Chapter 1550: Ling Tianzun Attacked

Over the Yong River, the mist grew denser and denser. Within the mist, Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness, controlling the Vermillion Bird’s physical body, sped forward. He vaguely saw figures standing on the river, and the scenery on both banks changed rapidly.

Mountains rose and fell, and seas transformed into land.

He rushed forward, seeing Qin Mu’s figures, one after another, each with a different posture.

When he finally reached them, he realized these Qin Mus were merely phantoms, like imprints left in the river of time, or as if time were reversing, returning to the past.

He looked back and also saw a series of his own phantoms, stretching from the distance all the way to him. As the Vermillion Bird’s physical body flew, these phantoms continuously increased.

Though the Vermillion Bird’s physical body flew swiftly, Grand Emperor felt as though the scenery on both banks remained stationary. His flight merely transported him into the past, back into history.

In reality, he had not moved at all from beginning to end; he remained in the same spot. What moved was only the reversal of history.

Such a divine ability was beyond Grand Emperor’s comprehension, even in his current state. Even the various Celestial Venerables of today, including Celestial Venerable Hao and Celestial Venerable Xiao, likely could not comprehend this Immutable Divine Ability.

“What if he manages to rescue Celestial Venerable Ling?”

Traveling through this mist, oblivious to the passage of days and nights, he never caught up to Qin Mu. He could only see flickering shadows ahead, vaguely discerning Qin Mu’s form, but each time he pursued, he found it was merely a phantom Qin Mu left in history.

He passed directly through one phantom after another, as if moving through fog.

Suddenly, the mist ahead gradually thinned, and the Celestial River water below no longer flowed backward—ever since they entered the mist, the Celestial River beneath them had been flowing in reverse.

Finally, the Celestial River water changed from flowing west-to-east to east-to-west. At this moment, the surrounding mist dispersed, and Grand Emperor looked into the distance to see a Heavenly Court shrouded in divine light.

He was stunned, looking with disbelief at the Heavenly Court from which streams of divine light soared into the sky.

The Upper Emperor Heavenly Court!

Or rather, the Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court!

This Upper Emperor Heavenly Court, which had long vanished, had suddenly appeared before his eyes!

“Could it be that we have returned to the Upper Emperor Era?” His heart was filled with immense shock.

He refocused his gaze and saw Qin Mu walking on the river surface, heading towards the Upper Emperor Heavenly Court.

At the same time, Grand Emperor saw Celestial Venerable Ling standing before the South Heaven Gate of the Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court—a scene that felt both familiar and alien to him.

The Vermillion Bird shook its head, regaining its composure.

Through the eyes of the Vermillion Bird’s physical body, Grand Emperor saw the Celestial Emperor of the Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court. He was a Human Celestial Emperor, and the last Human Celestial Emperor of the Upper Emperor Era, standing beneath the South Heaven Gate, behind Celestial Venerable Ling.

With him were many divine generals and officials of the Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court, including Yi Shisheng, Celestial Venerable Ling’s disciple.

“This scene, it seems to be the moment Celestial Venerable Ling first fully mastered and completely used her Immutable Divine Ability! Celestial Venerable Ling first used the Immutable Divine Ability, which means…”

Grand Emperor instantly realized, hastily looking up to see the sky suddenly split open!

He saw Celestial Emperor Tai Chu!

Or rather, it was Grand Emperor’s own original spirit, Celestial Venerable Ming Fangyu, controlling Celestial Emperor Tai Chu’s physical body, charging from the Outer Heavens directly at Celestial Venerable Ling!

At that time, Grand Emperor had two identities: one was Ming Fangyu, and the other was Celestial Consort Qiang. Ming Fangyu was his reincarnated original spirit, while Celestial Consort Qiang was a body borrowed by his divine consciousness.

Grand Emperor stopped, looking up as Celestial Emperor Tai Chu’s immensely vast and powerful body descended from the sky, holding a long spear. Before the South Heaven Gate of the Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court, Celestial Venerable Ling was performing her Immutable Divine Ability!

At this moment, Qin Mu, who was ahead, also stopped. Everything came to a standstill.

Complete stillness.

Whether it was Celestial Emperor Tai Chu’s physical body controlled by Grand Emperor Ming Fangyu, or Celestial Venerable Ling performing her Immutable Divine Ability, or the Southern Upper Emperor Celestial Emperor, Yi Shisheng, and others, all were frozen.

The whistling wind on the river, the divine light surging from the Upper Emperor Heavenly Court, the flowing Celestial River water in the channel—at this moment, all were perfectly still!

Grand Emperor wanted to rush at Qin Mu, but to his horror, he found he could not move!

Not only could the Vermillion Bird’s physical body not move, but even Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness could not stir an inch, filling his heart with immense terror: “What terrifying power is this? Has Dao Practitioner Tai Yi made a move?”

“It is not Tai Yi or any other Dao Practitioner who has made a move,” Qin Mu said, as if sensing his thoughts, speaking slowly and deliberately from ahead of him. “Instead, I have summoned Celestial Venerable Ling’s Immutable Divine Ability using her hairpin. Both you and I are currently within this divine ability, and you, Grand Emperor, have become Immutable matter within the ability, while I am an outsider, observing the changes in the Immutable matter.”

Qin Mu turned his head and smiled slightly at him. Grand Emperor, however, felt his smile was like that of the most wicked demon!

“Immutable matter can be viewed as the process of material flow. Time does not truly exist, but it can serve as a unit of measurement. Every step I take, if I walk forward, time will reverse, flowing backward. If I walk backward, time will flow forward, moving ahead.”

Qin Mu explained to him, “If I stand still, all Immutable matter within this divine ability will become static. The only one not static will be me. Do you understand what I mean, Grand Emperor?”

Grand Emperor understood, his voice hoarse: “Are you saying I have become Immutable matter? But why did I not even notice?”

Qin Mu turned. As he turned his body, the matter within the entire Immutable Divine Ability underwent subtle changes, time flowing sometimes forward, sometimes backward.

This situation was as if the entire world were an illusion, an illusion pieced together from countless images. Qin Mu’s presence caused this false world to momentarily stutter.

Only when Qin Mu stood still did this fluctuation disappear.

“Within the Immutable Divine Ability, time flowing backward, forward, or pausing, are all results of changes in Immutable matter.”

Qin Mu stepped towards him. To Grand Emperor’s horror, Qin Mu was now moving, yet he himself still could not move an inch!

Strangely, as Qin Mu moved, the surrounding scenery also constantly changed: Ming Fangyu, controlling Celestial Emperor Tai Chu’s physical body, thrust a spear through the back of Celestial Venerable Ling’s heart, piercing through the woman’s body, lifting her, and smashing her into the Celestial River!

At the same time, Celestial Venerable Ling’s Immutable Divine Ability erupted, severing the Celestial River and drawing Ming Fangyu into her divine ability.

Even in such circumstances, Celestial Venerable Ling was extremely restrained, not drawing the Upper Emperor Celestial Emperor, Yi Shisheng, and others within the South Heaven Gate into her divine ability.

“Didn’t you say that if your body moved, the Immutable matter would change accordingly?” Grand Emperor asked, greatly perplexed. “Why am I not changing?”

“You are different.”

Qin Mu patiently explained, “You were not transformed into Immutable matter by Celestial Venerable Ling’s Immutable Divine Ability. You are indeed Immutable matter now, but you were transformed into Immutable matter by *my* Immutable Divine Ability.”

He smiled faintly, not looking at the scene of Ming Fangyu striking down Celestial Venerable Ling, and continued to explain, “You were caught by my Immutable Divine Ability and became Immutable matter within my divine ability.”

He came to the Vermillion Bird’s side, looking up at the ancient god’s nearly perfect body, his expression calm: “You chased me all this way, you saw the phantoms I left on the Celestial River, didn’t you? Did you pass through those phantoms?”

Grand Emperor stood rigidly on the river, the Vermillion Bird’s wings still spread, blazing with fierce fire.

“Those were the Immutable Divine Abilities I left behind,” Qin Mu said with great patience. “As soon as you passed through the first phantom, you were already caught by my Immutable Divine Ability. My cultivation is not as high as yours, so the first ability alone would be difficult to assimilate you. But you must have passed through more than one phantom. With my current strength, three phantoms would be enough to fully assimilate you.”

He raised his hand and slowly tapped the center of the Vermillion Bird’s forehead, meticulously drawing Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness out of the Vermillion Bird’s body, bit by bit: “You passed through a total of twenty-six thousand four hundred and twenty-three times. Actually, it didn’t need to be so many.”

More of Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness was stripped away, and Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness gradually materialized before him, forming Grand Emperor’s figure, though it was composed of divine consciousness, not a true physical body.

“The reason I left so many Immutable Divine Abilities was not entirely to deal with you, but to deal with Tai Chu, and other Celestial Venerables who entered this place.”

Qin Mu extended a finger and slowly pressed it against the forehead of the divine consciousness Grand Emperor, smiling: “Your divine consciousness descends to the lower realm, but it is not your peak state. The Grand Emperor in his peak state no longer exists. Your physical body is dead, Celestial Consort Qiang is also dead, and Ming Fangyu has turned to ash. But you still have a strongest state, which is the divine consciousness Grand Emperor imprinted in the Grand Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness.”

His finger seemed to touch lightly, but as it pressed down, the structural composition of the divine consciousness Grand Emperor underwent incredible changes.

Starting from the forehead, the divine consciousness Grand Emperor was transformed by this touch into the Primordial Qi of Tai Chu, which Qin Mu then absorbed.

Qin Mu said unhurriedly, “My target is not you as you are now, but you in the Grand Luo Heaven. The objective of my rescue is not just Celestial Venerable Ling, but also Celestial Venerable Yun’s original spirit imprisoned there.”

Most of the divine consciousness Grand Emperor’s head had been assimilated, turning into the Primordial Qi of Tai Chu.

The divine consciousness Grand Emperor struggled with all his might, trying to resist, but he could not break free, nor could he fight back.

His head was reduced to only his mouth, and soon even the mouth disappeared.

“Besides this, I have one more purpose: to take this opportunity to eliminate Celestial Venerable Xiao and Celestial Venerable Hao.”

Qin Mu said, “I left so many divine abilities; as long as Celestial Venerable Xiao and Celestial Venerable Hao pass through those Immutable Divine Abilities, they will meet the same fate as you. Grand Emperor, as Celestial Venerable Mu, who established the Dao of divine consciousness, am I qualified to be your opponent now?”

Grand Emperor could no longer answer. He had completely transformed into the Primordial Qi of Tai Chu, absorbed by Qin Mu, ceasing to exist!

Grand Emperor, who controlled the Vermillion Bird’s physical body, possessed immense power and could be considered a Celestial Venerable-level expert.

Yet, Qin Mu, with utter ease, effortlessly killed him, leaving him no chance to even resist!

After experiencing the death of the cripple, Qin Mu had subtly undergone significant changes, both in his approach to matters and his personal character.

“This is the Immutable Divine Ability. Even if you die here, the divine consciousness Grand Emperor in your Grand Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness cannot know what happened here,” Qin Mu said, putting away the Southern Emperor Vermillion Bird’s physical body. He turned and walked forward, observing the changes around him, and muttered to himself, “However, I will still give you a chance to discover this place, to discover me. And I will take advantage of your attack to find your Grand Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness and kill my way there. I will bring a few good friends with me, for example, my second brother, or Kai Huang, or perhaps Celestial Venerable Hao…”