Chapter 1495 — The Weak One's Fury Rises High

Shen Mu was slightly taken aback.

He glanced at Lan Yutian but said nothing. Since Lan Yutian had already stolen Pixiang Hall, whether he would merge with the remnant soul of Celestial Venerable Yu and whether he would choose to become Celestial Venerable Yu was his own affair. Shen Mu would not make that decision for him.

Shen Mu was gratified. Lan Yutian had grown up; he was no longer the green boy who always clung to his side.

He now had both the standing and the strength of mind to handle certain matters. As for God King Langwan, Shen Mu had invited her. Langwan had not returned to Carefree Township with Kaihuang, Celestial Venerable Yue, and the others. The reason Shen Mu had asked her to stay was to let himself see Celestial Venerable Huo clearly, to let himself give up all hope, and to let Lan Yutian take precautions in advance.

Langwan's divine consciousness was vast. Had it been Shen Mu who, at the moment Celestial Venerable Huo's mind wavered, used his divine consciousness to lay down an illusion to replace Lan Yutian, he might not have been able to deceive Celestial Venerable Huo. Only Langwan or Celestial Venerable Gong could have managed it.

After all, Celestial Venerable Huo was a Celestial Venerable, and his attainments in the realm of the Dao were extraordinary.

Celestial Venerable Huo stood upon the Heavenly River, staring at them woodenly.

"Let us go," Shen Mu said softly, without looking at him.

The three of them started to walk away, when suddenly Celestial Venerable Huo burst into loud laughter, laughter that shook the mountains and rivers. "Celestial Venerable Mu! You petty scoundrel! This sort of cheap trick is all you are fit for, all you dare use to toy with me! You have no power, no ability—at most you can play these little games!

You want to humiliate me, is that it? " His voice rolled like thunder, making the Heavenly River itself leap and surge. "Your little tricks are not even worth my notice!

Everything you do is nothing but laughable in my eyes!

" God King Langwan looked at Shen Mu, a question in her expression. Shen Mu shook his head.

"It is only the rage of the powerless. Pay it no mind.

We need only guard against him lashing out in shame and fury. " Celestial Venerable Huo watched their backs, his face contorted.

The blazing flame wheel behind his head scorched the sky until it twisted as his face did! His body grew larger and larger.

He sneered, "How much have I done for the human race? My merits and achievements cannot be erased by one of your cheap tricks!

" He strode forward, following Shen Mu and the others. His body grew hotter still, blazing flames rising all around him, yet his voice grew colder and colder. "The early years of Longhan—what a desperate age that was! Yes, Celestial Venerable Yu was my brother.

His death grieved me deeply. But I saw higher and farther! I saw the strength and terror of the ancient gods of that era, and the strength and terror of the demigods. To root out the ancient gods and protect the human race, we could rely only on the demigods!

Do you think that in that age, the five Celestial Venerables remaining in Longhan could have accomplished anything? Impossible!

Back then, Ling, Yue, You, and Yun were nobodies. Over five or six hundred thousand years, the strongest of the human race reached only the Imperial Throne realm. Never mind the Heavenly Emperor acting himself—any single ancient god emperor could have wiped out the human race and Ling, Yue, You, and Yun dozens or hundreds of times over! " His steps were heavy and sure.

Wherever his feet fell, the Heavenly River evaporated, and the vaporized water was ignited by his Dao fire. "So for the sake of the human race, I had no choice but to kill Celestial Venerable Yun! Killing him grieved me too! But he understood me—only he understood what I did.

He never blamed me! Because he knew what I did was right, that what I did was the righteous path! Do you think the Chiming era could defy heaven and stand against the ancient gods? Impossible!

In the Chiming era, a dozen or so human Imperial Thrones thought they could overturn the heavens? Let me tell you the truth: the power of the human race could not compare to a single leg hair of the Heavenly Court! So I had no choice but to march out myself and encircle Emperor Ming! That is right—it was I who saw Emperor Ming's flaw and had Yin Tianzi strike him down! Because I could not let Emperor Ming destroy the entire human race, destroy the grand situation I had worked so hard to build! " His hands clenched into fists, he stared fixedly at the backs of Shen Mu and the others ahead. His voice seemed scorched hoarse by the Dao fire burning within him.

"Was the Shanghuang era so remarkable? It was! But the Ten Celestial Venerables' ascendancy was already established. Even the ancient gods could not contend with the demigods and could only fall silent one by one! The demigods were a power greater than the ancient gods!

Yet Celestial Venerable Ling and Celestial Venerable Yue dreamed of overturning the heavens, dreamed of overthrowing the demigods!

A pipe dream!

The demigods' power had grown so great that they could easily annihilate the human race!

I could not let those two women, Celestial Venerable Ling and Celestial Venerable Yue, doom the human race, so I took it upon myself to scheme and gravely wound Celestial Venerable Yue!

Celestial Venerable Ling's death was also connected to me, and the Shanghuang Heavenly Court was destroyed by the army I led—but all of it was worth it! " Shen Mu and the others walked to the source of the Heavenly River and came to the surface of the Heavenly Sea.

When God King Langwan's foot touched down, the Heavenly Sea raised no waves; only ripples spread gently in all directions.

Lan Yutian walked upon the sea, and the sea showed not the slightest ripple. When Shen Mu landed on the Heavenly Sea, wind and waves began to stir, but gradually they subsided. He gazed at the sea's surface, which mirrored Xuandu. The stars, constellations, and celestial mansions of the cosmos, the grandeur of countless galaxies—all were taken in at a glance.

Boom! Celestial Venerable Huo's body landed on the Heavenly Sea, half-crouched, half-kneeling on its surface.

His palm pressed against the sea, and waves surged abruptly. Wild winds and great waves howled and swelled, thunder clashed across the sky, and bolts of lightning like swords split down from the black mass of clouds—crack, crack—weaving through the towering waves.

A massive flame wheel hummed and spun within the tsunami. Bolts of thunder passed through the flame wheel and were ignited by the Dao fire, transforming into thunder-fire of terrifying power!

Celestial Venerable Huo rose slowly to his feet, and the flame wheel behind his head climbed higher and higher amid the waves that came one after another. His face loomed vast as he looked down from on high at Shen Mu and the other two walking onward across the sea, paying him no heed. Even the thunder and the crashing waves could not drown out his voice.

"The Kaihuang era was a puppet propped up by the ancient gods! Kaihuang was a puppet of the Heavenly Duke, Tubo, and the four ancient god emperors!

Shen Ye—a vainglorious fame-seeker! Let him live, and he will only drag the human race back to the Longhan era! " Celestial Venerable Huo strode forward and came up behind Shen Mu and the others.

Flames surged to the heavens, burning the sky as though it were a scroll, scorching it black and burning holes through it.