Chapter 642 — A Youth's Disdain

This was precisely why the Human Emperors of every generation could not compare with him.

The Human Emperors of every generation bore heavy burdens, but none had lived through such years of grief as the First Ancestor: seeing heaven and earth overturn, seeing the splendid and magnificent Heavenly Court collapse, seeing countless kin and warriors die miserably, seeing the yellow dust bury a glorious age. Only with such experience came such a state of mind; only with such a state of mind could one create such an art and divine ability.

The Human Emperors lacked that experience and that state of mind, and so the arts and divine abilities they created were naturally inferior. The Human Emperors exchanged glances, appalled at heart: even the First Ancestor Human Emperor, facing Shen Mu, was forced onto the defensive, into the inferior position—truly and unmistakably pressed into the inferior position!

Though traces of Lizheng, of the Daoist sect's Dao Sword, and of Imperial Preceptor Jingping's sword art still lingered in Shen Mu's swordsmanship, his sword art already showed a tendency to leap free of their influence.

The mood within his sword art differed from that within the First Ancestor's seal art.

His sword art held none of Lizheng's melancholy remembrance of the ancients and of ages past, none of the Dao Sword's cunning calculation, none of Imperial Preceptor Jingping's wisdom in embracing the world and devising strategy from afar.

His sword art was instead unrestrained, like a prairie fire; like a spring wind sweeping over a desolate grassland, full of vitality and fighting spirit.

His sword art seemed bent on sweeping away demonic miasma and rooting out decay; it held the great boldness of sweeping away the old and establishing the new, the great perseverance of a fire fed with oil, striving to be strong. Within his sword art was another kind of world-shaking boldness, a state of mind brought by another age—an age utterly different from that of heaven-and-earth toppling and heroic lament: keen to advance, high in fighting spirit, reforming and changing the law, sweeping across the world! The First Ancestor Human Emperor and Shen Mu, two men of two different ages, two different divine abilities—one seal art, one sword art—each branded with the mark of a different age.

Judged by conception alone, it was hard to say which was higher or lower; but judged by state of mind, one was keen to advance and high in fighting spirit, the other mourning the past and sunk in past failure—and from this alone the outcome was already decided.

And there was something even more terrifying: Shen Mu's essence was too mighty, suppressing the First Ancestor's seal art, breaking apart his 'between heaven and earth I am supreme' seal art like rotten wood!

Shen Mu fought the more bravely the longer he fought; his long sword slashed, as if to cut down this pillar that propped up the old heaven and earth, forcing the First Ancestor to keep invoking his teleportation divine ability. "Truly an Overlord Body.

. .

" Emperor Qikang murmured.

The Second Ancestor said, dazed and shaken, "So there really is an Overlord Body in this world. .

. I had thought Emperor Shen reached this step purely by his own effort; I never imagined he truly had the legendary Overlord Body. This essence—it is simply monstrous.

. .

" The other Human Emperors nodded one after another. Without an Overlord Body, there was no explaining the scene before them.

They, the Human Emperors, had all attacked the First Ancestor together and suffered a crushing defeat; the First Ancestor had beaten and broken them all at the same realm. And now, at that same realm, Shen Mu was beating the First Ancestor down!

Only an Overlord Body could do such a thing, surely? "That Su Mozhe kid really does deserve a beating!

" Emperor Qikang sighed with feeling. The other Human Emperors all voiced their agreement.

"The First Ancestor still has a trump card he has not used.

" The Second Ancestor said suddenly, "I once saw him use it—three extremely terrifying seal arts. " The Fourth Ancestor hurriedly asked, "How terrifying?

" "Heaven collapses, earth splits: the Three Forms of Heaven's Collapse.

" The Second Ancestor Human Emperor looked toward the battle between Shen Mu and the First Ancestor.

The First Ancestor already bore many sword wounds; that Shen Mu could wound him to such a degree was already enough to be proud of. "The Three Forms of Heaven's Collapse are the divine ability by which he entered the Dao.

I once wanted to learn them, but those three seal arts conceal a fierce will to self-destruction; I could not master them.

I feared that once I learned them, the moment I used all three I would kill myself.

" The Second Ancestor Human Emperor let out a breath of turbid air and said in a low voice, "I hope he does not use them.

.

.

" Just then heaven and earth changed abruptly: the blue sky cracked, stars fell like rain, the sky burned a fiery red, the earth collapsed, volcanoes rose on every side, and earth, water, wind, and fire surged!

The First Ancestor Human Emperor could hold back no longer; he used the first of the Three Forms of Heaven's Collapse!

At the same moment, Shen Mu pointed a finger at the spot between his brows; from the third eye a beam of sword light shot out, ten li of sword light blazing like a pillar, gone in a flash. Before the First Ancestor's first form could unleash its might, the sword nailed him, carrying his figure ten li away, and with a ding pinned him to a great mountain.

"Ha—" Shen Mu roared in fury, his fists like wind; he swung both fists and hammered madly forward, striking countless punches in an instant! The terrifying force of the punches accumulated, transforming into world-destroying power that blasted toward the First Ancestor Human Emperor pinned atop the mountain!

"No!

" Emperor Qikang and the others leaped out one after another, crying out in alarm, trying to catch up with Shen Mu's fist force—but it was already too late. Boom.

That mountain was blasted into collapse by the terrifying force; yet all the fist wind fell only around the First Ancestor Human Emperor, never striking his body.

That great mountain was beaten into a stone pillar, and the First Ancestor still hung upon it. Shen Mu turned and walked out of the Imperial Hall, not glancing at the First Ancestor on the stone pillar. His face calm, he said, "You may insult the Human Emperors of every generation, but I am not you—I will not insult you.

" The First Ancestor Human Emperor touched the sword wound on his chest and suddenly called out loudly, "Do not go yet—I will teach you the Three Forms of Heaven's Collapse!

" Shen Mu walked to the front of the Imperial Hall, bent down, picked up his sword core and his Taotie Pouch, turned half around, laughed, and waved a hand: "I will not learn them.

I disdain to learn them.

" The First Ancestor Human Emperor was stunned; he struggled free from the stone pillar.

Shen Mu strode out through the doorway of the Imperial Hall; the doorway closed, and his figure vanished.