Chapter 1655 — The Fall of That Heavenly Venerable
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 5
He was a master of the Emperor's Throne, yet he was exceedingly cautious. Huotian Zun had taken grave wounds; of his mana scarcely anything remained, and his Dao wound was heavy. And yet Yan Yazi was deeply wary of him, and did not dare strike rashly.
After all, though little of Huotian Zun's cultivation remained, his fleshly body was still the fleshly body of a Heavenly Venerable.
A fleshly body cultivated to its uttermost peak verged on a body of attained Dao — this was the capital that had carried Huotian Zun all the way here!
Quickly the disciples were slaughtered to the last, corpses strewn every which way, and Yan Yazi's pupils shrank sharply. Huotian Zun stood amid the corpses and said coldly, "I taught you all, and so you are a pack of dogs I raised.
Every weakness of every one of you I know as clearly as the palm of my hand. Killing you is easier for me than turning my palm — and that includes you, Yan Yazi! " He whirled around — and there at his face was Yan Yazi's Dao-fire Mystic Blade!
Yan Yazi struck with abandon, laughing: "Master, now there are no junior brothers or sisters to snatch the merit from me!
True enough, I was taught by you — but you are far too weak now, and with only your fleshly body you are no match for me at all! " Huotian Zun raised a hand to block; Yan Yazi came howling around him in circles, the mystic blade like light, like lightning, chopping down again and again, crying fiercely, "Master, will you die or not? Will you die or not?
" Huotian Zun's wounds grew graver and graver, yet he remained extraordinarily steady; suddenly he glimpsed an opening, and the five fingers of his right hand flicked in succession — clang, clang, clang, clang, clang — sending the Dao-fire Mystic Blade flying. Yan Yazi's heart lurched, but Huotian Zun had already jabbed one finger at the point between his brows.
Yan Yazi's brow burst open, a great hole blown through his skull, and he hurriedly flung himself backward, fleeing far off like a startled swan in firelight, laughing: "Master, you cannot escape! " Boom!
With one distant sweep he brought down the spirit-energy translocation bridge in the divine city with a crash, cutting off any hope Huotian Zun had of fleeing into Jingping.
Huotian Zun's heart sank. He turned and left that divine city, heading for another.
He stumbled along, yet his blood and qi gradually steadied; within his body he reopened the divine treasuries of the Five Luminaries, the Six Harmonies, the Seven Stars, Heaven and Man, Life and Death, the Heavenly River; he even planted a Jianmu, an innate divine bridge, to unify treasury after treasury.
His cultivation and mana rose to the realm of the Heavenly River, and one step further, and he could cultivate the new Heavenly Palace system that had spread from Jingping. Without his noticing, he came to a small village, and saw the villagers there beating gongs and drums, rushing out of the village with cleavers, hoes, and other farm tools, coming at him to kill.
"After you die, I will avenge you," Huotian Zun murmured, and was about to strike the killing blow, when he saw a young man appear in the village, hands clasped behind his back, head tilted up to gaze at a green tree.
That was a World Tree; and though the young man beneath it looked of no great age, his temples were thick with white hair. "Mutian Zun! " Startled and delighted at once, Huotian Zun ignored the villagers rushing at him and laughed heartily, "Mutian Zun, have you come to save me?
Truly our hearts are in accord. .
. " Shen Mu stood beneath the tree.
He did not look at him, but raised a hand and pointed lightly.
A wheel of light spun out and shrouded Huotian Zun within it, giving him no chance at all to dodge. The wheel of light made one full turn, and Huotian Zun felt as though he had woken from a dream; opening his eyes, he saw that the wounds on his body had utterly vanished.