Chapter 822 — Two Empresses Stand Side by Side

There were far too many giants here. The three of them could be called the least conspicuous of all, and the three weakest.

For now everyone looked harmonious, but when it truly came to blows, the first to be wiped out would likely be the three of them.

"Even if the First Ancestor himself came, I fear he could not stir up much of a wave..." he groaned inwardly.

Shen Mu looked at the writing on the wall with great interest and smiled. "Lizheng, there are many interesting things here."

"Hmm."

Lizheng said with a dark face, "You keep quiet. When you speak, you make yourself a target for everyone."

Shen Mu gave a sound of assent, but his thoughts began to stir. He thought: "Wei Suifeng is the eldest disciple of Teacher Woodcutter, the founding ancestor of the Heavenly Sage Sect, and the senior brother both of me and of the Jingping Imperial Preceptor. From the writing he left behind, he went to explore Guixu, and there encountered Ling Tianzun, and then somehow returned to the ancient Longhan era, and somehow became the Right General of the Heavenly Court's Yulin Army. In the Empress affair, he must have known many secrets—yet on the way back to the Heavenly Court, he met Ling Tianzun again. As for this 'extinguished the lamp and went back'..."

Shen Mu thought for a moment, glanced at the lantern flying beside him, and thought: "Eldest Senior Brother probably crossed over to the Longhan era by day, and would cross back again by night. He did not want to return, so he refined the sun into lanterns one by one and hung them all around, keeping himself forever in a state of daylight. When he met Ling Tianzun again, he felt it was time he went back, and so he extinguished the lamps and crossed back. And it is fortunate he went—that is why he did not become one of the Yulin Army's crossing-over incidents."

"What sort of place is Guixu?"

It suddenly came back to him: among the geographical maps the founding ancestor had given him, one was a map of a deep abyss within the ocean!

Could it be that that map was Guixu?

"Sect Master Shen." Crimson Bright Divine Son greeted Shen Mu with a smile.

Shen Mu returned the greeting, smiling ambiguously. "Crimson Bright Divine Son, when we met danger on the deck just now, the Divine Son ran quite fast."

Crimson Bright Divine Son smiled. "I have always known the Sect Master's methods, and so did not lend aid. When the Sect Master wreaked havoc in the Xuankong Realm back then, you nearly tore my Xuankong Realm apart—how could you be stumped by such a trifling danger?"

Shen Mu beamed. "The Divine Son certainly knows how to talk."

"Shanghuang Shen Bati."

Luo Wushuang's voice came: "Long time no see."

Shen Mu looked toward the voice and smiled. "Luo the Divine Blade, just now you ran faster than anyone—you did not even spare a thought for seeking revenge on me. I had hoped you would run over and save me; never did I expect you would only look after your own life."

Luo Wushuang smiled. "Shen Bati of the Shanghuang era, I wonder whether your sword is still as keen as it once was."

Shen Mu laughed heartily. "My swordsmanship is even better now—the finest under heaven. Zhe Huali, tell your master how my swordsmanship fares."

Lizheng coughed once.

Shen Mu pretended not to hear.

Lizheng snorted coldly and thought, "These past few years I have not taught him a lesson, and this lad has grown more and more inflated, reckoning himself first in swordsmanship. In the past he was always so modest, reckoning himself second."

Zhe Huali said in a deep voice, "Master Luo, Shen Mu's swordsmanship is peerless under heaven, no weaker than mine."

Prince Qiuming looked toward Shen Mu and said curiously, "You are that Bati who revived Tianyin Niangniang? I have heard of you as well. This time I was ordered down to the mortal realm, and one of my tasks is to do away with you, and also with Jiang Baigui and the Yanfeng Emperor. Bring your three heads back to the Heavenly Court, and I shall count it a great accomplishment."

Shen Mu said solemnly, "Next year, I will visit the Prince's grave."

Prince Qiuming smiled. "The Heavenly Court does not take Jingping at all to heart. Jingping is too weak; it is hard for the Heavenly Court to spare it a glance. What is worthy of notice are the remnants of Kaihuang, the remnants of Shanghuang, the remnants of Crimson Bright, and the remnants of the false Longhan dynasty. So to deal with Jingping, the higher-ups sent only me. Sect Master Shen is an interesting man. I like interesting men. I have been inquiring after you for a long while, and greatly admire your intelligence and talent."

Shen Mu laughed aloud, and said to Lizheng, "Lizheng, this prince is no good-for-nothing."

Lizheng's expression was unfriendly. "You keep quiet. Say another word, and the first to be killed will be us!"

"Zulong Wang, we have found the Empress's coffin!" A demigod hurried over and said in a low voice.

Zulong Wang's eyes lit up. He at once led the other demigods off in haste.

Prince Qiuming, Crimson Bright Divine Son, and the rest hurried after them, and Feng Qiuyun too bore the Empress's coffin forward on her back.

Lizheng immediately said, "Let us leave this ship. We will not take part in this matter!"

Shen Mu was about to speak, but Lizheng had already taken him by the hand and walked out of the building. Huanlong Jun followed them outside. The three looked out from the ship, and saw that the tower ship was wholly enveloped in black qi, with no glimpse of the outside world.

Lizheng said in a deep voice, "Take out that jade pendant of yours, break through the black qi, and let us leave!"

Shen Mu took out the military tally. Suddenly the little creature in the lantern, bird-headed and human-bodied, said, "You cannot leave. Once you have come aboard this ship you cannot leave; no one can get out. Even if you leap overboard, you will come back to the ship again."

Lizheng frowned, took off his clothes, and flung them out with a flick of his hand.

His clothes sank into the black qi and vanished.

Thereupon Lizheng saw that there was once more a set of clothes upon his body—precisely the set he had just thrown away.

Lizheng let out a turbid breath. "Let us go. We will go take a look at that Empress."