Chapter 785 — The Youth Plows the Wasteland

"Summon every demigod of the primordial world? Can it be that the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign, still lives?" Unease stirred in Shen Mu's heart.

The primordial world, once the ancient primordial capital, had long lain under seal, folded up like a fan; and now the seal was broken, and who could say how many demigods would come surging forth.

And with a leader as mighty as the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign, what upheaval would it bring to the ruins and to Jingping?

Of all this Deva King Buddha knew nothing. In the Kaihuang era the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign, had long since vanished without a trace; in the ruins of the Supreme Emperor not one relic of her could be found, and not even a record or a legend had come down.

By Jingping's day, understanding of this ancient god was a total blank.

Shen Mu himself had only heard a few rumors of the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign, from the Lord of Heaven and the Earth Lord; what sort of temper this ancient god possessed, and how she looked upon the human race, he had no way of knowing either.

The Lord of Heaven had told him that the Supreme Emperor era had some connection with the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign, but the Supreme Emperor was divided into South and North, a Southern Supreme Emperor and a Northern Supreme Emperor — which Supreme Emperor's Heavenly Court did the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign, prop up?

And the Heavenly Court that stood against it — from where did its backing come?

The Supreme Emperor era had run on for three hundred thousand years — why could that age endure so long?

"What do you know about the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign?" Shen Mu asked amiably of the water qilin demigod in the great pit.

The water qilin said in a fluster: "I have never seen the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign. I only sensed her call."

Shen Mu frowned slightly and went on: "Then do you know of the Supreme Emperor era? How much do you know of it?"

The water qilin, pinned so that it could not stir, said: "When I was born, the fighting was already under way. I only heard that the Heavenly Court beyond the realms had come down in attack, to kill the Earth Mother, the Primal Sovereign. Of the rest I am not very clear. My station was not high..."

Shen Mu struggled to show a kindly smile: "Are you willing to follow my sworn brother, Lan Yutian?"

The water qilin ventured cautiously: "And if I do not agree to follow him, what will come of it?"

"By supper you will be carried to the table."

The water qilin said without a moment's hesitation: "I would gladly serve with the strength of horse and hound!"

Shen Mu said to Yutian Zun: "Sworn brother, this water qilin is yours, to bear you on your way. I have a dragon qilin as well; demigods of this kind eat a great deal, and they are gluttons besides. You must learn to refine a few kinds of spirit pills. Once you have mastered the basic runes of the Buddhist gate, I will teach you how to refine spirit pills."

Yutian Zun wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and said hesitantly: "I still have to feed them? Would it not be simpler just to eat them?"

Shen Mu's head began to ache. He made the water qilin swear an oath to Shen Fengqing and establish the Little Earth Lord's Pact, then said: "Do not think of betraying him. If you betray him, my elder brother will appear before you and eat you."

On the Shen-Character Continent, the big-headed doll who was busy beating the Earth Lord felt something like a pact twine itself about him, and doubt rose in his heart.

The Earth Lord climbed to his feet, his lava body re-forming, and said: "This is the Pact of Souls. You count as my little brother, so others may swear oaths to you as well; if they break their promise, the pact will stir to life, and you may take and devour that person's primordial spirit outright!"

The big-headed doll was overjoyed and asked humbly for instruction: "So that is why you eat so sturdily?"

Shen Mu dispersed the primordial magnetic Five-Finger Mountain. The water qilin crawled out of the great pit, glanced at the silly-looking Lan Yutian, and thought: "I have heard of the Earth Lord's Pact, but what manner of thing is this Little Earth Lord's Pact? Most likely it is meant to muddle me. In a while, when they are not looking, I will swallow this youth in one gulp and bolt; I doubt they can catch me..."

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than darkness suddenly fell over his eyes.

A huge head appeared in the darkness, three-eyed, with a gaping, blood-bowl mouth full of jagged teeth, while he himself seemed utterly tiny, shivering before that great head!

Then out of the darkness a heavy voice came: "You cannot eat him yet. He has only thought of it; he has not acted. Only when he acts in rebellion may you eat him."

The great head muttered: "I cannot eat him even for thinking it? I say thinking it is reason enough to start eating..."

"An Earth Lord must keep an Earth Lord's rules."

The heavy voice in the darkness coaxed him patiently: "If you keep no rules, if you simply start eating, then the next time someone swears an oath, who will come to you? Look at me: when others swear, they always come to me. Many swear to me and then break their oaths, and every one of them becomes my rations. Because I deal fairly, more and more come to me. If I ate at random, no one would deliver himself to my door."

The great head blinked its three eyes and said delightedly: "So that is the principle! I understand now: deal fairly, and others will deliver themselves to our door to be eaten! Good, good, a fine method... May I lick him without eating him?"

"No. He is nearly frightened to death by you."

"Just one little lick!"

"No! Think of the profit to come!"

...

The darkness before the water qilin's eyes scattered. Drenched in cold sweat from fright, he meekly became Yutian Zun's mount, thinking: "This Little Earth Lord's Pact is even more vicious than the Earth Lord's Pact! The Earth Lord's Pact at least reasons; the Little Earth Lord's Pact depends on the Little Earth Lord's mood. In a good mood he will eat you; in a bad mood he will eat you too..."

Shen Mu looked ahead and thought: "The direction these demigods are taking seems to lie near the Dou Niu Realm."

They pressed on. With the water qilin, the party's speed rose greatly. Deva King Buddha went on teaching Yutian Zun the runes of the Buddhist gate, and the water qilin listened at the side, astonished in his heart: "This bald youth's learning is truly deep. He expounds the Buddha dharma with perfect coherence, plain and easy to grasp, yet the principles are profound; I fear he is a great master! I had thought of eating them — it seems I took them too lightly!"

The water qilin's speed was extreme, in no way inferior to a dragon qilin, yet even borne by the water qilin they spent more than a month before they came near the small mountain village of the Martial Combat Celestial Master.

Along the way Shen Mu came upon several more instances of demigods on the road, and some demigods even struck at them.

Ordinary sorts he could hold off himself, but demigods were strong and weak alike; some adult demigods were fiercer even than true gods, and they met an adult demigod whose might rivaled the Lingxiao powerhouses!

Its aura pressed the sky into distortion — dreadful beyond words!

That demigod on the road saw that Yutian Zun was sitting on the water qilin's back and was about to make trouble, but Deva King Buddha let his aura bloom forth in full, and only then did he startle that adult demigod away.

Only then did the water qilin learn how terrifying the "bald youth" beside him was, and his heart quaked with lingering fear.

On the road Shen Mu and the others saw a number of destroyed small villages as well — villages of the ruins laid waste by demigods, the villagers eaten, bones and all.

Shen Mu frowned deeply and drew a long breath.

Yet they also came upon several small mountain villages that the demigods had not destroyed.