Chapter 1558: Forty Thousand Years of Solitude

Qin Mu sighed with relief, his eyes gleaming with excitement. The Celestial Emperor's power was truly beyond his expectations; he had never imagined that the Celestial Emperor within the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven would be so formidable.

This was inconsistent with the Celestial Emperor's previous actions. If he truly possessed such strength, why would he need to feign compliance with the Ten Celestial Venerables?

Why would he go to such lengths to recover his physical body?

Why would he allow his body to be repeatedly crippled and shattered in battles?

Why would he even use his reincarnated form, Ming Fangyu, and the Celestial Emperor's body to assassinate Celestial Venerable Ling?

"The Celestial Emperor was likely ambushed by the Mi Luo Palace Primordial Saint in the Cloaked Fragrance Palace. He only realized he had been ambushed after branding his divine sense onto the ultimate void and creating the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven. His divine sense probably can't descend completely; only a small portion can manifest each time. Therefore, our invasion of the Great All-Embracing Heaven played right into his hands."

Qin Mu's eyes flickered. "He could take the opportunity to wipe us all out in one fell swoop! However, Celestial Emperor Taichu's physical body isn't that easy to control."

He had hidden a few tricks within the Celestial Emperor's body, originally intending to ambush Celestial Venerable Xiao or Celestial Venerable Hao. As long as either of them tried to seize the body, his "tricks" would activate! He never expected the Celestial Emperor in the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven to be so powerful that he would be the first to snatch the Celestial Emperor's body from Qin Mu!

The "tricks" Qin Mu had hidden in the Celestial Emperor's body were primordial essence rune arrays, imbued with primordial runes. One purpose was to make it easier for him to control the Celestial Emperor's body, and the other was to ambush anyone else who might seize it.

"The Celestial Emperor is indeed incredibly strong, making him difficult to defeat. But by seizing the Celestial Emperor's body, he has made himself vulnerable!"

Just as Qin Mu thought this, he suddenly heard the Celestial Emperor's body speak, its voice resounding powerfully: "What a formidable body! Taichu, I envy you; I've always envied you!"

Controlling the body, the Celestial Emperor looked at Celestial Venerable Xiao and marveled, "From the moment you were born, you didn't need to learn anything or ask anything. You were already the foremost ancient god, possessing boundless power, controlling the Primordial One Qi, and having the greatest physical body in the world. I am different. I had to absorb knowledge from other creators, comprehend various divine sense abilities, cultivate step by step, and face challenges from other creators, climbing one step at a time to achieve anything."

He clenched his fist tightly, feeling the unparalleled power surge from the body. Even a Celestial Venerable would find it difficult to fully unleash the power within this body. When Qin Mu controlled the Celestial Emperor's body earlier, if he had been able to fully utilize its power, he would have beaten Celestial Venerable Hao to death long ago.

To unleash the Celestial Emperor's body's power, one needs both a profound understanding of the Path of Primordial Beginning and an incredibly deep cultivation. The Celestial Emperor fulfilled both of these requirements!

The Path of Divine Sense originated from the Path of Primordial Beginning, and as Consort Qiang and Celestial Venerable Ming Fangyu, he had studied the Celestial Emperor's body and primordial runes for countless years. He had a tremendous advantage in understanding the Path of Primordial Beginning. As for his magical power, his realm surpassed that of Emperor Kai, and having achieved the Dao Fruit, his magical power was absolutely unmatched!

He could fully unleash the Celestial Emperor's body's power to its extreme, even more completely than Celestial Venerable Xiao himself could!

"Acquiring this body isn't my ultimate goal." The Celestial Emperor surveyed his surroundings with a smile. "My goal is also the Path of Primordial Beginning. To truly cultivate the Path of Primordial Beginning, besides absorbing the divine senses of all creators, I need to control the Primordial Beginning's body, and even devour the Primordial Beginning! Before, with the Ten Celestial Venerables restraining each other, it was difficult for me to have the chance to control the Primordial Beginning's body alone, let alone devour the Primordial Beginning. Because the Primordial Beginning had reincarnated, and I didn't know who he was. So, I needed the Primordial Beginning to deliver himself to me. What could be more convenient than the Primordial Beginning delivering himself for me to devour?"

He burst into laughter. "Besides devouring the Primordial Beginning, I also needed to eliminate a group of opponents who posed a threat to me. By delivering yourselves to me, you've saved me the trouble of seeking each of you out."

With his back against the Dao Tree, his body moved, and the Great All-Embracing Heaven and the Dao Tree moved with him. The next moment, he appeared before Celestial Venerable Xiao and threw a simple, powerful punch!

Celestial Venerable Xiao let out a long cry, his Celestial Palace and treasure halls behind him erupting with intense light. In an instant, he elevated his cultivation and power to their peak! Not only that, but his understanding of the Path of Primordial Beginning also broke through at this moment, allowing him to comprehend the twenty-eighth heaven of the Path of Primordial Beginning in one go!

Unlike God Emperor Lang Xuan, who used others' Dao Fruits to comprehend advanced realms of the Path of Primordial Beginning, or Celestial Venerable Hao, who cultivated too broadly, his twenty-eighth heaven was a pure twenty-eighth heaven of the Path of Primordial Beginning!

One should know that if he could comprehend the thirty-sixth heaven of the Path of Primordial Beginning, he wouldn't need to rely on the Primordial Origin Stone or Primordial Divine Stone, nor would he need to devour the divine senses of creators; he could achieve Dao just by his Dao realm. It was precisely because entering the Path of Primordial Beginning was incredibly difficult that he conceived the idea of devouring creators and the Celestial Emperor. But even so, reaching the twenty-eighth heaven of the Path of Primordial Beginning was an unimaginable achievement! If not for the pressure from the Celestial Emperor, he wouldn't have been able to advance his Dao realm by another heaven in such a short time.

Celestial Venerable Xiao vomited blood, his bones fractured and tendons torn, as he was sent tumbling and rolling backward. No matter how powerful and astonishing his great divine abilities of the Path of Primordial Beginning were, they couldn't withstand the might of the Celestial Emperor's single punch!

The Celestial Emperor took another step, his massive hand clamping down, and Celestial Venerable Xiao was forcibly pulled back, falling into his palm. The Celestial Emperor grabbed Celestial Venerable Xiao's head and lifted him.

On the other side, a sword light streaked forth, aiming for the Celestial Emperor's body's eyes. It was Emperor Kai, coming to rescue Celestial Venerable Xiao. They had been mortal enemies before, wishing to eliminate each other, but the Celestial Emperor was too strong, forcing them to unite. If Celestial Venerable Xiao were killed or devoured by the Celestial Emperor, none of them would leave alive!

The Celestial Emperor raised his other hand, blocking with two fingers in front of his eyes. Emperor Kai's sword light struck his two fingers, immediately piercing them, and two drops of blood flowed out.

"Not bad," the Celestial Emperor praised. "But it's still far from enough. Qin Ye, even half a step difference between us is a world apart! And now that I have the Primordial Beginning's body, you are even further incomparable to me!"

He flipped his palm and struck. Emperor Kai wielded his sword, his Sword Dao Great All-Embracing Heaven expanding outwards, colliding violently with the Celestial Emperor's palm. The Sword Dao roared, but the Sword Dao Great All-Embracing Heaven crumbled upon impact with the Celestial Emperor's palm!

Just then, Celestial Venerable Hao roared in anger, striking the Celestial Emperor's body's wrist with his Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel. The force of this blow contained thirty heavens of Dao realm divine abilities, which successively erupted, hammering the tendons and meridians at the Celestial Emperor's body's wrist. After thirty continuous divine ability strikes, the hand finally loosened its grip.

Celestial Venerable Xiao, now free, immediately activated his Primordial Beginning divine abilities, striking the Celestial Emperor's body's forehead repeatedly, attempting to shatter the divine sense of the Celestial Emperor that had invaded the body! However, despite his many divine abilities landing, the Celestial Emperor merely tilted his head back slightly, then shot out two enormously thick beams of Primordial Beginning Dao light from his eyes, blasting him away.

The Celestial Emperor raised his other hand and struck Celestial Venerable Hao. Celestial Venerable Hao's body exploded, flesh and blood splattering, shattered bones scattering violently!

Divine Maiden Taisu flew over, activating her accompanying supreme treasure, which transformed into a battered great bell, and struck it towards the Celestial Emperor. At the same time, she activated the Path of Taisu to rescue Celestial Venerable Hao and help restore his body. The Celestial Emperor hammered the great bell with a punch, shattering it into smithereens!

He reached for Divine Maiden Taisu. Divine Maiden Taisu's body swayed, transforming into the appearance of Celestial Venerable Gong. The Celestial Emperor's expression became infatuated, then he grinned and backhanded her, shattering her into pieces! Although Divine Maiden Taisu was shattered, she immediately transformed into Taisu Qi and reformed her body, though her aura was greatly diminished. Her heart was filled with shock and anger: "Are Dao achievers this powerful? I don't believe it!"

On the other side, Qin Mu reunited with Celestial Venerable Ling. Celestial Venerable Ling was about to rush forward, but Qin Mu raised a hand to stop her, shaking his head. "Let them fight it out!"

Celestial Venerable Ling was surprised. Qin Mu said gravely, "Ling, I'm afraid we have to part ways."

Celestial Venerable Ling was slightly startled. Qin Mu's divine sense fluctuated as he imparted to her what he had comprehended from the Mi Luo Palace Dao patterns during this time. He then took out two Qian Kun Mirrors, imprinted with those Dao patterns, and placed them in her hands.

Celestial Venerable Ling's heart sank. "Mu, what is this?"

"The Celestial Emperor must die, but we are here in the time when the High Emperor Era collapsed and the Kai Emperor Era had not yet been established—forty thousand years ago."

Qin Mu's eyes flickered as he said gravely, "I need you to activate the Unchanging Divine Ability to send us back to our era, forty thousand years from now. By then, in the ultimate void, there will be Emperor Kai's Sword Dao Great All-Embracing Heaven and Emperor Kai's Dao Tree and Dao Flower, which will give us the power to contend with the Celestial Emperor. The trump card I left in the Celestial Emperor's body might not be enough to deal with him."

Celestial Venerable Ling's heart trembled, and her voice was hoarse: "I am not from forty thousand years in the future; I cannot return to forty thousand years later. If I send you away, I can only remain in the present."

"We will reunite in forty thousand years. By then, having studied the Mi Luo Palace Dao patterns for forty thousand years, I believe you will have comprehended their mysteries." Qin Mu nodded, smiling faintly. "If we still cannot eliminate the Celestial Emperor by then, we will need you to break into the Great All-Embracing Heaven and decisively turn the tide!"

His gaze was fervent: "Ling, can you endure forty thousand years of solitude? I need you to endure forty thousand years of solitude to rescue Celestial Venerable Yun's primordial spirit!"

Celestial Venerable Ling's eyes gradually dimmed. After a moment, her gaze brightened again, and she smiled, appearing somewhat aloof and extraordinary: "Forty thousand years? I endured a million years studying the Unchanging Divine Ability alone; forty thousand years is nothing! Mu, in forty thousand years, we shall meet again in the Great All-Embracing Heaven!"

"I will send you out of the Great All-Embracing Heaven!"

Qin Mu surged his vital qi, and a golden boat flew out from between his eyebrows. Celestial Venerable Ling leaped onto the golden boat, which then burst out of the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven, carrying her out of the ultimate void.

"Mu, I will return in forty thousand years!" The woman stood at the bow of the boat, waving to him from afar: "Live! Survive!"

Qin Mu saw her off through layers of void. Soon, the Golden Boat of Salvation carried Celestial Venerable Ling to the ruins of the High Emperor Era. Celestial Venerable Ling disembarked from the golden boat, watching it whistle away, disappearing into the depths of the void.

Celestial Venerable Ling looked up, seeing the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven faintly visible in the ultimate void. She took out her peach wood hairpin and cast the Unchanging Divine Ability towards the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven. Activating the ability was incredibly difficult. She was casting a spell on the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven, and everyone inside the Great All-Embracing Heaven were Celestial Venerable-level beings, including three Dao achievers, the terrifying Celestial Emperor, and the Celestial Emperor's physical body!

Celestial Venerable Ling strained to cast the spell, pushing the divine ability to its limit to send Qin Mu and the others towards their own era. Her magical power evaporated, and she felt the tremors coming from the Great All-Embracing Heaven—a backlash against her. Soon, her magical power was completely exhausted, yet she forcibly completed the divine ability. Finally, the Unchanging Divine Ability enveloped the entire Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven. Celestial Venerable Ling roared, and the divine ability erupted, sending the Divine Sense Great All-Embracing Heaven whistling away into disappearance!

Celestial Venerable Ling's body went limp, and she sank to her knees, her aura completely depleted. After a long time, she shakily stood up, her expression a mix of sorrow and joy.

"Once again, I am all alone..." A clear tear traced down the corner of her eye as she murmured, "It's still just me... but I will carry on. Wait for me!"

She looked at the two Qian Kun Mirrors Qin Mu had given her, put them away, turned, and walked away, gradually disappearing into the distance.

Several thousand years later, the Kai Emperor's Heavenly Court was established, and Emperor Kai ascended to the throne. On this day, as Emperor Kai was reviewing memorials, a woman in green robes with a hairpin walked out of the night. Emperor Kai looked up, and upon seeing the woman in green, his body trembled violently.

The woman in green smiled. "Celestial Venerable Qin, long time no see. I've waited for you for a very long time."