Chapter 749 — You Tianzun Smiles Through Sorrow

"Brother Shen, Brother Mu!"

Yin Tianzi appeared behind that young man and laughed. "And Senior Niu Ben! You have stirred up a catastrophe of monstrous proportions! This Jade Pool is the Empress's domain. You have smashed it to ruins—the Empress will surely find some way to make you pay. Yu Tianzun, these three are the very Brother Shen Kai and Brother Mu Qing I spoke to you of, and Senior Niu Ben."

Only now did Ling Tianzun learn Shen Mu's and the others' "names"—and false names at that.

She threw her whole heart into her studies and was dull to all else; feeling that Shen Mu and Kai Huang must be kindred spirits, she had forgotten to ask their names.

Shen Mu looked at the young man and thought, "So he is Yu Tianzun? The first to open the Primal Embryo Divine Treasury?"

Yu Tianzun was the man who had fixed the divine treasury cultivation system, and perhaps the one who would open the Heavenly Palace cultivation system as well. To open the Spirit Embryo, even to have one's Primordial Spirit ascend to the Heavenly Palace—for later ages these things were commonplace; though ascending to the Heavenly Palace remained difficult, countless deities through the ages had achieved it.

Yet for the people of that ancient age, who did not even know what cultivation was, this was nothing short of a feat to split heaven from earth!

To conjure the divine treasury cultivation system out of thin air—Yu Tianzun was surely worthy of the title Tianzun.

Shen Mu studied Yu Tianzun: a man like jade, warm and mild, untroubled, standing there like a tree of jade blossoms, his eyes like dew-drops, exquisite, his heart filled with bright apertures.

Shen Mu saluted him and smiled. "I have long heard of Yu Tianzun's great name; only today do I meet you. Truly the reputation is well deserved."

Yu Tianzun said, "Brother Mu and Brother Shen, your dao arts and divine powers are magnificent and grand. Your clash just now shook the Jade Pool, and made us all understand that beyond a man there is always another, and beyond heaven, another heaven. Senior Niu Ben, too, astonished the Heavenly Court with his peerless skill, to everyone's envy. Pardon my poor eyes and dull ears—I have never before heard the illustrious names of you three. May I ask, where do you come from?"

Shen Mu and Kai Huang exchanged a glance, and Kai Huang said politely, "We are men from a small place. Yu Tianzun's fame resounds through the world, and this time you have held the Jade Pool Grand Gathering, so hearing the news we came. Only, we two are of poor temper, and at a word out of place we fell to fighting—somewhat rash, and we beg Yu Tianzun's pardon."

Yu Tianzun laughed. "That is no matter. This place has been ruined; I have already sent men to repair it. This is no place for talk. May I ask you three to move on to the Jade Pool Lodge? That is the Empress's secondary palace, much sturdier than this place."

Ling Tianzun was somewhat unwilling, and was about to speak, when Yu Tianzun smiled gently. "Ling Tianzun, your palace was destroyed too, and you have nowhere to rest now. Come along to the Empress's palace."

Ling Tianzun thought it over and had to nod.

Yu Tianzun led the way, his eyes flickering. "Brother Shen, Brother Mu, I observe that your dao arts and divine powers transcend the mundane, your divine arts entered the realm of the sages, surpassing the common run of beings beyond all counting. Your attainments are so high that even I cannot fathom them. May I ask from what lineage and origins you come?"

"Just muddling through blindly," Shen Mu said sullenly.

Kai Huang laughed. "We two have bad tempers—the moment we meet, we fight. And as we fought, our dao arts and divine powers improved. Yu Tianzun is the true genius, who founded the divine treasures and blessed later ages—most admirable."

Yin Tianzi showed a look of suspicion and thought, "Earlier, on the great Kun's back, they seemed to be meeting for the first time, strangers to one another. Why does Shen Kai now say that as they fought, their dao arts and divine powers improved? That does not sound like the truth."

Though he thought this, he did not say it aloud.

Yu Tianzun frowned slightly and smiled. "If you two do not wish to speak of it, I will not press. Many divine-power wielders came to this gathering, talents as numerous as carp crossing the river, but only three are truly worth a glance. Ahead, past this floating bridge, is the Jade Pool Lodge, untouched by ruin."

Ahead, a flying bridge spanned the air, unsupported, drifting in long stretch over the sea, many divine-power wielders walking upon it toward another island.

Shen Mu looked back. The precious island of the Jade Pool had been reduced by the three of them to a battered ruin; many demigods flew in, repairing the broken palaces.

Yu Tianzun walked on, gazing at the shimmering sea. In the distance, two ancient gods were pulling out the ancient god planted in the sea—that ancient god, beaten senseless by the old ox, his head thrust into the water.

And old turtles were surfacing from beneath the sea, the divine and sacred mountains on their backs rising from the ocean floor, seawater rushing down the mountainsides in cascades of waterfalls.

This was the destruction wrought by the old ox in one of his tempers.

"The Heavenly Emperor is broad-minded, and will not hold it against you three."

Yu Tianzun smiled with something less than a smile. "But the Empress may throw a little tantrum, so the three of you had best be careful... You Tianzun!"

He called out to a youth, who was also heading toward the Jade Pool Lodge, walking along and idly flinging talismans at the sea.

Shen Mu's heart stirred. The talismans this You Tianzun threw were somewhat like the script of Youdu; flung into the sea, they blew several great fish apart.

"You Tianzun, who opened the Life-and-Death Divine Treasury? Why does he have a child's temper?" he wondered.

You Tianzun wore a little braid sticking straight up on his head, a bubble of snot puffing from his nostrils, and a ghost-face mask on the back of his head—the mask a smiling face, yet beneath each of its two eyes ran a tear-track.

This Tianzun was unlike any of the Tianzuns Shen Mu had seen before; his nature seemed somewhat withdrawn. Even when Yu Tianzun spoke to him of his own accord, he barely deigned to answer, only lifting his eyes to glance at Yu Tianzun, then at Shen Mu and Kai Huang and the others, then going back to idly flinging Youdu talismans.

Shen Mu studied You Tianzun with curiosity. Since You Tianzun had opened the Life-and-Death Secret Realm, it was only natural that he master the Youdu script; surely he excelled in Youdu divine powers.

In that ancient age, mastery of Youdu divine powers meant mastery of life and death—an achievement already most remarkable.

"You Tianzun..."

Shen Mu took out a little notebook and smiled. "Could I have your autograph?"

You Tianzun shot him a glance, looked at the center of his brow, and suddenly took a flicker of interest. "The eye in your brow is strange."

Shen Mu was startled and smiled. "You saw through it. My strength is too great, so I had to seal my eye lest it stir up trouble."

You Tianzun raised a hand, meaning to pluck away the willow leaf on his brow, and Shen Mu hastily blocked him.

You Tianzun was immediately displeased; he sprang from the floating bridge and jumped down. "Fine, don't show me! Nothing special!"

Shen Mu looked down from the bridge, and saw that You Tianzun had not landed on the sea, but had taken out a little paper boat; the boat grew larger and larger, he landed on it, and the boat drifted toward the island where the Jade Pool Lodge stood.

"That paper boat..."

Shen Mu was stunned for a moment, and the ghost-face mask on the back of You Tianzun's head suddenly opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue at him.

Shen Mu was startled, and the mask made a face again, then went still.