Chapter 868: Immortality

Neither Heavenly Venerate Yu nor Qin Mu had used their full strength. Qin Mu’s goal was to force Heavenly Venerate Yu to unleash his full power, to see if the person behind him was one of the Nine Heavenly Venerates from back then. Even if this person wasn't one of the Nine Heavenly Venerates, Qin Mu could still assess their achievements through their divine abilities.

Qin Mu had defeated the previous Heavenly Venerate Yu, but that one had never revealed his true skills, choosing to die rather than expose his identity. This current Heavenly Venerate Yu, however, intended to demonstrate his ultimate techniques, which greatly excited Qin Mu.

In the Celestial Heavens, few were qualified to obtain and control Heavenly Venerate Yu's body to descend to the lower realms; only the leaders and heads of the Heavenly Alliance possessed this qualification. Qin Mu wanted to see just how powerful the entity controlling the Celestial Heavens truly was!

Inside him, the Hegemon Body Three Elixir Technique was already running at full capacity, connecting all fourteen of his divine treasures! The vast Heavenly River surged through the Life-and-Death, Celestial-Human, Seven Stars, Five Luminaries, and Spirit Embryo divine treasures, then flowed through Xuandu and into the Demonic Dao divine treasure, unifying all fourteen divine treasures into one. His primordial spirit unified gods and devils, and the Hegemon Body Three Elixir Technique integrated all his power. His primordial spirit stood above the Heavenly River, ready to unleash all his strength and potential at any moment! This would be the most powerful strike he had ever unleashed in his life!

The darkness surrounding the Great Black Palace returned, engulfing both him and Heavenly Venerate Yu. Suddenly, a tremendous roar echoed from behind the Great Black Palace. The massive celestial body violently split open, forming a long canyon that stretched across the planet from east to west. The canyon walls widened, mountains receded, the sea retreated, and the chasm grew larger and wider, revealing an unimaginable eyeball.

This colossal demonic eye stared into the darkness, eagerly awaiting the movements of Heavenly Venerate Yu and Qin Mu, deeply anticipating the battle. This eye belonged to the true form of Great Black Heavens. The Great Black Heavens that appeared before everyone was not his true body. As the first demon god, his actual body was simply too colossal; even other gods and devils would find it difficult to discern his full form if he revealed it. Therefore, he used a false body, while his true form remained hidden in the darkness.

After Qin Mu arrived at the Great Black Palace and settled in, he had once ventured into the darkness, groping around until he touched a terrifying behemoth within. He then returned to the palace with a smile. At that time, he had sensed that the true Great Black Heavens was concealed in the darkness and knew he couldn't leave, so he simply returned cheerfully.

In the darkness, violent tremors suddenly erupted, as if space itself was vibrating millions of times, causing the onlookers in front of the Great Black Palace to lose their footing! This was not the clash of divine abilities between Qin Mu and Heavenly Venerate Yu, but rather the energy bursting forth from the activation of Heavenly Venerate Yu's divine power. It was hard to imagine that a body at the Divine Bridge realm could contain such immense and majestic power!

In the darkness, Qin Mu was at the center of the upheaval. Heavenly Venerate Yu's divine ability erupted like a cosmic calamity, brimming with endless wrath, punishing all rebellion in the world! Qin Mu also unleashed his full power, with no other thoughts or considerations in his mind. His vital energy surged like a furious tide, as if the spirit of an era was burning fiercely within him, raging like oil-fueled flames.

He charged forward, a mere fleeting shadow. His speed was so astonishing that the ocean-like vital energy almost couldn't keep up with his figure. The sea of vital energy was swept along by him, rising vertically like a blood-stained banner. Endless waves from this towering sea of vital energy surged and roared! The sword pellet in his hand transformed into unparalleled sword intent, thrusting towards the wrathful deity in the darkness!

In front of the Great Black Palace, Mo Santong, Xue Taidou, and others looked towards Qin Mu and Heavenly Venerate Yu in the darkness, but could see nothing. The darkness obstructed their vision. Meanwhile, the gazes of towering gods and devils in the darkness also swept around, trying to discern the battle. Their eyes blazed like torches, cutting through the darkness like beams of light, but they could only catch fragmented images, capturing only rapidly flickering figures and constantly erupting divine manifestations. Qin Mu and Heavenly Venerate Yu were too fast, and with darkness all around, their gazes could not penetrate far.

Suddenly, everything subsided. "Is it over?" a Lord of the Heavens muttered.

Just then, fluctuations from a divine ability erupting hundreds of miles away reached them. Everyone eagerly looked, but as soon as their gazes landed there, Qin Mu and Heavenly Venerate Yu had already vanished, leaving behind only a shattered mountain peak whose summit was still falling, crashing into the valley with a dull thud.

Then, a tremendous roar from another divine ability eruption came from a hundred miles further. Over three hundred Lords of the Heavens quickly looked in that direction, their beams of light illuminating the area. They saw Qin Mu's body hanging precariously from a cliff, his three heads and six arms severely mangled. Heavenly Venerate Yu bowed to him, and the cliff exploded, blasting Qin Mu to the other side of the cliff, no one knew where, while Heavenly Venerate Yu's figure also vanished instantly.

Finally, they sensed another divine ability fluctuation. As the gazes of over three hundred Lords of the Heavens illuminated the spot, Qin Mu's sword light stretched for tens of miles. It didn't look like a sword, but rather a pillar about a *zhang* (approx. 3.3 meters) in diameter, sweeping Heavenly Venerate Yu across the mid-slope of a mountain peak. The mountain peak was severed in half, yet its top did not fall. Because Qin Mu's sword was too fast, even though the peak was shortened, it remained perfectly level atop the mountain body.

The Lords of the Heavens, being paramount existences among gods and devils, clearly discerned the sword-pillar in Qin Mu's hand as their gazes shone upon it. It was not a solid sword-pillar, but an aggregation of countless leaping flying swords, each performing different, bizarre sword moves as they vibrated within the pillar. From a distance, it looked as if Qin Mu had grabbed a pillar dozens of miles long. Heavenly Venerate Yu appeared to be crushed by the sword-pillar, but in reality, he was resisting the continuous surge of sword lights thrusting from within it. Struck dozens of times, his eyes showed alarm, and he was opening his mouth to speak, but the distance was too great to hear him.

"What on earth is he saying?" The Lords of the Heavens wondered, as darkness surged once more, and Qin Mu and Heavenly Venerate Yu vanished.

When the divine ability fluctuations reappeared, Heavenly Venerate Yu, with three fingers severed, pressed his palm onto Qin Mu's face, smashing him violently into a large lake in the darkness. The lake exploded, nearly all its water flung into the air as if a meteor had struck its surface. Hundreds of gazes watched the scene. At the bottom of the lake, Heavenly Venerate Yu's fists rained down like a tempest, mercilessly hammering Qin Mu downwards. The ground around the lake continuously cracked, shocking fissures appearing, dozens of *zhang* deep, and still deepening.

Suddenly, Heavenly Venerate Yu shot up like a startled swan, narrowly avoiding a pitch-black gate. As he evaded this Gate of Heaven's Legacy, a sword light shot out from within the gate. A figure stood inside, their face battered beyond recognition—it was Qin Mu, who thrust a sword into Heavenly Venerate Yu's glabella. Heavenly Venerate Yu swung his hand to cut the sword, actually severing the divine sword with his bare palm. The two vanished again.

When the two reappeared, Qin Mu was fleeing, avoiding a terrifying power from behind, a look of fear on his face. However, countless starlights suddenly appeared ahead, intertwining like chains. Qin Mu was caught off guard as he ran through the net of starlight, instantly shattering into hundreds of pieces, his head also falling off.

"The Hegemon Body lost!" Over three hundred Lords of the Heavens all breathed a sigh of relief. They smiled, "The agreement with Young Earth Count can finally be lifted."

Just then, they watched as Qin Mu, shattered into hundreds of pieces, suddenly grew limbs and scattered, running around. Then, as they ran, the pieces astonishingly reassembled, forming a complete Qin Mu once more. The gods and devils of the Northern Heavens stared blankly at this scene, somewhat bewildered.

"Undying body?" The colossal demonic eye behind the Great Black Palace was stunned: "Didn't that technique vanish with the disappearance of the Crimson Emperor? How can anyone possibly cultivate it to the same extent as the Crimson Emperor?"

Behind Qin Mu, countless flying swords suddenly burst from the ground, forming a forest of swords, tearing apart the pursuing divine ability. Qin Mu turned, raising his six arms. The sword mountain and forest roared upwards, then descended with the sweep of his six arms! Heavenly Venerate Yu's arm was severed, and his figure retreated. The two vanished into the darkness once more.

This time, their disappearance was followed by a prolonged silence; no sounds or divine ability fluctuations were detected. The Lords of the Heavens around the Great Black Palace focused their vision, sending beams of light piercing through the darkness, searching everywhere. However, the darkness of the Great Black Palace enveloped an area of ten thousand miles, and even with their powerful eyesight, they could not locate the two at that moment.

"Where have they gone?"

Just then, a thunderous crack exploded amidst the gods, countless lightning bolts illuminating the surroundings. Qin Mu, with an arm impaled in his chest, plummeted from the sky. Before he hit the ground, a Gate of Heaven's Legacy suddenly appeared and swallowed him whole. The Gate of Heaven's Legacy vanished, leaving nothing on the ground.

A sword light suddenly flashed in the distance, and the Gate of Heaven's Legacy reappeared. Inside, two skeletons were locked in a fierce, chaotic battle. One skeleton had an arm impaled in its chest, while the other had a severed arm. The majestic Gate of Heaven's Legacy drifted back and forth in the air, captivating everyone's attention. Inside the portal, the two skeletons continued their desperate fight.

"Are these two trying to kill each other?"

Suddenly, the Gate of Heaven's Legacy crashed down, standing upright in front of the Great Black Palace. The portal slammed shut, and clanging sounds emanated from within, indicating the two skeletons were still exchanging blows. Silence enveloped the surroundings. No one dared to even breathe, waiting quietly.

After a long while, the sounds abruptly ceased. The crowd continued to wait. After a moment, the portal creaked and slowly opened. Suddenly, blood gushed forth like a flood, carrying fragments of broken bones. Everyone was startled and waited for another moment. From the portal, a skeleton, supporting itself on the frame, staggered out and collapsed with a thud into the pool of blood. Flesh was slowly regenerating on its body.

"The Hegemon Body of Yankang truly lives up to its reputation! Even the most powerful overlord of the Celestial Heavens cannot defeat you at the same cultivation realm."

Great Black Heavens suddenly burst into laughter, clapping his hands. "You won, I lost. The three hundred sixteen Lords of the Heavens are at your disposal, but don't even think about touching my Northern Heavens! Lords of the Heavens, take your masters and leave my territory!"

The over three hundred Lords of the Heavens did not move. Their gazes were fixed on Qin Mu, who lay in the pool of blood, his flesh regenerating. "If we kill him, why worry about the agreement with Young Earth Count?" a demon god muttered.

Suddenly, the figures of the gods and devils moved in unison, charging towards Qin Mu in the pool of blood! Great Black Heavens closed his eyes and murmured, "Why do I have so many fools under my command?"