Chapter 1716 — The Fall of a Heavenly Venerable

At Shang Pingyin's side, scarcely three in ten of the Divine Martial Two Guards remained!

Over these years he had led the Two Guards in fighting retreat after fighting retreat, and though Jingping had sent only Crown Prince Youming and Long Qilin, Long Qilin was none other than Longshan Sanren, acknowledged as the foremost Celestial Master, wielder of the Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Banner. With only the handful of divine soldiers and generals left to Meng Yungui's Feathered Ascension Camp, Longshan Sanren had beaten the Divine Martial Two Guards — the two finest hosts of gods and demons under heaven — into a rout, leaving them shattered and slaughtered in droves! More terrible still: in the art of formation arrays, Longshan Sanren had far surpassed what he had been in those years.

Today, whether the arrays of the Heavenly Court or those of Jingping, all had advanced beyond measure compared with six hundred thousand years ago; the great array of the Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Banner had long since been broken by Yue Tingge, and then broken again by Meng Yungui — it was no longer the foremost array under heaven. But with Longshan Sanren's return, he had improved the various formations within the Banner, making them subtler and more exquisite still, so that all of Shang Pingyin's studies were rendered utterly useless.

In the very first battle, the Divine Martial Two Guards and Shang Pingyin had already been defeated.

Shang Pingyin exhausted his wits, bent wholly on defeating Longshan Sanren and recovering his confidence — yet that rout cost the Two Guards two tenths of their strength in a single stroke within the great array of the Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Banner. Any single one of the Two Guards, taken alone, could match an Emperor Throne expert who had cultivated eighteen heavenly palaces; and an Emperor Throne expert of eighteen heavenly palaces was the threshold for becoming a Heavenly Venerable. — Of course, that threshold belonged to the Ten Heavenly Venerables of old, not to the Ten Heavenly Venerables of today.

Ever since Emperor Haotian ascended the throne, the threshold for Heavenly Venerable had been dragged down to eight heavenly palaces. After that battle, the inner demon in Shang Pingyin's dao heart stirred once more.

He led the remnants of the Two Guards in flight through one heaven after another of the Southern Heaven, while Long Qilin drove Meng Yungui and the Feathered Ascension Camp in relentless pursuit, and the two sides broke out in skirmish after skirmish. Shang Pingyin dared not confront Longshan Sanren head-on; along the way he kept peeling off suicide squads, feeding them deliberately to the Feathered Ascension Camp in exchange for a chance for himself and his main force to flee. Nor was that all.

He conscripted divine soldiers and generals from one heaven after another of the Southern Heaven, gathering its demigods and gods into new armies — a million gods and demons — to do battle with Longshan Sanren face to face. Yet what awaited him was still defeat!

The host of gods and demons he had thrown together in haste looked vast in number, but it collapsed at a single touch and had little fighting strength. And so, over a few short years, the Divine Martial Two Guards were beaten down to a little over two tenths of their strength, leaving him no choice but to flee through the heavens of the Southern Heaven, burning, killing, and plundering.

But on this day, the Third Celestial Master, Bai Yuqiong, and the Northern Heaven King, Yiluo, at last led their great army into the Southern Heaven.

When the armies joined, Yiluo and Bai Yuqiong looked upon Shang Pingyin — white-haired now, aged and decrepit — and felt both pity and dread. In but a few years, Shang Pingyin had become like an old man with half his body already in the coffin; how savagely Longshan Sanren must have struck him down!

"Longshan Sanren is in truth Long Pi, the mount of Heavenly Venerable Mu," said Yiluo. "In his early years he followed Heavenly Venerable Mu back to six hundred thousand years ago, and it happened to be the time when the Heavenly Court split asunder; thus he made his name.

The Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Banner vanished with him, and when Heavenly Venerable Mu rose six hundred thousand years later and the Banner reappeared, that confirmed it. This time, coming to aid Celestial Master Shang, Heavenly Venerable Taiji gave me a brocade pouch that can break Longshan Sanren. " Shang Pingyin sat dull and blank; with difficulty his eyeballs turned.

"A brocade pouch?

" Bai Yuqiong frowned slightly.

That the Ancient God Taiji had given Yiluo a brocade pouch — of this she had heard not the slightest whisper, and it could not but put her on her guard. Yiluo opened the pouch.

Within lay a slip of paper, and on the paper were written only six words.

"Long Pi, the adopted son of Long Xiao! " Yiluo was suddenly enlightened and laughed. "Heavenly Venerable Taiji is indeed a peerless strategist.

With this brocade pouch, we can deal with Longshan Sanren.

" Shang Pingyin's dao heart was already shattered; he was truly beyond use. Yiluo at once absorbed the remnants of the Divine Martial Two Guards into his own ranks, and said to Bai Yuqiong: "Celestial Master, His Majesty sent us here and brought with us the Southern Heaven Gate of the Ancestral Court. Once that gate appears, it can overpower both the Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Banner and the enemy host. We have eight million gods and demons; the enemy has only some hundred thousand.

With the Banner checked, Longshan Sanren will surely have to bolster his forces.

" Bai Yuqiong understood. "The Northern Heaven King means that if Longshan Sanren wishes to bolster his forces, he can only summon the ancient giant beasts of the Beast World.

" Yiluo smiled.

"Longshan Sanren will summon the ancient giant beasts and fill them into the Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Banner, borrowing the beasts' strength to contend with our eight million.

Those giant beasts must also be arrayed; their wisdom is not high, so he must mingle men and beasts to draw out the Banner's array power to its utmost. " Bai Yuqiong knew his scheme through and through.

"And then the Heaven King will summon Heavenly Venerable Long Xiao of the Beast World! Seeing his adopted son make an enemy of the Heavenly Court, Heavenly Venerable Long Xiao will surely fly into a rage and recall Longshan Sanren and the giant beasts to the Beast World. That way, within the Banner's arrays only Meng Yungui and the gods and demons of the Feathered Ascension Camp will remain. Once the giant beasts depart, the arrays they sustained will collapse and crumble in an instant! " Yiluo laughed heartily.

"Thus, in one battle Meng Yungui can be put down! Celestial Master Bai, you are master of every kind of array, far beyond me; therefore I need you to marshal the various formations of my army and force Longshan Sanren to summon the giant beasts of the Beast World!

" Bai Yuqiong said gravely, "I shall exert myself to the utmost! " The two settled their plan. Bai Yuqiong ordered the great host of gods and demons to march out of the city, yet in her heart she hesitated. She did not wish to watch Meng Yungui die like this.