Chapter 891: The Sacrifice of Reform

The Cripple hesitated, not moving forward, but instead gazing from afar. It was truly too dangerous there. He saw many gods and devils from the Heavenly Court collapse as soon as they rushed into the darkness, their primordial spirits completely gone. Some of these Heavenly Court gods and devils were far more powerful than him, yet they still couldn't resist the encroachment of darkness.

"This power of darkness is even stronger than the darkness shrouding the Great Ruins!"

A shock ran through the Cripple's heart. He thought to himself, "Wei Suying shouldn't die anytime soon, right?"

In the sky, a river of stars drifted; those were not actual stars, but the Heavenly Court's Great Army of Celestial Constellations. They formed a Heavenly Net, like a massive inverted lid, perfectly trapping the pot-black darkness.

The sky and the earth were completely illuminated. The starlight was so intense, with millions of stars shining from all directions, making it impossible to find any shadow.

The Heavenly Net contracted, compressing the pitch-black Youdu demonic energy inwards, further and further. Soon, the small Youdu within the Primordial Realm shrank by more than half.

"Mu'er is being suppressed!" A shock ran through the Cripple's heart.

Countless mountain gods came rushing over. The Cripple swiftly shifted his form, following them towards the darkness and mingling among them. He was skilled in the art of creation and transformation, and at this moment, his appearance was indistinguishable from a mountain god.

The mountain gods had towering bodies, as tall as mountains, and they encircled the Heavenly Net. Each of the mountain gods took out a pillar and forcefully plunged it into the ground. Standing beside their pillars, they each cast spells, muttering incantations. As soon as the pillars entered the ground, they began to expand wildly, growing taller and taller. The pillars rotated, and countless runes lit up on their surfaces, flowing from the top to the base and drilling into the earth. The ground was rapidly solidifying.

A mountain god next to the Cripple noticed him and shouted, "Where's your treasure? Why don't you take it out?"

Before the Cripple could answer, terrifying light suddenly shone from the darkness. As soon as he saw the light, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground, his physical body rapidly shrinking. The mountain god not far from him had not yet recovered his senses when an incredibly thick beam of light hummed as it swept across him, cutting him in half at the waist. The massive pillar he held was also severed and toppled over.

The light swept horizontally, causing the space to vibrate and emit a low, buzzing hum. However, this was not just one beam of light, but six.

Six bright beams of light swept in all directions—cutting horizontally, splitting vertically, and slicing diagonally—sweeping across the Heavenly Net and Earth Net. The Heavenly Net formed by the Great Army of Celestial Constellations was already complete; stars shone brilliantly behind the heads of the celestial gods, blocking the six beams of light. However, the Earth Net had not yet fully formed, and immediately, giant pillars were cut in half at the waist, some severed into six or seven sections. The mountain gods dodged the beams of light shooting from the darkness; they were powerful, and the light was so bright, so they could naturally avoid it.

The Cripple remained pressed flat on the ground, looking at the surrounding mountain gods. He saw that they were powerful and reacted in an instant; apart from the one who had been caught off guard and killed by the light while speaking to him, all the other mountain gods had managed to dodge the six terrifying beams of light.

However, strangely enough, all these mountain gods, in their efforts to dodge the six beams of light, leaped to heights that were precisely on the same horizontal plane.

"Fools!"

The Cripple dared not move, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. He thought to himself, "Mu'er has three eyes. The divine light from two of his eyes is bright light, while the middle eye shoots out dark light. He has now transformed into three heads and six arms, with six beams of bright light and three beams of dark light. He wants to force you to jump to the same height, and then use the three dark beams to kill you..."

He had witnessed the terrifying scene when Qin Mu broke the seal in the Supreme Emperor Heaven and transformed into the Youdu God Child. It was only when Tu Bo arrived to intervene that a major catastrophe was averted. The Cripple harbored a deep, heartfelt fear of Qin Mu's sinister third eye.

He saw a mountain god leaping in mid-air, suddenly cut into four neat sections, as if by three invisible blades. The Cripple looked elsewhere. In the air, almost all the mountain gods had been cut into four neat and perfectly uniform sections.

"Mu'er is not being controlled by his demonic nature; he is controlling it. Otherwise, the Youdu God Child wouldn't fight like this." The Cripple thought to himself, "The Youdu God Child fights based on instinct, but he fights based on reason."

In the sky, the Heavenly Net suddenly twisted as if caught by some terrifying monster and dragged downwards. The Great Army of Celestial Constellations, trapped within the Heavenly Net, fell helplessly, letting out shrill screams. The Great Army of Celestial Constellations served under the Heavenly Court's True Gods of the Celestial Stars. The True Gods of the Celestial Stars were ancient gods, while the Celestial Constellation Army consisted of demigods and other races who had achieved sufficient cultivation to join the army.

The Great Army of Celestial Constellations, along with the Heavenly Net, plummeted wildly into the darkness. What awaited them was a large cauldron. The entire Heavenly Net and this army of gods and devils fell into the cauldron, and immediately, all sounds ceased. After swallowing so many gods and devils, the great cauldron suddenly surged outwards, revealing countless faces floating in the darkness, crying out in unison, "A'Chou—"

Just as the Cripple relaxed, he saw the dark sky light up again. Countless divine beings in the sky activated various treasures, forming the face of the Celestial Venerable, with white eyebrows and white eyes! It was the form of the Celestial Venerable, composed of countless exotic treasures—the Celestial Venerable's Rune Dao, structured by the Heavenly Court's Dao Sect using numerology, the reassembled head of the Celestial Venerable.

The Celestial Venerable's head shone downwards with its eyes. Incredibly bright light evaporated the Youdu demonic energy, soon revealing Qin Mu's true body! The Cripple saw that one of Qin Mu's three heads was a large-headed doll. Illuminated by the Celestial Venerable's gaze, its face twisted in pain, and the head continuously shrank back into Qin Mu's body.

The Cripple's heart sank. "The Great Dao of Xuandu and Youdu mutually suppress each other. Mu'er can't hold on..."

Qin Mu leaped up and sped away. Countless divine beings in the sky moved with him, their Celestial Venerable's head formation remaining perfectly ordered, but Qin Mu's speed was too great for them to keep up. The Cripple also quickly rose and gave chase, but even he could not catch up to Qin Mu.

Just then, the Cripple saw that the west, where Qin Mu was fleeing, suddenly erupted with white light soaring into the sky. A mighty imperial aura emerged, blocking his path. A celestial palace appeared, its palaces overlapping, and a great emperor's primordial spirit, seated in the Numinous Sky Hall of Jade Capital City, suddenly rose. Almost simultaneously, the north was shrouded in darkness, and another imperial aura surged skyward. A celestial palace unfurled like a scroll, and the Yin Son of Heaven's primordial spirit sat on the imperial throne, with the Underworld Sea surging behind him.

In the south, raging flames blazed, and within them, a vast celestial palace emerged. The Numinous Sky Hall was enveloped in sacred fire, and a nine-headed phoenix flapped its wings, crying out loudly amidst the flames. The Cripple felt dizzy from the impact of the imperial aura. He looked back, only to see green light soaring into the sky. A celestial palace emerged within the green light, its countless palace buildings surprisingly growing dragon scales, appearing incredibly ancient.

The White Emperor, the Black Emperor, the Red Emperor, and the Green Emperor—the four great emperors of the Heavenly Court's Post-celestial beings—had all arrived. The Cripple's heart sank, and despair swelled within him, growing larger and larger.

Qin Mu charged towards the White Emperor in the west, but terrifying fluctuations erupted, and he was forced back, unable to escape that way. He confronted the Yin Son of Heaven, who fought him in the Underworld Sea. After a few moves, he had to retreat, his northern path also cut off. Qin Mu turned south, and as zither music resounded, the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu, transformed into a nine-headed phoenix, forced him back. The Cripple saw Qin Mu dash past him, charging towards the Green Emperor arriving from the east. Not long after, he saw Qin Mu stumble back, tumbling and crashing near him.

"Mu'er..."

He trembled as he reached out his hand, but failed to grasp Qin Mu. Instead, he saw Qin Mu charge forward again, only to be beaten back once more.

"Do not harm the Youdu God Child; capture him." An indifferent, emotionless voice came from beyond the heavens: "He is crucial. He is a weapon against Tu Bo."

The Cripple watched Qin Mu charge out again and again, only to be driven back repeatedly. His injuries grew heavier, and he found it increasingly difficult to stand.

"Mu'er!"

The Cripple charged towards Qin Mu. There, Qin Mu's six arms supported him on the ground, and he was panting heavily, his breath carrying a mist of blood and fragments of his internal organs.

The Cripple struggled to rush towards him. Qin Mu seemed to see him, turned his head, and smiled.

"Cripple Grandpa..."

The Cripple saw Qin Mu raise a finger and point it towards him, and countless teleportation runes lit up around it.

"No—" the Cripple roared, but he was swept up by the teleportation runes and his figure vanished. The world spun around him. By the time he steadied himself, he had already been sent countless miles away. The Cripple was both startled and enraged. He struggled to rush back to the battlefield, but it was too far; even as the world's peerless divine thief, he couldn't reach it in a short time.

"Brother, you should go."

Qin Mu struggled to stand up, wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, and chuckled as he looked at the four emperors steadily approaching from all directions. "You can still go back to Youdu. You are very important; the Heavenly Court cannot get you. If they do, Tu Bo will be in danger. I'll send you back."

Qin Fengqing shook his head, controlling the body and charging towards the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu. "You are more important!" Qi Xiayu plucked the zither strings, and he stumbled back, then instantly flipped and leaped up, charging towards Qi Xiayu again.

Qin Mu activated his indestructible divine consciousness, attempting to suppress him and force him back to the Qin character continent. "Go back!" he shouted. "Go back to Youdu!"

Qin Fengqing was driven back again, stumbled and got back up, then suddenly his demonic nature erupted, forcefully resisting Qin Mu's suppression. He shrieked, "You go back!"

"So stubborn!" Qin Mu gritted his teeth, trying his best to suppress him. He raged, "They cannot get you! I am not the Youdu God Child; I am just a consciousness born in this body after you were sealed! I have no soul; the soul is yours! Go back!"

Qin Fengqing was suppressed by him, like an infant, whimpering and crawling on the ground towards Qi Xiayu. "You are more important... Bad little brother is more important... Mother doesn't like me, Mother is afraid of me... Mother likes you more; if you live, Mother will be happy..."

He stood up again, struggling for control of the body. Qin Mu sighed, closed his eyes, and whispered, "Celestial Venerable, Tu Bo, lend me a hand..." Streaks of power erupted from within him, pulling Qin Fengqing back into the Qin character continent.

"Bad little brother—" Qin Fengqing shrieked, but he still fell into the Qin character continent.

Qin Mu pressed down on the Slaughtering Cauldron, where faces floated, staring at him. Qin Mu raised his hand, reached into his glabella, and forcefully dug out his third eye. A Gate of Heaven's Inheritance appeared behind him, and he threw this eye into Youdu, beyond the gate.

The faces in the Slaughtering Cauldron looked at the young man who no longer had his third eye and whispered, "A'Chou."

"Yes, I am A'Chou," Qin Mu said, wiping the blood from his forehead and grinning.

He wobbled to his feet, looking at the four Heavenly Court great emperors approaching him.