Chapter 1267 — The Rulers of Old

The Ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court forged the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable with a single aim: to attain the state the Great Emperor now enjoyed. Yet theirs was ever a borrowed strength, a reliance upon things external, and could not be reckoned their own true power.

The Great Emperor, by his own self alone, had reached this step—and was stronger still!

"The peerless overlord of prehistoric times—how extraordinary!

" Shen Mu could not help but exclaim in wonder. And even the state the Great Emperor now held was not his strongest; to reach his peak, he would need the complete Primordial Stones set into the space between his brows!

Not only that, he would also need to reclaim the dharma power and consciousness of Qiang Heavenly Venerable!

Only then would he be the complete Great Emperor!

With the Consciousness Daluo Heaven above him, a Great Emperor in such a form was, beyond all doubt, the most terrifying existence beneath the heavens, from ancient times to the present day! Now Shen Mu finally understood that the Creators' rule over the ancient gods, their enslavement of the ancient gods, was no empty talk.

It was the Creators of prehistoric times who had made a monster as overbearing as the Great Emperor.

They could make one Great Emperor; they could make a second, and a third.

The enslavement of the ancient gods was no idle phrase. "Yet the Way of Consciousness, which springs from the Way of the Primordial Beginning, suffers one enormous flaw—namely Ling Heavenly Venerable's Immutable Divine Art of Matter.

" Shen Mu's expression turned strange. Under the influence of the Immutable Divine Art, the Great Emperor could visualize nothing at all, could visualize no great Way whatsoever; he was pinned down utterly, with not the slightest chance to resist!

Under the full might of the Immutable Divine Art, he would not even get the chance to strike before being completely petrified by it. Compared with the Innate Qi, the Way of Consciousness suffered from grave flaws.

The Innate Qi, too, sprang from the Way of the Primordial Beginning, yet when faced with the Immutable Divine Art it could resist, and even slay the master of that art. "This must be why Ming Fangyu, the reincarnation of the Great Emperor's primordial spirit, drove the fleshly body of the Heavenly Emperor Taichu to assassinate Ling Heavenly Venerable," he thought to himself.

Suddenly he sensed an inexplicable resonance of the Way coming from beside him, and he hurriedly turned to look.

There was Lan Yutian, listening to the resonance of the Way carried in the qin's melody, unwittingly sunk into enlightenment! Shen Mu was stunned.

Though he possessed the Heavenly Emperor's eggshell, though he had already attained no small mastery in the Innate Qi and the great Way of Consciousness, and had even been taught the perceptions of consciousness by the primeval spirits of the successive Creators of the Great Void's Primeval Spirit Realm, never once had he fallen into enlightenment merely upon hearing the qin. And Lan Yutian was surely encountering the Way of Consciousness and the Innate Qi for the very first time, yet at the sound of the qin's rhythm he had sunk into enlightenment.

Such natural endowment was simply monstrous! Shen Mu pondered briefly, then abruptly entered the Way in dream.

Dreamscape after dreamscape unfurled along the strings of light, and countless diligent little Shen Mus each listened to the qin's melody and the sound of the Way, seeking to fathom its mysteries. Though far inferior to Lan Yutian in innate talent, he surpassed him in the arts of divination, and in the Buddhist teachings and mind-study of the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha as well. Thus he could enter the Way in dream and comprehend it, while Lan Yutian could not.

This was his shortcut, one that others could only envy. His fleshly body slept, but his primordial spirit kept its eyes open, watching with that spirit the battle between the Great Emperor and Hao Heavenly Venerable, studying the divine arts of these two supreme beings—neglecting neither.

Bai Yuqiong looked from one to the other, her sandalwood-scented little mouth agape, unable to speak. After a moment she gave a faint, plaintive sigh.

"It took me nearly two hundred lifetimes of experience to win my present standing, while Mu Heavenly Venerable and Brother Lan were born with their talent and cleverness. One deduces through arts and divine abilities; the other enters the Way outright.

Compare one person with another.

. .

" She shook her head.

She too could hear much of the wonder of the great Way in the qin's melody, but to comprehend it thoroughly would take her an unknowable span of time.

By comparison, her wisdom and methods fell short of Shen Mu's, and in natural endowment she stood a hundred thousand li behind Yu Heavenly Venerable. "Diligence makes up for dullness! " Watching those little Shen Mus in his dreams, toiling away like so many little bees, she gave a stifled snort.

"But I am not as diligent as they are either. .

.

What if I awakened the soul of the Southern Emperor?

What if I became the Southern Emperor. . .

" She suddenly shuddered and hastily wiped away that dreadful thought.

In the distance, Hao Heavenly Venerable had also driven the might of the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable to its utmost. This colossal divine artifact, like the Great Emperor, seemed to house an ancient deity in every one of its apertures, commanding the myriad Ways beneath the heavens, its battle power surging to the sky. Yet compared with the Great Emperor, the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable was still a notch inferior.

In fleshly body, the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable could not match the Great Emperor.

Its body had been engendered through the Way of Creation; even with the great Way's empowerment, the Great Emperor had the great Way's empowerment as well, and moreover had been sacrificed to and refined day and night by the Creators of prehistoric times. In vital qi, the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable's vital qi far surpassed the Great Emperor's. But the Great Emperor's cultivation lay in consciousness, and his consciousness had grown so mighty that it could brand the Ultimate Void itself!

If measured by vital qi, the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable had never reached such a step either. Under the Great Emperor's assault, the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable retreated again and again, its skin split and flesh torn, the patterns of the great Way upon its body shattered, the light of the ancient gods' Way in one aperture after another within it winking out.

The divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable was a giant that could destroy heaven and earth and suppress all worlds, yet before the Great Emperor he was like a little brother, fit only to take a beating.

Just then, heavenly palaces suddenly leaped forth behind Hao Heavenly Venerable, and at the same time heavenly palaces leaped forth behind the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable as well, sending their dharma power soaring! Two Heavenly Courts emerged, each of a different structure.

Different combinations of heavenly palaces could transform into different Great Heavenly Court arts, and different Great Heavenly Court arts possessed different powers. With the two Heavenly Courts manifest, the might of their divine abilities and arts shot up in a straight line!

Hao Heavenly Venerable had been enduring all along, like a venomous snake fixed upon its prey, waiting for the moment to strike a single killing blow. And now at last he need endure no longer, and unleashed his true skill outright!

The Great Emperor laughed heartily. "Hao Heavenly Venerable, I have long been waiting for this move of yours!

" His consciousness erupted, transforming behind him into a whole expanse of heavenly palaces that linked into a single Heavenly Court.