Chapter 1629 — Abnormal Thinking

Over the Ancestral Court the void had never been visible before, yet at this moment layer upon layer of void surfaced into view, limpid and distinct.

The Ancestral Court was no longer the desolate scene of former days; many races from the heavens and the myriad worlds had migrated there to settle and flourish, and although the court was so vast that its scattered cities here and there were hardly conspicuous, the living beings of every race upon it were by no means few. At this moment the denizens of the Ancestral Court raised their heads and beheld a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives. Layer after layer of void stretched upward, utterly transparent, no fewer than thirty-six, and in the thirty-sixth layer two Daluo Heavens had emerged, their Dao Trees standing lush and verdant, glowing in answer to the distant World Tree.

Two Daluo Heavens, two Dao Trees, two Dao Flowers—each suffused with its own resonance of the Dao.

The resonance from one Daluo Heaven was boundless might. The instant it appeared, every heart felt as though great mountains were heaped upon it, and gods as well—mountains crushing their flesh, gods crushing their spirits—pressing them to stoop, pressing them to kneel!

The resonance from the other was like a sword that nothing could withstand, hewing at the gods in their hearts and leveling the mountains upon their bodies!

The two Daluo Heavens hurtled toward each other; soon they met, spun, and collided, and in that brief instant of impact it seemed that might of measureless horror erupted—yet the living beings of the Ancestral Court felt nothing of it. That was because the force of two Daluo Heavens striking together could scarcely pass beyond the Ultimate Void, and the Ultimate Void ceaselessly attenuates the divine might of the Daluo Heavens as it travels; by the time it did emerge from the Ultimate Void, it had still to undergo the attenuation of thirty-five further layers of void, and so it could inflict no harm upon the Ancestral Court. But the dharma arts and divine powers displayed in the duel of the Daluo Heavens left the living beings of the Ancestral Court dazzled and shaken. They could scarcely comprehend them, yet from within them they perceived one marvel after another.

What each person saw was different from the next, but none could see all the Dao mysteries of the Daluo Heavens. The Daluo Heavens exceed all telling; the Daluo Heavens exceed all utterance.

Beneath the two Daluo Heavens, the Hao Heavenly Venerable saw Kaihuang, and Kaihuang saw him.

Each stood atop his own peak, facing the other across the void. "The move you made against us—slaying Tu Bo—Shen Ye, your stratagem truly took me by surprise and caught me off guard. " The Hao Heavenly Venerable wore a look of admiration as he called across the distance.

"But before absolute power, all of this is useless. You have already lost.

" He did not look at Kaihuang; his gaze went straight to the space between the two mountains—and not even to the mountains, but to the Youdu that overlapped the Ancestral Court. In Youdu, the Fire Heavenly Venerable and the Void Heavenly Venerable had already seen through the arts of the Moon Heavenly Venerable and Langwan.

The two of them had once experienced the divine powers of Moon and Lang in the three-roomed house at the end of the Void Bridge, and this time they broke them with practiced ease. On the other side, the You Heavenly Venerable had likewise fallen wholly behind in his battle with the Ancestral God-King; his defeat and death were only a matter of time.

The Hao Heavenly Venerable looked into Youdu.

There, the Book of Life and Death had steadied itself anew, drinking deep of Tu Bo's Youdu Great Dao and feeding it back to Shen Fengqing, while Shen Mu, bearing the Ling Heavenly Venerable, plummeted at desperate speed toward the Jade Lock Pass beneath Tu Bo's feet.

"Of the eleven Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court," Kaihuang said calmly, "the Palace Heavenly Venerable, the Hong Heavenly Venerable, Consort Qiang, Shi Qiluo, and Consort Yan have already fallen and ceased to be.

Of the so-called Ten Heavenly Venerables, only Fire, Ancestral, Lang, Void, Taichu, and yourself remain.

As for us, besides myself there are the Cloud Heavenly Venerable, who has already attained the Dao, and Moon, Ling, You, Mu, and Langwan. In numbers, we already hold the advantage.

Moreover, the Imperial Heavenly Venerable is also on our side. Hao Heavenly Venerable, you ought to feel alarm rising in your heart.

" The Hao Heavenly Venerable waved his hand, and a cloud terrace appeared, floating between the two great mountains.

He stepped onto it—a stone table and two cushions awaited—and seated himself on the left cushion.

"Kaihuang, I once heard that at the Jasper Pool feast, when you saw the Imperial Heavenly Venerable and me, you said that if the Imperial Heavenly Venerable became Emperor, you would face north and acknowledge yourself his subject, but if I became Emperor, you could take my place. " Kaihuang shook his head. "That was not what I said.

At the Jasper Pool I perceived that you were headstrong and self-willed.

If you became Emperor, I would stand as your equal, seize the momentum of the world, gather the hearts of the people—and none could yet say under whose hand the deer would fall. " "If that is so, why do you not dare to sit facing me? " the Hao Heavenly Venerable said with a smile.

Kaihuang strode over and sat down across from him. The Hao Heavenly Venerable brewed the tea, and Kaihuang lit the fire for him. When the water had boiled, the Hao Heavenly Venerable dropped in buds of tender green leaf, and the two sat watching the buds slowly unfurl in the water, each breathing in the fragrance of the tea.

The Hao Heavenly Venerable poured for Kaihuang, who inclined slightly in gratitude. "You said just now that in the number of Heavenly Venerables your side has surpassed the Heavenly Court—in truth, that is a great error. " The Hao Heavenly Venerable poured himself a cup, waited quietly for it to cool, and said with a smile: "Langwan is a Creator, but her dharma power is a little low—far inferior to any Heavenly Venerable of the Heavenly Court. The You Heavenly Venerable is strong in primordial spirit and weak in the fleshly body.

The Moon Heavenly Venerable squandered forty thousand years, held back by Dao wounds and hidden away in seclusion—and those forty thousand years were precisely the great eruption of divine arts and dharma methods across the world, the very time when the cultivation arts of the Great Heavenly Court took shape. She missed them all, and in dharma power she is far inferior to every other Heavenly Venerable.

Of those who can threaten the Heavenly Court, only Cloud, Ling, and Mu remain. " He raised his cup in salutation, and Kaihuang raised his in return. "And the three of them each have shortcomings of their own.

" The Hao Heavenly Venerable drank, set down his cup, and said: "The Cloud Heavenly Venerable relies on inheriting the Grand Emperor's legacy; how much of it he can truly wield remains in question. If he could match my divine father Taichu in might, you would still have room to maneuver. Unfortunately, he cannot.

His journey to the foot of the World Tree was precisely to remedy this flaw.

" He refilled Kaihuang's cup and went on: "Nor will the Ling Heavenly Venerable do.

The might of her Dao arts is admittedly terrifying—she slew the Grand Emperor with unsurpassed brilliance, and even I, if struck, might have my Dao cultivation annihilated and die outright. But her other skills are too slack, her means of battle far too poor. She can never approach me, nor any other Heavenly Venerable.

Once the Moon Heavenly Venerable is removed, she is utterly useless.

" He smiled.