Chapter 1086 — Old Friends Reunited in the Wuming Palace

He suddenly felt something in his heart — clearly he had also sensed Hao Tianzun slipping into the Wuming Heavenly Palace. His divine consciousness was not as powerful as Shen Mu's, but neither was it weak. A powerful divine consciousness can grant foreboding and precognition.

Shen Mu also felt a deep longing for that Great Void he spoke of. But that Great Void had already been destroyed by the Tai Emperor, and he himself was no longer that Luoxiao who could not deceive.

"That giant beast that followed at my side when I died on the Heavenly River — what of it?" he asked.

Yun Tianzun said: "I sent it into the Great Void."

Shen Mu sighed inwardly. The Tai Emperor had, in the end, learned the location of the Great Void.

His divine consciousness rippled and passed into Yun Tianzun's mind: "I cannot go back. Then I must trouble you to take the Primordial Stones of the Great Beginning to my clanspeople and help them forge the Void Bridge and the World of the Other Shore. These Tai Emperor Seal and Tai Emperor Altar — you surely know their origins and uses as well. I lend them to you. In the future, you will return them to me."

He abruptly turned, his gaze sweeping toward the place where Hao Tianzun was hidden, and his divine consciousness exploded outward.

Hao Tianzun was struck dumb on the spot. All the scenery before his eyes vanished, leaving only a towering, incomparably majestic ancient god — the Heavenly Emperor — standing before him.

Hao Tianzun trembled with dread, then realized at once that this was an illusion. He bit down hard on his tongue, and a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out.

His blood contained the bloodlines of two great ancient gods, and it immediately melted away Shen Mu's consciousness illusion, breaking Shen Mu's divine consciousness technique!

At the same moment, a Primordial Stone of the Great Beginning appeared in Yun Tianzun's hand, along with the Tai Emperor Seal and the Tai Emperor Altar.

He flipped his palm and put away the three items. When he looked up again, Shen Mu had already left.

Yun Tianzun's eyes were full of suspicion and confusion. This Luoxiao seemed different from the Luoxiao who had died in battle on the Heavenly River. This Luoxiao's divine consciousness was, to be sure, also extraordinarily powerful, but his character did not seem to be that of the same Luoxiao.

Hao Tianzun walked over, looking this way and that, but could find no trace of Shen Mu either. Suspicion filled his heart.

"I know that the third person in the hall was you, Yun Tianzun," Hao Tianzun said leisurely.

Yun Tianzun said calmly: "And I know that one of them was you."

Hao Tianzun's eyes flickered with curiosity: "Then who was the other? To seize with such precision the opportunity of Achou-Tubo's rampage through the Heavenly Palace — that there should be a third person besides you and me cannot but make me curious."

"Strange men and extraordinary figures are beyond counting in this world. Most likely it was some remarkable person. The struggle between Crown Prince Qi and Tubo — was that a trap you set? Very elegant."

Yun Tianzun praised him with sincerity: "You schemed against Tubo, schemed against Crown Prince Qi, and schemed against the Heavenly Emperor's treasure vault as well. Hao Tianzun, you are truly remarkable."

Hao Tianzun smiled faintly and said leisurely: "I merely followed the current and pushed the boat along. Among the demigods of the Yuan Realm, I am the leader — but among the demigods of the countless heavens and myriad worlds, their leader is the Crown Prince. I am nothing but a minor lord, the same as you. I needed only to let a few demigods tell the Crown Prince that Tubo had reincarnated, that his opportunity had come — and naturally he would make his move. And moreover..."

He revealed a teasing smile: "His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor does not, in truth, particularly wish for the Crown Prince to live. These years, the Crown Prince's ambitions have grown greater and greater, and he has grown too close to the other ancient gods."

"After this incident, Crown Prince Qi will have no choice but to rebel. Yet if he rebels, he will die, and there will be no one left to contest the position of Crown Prince with you. But no matter how well-crafted your scheme, it is still merely a small squabble."

Yun Tianzun looked toward the direction of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall and said: "You cannot contend with that one."

Hao Tianzun felt the same in his heart. He stood shoulder to shoulder with him, looking toward the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, and said softly: "Every time I see him, I always feel a sense of powerless resistance. I know well how terrifying he is. The more I know of him, the more I know how invincible he is. He has only one weakness. If even that weakness did not exist, then..."

He shivered several times in succession.

Yun Tianzun's eyes flickered and he said: "In this age, the only one worth my notice is you alone. Your origins seem noble, but in truth you are a bastard son without name or status. You suffered the blow of a shattered Dao-heart, yet you were able to rise again, to voluntarily cast aside the seemingly noble and luxurious position in the Heavenly Court, and willingly descend to the lower realms to become a hero of the wilds."

He clasped his hands behind his back and said: "I see in you boundless ambition, endless desire. You befriend demigods, you befriend Fire Tianzun and Yin Tianzi — even the Langxuan Divine Emperor and the Ancestral God King speak highly of you. And in the many wars between the Longxiao Heavenly Court and the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, I have seen your brilliance. Of all the heroes under heaven, there are only two."

He raised his hand, pointing at Hao Tianzun, then at himself.

Hao Tianzun laughed heartily. When the laughter subsided, he said: "We have a common enemy. You need my strength to deal with him, and I need your wisdom and ability to restrain him. Yun — in this world, the ones I admire most, apart from Lan Yutian and Mu Tianzun, are you. I can draw in a host of the most powerful demigods, and you can draw in a host of the most powerful humans. We must plan this out most carefully."

Yun Tianzun nodded. Involuntarily, the image of that Creator maiden named Langwan surfaced in his mind. He said: "I already have an idea in my heart. It merely requires many years of patience. When all of you have cultivated into the Imperial Throne, and I am fully prepared, then we may act. He has only one weakness, and we have only one opportunity. No matter what, it must be absolutely certain!"

His gaze was far-reaching: "And before that, I must deal with another person — another existence of extreme power, no inferior to your father!"

Hao Tianzun's heart stirred slightly, and he thought of a terrifying existence: "The one you mean to deal with is...?"

"The Tai Emperor."

Yun Tianzun turned and departed, saying: "Only by first eliminating him can we ensure that after your father is eliminated, he will not stir up trouble. Otherwise the Tai Emperor will become another Heavenly Emperor, and we will only have been making wedding clothes for him! The Tai Emperor must die before your father!"

Hao Tianzun watched him go far into the distance and could not help but admire him.

"Yun Tianzun is indeed my worthy rival. What I can think of, he can think of as well. What I cannot think of, he has thought of too. But who will have the last laugh depends on momentum."

He walked out of the Wuming Heavenly Palace: "The momentum of the human race is a hundred and eight thousand li inferior to that of the demigods. After Crown Prince Qi dies, the demigods will fall under my command. My momentum will be greater than yours — and so the final victor will be me!"