Chapter 455: Heavenly Wind Emperor

The Heaven Dao’s snow-white hand, emitting a strange fragrance, resembled an incomparably delicious piece of meat.

Xu Qing licked his lips as he gazed at the large hand, then quickly looked at the captain.

The captain's eyes gleamed with intense madness. With incredibly skilled movements, he wrapped his limbs around the Heaven Dao's hand, then fiercely lowered his mouth, biting down with all his might.

Perhaps because he was the "father of the Heaven Dao" and due to his accumulated merits, the captain seemed to genuinely bite off a piece. After forcefully swallowing it, he burst into a maniacal laugh.

"Worth..."

But before he could finish his sentence, to the stunned disbelief of Qingqiu and Ning Yan, the captain's voice abruptly changed into a wail.

As if he had consumed something indigestible, his stomach instantly swelled and then burst with a bang.

Flesh and blood splattered everywhere, and an extremely potent Heaven Dao aura emanated from the hole in his burst stomach. A piece of golden skin was visible.

The captain's eyes widened. He released his grip, intending to cover the wound, but it was too late. The destructive force didn't stop; it rapidly spread throughout his entire body.

In a blink, the captain's hands disintegrated, and his lower body exploded with a roar. Both his intestines and legs completely shattered and scattered, turning into countless fragments of flesh.

Amidst the widespread blood, his upper body was also affected, similarly exploding.

His upper abdomen was torn apart, his chest utterly collapsed, and his internal organs rapidly vanished amidst the splatter. Eventually, in a bloody mess, only his incredibly tough head remained.

It was unclear how the captain's head was formed, but it somehow remained relatively intact, and his wails were still audible. With a sudden jerk, he lunged towards his own scattered flesh, opening his mouth wide to bite the golden skin.

This time, he didn't swallow it but kept it in his mouth, his eyes once again filled with madness. He frantically shook his head, hanging himself onto a tree branch, and while chewing, he completed the sentence he had started earlier.

"...it!"

Qingqiu gasped, and Ning Yan stood dumbfounded. He had seen people seeking death before, but someone so actively courting it was truly rare. In comparison, he felt his previous bites were insignificant.

The Heaven Dao also noticed the bite. After its large hand paused, a bewildered gaze fell from within the crack, seemingly puzzled by what the head was doing.

Its hand showed no signs of injury; clearly, what the captain had bitten off was merely a flake of skin.

After failing to comprehend, the Heaven Dao continued to grasp the Ten-Intestine Tree, lifting it and stuffing it into the rift in its belly.

Witnessing this, Xu Qing immediately abandoned any thought of taking a bite. Meanwhile, the captain's wild laughter echoed all around.

"Haha, I finally ate the Heaven Dao!"

"Gotta go, gotta go."

"Little junior brother, I don't know where each of us will be teleported, but the general area is correct. Everyone... accept your fate!"

As the captain laughed, a golden light shimmered from his glabella, spreading outward and transforming into hundreds of thousands of golden runes. These runes instantly enveloped the surroundings, forming four colossal teleportation arrays.

These four arrays were semi-transparent, each spanning a thousand feet, and imbued with the aura of the Heaven Dao.

Clearly, the piece of skin the captain had bitten off was now playing its part.

The moment the four formations materialized, earth-shattering teleportation energy surged within them, then transformed into four beams of light. The two most concentrated beams enveloped the captain himself and flew towards Xu Qing, respectively.

The other two beams headed towards Ning Yan and Qingqiu.

Seeing this, Xu Qing knew he didn't need to kick the captain anymore.

Soon, amidst Qingqiu and Ning Yan's rapid breathing, the sky and earth changed color, winds surged, and with four deafening roars echoing, the teleportation began!

In an instant, their figures vanished from the Ten-Intestine Tree in the sky.

After they disappeared, the large hand extending from the sky rift showed no hesitation. It continued to grasp and merge with the remaining Ten-Intestine Tree, quickly stuffing the last three thousand-plus feet and countless roots into the rift.

When the last wisp of root vanished into the sky, the rift slowly healed and finally disappeared.

Everything returned to normal.

However... the ground was a mess.

The True Immortal Ten-Intestine Tree, which had stood there for countless ages, was no more.

On the ground, there was only a colossal deep pit, from which countless gullies spread outward like a spiderweb, a shocking sight for anyone who saw it.

As for the Thirty-Six City-States, most of their cities had now collapsed. All the Saintland Race within them had long been shaken by this scene, their minds still buzzing.

The Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler watched the sky from afar, his emotions turbulent and his breathing rapid. His right hand clenched and unclenched, clearly indicating an internal struggle.

Beside him, Zhou Xingwu was already stunned into silence. As he stood there, Lin Yuandong, who was behind him, suddenly spoke loudly.

"Praise to the Divine Son!"

Zhou Xingwu wanted to say something, but ultimately held back. As for the Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler, his right hand completely relaxed at this moment, his eyes showing resolve, and he bowed deeply towards the sky.

"Farewell, Divine Son!"

As the Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler spoke, all the cultivators of the Sky Dome Kingdom behind him prostrated themselves towards the sky.

Finally, Zhou Xingwu also lowered his head.

Just then, the sky, which had returned to normal, suddenly changed again. An endless sea of light instantly appeared, spreading infinitely in all directions. From within the clouds, a colossal figure clad in imperial robes materialized.

The wide, golden imperial robes exuded a divine aura. The nine soaring dragons embroidered upon them seemed truly alive, sealed onto the garment, flowing like water and radiating majesty.

The red imperial crown on his head, like a crimson sun, formed a massive red halo behind him.

Most striking were the *mianliu* (strings of beads) hanging from the imperial crown. There were twenty-four in total, twelve at the front and twelve at the back, each threaded with twelve jade beads. While they obscured his face, each bead emitted a dazzling glow, making him even harder to look directly at.

One could only vaguely discern that the person in the imperial robes was middle-aged.

The moment he appeared, the heavens and earth changed color, the ground rumbled, and an overwhelming pressure emanated from him, enveloping all directions like a surging tide.

The instant he saw this figure, Zhou Xingwu immediately knelt down.

"Your Majesty!"

The Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler also trembled and knelt. All the Black-Clad Guards and the entire Saintland Race within the Thirty-Six Cities simultaneously knelt towards the figure in the sky.

"Your Majesty!"

In the Sky Wind Dynasty, the so-called "Emperor" was, in a sense, equivalent to a "King." However, within the Ancestral Imperial Court, which stood above the four great dynasties of the entire Saintland Race, resided the Saintland Race's sole Ancestral Emperor!

The newcomer was, naturally, not the Ancestral Emperor who hadn't appeared for ten millennia, but the Emperor of the Sky Wind Dynasty, who had personally come to welcome the Divine Son after receiving an edict from the Black Heaven Temple.

He stood between heaven and earth, expressionless. He first glanced at the deep pit where the True Immortal Ten-Intestine Tree had been, then looked up at the place in the sky where the rift had appeared. After a long silence, he spoke calmly.

"Mu Tianzheng."

"Your subject is present!" the Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler responded loudly.

"Your son, Mu Ye, performed meritorious service in welcoming the Divine Son. The Divine Temple bestows upon him the status of a Divine Servant."

Upon hearing this, the Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler was overcome with boundless excitement, his body trembling, and he repeatedly prostrated himself towards the sky.

"Your subject, Mu Tianzheng, thanks Your Majesty for your heavenly grace!"

The Sky Wind Emperor, hearing the words of gratitude, cast a profound gaze at the kneeling Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler, then looked into the distance and spoke indifferently.

"The Divine Son holds a revered position. Since he intentionally avoided me, you shall seek his whereabouts and inform him of the Black Heaven's summons."

After speaking, the Sky Wind Emperor turned and stepped into the void. Before his figure vanished, he paused, raised his right hand, and gently swiped at the area where Xu Qing and the others had teleported away.

Instantly, that area rumbled and collapsed. All traces completely vanished in the disintegration, making it impossible to trace or investigate.

Having done this, the Sky Wind Emperor, expressionless, vanished from between heaven and earth.

On the ground, Zhou Xingwu was deep in thought, murmuring to himself.

"His Majesty arrived just in time..."

Beside him, the Sky Dome Kingdom's ruler, maintaining a normal expression as if he hadn't witnessed the sky's event, immediately ordered his subordinates to spread out and search for the Divine Son the moment he stood up.

This search was not limited to this location. Gradually, all departments and subsidiary forces across the entire Sky Wind Dynasty, under the Emperor's edict, formed a massive movement, searching for the Divine Son's whereabouts throughout the entire territory.

However, this grand search for the Divine Son was delayed for three days because the edict transmission required time.

Yet, it wasn't just the Black Heaven Temple stationed in the Sky Wind Dynasty that issued an edict. Soon, the other three dynasties of the Saintland Race also received decrees from their respective stationed temples and began searching.

Among these, the Scarlet Spirit Dynasty and the Moon Mist Dynasty were the most fervent. While mobilizing their entire nations, the Black Heaven Temples stationed there, for the first time in many years, left their royal cities to participate in the search.

Even countless tribes affiliated with the Black Heaven Clan and the Saintland Race received stern decrees from these two major dynasties and their temples, joining the search.

In this way, the search for the Divine Son gradually caused a complete sensation across the entire Saintland Great Domain.

In the direction of the regional borders, similar measures were taken, and each area began heightened security. The situation escalated further.

Naturally, this incident also drew high attention from Feng Hai County. After they used their own methods to ascertain some of the reasons, the county capital was shaken, and the Three Upper Xuan Palaces, including the Sword-Wielder Palace, experienced massive upheaval.

"A Black Heaven Clan Divine Son?"

"The True Immortal Ten-Intestine Tree, which stood for countless years, is gone? From now on, the Saintland Race is missing a place of wonder?"

"The Black Heaven Temple issued decrees to all four great dynasties?"

"The Black Heaven Temple Grand Priests of the Scarlet Spirit Dynasty and Moon Mist Dynasty personally ventured out?"

"Why did the Sky Wind Dynasty's Temple Grand Priest only issue orders and not venture out, and even implicitly allow the Sky Wind Emperor to delay for three days?"

The high-ranking officials of Feng Hai County convened an emergency meeting. At the same time, numerous Sword-Wielders received missions to go to the borders to enforce martial law and guard against any opportunistic attacks from the Saintland Race.

Kong Xianglong and others also received similar missions. As they set out, they exchanged glances, each noticing profound surprise and doubt in the other's eyes.

"It couldn't be them, could it...?" Shan Hezi murmured.

"Impossible! That's a Divine Son, after all. Don't speak nonsense and scare people!" Wang Chen's heart trembled, and he shook his head vigorously.

"Right, haha, I was overthinking. This matter caused such a huge storm in the Saintland Race, how could it be those two!" Shan Hezi forced a laugh.

"But I remember when Xu Qing and Chen Erniu left, they mentioned they were going precisely to the True Immortal Ten-Intestine Tree, and said something about 'doing something big'..." Ye Ling hesitated as she relayed this from the side.

Everyone fell silent.

After a long moment, Kong Xianglong suppressed the tremor in his heart and spoke gravely.

"Perhaps there were two groups of Black Heaven Clan members there."

"Yes, that must be it!" Shan Hezi and the others quickly nodded at his words. They then all fell silent again, continuing their journey with somewhat dazed expressions.