Chapter 1564 — The Attempt Comes to Nothing
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Shen Mu stood at the prow, his gaze incomparably bright. He was not blind, of course — he had long since noticed the Empress.
But what he had in mind was to seize the moment when the Empress had only just broken from her cocoon and been reborn, before she had fully mastered her own cultivation, and strike her by surprise, crushing her beneath the ship in a single blow!
If the Empress succeeded in cultivating the Heavenly Court realm and mastered the power of that realm, then in strength she would reach a summit that even Venerable Hao and Venerable Xiao had never attained!
Once she had fully mastered the Guixu Great Dao, she would possess the power of creation and destruction at once, undying and indestructible.
More than that, she could combine what Lady Yuanmu excelled at, master the arts and divine powers of Venerable Hao, Venerable Xiao, Venerable Hong and the rest, and achieve the Dao through sheer force!
And if she branded her own power by force upon the Ultimate Void, then she would have no rival left under heaven!
Shen Mu did not for a moment believe the ancient Taiji gods could keep the ambitious Empress under control; if the two ancient gods were not killed and devoured by her, that would be fortune enough sent by heaven.
Suddenly the golden Ship of Salvation shuddered, and the golden ship began slowly to rise.
Shen Mu's heart lurched. The Ship of Salvation had crushed every manner of strangeness in Jade Capital City along its way, flattening even the dense Dao Tree forest — and yet the Empress, pinned beneath the ship, had actually lifted it up!
"Achieving the Dao through force — truly extraordinary! If you also brand the Ultimate Void, then you will truly be invincible under heaven!"
Shen Mu marshaled his mana and drove the golden ship; at once it became immeasurably heavy. Yet beneath it the Empress still held the ship up with both hands and slowly rose to her feet!
One treasure hall after another rose to guard her Heavenly Court. Her Heavenly Court realm was not yet truly perfect — her treasure halls numbered as many as fifty, but had not reached seventy-two, and so she could not construct the complete Heavenly Court.
Even so, the mana in her was fierce and boundless!
Shen Mu's eyes flickered; the Calamity Sword flew from his hand and stabbed down at the Empress beneath the ship.
All the Empress's strength was spent holding up the Ship of Salvation; she only sensed the Calamity Sword when it reached the back of her head, and her heart went cold: "Am I, who have only just achieved the Dao, to be killed by a sneak strike from that villain Venerable Mu?"
Just then she suddenly felt two arms grow from beneath her armpits, and at that moment her Heavenly Palace and treasure halls seemed to be invaded by another consciousness, which marshaled her power to meet Shen Mu's Calamity Sword!
"Who is behind me?" the Empress cried out in utter terror.
"It's me, sister!" came Lady Yuanmu's cheerful voice from the back of her head.
Shen Mu at once felt the power of the Calamity Sword being devoured by something. Startled, he hurriedly flew up from the ship, and there before him the Empress came flying out from under the ship, her hair in wild disarray.
The Ship of Salvation crashed down and fell to the ground.
Her face frantic, the Empress attacked the back of her own head like a madwoman, ignoring Shen Mu entirely, and shrieked, "Harlot, you're still alive? Impossible! I clearly devoured and refined you!"
And on the back of her head a face had indeed grown — none other than Lady Yuanmu!
"Sister, you are me and I am you. How could you possibly refine yourself?"
This woman had one body, two faces and four arms, each driving its divine powers in a frenzied assault on the other face, and the might of those powers was terrifying.
Before Shen Mu could even draw near, the shockwaves of the two women's divine powers hurled him flying backward!