Chapter 1578 — Crushing a Mighty Foe in One Blow

Before, Shen Mu had been standing upon the Heavenly River; now he had left that stretch behind and observed everything that happened within it from a bystander's vantage!

The Heavenly River rolled on in vast flood; Shen Mu stood outside it and looked from afar, and saw that after killing Lord Ling, the Great Emperor Ming Fangyu charged out beyond the river again and again, as though he meant to break through it, and each time he could not get out.

Shen Mu stood outside the Heavenly River, no sky above, no ground below, nothing to be seen on any side; he was like a mass of azure-void qi, of Taishi qi, poised between the transformations of substance and form.

Once more the Great Emperor Ming Fangyu killed Lord Ling; once more he took up his spear and assailed the Heavenly River; and then once more the Unchanging divine ability erupted, everything returned to the beginning, Lord Ling revived, and was killed again.

Shen Mu watched the scene in silence. Ming Fangyu's techniques and divine abilities were different each time, as he tried one means after another to break the Unchanging divine ability, but every time it ended in failure.

Shen Mu studied his divine abilities, then checked them against those he had just deduced, and corrected a few shortcomings. When all was ready, he slowly stirred the great divine ability of the Way of Taishi, his gaze fixed hard upon Ming Fangyu.

He must break Lord Ling's Unchanging divine ability before Lord Ling died, and block Ming Fangyu's attack before the Great Emperor killed Lord Ling; only so could he save Lord Ling! Timing, therefore, was all-important.

The one chance of life would flash by and be gone; there could be no room for the slightest error. The Great Emperor Ming Fangyu seemed to have discovered him and suddenly charged his way, the long spear in his hand boundless in power; joined to the Heavenly Emperor's body and the Great Emperor's primordial spirit, a single thrust made that stretch of the Heavenly River heave violently and evaporate, the spear tip churning up the waters of the river, howling toward him, aimed straight at the point between Shen Mu's brows!

And at that moment the Unchanging divine ability erupted and swept him away, returning him to the beginning.

At the beginning, Lord Ling turned her head and looked at Shen Mu; the girl in the leopard-skin skirt and straw sandals smiled sweetly at him, and though she was not beautiful, it made the heart drunk.

The next moment Lord Ling died: the Great Emperor Ming Fangyu nailed her dead with one thrust of the spear, charged Shen Mu again, and thrust once more! Each time the spear tip came closer to the point between Shen Mu's brows, yet it could never pierce him.

The vertical eye between Shen Mu's brows followed his figure closely; and just as the Great Emperor Ming Fangyu thrust again and the spear tip touched the point between Shen Mu's brows, Lord Ling's Unchanging divine ability erupted, reconstituting all matter and returning it to its original state!

At the same instant, Shen Mu's hand flicked, and his divine ability burst forth!

The Taishi Art: Matter and Form Question the Azure Void! As his divine ability unfolded, in a single instant the Unchanging matter that composed the whole Heavenly River shuddered violently and turned from matter into azure-void qi; the Unchanging divine ability was completely broken by his one move! In the instant Shen Mu's hand flicked, his body had already stepped out, and the God-Slaying Platform came whirling out with a howl!

In the next instant the azure-void qi shifted, and the Heavenly River, Lord Ling, and Ming Fangyu all appeared, though only as bodies of energy, having form but no substance.

The very moment Shen Mu's foot landed beside Lord Ling, the energy state turned back to matter; Lord Ling was raising her hand to use the Unchanging divine ability when her palm was suddenly gripped hard by Shen Mu's hand.

Astonishment beyond measure came over the woman's face as she looked at Shen Mu.

Shen Mu, though, was lifting his face to watch the Great Emperor's primordial spirit come killing down from above, driving the body of Heavenly Emperor Taichu; in Heavenly Emperor Taichu's hand that divine spear was utterly fearsome, its power supreme in strength, in ferocity, in hardness!

What the primordial spirit holds is mana, and Ming Fangyu's mana was so strong that even by the standards of the present age he was one of the very few mightiest! Whoo— The spear thrust down, and within its ferocity lay infinite transformations, and yet Shen Mu had already rehearsed this scene a thousand times over in his mind.

At the very moment the divine spear came down, the Taiyi cane in his hand thrust out.

The Great Emperor's divine spear, its tip stabbing again and again, its moves intricately varying.

The Taiyi cane, its tip stabbing again and again, its moves equally intricate beyond measure, every strike hitting with perfect accuracy the tip of the divine spear. Lord Ling was still gazing at Shen Mu's face, and saw him utterly serious; from Shen Mu's palm came the tremor of the Great Emperor's power crushing down as he met him blow for blow.

Holding her hand, Shen Mu stepped along the Heavenly River, retreating step by step, shedding the excess force.

The Heavenly River burst apart into one towering wave after another; the Great Emperor's divine spear pierced through wave after wave, his assault like a raging storm, and the fighting power of the strongest body was terrifying indeed.

Even though Shen Mu knew all his moves and divine abilities, in a straight clash he was still shaken until blood spilled from the corners of his mouth! Just then the God-Slaying Platform suddenly rose up from beneath the Heavenly River, and on the surface the Great Emperor Ming Fangyu happened to charge to that very spot and landed right on the God-Slaying Platform!

Shen Mu halted abruptly; holding Lord Ling's hand, he charged forward.

He had buried the God-Slaying Platform beneath the Heavenly River when he broke Lord Ling's divine ability, and this was the moment he had prepared it for! The instant the Great Emperor Ming Fangyu's foot landed on the God-Slaying Platform, the platform became thirty-five tiers of steps, and two God-Slaying Mystic Blades whirled howling around him like vicious dragons.

He gripped his divine spear, and the spear came out like a dragon; he had just forced the two God-Slaying Mystic Blades apart by a hair when a cane flew at him and cracked against his forehead!

That blow left the Great Emperor Ming Fangyu's soul shaken from its seat; his primordial spirit was nearly knocked out of Heavenly Emperor Taichu's body, and dread rose in his heart.

At that moment the Taiyi cane pierced through layer upon layer of the bloody net of blades.

Ting.

Using the Taiyi cane as a sword, Shen Mu struck the point between the brows of Taichu's body; the Great Emperor's primordial spirit quaked violently and was flung backward out of Taichu's body!

Shen Mu drew back the cane, turned his head to the girl beside him, and smiled.

"Ling, I am here. "