Chapter 1498: I Am the Wind, Unrestrained and Free

Long Xiao hesitated, forcefully suppressing the urge to flee. He descended from the sky once more, his voice echoing like thunder rolling through the air. "Let me make one thing clear," he declared, "if I sense I'm no match for him, I'll leave immediately. I will never sacrifice my life! Understood, Heavenly Venerable Mu?"

Qin Mu didn't look at him, his gaze still fixed on the slender, strange creature. He replied calmly, "As you wish."

Long Xiao's colossal body fully detached from the Beast Realm and lunged towards the slender, strange creature, stirring up a storm of wind and thunder. His nine heads blotted out the sky above the Ancestral Court. Eight of his heads began to visualize spells, unleashing divine consciousness abilities that blasted towards the strange creature. His ninth head shouted, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, remember, my son Long Pi has a very good relationship with you. If I die, with his current cultivation and strength, he won't be able to inherit my position! He will surely be torn to shreds by other colossal beasts in the Beast Realm!"

As his sharp claws extended and his divine abilities struck the strange creature, his mighty physical body, having undergone countless sacrifices from the Creation Gods, erupted with unparalleled power. His claws, like the sharpest blades, tore towards the slender creature!

Today was different from the past. Previously, Long Xiao had been complacent, stagnant in the back regions of the Ancestral Court, lording over ancient colossal beasts. Now, he had clearly learned much knowledge from Yankang through Long Qilin. Both the power of his divine abilities and his physical strength were far greater than before!

Reaching his level of cultivation, further progress was incredibly difficult. However, Long Xiao was different from others; his knowledge was primarily from the Creation God era. When he began to learn the achievements of Yankang's reforms, his accumulated potential erupted, and his cultivation and strength leaped forward!

He was also a Heavenly Venerable-level being. In the past, he was used by the Creation Gods to intimidate ancient gods; even Heaven Duke and Earth Count had to give way to him. Now, he was like a tiger with wings, and as he descended, his physical body rapidly shrank! Shrinking his physical body allowed his power to condense, making his physical attacks more potent.

He also realized that the strange eye in the Ancestral Court's Black Mountain and the strange creature within it were extraordinary. Therefore, he immediately unleashed his full power!

The slender, strange creature looked miserable, with one arm severed, a bloody forehead, and wounds all over its body. Yet, it sneered disdainfully at Long Xiao's ferocious attack.

Boom—

Long Xiao's highly condensed divine consciousness ability surged into the strange creature's body, attempting to visualize and explode its physical form from within. However, the divine consciousness abilities unleashed by Long Xiao's eight heads had barely entered the slender creature's body when eight dull thuds echoed in rapid succession. Before his divine consciousness could even form a visualization, it was utterly crushed by the strange creature's powerful physical body!

Long Xiao's sharp claw descended, but the slender creature raised a hand to meet it. With a clench of its five fingers, it seized Long Xiao's massive claw.

Long Xiao roared and exerted force. The slender creature simultaneously exerted force, and a cracking sound reverberated. Long Xiao was in such pain that tears streamed down his face, and his nine heads thrashed wildly. He suddenly opened his enormous mouth and bit down on the strange creature!

Half of the slender creature's body was in the past universe, and the other half was outside the cracked Black Mountain, making evasion difficult. When Long Xiao bit it, his sharp teeth immediately sank into its flesh!

Suddenly, the vertical eye on the strange creature's forehead burst with power. It swept its head, and a beam of light horizontally sliced out. Blood spurted into the sky as one of Long Xiao's heads was severed, followed by a second, then a third!

Long Xiao shrieked, and his other dragon claw clawed towards the strange creature's chest, plunging into its sternum. But immediately, his dragon claw felt an immense power erupting from the heart it grasped, causing his claw to begin melting!

Long Xiao was utterly terrified. What kind of being was this? It only had half a body, embedded immovably within the strange eye, yet with just one hand, it had severely wounded a being like him! Could anyone in the world be this powerful?

He hastily let go, struggled, ascended into the air, and abandoned his three severed heads, attempting to flee back to the Beast Realm. However, the slender, strange creature still held his dragon claw, not letting go. Instead, it exerted force, pulling him back down from the sky.

Long Xiao's heart was filled with terror. He desperately attacked the strange creature, shaking his body so that countless dragon scales flew off him. Each scale was like a bright mirror, yet incredibly sharp, slashing towards the strange creature!

The strange eye behind the creature vibrated with a hum. Countless dragon scales suddenly went out of control, flying towards the strange eye. Even Long Xiao's severed heads lifted themselves and flew towards the strange eye.

"Am I the sacrifice?"

Long Xiao was horrified. He saw the vertical eye on the slender creature's forehead erupting with light again. This attack would likely sever all of his heads! Fear filled his heart. Looking at the Ten Heavenly Venerables, even the most powerful among them couldn't restrain him so completely with just one hand, much less defeat him with a single blow! But now, a single attack from this strange creature could likely kill him, treating him as a sacrifice, as nourishment!

At this moment, he suddenly saw a tiny figure flying close to the dragon scales, moving swiftly beneath them, rapidly approaching the slender, strange creature.

"Heavenly Venerable Mu..."

Long Xiao didn't have time to think. His six remaining heads thrashed up and down, desperately trying to evade the light beams shooting from the strange creature's eye. However, he couldn't dodge in time, was struck by a beam of light, and another head fell. He resembled a multi-headed python whose heads were being severed, letting out earth-shattering screams, but he could not escape the fate of death.

Suddenly, Qin Mu had flown to the strange creature's front, his five fingers spread, and imprinted a seal onto its chest! A dazzling, incredibly bright light erupted—it was an expanding Taiji diagram, forcibly imprinted into the creature's body!

Taiji Transformation, Yin-Yang Movement!

Qin Mu, with backhand and forehand strikes, his arms moving like a flurry, frantically imprinted seals onto the strange creature's chest! Wherever his palms landed, the creature's body rapidly calcified. The area of petrification grew larger and larger, and the process accelerated.

The strange creature let out an earth-shattering roar, released Long Xiao, and reached out to grab Qin Mu. Qin Mu moved agilely around its body, each strike a divine ability from his 23rd Heavenly Realm, the Taiji Transformation, Yin-Yang Movement. He struck from the creature's abdomen to its Adam's apple, and from its Adam's apple to its single arm.

The strange creature's hand, reaching for Qin Mu, gradually stopped. Its shoulder was already petrified, preventing its hand from grabbing Qin Mu. However, the vertical eye on its forehead shot a beam of light towards Qin Mu.

Long Xiao knew this was the most crucial moment. He forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart and raised a sharp claw to block above Qin Mu. The light from the eye was incredibly sharp; with a tearing sound, it sliced off his claw. Long Xiao howled in pain, his five heads rising and letting out continuous cries. However, his tail swept across, continuing to block the attack. His tail was severed!

Meanwhile, the strange creature's entire arm petrified, and the calcification continued to spread upwards along its neck. Qin Mu had already turned back from the arm and struck its face. Strike after strike landed with incredible precision on its facial acupuncture points, such as Chengjiang, Dicang, Duiduan, Daying, Jiache, Renzhong, and Yingxiang.

Qin Mu's steps were ceaseless as he pressed upwards, his feet racing. He circled the creature's head again and again, attacking all the way to the top of its head, Baihui. With the final seal falling, the creature's upper body was completely petrified!

Whoosh—

Qin Mu then dashed downwards along its body, imprinting one divine ability after another. He covered its legs, front, and back with the Taiji Transformation, Yin-Yang Movement! Finally, his last imprint struck the creature's toes, petrifying them as well!

Qin Mu landed, his body stumbling, swaying precariously, almost unable to stand firm. "Such a being cannot be sealed by Taiji Transformation, Yin-Yang Movement alone!"

He forced himself to take a breath, activating his Divine Treasure Domain. The remaining vital qi circulated through the World Tree, frantically channeling his techniques. He soared into the air, once again imprinting upon the strange creature!

Grand Primordium Bursts Forth from Chaos Bud!

Grand Initial Form, Asking the Blue Sky!

The two divine abilities alternated, making the petrified, slender creature's body increasingly ethereal, transforming it into an energy body, on the verge of turning it into a tangible yet formless entity!

Suddenly, Qin Mu's magical power ran out, and he plummeted from mid-air. Long Xiao swooped down from the sky, using his body as a cushion to catch him. Man and dragon crashed to the ground, sliding for dozens of miles before finally coming to a halt.

Qin Mu struggled to get up but swayed and fell again, rolling off Long Xiao and landing in the dust. Long Xiao's body crackled and popped, continuously shrinking. He transformed into a strange creature without arms and only five heads, dragging a stump of a tail behind him. He quickly visualized, conjuring two arms and then a tail. However, nearly all the dragon scales on his body had been devoured by the strange eye behind the creature, leaving him covered in gaping wounds.

Long Xiao was furious. He grabbed Qin Mu by the collar, lifted him up, and laughed angrily, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, I did promise to do three things for you! But the very first one nearly cost me my life! I'm not doing the remaining two. If you're so capable, let your big brother come and eat me!"

Qin Mu painstakingly lifted his head, his voice hoarse: "Hit... quickly, smash him..."

Long Xiao sneered, "I can smash him for you, but that will count as the second task. And for the third task, our agreement about the little Earth Count will be nullified. How does that sound?"

"Smash him quickly!" Qin Mu roared with all his remaining strength, "His eye is his Dao fruit, the only part that can't be petrified, a Dao fruit formed by the condensation of the Great Dao! His other half is in the past universe and hasn't been petrified. He's activating his other half! My abilities won't hold him for long!"

Long Xiao set him down, about to rush forward to smash the strange creature's body, when suddenly, the slender creature's body twitched. Beams of light, like flowing water, streamed from the strange eye on its forehead. The slender, petrified figure's body trembled, its stony form swaying.

Long Xiao was startled and stopped. Qin Mu hissed, "Attack his eye! That's his only weakness! Smash his eye, and he'll die! Although he has a Dao fruit, it hasn't integrated into the ultimate void! Now is his weakest moment!"

Long Xiao hesitated, turning back to say, "You can say whatever you want, but if you're so capable, you go!"

He paused, then mustered his courage and flew forward. Suddenly, the vertical eye on the strange creature's forehead flared with bright light. Long Xiao's heart lurched, and he hastily shot into the air, soaring skyward. With a flash of light in the sky, Long Xiao had already returned to the Beast Realm. He was utterly terrified and dared not fight again.

Qin Mu gritted his teeth, almost shattering them. He lifted his hand and grabbed Tai Yi's staff, then stumbled, leaning on it, towards the slender, strange creature. He mumbled, "I am the wind..."

"The free and unfettered wind!"

He gasped for breath, trying hard to quicken his pace. The words that emerged from his mouth were those taught to him by the Cripple from Crippled Old Village when he was young. "When my speed is fast enough, when my heart is calm enough, when I feel my body is light enough, then I can feel the power of the wind." His steps grew faster and faster, gradually creating wind beneath his feet. "Then I can catch up to the wind, ride on its crests, and soar freely through the sky..."

He walked through the air, his speed increasing. "I am the wind, the unrestrained wind. No one can catch me..." Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his skin began to crack. He ran onward, accelerating his speed more and more.

He pointed Tai Yi's staff towards the slender creature's forehead, towards that vertical eye. His eyes were clouded, his vision growing increasingly blurry. "I am the wind, a youth running after the wind..."

He staggered in the air, yet struggled to quicken his pace. Suddenly, a thin, gaunt figure appeared beside him, and an old yet gentle voice whispered in his ear, "Mu'er, give me the staff." A powerful hand took the staff from his grasp. Qin Mu's pupils gradually constricted as he focused his vision, seeing the Cripple's face.

"Don't go." He reached out and clutched the Cripple's sleeve: "Don't go, you'll die..."

The Cripple pushed his hand away, his steps light. He transformed into a streak of light, rushing away, raising the tip of the staff as he sped towards the slender creature's forehead. Qin Mu's mind was in turmoil. His feet could no longer ride on the wind's crest, and his body helplessly plummeted from high in the sky.

"Don't go!" he screamed with all his might.

The Cripple's blue robe fluttered, leaving a streak of azure light in the air. At this moment, his form broke through space, surpassing his own limits. "I am the wind! The unrestrained wind!" His voice boomed through the air: "The wind no one can catch—"

Tai Yi's wooden staff, along with the Cripple's figure, plunged into the vertical eye on the slender creature's forehead. After a brief silence, an incredibly terrifying fluctuation suddenly erupted! The slender creature's head exploded, and its body continuously disintegrated. Chunks of shattered stone rained down from the sky, blinding light assaulted, and surging airwaves threw Qin Mu flying.

He slammed violently onto the ground, tumbling and rolling, only stopping after a long while. Qin Mu struggled to get up but couldn't. A staff spun wildly, then suddenly embedded itself in the ground before him. Qin Mu looked up and saw red blood flowing down the staff. He raised his hand, gripped the staff tightly, and hugged it to his chest. Tears streamed from his eyes, mixing with the blood on the wooden staff.

He lay there, hugging the staff like a child, unmoving for a long time. That old man would no longer snatch his candied hawthorns, nor would he steal him back.