The First Marquis of Daxuan

Zhang Jiao had already retreated to a distance of over a hundred miles.

Even though they were hundreds of miles apart, the dissipated power still made him feel unbearable.

His face was filled with horror; he wanted to escape, but didn't know where to go.

If the Heavenly Emperor can win, he won't need to flee.

If the Heavenly Emperor loses, it's no use for him to escape.

If the Heavenly Emperor dies at Su Mu's hands, the entire universe will become Su Mu's territory. No matter where he flees to, he will not escape Su Mu's grasp.

He can only passively wait for fate to arrive, with no other options.

Moreover, he could clearly see that the Heavenly Emperor had already fallen into a disadvantageous position.

The Heavenly Emperor spoke with such confidence, but when he actually fought Su Mu, he was no match for Su Mu at all.

"Heavenly Emperor, it's one thing for you to boast all the time, but why do you still have to boast to us at this critical moment of life and death?"
"If you had said earlier that you couldn't beat Su Mu, we could have made other preparations in advance."

Zhang Jiao secretly groaned inwardly.

Now he has nowhere else to go.

"Su Mu, he shouldn't be that strong, right?"

Zhang Jiao held onto a sliver of hope.

The Heavenly Emperor staggered back a few steps.

His face showed both shock and anger.

He didn't think he was bragging.

He genuinely believed he could handle Su Mu.

He had already learned about Su Mu's strength when he fought Su Mu before.

He admitted that Su Mu was slightly stronger than him at that time.

But it's only slightly stronger.

He has now used his trump card, setting up a spirit-gathering array to absorb all the spiritual energy released by Huang Tiandao's hunting of martial artists into his body.

Having returned to the Dao Saint Realm, he is even stronger than before!
He was confident that he would be stronger than Su Mu!
He never imagined that Su Mu would become stronger again in just a few short months!

This shouldn't be happening.

He has been monitoring the changes in spiritual energy in the universe these days.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the universe has been increasing, not decreasing.

Logically speaking, Su Mu shouldn't be able to become stronger.

For a powerful cultivator like Su Mu, any change in his cultivation level would affect the changes in the spiritual energy of the universe.

The Heavenly Emperor believed that everything was under his control.

But then, an error occurred.

Su Mu has become stronger again under seemingly impossible circumstances.

Everyone has become stronger, but Su Mu's foundation is already higher than his.

Even so, he was still no match for Su Mu.

It wasn't that the Heavenly Emperor was too confident, but rather that Su Mu was too unreasonable.

"Su Mu, are you here specifically to oppose me?"

The Heavenly Emperor stared intently at Su Mu, his face filled with rage. "I have never targeted you, so why have you been constantly opposing me?"

"you sure?"

Su Mu calmly looked at the Heavenly Emperor and unleashed punch after punch.

The Six Paths Reincarnation Fist, which integrates many martial arts, has reached perfection. Every punch it throws contains the power of the Six Paths Reincarnation.

Even a single blow from an ordinary martial artist would instantly kill them.

Even with the Heavenly Emperor's cultivation level, it would be extremely difficult to resist.

"Heavenly Emperor, you know very well that you and I cannot coexist in the universe at the same time."

Su Mu calmly said, "If you are willing to dissipate all your cultivation, then I can spare your life."

"Bullshit! If I were to dissipate all my cultivation, I would die on the spot!"

The Heavenly Emperor roared in anger.

How old is he?

Without his cultivation, he would have died from exhaustion of his lifespan.

Moreover, he didn't trust Su Mu at all.

If he were Su Mu, he would definitely not show any mercy.

He wanted to become a saint and an ancestor, and Su Mu was his stumbling block.

vice versa.

The Heavenly Emperor knew that he had become a stumbling block for Su Mu.

You underestimate me!

The Heavenly Emperor bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"You can't kill me! I will definitely come back!"

The Heavenly Emperor's blood was spilled across the universe, and suddenly a black hole appeared between him and Su Mu.

The immense power forced Su Mu to stop in his tracks.

The power of the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist was completely absorbed into the black hole.

The Heavenly Emperor also plunged into the black hole and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

This turn of events happened so fast that even Su Mu couldn't stop the Heavenly Emperor in time.

As a branch of the primordial essence of heaven and earth at the beginning of the universe, the Heavenly Emperor indeed possesses some unimaginable abilities.

Zhang Jiao: "..."

You just ran away like that?
You just abandoned me and ran away?

Heavenly Emperor, you are truly a scoundrel!
He had already cursed the Heavenly Emperor's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart, if the Heavenly Emperor even existed.

Zhang Jiao stood there stiffly, and when he saw Su Mu turn around and look at him, an embarrassed look appeared on his face.

He had once allied with Su Mu, but at a crucial moment, he led the Celestials to betray Su Mu.

It's really shameful to do something like that.

If it succeeds, that's fine.

After all, history is written by the victors. If he had killed all of Su Mu and his men back then, no one would have known about their betrayal of Su Mu.

But things didn't go as planned.

They failed.

That's why they've ended up in their current situation.

And this is his second failure.

He allied with the Heavenly Emperor, intending to launch a counterattack.

Unexpectedly, before the real counterattack could even begin, the Heavenly Emperor was defeated and forced to flee once again.

The Heavenly Emperor escaped, but what about him?

He's only at the Primordial Realm, how could he possibly escape from Su Mu?
Zhang Jiao never expected that his high-level Yuanshi Realm cultivation could be associated with just two words.

Even when the Heavenly Emperor ruled the Heavenly Realm, being at the high level of the Primordial Realm was a very high level of cultivation.

Since when did the cultivation level of a high-level Primordial Realm cultivator become considered insignificant?

"The victor is king, the loser is villain; I'm willing to accept defeat."

Zhang Jiao said with a wry smile.

His behavior was exactly the same as Xia Zhizun's; he showed no intention of resisting whatsoever.

It wasn't that he didn't want to resist, but that he knew resistance was futile.

What's the point of facing an opponent you can't possibly defeat?
Even the Heavenly Emperor was defeated and fled. What could he do but humiliate himself by resisting?
Since that's the case, it's better to die quickly, at least then the death won't be so shameful.

"Go ahead and do it."

Zhang Jiao sighed.

Do you want to live or die?

Su Mu did not make a move, but walked up to him with his hands behind his back and slowly spoke.

"Can I still live?"

Zhang Jiao's face was bitter. "I betrayed you, and I almost killed you—"

"You really think you almost killed me?"

Su Mu said calmly, "With your abilities, you're far from being able to kill me."

But you're right, you betrayed me. Logically speaking, I should have just killed you.

However, I'm in a good mood right now, so I'll give you a chance to live.

What do you want me to do?

Zhang Jiao said in a deep voice, "I don't think there's anything I can do to help you right now."

With Su Mu's current cultivation level, there is only one Heavenly Emperor in the universe who can rival him.

Zhang Jiao even felt that there was nothing in this universe that Su Mu couldn't do.

What use is he, a mere high-level Primordial Realm cultivator?
In fact, this was not the only reason he chose to betray Su Mu.

He and Su Mu were only temporarily allied. If their Heavenly Beings of the Yellow Heaven Path lost their usefulness, who knew if Su Mu would discard them after they had served their purpose?
Of course, it's no use saying all that now.

"Kill the Heavenly Emperor, and I can let you live to a ripe old age."

Su Mu said slowly.

"I can't kill him."

Zhang Jiao smiled wryly.

"The Heavenly Emperor is a Saint Realm expert, why do you think I can kill him?"

Zhang Jiao was aware of this.

Su Mu has already killed most of the Celestials. Even if he gathers the remaining Celestials together, they are no match for the Heavenly Emperor.

If he truly possessed the ability to kill the Heavenly Emperor, he wouldn't be in such a frustrating situation now.

If you can't beat Su Mu, can't you at least run away?

“I’ll kill him; you find him for me.”

Su Mu said calmly.

"If you can't find him, how could I possibly find him?"

I was able to find him before by chance, and now I have no idea where he's run off to.

Zhang Jiao said frankly, "If you don't believe me, you can search my soul."

“You don’t know where he is right now, but you can find him.”

Su Mu said calmly, "The title of Celestial Being is not given lightly."

There is a special connection between you celestial beings and the Heavenly Emperor.

"Hmm? Is it because we were once bathed in the blood of Yang Tianjun?"

Zhang Jiao pondered for a moment.

He had once been the chief of the Yellow Heaven Path, and was by nature a man of deep cunning. As soon as Su Mu spoke, he immediately thought of a possibility. "You once said that the Yang Heavenly Lord, the Yin Heavenly Lord, and the Heavenly Emperor are three bodies of one entity. We were bathed in the blood of the Yang Heavenly Lord, so we became connected with him?"

"Yes."

Su Mu bluntly stated, "The Heavenly Emperor is a branch of the primordial root of heaven and earth that was born at the beginning of the universe. If he is determined to hide, even I cannot find him."

But you can.

Because you possess the bloodline of Yang Tianjun.

"understood."

Zhang Jiao nodded and asked, "What do I need to do?"

He did not hesitate at all.

Because he knew he had no choice; if he wanted to live, he could only betray the Heavenly Emperor.

Zhang Jiao couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Zhang Jiao, now he can be considered a traitor to three masters.

Back then, he led Huang Tiandao to leave the Heavenly Realm. Later, he allied with Su Mu and betrayed Su Mu.

Then, he re-allyed with the Heavenly Emperor, but now he wants to break the alliance.

"Heavenly Emperor, you were the one who disregarded the covenant and fled first, so don't blame me."

Zhang Jiao muttered to himself.

"Use your heart to feel, and go wherever you want to go."

Su Mu said slowly, "Don't let your thoughts wander, just follow your heart."

Zhang Jiao listened to Su Mu's mysterious and esoteric explanation, and was somewhat puzzled.

However, he didn't ask any more questions and tentatively flew away.

Seeing that Su Mu really didn't stop him, he kept speeding up.

Zhang Jiao didn't know where she was going.

The universe is so vast that there is no place for Zhang Jiao to hide.

He followed Su Mu's instructions and flew forward based on his senses.

At first, Su Mu followed at a leisurely pace not far behind him.

Gradually, he suddenly realized that Su Mu's figure had disappeared at some point.

Seeing this, he simply stopped thinking about it and let himself go.

Guided by his senses, he traveled through the universe, constantly summoning other celestial beings.

After the previous battle, most of the Celestials were killed or wounded.

At that time, only fifty-odd Celestials survived, and they all gathered around Zhang Jiao.

Later, they followed Zhang Jiao to find the Heavenly Emperor, and then split up to hunt down martial artists.

Zhang Jiao knew that since Su Mu had come looking for them, someone from that day had probably already fallen victim to Su Mu's wickedness.

But when he finally gathered all the celestial beings back together, he was still somewhat disappointed.

Of all the Celestials, including Zhang Jiao, only forty-nine remained.

These forty-nine celestial beings include those from the former Heavenly Realm, as well as the former leaders of the Heavenly Gang of the Yellow Heavenly Path.

Zhang Jiao's gaze swept over the group of celestial beings, and several familiar figures were no longer visible.

Xia Zhizun is no longer here.

He sighed inwardly.

It's unclear how long the combined strength of the forty-nine of them can hold out against Su Mu.

He looked around, but Su Mu did not appear.

Those celestial beings also had no idea what had happened.

"Zhang Jiao, weren't we supposed to hunt down martial artists?"

Why did you suddenly summon us?

One of the original celestial beings asked the question.

"We haven't killed enough of the number the Heavenly Emperor demanded yet."

The Heavenly Emperor told them that the more they killed, the greater the Heavenly Emperor's chance of defeating Su Mu.

"There's no need for that."

Zhang Jiao shook his head and said.

"Is it no longer necessary? Has the Heavenly Emperor already killed Su Mu?"

All the celestial beings were pleasantly surprised.

However, their expressions turned somewhat serious the next moment.

"Would the Heavenly Emperor really intend to betray us after we've served our purpose, and turn against us?"

A celestial being asked in a deep voice.

Those who could become celestial beings were not fools.

There are no personal grudges between them and Su Mu, between Su Mu and the Heavenly Emperor, and between the Heavenly Emperor and them.

Now it is a struggle over the great principles.

They were able to turn their enmity into friendship and join forces again with the Heavenly Emperor because they shared a common enemy, Su Mu.

If Su Mu dies, they will not be able to coexist peacefully with the Heavenly Emperor.

However, no one expected this day to come so soon.

"No."

Zhang Jiao shook his head with a wry smile, "The Heavenly Emperor lost."

He briefly recounted the events to the assembled celestial beings.

The celestial beings looked at each other in bewilderment.

So, Su Mu is nearby?

They looked around in horror.

At this point, they couldn't care less about blaming Zhang Jiao; they were now wondering if they could still escape alive.

Even when forty-nine people gathered together, they felt no sense of security whatsoever.

Back then, even with over a hundred of them working together, they were no match for Su Mu, let alone now that less than half of them remain.

Why are we so unlucky?

One of the celestial beings said with a wry smile.

After being schemed against by the Heavenly Emperor, he was then used by Su Mu.

They were celestial beings, after all.

"Zhang Jiao, Su Mu sent you to find the Heavenly Emperor; it has nothing to do with us—"

One of the celestial beings said that they should break up the partnership.

I advise you not to act rashly.

Zhang Jiao calmly said, "You still have value if you come with me to find the Heavenly Emperor."

But if you leave now, you'll lose your usefulness. What do you think Su Mu will do to you then?

That day, the man stopped in his tracks, his face turning deathly pale.

"Brothers, we have no other choice now."

Zhang Jiao said, "We are like fish on a chopping board; we can't do anything but obey orders."

"But from another perspective, as long as we are alive, we can always make a comeback. As long as we are alive, no one can say for sure what the future holds."

Zhang Jiao said in a deep voice.

The celestial beings remained silent for a moment, and then all nodded.

Led by Zhang Jiao, they began to wander aimlessly in the universe.

After traveling to countless places, Zhang Jiao began to doubt whether he could find the Heavenly Emperor.

suddenly.

A figure leaped out from the void ahead; who else could it be but the Heavenly Emperor?

The Heavenly Emperor looked at Zhang Jiao and the others, then at his surroundings, his face filled with astonishment.

He never expected to encounter Zhang Jiao and his group in such a remote place.

Given the vastness of the universe, the chances of encountering someone like that are practically zero.

Most importantly, is Zhang Jiao still alive?

How did you find me?

The Heavenly Emperor frowned.

"Would you believe us if we said we just happened to run into you?"

Zhang Jiao also found it somewhat unbelievable.

"That's not important, Zhang Jiao. How did you escape from Su Mu's clutches?"

The Heavenly Emperor waved his hand and asked in a deep voice.

When did Zhang Jiao acquire this ability?
"I never escaped."

Zhang Jiao said seriously, "I'm still in Su Mu's hands."

He hadn't finished speaking.

A ripple appeared in the void not far away.

A figure appeared there silently.

The figure was tall and elegant, with a handsome face and a calm and composed demeanor.

This person was recognized by the Heavenly Emperor and all the celestial beings who had turned into ashes.

Shetland Sheepdog!

"Zhang Jiao, you've become Su Mu's dog again?"

The Heavenly Emperor was both shocked and furious.

"Heavenly Emperor, don't say such harsh things. I'm just trying to save my life."

"If you can run away, why can't I bow down to Su Mu?"

Zhang Jiao said with a grim expression.

"You think he'll let you go? If I die, Su Mu's next target will be you Celestials!"

The Heavenly Emperor roared in anger, showing no intention of fighting Su Mu, and turned into a golden light, fleeing into the distance.

"Su Mu, I told you you can't kill me!"

He shouted loudly as he ran away.

Seeing the Heavenly Emperor's figure disappear into the void, Su Mu did not immediately pursue him.

"Lord Su, this—"

Zhang Jiao and the others looked at Su Mu with puzzled expressions.

"continue."

Su Mu said calmly, "Just like before, continue to rely on your intuition to find the Heavenly Emperor." (End of Chapter)