was Wei Suifeng, who earned great fame in the Guixu War, directly annihilating the most powerful demigod race of that era—the Dragon Earl Kingdom.
This generation's Right Imperial Guard surpassed even that era's, and its commander was a figure of equal renown to Cloud Emperor Wei Suifeng—Sky Emperor Bian Yanfei. Yet even he couldn't perceive the young man's movements.
"Divine Feather Great Hong Formation, activate!"
Bian Yanfei roared, and the fifty thousand elite soldiers of the Right Imperial Guard immediately activated the formation. Its power surged to the extreme in an instant, transforming into a colossal azure bird!
"Hong! Hong! Hong! Great Hong!"
The fifty thousand soldiers' auras connected, their mouths roaring in unison. The heavenly palaces shifted and arranged like an azure bird, dao sounds vibrating as if the Great Hong were crying mournfully—as if Hong Heavenly Venerable himself were alive!
Hong Heavenly Venerable, famed for having the greatest magical power in the world, had been deconstructed through formations by Meng Yungui. The Divine Feather Great Hong Formation deployed by the Imperial Guard combined Hong Heavenly Venerable's demonic nature with the righteousness of the Heavenly Dao, enveloping Qin Mu's coffin and that young man within the killing formation!
As the killing formation activated, the young man trapped within remained unhurried. His Thirty-Three Heavens domain spread out, connecting with the thirty-three layers of void. He carried the Burial Dao Divine Coffin higher and higher, penetrating deeper into each layer of void, soon reaching the thirty-third layer.
Bian Yanfei led the Imperial Guard in a coordinated assault, entering the layered voids. But the higher they climbed, the more severe the materialization-erosion became. Even with the Divine Feather Great Hong Formation, facing the omnipresent void-erosion was extremely taxing.
By the time they reached the thirty-third void, the erosion had already affected every Imperial Guard soldier. Continuing deeper would likely cost everyone their lives!
A true Heavenly Venerable could enter the thirty-fifth layer of void without perishing, but the Imperial Guard soldiers were not true Heavenly Venerables.
Though the Divine Feather Great Hong Formation was formidable, the soldiers composing it lacked Heavenly Venerable-level power.
Bian Yanfei looked at the young man, unwillingness flashing in his eyes. The young man stood in the thirty-third layer of void as if merged with it—the power of this thirty-third heaven void had no effect on him at all!
"Who are you, sir?" Bian Yanfei demanded sternly.
"Xu Shenghua of the Upper Firmament."
The young man was courteous, greeting him with a bow: "Greetings to the Daoist friend of the Heavenly Court."
"Xu Shenghua!"
Bian Yanfei turned and shouted: "Everyone, withdraw from the void!"
The fifty thousand Imperial Guard soldiers spread their wings, blotting out the sky, and the Great Hong flew away. Just as they exited the void, Bian Yanfei immediately ordered: "Stop! Activate the formation, attack the Ultimate Void from here!"
The Imperial Guard soldiers immediately activated the formation. Magical power nearly at Hong Heavenly Venerable's peak surged forth. The great formation activated, transforming into a single Great Hong strike—like a world-shocking wing—tearing through layers of void, slashing toward the thirty-third layer!
The world-shocking wing split the thirty-three layers apart with devastating force. But in the thirty-third layer of void, the man named Xu Shenghua and the Burial Dao Divine Coffin had already vanished without a trace!
No one had noticed when Xu Shenghua left with the Burial Dao Divine Coffin. Cold sweat rolled down Bian Yanfei's forehead. Despair filled his heart as he murmured: "The Imperial Guard is finished... completely finished..."
This mission was to transport Shepherd Heavenly Venerable's coffin to the Ancestral Court for sinking into the river. Who would have thought something like this would happen midway? If they returned, they couldn't possibly answer to Hao Heavenly Emperor.
Under Hao Heavenly Emperor's fury, who knew how many heads would roll!
"What do we do? What do we do?"
Bian Yanfei clutched at his hair, suddenly losing control of his emotions, wailing loudly.
In the starry sky, Xu Shenghua circled the Burial Dao Divine Coffin twice, then suddenly smiled: "Qin Cult Leader, how is it inside?"
He rarely smiled in front of others, but before Qin Mu's coffin, he couldn't help laughing aloud, appearing quite delighted.
There was no movement from the divine coffin, but Xu Shenghua wasn't worried about Qin Mu's safety. He carefully studied this Burial Dao Divine Coffin.
"This divine coffin isn't actually a coffin—it seems more like a seal, sealing a powerful existence within."
He walked around the coffin, stopping and starting, studying it closely: "This isn't the dao techniques of our universe. It seems to come from the prehistoric era. Indeed, a highly advanced civilization—even their seals are crafted so exquisitely. But the most powerful aspect of this coffin isn't the coffin itself—it's these coffin nails. Strange, why are the nails driven into the coffin boards?"
Xu Shenghua was deeply puzzled.
He had observed for so long, perceiving many of the Burial Dao Divine Coffin's wonders. Though he couldn't fully comprehend the prehistoric dao techniques contained within in such a short time, he could grasp the overall concept of this sealing technique.
Based on his understanding, the coffin nails weren't driven along the edges of the coffin boards to seal the coffin shut.
The true function of the coffin nails should be to nail the person inside the coffin to the coffin itself!
In other words, when driving the nails, they needed to be driven through the six walls of the coffin!
"Five nails in the head, piercing through the crown. Fourteen nails in the feet, nailing the seven stars of the soles. Sixteen nails in the hands, nailing the five fingers, five elements, palms, and wrists."
He counted carefully—these coffin nails also needed to be driven into the brow center to seal the Divine Treasury, the nostrils, throat, heart, sternum, dantian, and sea of qi, among other places.
All together, approximately one hundred nails were needed.
By driving one hundred nails through the coffin into Qin Mu's physical body at these locations, one could lock Qin Mu and the coffin together, restricting all his magical power, divine abilities, and transformations—sealing him in the state he was in when placed inside the coffin.
If done this way, no one could escape. Truly sinister beyond measure!
However, the person who drove the nails mistakenly thought they were nailing the coffin boards shut, causing all the nails to be driven incorrectly—not a single one in the right place!
"Who was so kind to Qin Cult Leader?"
This was what puzzled Xu Shenghua—not only were all the nails driven incorrectly, but there were only forty-nine of them, missing fifty-one!
"How bizarre."
Xu Shenghua hadn't dared to open the coffin recklessly at first, but after seeing through the Burial Dao Divine Coffin's true nature, he immediately began prying out the nails from the coffin boards one by one.
He lifted the coffin lid, revealing a small world inside—a vast space with dazzling light emanating from within. That was the dao light emitted by the World Tree.
Beneath the World Tree, Qin Mu sat cross-legged.
Xu Shenghua observed Qin Mu's face and praised: "After Qin Cult Leader's death, he looks lifelike."
He struggled to lift Qin Mu out of the coffin, panting heavily from the effort. Qin Mu's physical body wasn't particularly heavy—what was heavy was the World Tree and the Chaos Sea beneath Qin Mu.
Xu Shenghua examined him and saw that Qin Mu's body also had some coffin nails—exactly fifty of them. He couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.
"By rights, there should be one more nail. But the person who forged this coffin seemed worried Qin Cult Leader couldn't escape—not only did they drive the nails wrong, they even forged one fewer."
Xu Shenghua shook his head, pulling the nails from Qin Mu's wounds, then shook his head again: "These fifty nails were also driven in the wrong positions. I wonder which incompetent fool drove them..."
Just as he removed the last nail, suddenly, from Qin Mu's lifeless body—as if the bitter winter had just passed—a spring breeze blew through, revealing a faint trace of vitality!
Xu Shenghua's heart stirred slightly, but he wasn't surprised. He sat to the side, waiting quietly.
The Chaos Sea rippled—the waves were small, gentle, and slow.
The vitality within Qin Mu's body slowly strengthened, but his injuries limited its growth.
There were fifty such wounds. Xu Shenghua had examined them earlier—they came from Miluo Palace's dao techniques. The dao wounds were extremely severe. Even by destroying his own Divine Treasury and transforming into Chaos, Qin Mu had only resolved the wounds to his Divine Treasury and primordial spirit. The wounds to his physical body couldn't be completely erased.
Xu Shenghua couldn't heal these wounds either, so he could only wait for Qin Mu to wake up and resolve them himself.
He wasn't worried about Qin Mu at all. This confidence came from their first meeting, when Qin Mu was controlling floods on the river. They were still youths then, and the confidence in Qin Mu's eyes had deeply impressed Xu Shenghua.
As their paths crossed more and more, Qin Mu had weathered countless storms, leading Xu Shenghua to develop a misconception that nothing could stump Qin Mu, nothing could break him, and nothing could kill him.
Of course, he had never seen Qin Mu in despair, which was why he had this unshakeable faith.
After who knows how much more time, Xu Shenghua looked up and saw sword light flickering in the Ultimate Void.
He withdrew his gaze. That sword light felt somewhat familiar. When Qin Mu had come to see him last time, he'd sensed someone in Qin Mu's shadow but hadn't asked. The feeling that sword light gave him was very similar to the person in Qin Mu's shadow.
Just then, Qin Mu slowly opened his eyes. The Chaos Sea gradually calmed, receding into his body. The World Tree behind him also vanished.
"Qin Cult Leader, how was the coffin?" Xu Shenghua asked unhurriedly.
Qin Mu's aura was still very weak. He looked up at Xu Shenghua's expressionless face and smiled bitterly: "Brother Xu, why must you mock me?"
Xu Shenghua's expression suddenly became extremely animated, and he burst into laughter—clear and bright, carrying far into the distance.
Qin Mu coughed violently several times, expelling the bad blood from his body, and said: "Brother Xu, how did you get out of the Ancestral Court?"
Xu Shenghua's smile faded, returning to his usual calm demeanor: "The Great Black Mountain fell. Too many stowaways crawled out from the World Tree's roots. I couldn't defeat them, so I left."
Qin Mu was stunned, then breathed a sigh of relief: "I was worried you'd fight to the death, shedding blood to the last..."
"No."
Xu Shenghua said calmly: "I'm more useful alive."
Qin Mu was choked speechless, wanting nothing more than to get up and punch him. Few people could render him speechless, but Xu Shenghua was one of them.
"The Heavenly Court is destroyed." Xu Shenghua continued.
Qin Mu's heart shook violently. Suddenly he couldn't suppress his injuries—all fifty wounds burst forth with blood simultaneously.
Xu Shenghua watched him frantically trying to seal his wounds, then handed him some coffin nails: "These nails can help seal the wounds."
"The Heavenly Court is destroyed?" Qin Mu shoved a nail into one of his wounds, asking urgently.
Xu Shenghua nodded: "When I left, dao-achievers had already stowed across, preparing to attack the Heavenly Court. Calculating the time, the Heavenly Court should have fallen by now. The Ancestral Court has changed hands."
Qin Mu sucked in a cold breath, forgetting to insert the nail. Xu Shenghua kindly helped him drive several coffin nails into his wounds, causing him to cry tears of pain.
"The fall of the Heavenly Court—is it a good thing or a bad thing... Easy! That hurts!"
— — — — Happy belated birthday to Alliance Leader 8803, yesterday! My fault for forgetting yesterday, please don't hit me~~~