Chapter 1702 — Slaying the Dharma Body, Severing the Dao Root

"Seventh Young Master, the power of this Dao fruit is too great -- I cannot destroy it," said Shang Jun.

"Shang Jun, call me Tianzun Mu. In the Seventeenth Epoch I am a Tianzun, not a Young Master."

Shen Mu observed it for a moment, examining closely the Great Dao contained within the Master of Lingguan Hall's Dao fruit, and praised it: "Worthy indeed of a being at the hall-master level -- surpassing other Dao-attainers by who knows how many times over."

He drew the Tribulation Sword -- swish, swish, swish -- thrusting at the Dao fruit stroke after stroke; yet each time the tip had only just touched the fruit, he drew it back, never piercing into it.

Shen Mu sheathed the sword. "Release the Dao fruit. Let it return to that hall master's side."

Shang Jun did as he was told and let the Dao fruit go. It sped away from the Ultimate Void and vanished without a trace.

"My Dao of the Sword is hidden within that Dao fruit. If that hall master forcibly takes it back, he will have suffering enough to chew on."

Shen Mu left this stretch of the Void, searching for the bearings marked upon the Taiyi Chart of the Earth. "By the way, who is this hall master?"

Shang Jun shook his head. "I do not know either."

Shen Mu sighed. "His attainments in the flesh are very high, and the methods of his body most strange -- and I still do not know his name."

Shang Jun walked within his shadow. "The next time I kill him, I will ask his name for you, Tianzun."

Shen Mu nodded and asked, "Do the other hall masters of Miluo Palace also possess such uncanny, formidable bodies?"

"I do not know. I have never killed one."

"Shang Jun, if we meet another hall master, let us first ask his name."

"That will not do. If he is on his guard, he will not be easy to kill."

"That is true as well."

...

Amid the great army of the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Palace towered. Here a detached palace of Emperor Haotian had already been established, moving with the army of the Heavenly Court; two Dao trees floated above the detached palace, towering and magnificent.

These two Dao trees were the Dao trees of Emperor Haotian and the Grand Emperor Taichu, anchoring the fortunes of the Heavenly Court. Seen from afar, the Great Daos swayed and drifted, rays of Dao light in lines and streaks, holy and solemn.

Even at a distance of tens of thousands of li, the Dao sounds and Dao rhythms coming from the Dao trees could be heard.

Within the Lingxiao Hall of the detached palace, Emperor Haotian wore a grave expression, gazing at three oddly shaped ancient gods.

Of these three ancient gods, one had a dragon's head and a human body, with a Dao fruit spinning nimbly at the back of his head; another had a serpent's head, a human body, and a serpent's tail, with a Dao flower fluttering behind his head; and the third had an ox's head and a human body, with a Dao fruit at the back of his head as well.

"Heavenly Emperor, I fell to the schemes of the Seventh Young Master. From somewhere or other the Seventh Young Master found Shang Jun, who attained the Dao through slaughter, and while I had entrusted my Great Dao to the Ultimate Void and was suppressed by it, he struck me in secret, destroying my Dao body."

That ancient god with the dragon's head and human body was formed from the liver and entrails of the Master of Lingguan Hall. Upon him stood a number of ancient gods, great and small. He spoke: "In a moment of carelessness I fell to the ambush. Shang Jun ruined my Dao body, the Seventh Young Master destroyed my Dao tree, and Shang Jun even seized one of my Dao fruits. This debt cannot be borne beneath the same heaven; between them and me there is no end until one side dies!"

Emperor Haotian's brows smoothed, and his face turned mild. "May I ask the hall master: with your Dao body ruined and your Dao tree destroyed, how great a toll has this taken upon your strength?"

The serpent-headed ancient god said, "This setback has shorn away seventy percent of my cultivation."

Emperor Haotian's eye twitched. He threw a glance at the Taiji Ancient Gods. They understood, thinking: "His Majesty wishes to slay this Master of Lingguan Hall, refine his Dao fruit, and seize his cultivation..."

The ox-headed Master of Lingguan Hall sighed. "My strength now is equal only to that of three ordinary Dao-attainers. This setback will likely cost me millions upon millions of years of cultivation before I return to my peak."

Emperor Haotian was chilled at heart, and threw another glance at the Taiji Ancient Gods. The two Taiji Ancient Gods hastily quashed their murderous intent toward the Master of Lingguan Hall.

Just then, Dao light blazed across the sky, and yet another Dao fruit came flying.

The three Masters of Lingguan Hall cried out in unison, and the three merged into one, becoming a headless body. At the navel, from the umbilical cord, a dragon head grew forth; a pair of ox horns sprouted from his shoulders; three ox eyes surfaced upon his chest; a great serpent coiled about his spine -- a most outlandish sight.

The dragon head opened its mouth and cried: "The Seventh Young Master left thirteen sword-Dao divine abilities within this Dao fruit of mine, intending to use my own Dao fruit to ambush me. Though I know he means to ambush me, I have no choice but to break them! Heavenly Emperor, I need you to prepare a Grand Luotian Sacrifice, to offer up the blood of all living beings as blood-offering, and break his sword-Dao divine abilities!"