Chapter 864 — The Supreme Falls

The blind old man sat there in silence. Again who knew how long passed, and another Heavenly Venerable Ling came drifting down the river. Once more they buried her, and once more the same thing happened: Heavenly Venerable Ling became a pool of clear water, as though what they had fished up were not her mortal flesh but a patch of river water.

They waited there for who knew how long. Each of those stone coffins now held a "Heavenly Venerable Ling," and the blind old man dragged the coffins back toward the Jade Capital City.

The city was already filled with stone coffins and grave steles. The old man dragged these coffins outside the city, set them in neat rows, and buried the steles deep and raised them straight.

Shen Mu followed him, made offerings before these empty coffins, then followed the old man to the place where he quarried his stone, and watched as the old man took up his axe and chisel and went on with his clanging work upon the stone.

After a moment, Shen Mu could bear it no longer and asked, "Elder, what exactly is going on here?"

The blind old man set down his axe and chisel; his sightless eyes stared off into nothing. After a moment he said, "My master spent her whole life in study of the Dao and its divine arts, and she always kept to herself, with scarcely a friend. She took me as her disciple most likely because she found solitude tedious. I am a man of the Shanghuang years. After I took her as my master and followed her in cultivation, I learned that she had few friends—yet she often spoke of two people, two who had suddenly appeared in the early years of Longhan and lent her their aid."

Warmth spread through Shen Mu's heart.

Those two were himself and Kaihuang.

"Heavenly Venerable Shen and Heavenly Venerable Mu were the ones she spoke of most. She wanted to find them, yet she never could."

The blind old man picked up his axe and chisel again and went on with his tapping and chipping. "The Shanghuang era was very long. She never found those two Venerables in the Shanghuang era, and at last she could hold herself back no longer. Her divine art was nearly complete, and moreover the Shanghuang Heavenly Court that the Heaven Alliance backed had won its victory. I still remember that day—it was after the death of the Earth Mother Primordial Lady. She cut off the Heavenly River and unleashed her divine art. That day..."

The tapping stopped.

And Shen Mu felt a chill run through him.

The Shanghuang Heavenly Court that the Heaven Alliance backed had won a victory?

What victory?

Had the Northern Shanghuang Heavenly Court been wiped out?

Was the Heavenly Court the Heaven Alliance backed the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court?

"That day, the Heavenly River was severed. My master stood upon the Heavenly Court and used her divine art to still the matter of the Heavenly River, to restore it even to its ancient state and advance it to its future state. I remember that day: I stood on the bank and saw mist suddenly rise over the Heavenly River. My master was within the mist, merging into one with it."

That day, a great upheaval shook the Yuan Realm.

The vast Heavenly River was cut off in an instant; the river that drifted across the sky lost a great stretch of itself and vanished from the world.

And the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court, left unstable by it, came under attack from the Heavenly Court Beyond the Realm—an attack that annihilated it.

"Then this Heavenly Court we stand in—is it the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court?"

Shen Mu abruptly cut him off. "Then who is buried in Lingxiao Palace?"

"Naturally, the Shanghuang Heavenly Emperor. He died in battle protecting Heavenly Venerable Ling; I buried him in Lingxiao Palace."

The blind old man went on, "The Shanghuang Heavenly Emperor—he too was of the Heaven Alliance, a disciple of another Heavenly Venerable. Every Shanghuang Emperor in turn has been a disciple of a Heavenly Venerable. And yet the fall of the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court came not from my master's divine art, but from the Heaven Alliance's betrayal."

While Heavenly Venerable Ling was wielding her divine art and merging with the mist, the Heaven Alliance's betrayal caused the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court to be breached. Darkness descended, and Heavenly Venerable Ling reemerged from the mist.

And at that moment a terrifying force came without warning: a towering figure charged into the mist, making straight for Heavenly Venerable Ling.

The Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court was defeated, and nothing remained but ruins.

"Later, I saw my master's corpse come drifting down the river."

The blind old man took out a token—Heavenly Venerable Ling's token—and said in a hoarse voice, "I built this tomb and left behind a mechanism that only Heavenly Venerable Shen and Heavenly Venerable Mu can unlock."

Shen Mu looked at Heavenly Venerable Ling's token. It was the same size as his own; the blind old man had designed the mechanism on the basis of this token.

"Then why did you say she is still alive?" Shen Mu asked abruptly.

The blind old man set down his axe and chisel and, dragging a coffin behind him on a chain, walked toward the riverbank. "Heavenly Venerable Shen came here and told me he had seen Heavenly Venerable Ling. She had come seeking him and told him many things."

Shen Mu was taken aback. He hurried after him. "What is the origin of the Heavenly Court Beyond the Realm? Who is the Heavenly Emperor of that court beyond the realm? Others may not know, but Heavenly Venerable Ling must!"

"The Heavenly Emperor of the Heavenly Court Beyond the Realm is..."

The blind old man turned back, and his wrinkled old face wore an expression that was neither smile nor tear: "The Heaven Alliance. Heavenly Venerable Mu—it was you who founded the Heaven Alliance."