Chapter 717 — The Power of the Netherworld's Old God

The Heavenly Lord and the Crimson Emperor stared at each other, eye to eye, and found themselves caught fast in a dilemma.

If they lent Shen Mu no more power, he would most likely be unable to hold his own against the demon-gods of the Dark Capital; Lou Yunqu had already been driven blood-mad by the slaughter, and had even gone so far as to throw open the Dark Capital's heavenly gate, summoning demon-gods from every realm and every quarter of the Dark Capital to attack Shen Mu. Add to that the God of Calamity, whose strength was unfathomable, and Shen Mu's position became perilous in the extreme. But if they lent Shen Mu more of the Nether Capital Divine Child's power, he would be utterly demonized, transformed into an evil being that even they regarded with dread, and then the situation would be far harder to rein in.

"Perhaps.

. .

" The Heavenly Lord hesitated.

"We wait a little longer?

" The Crimson Emperor nodded.

"Mm. A little longer.

Let us wait and see.

. . " The two ancient beings were uneasy beyond measure.

The Heavenly Lord pried a crack in the seal, and through Shen Mu's third eye stole a glimpse of the battle outside. He had watched but a short while when the Crimson Emperor could not restrain himself, edged over, and shoved him aside.

The two had no choice but to agree that each would watch for a while, then yield his place so the other might steal his own look. Outside, Shen Mu and the God of Calamity and the rest had already fought their way into the skies above the Yong River.

When the demon-gods of the Dark Capital poured from the Dark Capital's heavenly gate and sought to drown him, Shen Mu opened his mouth and spat; rolling thunder-light swallowed every one of the Dark Capital's demon-gods. There were a great many demon-gods of the Dark Capital. Even as many were struck until their whole bodies convulsed, their forms suddenly collapsing and raining down in clattering heaps of bone, the demon-gods of the Dark Capital were unlike those of other worlds.

The Dark Capital was a world that had broken away from the Nether Capital, sharing certain of its properties; it too was a gathering place of souls and primordial spirits.

The difference was that the soul-bodies and primordial-spirit bodies of the Nether Capital could not preserve a physical form, unless they were demon-gods in whom the dark demonic nature of the Nether Capital had bred, and only then could they possess bodies; naturally, the god-demons dispatched by the Heavenly Court to be stationed in the Nether Capital could also possess physical bodies.

In the Dark Capital, however, most god-demons could possess physical bodies, but these bodies were of a singular kind. The physical bodies of the Dark Capital's god-demons were in truth the bones they had left behind in life.

When god-demons of the Heavenly Court fell in battle, they would often drift down into the Dark Capital; if their physical bodies were preserved, they could be brought along with them. Yet because those bodies were already dead, decay was unavoidable, and in the end only the bones remained to be used.

Thus the most common sight in the Dark Capital was armies of skeletal god-demons. Beyond these, there were also those who possessed whole, intact bodies, but they were for the most part god-demons sent down by the Heavenly Court, and, besides them, the mighty of Yin Sovereign's lineage.

Shen Mu spat out the Five Great Cloud Thunders and the Fire-Bell Divine Weapons he had swallowed but had not yet had time to digest. One after another, demon-gods were blasted apart by the lightning and fell as bones, yet at once those bones gathered again under the power of the demon-gods' primordial spirits, and came surging in frenzy at Shen Mu once more. At the same time, the God of Calamity was fighting with vast, sweeping strokes, batting the demon-gods around him away as he closed in on Shen Mu.

The skeletons of the demon-gods he struck away would often burst into fragments in midair.

His battle strength was the greatest of all; even Shen Mu, trading blows with him head-on, would find it hard to gain the upper hand.

If he were allowed to close to grappling range, it would be deadly beyond measure. Yet these bones could reassemble even after being ground to powder, truly uncanny, an army of god-demons that could scarcely be killed.

Lou Yunqu watched the course of battle with anxious urgency, fixing his stare on Shen Mu amid the swarming demons. He saw shattered bone fall ceaselessly from the sky into the Yong River, but at once reassembled skeletons would come bursting up out of the river, rejoining the fray.

The demon-gods of the Dark Capital were fierce and fearless of death, for they had long since died; they cared nothing for any attack, nothing for any wound. The Yong River was beaten until its flow was cut off, exposing the dragon vein beneath it. In recent years that dragon vein had grown swiftly, its scales and claws becoming ever more distinct.

The waters of that great river were hammered until they floated in the air, forming a magnificent and strange spectacle beneath the moonlight, like moons made of water, refracting the clear bright radiance of the moon. Shen Mu and the many demon-gods flew to and fro among the great orbs of water, locked in ceaseless vicious combat.

With every collision a skeletal demon-god was sent flying, and the recoil forced Shen Mu to shift his position again and again.

In the air the orbs of water burst one after another, scattering jade and spilling pearls, incomparably brilliant under the moonlight. Most terrifying of all was the God of Calamity: with a single strike his divine power pierced through dozens of the great water orbs, the mighty force of the god tearing them into their finest, most minute state.

"At this rate, taking him down will be no difficult matter. " Lou Yunqu could finally breathe a little easier.

Just then, he felt a chill at his back and hurriedly turned his head.

Behind his Dark Capital heavenly gate, in the dark world belonging to the Dark Capital, a figure was gradually taking shape; the moon of Jingping lit his face, revealing a handsome countenance. "Master!

" Lou Yunqu's heart gave a start.

He was about to offer his respects when he saw Yin Sovereign raise a single finger to his lips in a gesture for silence, and, smiling, look across the netherworld at Shen Mu. Lou Yunqu was baffled by his meaning, and unease gnawed at his heart. "Master himself is watching this battle. Can this Nether Capital Divine Child truly be so important?

His strength is great, to be sure, but not so overbearing as the legends say.

Why should he draw Master's attention? " Yin Sovereign's gaze was deep and dark, fixed fast upon Shen Mu as he fought the thousands upon thousands of skeletal demon-gods, his eyes following Shen Mu's every movement.

"So it is he. " Yin Sovereign mused. "We met in the Nether Capital.

I took him for Tian Shu's disciple; now it seems the boy was making a fool of me. To put on such an act.

.

. " The skeletal demon-gods of the Dark Capital were all dead men, while Yin Sovereign was a living god.

The dead could pass through the Dark Capital's heavenly gate into Jingping; he could not. The Dark Capital had once been a part of the Nether Capital, and had inherited certain of its properties, but not all.

This was also why Lou Yunqu and the others, if they wished to enter Jingping, had to ride the phoenix treasure ship of Qi Xiayu, the Crimson Emperor of the Southern Heaven.

"He still has not recovered to his peak.

Can it be that my Dark Capital Jade Mirror has suppressed him?

" He did not know that Shen Fengqing was two people in one body and one soul, and so he was somewhat bewildered.