Chapter 881 — The Firmament's Legitimate Heir

In the very instant these gods and demons conceived their killing intent, the first god-demon had already fallen. His eyes, once radiant with vitality, went hollow in a mere blink, their luster vanishing without a trace. His body remained intact, yet his breathing ceased in an instant, as if some terrifying power had hollowed out his primordial spirit in the blink of an eye, making his death impossibly swift.

But the other gods and demons were lunging toward Shen Mu, and no one noticed him. Yet in the next instant, the second god-demon's eyes dimmed, his charging figure becoming a falling one.

Then, in another instant, the third god-demon, the fourth.

. . By the time the first Lord of the Heavens to reach Shen Mu unleashed his divine ability, the sound of god-demons collapsing one after another came from behind him.

He turned to look, his gaze blank. The Lords of the Heavens of the Northern Skies were like a string of afterimages left behind as he leaped through the air.

These figures were falling one after another, their palms outstretched, their eyes turned a ghastly white, their faces bearing expressions of unspeakable horror.

"Xiao Tubo. . .

" The last surviving god-demon had barely spoken these words when darkness suddenly filled his vision.

Within that darkness, butterfly-shaped flames of light appeared, bursting outward to both sides in dazzling splendor. It was an eye that radiated a terrifying beauty, yet was filled with demonic nature.

The eye glanced at him once, and his consciousness was gone. Thud.

The last corpse fell.

The remaining Lords of the Heavens showed expressions of panic and retreated one after another, but it was too late.

A Lord of the Heavens suddenly had his soul drained.

His hands clutched his own throat, his mouth gaped open, his tongue protruded, and he knelt down, lifeless. Then the second Lord of the Heavens, the third Lord of the Heavens.

The others fell into immense panic, fleeing in all directions, yet death followed like a shadow, like maggots clinging to bone, taking their lives one after another.

"Mahakala, save me! " A Lord of the Heavens let out a shrill cry in the darkness. The cry cut off abruptly, and he became a corpse falling from the sky, limply crashing onto the earth.

But Mahakala did not open his eyes. He had long anticipated what was happening in the darkness, yet the defeat of "Yutianzun" this time had resolved him to sacrifice these old subordinates and not intervene at all. Not all the Lords of the Heavens had harbored killing intent toward Shen Mu, yet death seemed not to care whether they had.

This Demon King who controlled death merely stubbornly harvested souls according to the Xiao Tubo Pact they had signed. Anyone who had signed the Xiao Tubo Pact and had not, according to their wager with the Woodcutter Sage, merged the Northern Skies into Jingping, would all be dealt with by him! In the pool of blood, Shen Mu's white bones were still generating flesh and blood.

The youth weakly raised his palm, wanting to spare some Lords of the Heavens to become fighting strength for the kingdom of Jingping, but he was truly too weak. In the battle with "Yutianzun," the opponent's explosive Dao-entering ultimate art had reached twenty-eight heavens. This was an existence who had nearly mastered all the ancient gods' great Daos and whose Dao realm had reached twenty-eight heavens. That he could fight the opponent to death relied on having gathered the fruits of Jingping's reforms into one body, and on his mana being far more profound than the opponent's.

Even so, he had nearly been beaten by the opponent until both form and spirit were annihilated. Now, he no longer had the strength to stop another version of himself.

His elder brother Shen Fengqing must be trembling with excitement at this moment, fervently harvesting the souls of the Northern Skies' Lords of the Heavens according to the Xiao Tubo Pact, storing them in the Life-Slaying Cauldron to eat one by one. Shen Fengqing had no such thing as rationality. In his mind, apart from their mother, all things in the world and all living beings were divided only into those that could be eaten and those that could not.

Even their father Qin Hanzhen and his younger brother Shen Mu fell into the category of things that could be eaten.

Only because their mother did not want him to eat Shen Mu did he reluctantly spare his younger brother's life. "If this batch of Lords of the Heavens at the Jade Capital realm came to Jingping, to what heights would Jingping's strength rise. .

.

" Blood gurgled from the corners of Shen Mu's mouth, his heart aching terribly.

Finally, the last god-demon fell in the darkness. Mahakala opened his eyes and looked at Shen Mu with an indifferent expression.

"I thought you would spare them. I never expected you to be so ruthless.

" In the pool of blood, Shen Mu's heart ached even more, blood spraying from his mouth like a fountain. Mahakala turned and walked toward the Mahakala Palace. "Leave.

I will give you half a day. If you cannot walk out of the Mahakala Palace's domain alive, then I will personally kill you. If you escape, I am willing to swallow my pride and will not touch Jingping.

" Dragon Qilin hurried over, placed Shen Mu, still recovering his physical body, onto his back, and without a word ran down the mountain.

Inside the Mahakala Palace, Mahakala's many disciples exchanged glances, quietly sizing up the silent Mahakala. This time Mahakala had suffered a great loss.

It was the two Heavenly Masters, the Woodcutter and Zixi, who had stirred up trouble, provoking the conflict between the Northern Skies and the Jingping Overlord Body.

Had Mahakala not intervened, the Northern Skies would likely have been taken away by these Lords of the Heavens, submitting to Jingping in hopes of preserving their lives. And even with Mahakala intervening, the Lords of the Heavens of all three hundred and sixteen Northern Skies had all lost their lives! These Lords of the Heavens could be said to be the most elite fighting strength under his command. In addition, the elite divine ability users selected from the various skies had buried countless young talents.

Mahakala had always been one to repay the smallest grievance, let alone after suffering such a great loss this time. Yet he held back, enduring in silence, even making the seemingly absurd and foolish move of leaving half a day for Shen Mu to leave his territory.

"At the same realm, defeating the Heavenly Court's strongest weapon—truly worthy of the Overlord Body. As long as he can survive, the future need not be one of dead silence.

" Mahakala stared blankly, then suddenly laughed. "You think letting him go brings shame to the Northern Skies, don't you? " Mo Santong, Xue Taidou, and the others did not dare speak. "As your teacher, I will tell you a secret.

" Mahakala chuckled.

"I was born before Longhan. That I could live from the ancient times until now is precisely because I have no shame. " Mo Santong and the others wore strange expressions, and no one responded. Mahakala stood up, darkness flowing behind him, and laughed.

"In those years, there were far too many existences stronger than me, and far too many smarter than me, yet few survived. I alone have endured through the ages, honored as the Demon Ancestor.

If I had cared about face and reputation, I would have died long ago. " Mo Santong and the others' eyes darted about.

In truth, these disciples' conduct also bore much of Mahakala's style. For example, during the days Shen Mu stayed in the Mahakala Palace, many of Mahakala's disciples openly said they wanted to challenge Shen Mu, but secretly wanted to use Shen Mu's guidance to point out their deficiencies in cultivation.

They were not stupid.

They knew their actions would expose Mahakala's Darkness Demon Kagya Sutra to Shen Mu, yet they still did so to improve their own strength.