Chapter 1298: Dragon Xiao's Mockery

Boyang's mount, Long Xiao, was a colossal and terrifying creature, even larger than an adult Void Mother Beast. Its arrival caused the void around Qin Mu to shake violently, making it almost impossible for him to remain. This was an unimaginably massive being, one that, in ancient times, might have been worshipped as a god by the Creators themselves.

"Such a powerful creature can't exist... No, it *can*!" Qin Mu stared up at Long Xiao, utterly stunned, and mumbled, "As long as the Creators sacrificed to Long Xiao the way they sacrificed to Taidi, it could become this powerful..."

Meanwhile, far away in the hundred thousand Black Mountains of the Great Blackwood, Divine King Shu Jun suddenly sensed something. He looked up at the sky, his face etched with horror.

"Boyang's mount... or rather, the guardian deity of the Wujia Clan, Long Xiao..." he mumbled. "The ancient creature second only to Taidi... Didn't it die already?"

In ancient times, Long Xiao was the mythical beast he had always yearned to tame. However, among the three Ancient Kings, he was ranked third. Boyang was first, being the eldest and the first to discover the miraculous properties of the Primordial Divine Stone. Gong Jun was second. Divine King Gong Jun's Nüxin clan was a formidable race, and though her individual strength might not have surpassed Shu Jun's, she was considered a hero among the female Creators. Thus, Shu Jun's third-place ranking was perfectly understandable.

Although Shu Jun was very powerful, in terms of true might and influence, he couldn't match the other two. While he often boasted to Qin Mu, that was merely taking advantage of Qin Mu's ignorance of ancient history. When truly confronting the other two, he always deferred. He had always longed to subdue Divine King Boyang's Long Xiao. However, knowing he couldn't defeat either Boyang or Long Xiao, he eventually had to settle for the Taibo Behemoth.

Now, seeing Long Xiao again, his heart couldn't help but burn with renewed fervor.

"Boyang is dead, and Long Xiao has reappeared. Besides Taidi and Gong Jun, no one can contend with me!" He flew from the Great Blackwood directly towards the location of Long Xiao's descent, his heart ablaze with anticipation: "My opportunity has finally arrived!"

At the same time, Consort Yan Tianfei was also startled by the phenomena accompanying Long Xiao's arrival. She emerged from her palace, looking up at the colossal entity descending from the heavens, her beautiful face subtly shifting.

"Long Xiao..." she murmured. "That scoundrel, Earth Mother Yuanjun, actually didn't kill Long Xiao but instead hid this formidable beast!"

She was enraged, yet also showed fear. During the war between the ancient gods and the Creators, the Empress Sisters were tasked with confronting Boyang, while Earth Mother Yuanjun was assigned to Long Xiao. The sisters had cast Boyang into the Great Abyss of Guixu, refining him until both his body and spirit were utterly annihilated; not even the black sand of his soul remained, and his divine consciousness was completely incinerated to ash! That battle had been immensely challenging for them. Yet, Earth Mother Yuanjun claimed her fight against Long Xiao was remarkably simple, later informing them that Long Xiao was dead.

Long Xiao was the most formidable beast of ancient times, arguably even an ancient god among beasts, akin to a worshipped ancient deity like Earth Mother Yuanjun. However, it was specifically created as a weapon of war against the ancient gods! This divine beast instilled fear even in the Empress Sisters. Before Taidi's rise, Divine King Boyang, one of the three Ancient Kings, enslaved the ancient gods, and his power largely stemmed from Long Xiao. This colossal beast had been worshipped with sacrifices for the longest period, and its combat prowess had undeniably reached the pinnacle of its era! More critically, it could control all anomalous beasts in the ancestral court, with the sole exception of the Void Beasts. Even Heavenly Duke and Earth Count held a healthy respect for it! Not even the Empress Sisters could force the Great Abyss of Guixu to consume it! In fact, Divine King Boyang once rode it into Guixu, descending deep into the Great Abyss itself, and even the Abyss was powerless against it!

It was only later that Taidi rose to power. Taidi wielded control over the Primordial Beginning, an entity Long Xiao couldn't affect, which allowed Taidi's lineage to flourish. Unexpectedly, during the Great Ancient War, Earth Mother had deliberately *not* killed Long Xiao!

"Earth Mother intended to keep it to use against me and the other ancient gods; her ambitions have always been considerable!" Consort Yan Tianfei stood before her palace, gazing up at the nine immense dragon heads in the sky, her anger rising. "That hussy and I killed Boyang," she fumed. "Long Xiao will surely seek revenge for him and target me! She played her hand well! But the age of the Creators is over. Even Long Xiao won't be able to cause much trouble in front of the Celestial Venerables!"

In the sky, the behemoth's nine heads had already appeared. Yet, no matter how Earth Mother Yuanjun called upon it, Long Xiao never fully materialized. The peerless beast regarded Earth Mother Yuanjun, even displaying a look of mockery.

"Long Xiao, the most powerful being of the ancient era! I spared your life back then; I didn't let you die in the Great Ancient War!" From the altar, Earth Mother Yuanjun's voice rang out sternly, "Now is the time for you to repay your debt! Why do you not heed my summons and emerge from the backside of the ancestral court?"

The nine dragon heads of the colossal Long Xiao suddenly erupted in laughter, and an incomparably terrifying divine consciousness instantly permeated the heavens and the earth. "Ah, pitiable and lowly Primordial Wood," it stated leisurely, "how lush you once were, your canopy vast enough to blot out the sun, thousand-mile-long Kunpeng swimming by your side like tiny fish. Yet now, you are merely a small sapling. You no longer possess the power to summon me!"

One of its heads extended from the sky, passing directly in front of the void where Qin Mu was hiding. On its impossibly thick neck, individual dragon scales even seemed to phase through the very fabric of the void! The dragon scales were incredibly smooth, reflecting the figures of Qin Mu and the Primordial Beginning Egg from the void, leaving them nowhere to hide! Qin Mu was aghast. This colossal Long Xiao might not be as powerful as Taidi, but it was likely not far behind!

Long Xiao's head extended above the altar, its shadow enveloping the surrounding mountains. Though Earth Mother's altar was vast, it seemed insignificant before that single dragon head.

"I am quite content on the backside of the ancestral court," it conveyed. "It's a carefree place, teeming with countless colossal beasts that live and multiply there. Without the Creators, we have no masters, and we are free." The dragon head did not speak aloud; its divine consciousness was simply too potent, allowing it to convey its thoughts telepathically. A mere flicker of its thought caused various phenomena to manifest across the sky and land. It thought of thunder, and storm clouds instantly gathered, crackling with lightning. It imagined mountains, and they roared into existence, erupting from the earth. It conceived of raging oceans, and vast seas appeared on the ground, churned by furious winds and waves.

"Long Xiao's divine consciousness is no weaker than Taidi's, but it lacks Taidi's refinement!" Qin Mu immediately recognized Long Xiao's inferiority to Taidi: it likely didn't possess the Primordial Origin Stone or cultivation methods like the Great Luo Supreme Divine Consciousness. This meant it couldn't purify its immense divine consciousness or grasp the Way of Divine Consciousness, ultimately preventing it from matching Taidi.

"Judging by your injuries, you are defeated, utterly defeated, with only a sliver of your soul remaining. You've even lost your original body." Long Xiao's mockery grew more pronounced. "You've even resorted to unscrupulous means, devouring the vital energy of others to enhance yourself, leaving behind endless hidden dangers. Previously, as Earth Mother, you possessed great merit for protecting all living beings, which allowed you to survive countless tribulations. But now, you've utterly corrupted your virtue; you are destined for utter annihilation of both body and spirit."

It scoffed, "You're asking me to emerge now, purely to use me as a shield. Haha, Earth Mother Yuanjun, your intentions are transparent, yet utterly naive." Its head slowly ascended, and one by one, its other heads receded into the void.

On the altar, Earth Mother Yuanjun's voice sharpened, "Long Xiao, I spared your life back then. Now it's your turn to repay me!"

Long Xiao fully receded. "Spared me?" its telepathic voice resonated. "You merely threatened me with the lives of my descendants. You were never my match back then; how could you have 'spared' me? Do not provoke me. Do not provoke my descendants..."