Chapter 1197: Cannot Get Excited

The Immutable Divine Art and the Grand Beginning Divine Art erupted simultaneously. As the two divine arts collided, Wei Suifeng's magical power proved vastly superior to Qin Mu's, yet Qin Mu's Grand Beginning Divine Art effectively countered the Immutable Divine Art.

In that instant of their encounter, time and space seemed to completely unravel, ceasing to exist!

Those on the boat appeared to enter a bizarre state, neither living nor dead, existing yet not existing. Even the mist blanketing the Surging River underwent drastic transformations!

The mysterious formidable being, who was attempting to pull the ghost ship back to the present, let out an exclamation. He intensified his magical power, striving to anchor the ship in the current time.

At that moment, the collision between the two divine arts grew even more violent. Even the formidable being blanched, hastily released the ghost ship, and frantically fled through the mist, trying to return to the present.

The mysterious being perceived the world beyond the mist becoming utterly unreal and distorted, like a series of swirling vortices attempting to pull him in.

He fled in a frenzy, yet the vortices spun ever faster, compelling him to unleash all his power and accelerate his escape.

He glanced back, witnessing a bizarre sight at the heart of the maelstrom.

There, the ghost ship's very substance was disintegrating, and time and space were collapsing!

Qin Mu, Wei Suifeng, and the thousands of Imperial Forest Army soldiers aboard the ghost ship appeared to transform into humanoid energy forms, simultaneously ceasing to exist and yet still being present.

"The ghost ship is doomed, and the Empress's corpse on it as well..."

Witnessing a terrifying explosion of light erupt from the ghost ship, the mysterious being quickly turned his head and fled in a panic.

*Boom!*

The blinding light completely engulfed and consumed everything and everyone within the mist!

Just as the light reached him, the mysterious being finally managed to escape the ghost ship.

As he finally regained his composure, everything before him reverted to normal; the world and its time-space were no longer distorted.

He breathed a sigh of relief and looked around, only to see Consort Yan Tian standing by the riverbank, cradling a white cat and smiling at him.

"Your Majesty," Consort Yan Tian purred, gently stroking the white cat's head. The cat, its fur bristling, emitted low growls as it stared intently at him.

The mysterious being then dispersed the divine light that veiled his face, revealing the countenance of Heavenly Venerate Hao.

Consort Yan Tian's eyes flickered as she soothed the white cat in her arms. "How ironic," she chuckled, "that Your Majesty seems so deeply concerned with my physical body. When I was alive, you cared not a whit for me, yet after my death, you feign such affection, even risking yourself to acquire my physical form."

She suddenly let out a derisive snort. "Ah, yes," she murmured, "Your Majesty isn't concerned for *me*; you merely wish to acquire my physical body to threaten me."

Heavenly Venerate Hao offered a smile. "Zitong," he said, "I missed you, which is why I risked venturing into the ghost ship, hoping to reunite with you. Can you not understand my feelings for you?"

Consort Yan Tian scoffed. "Taking human form and sleeping with my sister—is that also an expression of your affection for me? That hussy killed me; others might not have discerned it, but you couldn't? And what then? You went and slept with Peerless Dust! Oh, and you also slept with the New Earth Mother, the girl born from the Primordial Wood. You simply cannot control your base desires!"

Heavenly Venerate Hao spoke with tender affection. "Zitong," he murmured, "I merely made a mistake common to all men. And are you not the same? You and Heavenly Venerate Yu..."

"Silence!"

Consort Yan Tian's face hardened like frost. "I had no private affair with Heavenly Venerate Yu!" she stated coldly. "You are no gentleman; *he* was! I supported him because I foresaw the future of the ancient gods, but you, unexpectedly, murdered him! Yet, you still failed to salvage the ancient gods' destiny! Your brain, it seems, has migrated to your lower half!"

Heavenly Venerate Hao's expression turned slightly awkward.

Consort Yan Tian's anger suddenly transformed into amusement. "Though I had no involvement with Heavenly Venerate Yu," she said with a smirk, "to spite you, I've kept a few male consorts over the years. Little Seven, come meet His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor."

The white cat in her arms shed its aggressive demeanor, lazily licked its paw, and let out a meow.

Heavenly Venerate Hao's expression immediately became extremely displeased.

"Meow," the white cat purred, lazily nuzzling deeper into Consort Yan Tian's embrace.

Heavenly Venerate Hao's expression worsened.

Consort Yan Tian chuckled. "You're trying to seize my physical body to firmly control me once more, aren't you?" she tittered. "Alas, I've used this death to leap beyond the ancient gods' constraints. Now, I am more powerful than ever before."

Heavenly Venerate Hao's expression returned to normal. "Zitong," he said softly, "we are both, after all, of ancient god origin. This world cannot truly accommodate us; my identity's exposure would mean my death, and yours likewise. Therefore, we should set aside our prejudices and support each other."

Consort Yan Tian leisurely replied, "So, you'd wait until you encounter that hussy again, only to cast me aside once more?"

Heavenly Venerate Hao's face froze.

Consort Yan Tian, still holding the white cat, began to depart. "Oh, men," she chuckled, "regardless of anything, this body is *my* body. While I'm not in a great rush, what's mine will remain mine. I'll retrieve it myself! Don't even think about any tricks!"

Her voice then turned cold. "Don't forget," she warned, "your beloved son with that hussy desires your death even more than he desired mine! Beware, I might well unite with him to utterly eradicate you!"

Heavenly Venerate Hao's expression became volatile.

As the light on the ghost ship dissipated, Qin Mu, Wei Suifeng, and others stood on the deck. Suddenly, a hoarse voice asked, "Have we finally escaped the ghost ship?"

Qin Mu followed the sound and saw that the speaker was Dragon Sovereign, now freed from his petrified state and transformed into a pure, luminous being.

He still retained the form of a Long Bo.

The Long Bo were a colossal dragon race from the Dragon Han era, possessing dragon heads and human bodies, capable of transforming into immense dragons. Their lineage was incredibly ancient, rumored to be descendants of the divine dragons born from the ancestral dragon veins of the Ancestral Court.

From within the palace of light, eight Long Bo emerged in human form.

Like Dragon Sovereign, they too had been released from their petrified states, becoming pure, luminous entities.

Not only them, but everyone else on the ship, including Wei Suifeng and even the Emperor's corpse, had all transformed into glowing masses of energy.

Even the ghost ship itself maintained this peculiar form, existing as pure energy without substance.

This was the state of Grand Beginning.

"This situation isn't good!"

One of the Long Bo stared at his hands in horror, agitated, hissing, "My flesh and blood, my body... I no longer have a physical form. Where is my primordial spirit?"

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, and the light within his form intensified, growing brighter and brighter!

Qin Mu's expression changed drastically. "Don't get agitated—" he shouted loudly.

Inside that Long Bo, energy spiraled out of control, resulting in an incredibly terrifying burst of power!

Everyone scattered in a hurry, but the rampant power swiftly overwhelmed all on the ghost ship!

The Heavenly River exploded with a roar, severed in two by this dreadful force!

Qin Mu and the others had barely escaped the Heavenly River when they were thrown in all directions by the uncontrolled energy surge. Qin Mu distinctly heard Wei Suifeng's voice calling out, "Keep your composure! Do not get agitated! If you do, the energy within your body will lose its form!"

No sooner had Wei Suifeng's words finished than the ghost ship itself, struck by the Long Bo's explosion, also began to glow brightly. Everyone watched the immense ship, stretching for hundreds of miles, in utter terror.

If this ship were to explode...

*Boom!*

An all-annihilating surge of energy erupted, as the ghost ship completely transformed into uncontrolled power, its energy fluctuations thousands of times stronger than the preceding Long Bo explosion!

Despair gripped everyone's hearts; at such close range, evasion was impossible.

At that very moment, a peach blossom drifted into existence over the severed Heavenly River. Its branch spun, petals fluttered, and each individual petal seemed like a miniature world. These drifting pink petals then served to isolate the destructive energy.