Chapter 1489 — The Azure Heaven Falls, Part One

Not only that, but he also sensed that every time he was wounded by Lord Heaven's hand, his cultivation strength was being weakened. This weakening came from his own Dao heart—there was a massive Dao heart prison that locked down the ceiling of his cultivation. Every wound pressed that ceiling lower!

Though he still possessed earth-shaking power at this moment, the repeated weakening inevitably threw his Dao heart into greater chaos, made him more panicked.

The intense stabbing pain transmitted from his Dao heart further intensified his panic, intensified the pain.

Unconsciously, his body began to distort—first his face. What had been kindly and benevolent features now gradually grew savage and hideous!

Even Shi Qiluo and Emperor Langxuan could not help but feel a chill of dread at the sight.

"Lord Heaven must die!" Venerable Hong's hideous face roared at them.

Langxuan and Shi Qiluo both knitted their brows tightly. This was utterly different from the Venerable Hong of ordinary days—light and unruffled, elegant and unrestrained, the very image of a transcendent sage.

"Venerable Hong's Dao heart has utterly collapsed."

Shi Qiluo blinked, then promptly divided out a replica of the divine artifact Yukong Venerable, and said with a smile: "Venerable Hong, your strength is greater—you use this divine artifact!"

In ordinary times, Venerable Hong would certainly have refused, for he had already seen that Shi Qiluo had tampered with the divine artifact Yukong Venerable. But now he directly piloted it with vast and boundless mana!

Boom, boom, boom—

Behind the divine artifact Yukong Venerable's head, wheel after wheel of radiance spun and danced; Heavenly Palaces emerged one after another, forming a Great Heavenly Court!

The aura of this divine artifact was savage and violent. Its cultivation strength and power grew almost explosively, its combat might leaping again and again!

The magnitude of the enhancement, the intensity of the rise in strength, gave even Emperor Langxuan a feeling of his primordial spirit trembling!

Shi Qiluo, meanwhile, was exultant, overjoyed beyond measure. Now, at last, he could capture the operational trajectory of Venerable Hong's cultivation method!

Among the Venerables, he was the weakest apart from Shen Mu—because his cultivation time was short, and he was the master of the Zaofu Heavenly Palace, a relatively low position with few resources, so his own strength could never match the Ten Venerables'.

He could only take a different path: peering into other Venerables' cultivation methods through the divine artifact Yukong Venerable. So long as other Venerables piloted the divine artifact Yukong Venerable, he could seize the opportunity to spy on their methods.

At present, he had already obtained the cultivation methods of Venerable Hao, Consort Qiang, and Venerable Fire. Venerable Hao, Qiang, and Fire each had their special strengths, and thoroughly mastering their methods to transform them into his own Great Heavenly Court cultivation method was no easy task.

But for Shi Qiluo, using others' methods—the more the better.

He immediately sensed the operational pathways of Venerable Hong's cultivation method, and was both delighted and astonished.

"This takes the Heavenly Dao dharma gate as its theme, fusing various other Imperial Throne cultivation methods, among which are also the achievements of the Kaihuang Reform era—various acquired Great Daos, even Kaihuang's sword Dao! Kaihuang's cultivation method is in there too. Though it isn't comprehensive, it's still remarkable!"

Shi Qiluo glanced at Venerable Hong with a half-smile: "During the Kaihuang era, Lord Heaven propped up the Kaihuang Heavenly Court to compete against the Heavenly Court. I thought Lord Heaven's purpose was truly to borrow the Kaihuang Heavenly Court's power to eliminate us. Heh heh, so I still hadn't thought deep enough. Lord Heaven's true purpose was to transform into Venerable Hong, and thereby absorb the achievements of the Kaihuang Reform, so as to cultivate the Heavenly Court realm one step ahead of us! Old fox..."

Though she had used this opportunity to verify Lord Heaven's identity, she did not make it known, but continued watching Venerable Hong fight Lord Heaven.

Venerable Hong fully piloted the divine artifact Yukong Venerable, driving this divine artifact's power to its utmost extreme. Behind the divine artifact Yukong Venerable's head, even the Martial Dao Heavenly Palace of the Martial Dao Great Emperor Zhuocha had appeared!

The achievements of the Kaihuang era's Reform were displayed in him to the fullest!

Even Kaihuang himself had never fused the Imperial Throne cultivation methods of the Kaihuang era into one—because Kaihuang needed to expend all his wisdom on walking the single path of the sword Dao. Had he devoted thought to other acquired Great Daos, he would not have achieved what he did.

But Venerable Hong was different.

He too was a part of Lord Heaven. The achievements of the Kaihuang era's Reform had not been hidden from Lord Heaven. Lord Heaven's true body could not absorb these Reform achievements—but he could.

In but a short time, behind the divine artifact Yukong Venerable's head, a Heavenly Court composed of thirty-five Heavenly Palaces had already emerged. Not only that, but the thirty-sixth Heavenly Palace was also taking form!

This sight filled Emperor Langxuan with dread and horror, and left Shi Qiluo both delighted and regretful.

Spying on Venerable Hong's cultivation method, he perceived that though Venerable Hong had a thirty-sixth Heavenly Palace, it was not perfect.

With the addition of the thirty-sixth Heavenly Palace, flaws appeared in the cultivation method—flaws that caused the pressure on the mortal body to reach the very limit of what flesh could bear!

In other words, even a body as mighty as a Venerable's could not withstand the pressure of a Great Heavenly Court composed of thirty-six Heavenly Palaces—it would inevitably be crushed to powder by the Great Heavenly Court!

In the past, Venerable Hong had never dared to deploy this imperfect cultivation method of his. Now, with the divine artifact Yukong Venerable, he had no scruples!

Now, the divine artifact Yukong Venerable's strength had already surpassed Venerable Hong's own. Its divine power's attack force even exceeded Emperor Langxuan's—and its combat might was still rising!

Emperor Langxuan and Shi Qiluo were shaken to their core, somewhat unable to comprehend. The divine artifact Yukong Venerable was already at the Heavenly Court realm—how could it possibly still be increasing its strength?

Shi Qiluo quickly perceived that this enhancement did not come from the Heavenly Palaces, but from the temples within the Heavenly Court!

The temples providing the divine artifact Yukong Venerable with power beyond the Heavenly Court realm numbered eight in total. The power of these eight temples corresponded respectively to eight kinds of acquired Dao—not among the innate Daos!

"The Kaihuang Reform was nearly monstrously remarkable!"

Shi Qiluo was so exhilarated he nearly wept. The greatest achievement of the Kaihuang era's Reform lay right before his eyes.

Though he had not yet seen the path to Heavenly Court completion where seventy-two Treasure Halls guard the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces, he had already perceived the perfection of this path!

This path, supported by acquired Great Daos, greatly reduced the pressure of the Great Heavenly Court formed by the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces!

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