Chapter 685 — The Heavenly Palace Takes Shape

"The road from the Western Lands to the Central Lands has been severed by Taihuang Heaven. Jingping's authority cannot reach the Western Lands, and so the Western Lands will rebel. Therefore we must break through Taihuang Heaven and open a tunnel, or a teleportation formation."

Shen Mu gathered with the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, Lin Xuan, and other masters of calculation and divination to deduce and reckon the effects of Taihuang Heaven's descent upon Jingping. The talk flew back and forth, and Shen Mu said, "Building a teleportation formation is simple enough, but maintaining one is a vast expense; it requires an ocean of medicinal stones. Breaking through a few tunnels costs greatly at the outset, but less thereafter."

Dao Lord Lin Xuan said, "Taihuang Heaven runs north to south, cutting the Central Lands from the Western Lands. It will have complex effects on the existing rivers and waterways, the movements of the atmosphere, and rainfall and snowfall. The water patterns, the atmosphere, and the precipitation must all be recalculated."

Xu Shenghua said, "We must calculate which places will suffer grave effects, and whether a desert climate will form. That is when we need a Dragon King. Jingping must have a Dragon King, or the deserts cannot be prevented."

Ling Yuxiu added, "We also need a Count of the Winds and a Master of Rain, to govern rainfall and the monsoons!"

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping mused, "There is more. Though the primordial magnetism of Taihuang Heaven has been brought under control, both Taihuang Heaven and Luofu Heaven possess magnetic force, and we must still investigate their effects upon plants and beasts. In calculating the waters, the atmosphere, and the rain, we must also factor in the magnetic force of the two worlds, and monitor the influence of that force upon earthquakes."

Lizheng said, "Then we need Earth Lords, and a great many of them! Beneath Jingping dwell the Earthwalkers, descendants of the Earth Lords of the Kaihuang Celestial Court, who obey the command of the Human Emperor Seal. Shen'er can go with the First Ancestor to meet them."

Wang Muran said, "The vapors and clouds rise from the sea. On the sea we also need a god to govern the movements of the ocean's clouds, so that the land may have favorable wind and rain. Beyond the clouds, we must also marshal the wild winds and great waves, to protect Jingping's fishing boats."

"The work is immense, and we need someone versed in calculation to oversee the treasury. We need a God of Wealth skilled in calculation to control the national coffers!"

"Every project, the dispatch of tower ships, requires a God of Ships to direct it. In the sea there is the Great Kun, of the Kun clan, who can be summoned with the Human Emperor Seal. Only, we do not yet know who their present chieftain is."

"Heavenly crafts create things. To forge the great treasures that suppress the fortunes of Taihuang Heaven and Luofu Heaven, and to forge all manner of divine weapons to open the roads, we need a God of Heavenly Craft!"

"To control disease and plague, we need a God of Medicine!"

"To control fire and other calamities, we need a God of Fire!"

...

The debate went on in a babble of voices. After long discussion, they settled what must be done in the aftermath of Taihuang Heaven's fall, and divine offices great and small were designed. Long Qilin, whose attainments in calculation were exceedingly high, had taken part as well, and suddenly he said, "Sect Master, Imperial Preceptor of Jingping — are we not building a Celestial Court?"

Shen Mu, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, and the rest were startled, and hurriedly looked over the divine offices they had designed. Were these not the very prototype of the Celestial Court's divine offices?

The offices they had designed — were they not precisely the offices in the Celestial Court's system that did real work?

With these offices, the basic framework of a Celestial Court had taken shape!

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping shook his head. "It is too early yet to found a Celestial Court."

Lizheng nodded. "Store grain widely and delay claiming the throne. This time we set only duties, not divine offices. Let this matter not be spread abroad; let each keep it in his heart."

The others nodded one after another.

Yet they did not realize that a magnificent history was even then slowly drawing back its curtain — here in this city, in the absence of Emperor Yanfeng, in this brief discussion of theirs.

Perhaps many years later, recalling this day, they would be filled with sighs. But they, now, did not yet know what the future held.

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping said, "The calculations are enormous; we alone cannot work them all out. Let us settle the general direction, and I will report it to the Emperor, who will summon the able and the wise from all under heaven to do these things together."

Suddenly someone asked, "Then what of the Demon Race and the gods and demons of Taihuang Heaven?"

Everyone frowned at once, at a loss.

The hatred between Taihuang Heaven and the Demon Race could not be dissolved. The True God Pang Yu and his fellows had not hesitated to break all ties with the Woodcutter Sage; the gods of Taihuang Heaven had even declared that they would not dwell beneath the same sky as the Demon Race. Their hatred was higher than heaven and deeper than the sea.

Shen Mu pondered a moment, then said, "Let the people of Taihuang Heaven dwell in the Wasteland. The Wasteland is not beneath the same sky as Jingping. As for Fu Riluo and the Demon Race, let them settle on the northern ice plains, as far from the Wasteland as may be."

"That is all we can do," the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping said with a nod.

Taihuang Heaven's fall left too much to be done; the work was immense, and much of it required forging mighty divine weapons and treasures before the earthquakes could be quelled, the volcanoes extinguished, the clouds drawn along, and the sea's winds and waves calmed.

Such things Shen Mu had never touched.

"We still need the Woodcutter Sage."

Granny Zhu said, "In all this world, he alone can master so much knowledge."

Shen Mu agreed, and sought out the Woodcutter Sage and the First Ancestor Human Emperor, and laid out in detail the thoughts of the assembly. The Woodcutter Sage laughed. "I have been waiting for you to say that. Now I may go to see Emperor Yanfeng."

When they reached the capital, Shen Mu took out the Human Emperor Seal and stirred its power. Every clan under heaven felt the summons of the Human Emperor Seal, and after some ten-odd days the Earthwalkers, the Five Immortals demon race, the Kun clan, the Winged clan, the Sea clan, the Black Tortoise clan, and others arrived one after another at the capital of Jingping.

The capital was in a great uproar.

The clans obeyed only the Human Emperor Seal; they acknowledged the seal, not the man. Even to Emperor Yanfeng they showed no pleasant face, and to Lizheng they showed even less.

The new chieftain of the Earthwalkers was the widow of the former chieftain, Tu Xingfeng — a woman of squat build who stood no higher than Shen Mu's knee, with a stubbled beard; had she been tall, she would have been most imposing.

This Lady Tu was a woman, her body all trained muscle, her strength inexhaustible. To Shen Mu she was courteous; at Lizheng she bristled her beard and glared.

To Emperor Yanfeng, Lady Tu said nothing but "Mud Turtle Emperor" at every turn, so that Yanfeng trembled with rage, hand and foot, and even when he took up his brush to tally the number of beheadings, his hand shook without cease.

Among the Five Immortals demon race, the Willow Immortal, the Yellow Immortal, and the White Immortal had fallen in the battle at the Shenduan Mountains, blocking Heaven Above. Those who came this time were the new chieftains; Xue Hu'er came together with the Fox Immortal.