Zhan Long

Chapter 885 Undefeated God-king

Since ancient times, every generation of the Celestial Court was created by the current Imperial Lord who mastered the supreme law. If the Dragon-scorpion Imperial Lord had created the ancient Celestial Court, so which Imperial Lord had created the Celestial Court?

Li Mu didn’t know either.

However, one thing was certain.

No matter how powerful an Imperial Lord could be, there was still no way that he or she could resist the erosion of Time.

Imperial Lords were once the greatest champions of their time – each of them has earned their rank and title after triumphing against the most difficult and perilous challenge of their era. That made them the supreme entity that lorded over the entire world and all feared and respected him.

But no amount of triumphs could withstand the merciless erosion of Time, where all grandeur and majesty could be easily washed away like sand. Nothing could last forever. As an Imperial Lord’s condition began to decline, the whole world would slowly lose its respect and fear of him and slowly he would fade away, giving way to a new Imperial Lord who would rise to the throne and replace his predecessor.

That often signified the twilight and the eventual demise of the former Celestial Court until a new one was born.

The fair-skinned young man could barely contain his burgeoning loquaciousness as he couldn’t stop talking.

Li Mu kept his mind focused, refusing to pay any heed to the nonsense that he never heard of before.

In the meantime, he tried injecting his Talismanic Power into the Heaven and Earth Rings to see if he could activate it. But nothing he tried was working; he could inject every single bit of his Talismanic Power, but it felt as if the Rings were an insatiable black hole that only wanted to consume every bit of spiritual energy and nothing else.

If anything, the Heaven and Earth Rings remained as dormant as a drunken oaf in peaceful slumber.

“Alas, General Qin. If only you had taught me how to use this Emperor’s Weapon before leaving… Looks like I might be joining you in the afterlife just yet!”

Li Mu managed a bitter smirk to himself.

He might still have a couple of aces hidden up his sleeve, but none of them could do anything against a High God of the Celestial Court.

Right now, if there was anything that might be worth a gamble, that could only be…

Li Mu stared at Silly Dog.

“Woof, what are you staring at me for?! I’m just a pet that’s no good to man or beast right now! Don’t expect me to give him a bite! Go do it yourself!” Silly Dog scowled at him, his contempt undisguised.

“Goddamit you mongrel pup!”

A furious Li Mu nearly shouted out loud.

“By the way, I’ve been talking so much that I didn’t realize I haven’t introduced myself. I’m sure you’re curious as to who I am right now?” the pale-faced young man said to Li Mu, still wearing the smug grin of satisfaction at Li Mu’s helplessness. He did not even wait for an answer from the latter, answering his own question instead, “You should consider it an honor that you get to die by my hand. Heh. Well, listen closely, my name’s…”

“Who the hell wants to know your name?!”

“Wait a minute,” Li Mu said.

“What?”

“You addressed yourself using an honorific title just now. But you speak like a common person now. What caused the change?”

“What?!”

The pale, neat, and immaculate young man was stunned by the question.

“How on earth is that even relevant?! Is he insane or a fool?!” the young man thought.

“Just how pertinent is that at all?!”

“Just be silent and not interrupt me,” he retorted crossly, “Now listen closely. My name is…”

“Woof. Are you really a God?” Silly Dog spoke suddenly, his head tilting quizzically. The dog stared at him with large curious eyes, its tongue peeking out just by a little that it made him look more adorable.

“What a cute dog.”

The thought flashed in the young man’s mind before he even realized it.

The next moment, he recollected himself and responded angrily, “Of course, I am a God! My name is a hallowed one! I am the renowned High God of the Celestial Court, the…”

“So you’re a God of the Great Way Realm? Or are you way up higher?” Silly Dog posed more questions, his clear, bright eyes reflecting an innocence that few could doubt.

“What a beautiful animal.

Why did I not notice it earlier?”

The very same thoughts began to loom over every single person around.

Even a gorgeous young lady like Fairy Shuiyue could barely rein in her impulse to give the well-built Husky a stroke on its head.

“Why does it even matter if I’m of the Great Way Realm or not?!” the young man smirked. “I’m a God-king that is second to no one else but the Void Imperial Lord, the marshal of a ten-thousand-strong army of the Gods! I’ve been victorious and glorious in battle and I’ve never lost a war! They call me the Undefeated God-king! What do you think, you vermin? Listen to that name and feel your knees go soft! Do you think that using your dog will delay your demise? Do you think you’re so smart that I won’t see through your ruse? I knew what you were trying to do. But here I am in an accommodating and generous mood! Let’s see what you’re going to do next!”

Li Mu’s palms were slicked with cold sweat.

“That’s impossible! How did he notice what I was trying to do!?

And why is he not doing anything yet?!”

“Speaking of which, I’ve met that mentor of yours, that Old Fish Spirit, a few times before. He’s been spoiling for a contest to see who’s better, but his low rank makes it almost impossible unless he wishes to humiliate himself,” the sallow-faced young man spoke with more color and radiance, immersing himself in the glorious reminiscences of his past.

Li Mu was not the only one grimacing at his insufferable garrulousness. Even the practitioners of both the Cloud and Mist Clans were stirring with annoyance and restlessness.

“For Heaven’s sake, are you finished, you old senile?! Enough prattling, for the love of Heaven! Just deal with Li Mu and be done with it! We need to open the Central Sky Gate and get the divine providence inside!”

But no one dared to pester him.

No one could dare incur the wrath of a High God.

Li Mu had lost count of the number of times he had been trying to activate the Heaven and Earth Rings. His last count was thirty and despite trying again and again, the Rings just refused to respond and he was beginning to wonder if all was lost.

“Heh, I’m parched after so much talking. I suppose you understand everything now, you whippersnapper. You should look at your own face. That’s you relenting to your fate, I guess. Well, time to send you off,” said the pale young man.

The young stranger’s incessant loquaciousness appeared to be an unlikely juxtaposition to his trigger-happy eagerness to dole out death. Without delay, his hand shot up, his finger pointing at Li Mu.

Almost everyone could feel the same foreboding dread of death.

A red glowing rune of an unknown language popped out of his finger.

Each and every one of the rune’s nine strokes seemed to Li Mu like the sweeps and slashes of a sword before the young man tapped at the rune with his finger and the rune came barreling towards Li Mu like a bullet.

Faced with the palpable sensation of death, Li Mu betrayed not even the slightest hint of defending himself or doubt. He took one step backward as if to present himself like a sheep ready for slaughter, shouting very defiantly, “Then what are you waiting for?!”

That stunned the entire crowd.

“What in Heaven’s name is he talking about?!”

What happened next sent everyone else into further incredulity. The adorable and plump dog, with a determined look on his face, rammed a paw deep inside his own throat to cause a gag reflex. He belched out something black.

“What’s going on?”

Boom!

Lights danced around the gossamer veil of smoke and dust that lingered in the air.

The world went dark all of a sudden as if something black and huge had blotted out the sun, shrouding everyone in a vast shadow.

Then came the abrupt cries from the Undefeated God-king.

By the time everyone could react, what they had to lift their heads to look up to left them stupefied into silence.

A strange giant, 10,000 meters tall, appeared in the middle of the parade square, one foot raised, and a dense light of ancient runes flowed around the palm of its foot, like a sea of light, stepping towards the white-faced gentleman who claimed to be the Undefeated God-king, as if a giant stepping on an ant.

“The avatar of an ancient god?! You could summon such monstrosity?!” Remarked as he easily broke himself free from the avatar’s magical shroud of light and took to the air, looking more amazed than frightened.

Li Mu did not bother to respond. Instead, he kept the entirety of his focus on the gigantic ancient god, controlling it to wave its huge hand at the God-king like it was swatting a fly.

The pale young man guffawed loudly. “I might confess to feeling threatened if it’s a real god! But if this is all you can do, then I have nothing to be afraid of an oversized puppet!”

He aimed his finger at the gargantuan ancient god.

Whatever technique it was, it resembled the Cloud Light Heaven-startling Finger Strike of the Cloud Clan somewhat, except it looked more eldritch and tremendously more mysterious. The colossal image of another bloody red rune appeared like the one before, all of its every eleven strokes like the very simulation of a swordsmanship discipline. He tapped on the floating rune and it radiated a powerful and bright glow before it shot forward.

“Woof! Wait a second, Undefeated God-king! Until now, you haven’t told us your real name!” Silly Dog barked all of a sudden.

“Oh? Yes, I nearly forgot,” the young man said, withdrawing his finger. “I mentioned only my title, but not my name. Well, it’s…”

Crack!

The enormous god-like ancient god slammed both its palms together to crush him.

“Yeah!”

Silly Dog leaped with glee.

Even Li Mu could barely suppress a hint of joy.

“Did we succeed?”

The question was answered by a loud bang. A huge explosion from inside the palms destroyed the ancient god’s hand and the pale-faced God-king flew out amid the mess, his very person shrouded by a soft red glow.

“It’s Song Yu.”

He growled through gnashed teeth, visibly angered.

“So it’s not only a talkative god but also an idiot,” many among the Divine Clan thought in unison.

But Li Mu only had two words to describe what was going on: Bloody hell.

But he was not surprised. He did not expect that the avatar would work.

It could not even restrain the God-king for one moment at all, let alone defeat him.

If only he had not given his word to Qin Zhong. Or he could be on his way out of here by now.

Li Mu found himself facing an impasse.

He controlled the avatar and renewed another attack on the Undefeated God-king Song Yu, while he triggered his third eye to activate the Xiantian Skill. Maybe his Eye of Flaws could show him the weakness of this God-king, he thought but to no avail. The difference between them was just so great that the Eye of Flaws could find no useful weaknesses that he could exploit.

Silly Dog too tried a few times to see if he could swallow the God-king whole. But the god was just too fast that Silly Dog’s ingestion method could barely keep up with him at all.

Nothing could turn the tide in the face of such insurmountable differences in both rank and power.

It did not take long for the avatar to become battered and badly damaged, causing its movements to become slow and sluggish.

Beads of sweat trickled down Li Mu’s forehead as he struggled to hold on.

But he knew he could not keep on further.

A voice suddenly rang in his ears all of a sudden.

“Use the Rings to hit him.”

That was the lady in yellow.

“Ah?!” a stunned Li Mu yelped with incredulity.

“Quit wasting time and used the rings,” the lady in yellow scowled at him as usual, visibly annoyed.

But Li Mu knew better than to doubt her. He immediately flung the Heaven and Earth Rings into the air.

Despite being small and handy, the rings were as heavy as mountains. It took Li Mu all his physical strength to throw the rings forward that the sheer weight of the ring warped even the air and space it passed through.

“Heh, there’s no way that a dormant Emperor’s Weapon could hurt me…”

Song Yu never looked so smug before.

But he quickly regretted his hubris. The rings whizzed past what defenses he conjured like they were invisible and smashed right into his forehead. Song Yu wobbled unsteadily like a drunkard before he ultimately crashed down.

Buzz-buzz-buzz!

The Heaven and Earth Rings bounced back and flew back into Li Mu’s hands.

“Oh?! So that’s how it’s used?!”

Li Mu mused to himself, surprised but pleased.

But there was one more thing that he was concerned about. “Are you all right, lady?” the disquiet in the lady in yellow’s voice sounded like she was injured or hurt.

But before she could reply, Song Yu’s voice echoed over the horizon.

He was about to let loose an ear-splitting roar and soar into the air when another voice, soft and gentle, boomed from the Heavens. No one had seen this coming.

“Song Yu, withdraw now and walk away.”

Gentle but yet stern, the voice carried such humbling fortitude and strength that even Song Yu, who was still grimacing from the pain of being hit by the Heaven and Earth Rings, immediately piped down and stood there quietly, awaiting his next orders.

A dashing-looking man in his middle age appeared in mid-air. His well-chiseled and beautiful features instantly robbed everyone’s attention the moment he appears as if nothing else in this world could ever come close to eclipsing his charms and deadliness.

Li Mu’s heart skipped a beat.

“What on earth is he?! He looked dangerous!”

For once, he felt a strange and inexplicable sense of fear and pressure so great that they eclipsed what perceptions he once felt about his mentor.