Chapter 1451: The Sole of Heaven's Foot

The Lord of Heaven and the Heavenly Dao are not omnipotent or omnipresent. There are places in this world that Xuandu's light cannot reach, and areas beyond the Heavenly Dao's grasp.

The place the Lord of Heaven cannot reach is beneath his feet.

In Xuandu, he appears as a four-faced god, similar to Qin Mu's divine treasure domain. No matter from which direction he is attacked, the assault always lands on his front.

Attacking him is equivalent to attacking the Heavenly Dao itself, provoking the Lord of Heaven's most violent retaliation!

Xuandu is the birthplace of the Lord of Heaven. In this place, his power reaches its absolute peak, comparable to that of Emperor Tai Chu during his prime.

Even Celestial Venerables facing such an assault would find it difficult to avoid injury or even death.

Yet, the Lord of Heaven's light cannot reach beneath his feet. Xuandu is the brightest place, and the Lord of Heaven is the brightest ancient god; however, the darkest place in the world was born from this very condition.

This place is the Celestial Yin World, located beneath his feet.

The Heavenly Dao cannot reach this place either, leading it to become a gathering point for black soul sand. With no Heavenly Dao present, the black soul sand accumulates and transforms into famished spirits, devouring everything insatiably.

Similarly, the Grand Dao of Youdu cannot reach this place. While Earth Count governs the wandering souls of the world, he is powerless against the black soul sand.

The Celestial Yin Empress is the divine being born here.

The Celestial Yin Empress looked at the myriad beings she had enlightened with her Dao in the Celestial Yin World, then turned her gaze to the Ancestral God King. Her strength was clearly insufficient to contend with him.

Forcibly engaging the Ancestral God King on behalf of the Lord of Heaven would only lead to her demise, and even the beings of the Celestial Yin World would be completely wiped out.

Although she had forged her own path and was no longer the simple, ignorant ancient god she once was, as Qin Mu had observed, her Dao and divine arts were intended for creating life, not for slaughter or combat.

After a moment, the Celestial Yin Empress stepped back to protect the beings of the Celestial Yin World, saying, "God King, when you act, please do not harm the innocent."

The Ancestral God King smiled faintly, taking out the Heavenly Dao treasures he had refined from divine gold and materials from the Ancestral Court, and assembled them into a supreme Heavenly Dao treasure. He said, "Empress, rest assured. Heaven embodies the virtue of fostering life, and I am not a cruel or bloodthirsty individual. I will not allow the lives in your Celestial Yin World to be utterly extinguished. However, when my divine arts unleash their power, it's difficult to guarantee they won't affect the Celestial Yin World. You simply need to do your utmost to protect them. Should the beings of the Celestial Yin World truly perish, then you may simply create another world and re-evolve all life."

The Celestial Yin Empress raised an eyebrow but suppressed her anger, choosing not to show her displeasure.

The Ancestral God King looked up at the sole of the Lord of Heaven's foot and smiled faintly, saying, "No one knows a father better than his son. The Lord of Heaven is my father, my most magnificent father god. However, he is excessively radiant and majestic, believing that both good and evil are simply mechanisms of the world's operation, requiring no interference. He gives no thought to demigods, nor to his own children. Their life, death, or glory are of no concern to him. Yet, he is also profoundly hypocritical."

He sneered, stating calmly, "The Heavenly Dao is genuinely selfless, but it gave birth to him. Once he gained consciousness, it became impossible for him to be selfless. If the Lord of Heaven were truly selfless, why would he have begotten me?"

The mockery on his face deepened. As if speaking to the Celestial Yin Empress, yet also to himself, he slowly declared, "He, too, lusts for beauty and covets power; he possesses his own desires. Ordinarily, the Heavenly Dao suppressed these desires, allowing him to maintain a radiant and magnificent image, but the Heavenly Dao always has its loopholes."

He scoffed, "During the battle to eradicate the Creator race, he discovered this loophole and thus split his soul for reincarnation, which is how I came into existence. In that war, Emperor Tai Chu seized his vulnerability, forcing him to submit to the Emperor. Heh heh, I witnessed it all. I understand my father god's deepest desires better than anyone else, for I am the son born from those very desires."

He uttered words that struck deep fear into the Celestial Yin Empress: "When he became one of our Ten Celestial Venerables, believing he could deceive everyone, only I recognized him. How could I not? I am the child born from his desires! I watched him become Celestial Venerable Hong, still so transcendent, so calm and composed, yet when he took control of Emperor Tai Chu's physical body, I could feel his ambition and desires swelling, growing ever larger."

He stared at the sole of the Lord of Heaven's foot, gazing up at all of Xuandu, where Celestial Venerable Hong was now rushing to kill the Lord of Heaven.

"I have been waiting for an opportunity, Father God."

The Ancestral God King burst into laughter, though there was little joy in it, only chilling coldness: "The opportunity I've been waiting for is for you to reveal your true vulnerability. And that weakness, only you yourself can expose!"

"All this time, I have been the most reckless of the Ten Celestial Venerables, even more reckless, crude, and artless than Celestial Venerable Fire. You knew I was pretending, but you thought I was doing it for the other Celestial Venerables. What you didn't realize is that I act on my own nature; why would I need to pretend for them?"

"I was pretending for *your* benefit!"

"I awaited the moment you would voluntarily expose your fatal weakness. I've waited for this opportunity for far too long, and I've pretended for far too long! Now, I have finally found this opportunity!"

Xuandu.

The Heavenly Court's army advanced steadily. Although Celestial Venerable Hong, Divine Emperor Lang Xuan, Consort Qiang, Shi Qiluo, Celestial Venerable Fire, and others were constantly harassed by Celestial Venerable Yue, Celestial Venerable You, and Divine King Lang Wo, these three dared not engage them head-on. They would often strike and retreat without lingering, thus not causing significant trouble.

It was Consort Qiang who caused the Celestial Venerables a great headache.

On the God-Slaying Platform, the two Blood Fiend God-Slaying Blades grew ever stronger, devouring Heavenly Fiend energy and sweeping away all baleful aura within Xuandu, causing the Celestial Venerables to become secretly vigilant.

Consort Qiang's identity as the Grand Emperor was almost an open secret among the Ten Celestial Venerables, partly thanks to Qin Mu's meddling. Although Qin Mu never explicitly proclaimed Consort Qiang to be the Grand Emperor, their connection meant Consort Qiang and the Grand Emperor frequently suffered heavy injuries together; each time, Consort Qiang was harmed alongside the Grand Emperor.

Although the Ten Celestial Venerables were allies, they also constrained and monitored each other, planting their own spies nearby and even sending disciples to infiltrate and become followers of their rivals, truly stopping at nothing.

Consort Qiang's multiple injuries did not escape their notice. Beyond her wounds, they were perfectly aware of what Consort Qiang ate each night, what she said, and whom she met.

With most of the Ten Celestial Venerables' identities now transparent, and the addition of Shi Qiluo—a chaos-monger—along with Qin Mu—another instigator of trouble—it would have been strange if Consort Qiang's identity, hidden for hundreds of thousands of years, hadn't been exposed.

"If he refines these two divine blades..."

Celestial Venerable Fire glanced at Consort Qiang standing on the God-Slaying Platform, his eye twitching.

The God-Slaying Platform he saw had twenty-four steps.

Divine Emperor Lang Xuan's gaze also fell on Consort Qiang. The God-Slaying Platform he saw had twenty-eight steps. He thought, "Should Consort Qiang fall in the campaign against the Lord of Heaven, it would be a valiant end. The Ancestral God King is exceptionally eloquent; the proclamation for this campaign against the Lord of Heaven was written by him, so perhaps he could compose an elegy for Consort Qiang... Strange, the Ancestral God King is always at the forefront when attacking his father. Why is there no sign of him?"