Chapter 809 — New Works in the Capital Foretell Rise and Fall

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping coughed repeatedly. "It is indeed from the hand of the Painting Sage of the Heavenly Chart, otherwise I would not have kept it back. The Emperor has asked me for it many times; I told him I had lost it and did not return it. This is the only copy; the Painting Sage of the Heavenly Chart painted only this one, and he painted it in the years when he was poor and destitute. Now that he is rich as a lord, if you ask him to paint another he will refuse. When you have finished, you must return it to me."

Shen Mu leafed through it, ears and face burning, heart pounding wildly, and hurriedly returned the Record to him.

The Imperial Teacher carefully smoothed each page flat, put it away, and said, "I forgot to ask. With which woman will you have this child?"

Shen Mu's mind went blank with a boom; he stood there dumb for a long while without speaking. After a moment he ventured, "I had not thought about that question. These past months I have been pondering the opening of the seventh divine treasury. I have conceived twenty-six kinds of seventh divine treasury, and in eight months I have also sorted out twenty-six methods, which I mean to test one by one. My original plan was that for each one that succeeded, I would have a child. Only now do I realize it is not as simple as I thought; I would need to find twenty-six women..."

"Get out!"

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping's face darkened; he raised a hand and pointed at the gate of his residence.

Shen Mu said, stammering, "I am your senior brother. How can you speak to me like that?"

"A-Fu, A-Fu, come quickly and throw this fellow out!"

The Imperial Teacher raged, "Lewd and shameless, and you call yourself Second Senior Brother!"

Shen Mu said hurriedly, "Let the matter of children be set aside for now. I have many affairs and truly no time to beget children, and it is troublesome besides. There is another thing I came to you about. Look at the halo behind my head: this is a blessing from the Earth Mother Yuanjun. The Earth Mother wishes me to revive her, and so she blessed me and gave me an Earth Origin Dao Fruit; otherwise I could not have cultivated to the Life-and-Death realm so quickly. The Earth Mother's revival is no small matter. She uses these two things to monitor my movements, and sooner or later she will find me again. Help me see how this Earth Mother's blessing may be broken."

The Imperial Teacher's expression eased. He studied the halo behind Shen Mu's head carefully, his face grave, examining it back and forth. After a long while he paced to and fro, deliberating and unable to decide.

Suddenly a sword-light filled the room, stabbing at Shen Mu.

Shen Mu stood motionless. A ceaseless clinking of collisions rang out; in an instant the Imperial Teacher of Jingping had thrust out who knew how many swords, each one exquisite to the utmost, each striking precisely within the halo behind Shen Mu's head, and the tip of every sword-light landed upon a rune within the halo!

In that moment sword-light crisscrossed, darting through the courtyard like startled swans, like roaming dragons.

Yet the halo behind Shen Mu's head burst forth with light of every color under his sword-light, dyeing the halo brilliant and motley; the halo spun without cease, blocking his sword-light.

The Imperial Teacher sheathed his sword, and the spinning halo behind Shen Mu's head slowly came to rest.

"The Earth Mother's blessing is exceedingly powerful, and is also a means of self-protection. If you could rouse the power of the blessing, blocking the attacks of a true god would be easy, and even a heavenly god might not be able to do anything to you."

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping examined his divine sword and saw a small nick in the tip. "This blessing is of great use. Do you truly mean to erase it?"

Shen Mu nodded. "A blessing may also be a curse. The Earth Mother was gravely wounded by Heavenly Master Zixi, and sooner or later she will come again. If she captures me, I will have no choice but to revive her. Once she is revived, destroying Jingping, destroying Chiming, destroying Kaihuang, would be easy for her!"

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping pondered long, then said in a low voice, "Then we must invite Teacher Woodcutter and all the most brilliant minds of Jingping, and Granny Zhu too; she must be invited. She is a master of yuan-magnetic runes. They are all elsewhere; it will take some time for them to come."

Shen Mu's expression stirred. "Is the Martial Combat Heavenly Master in the capital?"

"The Martial Combat Heavenly Master first went to the South Sea to negotiate with the Divine Son of Chiming; the Divine Son of Chiming was overawed and will not rebel for the time being. Not long ago he went to the grasslands, saying he wished to pay his respects to Mahakala. By my reckoning he should be back soon."

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping sighed. "There are strange movements beneath the East Sea as well, and strange movements among the heavens above; the North Sea, the ice plains, and the various ruins within Jingping's borders all have powers stirring restlessly. We have already cut off contact with the Desolate Ruins and with the Western Lands. Months ago we forged teleportation gates, and now they can protect only the twenty or thirty most important cities. In such troubled times, I wish I could split myself into a hundred million bodies."

Shen Mu's heart stirred. "Why not build the capital into a divine city in the heavens? Turn the capital into a divine city that flies in the air; one, as a deterrent; two, to lift the confidence of the people of Jingping."

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping said, "These dozens of days I spent with His Majesty were spent discussing the design and construction of a divine city. But the treasury is empty, there is no money, and trade is now cut off; there is not enough divine gold and divine material to build a city in the sky."

Shen Mu laughed. "Many ruins have appeared within Jingping's borders, and in them are no few divine weapons and sharp tools. Perhaps they could be fetched and melted down to build the sky city."

The Imperial Teacher laughed. "You need not trouble yourself with such worries. The most crucial thing for you now is to open the seventh divine treasury! You have no residence in the capital, have you? Why not stay here with me for the time being; when everyone has gathered, we can deal with your Earth Mother's blessing."

Shen Mu shook his head. "I have several houses in the capital. Ling'er manages the money, and she said property in the capital is sure to rise in price, so she bought several more courtyards to hold. If I stay with you it will be somewhat inconvenient, and you have little money besides; food and clothing are a problem for you."

The Imperial Teacher of Jingping stared, dumbfounded.

Shen Mu took his leave, called over Heaven Venerable Yu, who was stealing and eating the Water Qilin's spirit pills, and called Gongsun Yan as well.

Gongsun Yan came running in a flurry and whispered, "Did you find out how to have a child?"

Shen Mu's face reddened slightly and he nodded gently.

Gongsun Yan lowered her voice even more, fearful of being overheard. "Actually I know. You could have asked me. When the time comes for us to bloom, we can pollinate and have children."

Shen Mu was dumbstruck.

Gongsun Yan stirred the water in the pond of the Imperial Teacher's residence with her horsetail whisk, lifted it, and sprinkled water on Shen Mu's head, saying earnestly, "You must water yourself diligently, and then you will grow faster. When I bloom, and you bloom, you can use your male flower to pollinate my female flower."