Chapter 845 — Rebuilding the Heavenly Palace

Daoist Master Linxuan stepped forward and said kindly, "Senior Sister Yu, in Jingping, Sect Master Shen is called a master of the state; in his early years, when he first made his name, he was a holy hand of gynecology, renowned throughout the world."

Yu Hongxiu ground her teeth and sneered, "You two have no good intentions!"

Shen Mu shrugged, and climbed the jade stairs along the pillar to the bookshelves on the second storey of the Archive Pavilion, where he pulled out a scroll at random.

The book was polished from jade slips, cut into long strips and strung together with gold thread, like a book of bamboo slips; but what was carved on them was not writing, but runes.

Linxuan, Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu also came forward. Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu kept a little distance from the other two, and each drew out a jade slip and studied it closely.

"These strange symbols..."

Yu Hongxiu shook her head. She did not recognize the runes, and stuffed the jade slip back.

"These are the foundational Dao runes constructed by the art of calculation; they belong to the Tiangang runes among the Orthodox Gods of the Stars of the Whole Heaven. This scroll of mine is the rune of the Tiankui Star."

Xiao Chunfeng said, "The other scrolls — are they the Dao runes of the other Tiangang Orthodox Gods?"

"No."

Shen Mu shook his head: "This scroll of mine is also the rune of the Tiankui Star."

"Mine as well," said Linxuan, setting down the scroll in his hand.

Xiao Chunfeng moved swiftly, opening the other scrolls, and saw that the runes on them were all runes of the Tiankui Star. The Lord of the Tiankui Star was an Orthodox God of the Stars of the Whole Heaven, and an ancient god besides, born of heaven and earth, born on the Tiankui Star.

His foundational Dao runes should number only a hundred or so; yet the rune marks on these jade slips were exceedingly many, which left Xiao Chunfeng somewhat bewildered: "Can it be that what the jade slips record is the divine powers of the Lord of the Tiankui Star? But that is far too many divine powers..."

Shen Mu's heart stirred. He suddenly waved his hand, and his vital essence flew out; all the jade slips on the six walls of bookshelves rose at once, spreading out around the jade pillar with a clatter, their runes turned toward the translucent pillar.

The pillar refracted the light, casting back the runes on the slips. Gradually all the runes lit up, and within the jade pillar there appeared a crimson dragon god, fierce and malevolent, vivid as life!

"So that is how it is!"

Shen Mu waved his sleeve, and all the jade slips flew back to the shelves on the six walls.

He went on to the third storey and did the same: all the runes on the jade slips shone toward the pillar, and within the pillar appeared the figure of the Lord of the Tiangang Star.

The runes on the fourth storey were those of the Lord of the Tianji Star, the fifth storey those of the Lord of the Tianxian Star. Shen Mu climbed swiftly, and soon reached the three hundred and sixtieth storey, and turned the jade slips there toward the pillar.

Xiao Chunfeng's body shook violently. He stared blankly at the phantom of the ancient god that emerged within the jade pillar — it was his own mother, the Lord of the Taiyin Star.

His thoughts fell into confusion: "These runes on the jade slips can be assembled into exactly one Orthodox Star God. What does the Dao Ancestor mean by reconstructing the Orthodox Star Gods out of runes?"

Shen Mu continued upward. The three hundred and sixty-first storey held the runes that made up the Lord of the Sun Star, that is, the Lord of the Great Sun.

Looking at the Lord of the Great Sun within the pillar, Shen Mu could not help laughing: "No wonder the Lord of the Great Sun died so neatly — he had long since been studied through and through. Once he died, another Lord of the Great Sun could simply be made!"

Daoist Master Linxuan, Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu hurried after him, and hearing this their hearts pounded wildly. Xiao Chunfeng laughed aloud: "Shen the Overlord Body, what mad talk is this? When did the Heavenly Court's Lord of the Great Sun die? He is perfectly well!"

Shen Mu glanced at him and said nothing.

The higher they went in this Archive Pavilion, the more their hearts quailed. Past the three hundred and sixty-first storey, the ancient gods depicted by the jade slips on the six walls grew ever higher in rank — the Orthodox God Ziwei, the Orthodox God Tianhuang.

At last Yu Hongxiu screamed. She saw the runes on the jade slips assemble within the pillar into the figure of her own master, the Southern Emperor, the Vermilion Bird!

Shen Mu said calmly, "Not only the Southern Emperor — I fear the other three Emperors are here as well!"

They climbed on, and indeed on the storeys that followed they saw the jade slips of the Northern Emperor, the Eastern Emperor and the Western Emperor.

"The four Emperors are here. Then what lies above?" Xiao Chunfeng was suddenly seized with dread. His legs trembled, and he stopped, not daring to climb further.

Shen Mu glanced at him and shook his head: "Trash of the Heavenly Court."

Xiao Chunfeng was furious: "Do not make light of the Heavenly Court!" With that, he clenched his teeth and followed.

"This one is Lady Tianyin."

"This is the Empress Consort. I have seen her corpse... Hmm? No, it is the Empress Consort's younger sister."

"This one is the true Empress Consort."

At last they came to the storey of the Earth Mother Primordial Lady. Looking at her within the jade pillar, Shen Mu was filled with emotion, and laughed: "No wonder the Earth Mother Primordial Lady died at Yuandu — you had already been fully deciphered, with no secret left to you at all."

Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu were terrified beyond measure, gazing at the Earth Mother in the pillar, unable to imagine the story behind it.

Shen Mu shook his head and climbed on.

On this storey, he saw the Lord of Heaven.

The jade slips on this storey seemed somehow incomplete; the figure of the Lord of Heaven had not been fully assembled, but the assembly was nearly complete.

"The Lord of Heaven is not far from death either," Shen Mu said suddenly.

Xiao Chunfeng's and Yu Hongxiu's eyes were full of dread; they wanted to flee, yet only a few storeys remained before the top of the Archive Pavilion, and those storeys held a fatal attraction for them, drawing them unconsciously upward.

Shen Mu climbed another storey. The runes on the jade slips here were those of Tubo, though many runes were missing, and the Tubo assembled within the pillar was incomplete, lacking even more parts than the Lord of Heaven.

"Further up, it should be the Heavenly Emperor among the ancient gods, no?" Shen Mu laughed.

Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu nearly swooned away. Daoist Master Linxuan's voice was hoarse as he laughed: "Sect Master Shen, you jest. How could the Heavenly Emperor let the Dao Ancestor reconstruct him? Does he mean to kill himself and take his place?"

Shen Mu laughed: "Hard to say."

After a moment, the three of them gazed at that ancient god-emperor within the jade pillar and were long silent.

At last Yu Hongxiu gave a faint moan and swooned away. Xiao Chunfeng's face was ashen; his whole body shuddered, and he dared not speak.

Shen Mu looked up, and saw that there was still one more storey above the Archive Pavilion. He murmured, "The ancient gods have for the most part been reconstructed once over. What is this storey above for?"

His curiosity was boundless. The others no longer dared to climb, but he went eagerly on up.

A moment later, Shen Mu's eye twitched wildly, and he stared blankly at the youth within the pillar.

"Dao Ancestor, what exactly do you mean to do?" he murmured.