Chapter 1487 — The Firmament Is Vast, the Three Realms Small

At this time, Shen Mu, bringing Zai Fu and the others, along with Moon Heavenly Venerable and Langwan God King, had cut into the battlefield of the Lord of Heaven. The Lord of Heaven's situation was already extremely perilous; besieged by four Heavenly Venerables and the three divine artifacts, the Yutian Heavenly Venerables, even by shrinking his body and raising his speed he could not avoid wound after wound.

At this moment it was the will of the Way of Heaven imposed upon the Lord of Heaven; the will of the Way of Heaven was exceedingly strong, suppressing the Lord of Heaven's own consciousness.

The changes in the Way of Heaven had already been fathomed by Hong Heavenly Venerable, Qiang Heavenly Consort, Langxuan God Emperor, and Shi Qiluo: the Way of Heaven had no creativity, no subjectivity, only objectivity.

The consciousness of the Way of Heaven imposed upon the Lord of Heaven, when facing attacks, would meet force with force and break each move with a counter-move; in creativity and variation it fell far short of others.

This was the flaw of the Way of Heaven.

Add to that Hong Heavenly Venerable, a man who knew the Way of Heaven and the Lord of Heaven inside and out, and the Lord of Heaven's speed of ruin surpassed everyone's expectations; even Langxuan, Qiang Heavenly Consort, and the others had not thought that rooting out the Lord of Heaven would go so smoothly.

Only, Moon Heavenly Venerable and Langwan attacking together still caused them some trouble. Add Shen Mu and his four companions, and though these could not threaten their lives, they gave them considerable headache.

Shi Qiluo had broken away from the battlefield of his own accord to intercept them; he controlled and drove the three divine artifacts, the Yutian Heavenly Venerables, and his strength was great; moreover his body was capable of infinite transformations, able to shift at a shake into all manner of exotic treasures, a figure of tremendous fighting power.

Yet Moon Heavenly Venerable would not contend with him head-on at all; if a blow missed, she flashed away and continued attacking Hong Heavenly Venerable, Qiang Heavenly Consort, and the rest, leaving Shi Qiluo sighing in vain.

What made it harder still for Shi Qiluo was that Langwan God King's divine consciousness invaded the divine artifact Yutian Heavenly Venerable, contending with him for control of the artifact, and even invaded his body at one point, attempting to seize control of him and use him as a divine weapon, a divine artifact, to be raised and hurled at Langxuan and the others.

Fortunately he was the master of the Zaofu Heavenly Palace, and had left all manner of hidden doors within the body of the divine artifact Yutian Heavenly Venerable; even in his own body he had hidden countless secret doors. Seeing that she could not seize control, Langwan God King nonetheless kept harassing him, driving him somewhat mad.

"Let me handle this!"

Langxuan God Emperor's divine consciousness suddenly erupted; he traded a hard blow with Langwan God King, a finger of divine essence piercing layer upon layer of space to force Moon Heavenly Venerable out, and with a flick of his sleeve he shook Shen Mu and his four companions out through thirty layers of the void. Calmly he said: "Shi Qiluo, go help Hong Heavenly Venerable."

Shi Qiluo, greatly relieved, at once drove the divine artifact Yutian Heavenly Venerable to kill toward the Lord of Heaven.

The present Langxuan God Emperor was tacitly the strongest in attack among the Ten Heavenly Venerables; even trading blow for blow with the Lord of Heaven he did not fall short in the least, and even Hong Heavenly Venerable, possessor of the greatest mana, was far inferior to him in attack.

"Moon Heavenly Venerable, I am your natural nemesis."

Langxuan God Emperor's bearing was proud; his gaze fell on Moon Heavenly Venerable, and he said calmly: "Your Way of Space, before me, need only a stir of my divine consciousness to be rendered useless. That you were gravely wounded for forty thousand years back then, it was by my hand."

His gaze then fell upon Langwan God King, and he said leisurely: "Langwan Creator, your Way of Divine Consciousness is naturally weaker than my Way of the Great Beginning. Set against me, I can gravely wound you with my first move and take your life with my second. Submit to me, and I will make you an imperial consort."

His gaze then fell upon Shen Mu and the other four, and he frowned: "Mu Heavenly Venerable, though your face is covered I know you. Before me you are a man running naked through the market; what use is covering your face? The five of you together have strength that barely grazes the edge of a Heavenly Venerable's battle power. You are not worth a single blow!"

Tian Shu laughed in fury, and said to the others: "Crude beast! This brute says we run naked through the market! His grandmother's mouth—"

Suddenly the Way of Heaven shook violently; the Way of Heaven of all Xuandu came howling and gathering, pouring madly into the Lord of Heaven's body!

Shen Mu's heart sank. He felt the power of the Way of Heaven's blessing within his own body draining away madly as well. The Way of Heaven of Xuandu must have known that the Lord of Heaven's situation had reached its most critical moment, and was withdrawing all the power of the Way of Heaven that shrouded all Xuandu, to bless the Lord of Heaven's body!

The Lord of Heaven had reached his most perilous moment!

The Lord of Heaven's power rose, but in adaptability there was no rise at all; in that case, no matter how strong the Lord of Heaven's power, he would still die at the hands of Hong Heavenly Venerable and the others.

This battle, most likely, would be lost.

Tian Shu and the others likewise felt the power of the Way of Heaven's blessing flying away, and the four of them all changed countenance. The reason they had been able to fight until now without being slain by the Heavenly Venerables was the blessing of the Way of Heaven's power.

Now that this power was lost, their battle strength would decline, and the peril would greatly increase.

Just then, from afar came an incomparably intense throb. Shen Mu's vertical eye at his brow opened, and he looked that way, and saw Palace Heavenly Venerable, Yan Heavenly Consort, and the Taiji ancient gods besieging You Heavenly Venerable!

Palace Heavenly Venerable's divine whip and horn, Yan Heavenly Consort's hairpin and Guixu, the Taiji ancient gods' Taiji sand table, all had been brought out in full!

Under such an assault, You Heavenly Venerable's chances were dire!

Shen Mu's mind went dim and muddled; suddenly his throat turned sweet, and a mouthful of blood surged into his mouth, which he forcibly swallowed back down.

"Lord of Heaven... You..." His heart suddenly ached, as though cut by a knife.

Suddenly, from the Lord of Heaven's brow, a vast and boundless aura rose surging; the Way of Heaven thundered, the sounds of Heaven quaked, the Heaven Bell rang out!

Hong Heavenly Venerable, besieging the Lord of Heaven, changed countenance greatly; Shi Qiluo and Qiang Heavenly Consort likewise sensed at once how this Lord of Heaven differed from the Lord of Heaven of a moment before!

Langxuan God Emperor was shaken to the core, and looked toward the Lord of Heaven.

There, at the Lord of Heaven's brow, the Lord of Heaven's primordial spirit rose slowly; in an instant the consciousness of the Way of Heaven receded, and the Lord of Heaven's own consciousness took charge of his body.

And in the distance, suddenly a sword-light that startled the world shot up into the heavens, illuminating the countless stars of Xuandu.

The Lord of Heaven smiled, and his grand voice shook through Xuandu.

"The heart of Heaven is vast, the cosmos small; let me add one or two more spirit-journeys!"

In that instant, Shen Mu's tears streamed down his face, wild with joy.