Chapter 1472 — Seek Your Own Death, and Blame Not Heaven

At the very moment Venerable Lord Hongtian's palm descended over Tianfang City, a burst of dazzling light erupted between the two, and no sooner had it flared than it vanished without a trace.

At the same instant, upon Venerable Lord Hongtian's colossal face, the kindly, benevolent smile twisted into astonishment and fury. His frame was so vast that his expressions seemed to shift with agonizing slowness, yet the astonishment and rage were already fading, leaving behind only cold severity.

From his severed wrist, flesh and blood surged madly into being; sinews thick as mountains spread frantically outward, blood vessels proliferated like flood-dragons, and the bones of his hand grew like mountain ranges rising from the earth.

Just then, Venerable Lord Hongtian's brow furrowed once more.

He sensed something strange. He was employing the Dao of Creation to mend the damage to his flesh—and the Dao of Creation consumed his mana. Mana expenditure, by rights, should have been swiftly replenished given the heights of his cultivation.

Yet in that moment, he felt not the faintest tendency of his mana to recover.

He felt as though within his body there was an invisible lock, an exceedingly intricate and elaborate chain, binding his mana layer upon layer, preventing him from restoring his cultivation!

Scarcely had this thought crossed his mind when a stabbing pain lanced through his heart. In a daze, Venerable Lord Hongtian felt as though he had plunged into a bottomless well, gazing upward at the patch of sky framed by its mouth.

This sensation was somewhat akin to what he had felt at Yaochi, before the Tianmeng Council, when he and Shen Mu had fallen out and he had taken that strike from Shen Mu.

But the strange feeling quickly passed. The cultivation he had lost was negligible to him—a single hair from nine oxen.

His palm swiftly regenerated. He clenched it hard, and below, the severed hand burst apart, one Heavenly Dao Dao-soldier after another flying out from it and falling into his newly formed palm.

"Five Heavenly Dao Dao-soldiers are missing, and the most crucial of all—the Tiangang Dao-soldier—has been stolen."

Venerable Lord Hongtian had been gazing down at the divine city of Tianfang. Now he slowly raised his head, and saw that the broken continent of Tianfang City, under Di Qing's protection, had already broken through the encirclement of the Heavenly Court's armies and was fleeing outward.

At the edge of that continent, rays of light emerged one after another, and five masked figures burst forth from the radiance, rushing dozens of li before finally halting.

The five figures' bodies burst apart, then their blood flowed back, bound by a strange power, leaving them virtually unharmed.

The five missing Heavenly Dao Dao-soldiers were clutched in the hands of these five.

"Venerable Lord Mu, you still fail to understand what is meant by 'respond with order and fortune follows; respond with chaos and calamity follows.' You severed one of my hands and stole my Dao-soldiers—it seems there is no longer any room for reconciliation between us."

Venerable Lord Hongtian's body rapidly shrank, soon assuming ordinary height. With broad sleeves and flowing robes, elegant and unrestrained, he resembled a transcendent sage who had risen above the mundane world as he drifted in pursuit of that continent. "Self-made calamity admits no life."

"All armies of the Heavenly Court, annihilate the remnants of Xuandu's Tianfang City—leave not a single one alive."

His voice spread to the ears of every commander across the Heavenly Court's forces, deep and resonant, as he said unhurriedly: "This is a grand opportunity for you to earn merit, and a grand opportunity to plunder Xuandu's wealth and seize slaves."

Countless banners streamed and fluttered; tower ships and great vessels set sail; innumerable mighty gods and demons rose from the ships, charging toward the Xuandu gods and demons of Tianfang City who had not perished beneath the power of Venerable Lord Hongtian's palm.

There were also planets that had not been shattered by that palm. They drifted and swayed, and upon them still dwelled the people of Xuandu. Surviving Sun Wards and Moon Wards marshaled their mana and divine abilities, striving to lead these people away.

Venerable Lord Hongtian's steps appeared slow, yet his speed was extraordinary—he drew ever closer to that continent.

Upon that continent, Shen Mu, Zaifu, and the other three staggered, their feet shifting ceaselessly. Clang, clang, clang—the five Heavenly Dao Dao-soldiers were planted into the ground, and at last they steadied themselves.

The five exchanged glances, their hearts still quivering with lingering dread.

"Mine here is the Tianyin Dao-soldier!" said Zhehuali, still shaken, in a low voice.

"Mine is the Tianyuan Dao-soldier," said Luo Wushuang, gazing at the Tianyuan Mirror in his hand.

"What I hold should be the Tiandong Dao-soldier," said Tian Shu, bracing himself against a divine tower.

"What I hold is the Tianji Dao-soldier," said Zaifu, glancing at the Heavenly Canopy planted in the earth.

Shen Mu looked toward the Heavenly Dao Dao-soldier he had thrust into the ground. It resembled a heavenly canopy—opened, it became a canopy, transforming into the vault of heaven. Beneath that vault, the Heavenly Dao's principles, centered upon the zenith, hung down in forty-nine strands.

"This one of mine is the Tiangang Dao-soldier—the General Compendium of the Heavenly Dao."

Shen Mu said gravely: "With this rare treasure, one may command all the other Heavenly Dao Dao-soldiers."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Their desperate gamble had not been in vain.

And what had this venture been, if not risking their very heads?

Venerable Lord Hongtian's strike had shattered even matter into chaos. In a state of chaos, the soul itself would likely dissolve into chaos—no longer matter at all, with no soul-black-sand to speak of!

At such a moment, neither Shen Mu's soul-molding divine ability nor the immutability of matter would have availed them in the slightest—there could have been no survival!

"Venerable Lord Hongtian is an existence who can shatter thirty-five layers of void with his own mana. Among the Ten Venerable Lords, his mana is the strongest—surpassing even beings like Venerable Lord Fire and Venerable Lord Dawn."

Shen Mu exhaled a turbid breath and looked back, his heart turning cold. He saw Venerable Lord Hongtian, sleeves fluttering, had already crossed the Heavenly Court's battle lines, walking toward them beneath the brilliant luminance of Xuandu.

It would not be long before he arrived.

"Who are you?"

Suddenly Di Qing's voice came through. Shen Mu did not answer. He touched the black cloth upon his face—it was still there. Heavenly King Tian Shu laughed: "Di Qing, we have already introduced ourselves. I am the Heavenly King of the Dark Capital under Kaihuang, and these four are friends I invited to lend aid."

Di Qing seemed not to hear him. His gaze fixed straight upon Shen Mu as he said solemnly: "Who are you?"

"You do not want to know who I am."

Shen Mu said calmly: "What you should be considering now is how to escape Venerable Lord Hongtian's pursuit and escort these people out of Xuandu."

Di Qing fell silent. He looked back at the people upon this broken continent. At this moment there still remained several hundred thousand Xuandu common folk and over a hundred Sun Wards—but all of them were wounded.

The eyes of those common folk and wounded Sun Wards settled upon him, filled with despair and also with hope. They still held full confidence in him, still believed he could lead them out of this hopeless strait and bring them life.

Di Qing forced a smile, smiling at them.

"If you will not say who you are, I will not press. I wish to ask the five of you one thing."