17 True Heart (Part 2)
In order to safely cultivate the two paths to the extreme while still being able to be by Hai Meng's side, Tian Mo forged a new cultivation method that allowed him to split his body into three. The good self, the evil self, and the empty self. The empty self cultivated the immortal path. The evil self cultivated the holy path. And the good self was only responsible of accompanying Hai Meng. After a thousand years of cultivation, Tian Mo had not only returned to the peak of the holy path, but he had also reached the peak of the immortal path.
Using the three bodies as mediums, he forged the Immortal Demon Scripture which he planned to use to ascend to godhood. He was confident that with the six ancient laws and thirty-six totems he had cultivated, there would be no problem for him to cross six cosmic tribulations upon becoming a god. In one step, he would become supreme!
However…
"My divine father, alongside our country's divine elders, has returned."
Hai Meng exhaled while pressing her head against his shoulder and tightly enlacing his arm.
"Why is that such a bad new? Because he won't approve of a demon being by your side?
Tian Mo asked while gently stroking her sea blue hairs.
"If only it was that simple. Unfortunately, he announced the Heavenly Emperor's intent to conquer the Demonic Realm. The Heavenly World's army has already been dispatched. Naturally, the Ancient Sea World must participate."
She replied while unknowingly increasing the pressure on his arm. But hearing those words, Tian Mo's gentle face contorted into a grave frown.
"The Heavenly Emperor's greed is truly insatiable. What has the Demonic Realm done to deserve such hatred and suppression? Merely because of its unwillingness to follow the same road?"
"Emperors all want to rule supreme. Without supremacy, it is nothing but an empty title. Xuan Yuan is no different. He isn't willing to let the three realms not fully being within his grasp. First it will be the Demonic Realm, then it will be the Nature Realm."
Hai Meng stated. But her grip on Tian Mo's arms had grown even stronger, and now her nails were digging through his flesh. She didn't know it, but he did, and so turned his eyes toward her clearly anxious face. With but a glance, he knew what was on her mind, but even though he fully knew it, he couldn't help but disappoint her.
"I must return!"
He exclaimed in a firm tone that left no room for compromise. He had already regained his memories and knew fully well who he was. There was absolutely no way for him to abandon his homeland and relatives to the ruthless hands of the Heavenly World.
Those three words caused the tears Hai Meng had been suppressing to start flowing.
"I know. I know that you have a duty toward them, and I won't try to stop you. I only want you to promise me that…you will come back for me."
Tian Mo thought nothing of the struggling tone within her words, thinking that it was only natural.
"I definitely will."
He pledged.
And it was now time for him to become a god.
With a step, he alongside his three selves appeared above the ancient sea. Indifferently, his gaze swept the perimeter, then aimed toward the sky above, in the distant direction of the Heavenly World.
"Today is not merely the date of my ascension. Henceforth, throughout the three realms, I shall be invincible! Unification of the Three Corpses!"
He roared, and the good and evil selves merged into the empty self to become the true self. Due to the restrictions of the holy path and the forceful integration of ancient laws, he was now a middle-aged man, but he still had jet black hairs and a gaze as deep as a sea of stars.
The Ancient Sea World's sky immediately darkened, colonized by billowing dark clouds which stretched across the entire world but aimed solely at Tian Mo. Within those dark clouds, the shadows of a plethora of stars were hidden. And each rippled with enough power to obliterate a world.
To become a god, he didn't need to cross a cosmic tribulation. But to become the supreme god that would rescue his homeland, he would cross six!
And so, it began. And while the entire Ancient Sea World was alarmed, none dared approach. Thus, what exactly occurred within the successions of tribulations was unknown to all. However, at the end of the last stellar strike, Tian Mo emerged unscathed, his body brimming with heaven shaking divine qi which caused the entire world to shiver.
Suddenly, three beams of light flew toward him, and the figures of three sea blue-haired old men appeared within the sky. Their leader wore a blue sapphire crown and was dressed in the imperial robe of the Ancient Sea Country. Instantly, although they had never met before, Tian Mo recognized him as the Ancient Sea God, Hai Meng's father.
"Today I only want to leave your world and fight for my homeland. I hope you three seniors will not attempt to stop me."
"What is your excellencies' name?"
"Tian Mo!"
Gods usually chose a divine title for themselves upon their ascension to separate themselves from their previous selves.
Tian Mo, however, had no intention to do so. The name he had received from her was the only one he needed.
Naturally, they had never heard of him. However, upon sensing the horrifying tribulation that consumed the entire world's sky, they couldn't help but dread his presence.
But while dreading was one thing, duty was another, and from him, they could feel a strange fluctuation of the immortal and holy roads!
"I don't know what heretical technique you have cultivated, but today, you absolutely cannot leave my Ancient Sea World. Patiently wait for the Heavenly Emperor's judgment!"
Tian Mo had no time for such trifles and casually threw out a punch. Massive waves of divine power erupted, slammed into the three gods, and sent them crashing into the Ancient Sea with superficial wounds.
"Considering that you are Hai Meng's elders, I will not make things too difficult for you. Just quietly stay within the ancient sea."
And with that said, he flew toward the starry sky!
What followed would one day become a legendary tale. Tian Mo single-handedly met and stopped the Heavenly World's armies at the border between the Demonic and Celestial realms, and in a shocking battle, slew innumerable gods and immortals! The Heavenly World's army was routed, and the emperor severely wounded! Henceforth, Tian Mo became known as the greatest powerhouse of the three realms.
Enraged, the Heavenly Emperor Xuan Yuan retreated to the Heavenly World and ordered the immortal worlds to combine their armies for one frontal assault.
Strangely, however, the Ancient Sea World sent no troops. And further incensed, Xuan Yuan let his younger brother marshal the massive forces toward the Demonic Realm, while he personally descended onto the Ancient Sea World!
In the meantime, Tian Mo alongside many demon gods and saints had gathered within the Holy Demon World, capital of the Demonic Realm, to strategize against further assault when he heard the news of the Ancient Sea World being assaulted.
Immediately, he wanted to rush to its aid, but at the same time, couldn't abandon his realm to the oncoming invaders!
"What to do?"
"What to do?"
"I cannot lose her. I cannot give her up! Anything can be lost…except her…"
"But my people, my relatives, my past friends, and my lineage, all of them are here! What to do? What to do!?"
He inwardly howled.
"Transferring cultivation base. That is the only option left…"
Tian Mo's eyes shone with decisive light, and immediately, he fell on his knees in front of his father the Flame Demon God.
"Father, your son is unfilial. I hope that with this gift, you can shoulder the mission of protecting the Demonic Realm!"
And without waiting for his puzzled father to say anything, Tian Mo used a different version of his Three Corpse Incantation to forcefully pull out his Saint-God essence and overbearingly merge it with his father.
And leaving a baffled gathering of saints and gods, he carried his grievously weakened and damaged body and soared toward the Ancient Sea World.
"Hai Meng you cannot die!"
"I have yet to tell you…how much I love you. How much I wish to spend eternity by your side. That besides you…nothing else matters!"
"Without you, I do not want invincibility."
"Without you, I do not want to be supreme!"
"You cannot die!"
"Hai Meng please wait for me!"
But Tian Mo never reached the Ancient Sea World in time. By the time he arrived, Xuan Yuan had already obliterated the Ancient Sea Country and Hai Meng's dying form was the only thing he could hold onto.
Feeling her limp, deathly pale body losing its lifeforce within his arms, Tian Mo's sorrow turned into animalistic furry and rancor!
But as her fading sight glanced at his grief-stricken face, Hai Meng mustered her last reserves of strength to lift her palms and hold his cheeks within her hands.
"A-at least…you came back. B-Being able to see you again…I-I'm satisfied."
"K-knowing that your heart was true…I can die in peace."
A wave of purple light then wrapped Tian Mo's body, and he vanished from that world.
..........
In the same light, Hou Hui reappeared in front of the divine will.
"You failed."
