Chapter 1634 — No Choice but Death

The Heavenly Lord's strength had not yet reached the level of a Tianzun, and his magic power was far weaker than in his former life, yet in one respect he surpassed the Heavenly Lord of that former life, for his comprehension of the Heavenly Dao ran deeper, deeper even than that of his son the Ancestor God King. Freed from the flesh of the Heavenly Lord and from the fetters of the Heavenly Dao, he could instead grasp the inner meaning of the Heavenly Dao more clearly and draw nearer to it.

The Tiangang Dao weapon, foremost among the fifty Heavenly Dao treasures, had fallen into his hands, while the other forty-nine, Tianji, Tianqi, Tianyin, Tianxuan, Tianji and the rest, shifted without cease and pressed forward layer upon layer, shattering the fleshly body of Langxuan Divine Emperor.

As Langxuan's flesh broke apart, the celestial court between his brows swelled outward and expanded, and there could be seen five red cords piercing that court from every direction and passing through that Dao fruit. With the Tiangang Dao weapon in hand the Heavenly Lord charged forward, the forty-nine Heavenly Dao treasures flying high and low and combining without pause, strangling all in their path and destroying palace after palace within Langxuan's court as he drove straight for that Dao fruit.

That Dao fruit lay caught in the red cord knot and dared not struggle, and could only watch him cut his way closer. Should the Heavenly Lord touch the knot, that Dao fruit could hardly be preserved.

At that very moment Hao Tianzun appeared before the Dao fruit, and with a wave of his hand a Guixu Great Abyss opened, into which the Heavenly Lord fell together with his treasures. That Guixu divine art shook violently, the fifty Heavenly Dao treasures spun, and bearing the Heavenly Lord with them they killed their way back out.

The Heavenly Lord flew clear of the court of Langxuan Divine Emperor and landed upon the ground, and his heavenly sword slashed toward A'Chou and the Earth Earl so that the golden cords binding A'Chou and the Earth Earl snapped and fell, and A'Chou crashed down into the stele forest.

"Skill not bad," Hao Tianzun praised, his gaze settling upon him, his two eyes like two invincible black holes that gave men a most uneasy feeling.

"Heavenly Lord, since Mu Tianzun revived you your skill has grown far handsomer than before. In those years when you were still Hong Tianzun, though first in magic power, your cultivation of the Dao heart was too poor.

After Shen Tianzun opened the Dao realm, Hong Tianzun fell behind, so that he was plotted against by Mu Tianzun and died miserably.

Heavenly Lord, if you would return to the Ten Tianzuns, I would welcome you with my shoes turned backward. " The Heavenly Lord planted the Tiangang Dao weapon upright, Heavenly Dao treasures dancing about him, and laughed.

"The death of Hong has nothing to do with Mu Tianzun, it was of my own making, and moreover the hand that slew Hong was not Mu Tianzun's but that of my rebellious son the Ancestor God King.

" Behind Hao Tianzun's head thirty-five celestial palaces formed the Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel, and within the wheel Shen Mu tried to break the formation and escape, yet Hao Tianzun's thirty-five palaces changed in a thousand ways and held him fast throughout. "Lingyu High Venerable, now you know that to cooperate with Mu Tianzun is to bargain for a tiger's skin? " Hao Tianzun suddenly said. "Mu Tianzun stops at nothing, and even if you made a Dao fruit alliance with him he would break it at any time. Of this the Heavenly Lord is also well aware.

" Shen Mu no longer tried to flee and laughed aloud. "Lingyu High Venerable, have I broken my Dao fruit alliance with you?

When you and I made that alliance within the Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel that day, it was said that I would aid you in possessing Langxuan Divine Emperor, and just now I did indeed aid you in possessing Langxuan, and did not break my oath. " (see Chapter 1558 for details) From within that Dao fruit the thought of Lingyu High Venerable spread forth, sneering.

"Seventh Young Master of Miluo Palace, your reputation is indeed deserved.

You did aid me in possessing Langxuan, but at the same time you left this strange knot seal within Langxuan's body. What is more, you seized the chance to pierce my Dao fruit with a sword and tried to slay me.

" Within the Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel Shen Mu glowed with triumph. "That sword was an accident, for I did not know you would be so hasty, and so my hand slipped. The red cord knot seal, however, I have long plotted.

You are an attainer of a former age, and to let you descend upon this universe would leave no way alive for the rest, so I had no choice but to strike ruthlessly. What I did not expect was that after allying with me you would ally with Hao Tianzun as well. Your skill at double dealing is not bad either.

" Lingyu High Venerable mocked. "Seventh Young Master, it was not I who sought out Hao Tianzun, but Hao Tianzun who sought out me. " Shen Mu said in surprise. "Brother Hao, it was you who sought him? " Hao Tianzun wore a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Mu, if you can seek him out, why can I not?

That day when you were suppressed by me within the Myriad Dao Heaven Wheel, you took the chance to study the Dao arts and divine powers of several Tianzuns, and I too took the chance to study their Dao arts and divine powers.

" The smile on Shen Mu's face slowly faded. Hao Tianzun went on. "The secret within Langxuan's Dao fruit could not be hidden from me, nor could your dealings with Lingyu High Venerable be hidden from me.

If you can reach an agreement with Lingyu High Venerable, naturally so can I.

To cooperate with me is to cooperate with the Third and Fourth Young Masters of Miluo Palace, and in any case that is far stronger than cooperating with an untrustworthy Seventh Young Master of Miluo Palace, is it not? " Shen Mu's face darkened and he asked. "Then how did you shake off Kaihuang and come here? " Hao Tianzun said leisurely.

"Who said I shook off Kaihuang?

Mu Tianzun, that I could live from Longhan to the present means more than you can imagine, and that the Third and Fourth Young Masters support me is also more than you can imagine. I am one body with two faces, Kaihuang is held fast by my Dao-attainment self, while my Guixu self has gone to Youdu to preside over the whole. " "Since the Third and Fourth Young Masters support me and I have their power, why should I not use it? " He said calmly.

"In the battle of Youdu you seem to hold the great advantage, but in truth nothing has yet escaped my control.

" The Heavenly Lord took up A'Chou and the Earth Earl and quietly drew back.

He sensed that things had gone wrong, for the present state of affairs had clearly passed beyond Shen Mu's reckoning, and Hao Tianzun's hidden cards had also passed beyond Shen Mu's reckoning, and if he did not leave now he feared he would never leave.

Hao Tianzun looked past him as if he were nothing and smiled. "Mu Tianzun, you are indeed the thorniest figure I have ever met, and in both wisdom and planning you have greatly surprised me.

But your time has been too short, too brief, and had you been given three or five hundred more years you could truly have turned the tables. Only now you are not yet there, and in our struggle you have always lagged by a thread. That thread is the difference between victory and defeat. " He raised his hand, and his voice shook and boomed through Youdu and spread to every corner of Youdu, so that Xu, Ling, You, Zu, Huo, Yue, Langwan, Taiji, Taishi and the others who were fighting and slaughtering heard it with perfect clarity.

"Gain it and use it well. Since I have gained the support of Miluo Palace, I must use it well.

Miluo Palace is my momentum. My momentum has grown so great that my father Taichu has already despaired and had no choice but to submit to me.