Chapter 1708: Scheming Too Cleverly

Twenty-one ancient god avatars of the Spirit Official have died by my hand. One has been trapped by me, and another by my junior brother, Jiang Baigui. These two Spirit Official ancient gods are now largely incapacitated. This leaves seven remaining.

Qin Mu raced towards the Northern Frontier's Kandian region. His running speed had noticeably slowed from his initial pace, causing his heart to sink.

He feared he wouldn't make it to the Western Lands in time. At his current speed, even if he abandoned Wei Suifeng and the Two Black Tortoise Emperors to head straight for the Western Lands, the two Spirit Official ancient god avatars would likely have already arrived.

"However, these two ancient god avatars must be killed! Otherwise, after they kill Yue Tingge and the White Tiger Western Emperor, they will turn their attention to the First Ancestor, Dao Ancestor, and others! He hoped Yue Tingge and the Western Emperor could hold out. After all, Yue Tingge was the First Heavenly Master!"

He sped onward. In the Northern Frontier's Kandian region, three ancient gods were battling the Two Black Tortoise Emperors and Wei Suifeng respectively.

Two were in the Western Lands. One was in the Southern Heavens or Beast Realm, confronting Dragon Qilin. The last one was heading to the Ancestral Court.

"He realized he didn't need to rescue Dragon Qilin directly; he could forcefully pull him from the Southern Heavens or Beast Realm using a summoning divine ability, leaving the Spirit Official ancient god avatar with nothing. However, that Spirit Official ancient god still needed to be eliminated; he couldn't be left alive! Yet, the most crucial target was the ancient god avatar heading to the Ancestral Court!"

When Qin Mu arrived at the Northern Frontier's Kandian region, he saw a landscape of snow and ice, with the earth frozen solid and vast stretches of white. Gigantic ice and snow divine cities floated in the sky, with ice mountains suspended among them. The Black Tortoise Great Marsh had appeared in this desolate land, and the Heavenly River was drawn into it.

This Great Marsh was the ancestral land of the Two Black Tortoise Emperors, incredibly magnificent and grand. Among the Four Ancient Emperors, the Two Black Tortoise Emperors were the most powerful. These two ancient gods were the strongest creator race in the Primordial Era, deities born from the sacrifices of the Juyu Clan!

Currently, in this Great Marsh, a colossal warship was speeding across the Heavenly River, causing the water to surge.

Wei Suifeng led the Feathered Forest Army in deploying the Grand Heavenly Court formation on this massive warship. This was the latest formation diagram from Yankang; its skilled artisans had only managed to forge four such diagrams so far. One had been acquired by Emperor Yi Yue for use in the Wuyou Township battle.

Wei Suifeng had one, Jiang Baigui had another, and the last one was with Yue Tingge.

The colossal warship itself was designed by Wei Suifeng to counter the Heavenly River Navy's Heavenly River Pagodas, and it was an unparalleled heavy weapon.

Even with the support of these two formidable assets, Wei Suifeng and the Feathered Forest Army soldiers were struggling immensely against the Spirit Official Palace Lord's ancient god avatar. The grand formation could be broken at any moment!

On the other side, the Black Tortoise Emperors had merged, revealing their true forms, and were engaging two Spirit Official avatars in the Great Marsh. The couple consisted of a profound tortoise and a flying serpent.

The flying serpent coiled around the profound tortoise. The profound tortoise moved its immensely thick limbs, soaring through the Great Marsh, treading on the Black Tortoise formation diagram, and channeling the marsh's power. With their ancient god bodies, they fought against the two ancient god avatars, tearing the sky and earth apart, and almost shattering the Great Marsh itself!

The Two Black Tortoise Emperors' physical bodies were tattered, yet they resisted valiantly. Their combined combat technique was formidable, but surprisingly, the Spirit Official ancient god avatars also possessed a combined technique, one even more powerful than theirs. Had they not been in their ancestral land, they would have been slain by the Spirit Official long ago!

Qin Mu charged in, suddenly cutting horizontally between the two Spirit Official ancient god avatars. Without dodging, he used his own physical body to forcefully withstand the Spirit Official avatars' combined attack, allowing their divine abilities to land on him.

His hands, one on the left and one on the right, pressed against the brows of the two ancient gods. The power of the red knot suddenly erupted!

The two ancient gods groaned and plummeted from the sky. The moment they landed, the power of the red knot had already shattered their ancient god primordial spirits.

Qin Mu's steps did not falter as he tore through the air and departed.

Wei Suifeng, initially overjoyed to see Qin Mu arrive, watched him vanish in the blink of an eye without even approaching. He couldn't help but get angry, exclaiming, "I'm still your senior brother, yet you just left me to die!"

The Two Black Tortoise Emperors, now saved, wasted no time and immediately came to assist, jointly slaying that Spirit Official ancient god avatar.

"Four remaining!" Qin Mu thought. "But for the Western Lands, it's too late..."

Qin Mu's anxiety grew, yet his urgency was futile. The journey from the Northern Frontier's Kandian region to the Western Lands was inherently long and required time.

The Spirit Official Palace Lord's avatars had started earlier and were exceptionally fast. Moreover, Qin Mu had almost traversed all of Yankang's battle zones on his journey. By now, the Spirit Official must have already reached the Western Lands!

Western Lands. The flames of war had reached the High Heavens, Xushenghua's hometown, which had been occupied by the White Emperor. Upon seeing the Western Emperor's army approach, the White Emperor retreated to defend the High Heavens, avoiding a direct confrontation.

After the White Tiger Western Emperor's arrival, the Battle of the High Heavens commenced. The White Emperor activated the Ancestral Court's West Heavenly Gate, using it as the portal to the High Heavens, and fiercely defended it, awaiting Heavenly Court reinforcements.

The Western Emperor launched a forceful attack, but was blocked by this gate, unable to penetrate the High Heavens. Yue Tingge immediately led many women from the Western Lands, skilled in soul-summoning arts, to step forward. They each activated their divine abilities, intending to summon the spirit of the West Heavenly Gate.

At this moment, outside the myriad heavens of the High Heavens, a handsome ancient god arrived.

At the same time, the sky suddenly trembled violently, and space tore open. A massive Void Mother Beast, carrying Dragon Qilin on its back, descended from the sky, followed by countless primordial giant beasts, all arriving in the Western Lands!

The ancient god, seeing this, exclaimed in surprise, "The Lord of the Beast Realm! He's not in the Southern Heavens, but has come to the Western Lands instead! Well, that's fine; I wasn't looking for him anyway. While I'm here, I'll take care of him, Yue Tingge, and the Western Emperor all at once."

When Qin Mu arrived in the Western Lands, he saw the Spirit Official's ancient god avatar trapped. This avatar was handsome and highly powerful, arguably one of the top existences among the Heavenly Venerates, yet it was confined by Yue Tingge's formation.

Blind, leading Yankang's formation masters, had designed the fourth complete Grand Heavenly Court formation diagram, and it was in Yue Tingge's possession.

The power of Yue Tingge's encircling formation wasn't enough to kill the avatar, so he invited the White Tiger Western Emperor to personally enter the formation and beat the ancient god beyond recognition.

As for the High Heavens, it was blockaded within the West Heavenly Gate by Dragon Qilin and his beast army, unable to break out and offer aid.

"Why is Dragon Fatty here?" Qin Mu wondered. "And why is there only one Spirit Official avatar here?"

Qin Mu stopped, drenched in sweat, his divine consciousness fluctuating as he contacted Dragon Qilin.

Their divine consciousnesses exchanged information in an instant. Indeed, there was only one Spirit Official Palace Lord avatar, which had arrived recently. Yue Tingge had known that the Heavenly Court wouldn't spare the Western Lands, so he had prepared formations early, ready to counter any incoming enemies from the rear.

The Spirit Official avatar had actively walked into the trap he had set, effectively throwing itself into the net and being caught red-handed.

As for Dragon Qilin, he was there because Bai Yuqiong was in the Southern Heavens.

"This means that the Spirit Official Palace Lord has not gone to the Southern Heavens, and although two avatars were supposed to go to the Western Lands, only one came!"

Qin Mu frowned deeply. Logically, for the sake of certainty, the Spirit Official Palace Lord should have sent two ancient god avatars to kill Yue Tingge and the White Tiger Western Emperor.

The White Tiger Western Emperor, within her domain, was a Heavenly Venerate-level existence. And although Yue Tingge's combat strength was only at the Heavenly Master level, his wisdom was exceptionally high. He was the first to decipher the Grand Formation of the Lapis Lazuli Green Sky Pavilion. Someone in the Heavenly Court once praised him as being able to contend with three masters alone!

These three masters referred to the Divine Master, Earth Master, and Water Master!

Two ancient god avatars of the Spirit Official Palace Lord could easily eliminate both of them, but sending only one avatar was overconfident.

"If the Spirit Official didn't go to the Southern Heavens, then of the remaining three avatars, one must be heading to the Ancestral Court World Tree! And the other two avatars should also be going to the World Tree!"

Though Qin Mu was exhausted, his mind became even clearer. "Heavenly Emperor Hao asked him to kill the leaders of Yankang's and Wuyou Township's armies, but the Spirit Official also has his own agenda: to go to the Ancestral Court, unseal the barriers beneath the Ancestral Court World Tree, allow prehistoric stowaways to enter this universe, and cause a cataclysm!"

"Heavenly Emperor Hao has his calculations, and the Spirit Official has his own! To verify my suspicion, there is only one way!"

He suddenly moved, charging into the Grand Heavenly Court formation set up by Yue Tingge. Seeing this, the White Tiger Western Emperor immediately ceased her attack, while Yue Tingge continued to maintain the formation, preventing the Spirit Official avatar from escaping.

The Spirit Official avatar felt its pressure ease, then saw Qin Mu standing before it, causing its expression to subtly change. It then laughed heartily, "Seventh Young Master, your speed is peerless, but I am not slow either. You have not yet achieved the Dao, nor are you a young master of the Mi Luo Palace. In this battle, you have already lost. Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master will surely descend and send you to the prehistoric universe, making you the Seventh Young Master! By then, you will even thank me!"

Qin Mu pointed a finger. The Spirit Official hastily tried to block, but blocked nothing; its ancient god avatar also produced a primordial spirit, which Qin Mu's finger struck out from its body, leaving it floating in the air.

Its primordial spirit attempted to flee, but to its horror, it found itself utterly unable to move.

Qin Mu splayed his five fingers, and the Spirit Official avatar's three souls distinctly separated, dividing into three parts.

Qin Mu extended two fingers, pinching its divine soul. With his left hand, he drew a circle in the air, then flicked his finger, sending the divine soul into the circular wheel.

The divine soul encompassed memories, and the circular wheel, like a mirror, immediately replayed the memories of this divine soul of the Spirit Official avatar!

He saw that the Spirit Official Palace Lord's other three avatars—two carrying Dao fruits and one carrying a Dao flower—were racing furiously towards the Ancestral Court!

The fastest of these avatars had already distantly spotted the Ancestral Court!

Qin Mu shook his sleeve, and the Spirit Official avatar's three souls shattered completely!

He rose to his full height and tore through the air, departing!

The White Tiger Western Emperor, noticing his fatigue, immediately raised her horn and blew it with all her might.

Toot-toot—

Amidst the sound of the horn, Qin Mu's vitality suddenly surged severalfold. Yue Tingge, Dragon Qilin, and the White Tiger Western Emperor looked up to see a massive, incredibly complex purple teleportation array, tens of thousands of miles in circumference, suddenly appear in the sky. With a thunderous roar, the formation activated, and it vanished without a trace, taking Qin Mu with it!

"Heavenly Venerate Mu seems extremely exhausted," Yue Tingge said with concern. "I wonder if he can catch up to those three avatars?"

Yue Tingge's face was clouded with worry. Two of the Spirit Official Palace Lord's avatars carried his Dao fruits, and another carried a Dao flower. Their power was far beyond what other avatars could match.

Qin Mu had clearly been on a long-distance pursuit, with immense consumption of both his physical body and magic power. In his exhausted state, even if he caught up to the Spirit Official Palace Lord's three major avatars, he would likely be met by well-rested opponents!

"Given his travel speed, even with spatial folding, teleportation arrays, and full-speed movement, it would likely take him five or six days to reach the Ancestral Court from here," Yue Tingge calculated.

He continued in a low voice, "In five or six days, the Spirit Official's first avatar would probably have already reached the Ancestral Court World Tree! He simply won't make it in time..."

Four days later, the Ancestral Court was shrouded in the hazy night.

Before dawn, the east was already turning pale. Xushenghua looked up, watching Tai Yi's Dao tree disappear into the ultimate void, then walked down the World Tree with an iron bucket, preparing to repair the cracked mountains on the periphery of Great Black Mountain.

Even as the Yuan Realm was plunged into utter chaos and upheaval, tranquility remained beneath the Ancestral Court World Tree.

Xushenghua, as serene as the World Tree's morning, slowly and calmly arrived at the periphery of Great Black Mountain with his iron bucket. That night, outside Great Black Mountain, darkness prevailed, presenting a terrifying scene of cosmic destruction.

He was accustomed to it and paid it no mind, simply waiting for the sun to rise.

He knew that at sunrise, everything would return to normal.

Finally, the sun rose, and the first ray of sunlight fell upon the World Tree. In his vision, the peaks of Great Black Mountain gradually became clear.

Xushenghua, holding his iron bucket, stood atop a cracked cliff and saw an ancient god walking from outside Black Mountain, a Dao fruit suspended above its head, spinning steadily.