Chapter 1589 — The End of the Road

His Divine Treasury Domain was of a higher order than the Great Emperor's Supreme Divine Consciousness Domain, and the Dao mysteries it contained far surpassed the other's; but the Great Emperor was a being who had already opened the Dao flower and borne the green Dao fruit, and in cultivation he surpassed Shen Mu by an unknowable margin!

With sheer mana alone, the Great Emperor could press him down into utter submission!

In a single instant Shen Mu's Divine Treasury Domain was compressed to a span of mere zhang. His face flushed red, his vital essence pressed until it nearly boiled within his body!

Only now did he understand just how ferocious the pressure Xiao Tianzun and the others had been enduring!

The Great Emperor was beneath the ship and he was above it; the one who ought to be bearing the pressure was the Great Emperor—and yet now it was he who could not hold out!

"Rise!"

Shen Mu clenched his teeth and roared, rousing the Hongmeng runes hidden within the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body!

The Great Emperor was channeling his mana, meaning to grind him to dust, when suddenly one after another the Hongmeng runes hidden in the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body lit up, and in a single instant combined into an incomparably vast and complex Dao pattern!

This Dao pattern drew upon the vital essence of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body. It formed so swiftly that it caught him off guard; by the time the Dao pattern's power erupted, it was already too late!

Chi—

A bolt of purple qi shot skyward, blasting through his divine consciousness—and not only through his divine consciousness, for even the crown of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body was blown open in a great hole!

That Hongmeng purple qi was overwhelmingly tyrannical in power. It grazed the edge of the golden ship as it shot upward, and not only did it blast through the crown of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body—wherever it passed, even the canopy of the Great Emperor's Dao Tree was swept through with a great hole!

Where the Hongmeng purple qi passed, the Great Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness, situated in the Ultimate Void, was pierced through, leaving a vast opening through which the wind of cold silence came howling into the Great Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness, blowing in every direction!

The power of this strike far exceeded even Shen Mu's imagination, far exceeded the Great Emperor's strength—even the Great Emperor's Great Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness and his Dao Tree could not withstand it!

Shen Mu was astonished and delighted. This was a hidden divine art he had laid down using the power of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body itself; he had thought at most it could wound the Great Emperor's divine consciousness, never imagining it would yield such appalling results!

"Golden Ship of Salvation, obey my will! Heavy! Heavy! Heavy!"

He roared again and again, and the Golden Ship of Salvation at once became immeasurably heavy, crushing down on the Great Emperor who held it up.

With a thunderous crash the Great Emperor dropped to his knees, then with a sharp crack fell flat upon the ground of the Great Luo Heaven.

Kaihuang gave a long whistle and flew to them, his Sword Dao Domain expanding in a rush to merge with Shen Mu's Divine Treasury Domain; countless sword lights flew in every direction, boring in beneath the ship.

On the other side, the Goddess Taisu and Hao Tianzun flew over. Hao Tianzun wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; his Myriad Dao Domain expanded and merged with the domains of Shen Mu and Kaihuang, and the Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel came shrieking down at the ship's underside!

Xiao Tianzun too unfurled his Taichu Domain and roused his Imperial Sword, slashing into the ship's underside!

Taisu likewise roused her battered Grand Bell and hammered madly at the ship's underside!

The Golden Ship of Salvation rocked violently, and from beneath it came the Great Emperor's roars. Incredibly, the ship was lifted up by him again. Shen Mu frowned and roused the Taiyi Staff, wielding it as a sword, thrusting at the Great Emperor beneath the ship.

His target was clear: the head of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body!

There, the crown of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body had been blown open in a great hole!

The attacks of the group landed on the Great Emperor almost simultaneously, and they could plainly feel his weakness; even the toughness of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body was far inferior to what it had been.

Pfft!

The Taiyi Staff drove straight into the brow of the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body, leaving only its handle protruding. Kaihuang's sword pierced the Great Emperor's eyes, and Xiao Tianzun's Imperial Sword sank into the Great Emperor's temple, entering from the left side with its tip emerging from the right.

Hao Tianzun's Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel slashed into the Great Emperor's throat, cutting deep into it!

The Goddess Taisu's Grand Bell clanged on without cease, yet achieved little; her cultivation and strength still could not match Shen Mu and the others.

Yet still the Golden Ship of Salvation was lifted by the Great Emperor. That fleshly body exerted its strength and hurled the golden ship away!

Shen Mu roused the golden ship and came charging back, and from afar he saw the Great Emperor raise a hand and strike a heavy blow at his right temple. Xiao Tianzun's Imperial Sword shot out from the temple; though that Imperial Sword was an imitation, its power was extraordinary—it was, after all, a supreme treasure of a Tianzun—and yet a single palm strike bent it, nearly snapping it in two!

The Great Emperor's head suddenly dropped, crushing Hao Tianzun's Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel outright; then his blinded eyes began healing at astonishing speed!

Those at the ship's bow watched with eyes splitting in fury. Hao Tianzun blurted out, "The Creation Mystic Art! Has he learned it too?"

Shen Mu's heart stirred. "The Creation Mystic Art? If the Great Emperor has learned the Creation Mystic Art, then this must be the Jingping Era! In the Jingping Era, the Creation Mystic Art was spread by me, and learned by Qiang Tianfei! Ling Tianzun's divine art has already carried us to Jingping! Then Ling Tianzun himself must be near as well!"

The Great Emperor pulled the Taiyi Staff from his brow and bent it with all his strength, trying to snap it in two; but the staff was exceedingly hard, and he could not break it, so he gripped it in his hand.

Xiao Tianzun looked at Shen Mu with hope written across his face and urged him on: "Mu Tianzun, what divine art was that just now? It could even pierce through my fleshly body—truly remarkable! Give him another one!"

Shen Mu's face went dark.