Chapter 1735 — Outwitted by His Own Schemes

"Twenty-one ancient-god clones of Lingguan have already died by my hand, one more is held prisoner by me, and one is held prisoner by Junior Brother Jiang Baigui. Those two ancient gods of Lingguan can do little more.

That leaves seven.

" Shen Mu raced toward the Kan Lands of the Northern Frontier, and his running speed had already slowed somewhat from what it had been at the start, which sank his heart.

The Western Lands, he feared he would not reach in time. At his present pace, even if he abandoned Wei Suifeng and the Xuanwu Emperors now and ran straight for the Western Lands, the two ancient-god clones of Lingguan would likely have arrived there long before him.

"But those two ancient-god clones must be killed! Otherwise, after they kill Yue Tingge and Western Emperor White Tiger, they will turn to kill the First Ancestor, the Dao Ancestor, and the others! I only hope Yue Tingge and the Western Emperor can hold out!

Yue Tingge, after all, is the First Celestial Master!

" He sped like wind and lightning.

In the Kan Lands of the Northern Frontier there were three ancient gods, set respectively against the Xuanwu Emperors and Wei Suifeng. In the Western Lands there were two, in Southern Heaven or the Beast Realm there was one set against Long Qilin, and the last one was rushing to the Ancestral Court. "There is no need to go rescue Long Qilin.

I can drag him by force from Southern Heaven or the Beast Realm with a summoning art and leave Lingguan's ancient-god clone grasping at air. But that clone of Lingguan must also die. He cannot be left alive!

Yet the most critical of all is still the ancient-god clone bound for the Ancestral Court! " When Shen Mu reached the Kan Lands of the Northern Frontier, he saw only ice-bound snowfields, the earth sealed in ice, a vast white expanse, huge divine cities of ice and snow floating in the sky, icebergs suspended among the clustered cities, and there the Xuanwu Great Marsh lay across that desolate land, with the Heavenly River drawn in by the Xuanwu Great Marsh.

That great marsh was the ancestral ground of the Xuanwu Emperors, magnificent beyond measure, and among the Four Emperors of the ancient gods, the Xuanwu Emperors were the strongest in power, gods born of the sacrifices of the Juyu Clan, mightiest creator race of the primeval age!

Now upon that marsh, upon the Heavenly River, a giant warship galloped down the river, pressing the waters until they surged. Wei Suifeng led the Yulin Army in laying out the Great Heavenly Court Formation upon that warship, the newest battle chart of Jingping, and with the skilled craftsmen of Jingping only four charts had yet been forged, one of which Di Yiyue had begged away for use in the campaign of the Land of No Sorrow. Wei Suifeng had one here, Jiang Baigui had one there, and the other was with Yue Tingge.

And that giant warship was the great vessel Wei Suifeng had designed to break the Heavenly River navy, the Heavenly River Pagoda, itself a matchless heavy weapon.

Even with the blessing of two great weapons, Wei Suifeng and the officers and men of the Yulin Army faced the ancient-god clone of Palace Lord Lingguan with the utmost strain, and the great formation could be broken at any moment!

On the other side, the Xuanwu pair had merged and revealed their true forms, meeting two Lingguan clones in battle within the marsh, husband and wife, one a Black Tortoise and one a Soaring Serpent. The serpent coiled upon the tortoise, the tortoise strode on immensely thick limbs and ran flying through the marsh, treading the Xuanwu chart, stirring the power of the marsh, meeting two ancient-god clones with ancient-god flesh, fighting until heaven crumbled and earth split, until the marsh itself was nearly shattered!

The flesh of the Xuanwu Emperors was torn and tattered as they fought with all their strength. Theirs was a combined husband-and-wife art, yet the ancient-god clones of Lingguan also wielded a combined art, even more overbearing than the couple's, and had they not stood within their ancestral ground, Lingguan would have slain them long ago!

Shen Mu charged in and cut sideways between the two ancient-god clones of Lingguan, neither dodging nor evading, taking the combined strike of the Lingguan clones full upon his own flesh, letting the divine arts of those two ancient gods fall upon him. His hands, left and right, stamped upon the brows of the two ancient gods, and the might of the Red Cord Knot erupted! The two ancient gods grunted and fell from the sky, and the instant they struck the ground, the might of the Red Cord Knot had already shattered their ancient-god primordial spirits to pieces.

Shen Mu did not break stride but tore through the air and was gone. Wei Suifeng had rejoiced at first to see Shen Mu arrive, only to see him never charge toward his own side at all and vanish in the blink of an eye, and he flared in anger: "After all I am the eldest senior brother, and you would watch me die without rescue! " The Xuanwu Emperors, saved, spared no thought for else and hastened to lend aid, joining forces to slay that ancient-god clone of Lingguan.

"Four remain! But the Western Lands, it is already too late.

.

. " Shen Mu grew ever more anxious at heart, yet no anxiety could avail him, for from the Kan Lands of the Northern Frontier to the Western Lands the road was long and would take time.

The clones of Palace Lord Lingguan had started before him and were extremely swift, and moreover on this journey he had trodden nearly every war zone of Jingping.

By now Lingguan must surely have reached the Western Lands! The Western Lands.

The flames of war had already burned up to Shangcang.

Shangcang was Xu Shenghua's old home, but it had been seized by the White Emperor, and when the White Emperor saw the Western Emperor's army approach, he withdrew to hold Shangcang and refused battle.

After Western Emperor White Tiger descended, the battle of Shangcang began. The White Emperor raised the Western Heavenly Gate of the Ancestral Court to serve as the gate of Shangcang, holding Shangcang to the death while awaiting reinforcements from the Heavenly Court.

The Western Emperor attacked by force but was blocked by that gate and could not break into Shangcang, whereupon Yue Tingge led the many women of the Western Lands skilled in spirit-summoning arts forward, each urging her art, intending to summon the spirit of the Western Heavenly Gate. At that moment, beyond the heavens of Shangcang, there came an ancient god of handsome bearing.

At the same instant, the sky shook violently, the void tore, and a huge Void Mother Beast bearing Long Qilin descended from the sky, with countless primeval giant beasts behind him, descending upon the Western Lands!

The ancient god, seeing this, said in surprise: "Lord of the Beast Realm! He was not in Southern Heaven after all, but has run to the Western Lands!

No matter. I never went looking for him anyway.

Since I am here, I will settle him together with Yue Tingge and the Western Emperor all at once. " When Shen Mu reached the Western Lands, he saw the ancient-god clone of Lingguan trapped.

That clone was handsome and lofty in power, a supreme existence among Heavenly Worthies, yet Yue Tingge had pinned him with a formation.

The fourth complete Great Heavenly Court chart, devised by the Blind Elder leading the formation masters of Jingping, was in Yue Tingge's hands. The binding formation alone could not refine him to death, so Yue Tingge had invited Western Emperor White Tiger to enter the formation in person and beat that ancient god beyond recognition.

As for Shangcang, Long Qilin had led the beast armies to block it within the Western Heavenly Gate, so none could sally forth to rescue. "How did Fatty Long come to be here?

And why is there only one clone of Lingguan here? " Shen Mu halted, sweat pouring from his whole body like浆, his divine sense rippling to join with Long Qilin.