Chapter 1590 — Only When the Coffin Is Sealed Comes the Verdict

The primordial runes he had left within the Great Emperor's fleshly body were many, but they could be used only once; once those runes formed the Miluo Palace dao patterns, they would scatter with the eruption of their power. Now Shen Mu would have liked to strike again, but the will was there and the strength was not.

Seeing the look on his face, Xiao Tianzun abruptly let out a breath of relief, and thought, "So it seems that wretch Mu Tianzun tampered with my body only once, and left no other tricks behind.

Had he been able to leave ten or eight such backhands, then even if I recovered my body I would not dare to use it. " His heart grew wary, and he resolved that he must never let his body fall into Shen Mu's hands again. Otherwise, who knew what outlandish contraptions the boy might plant inside him — he could be plotted to death and never even know how he died!

"The most perilous thing in this world is Mu Tianzun's scheming!

" The Great Emperor came killing, heat steaming from the crown of his head — that was where Shen Mu's blow had torn away his skullcap, leaving his brains exposed. The dao wounds left by Kaihuang, Hao Tianzun, and Xiao Tianzun were another matter; given the might of the Great Emperor's fleshly body, those wounds were not grave.

With the qi of Taichu he could assimilate and heal the traces of their dao patterns, and then use the Mystic Art of Creation to repair the damage to the body.

Only the dao wound left by Shen Mu's blow could not be assimilated even by the qi of Taichu.

The wound at his crown was a wound left by the Miluo Palace dao patterns, and those patterns were the crystallized wisdom of the past sixteen universes. They held not only the knowledge of the Dao of Taichu, but also the various great dao divine arts of Taiyi, Taishi, Taisu, Taiji, and the rest. Even Shen Mu, who had spent years trying to unravel the mysteries of the Miluo Palace dao patterns, had gained something from it, yet could not unlock all their secrets.

And it was precisely because the Miluo Palace dao patterns were so formidable that they suppressed the Great Emperor's fleshly body, allowing Xiao Tianzun, Hao Tianzun, and the others to break through its defenses and wound him grievously.

What was more infuriating still: Shen Mu had not merely left him the dao wound of the Miluo Palace patterns — he had also driven the Taiyi Cane into his skull, piercing from the top of his head through his throat and straight down to his belly! The Taiyi Cane was another remarkable supreme treasure, forged by Taiyi from a branch of the World Tree after he cut it down. Taiyi had left the cane to Shen Mu so that Shen Mu would follow the map and save him, but the cane's power was by no means small.

When Taiyi crossed the Long River of Chaos, he had used the cane to beat the prehistorical Dao-achieving beings, among them none other than the Young Masters of the Miluo Palace!

The dao wounds the cane had dealt to the Great Emperor's fleshly body and to the Great Emperor's consciousness would likewise be hard to heal in a short time. Moreover, though the cane had been seized by the Great Emperor, he could not wield it.

In Shen Mu's hands it was a weapon that struck wherever it was pointed; in his hands it was at most an exceedingly hard wooden stick, its power beyond his command. Shen Mu drove the golden ship straight at the Great Emperor, and at the same moment the Great Emperor charged head-on, his killing intent soaring to the heavens, directly unfurling his supreme divine-consciousness domain, threading it through with the qi of Taichu, on guard against the Unchanging Divine Art.

Everyone aboard the ship shouted and bellowed; layer upon layer of domains stacked together, four different domains fusing into one, and collided with a thunderous boom against the supreme divine-consciousness domain!

— Only the Goddess Taisu had failed to board the ship, and having no domain, she stood alone outside it, ceaselessly shaking the Tai Bell in an attempt to disrupt the Great Emperor. Yet the Great Emperor paid her no heed at all.

The Great Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness quaked; the Great Emperor's Dao Tree swayed, and dazzling light burst from his Dao Fruit, quelling the residual force of every divine art!

Shen Mu, Kaihuang, and the rest roared, and in an instant all manner of divine arts came forth, striking at the Great Emperor. The Great Emperor, grand and sweeping, stood with his Dao Tree behind him; this time even he was forced to bring out every means at his disposal, driving even his Dao Tree and Dao Fruit, hurling blow after blow at the four of them! The five fought until their eyes ran red.

Shen Mu, with his Divine Treasury domain, served as the foundation that sustained them all: however grievously they were wounded, his Divine Treasury domain would heal them in an instant! Nor was that all.

Standing within his domain, no matter from which direction the Great Emperor's divine arts came, they would turn to face them head-on, so that they could respond at the first instant!

Yet even so, the four were again and again in peril!

The Great Emperor was simply too overbearing.

With his Dao Fruit driven, he could even freeze the combined domains of the four of them!

Shen Mu especially — the Great Emperor hated him to the bone and gave him special attention. Not only did he drive his Dao Fruit, sending its various dao patterns flying out to completely suppress Shen Mu's domain, he also drove his Dao Tree, whose branches and leaves whirled in profusion, leaf after leaf dancing amid the divine arts, drawing ever closer to Shen Mu. And the branches, like sharp arrows, now swift now slow, now long now short, now soft now hard, stabbed madly at Shen Mu!

Hao Tianzun, Xiao Tianzun, and Kaihuang, to protect Shen Mu, were wounded again and again — all to keep Shen Mu alive, so that Shen Mu might drive his Divine Treasury domain and keep them alive. Boom!

The Great Emperor landed on the prow of the golden ship, and the faces of the four aboard turned pale, a faint despair rising in their hearts. Had the Great Emperor not boarded the ship, they would still have had the strength for a battle; Shen Mu could drive the golden ship and use it as a heavy weapon to ram the Great Emperor, which would at least ease their peril.

But with the Great Emperor aboard, the golden ship lost the effect it should have had as a heavy weapon.

Aboard the golden ship, the atmosphere was one of panic; the eyes of the four were fixed tightly on the Great Emperor before them.

The Great Emperor's face was grim. Behind him, the Dao Tree waved its branches and roots, rising slowly from beneath the ship like a monster grown all over with tentacles. The Great Emperor's Dao Fruit grew brighter and brighter, holier and holier; the great dao within the Dao Fruit seemed to revive completely.

To this moment, the Dao Tree and Dao Fruit had not suffered the slightest damage!

The only thing damaged was the fleshly body of the Ancient God, the Great Emperor. The sight was enough to drive one to despair!

"Hao'er, isn't it time you brought out your full strength?

" Xiao Tianzun suddenly looked at Hao Tianzun and said mildly, "In the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, you nearly killed me — surely that was not the limit of your power.

" Hao Tianzun gave a cold snort and said mildly, "Father, and what of you? You entered the Lingxiao Hall of the Ancestral Court — surely that Young Master of the Lingxiao Hall did more than heal your wounds?

Things have come to this, and you still hide and hoard.

That is hardly the bearing of a Great Emperor; you have become a petty schemer.

" Xiao Tianzun's gaze locked tightly on Taiyi at the prow of the ship, and he laughed.

"Worthy indeed of being my good son.

Since that is so, let us each bring out our full strength, and see what we gained in the Jade Capital City!

" Hao Tianzun raised his brows and smiled.