Chapter 860 — The Supreme Token

"Where did you get this thing?

" Shen Mu asked, tearing his gaze from the chest. The youth Xing'an let out a breath.

"When the seal on the Primordial World was broken, I saw a ruin that looked exceedingly ancient, its skies filled with divine radiance, so I went in to search it, and came away with this.

" The Crimson Radiance Divine Son, Zaifu, and the others came crowding up, but the chest had already been shut and they could not see what lay inside it. Yet treasures that could stir Shen Mu's heart were few in this world; even a throne-grade cultivation art of common sort could hardly move him — whatever lay within that chest must be no small matter.

Dragon Qilin came forward and rubbed against the chest, whispering, "Good brother, what is inside?

Let me have a look?

" Xue Hu'er, for her part, tried to pry the chest open a crack, but it stayed shut tight and would not let them see.

"Where is the ruin where you got this thing? " Shen Mu said in a low voice, "This thing is of no great use to me; it is that ruin alone that matters to me above all.

If you want me to save you, then tell me where it is.

" "There is a map in the chest. " Xing'an said, "Save me, and everything in the chest and the map are yours.

And if you still do not trust me, I can take you there myself. " Shen Mu looked at him deeply, then nodded, and said to Libationer Bashan, "Brother, lend me a place.

I will perform the rites for this wretch and remake his soul.

" Libationer Bashan at once cleared out the main hall, the Lanjiang Hall.

Shen Mu lifted the chest, walked into the hall, and set it down beside him. Xing'an walked into the hall and glanced at the chest.

The chest could move on its own, yet Shen Mu stubbornly insisted on carrying it; plainly the thing he had found meant a very great deal to Shen Mu, which showed that he had been right to bring this treasure to him.

In the hall, the Heaven-Bearing Gate rose behind Shen Mu as he performed the rites, gathering the soul that had already scattered. Though Xing'an was a sage of the previous age, one born but once in five hundred years, and gifted with surpassing intelligence, he was bound by his era and could not become a god.

Unlike Imperial Preceptor Jingping, the sage of this present age — who poured all the blood of his heart into Jingping's reforms and sweeping changes, giving full play to his ambitions and caring nothing for his own life — Xing'an poured all the blood of his heart into prolonging his own life. He took a deviant path: he killed many experts who stood near godhood and stitched together the parts of their bodies that had been cultivated to the level of true gods, so as to keep himself young. Later his researches advanced further still: he cut apart even his own primordial spirit, and his soul besides, taking the spirits and souls of others to piece his primordial spirit back together.

In time, Xing'an lost his way, and no longer knew which of them was himself. And the souls and bodies of others would in the end limit his achievements; in this present age of exploding ways and arts, if he could not return to his true self, he would be cast aside.

For Shen Mu, remaking his soul was a familiar road, no great labor — after all, Xing'an was no being like Earth Mother Yuanjun or Lady Tianyin. Nor did he fear that Xing'an could steal his Soul-Summoning Art; without the identity of the Divine Son of Youdu, there was no hope of ever cultivating the true Heaven-Bearing Gate.

More crucially still, lacking a good relationship with Heaven Duke and Earth Count, one who stole their power to remake a soul would most likely be killed by those two ancient gods.

Before long the rites were finished. Xing'an sat cross-legged, sensing his own soul with care, his heart full of feelings beyond words.

Shen Mu opened the chest. Inside, the bodies of god-men stood in neat ranks within the space inside it, many of them demigods who had cultivated to the divine realm.

Many primordial spirits, too, had been fixed there by Xing'an's strange arts — spirits of every kind, grotesque and varied, of every race. Yet what drew Shen Mu's eye was not these collections of Xing'an's, but a jade token, a token like the token of Heavenly Venerable Mu.

The chest spat the token out, and it fell into Shen Mu's hand. He turned it over: on the token was carved a single character, "Shen," in ancient divine script.

The token of Heavenly Venerable Shen. In years past, he and Niu Sanduo had returned to the early years of Longhan, and on the Heavenly River they met Kaihuang; at the grand gathering by the Jade Pool the two had fought a great battle that shook the Heavenly Court.

Heavenly Venerable Yu, seeing that the two possessed vast powers and were unlike any other, surpassing the humans of that time and the ancient gods and demigods of that time, memorialized the Celestial Emperor of the Ancient Gods and asked rewards for them both. And so the Celestial Emperor of the Ancient Gods conferred on them both the title of Heavenly Venerable.

Shen Mu had taken the alias Mu Qing, and was therefore enfeoffed as Heavenly Venerable Mu; Kaihuang, whose name was Shen Ye, took the alias Shen Kai, and was therefore enfeoffed as Heavenly Venerable Shen.

Shen Mu and Kaihuang ranked alongside the Seven Heavenly Venerables, and were called the Nine Heavenly Venerables. The conferral of the Celestial Emperor of the Ancient Gods came with an imperial edict and a token, one set for each of them.

This was why, upon seeing this token, he had agreed at once to remake Xing'an's soul! Shen Mu turned the token of Heavenly Venerable Shen over and over several times, put it away in his Taotie Pouch, and looked at Xing'an.

Xing'an, his soul weak from the remaking, was even then driving his mystic arts to strengthen it.

Shen Mu took the map from the chest and studied it a few times. It was a map of the Primordial World as it was now; too many places were strange to him, and he could make almost nothing of it.

"Even with the map, I will need Xing'an to go there with me. " Shen Mu put the map away and walked out of the Lanjiang Hall.

Outside, Zaifu transformed into a blade of light and flew off, laughing, "Shen boy, didn't you want to learn the fruits of the Lanjiang Academy's reforms? I will be waiting for you at the Heavenly Blade Academy!

" Shen Mu set his thoughts aside and laughed, "Grandpa Tu, I am going to beat you to death.

" Zaifu roared with laughter, and the blade of light fell into a cluster of palaces within the Academy, where the Heavenly Blade Academy stood.

The Crimson Radiance Divine Son swept up his purple robes and vanished in a flash, his voice carrying back: "Divine Son of Youdu, I await your honored arrival at the Creation Academy!

" The old farmer walked out, saying mildly, "The Martial Academy. Come and take a beating from me! " Shen Mu's face darkened, and Yu Zhaoqing said with a smile, "The Nature Academy.

This one awaits your honored arrival, Cult Master. " Ban Gongcuo, his spirit soaring to the clouds, laughed aloud, "Cult Master Shen, I shall await your instruction at the Shaman Arts Tianxing Academy!

" Before the Lanjiang Hall, the many experts went each back to their own academy to await Shen Mu's challenge.

Xue Hu'er, too, grew excited and rode off on a demonic wind, crying joyfully, "Young Master, I will be waiting for you at the Demon Academy!

" Shen Mu scratched his head. "Ling'er seems to have misunderstood.

I came to learn divine arts, and demonic arts are not something I can learn.

.

.

Still, it is rare to see her so eager; after I have fought my way through the other academies, I will go and sit with her a while, so the little girl's feelings are not hurt.

Still, these academies of the Lanjiang Academy all seem to hold hard characters to provoke — apart from the Great Venerable, of course.

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