Chapter 1801: To Meet Again in the Past, For the Sake of the Future
The sound of the zither rose within the Hall of Chaos. Young Master Tử Tiêu's eyes blazed with murderous intent, but as the melody of the Tử Tiêu Enlightenment Tune reached his ears, the killing intent gradually faded, leaving only memory and longing behind.
Only those of profound emotion could attain sagehood.
Yet those of profound emotion and sagehood were also the easiest to exploit.
Young Master Tử Tiêu had reached his current position, becoming a Young Master of the Mị La Palace, precisely because his emotions were focused and intense—but this strength had also become his weakness.
"I still cannot bring myself to deal with this woman personally..."
Young Master Tử Tiêu desperately wanted to ignore the Tử Tiêu Enlightenment Tune, desperately wanted to slay the Moon Heavenly Venerable with his zither notes at once, yet he found himself unable to make a move.
As time passed, his longing for his deceased wife grew deeper, heavier, and more intense.
Though he knew full well that such longing was detrimental to him, he could not bear to cast it aside—for once cast aside, he would no longer be himself.
"Lăng Tiêu..." Young Master Tử Tiêu said with difficulty.
In truth, there was no need for his reminder—Young Master Lăng Tiêu had already made his move!
Young Master Lăng Tiêu's attack was domineering and decisive. He charged straight to the front of the Hall of Chaos behind Tần Mục, unleashing his most vicious killing technique the moment he arrived, striking directly at the Moon Heavenly Venerable!
The Moon Heavenly Venerable was no match for him at all. Even though he was merely using Hạo Thiên Tôn's physical body, the Moon Heavenly Venerable absolutely could not block a single strike from him!
Tần Mục stepped across to block, sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers swirling and howling around him, intercepting Lăng Tiêu's assault!
"Seventh Brother, your technique is not yet perfected—you still have far to go!"
Young Master Lăng Tiêu let out a long cry and forcibly charged into the sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers. His body was like a spear, riding the wind and breaking the waves, charging straight ahead.
He waved his hand, sending spear shadows one after another into the rivers, pinning each river in place and preventing them from circulating!
Compared to Vô Nhai Elder's helplessness against Tần Mục's technique, he was far more composed. None of Vô Nhai Elder's divine abilities could do anything to Tần Mục, but he could see through the flaws in Tần Mục's techniques and divine abilities!
Boom!
Young Master Lăng Tiêu broke through the sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers, and the two collided head-on. Tần Mục used his hand as a sword, unleashing the Thiên Đô Creation Chapter, while Young Master Lăng Tiêu executed the great divine ability that the Master of the Mị La Palace had created specifically to counter the Lord of Thiên Đô. The two exchanged blows at lightning speed before the Hall of Chaos, their forms flickering and vanishing in an instant.
Sssss—
Blood holes appeared all over Tần Mục's body. The Thiên Đô Creation Chapter was shattered completely!
Dong—
The Cosmic Bell, which had been suppressing Vô Nhai Elder, flew over. With a single ring of the bell, Young Master Lăng Tiêu was blasted flying. In the instant his body flew out, the Dao Spear embedded in Young Master Vô Cực's chest flew over, striking the Cosmic Bell and nearly piercing straight through the great bell.
The bell spun, and the spear shaft was redirected toward Young Master Lăng Tiêu's direction.
Young Master Lăng Tiêu reached out mid-flight, caught the spear shaft, and with a forceful flick, sent the bell flying away!
On the roots of the World Tree, Vô Nhai Elder struggled to rise. Seeing this, he gritted his teeth and channeled his remaining power to blast the three of them away from the tree!
The World Tree's might was no longer what it had been. It swept up Vô Nhai Elder and hurtled toward the outside of the Quy Khư Great Abyss.
At the same time, on the Quy Khư Lotus Platform, Young Master Vô Cực finally rose, forcibly channeling the last of his power to shoot into the sky, also charging toward the outside of the Quy Khư Great Abyss.
"Tử Tiêu!"
Young Master Lăng Tiêu shouted sharply: "If you still indulge in your longing at a time like this, you will ruin everything!"
Young Master Tử Tiêu was jolted awake from his reverie by his Dao-shaking shout. However, by now the Moon Heavenly Venerable's Tử Tiêu Enlightenment Tune had reached a critical juncture, causing his Dao heart to waver. He could not help but want to set everything aside and listen.
Young Master Tử Tiêu gritted his teeth fiercely, reached out and drew his Dao Sword. Holding the sword in his left hand, he formed a sword seal with his right hand and wiped his two fingers across the blade.
Sss—
Blood splattered across the Dao Sword. The two fingers of his right hand forming the sword seal were cut open, and Dao blood flew out along the sword's body, a streak of crimson light shooting toward the Hall of Chaos!
Seeing this, Young Master Lăng Tiêu charged forward. Behind him, the phantom of the Lăng Tiêu Precious Hall suddenly materialized, and his forty-layered Dao Realm transformed into a sky full of divine phantoms, empowering his spear strike. As he thrust the spear, it was as if the deities of the past sixteen cosmic epochs had all emerged at once, Dao melodies singing loudly, making his spear strike supremely domineering!
The Master of the Mị La Palace was not domineering—he was gentle as jade. This was where even the Master of the Mị La Palace could not match Young Master Lăng Tiêu.
Young Master Lăng Tiêu charged forward with supreme dominance. Tần Mục raised his hand and slapped out. With a thunderous dong, the mouth of the Cosmic Bell faced Lăng Tiêu. The Five Primordials evolved, the myriad Daos of heaven and earth surged forth, manifesting the vast and vicissitudinous history of a universe!
Dong—
Young Master Lăng Tiêu's Dao Spear pierced into the bell, unstoppable, piercing through countless great Daos, countless star rivers, and countless star domains. Within the bell, the Five Primordial Daos coiled like dragons, pressing down upon the Dao Spear—yet the spear pierced through the Five Primordials as well, finally stabbing into the ball of chaotic energy in Tần Mục's palm.
Pfft.
A spear tip burst through the back of Tần Mục's hand, stained with blood. The Dao Spear pressed his palm forward, stabbing into his chest.
Young Master Lăng Tiêu strode forward with effort, spear in hand, driving Tần Mục backward across the Chaotic Sea, forcing him away from before the Hall of Chaos.
And the streak of blood light from Young Master Tử Tiêu's Dao Sword happened to fly past behind Young Master Lăng Tiêu, heading toward the Hall of Chaos.
At the same moment, Tần Mục's mind stirred slightly, and he closed the hall's doors. Just as the doors were about to shut completely, the streak of blood light had already flown through the gap and into the hall!
The sound of clanging strings came from within—the zither music inside was cut off.
Young Master Tử Tiêu's consciousness immediately recovered, a trace of sorrow appearing in his eyes. Suddenly, his sleeve swept up his deceased wife's ancient zither as he soared into the air, the great zither flying behind him as he sped off together with it toward the fleeing Vô Nhai Elder and Young Master Vô Cực!
"Fourth Brother still cannot escape the shadow of his Dao heart!"
Young Master Lăng Tiêu frowned slightly. Though he could not see what had happened inside the Hall of Chaos, he could deduce from the sound of the zither that Tử Tiêu's streak of sword light had not slain the Moon Heavenly Venerable directly. Rather, it had first severed the strings of her zither, then slain her with a single sword stroke.
This was the result of his longing for his deceased wife—he could not bring himself to strike directly at the Moon Heavenly Venerable. By severing the strings, the Tử Tiêu Enlightenment Tune could no longer be played, and without the interference of the zither music, he could finally deliver the killing blow.
Young Master Lăng Tiêu understood the changes in Tử Tiêu's Dao heart with perfect clarity.
Suddenly, rings of reincarnation light spun into being. Tần Mục's Dao techniques underwent a great transformation. The Six Paths Heavenly Wheel rose thunderously from the Chaotic Sea.
With Second Young Master Vô Cực no longer suppressing him, this Chaotic Sea instantly became Tần Mục's main battlefield. As the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel rose from the sea, massive chaotic stones from the Chaotic Sea also flew up along with Tần Mục's divine ability!
The Six Paths Heavenly Wheel was Tần Mục's thirty-third heaven divine ability. Standing upon the sea, chaotic stones continuously combined with the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel, rapidly forming layers upon layers of reincarnation!
Young Master Lăng Tiêu's heart pounded with alarm. He immediately withdrew his spear and fled, the Dao Spear tearing through the sky, breaking through layer after layer of reincarnation and charging out of the Quy Khư before the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel formed by chaotic stones was fully complete!
Whoosh!
Below, Tần Mục's sleeves shook, and the Chaotic Sea rose toward the sky, higher and higher, following close behind.
On either side of Young Master Lăng Tiêu, the Great Abyss was collapsing at terrifying speed. Massive chaotic stones fell from both sides, tumbling downward—but halfway down, they were swept up by the ever-rising Six Paths Heavenly Wheel, becoming part of the wheel!
"He dismantled the Quy Khư Great Abyss!"
Shock ran through Young Master Lăng Tiêu's heart. Without Vô Cực's suppression, Tần Mục could be said to be the sovereign of this Quy Khư Great Abyss—and he had actually forcibly dismantled the entire abyss!
The Six Paths Heavenly Wheel rose faster and faster, chasing him relentlessly, while the Great Abyss collapsed and disintegrated at an ever-increasing rate, continuously feeding the wheel.
Seeing that he could no longer escape the Quy Khư Great Abyss, Young Master Lăng Tiêu suddenly turned in mid-air and thrust his spear at the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel!
Within the wheel, Tần Mục looked up. A chaotic stone flew up from the sea, landing in his hand and transforming into a stone sword. Tần Mục raised the sword and stabbed upward!
Young Master Lăng Tiêu's spear struck the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel, but Tần Mục's chaotic sword light pierced through his brow.
Young Master Lăng Tiêu let out a muffled groan, blasted high into the air and ejected from the Quy Khư Great Abyss.
He raised his hand and wiped his brow—a bloody mark, yet he felt no abnormality whatsoever.
His body continued to fly backward, farther and farther from the Quy Khư Great Abyss. He watched as the Quy Khư Great Abyss hanging in the sky collapsed inward and fell.
Soon, accompanied by a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering boom, a heavenly wheel formed of chaotic stones sliced through the collapsing Quy Khư. Then came more rumbling booms as the other five heavenly wheels each spun, cutting through the Quy Khư and appearing against the sky.
And behind the sky was the Chaotic Sea covering the heavens.
Tần Mục stood on the sea surface beneath the wheels. In Young Master Lăng Tiêu's view, he was upside down—head down, feet up—but that place had its own heaven and earth, and Tần Mục felt not the slightest discomfort.
Tần Mục did not come to attack him. Instead, he churned the Chaotic Sea, using the remnants of the Quy Khư Great Abyss's great Daos to erase the Ultimate Void of the Ancestral Court.
Young Master Lăng Tiêu turned, his form transforming into a streak of light as he tore through the air, searching for the whereabouts of Young Master Tử Tiêu, Vô Nhai Elder, and Young Master Vô Cực.
"Seventh Brother is a madman. He forcibly destroyed the Quy Khư and sealed the Ancestral Court. He certainly won't let Vô Cực and Vô Nhai escape the Ancestral Court—they must still be within it!"
He thought to himself: "Once I kill them, Fourth Brother and I can descend!"
Only after Tần Mục had completely sealed the sky of the Ancestral Court did he come before the Hall of Chaos.
He stood before the doors, hesitating for a moment, then pushed open the Hall of Chaos and stepped inside.
Within the Hall of Chaos, sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers flowed through the hall. These were the sixteen tribulations he must undergo to achieve enlightenment through Chaos—rivers he still dared not set foot in.
On the surface of the third Chaotic Long River, a zither floated silently.
Tần Mục raised his hand, and the ancient zither flew over. Its strings were completely severed, and a blood-red sword mark ran across it.
Tần Mục looked into the third Chaotic Long River. There lay the fourteenth epoch of the universe.
The Moon Heavenly Venerable must have retreated to the third Chaotic Long River when Tử Tiêu's sword light caught up with her, severing the zither and "slaying" her.
"In the future, when I return to the past, I will return to the moment Young Master Tử Tiêu struck with his sword, and I will save you."
Tần Mục put away the ancient zither, walked out of the Hall of Chaos, and with robes fluttering, departed from the Chaotic Sea.
"Moon, for you, it should only be a single instant after you fell into the river before you can meet me. But for me, who knows how long I must wait. The time you wait is very short, but the time I wait is very long."
A smile appeared on Tần Mục's face, his gaze growing deeper and more profound: "But still—you and I shall meet again!"