Chapter 794 — The Earth Mother Bestows Her Grace

Shen Mu's heart pounded violently, like a giant beating a war drum with all his might, and his qi and blood surged in a fierce tumult; the vital force throughout his body blazed up all at once, roaring and crashing like sweeping tides.

"There is something the Earth Mother does not know," he said. "This art of mine requires forcibly boosting one's qi and blood before its power can be raised to its peak!"

Shen Mu's frame swelled, growing taller and taller, his aura growing stronger and stronger, and he said in a deep voice, "This art inflicts tremendous damage upon the caster. When I resurrected the Lady Tianyin, I nearly worked myself to death. Afterward she felt somewhat guilty and gave me many treasures in compensation."

The woman in the light understood, and said with a smile, "Rest assured, I will not be stingier than the Lady Tianyin. How much did she give you? I shall give you ten times as much."

Shen Mu was overjoyed and began to exert the Soul-Reaving Guideline with all his strength, though inwardly he groaned in secret bitterness.

He had originally assumed that the Earth Mother Primordial Goddess had died at the hands of the Outer Heaven Court, and so resurrecting her would be nothing much — it would add one more adversary to the Outer Heaven Court, and by the stratagem of alliance he could have Jingping and the Earth Mother join hands, which would greatly benefit Jingping's present situation.

Yet the Earth Mother Primordial Goddess had died at the hands of the Heaven Alliance!

The Heaven Alliance — and naturally not the Heaven Alliance of Jingping.

Rather, it was the Heaven Alliance founded by Shen Mu's own hand in the early years of Longhan, a million years ago!

When he returned to the present, Shen Mu had spoken to Ling Tianzun of the founding of the Heaven Alliance. At that time three had joined it: Shen Mu, Kaihuang, and Ling Tianzun.

How the Heaven Alliance had developed afterward, Shen Mu did not know.

Now it seemed the Heaven Alliance had survived the Longhan era, and in the several eras that followed had not been destroyed by the Outer Heaven Court, but had instead grown ever stronger, until in the Shanghuang era it had even slain the Earth Mother Primordial Goddess!

He did not know why the Heaven Alliance had killed the Earth Mother Primordial Goddess, nor was he clear on the grudges and grievances within it. If he resurrected her, what effect would it have upon the Heaven Alliance?

Was the Heaven Alliance of today still the Heaven Alliance he had founded in those years?

Had the Heaven Alliance changed in nature over a million years of time? Did it still preserve the original vow with which he had founded it?

The original vision with which he founded the Heaven Alliance had been to gather the geniuses and noble, high-minded folk among the lowly races of the Longhan era, and to win for the human race and other lowly races the right to survive.

But even if his original intent had been good, once one gained power it was all too easy to forget that original vow, to rot and change in nature.

If the Heaven Alliance had not rotted, then the Earth Mother's death had been deserved, and Shen Mu's resurrecting her would cause the Heaven Alliance's efforts to go down the drain and greatly trouble its schemes.

He now found himself in a dilemma.

If he did not resurrect the Earth Mother, he would surely be done away with by her; if he did resurrect her, then many variables would arise.

The Soul-Reaving Guideline divine power drew in the shattered soul motes of the Earth Mother Primordial Goddess, like the finest black sand, surging in from every corner of the Origin Realm, pouring into this underground palace, flowing into the radiance.

The woman in the light was deeply stirred, the radiance of the sea of light surging; she had preserved the Earth Soul among her three souls. The Earth Soul still remained; what had shattered were the Heaven Soul and the Spirit Soul. The Heaven Soul is Taiguang, the Earth Soul is Shuangling, the Spirit Soul is Youjing.

Beings born divine have only three souls and no seven pneuma; the seven pneuma belong only to later-born living things and demigods.

The Heaven Soul is pure yang, symbolizing the Mystic Capital; the Spirit Soul is yin and mixed, symbolizing the Dark Capital; and the Earth Soul Shuangling faces yang and turns its back on yin, symbolizing the Origin Capital.

That the Earth Mother Primordial Goddess could preserve her Earth Soul was chiefly due to her identity.

She was the Earth Mother, the symbol of the Origin Capital's great dao, and to destroy her Earth Soul was a thousand times difficult.

The Earth Mother's soul was many times stronger than the Lady Tianyin's. The black soul-sand surging in came on like a mighty torrent, vast and boundless — worthy indeed of one whose name stood alongside the Heaven Lord and the Earth Count.

Shen Mu's primal qi steamed, his qi and blood surging ever more violently, like an ocean plunged into a storm. Mystic Capital divine speech and Dark Capital divine speech burst from his lips, all manner of ancient tongues profound and long-enduring, like the abstruse, obscure, and halting poetry of gods and demons. Listening to his dao-sound with eyes closed gave one a sense of the grotesque distortion of heaven and earth first parting and forging life, of gods and demons dancing wildly in a boiling, seething primordial world.

"Worthy indeed of the Great Mage!"

The Earth Mother Primordial Goddess felt her three soul fragments growing ever more whole; those soul motes scattered throughout the world came drawn in one after another. Shen Mu need only reshape for her the Heaven Soul and the Spirit Soul, and then her three souls would be complete, and by her own powerful vitality she would revive!

Shen Mu chanted without cease. Suddenly, a faint crackling sound was heard.

The woman in the light, Yu Tianzun, and Gongsun Yan hastily looked over, and saw that the skin of Shen Mu's whole body was bursting open again and again, fresh blood flowing out unceasingly, then vaporized by the raging primal qi, turning into streams of blood mist whirling madly about him!

All three were startled. Shen Mu's divine power was indeed enormously draining — so much so that even his fleshly body could not withstand it!

"I am too strong. Resurrecting me is I know not how many times harder than resurrecting the Lady Tianyin."

The woman in the light felt some unease in her heart. "At this intensity of casting, who knows how much longer he can hold out — whether he can reshape my two souls..."

Shen Mu's condition was extremely bad, and growing worse and worse. The surface of his body seemed punched through with countless holes by sand, hissing as blood sprayed outward, and even from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose blood flowed unceasingly — especially from his nostrils, where with each beat of his heart two streams of nosebleed spurted out, now far now near, able to spray several zhang.

Yu Tianzun cried out in panic, "Brother, stop! If you keep spraying blood, it will all run out!"

Shen Mu turned a deaf ear, casting the art with all his heart.

Gongsun Yan could not bear it, and said in a loud voice, "Earth Mother, his cultivation is insufficient. Best to halt and let him rest."

The woman in the light was exceedingly anxious, and said, "Wait a little longer, wait a little longer. He is, after all, a divine power wielder; his cultivation is strong, the blood within his body abundant, his qi and blood vigorous — he can still hold out..."

Gongsun Yan hesitated, said no more, and paced about anxiously.

Shen Mu had already begun to turn the Gate of Heaven-Bearing, stealing the Heaven Lord's power, preparing to shape the Heaven Soul. A beam of heavenly light shone in from the Gate of Heaven-Bearing; suddenly Shen Mu's body went rigid, and with a thud he fell flat on his back, sprawling stiffly on the ground, unconscious!