Chapter 1261: Heart Demon Mu Tianzun

"Heavenly Venerable Mu!"

Xi Tianjun, Qi Xiayu, and others stared at the figure emerging from the darkness, unable to hide their shock.

Even Yan Yunxi, Marshal Wu Dou, and others were stunned. They had never imagined that Heavenly Venerable Haotian's inner demon would be Qin Mu!

The Woodcutter Saint, in particular, found it hard to believe. Qin Mu, his second disciple, had always been a mischievous and restless character. He even thought that if Qin Mu had been a bit more settled and hadn't constantly courted trouble, he might have achieved greater things.

Yet, for the most powerful being in the world, his inner demon turned out to be Qin Mu—this was truly astonishing!

"Judging by Heavenly Venerable Haotian's current state, he must be severely injured, so much so that he can't control his Dao heart, which is why his inner demons are appearing uncontrollably. If he were conscious, he would be able to suppress them and prevent the Grand-Emptiness Demonic Domain from manifesting them."

The Woodcutter Saint quickly assessed Haotian's condition, his expression strange. He murmured, "The Grand Emperor is indeed formidable, managing to wound Heavenly Venerable Haotian to such an extent. However, it's not solely the Grand Emperor's doing; Emperor Kai and God King Lang Wo likely took advantage of the situation to also severely injure him."

"Heavenly Venerable Haotian's inner demon isn't the Grand Emperor, nor is it the Celestial Emperor, but rather this fellow, Qin Mu..."

His expression grew even stranger, and he couldn't help but shake his head. "We absolutely cannot let that young rascal know about this, or his ego will inflate beyond measure! He'd be insufferably smug and probably even mock me..."

As he thought this, he suddenly felt something and looked back. It seemed the space in the canyon had subtly shifted a few times.

The Woodcutter Saint squinted, observing for a moment, but there were no further changes in the Eighth Gorge.

"Did I imagine it?"

He turned back to face the dark valley ahead and whispered to Zhuo Cha, Yan Yunxi, and the others, "If my calculations are correct, Heavenly Venerable Haotian's injuries are likely critical, on the verge of death. Only then would he lose control of his Dao heart, giving birth to the inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu! We truly have a chance to kill him!"

A flicker of joy appeared in everyone's hearts.

Yan Yunxi carefully observed the inner demon Qin Mu, then tilted her head and asked, "Inner Demon Heavenly Venerable Mu? How is that different from Inner Demon Qin Mu?"

"Inner Demon Heavenly Venerable Mu and Inner Demon Qin Mu are certainly different. One represents Heavenly Venerable Haotian's deepest fears, while the other is merely an inner demon of Qin Mu himself."

The Woodcutter Saint explained, "In Heavenly Venerable Haotian's heart, Heavenly Venerable Mu is his enemy, his inner demon. He has battled this inner demon in his Dao heart countless times, yet he has never managed to vanquish it. This means that Inner Demon Heavenly Venerable Mu has been strengthened by Haotian himself, leaving him with virtually no weaknesses and nearly perfect divine arts and techniques. It can be said..."

He hesitated, then continued, "It can be said that Inner Demon Heavenly Venerable Mu is the most perfect enemy, the most perfect opponent, that Heavenly Venerable Haotian could imagine!"

Everyone was astonished.

Xiu Zhong mumbled, "The Holy Infant holds such a high place in Heavenly Venerable Haotian's mind?"

"Perhaps even higher than you imagine."

Yan Yunxi paused, then said, "I once heard that Heavenly Venerable Haotian created the 'One Hundred Methods to Slay Mu,' specifically to kill Heavenly Venerable Mu. These methods are cultivation techniques and divine arts that Haotian spent hundreds of thousands of years developing, solely for the purpose of defeating Heavenly Venerable Mu. This shows that neither the Celestial Emperor nor the Grand Emperor is Heavenly Venerable Haotian's primary nemesis. Even Heavenly Duke and Earth Count don't rank, but Heavenly Venerable Mu is his ultimate adversary!"

The Woodcutter Saint coughed, reminding everyone, "We absolutely must not tell that rebellious disciple about this. He is already incredibly arrogant and conceited. If he knew, he would become even more insufferable, which would be detrimental to his cultivation of the Dao heart."

Remembering Qin Mu's usual demeanor, always acting as if he were merely second to none, they felt a shared sense of exasperation. They all nodded in agreement, saying, "The Saint is right. Excessive pride is indeed detrimental to a young person's cultivation of both body and mind. We won't tell him."

At that moment, Bai Yuqiong and Qin Mu emerged from the canyon. Qin Mu excitedly watched the inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu step out of the dark valley, unable to hide his smugness. He looked at Bai Yuqiong, about to speak.

Bai Yuqiong understood and complimented him, "Heavenly Venerable Mu is indeed number one under heaven. Even Heavenly Venerable Haotian fears you."

Qin Mu replied modestly, "I merely gave him a good beating when he was weak, forcing him to lie on his sickbed for a thousand years. I didn't expect it to leave such a deep psychological scar. It's really nothing significant."

Bai Yuqiong felt relieved. "Once his little tail wags enough, he'll calm down."

The two stepped forward. Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu sent one of his subordinates to test the inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu's abilities. That god-devil, a practitioner of the Numinous Sky Realm with immense divine power, charged directly at the inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu!

This expert from the Southern Heaven cultivated the Great Dao of Celestial Fire. Flames filled the air, forming a vast sea of fire suspended overhead. Ten thousand dragons writhed within the fiery expanse, all plunging downwards in unison!

*Boom*—

A massive crater appeared on the ground as the inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu was torn apart by the dragons and reduced to ashes.

The Southern Heaven expert's heart leaped with joy. He turned back and declared, "His strength isn't great. You can safely come in!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If the inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu born in the Grand-Emptiness Demonic Domain were as troublesome as the real Qin Mu, it would be an enormous headache for them.

News of Qin Mu's confrontation with the Yin Heavenly Son's Samsara Bell had long since spread throughout the Heavenly Court's camp. As high-ranking officials of the Heavenly Court, they naturally knew about it and had even pondered ways to deal with Qin Mu, but they had found no sure method to truly kill him.

Clearly, Heavenly Venerable Haotian was unaware of the full extent of the current Qin Mu's abilities; his inner demon Qin Mu was not as formidable as the real one.

The Southern Heaven expert led the way into the dark valley. With a gentle raise of his hand, a sun slowly rose from his palm. However, this place was incredibly strange; the light could not penetrate very far.

The darkness seemed to devour light, forcing everyone to be cautious.

Just then, the Southern Heaven expert stopped. Another inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu emerged from the darkness and stepped into the light of his great sun.

"Heavenly Venerable Haotian's inner demon has manifested another Heavenly Venerable Mu?"

The Southern Heaven expert couldn't help but chuckle. "If that's the case, then I'll send you on your way!"

He repeated his previous method, casting his divine ability once more. Just as the sea of fire surged and ten thousand dragons writhed, suddenly, figures shimmered behind that inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mu, and in an instant, hundreds of inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mus rushed out!

The hundreds of inner demon Heavenly Venerable Mus each drew their swords. Their sword lights pierced through the sea of fire, shattered the ten thousand dragons, and sped directly towards the Southern Heaven expert's face!

The Southern Heaven expert hastily covered his face, roaring in fury. A Celestial Palace manifested behind him, his primordial spirit standing before the Numinous Sky Palace!

His divine ability erupted, transforming into celestial fire crystals that grew outwards in all directions, protecting his physical body. Anyone who touched these celestial fire crystals would trigger an explosion of celestial fire, instantly obliterating them!

*Swish*—

Yet, streams of sword light passed *through* the celestial fire crystals. The crystals didn't explode, as if the swords were also made of fire!

"Calamity Lifting Sword?" The Southern Heaven expert's heart jolted with surprise.

Hundreds of sword lights pierced his body. They didn't strike his primordial spirit in his Celestial Palace, but instead targeted his divine treasures!

With the sword lights inside him, he was powerless to resist. Fear seized the Southern Heaven expert. The sword lights targeted his Divine Bridge divine treasure; hundreds of them circled his Divine Bridge, causing it to collapse!

"This is the Calamity Response Sword!"

In the next moment, the sword lights swept through his Heaven-Human divine treasure, destroyed his Land divine treasure, cleared his Five Elements divine treasure, shattered his Soul Embryo divine treasure, broke his Seven Stars divine treasure, and severed his Life and Death divine treasure, completely obliterating all his divine treasures!