Chapter 705 — The Blazing Thoroughfare

The Taixuan Canon of Calculation was used to explain the macroscopic aspect of all things in the cosmos, and thereby to deduce the macroscopic great Dao of the cosmos; the Taiwei Canon of Calculation was used to explain the microscopic aspect of all things, and to expound the microscopic great Dao. Of course, Shen Mu had deduced the Taiwei Canon of Calculation only from the microscopic aspect of the heavenfire, and it still had many deficiencies. For the moment it could explain only the Xuandu Heavenfire. "Then can I now calculate the great Dao of heavenfire?

" Shen Mu grew excited and devoted himself to deducing the intricate crystal structure of the great Dao of heavenfire. His understanding of fire runes was inferior to Yan Jingjing's—in truth, the depth of his research was inferior to hers, though its breadth surpassed hers.

His fire runes included the Vermilion Bird vital qi, which encompassed the mainstream Vermilion Bird rune system; the Yinghuo Star Lord rune system of the Yinghuo Fire Lord True Art; the various rune systems of divine fire and demon fire in the Dayu Youmo Scripture; and the flame dragon script of the Ancestral Dragon Taixuan Art. Even so, Shen Mu's mastery of fire runes was far from perfect, for beyond these there were the fire runes of the Great Sun Star Lord, the fire runes of the Phoenix, the fire divine arts of the Demon Race, and many other kinds besides—an immense multitude. This time, in deducing the great Dao of heavenfire, he had to cast aside every fire rune he had learned before and begin from zero.

The hardest part of beginning from zero was writing the character 'one. ' In truth, this 'one' meant fixing the trajectory of the first point to form a basic calculative structure, then calculating the calculative structure of the second point from the trajectory of the first, and then establishing the third point, the fourth point.

Only when the calculative structures of all the points had formed a unique crystal structure was the first step complete.

After that came the use of the Taiwei Canon of Calculation to compute more and different crystal constructions; different crystal sequences could compose divine arts of differing power. Shen Mu tried his hand at the calculations, while Long Qilin bore him and the sword elixir onward under their weight. By the time they reached the Shenduan Mountains, which had been razed flat, he had at last, for the first time, determined the first divine art of the great Dao of heavenfire.

The divine art was still crude, not refined. The Dao itself had no power; what had power was the divine art. This one divine art was the expression of the power of the great Dao of heavenfire. With the first divine art in hand, he could labor bitterly at it and create a second heavenfire divine art, a third heavenfire divine art.

. . Suddenly a voice came: "Shen Fengqing, Divine Son of Youdu!

" Shen Mu was slightly taken aback. There were not many people who called him both Divine Son of Youdu and Shen Fengqing.

He looked up and a faint smile appeared.

"Brother Qi—Qi Jiuyi. " Qi Jiuyi stood upon the ruins of the Shenduan Mountains and said calmly, "Divine Son of Youdu, I have come to take my leave of you. I will return to the Heavenly Court and no longer concern myself with the affairs of your lower realm.

Do you know what that means? " Shen Mu's eyes flickered.

"It means the Heavenly Court is about to move against Jingping. " Qi Jiuyi nodded.

"These past days I have traveled throughout Jingping and seen the Imperial Preceptor's reforms blazing like wildfire. Then I met my three senior brothers. You know them.

" Shen Mu said, "Lou Yunqu, Kui Qingpei, and Fu Yanqi.

Did they too enter the Wilderness Ruins when Taihuang Heaven fell? But the three of them alone cannot stir up much of a storm.

Jingping now has many experts—whether Chiming, the Demon Race, or Taihuang Heaven, all have many masters. Killing the three of them would not be difficult.

" Qi Jiuyi smiled a half-smile.

"They have come to bring calamity, not to wage war against you.

And bringing calamity is not difficult for them.

For the deities of the Nether Capital who hold the Book of Life and Death, wiping out several million or tens of millions of people is effortless—scarcely worth the lifting of a finger. " The corner of Shen Mu's eye twitched. The Book of Life and Death did indeed possess such power.

Qi Jiuyi said, "Wipe out that many people, sacrifice them to the stone statues of Jingping, and the Divine Men revive and slaughter wantonly—and thus more stone statues can be revived.

" Shen Mu shook his head. "Even if those Divine Men revive, what can they do? Jingping now has so many powerful figures, and the power of the Wilderness Ruins is unfathomable.

What could their revival accomplish? " Qi Jiuyi said, "You carry a divine pot called the Five Thunder Pot, do you not? It is a divine weapon forged by the Northern Emperor, containing five cloud thunders, and within the cloud thunders are fire-bell divine weapons. " Shen Mu nodded. "I have heard of this Northern Emperor.

He is called the Great Emperor Xuanwu. " Qi Jiuyi said, "The Great Emperor Xuanwu is a born divine sage. " Shen Mu said, "Kaihuang once invited the Northern Emperor as a guest. " Qi Jiuyi said, "And yet the Northern Emperor's divine weapon has become a weapon for bringing calamity.

The Five Thunder Pot is only one of them.

More calamity-bringing divine weapons have also come to Jingping.

You must have hidden these divine weapons away, and that is why you feel so secure. The Northern Emperor's divine weapon is one of the calamity-bringing divine weapons—do you think the others are weaker?

Do you think you can truly hide these calamity-bringing divine weapons away? " Shen Mu's expression shifted slightly. "The other divine weapons are about equal to the Northern Emperor's?

Are they too born divine sages? " "Yes.

" Qi Jiuyi said, "Bringing calamity is by nature the method of born divine sages.

Once the stone statues of Jingping revive, those calamity-bringing divine weapons will slip from your control.

If I were you, I would leave this place as quickly as possible and hide as far away as I could.

" Shen Mu drew a long breath. A keen light flickered in his eyes, and he said in a low voice, "Brother Qi, we are plainly adversaries—why do you still warn me of something so important? " Qi Jiuyi smiled. "I have a grudge against you alone, not against the people here. And even if I tell you, you have no way to respond. Jingping will fall sooner or later.

Besides, I wish to fulfill a long-held wish before I go. " Shen Mu smiled.

"I fear you will not be able to fulfill that wish.

" "When masters cross blades, striking at the heart is best. " Qi Jiuyi smiled. "I have just revealed such a terrifying secret, and your Dao heart has already been shaken by me.

Our strength is about equal; if your Dao heart is shaken, then I am confident of victory. " Shen Mu said leisurely, "For the information you have told me, I can spare your life.

Please! "