Chapter 806 — The Final Winner

Whether it was Hao Tianzun or Yun Tianzun who took possession of the Heavenly Emperor's body, it could never have escaped the Empress and her sister. Why did they not expose it? " Heaven Lord said, "Shen boy, do you not wonder how the news of the Heavenly Emperor's reincarnation leaked out?

If the seizure of the Heavenly Emperor's body could not be hidden from the Empress and her sister, then neither could the matter of his reincarnation.

" Shen Mu pressed his right hand to his brow and paced round and round the stone table, until the Great Sun Star Lord was dizzy and his eyes swam. Suddenly he stopped and said, "Then the victor must be Hao Tianzun! Had it been Yun Tianzun, the Empress and her sister would surely have exposed him — after all, Yun Tianzun had no ties to them whatsoever!

" Suddenly Earth Lord said mildly, "Can you be certain Yun Tianzun had no ties to the Empress and her sister? Yun Tianzun might well be their son — many ancient gods were reincarnated in those days, after all. " Shen Mu was struck dumb, feeling his wits were no longer enough for the task.

Heaven Lord hesitated, then said, "In fact, before all this there was another matter — an attempt on the Empress's life.

Little Bird spoke of it earlier; he said there was something strange about it. .

.

" The Great Sun Star Lord's face was a picture of misery. Heaven Lord was about to speak when Earth Lord suddenly said, "Fellow Daoist, you have said quite enough.

The matter of the Heavenly Emperor is finished; there is no need to stir up more trouble. " Heaven Lord came to his senses and urged him, "Shen boy, you should go. Do not keep coming to disturb our quiet.

You know enough already; knowing too much will do you no good either. " Shen Mu said hurriedly, "There is still one thing that puzzles me!

If Heaven Lord will but resolve this one doubt for me, I shall trouble none of you in your pure cultivation again.

" Heaven Lord said with patience, "Speak.

" "Since the Heavenly Emperor is dead and his body has been usurped, then what is Yan Qiling? " Shen Mu said rapidly, "Yan Qiling is plainly the Heavenly Emperor's heir, deeply versed in every kind of great dao, and she even possesses the great divine ability of the Dao One. Moreover, she came here this time because the Yuan Realm's seal was broken, bringing with her the Yuan Wood and a new Earth Mother Yuanjun — clearly the Yuan Wood and the new Earth Mother are not things she could have cultivated herself; it must be the Heavenly Emperor's hand behind it. So then, is the Heavenly Emperor truly still alive? " Heaven Lord glared, his eyes wide, and scolded, "How should I know?

These matters baffle me as well — you come asking me, and whom am I to ask? Away, away! If you do not go, I shall let your brother out and seal you up here!

" The big-headed doll was overjoyed, clapping its hands and cheering.

Shen Mu's face darkened; knowing he could get nothing more out of them, he had no choice but to withdraw his undying divine consciousness.

By the stone table, Heaven Lord and Earth Lord sat down again; the Great Sun Star Lord hastily yielded his seat and stood to one side.

Heaven Lord said, "The attempt on the Empress surely has few ramifications — why would you not let me speak of it, Fellow Daoist?

" The Molten Rock Earth Lord said, "Telling him so many things will only bring him greater peril. In this world, the more one knows, the sooner one dies. " With that he glanced at the Great Sun Star Lord.

The Great Sun Star Lord fell silent, rubbed his own back, opened his beak, and said nothing.

"Besides, Fellow Daoist, the things you know are capital.

" Earth Lord went on, "Look at my Youdu — the Heavenly Court's forces there have been wiped out clean by borrowing his strength. Fellow Daoist, you have been indulging your tongue, never thinking that in your Xuandu there are still countless Heavenly Court forces lodged within you. Do you not wish to borrow his strength to root out these hidden dangers? " Heaven Lord was left speechless, and after a moment stammered, "You, an honest man?

Fellow Daoist, if you are an honest man, then I shall poke a great hole in the heavens! " The Molten Rock Earth Lord's face was all stone, revealing no expression, as he said in a hollow voice, "I am the lord of Youdu, the wellspring of the demon path; naturally I know a few methods.

" Heaven Lord laughed. "It seems I too must invite him to pay a visit to Xuandu.

Ha ha ha.

. . " Shen Mu sat on the dragon qilin's head, healing his own injuries; soon his wounds were more or less healed, when suddenly something came back to him: "Earth Lord is hard to talk to, Heaven Lord is the easiest to talk to — I forgot to ask Heaven Lord whether this halo formed by the Earth Mother's blessing is in truth the Earth Mother Yuanjun's means of keeping watch over me! " He had been driven out by Heaven Lord, and could hardly go back now to ask; he had no choice but to let it be, thinking, "Better to return to Jingping first and let Teacher Woodcutter examine it.

His vision and knowledge surpass mine a hundredfold; he will surely see what it is. If it truly is a means of surveillance, then I fear all those blessings of the gods on Yu Tianzun will have to be stripped away as well. . . " He rummaged through the Taotie Pouch and at last found, in a corner, the Mu Tianzun token and the Heavenly Emperor's edict that the Heavenly Emperor had bestowed.

Shen Mu hesitated, unable to decide. Yan Qiling had said the Heavenly Emperor's blessing was hidden within the Mu Tianzun token and the Heavenly Emperor's edict — so should he open the edict and obtain this blessing of the Heavenly Emperor?

If it were a means of surveillance, would not his whereabouts fall under the eye of that Heavenly Emperor whose life or death was unknown? He pondered a while, then stuffed the Mu Tianzun token and the Heavenly Emperor's edict back into the Taotie Pouch: "I shall wait until Teacher Woodcutter has examined the Earth Mother's blessing before deciding!

To obtain the Heavenly Emperor's blessing would indeed give me one more means of preserving my life, but the Heavenly Emperor's mind is unfathomable — who knows whether it is fortune or calamity. After all, there is Yu Tianzun's example to warn me.

" He roused the Mystic Body Three-Core Art, and suddenly six rumbling quakes came from within his body — the Spirit Fetus, Five Luminaries, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Heaven-Man, and Life-Death divine repositories thundered open! His primordial spirit stood upon the Six Harmonies Continent, beside him the Jianmu that rose as high as the sun and moon, and beneath his feet a stretch of darkness — that was Youdu. The Life-Death divine repository governs life and death; this repository reached straight down to Youdu! "A person stands between heaven and earth, heaven above his head, earth beneath his feet; upward he becomes a god, downward a demon — he is by nature possessed of both a divine and a demonic face.

Then. .

. the counterpart of the Life-Death divine repository must be the Xuandu divine repository!

" Shen Mu's primordial spirit reversed its course, and suddenly a tremendous rumbling came; the demon-path divine repositories opened one after another, all the way up to the Heaven-Man divine repository, and then another rampart opened, and boundless heavenly light shone through from that repository, mirroring the Life-Death divine repository of Youdu!

Shen Mu looked down and saw that he stood upon Xuandu; suddenly his gaze went blank as he thought of a matter of the utmost importance. "If a person is by nature possessed of both a divine and a demonic face, does that not mean that anyone can open the god-path divine repositories and the demon-path divine repositories? " He was struck dumb, and suddenly his stirred body trembled: "Then has anyone before me opened the demon-path divine repositories?