Chapter 1746 — The Selfish Squire

The armies of fiend-gods and fiends poured forward on either side of Heavenly Venerable Xu and A Chou, and then two tides of blood came surging to meet them, checking the Youdu army's momentum at once and even driving it back! In this vast slaughterfield of the Yuan Realm's Youdu, paper boats merged again and again, old constables fused one into another, their power swelling violently; they cut down enemy commanders amid the chaos of the battle, then parted again at once, becoming once more a host of old constables steering their boats, forming killing formation after killing formation and cutting down other fiend-gods!

From the Longhan era to this day, who knows how many geniuses had died, how many people of dazzling talent, among them no few beings of the Emperor's Throne, Lingxiao, and Yujing realms.

Most of these mighty ones had come to rest in Youdu. In this campaign of Heavenly Venerable Xu's against the Yuan Realm, those dead mighty ones had been pressed into the various armies and made commanders of the fiend-god legions. Yet in this terrifying collision, even the primordial spirits of Emperor's Throne cultivators died with astonishing speed!

Paper boats beyond counting came rustling through the air, and when they reached those commanders they merged into one, their strength leaping at once to the level of several heavenly palaces, killing with a single move, never needing a second! To have Heavenly Venerable You block Heavenly Venerable Xu would only leave both sides broken; no one would dare say who might be left laughing at the last. But let Heavenly Venerable You take the battlefield, one man, one boat, one lamp, and he could level Youdu to the ground! What wrenched Heavenly Venerable You's heart, however, was that A Chou had still not struck back, nor even dodged Heavenly Venerable Xu's attacks!

"Tubo, will you not strike back? " A paper boat flew up, the old constable standing aboard shouting the words, and the next moment he was smashed to powder by a sweep of Heavenly Venerable Xu's whip. "Father God, I remember everything from my childhood.

I remember the bitter life you led us through. " In Heavenly Venerable Xu's hand the Nether River whip was like a python, coiled about A Chou's mighty frame.

The whip ran through his chest, through his heart, and emerged from his breast; then, like a great serpent, it lifted its head and twisted round to look at A Chou's ugly face.

"I remember you dragging mother, and the eldest, and the second, here and there in hiding, eating chaff and wild greens, fleeing in terror from pursuit, from danger. I remember that mother died in a cave.

" Heavenly Venerable Xu's eyes were like the eyes of that python as she looked at A Chou hanging before her, cold light flickering in them.

She laughed coldly.

"How bitter it was then, and I remember it perfectly!

My brothers and sisters and I were divine children, the sons and daughters of the strongest Ancient God in this world!

And what became of us? " A Chou was silent, and bowed his head.

His karma-fire golden body was too strong, strong enough that without employing any art or divine power at all it would heal him with ease, strong enough that even if he did not resist, Heavenly Venerable Xu could not kill him.

Heavenly Venerable Xu drove the Nether River whip burrowing into his skull and said in a harsh voice, "What became of us was to be fugitives at your side, fleeing to the ends of the earth! All because of that grand wish of yours to become human! " The Nether River whip was seared away by the blazing karma fire, and A Chou rose to his feet once more.

Heavenly Venerable Xu roared in fury. Her horn thrust out through A Chou's broad back and plunged into the back of his skull, driving him flying toward her.

Heavenly Venerable Xu worked her divine arts and attacked A Chou in a frenzy, striking to kill. "My mother, the woman of the strongest Ancient God in the world, did she enjoy a single day of glory and wealth? No! She lived in fear at your side, homeless and wandering, and in the end she died of exhaustion, of sickness, of terror!

" Her divine arts grew stronger and stronger as she gave free vent to the monstrous hatred in her heart, beating A Chou until he was covered in wounds, laughing and laughing, like one possessed.

"And my brothers and sisters? They were like me, bearing the bloodline of the strongest demigod.

Had they lived, not one of them would have achieved less than I! How did they die? Because of that great dream of yours to become human, it dragged them down to their deaths!

" Bang!

A Chou was trampled beneath her foot. Heavenly Venerable Xu looked down at her father's ugly face and said through gritted teeth, "Your bloodline is too strong.

My soul awakened while I was still in the womb, and I had memories; after I was born I watched everything you did with my own eyes! Did you always think it was the Heaven Emperor who planted the thought of hating you in me? It was not! When you took the form of A Chou Tubo and slaughtered your way into the Heavenly Court, my eyes were already full of hatred when I looked at you!

" Her foot ground down on A Chou's head, twisting without cease. "It was because the Ancient God, the Heaven Emperor, saw the hatred in my eyes that he took me in! But you never noticed. You were still taking your revenge on the Heavenly Court! I hate you for not erupting sooner! I hate you for wanting to become human!

I hate that we, the strongest race of all, could not stand high above and savor the awe and the worship of all living things!

" She lifted her foot. A Chou struggled to rise, but she stamped down again, driving his head into the earth! "Father? You are nothing but a selfish wretch. Whether you are Tubo or A Chou, you are just as selfish! There was never any room in your heart for us, only for yourself, only for your own wretched, lowly dream of becoming human.

Tubo the utterly selfless? You? As if you deserved the name! " Heavenly Venerable Xu stamped down once more and said with vicious relish, "You want to become human, but I do not! I will stand high above, I will become the one before whom countless people tremble and bow!

I will wipe out every last human and shatter your dream completely! " She seized the calf of the A Chou who had been stamped into the ground and dragged him out, then strode away toward Jingping, laughing.

"Father God, watch. I am going to destroy everything you hold dear. "