Chapter 1606: Victory and Defeat Depend on a Flash of Thunder

Qin Mu arrived before the Karmic Fire Stele Forest, his eyes gleaming as he spoke in a deep voice, "Where is Ah Chou Earth Count?"

Emperor Lang Xuan was still sitting on a Karmic Merit Stele, swinging his legs, and chuckled, "You only ask about Ah Chou, not Heavenly Duke? Heavenly Venerable Mu, Ah Chou Earth Count is in my hands, and the reincarnated Heavenly Duke is also in my hands. Heavenly Duke will be sad if he hears your words."

Qin Mu smiled faintly and asked, "In that case, where is Heavenly Duke?"

Emperor Lang Xuan waved his hand, and suddenly a golden rope descended from mid-air. Heavenly Duke was suspended in the air, his hands bound behind his back and his legs tied together by the golden rope.

Below him, the karmic fire in the stele forest burned relentlessly, just high enough to scorch Heavenly Duke.

Qin Mu looked up. Although Heavenly Duke was badly burned, he was still alive. So, Qin Mu continued, "Then what about Ah Chou Earth Count?"

Emperor Lang Xuan clapped his hands again, and another golden rope descended from the sky, suspending Ah Chou Earth Count, bound in the same manner as Heavenly Duke.

Qin Mu could not help but laugh, "Serves them right!"

Emperor Lang Xuan looked curious. "Heavenly Venerable Mu, you don't seem worried about them at all."

"Worried?"

Qin Mu said leisurely, "Years ago, they actively sought death, trying every conceivable way to die, and never once consulted me. This forced me not only to risk my own life for them but also to involve my friends' lives. If it were just my life, that would be one thing, but for my friends to have to fight for those two old scoundrels—that really bothered me. Emperor, do you have a whip? Whip them a few times for me!"

Emperor Lang Xuan's gaze fixed on him. A divine whip slid from his sleeve, and without looking back, he struck Heavenly Duke with a resounding crack.

"Well struck!" Qin Mu cheered.

Emperor Lang Xuan released his grip, and the divine whip flew up automatically, continuously lashing the suspended Heavenly Duke and Ah Chou.

Qin Mu's third eye glowed, and he cheered repeatedly, feeling a surge of delight.

Seeing that Qin Mu was not feigning his reaction, Emperor Lang Xuan asked in confusion, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, you don't seem to feel any pity for them."

"Pity? Bah!"

Qin Mu retorted angrily, "These two old fools brought death upon themselves; dying would have been fine! At least after your resurrection, your power is roughly similar to before! But these two were captured by you with a single move after their resurrection. They have truly disappointed me!"

Heavenly Duke was overcome with shame.

His current power was indeed far from what it had been in his previous life.

As for Ah Chou Earth Count, his three souls had dispersed, and he had not yet been resurrected by Qin Mu. He had no consciousness within him, so he felt nothing from Qin Mu's words.

Emperor Lang Xuan's eyes flickered, and he smiled, "How about I just kill them then?"

Qin Mu waved his hand dismissively. "Emperor, feel free to kill them. The ancient gods honor me as the Grandmaster of Indestructibility Across Ten Thousand Calamities. If you kill them, I can resurrect them. Their physical bodies and cultivation might be destroyed, but they can simply start over."

Emperor Lang Xuan raised an eyebrow. It seemed difficult to coerce Qin Mu using this method.

"Then I shall kill them!"

Emperor Lang Xuan smiled, "I'm eager to test whether my Grand Primordium divine art can shatter your myth of indestructibility across ten thousand calamities!"

"Oh?"

Qin Mu's right hand rested on the hilt of the Calamity Sword. He crouched slightly, leaning forward, and smiled, "Emperor, you can certainly kill them. However, the instant you do, you will also die."

Emperor Lang Xuan's swinging legs ceased to move. His body tensed involuntarily, and he stared intently at Qin Mu's every move, chuckling, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, are they my hostages to threaten you, or your hostages to threaten me? Right now, I feel like I'm being coerced by you."

Qin Mu replied calmly, "Perhaps both are possible. Lang Xuan, with your intelligence, you should be able to guess that Heavenly Venerable Hao sending you to stop me is actually him using a borrowed knife to kill. He isn't trying to kill me, but you. Because you are his elder brother and pose the greatest threat to his imperial throne."

A celestial court appeared behind Emperor Lang Xuan's head, with a Dao Fruit floating above the High Heavens Hall. He laughed, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, are you trying to sow discord between us, sovereign and subject? Do you think you can kill me with your power?"

"Not discord, but fact."

Qin Mu's Dao Heart was serene as he calmly stated, "Ever since you attempted to refine me in the Celestial Heavens, I've had about seventy to eighty percent confidence in how to slay you. Any Heavenly Venerable in the Celestial Heavens, besides the enlightened Grand Primordium and Heavenly Venerable Hao, I am confident I can slay. Heavenly Venerable Gong died by my hand; Emperor, you should know this."

Emperor Lang Xuan narrowed his eyes, staring intently at him, and suddenly said, "I only need one move to kill Heavenly Duke and Earth Count!"

"And I only need one move to kill you!"

Qin Mu said indifferently, "Moreover, you might kill Heavenly Duke with a single move, but you won't be able to kill Ah Chou Earth Count in one move. Earth Count has been preparing for this day for untold tens of thousands of years, perhaps since the day Ah Chou Earth Count attacked the Celestial Heavens. For the past 800,000 years, he has used karmic fire to forge Ah Chou Earth Count, refining him into an indestructible golden body. Not to mention you, even if your father Grand Primordium were to come personally, he might not be able to destroy his karmic fire golden body with a single move!"

Emperor Lang Xuan's palms were sweaty. He laughed heartily, "You only need one move to kill me? Heavenly Venerable Mu, you flatter yourself too much!"

His Celestial Heavens roared, with twenty-eight treasure halls guarding it, making his combat power and aura grow increasingly strong!

The Karmic Merit Stele he was sitting on also could not withstand his pressure, gradually crumbling. The broken parts directly turned into dust, even being assimilated into Grand Primordium qi!

Qin Mu's Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure domain expanded, and the World Tree emerged behind him, his aura suddenly soaring!

Emperor Lang Xuan activated his Dao Fruit. The Dao Fruit spun above the High Heavens Hall in his Celestial Heavens, and his primordial spirit sat upon the imperial throne within the High Heavens Hall, his voice booming and deafening: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, you are too arrogant! After obtaining the Dao Fruit, my cultivation and abilities have soared! My understanding of the Grand Primordium Dao is far beyond yours, even far beyond my father, Grand Primordium! I have already cultivated the Grand Primordium Dao Realm to the thirty-fifth heaven!"

His aura surged and crushed everything, and its sheer force caused the surrounding Karmic Fire Stele Forest to continuously collapse and disintegrate around Qin Mu!

At the same time, the divine whip that had been lashing Heavenly Duke suddenly wrapped around his throat and tightened fiercely!

Heavenly Duke remained silent, his face turning red from the constriction.

The divine whip, like a python, tightened more and more, constricting Heavenly Duke's neck to an increasingly thin size!

Qin Mu paid no heed. The surrounding stele forest collapsed, yet the ground beneath his feet remained unshaken.

"Lang Xuan, back when you and I were exploring the dangers beneath the Ancestral Court's Jade Pool and encountered the owner of your Dao Fruit, I greatly admired your domineering spirit."

Qin Mu continued unhurriedly, "You rejected the Dao Fruit owner's temptation and cast him into the Calamity of Destruction in the prehistoric universe. At that time, you were full of vigor and truly soaring. Why is it that today you have lost that keen edge and become Heavenly Venerable Hao's dog? And Heavenly Venerable Hao, in turn, has become the Mi Luo Palace Young Master's dog, making you even less significant than him. What reason has made you so dispirited?"

"Heavenly Venerable Mu, you can never become one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables."

Lang Xuan tightened the divine whip and sneered, "If you were one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, you would understand my choice. For us Ten Heavenly Venerables, there are no ideals, no principles, only interests. For my own benefit, I suppressed the Dao Fruit owner and forcefully devoured his Dao Fruit, and for my own benefit, I can also pledge allegiance to Heavenly Venerable Hao! By the same logic, Heavenly Venerable Hao will also pledge allegiance to the Mi Luo Palace Young Master for his own benefit!"

Qin Mu's expression darkened. "I understand..."

Before he finished speaking, suddenly, forty-nine Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures plummeted from his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure domain. Along with them fell the Ancestral Court's God Slaying Platform and the two God Slaying Profound Blades on the platform!

The appearance of the God Slaying Profound Blades instantly caused the other forty-nine Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures to roar, and the Heavenly Dao to tremble!

The God Slaying Profound Blades were none other than the fiftieth Heavenly Dao: Heavenly Fiend!

With the appearance of the Profound Blades, the fifty Heavenly Daos were completed!

Heavenly Duke immediately sensed the fifty Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures. He secretly activated his mind, and the fifty treasures instantly whistled out from Qin Mu's Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, striking at the golden rope above his head and the divine whip wrapped around his neck!

The Karmic Merit Stele beneath Emperor Lang Xuan's posterior immediately crumbled. He landed on his feet, and his primordial spirit turned and struck out at that very moment, simultaneously attacking Heavenly Duke and Ah Chou Earth Count!

This attack was grand and magnificent, demonstrating the Dao Realm divine art of the Grand Primordium Dao to its fullest extent!

Concurrently, his Grand Celestial Heavens roared and spun, as terrifying streams of power surged into his physical body, mobilizing all his cultivation to attack Qin Mu!

He intended to slay not only Heavenly Duke and Ah Chou but also Qin Mu!

However, the instant he made his move, the spinning Dao Fruit suddenly paused. Emperor Lang Xuan immediately felt his comprehension of the Grand Primordium Dao vanish entirely, leaving not a trace!

Only the Divine Primordial Finger, which he had comprehended through his study of the Grand Primordium Dao, remained. However, the Dao Realm divine art of the Grand Primordium Dao, which his primordial spirit was wielding, and the thirty-fifth heaven Dao Realm divine art, which his physical body was executing, were now utterly devoid of power!

The Divine Primordial Finger was his first heaven of the Dao Realm, a Grand Primordium great divine art he had comprehended himself. After that, he had long been unable to comprehend the second heaven.

It wasn't until he and Qin Mu entered the fragment of the Great Luo Heaven beneath the Jade Pool that he obtained that Dao Fruit.

After obtaining the Dao Fruit, his comprehension of the Grand Primordium Dao Realm became as if divinely aided, allowing him to grasp one Dao Realm level after another, pushing the Grand Primordium Dao to the thirty-fifth heaven of the Dao Realm!

This level far surpassed his father Grand Primordium and his younger brother Heavenly Venerable Hao, making him arguably the foremost in the world, just one step away from achieving the Dao of Grand Primordium!

But now, all of it had vanished without a trace, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water!

In his desperation, just as he was about to change his move, Qin Mu's Calamity Sword was already unsheathed, appearing before his glabella. With a slight tremor, a beam of sword light pierced into his mind!

This sword light split into five, transforming into five red ropes.

However, the Calamity Sword's main body did not pierce his brain. Instead, it veered, thrusting straight through the Southern Heavenly Gate of his Celestial Heavens, destroying all Celestial Heavens' structures along the way. It caused the Heavenly River within the Celestial Heavens to ripple into two massive waves and pierced the Jade Pool, splitting it open on both sides!

This single sword strike cleaved the Jade Capital City in half and, in the next instant, arrived at the High Heavens Treasure Palace!

Inside the High Heavens Treasure Palace, Emperor Lang Xuan's primordial spirit turned!

"Divine Primordial Finger!"

His finger met the sword light, unleashing a burst of power. It was indeed worthy of being the foremost divine art among the Ten Heavenly Venerables of old; though simple, its might was truly terrifying!

Yet, the sword light met the power of the Divine Primordial Finger head-on, slicing through it like bamboo and completely nullifying the attack's force!

The Calamity Sword pierced into the tip of his primordial spirit's finger, then shot out from the last joint of his thumb, transforming into a sliver of light that plunged into his primordial spirit's brain.

Emperor Lang Xuan's primordial spirit stood motionless, and his physical body also became rigid.

At the same time, the Dao Fruit smashed through the High Heavens Treasure Palace, landing with a thud inside Emperor Lang Xuan's primordial spirit's brain. It spun rapidly, pierced precisely by the Calamity Sword!

Concurrently, Heavenly Venerable Hao appeared behind Qin Mu. Thirty-five Heavenly Palaces behind his head transformed into a Ten Thousand Dao Celestial Wheel, which crashed down, crushing Qin Mu's Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure domain and sweeping Qin Mu, along with his domain, into the Ten Thousand Dao Celestial Wheel!

"Heavenly Venerable Hao!"

Qin Mu's surprised voice emanated from within the Ten Thousand Dao Celestial Wheel, followed by his figure piercing through it, about to break free.

"Heavenly Venerable Mu, you are still a step behind." Heavenly Venerable Hao pressed his palm down, forcibly suppressing him back into the Celestial Wheel.

In front of the Ten Thousand Dao Celestial Wheel, within Lang Xuan's Celestial Heavens, the Dao Fruit inside Lang Xuan's primordial spirit spun frantically, completely erasing Lang Xuan's consciousness and taking control of his primordial spirit.

His primordial spirit and the Celestial Heavens palace whistled downward, preparing to take over Lang Xuan's physical body.

Just as the Dao Fruit controlled the primordial spirit to enter Emperor Lang Xuan's physical body, reaching his glabella, it suddenly revealed five red ropes hidden within Emperor Lang Xuan's glabella, and the primordial spirit precisely fell into these red ropes.

The red ropes quickly formed knots, tying a knot around Lang Xuan's primordial spirit and the Dao Fruit.

"Seventh Young Master!" A furious roar erupted from within the Dao Fruit.

Heavenly Duke broke free, seized the Heavenly Mandate Dao Weapon, and controlled the fifty Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures. The power of the fifty Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures immediately surged, and with a single fierce strike, they slammed into the back of Emperor Lang Xuan's heart, shattering his physical body!