Chapter 1277 — Enemies Meet Face to Face on a Narrow Road

Bai Yuqiong's battle against her own inner demon was nothing like Shen Mu's easy contest. The Taixu Demon Realm could not reproduce the great daos of Taichu, Taisu, Taishi, and Taiji, and Shen Mu's inner demon had never been as mighty as the Lan Yutian of Shen Mu's imagining. Bai Yuqiong, however, had never stepped free of the Great Dao of Divine Consciousness, and so this battle was bitter beyond measure.

The weakest link among her inner demons was in truth the inner demon Shen Mu.

Of her three enemies, Yin Tianzi had fought her to the death for hundreds of thousands of years, yet in her heart Bai Yuqiong did not truly fear Yin Tianzi. For Celestial Master Zixi she felt mostly admiration, adoring his talent and learning, loving his elegance and dash; only, they stood on opposing sides, and what she longed for she could never have. In truth, the one she feared most was Shen Mu.

She was forever afraid that Shen Mu would grind her consciousness away, awaken the Southern Emperor's spirit within her, and restore the Southern Emperor's memories. In the long, endless history of the Southern Emperor, her own small consciousness was but a single drop in that vast sea of memory, a thing of no consequence.

Yet as Bai Yuqiong, she knew she was a whole life of her own, with her own loves and hatreds, passions and grudges, her own aspirations and ideals.

She did not wish to become a single page in the long chronicle of the Southern Emperor's experience. She feared Shen Mu's divine arts, feared that he would wake the other soul within her, feared her own death.

And so, when facing the siege of the three inner demons, she always dodged the attacks of the inner demon Shen Mu, never daring to meet him strength against strength, lest she fall into his snare. Shen Mu watched for a moment, then suddenly called out in a loud voice, "Celestial Master Bai, start with me!

The inner demon Shen Mu does not have my skills. He does not know my divine art of reincarnation!

" "Truly?

" Hearing this, Bai Yuqiong's spirits soared; shocked and delighted at once, she sent out a single divine art, and Shen Mu saw the inner demon Shen Mu shattered to powder, torn into countless pieces by her art! Shen Mu's face darkened.

"It would seem Celestial Master Bai bears a great grudge against me. .

. " Once the inner demon Shen Mu was disposed of, Bai Yuqiong finally let herself go.

Divine arts of every kind, endlessly changing; her figure appearing and vanishing like a ghost.

Spatial arts, creation arts, the arts of divination, the arts of the Buddhist sect, the arts of the dragon race, the arts of the phoenix race, even the arts of the Northern Emperor and the Western Emperor, and the arts of other Lords besides, she unleashed them all at once! Before long, the inner demon Yin Tianzi was gravely wounded by Bai Yuqiong as well. To Shen Mu's mild relief, the inner demon Yin Tianzi's death was even more wretched than that of the inner demon Shen Mu, plain proof that what Bai Yuqiong felt for Yin Tianzi was mostly hatred.

What surprised Shen Mu, however, was that against the inner demon Zixi, Bai Yuqiong never once dealt a killing blow.

Not only did she refrain from the killing blow, she was all tenderness and sweetness, endlessly circling and toying with the inner demon Zixi! With Bai Yuqiong's strength, ridding herself of the inner demon Zixi should have been no difficult matter. Shen Mu grew suspicious. In Bai Yuqiong's eyes and brows there seemed a tenderness like water; her struggle with the inner demon Zixi looked less like a fight to the death than like flirtation and dalliance. The more he looked, the deeper his suspicion grew, and by degrees he grew restless.

From ahead came the clash of divine arts; plainly others were also searching for Lord Hao's whereabouts, and had already gone very deep.

If someone else found Lord Hao first, and instead of killing him, spirited him away, would all their efforts not be wasted? "Bai Yuqiong seems to have feelings for Celestial Master Zixi.

.

.

" The more Shen Mu watched, the more suspicious he became.

The tenderness in her brows and eyes was on the verge of overflowing, yet still she would not deal a fatal blow, and far too much time was being lost. "Bai Yuqiong has lived nearly two hundred lifetimes; she counts as an old hand of the world.

Could she really never have seen that Celestial Master Zixi is Yan Yunxi in man's disguise? " Shen Mu suddenly coughed, and called out in reminder, "Celestial Master Bai, Celestial Master Zixi is indeed mighty in divine arts, a formidable rival of yours! That woman's true name is Yan Yunxi.

She dresses as a man and plays with people's feelings; she is among the most heinous villains under Kaihuang's banner. She must not be spared!

Let me lend you a hand!

" At these words Bai Yuqiong's mind was thrown into sudden chaos. The inner demon Zixi seized her chance, and Bai Yuqiong nearly fell into her sure-kill tribulation formation; she escaped in sorry disarray, and raged, "Yan Yunxi?

Dressed as a man? Playing with my feelings?

" To Shen Mu's satisfaction, Bai Yuqiong rallied her strength, and the inner demon Zixi's death was a hundred times more wretched than those of the inner demon Yin Tianzi and the inner demon Shen Mu! Bai Yuqiong walked over, her face expressionless, plainly deeply displeased. She said coolly, "Lord Mu, let us make haste. We must not let others steal the first merit!

" Shen Mu followed her cautiously, saying not a word. Bai Yuqiong said not a word either. Shen Mu stole a glance at her, and saw that tears had wet both her cheeks.

Shen Mu's heart gave a jolt. He opened his mouth, but said nothing.

"Playing with my feelings! Yan Yunxi--" Bai Yuqiong ground her teeth, her killing intent boiling, and it made his blood run cold, as though he had plunged into a dark abyss.

"Heh heh.

.

.

" Shen Mu laughed dryly twice, the corners of his eyes twitching, and thought, "Yin Tianzi played with feelings and ruined Di Yiyue; Yan Yunxi plays with feelings and has led Bai Yuqiong astray. Both of them will likely come to grief.

Still, Yan Yunxi is at least Kaihuang's second Celestial Master; I ought to warn her first and let her prepare.

Then again, she should be helping Kaihuang handle affairs of state, so I will not run into her for the moment. . . " Scarcely had he thought this when a donkey's bray suddenly came from ahead: "Hee-haw, hee-haw--Black Cat, Brother Sanduo, you two are hopeless! You cannot even beat the Heavenly Court's Zhenwu Attendant. Just watch what I can do!

" Shen Mu's expression shifted slightly. That bray belonged to none other than Yan Yunxi's mount, the Great Devil King Lu Zheng. "This is bad!

" he thought.

If the Great Devil King Lu Zheng was here, then Yan Yunxi was certainly here as well!

Remembering the state of the inner demon Zixi's corpse, Shen Mu could not help but shiver several times.

Bai Yuqiong's face was as calm as still water, and the killing intent about her grew ever heavier.

"Mm.

When Celestial Master Bai makes her move on Celestial Master Zixi, I will keep my distance. As for this matter, I shall simply pretend I never said it.

. .

" Just then, someone ahead suddenly cried out in a loud voice, "The head of the Divine Artifact Lord Yu is right here!

Everyone be careful, Lord Hao must be nearby! " Shen Mu was startled and delighted at once. "Lord Hao is nearby?

It seems this time he cannot escape his doom! " He and Bai Yuqiong hurried forward. Along the way, colossal corpse walkers crouched prostrate upon the ground, leading countless inner demons in frenzied slaughter. Bai Yuqiong and Shen Mu forced their way through, Shen Mu doing battle with every manner of inner demon while Bai Yuqiong fought the corpse walkers.