Chapter 828 — Proud Steeds and Carved Chariots, Fragrance Filling the Road

Shen Overlord Body, what can you offer that would make me give it up? " "Divine Son, you can make a wager," Shen Mu said.

"Wager that I can break the ghost ship and you will return alive; or wager that by killing us you will become one of the thirty-six unchanging constants aboard the ghost ship.

" The Scarlet Bright Divine Son fell silent. After a moment he said, "The Scarlet Emperor is on your person? " Shen Mu nodded.

"At present he is nothing but thought and consciousness — no soul, no spirit. " The Scarlet Bright Divine Son closed his eyes.

After a long while he opened them again; the killing intent had dispersed, and his bearing was transcendent. He smiled.

"I cannot last beyond the next cycle after this before the Void leaves my strength gravely diminished.

Once I have turned to Void, you will have only yourselves to rely on. " Li Zheng said gravely, "Many thanks. " The Scarlet Bright Divine Son said, "The danger does not come only from our batch of boarders, but from boarders of every other era as well.

The thirty-six will not be turned to Void, but that does not mean the thirty-six cannot die.

Since we came aboard this ship, we have seen no other unchanging constants — most of them must already have met with misfortune. " Li Zheng said in a low voice, "I understand. There is something very wrong with that lantern. " The Scarlet Bright Divine Son turned to leave, saying, "The Ancestral Dragon King will wholly dissolve into Void in the next cycle.

Outside there are still other masters: the one-armed divine blade Luo Wushuang, the demigods under the Ancestral Dragon King, and boarders from other cycles. I will go and dispose of them. " Li Zheng watched him go into the distance.

Before long, radiance burst forth once more and shrouded the ship again.

When it dispersed, Shen Mu hurriedly looked at Li Zheng and saw that his body had turned further to Void. "I am fine.

After this cycle, the Scarlet Bright Divine Son's strength has likely been much reduced by the Void, and the Ancestral Dragon King has likely wholly become Void.

" Li Zheng said, "Now that the Scarlet Bright Divine Son can no longer protect us, we must rely on ourselves.

" Just then, beyond the Heavenly River, they saw a primal tree, lush and verdant, shrouding the Primal Realm. Many gods and demons of the Supreme Emperor era had discovered this ship. Each wielded their divine powers to trap it, then flew toward it.

These were a band of demigods — surely mighty ones of the Northern Supreme Emperor's Heavenly Court.

The demigods were great in number, boarding the ship from every direction, their momentum ferocious. "Tianyou God, there are humans here, and a dragon! " Some of the Supreme Emperor's demigods spotted them and surged toward them. Li Zheng smiled, studying the sword in his hand.

"This is truly a fine sword.

Shen'er, the word 'Carefree' is on the blade — is it then called the Carefree Sword? " Shen Mu nodded and said gravely, "This is Emperor Kai's sword. " Li Zheng was startled for a moment, then laughed.

"Emperor Kai?

The one I admire most is Emperor Kai. When I was young I roamed the rivers and lakes with a sword, wandering everywhere, and in the barren ruins I saw many ancient relics, civilizations that had once shone brilliantly, and countless stone statues.

I would think to myself: what a hero Emperor Kai must have been, to make such champions serve him, to strive a lifetime for a single ideal, a single dream? That is why the second stance of my Sword Diagram is called Sword Drawn for Emperor Kai.

To be able to wield his sword is one of the great blessings of my life!

" He drew the sword and pointed it, shook it and sang.

The sword light moved, and it was like an ocean, like moonlight pouring down into the sea, each wave a leaping silver scale. And in that moment Li Zheng was in high spirits, like an emperor seated in a carved chariot drawn by proud steeds, roaming the seas and putting down rebellions across the four quarters.

The second stance of the Sword Diagram: Sword Drawn for Emperor Kai.

"East wind in the night unfurls a thousand trees of blossom!

" His sword path spread out in waves; he was imagining the scene of Emperor Kai putting down rebellion, as though that emperor had met his foe and risen from his carved chariot to pacify the four directions with his sword. "And further blows down the stars like rain!

Proud steeds, carved chariots, fragrance filling the road.

Phoenix flutes sound, the jade vessel's light turns, all night the fish-dragons dance! " The sword light was like scales, like fish-dragons dancing in a vast ocean of swords. Shen Mu had learned the move Sword Drawn for Emperor Kai as well, yet the same sword move, performed by his hand and by Li Zheng's, was an utterly different artistic realm. And the move performed by the Li Zheng of old and by the Li Zheng of now was likewise an utterly different artistic realm. When the Li Zheng of old performed this move, mountains and rivers remained but the heart was vast and lost; he looked left and right, and the old kingdom was gone, its people no longer in their old garb. There was a bleak desolation, a mourning for fallen heroes, a mourning for bygone years.

But now Li Zheng's sword brought to mind a young emperor putting down rebellion in all four directions — free, unrestrained, wild; the passion of a young hero, a high spirit rarely seen! Different heart, different circumstances, and so a different sword path.

He had once died; the Li Zheng who had returned from death seemed to have become a youth again, filled with a young man's vigor and resolve.

His sword path too swept away the sorrow and tragic grandeur of those years, replaced by a youth's ambition and striving, brimming with heroic feeling.

The demigods of the Northern Supreme Emperor's Heavenly Court surged in and perished in the sword light.

Li Zheng was like a young emperor standing on his carved chariot, cutting down one invading champion after another. His sword path was transforming, growing sharper, more proactive, adapting to the era of Jingping's reforms, leading the era of reform!

He walked at the very forefront of his age!

"Fine swordsmanship!

Worthy of the master who trained Shen Overlord Body! " From afar came a heavy voice.

Blade light flared; a single slash split the road between life and death, cleaving waves and parting breakers, breaking open the ocean of swords and cutting down many of the Supreme Emperor's demigods, throwing them into confusion.

Luo Wushuang, the One-Armed Divine Blade, came riding his momentum, breaking through the Sword Diagram all along the way, his blade cutting at the young emperor on the carved chariot, and he cried in a long voice, "Jingping Sword God, the Overlord Body learned his swordsmanship from you. I will kill you first, then kill him!

" His body had turned to Void more severely still, yet he was, after all, the foremost divine blade of the Outer Heavenly Court; his strength was still terrifying. He had entered the Dao through the blade and reached a fearsome attainment in blade arts.

Li Zheng's sword light shifted and became the Supreme Emperor's Kalpa Stirring; the ocean of swords surged, furious waves splitting the long sky, as he clashed head-on with Luo Wushuang.

One was honored as the foremost divine blade of the Heavenly Court, the other as the Jingping Sword God. As their various Dao-entering ultimate moves unfolded, Shen Mu and Lord Dragon-Raiser, caught amid the storm of blade and sword light, were dazzled. The demigods who rushed into the clash of these two masters' blade and sword arts died miserably, one after another, utterly unable to withstand the collision of power at such a Dao realm.

Suddenly, radiance of incomparable brilliance burst forth, and the ghost ship cycled once more. Luo Wushuang gave a muffled grunt and withdrew, turning to flee.