Chapter 1825 — The Heavens Return to Their Rightful Places

" Shen Mu hurried to stop him, but in that brief moment Tai Yi had already forced every one of the Dao-slaying divine nails out of his body.

Tai Yi's speed increased greatly.

A single stride carried him past Shen Mu, and he went to meet that fallen smiling man. At the same time, Old Man Wuya came flying in from one side, heading straight for the smiling man and Tai Yi. The immense body of the smiling man suddenly twisted, then burst apart with a bang, transforming into thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host, who stood in the air, quietly awaiting Tai Yi's arrival, every face wreathed in smiles.

The smiling man was among them too, standing at the very front, the smile upon his face unchanged.

Each of them bore Dao wounds; plainly the battle with the Second Young Master Wuji had gone no easier for them, and only after a bloody struggle had they slipped through from the Ruins of Return. Old Man Wuya struck first, dealing a lethal blow to all thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host at once.

He knew better than any man the peril of the Heaven-Opening Host of the Heavenly Capital. It was not that Old Man Wuya cared for the world's people; rather, the path of these thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host had wholly cast aside the traditional road of the Dao realm, and since they did not cultivate the Dao Tree, he could gain no advantage over them.

Taking advantage of their wounds, he must naturally wipe them out and end the threat forever! The thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host, their forms set at staggered intervals, met Old Man Wuya with the array of the Heaven-Opening Altar.

Before the divine abilities of either side could fully unfold, Tai Yi had already appeared behind Old Man Wuya, a divine axe in his hand.

Old Man Wuya was terrified near unto death, fighting off attacks from front and rear at once. Boom— Old Man Wuya's blood sprayed across the heavens; he fled by blood-escape, leaving behind in the sky a great many shattered roots and branches of the World Tree. Suddenly, in the instant after the power of the three sides' divine abilities erupted, Shen Mu flashed in, cutting into the midst of that three-way confluence.

His form halted, and he landed at the center of the thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host.

"Rise!

" Shen Mu stamped his foot heavily, and beneath him a Heaven-Opening Altar surged upward.

Resplendent Dao arts welled out in every direction, fitting exactly and perfectly with the Heaven-Opening Altar of the thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host. As his magic power stirred, the thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host felt the strength of their bodies pour forth and merge as one with Shen Mu's magic power.

Astonishment showed on every face, and their gazes fell one after another upon Shen Mu at the center of the altar.

Shen Mu had seen through their Heaven-Opening Altar and fused with their altar array using the selfsame formation, seizing the altar's eye—which is to say, the heaven-opening ground at the center of the altar. As his magic power stirred, his body sank slightly and he assumed the posture of drawing a sword; the magic power of the Heaven-Opening Host seemed to be stirred by him as well, swelling his strength.

The thirty-fourth heaven of the Dao realm—the Heaven-Opening Chapter of the Heavenly Capital! The power of his Heaven-Opening Chapter of the Heavenly Capital was raised in that moment to a height it had never known, mightier than ever before by a hundredfold or more!

He held this sword strike in reserve, unspent, pinning the thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host where they stood, while his gaze fixed dead upon Tai Yi, who came striding forward with his axe. He had seized this chance to take command of the thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host; the one he guarded against was none other than Tai Yi!

"Fellow Daoist! " Shen Mu's voice was low, carrying menace.

"Come no closer!

Halt! " Tai Yi's gaze was strange as he said, "Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this?

" Shen Mu gave a cold snort.

The power of the Heaven-Opening Chapter of the Heavenly Capital might pour out at any moment, becoming a peerless strike that could remake heaven and earth—yet the one before him was the man he revered above all others, and this strike he could never bring himself to unleash.

"The Seventh Young Master is indeed the most troublesome figure under heaven.

" Suddenly the smiling man turned his head, his smiling face directed at Shen Mu at the center of the altar, the smile upon it enough to send a chill through the bones.

"No wonder Ling esteems you so highly, and deems your talent matchless.

" Shen Mu was stricken with alarm, and in the next moment he sensed that the two overlapping Heaven-Opening Altar arrays were no longer in accord! He had comprehended this great divine ability by observing the Heaven-Opening of the Heavenly Capital, but his understanding of the Heaven-Opening Altar could not possibly rival the subtlety of the Heaven-Opening Host who had personally taken part in opening the heavens and splitting the earth!

The smiling man was the first to break free of the marvel of his strike, then the second member of the Heaven-Opening Host, then the third!

Cold sweat sprang out upon Shen Mu's brow. He was about to rouse the Heaven-Opening Chapter of the Heavenly Capital when Tai Yi took a stride and in the next instant arrived upon the altar; his tall, towering body crashed into Shen Mu and sent him flying backward.

Tai Yi swung up his divine axe and brought it down; Shen Mu drew his sword to block and retreated the more sharply—yet there was little force in Tai Yi's strike; it seemed he meant only to send him away.

Shen Mu steadied himself, and saw Tai Yi standing at the center of the Heaven-Opening Host. The thirty-five members of the Heaven-Opening Host bowed as one, and said with a single voice: "All within the Heavenly Capital City welcome the Lord of the Heavenly Capital back to his seat!

"