Chapter 690 — The Primal Origin of Darkness

Shen Mu gave him half a dou of spirit elixirs, heaped until they filled a washbasin, and said to Yan Jingjing, "He's a coward, but the moment food is mentioned, he fears neither heaven nor earth. " Yan Jingjing understood at once, and laughed.

"Dragon Fatty is stronger than he looks—just now I put all my strength into it and still couldn't drag him out of the ground. What were you reading earlier? It gave me quite a scare!

" Shen Mu handed her the Book of Life and Death. "It is a Youdu divine art the Lord left me.

I was absorbed in it. " Yan Jingjing sat down and studied the runes on the book in fine detail, only to find them far too intricate—she could make neither head nor tail of them.

Shen Mu sat beside her and pointed them out one by one. "These are the writings of Youdu. The script of Youdu is not the same as that of the world of the living; to the people of the living world, the script of Youdu is what is commonly called ghost scribbles. Yet the script of Youdu is exceedingly ancient, and hidden within those characters are unfathomable divine arts and dharma—it is the vessel of the Great Way of Youdu. " Yan Jingjing listened in a fog, but since he was sitting at her side she was perfectly happy, and as for what the writing on the book actually said, her mind had long since wandered.

Shen Mu went on. "Writing is information; it carries the dharma.

Once you understand the script of a civilization, its dharma is not difficult to grasp. The Lord did not wish to teach me this divine art, afraid I would spread it far and wide. But if he thought that would keep it from me, he underestimated me by far too much. " Yan Jingjing laid the Book of Life and Death on her lap and smoothed the stray hairs at her temples with both hands.

Puzzled, she asked, "This divine art is so complex—how is one to learn its principles from it? " Shen Mu laughed. "I understand the Youdu tongue; the mysteries of these runes are no obstacle to me.

What is hard is the shifting of their patterns, their layering, their transformation and reconstruction—the things bound up in that, I do not understand. My study of Youdu divine arts is not deep, but fortunately I know a great many people of outstanding talent, and I can invite them to study it with me. Together we will surely unlock the secrets of this divine art! " The Angler rose, folded up his little stool, and came over. "Let me have a look.

" Yan Jingjing hurried to her feet and handed him the Book of Life and Death.

He flipped through it once, and his head swam and his eyes blurred. Shaking his head, he said, "Can't make it out. Perhaps the Woodcutter could.

He understands a great many things. " Shen Mu looked toward the Soul Spring, and saw that many small moons had been tethered beside it, shedding a bright and limpid radiance. The Angler had actually fished out so many moons in so short a time—his skill was truly out of the ordinary.

The Angler stowed his hook and line, and the two little red fish leaped back into his creel.

He waved a hand. "The sun and the moon have been fished out; it is time I took my leave. Will you ride the red kun back with me, or return by way of the Soul Spring?

" Shen Mu and Yan Jingjing conferred, then Shen Mu said, "The Fisherman Heavenly Master keeps staring at the eye in the center of my brow. I fear he may not be able to resist lifting his hook and pulling my brother out. So we will go back through the Soul Spring into the Star Sea—that road is shorter.

" The Angler waved his hand and turned to go, the fish creel on his back.

"Be loving and harmonious, you two!

" The two little red fish poked their heads out and waved their fins at them. Shen Mu and Yan Jingjing blushed faintly, and the mood turned a little awkward.

The Dragon Qilin was licking the basin, licking it with a sand-scraping rasp, breaking the brief silence.

Once the basin was clean, it rolled its tongue, and the washbasin vanished—no one knew where it had hidden it.

It had always prized its own rice bowl above all else. "Jump down from the Soul Spring, and you are within the Star Sea.

The Star Sea is a most peculiar thing—it can carry you swiftly to the Dawn Spring.

" Yan Jingjing said, "That way we can spare ourselves half a month of travel.

" Shen Mu was deeply curious about the Star Sea, and asked, "Do you know where the Star Sea came from? " Yan Jingjing said, "Grandpa Clan Chief does not understand it well either. He only heard that the Star Sea is a treasure that has not yet taken shape, forged by a mighty one of the Kaihuang Era.

Before it was finished, they moved away to Wuyou Township. " They stood on the Dragon Qilin's back, and the Dragon Qilin dove into the Soul Spring.

The light grew ever more brilliant, and soon they came to a vast and empty underground world. Shen Mu said, "A treasure that has not yet taken shape?

But I clearly saw many divine weapons flying through those stars—how can it be a treasure? " He had once seen a terrifying sword core in the underground Star Sea, bursting with five-colored flying swords that were released and recalled at will—a thing of dreadful power.

Suddenly both their gazes went blank. A great chasm ran north to south, cutting straight across the underground Star Sea, blocking the way between the Dawn Spring and the Soul Spring exactly!

Countless stars in the Star Sea formed a river of stars; one after another they crashed against it, hammering the underground chasm until it cracked apart without cease. The river of stars had punched hole after hole clean through it!

The river of stars still revolved around the two wells, but the stars within it were no longer stars—they were treasure after treasure wreathed in divine might, hurtling madly through the air, and the whistling of their passage came without pause. That chasm must be the portion of Taihuang Heaven that had been smashed into the depths of the Desolate Ruins. It had been pierced through by the "stars" of the Star Sea—and those stars were not true stars either, but treasures that had already taken shape.

These treasures flew by their own power at terrifying speed, now and then unleashing their divine might—a thing most dreadful. The giant sword core Shen Mu had seen on his last visit here was among them. That sword core flew at a horrifying pace, and all around it burst forth flying swords of every color, like a star that raced through the heavens trailing edges of light!

The other treasures likewise flared with power from time to time; the might of one treasure clashed against another, as though each borrowed the other's strength to temper itself! "My heavens. .

. " Shen Mu stared, eyes glazed, at the unspeakably dreadful spectacle before him, and murmured, "This truly is the forging of a treasure—only I do not know what treasure is being forged.

If it is ever completed, I fear it will be many times more terrible than the Chiming Heaven-Shaking Tower. .

.

" Yan Jingjing said, "We cannot pass through here. One careless step on that road and we will die with no place to be buried. " Shen Mu nodded. The scene was too horrifying; even Taihuang Heaven had been pierced through with ease.

If they charged in, they would likely be blasted into scattered soul and spirit by those treasures! "Who is forging these treasures?

By the look of it, they are close to ripening. .

.

" Doubts churned in his heart. He ordered the Dragon Qilin to emerge from the Soul Spring, thinking, "Strange, when you think about it—the depths of the Desolate Ruins seem to hold a great many bizarre treasures. Beneath the Shenduan Mountains lies buried a divine blade of immense size, no less than a hundred thousand li from north to south. And here there is a river of stars this dreadful, every star of it a divine weapon. .