Chapter 746 — Rivaling the Gods

Red patterns interwove all about his body, wrapping his frame and forming garments that were like fire and yet not fire. Behind his head appeared a strange manifestation: a vertical halo, an oval ring seemingly made of flame — whether it was true flame or not, they could not tell. "No wonder he is called Huo Tianzun.

" Shen Mu studied him with curiosity. "So this is the one who opened the Heaven-and-Man Treasury? Ling Tianzun's talent is dazzling enough already; this Huo Tianzun must be no ordinary man either!

" He had now met two of the Seven Tianzuns. Both should be at the Spirit Bridge realm — compared with those ancient gods of the Heavenly Court whose divine arts were vast, their cultivation and strength were not high.

Even set beside demigods, the Seven Tianzuns' strength was of no rank at all.

And yet it was youths and girls such as these who were called Tianzun. They were called Tianzun not for their cultivation, but for their achievements. Seeing Shen Mu, Kaihuang, and Old Ox, Huo Tianzun was slightly startled, but did not take them to heart.

He said: "You have wasted your cleverness and talent on useless things for far too long. Ever since you opened the Six Heavens Treasury, you have accomplished nothing more — all because you threw yourself wholly into proving that time does not exist!

With your wisdom and ability, had you not squandered your vigor, but devoted yourself to how the seven great Treasuries might be broken through, then the first to break through might well have been you!

" Ling Tianzun shook her head: "Yu Tianzun is cleverer than I am, and far better at maneuvering.

He was the first to open a Treasury; the reason he has done nothing these several hundred years since is that his gaze is already fixed on a higher and more distant plane.

He is the one destined to be the first to surpass the Treasuries — not I. " Huo Tianzun, angered by her refusal to strive, said: "Yu Tianzun told me himself that you are the cleverest of the seven of us. Had you bent your mind to another realm, there would have been no place for him. He said it with his own mouth! And now he has broken through and achieved a feat that stands between heaven and earth: he has made it so that divine ability users do not die, so that they may stand alongside the ancient gods. That achievement ought to have been yours!

" The peach-wood pin in Ling Tianzun's hair was shaken loose by the force of his breath, and her hair tumbled down. The girl took out a silk ribbon and tied her hair into a horsetail. She shook her head: "That is no more than a single realm. If not dying were enough to make one a god, I could have made divine ability users undying long ago.

Just now this senior brother told me that the divine art I created is called the Creation Art, and that so long as one cultivates my art, an undying body is easily won. " Huo Tianzun frowned slightly; the ring of fire behind him swayed gently. He looked at Shen Mu and shook his head: "The words of a charlatan of the rivers and lakes — and you believe them? " Shen Mu smiled faintly and made his salute: "A late-born student of little learning greets Huo Tianzun. Huo Tianzun, I have paper and brush here — would you sign your name upon the paper? I come from a small place and have never seen the world; if I could have Huo Tianzun's signature, it would bring glory to my ancestors!

" He took out paper and brush and presented them before Huo Tianzun, his face full of expectation. Seeing such earnestness, Huo Tianzun could not refuse. As if possessed, he took up the brush and wrote his name on the paper, then cried: "I do not care where you come from — if you bewitch Ling Tianzun, I will not allow it! Making her study that blasted nonexistence of time, wasting her youth and her years! Yu Tianzun has created a realm that lets divine ability users live as long as the ancient gods — and you tell Ling Tianzun that her ridiculous Creation Art can do the same! Bewitch her again, and I will beat you to death!

" Shen Mu said, embarrassed: "The name 'Creation Art' was mine, but I never said the Creation Art could grant immortality. " Huo Tianzun's expression eased: "I did you wrong.

. . " Shen Mu went on: "But the Creation Art truly can grant long life and deathlessness without becoming a god — a lifespan as long as the gods'. On this point, sister Ling was in fact not mistaken.

" Ling Tianzun said delightedly: "The one who understands me best is you after all!

" Huo Tianzun's face darkened at once: "Give me back my signature. I will not give it to you now! " Shen Mu hastily put away brush, ink, and paper, and laughed: "I will not. I shall have use for it in the future. " Huo Tianzun was furious. He reached out a hand and struck, crying: "First I will beat this charlatan who bewitches men's hearts to death!

" Shen Mu's body shook, and he revealed three heads and six arms. A string of thudding blows rang out; with a tremendous crash Huo Tianzun smashed through a great hall, tumbling and rolling out of sight, leaving a trail of fire in his wake!

Kaihuang was startled and nearly cried out: "A Tianzun of the Spirit Bridge realm — how can he be so weak?

" Shen Mu was startled as well. He had not used his full strength just now, only eight or nine parts of it, but his attacks were so swift that Huo Tianzun was sent flying before his strength could be brought into play.

Still, for a Tianzun of the Spirit Bridge realm, was this not too weak?

Even compared with a Spirit Bridge realm divine ability user like Jing Ping, he was a notch inferior.

"This age is too ancient.

The arts of the Dao and divine abilities are still very crude.

" He thought to himself: "I cannot strike with my full power. If I struck with my full power, I would most likely beat some patriarch-level figure to death. .

.

" Kaihuang glared at him fiercely and lowered his voice: "If you dare strike again, I will not spare you! " Shen Mu smiled and gave a light hum: "I did not send Huo Tianzun flying on purpose. Besides, are your methods a match for mine?

" Behind them, Niu Sanduo's head swelled as big as a bushel: "So this is what men are — turning their faces over like the pages of a book!

" But Ling Tianzun was strangely elated.

Staring at Shen Mu's three heads and six arms, she clapped her hands and laughed: "This is the Creation Art, is it not?

Your Creation Art is even stronger than mine! Even without cultivating to the realm Yu Tianzun opened, you can be deathless and live as long as the gods!

"