Chapter 47: Pilgrimage Part 3

Mu Qingshan extended his right hand. A massive Deer Antler Longbow materialized, its twin tips gleaming with cold blades like dagger points, ready for the Black-Winged Great Peng Bird to pounce and ignite a fight to the death.

“If the Cyan Wolf and White Deer were both here,” the Black-Winged Great Peng said lowly, “perhaps you’d have a chance against me. But just you alone…”

Mu Qingshan did not reply. His eyes suddenly cleared, fixing on the Black-Winged Great Peng in the sky.

“…still can’t change any of this.”

With those words, the Black-Winged Great Peng shot down like a black flame meteor. Mu Qingshan became a streak of light. Their movements were lightning-fast, turning into entwined shadows battling atop Taihang Mountain Summit. They clashed several times mid-air, blood spraying.

Demonic Qi exploded from the Black-Winged Great Peng. At the moment of close combat, he revealed demonic claws and thrust one through Mu Qingshan’s chest!

A massive boom echoed as heavy dreamscapes surged in.

Kun and Peng merged as one, hovering in the air, overlooking the Shenzhou Great Land.

“I shall become the sole master of this grand world—” The Heavenly Demon’s voice shook the wilderness. Countless past memories surged like a tsunami: the Phoenix Great Bright King shrouded in red light and Blazing Flame; sunrises and sunsets in Yaojin Palace; the slumbering face of the Peacock Great Bright King… Flocks of birds rolled eastward like layered clouds, the mortal world’s seas turning to mulberry fields…

…Until the giant Kun of the Northern Lands transformed into the Demon King with black cloth over his eyes and brows, walking toward him.

In the flow of time, the previous Exorcist fired his final arrow at him. Kunpeng separated once more. The Black-Winged Great Peng’s demonic form shattered, his Cultivation Base lost. A wisp of soul cast itself into the Heavenly Veins, reborn anew. The Inner Elixir still wandered the land, gradually coalescing into humanoid form under Baleful Qi’s nourishment. That strand of obsession pursued the past, filled with unwillingness and resentment, reshaping its body through its final wish.

The Black-Winged Great Peng opened his eyes, one hand still piercing Mu Qingshan’s chest, his entire body enveloped in memories from the dreamscape.

Blood poured endlessly from Mu Qingshan’s mouth and nose, yet he had drawn the massive Deer Antler Bow, nocking the arrow against the Black-Winged Great Peng’s chest.

Mu Qingshan loosed the arrow!

An explosion rang out high above Taihang Mountain Summit. The Demonic Qi shockwave spread, blowing away ancient unchanging snow. Yet Yaojin Palace’s Barrier remained impregnable, never opening its gates to the Great Peng King until the end.

In that brief instant, the Black-Winged Great Peng and White Deer both reverted to beast form, entangled together before separating violently. The White Deer dragged his bloodied body and plummeted into the depths of Taihang Mountain. The Black-Winged Great Peng was pierced obliquely mid-air, erupting in roiling black qi as its Inner Elixir shattered and fell toward the distance.

Heavenly Demon Palace:

The Floating Island hung high in the sky, ringed by perpetual thunderclouds, black qi faintly coiling around the palace halls. Outside, a massive platform thrust deep into the thunderclouds, with the Shenzhou Great Land ten thousand zhang below.

Nine paths extended toward the central courtyard of the island. A towering black tree grew in the courtyard, its veins and branches faintly glowing. Atop the black tree rotated a Golden Giant Wheel, turning slowly with the passage of time.

A strand of black qi led ahead. Sa Luan followed it into the Main Hall of the Heavenly Demon Palace.

“We meet again.” A man’s voice echoed in the Main Hall.

Sa Luan tensed immediately, looking around. Before the throne under the giant tree, a man stood and walked toward him. The man was nearly bare-chested above, clad in a king’s skirt below. His skin was fair, his build lean, with faint black Talismanic Runes on his chest and abs.

An obvious wound marred his left shoulder, where a Black Bird perched, releasing black fire over the injury. Under the flames’ power, the man’s wound slowly healed.

His long hair was braided into several small plaits tied at the back. His face bore ancient Western Rong People features: wild brows, high cheekbones, high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and a tattoo on his forehead—vastly different from people in Song, Liao, Jin, or Xia lands today.

The Throne was embedded in the roots of the black tree, with a black Bone Long Spear thrust behind it.

Sa Luan said tremulously, “Where is Mr. Ying? Who are you?”

King Mu gazed at Sa Luan and said, “I am the one they call the ‘Heavenly Sovereign.'”

As he rose, Sa Luan felt immense pressure and involuntarily stepped back.

Yet King Mu’s tone was mild. “How have you been staying in the Heavenly Demon Palace?”

“I… I…” The scene before him exceeded Sa Luan’s understanding. He brimmed with fear, yet for some reason, deep inside, excitement stirred in King Mu’s presence.

“Things were busy before,” King Mu descended the Throne. “I couldn’t attend to you for a moment. It’s been nearly half a year since Mr. Ying brought you to the palace.”

Sa Luan asked suspiciously, “What exactly are you?”

“I am Shenzhou’s sole sovereign these past two thousand years.” King Mu gently moved the Black Bird from his shoulder. “It’s a long story. Since you’re here, shall I show you around?”

“Half a year ago, Mr. Ying brought you back to the Heavenly Demon Palace, but with your mortal body, you still struggled to adapt to the environment here, so I granted you a ‘Seed’ and remade you.”

King Mu came to Sa Luan’s side, nodded toward him, and Sa Luan glanced at the only path ahead before leaving the open throne hall with him, heading toward the eastern side of the Floating Island.

“You slept in the palace for half a year.”

Sa Luan snapped back to attention, raised his hand, and discovered that black patterns similar to those on King Mu’s body had appeared on his arms and torso.