Chapter 902 — Old Survivors of the Yuan Realm in a Desolate Village

A tall man walked through the fog and laughed to the person behind him: "Granny, the arts of creation fused with the medical path—there is indeed great potential. That wicked boy Shen's arts of creation are brilliant, but when it comes to medical skill, he is far inferior to me."

"Yes! Yes!"

Behind him was a woman who said impatiently: "Someone called out to you in the fog just now. If you don't go over soon, he'll be poisoned to death by you."

"He won't die. I heard his cry just now and ordered the poison within his body to stop growing... Hm, it's Qikang, and Daoist Lin!"

Qikang, Human Sovereign, was finally able to relax. He fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke, he found himself lying on the back of a giant spider, which was clicking and clattering forward at a run.

Daoist Lin Xuan had fully recovered and sat beside him.

He sat up and looked around. He saw his disciple floating in the air, a long sword on his back.

"Young Su, where is this?" Qikang, Human Sovereign, saw the others as well—the Jade-Faced Poison King, the Holy-Pupil Spear God who called himself the Blind Elder, the Shadow Thief who ran especially fast, the Painting Sage, Prince Tiantu, the old blacksmith, the most beautiful Granny Zhu, and the rest.

"We're going to save people."

The Village Chief turned back and said: "Teacher, if you had arrived a little later, we would have already left the Heavenly Sage Academy. The several cities near the Academy have already been emptied by us."

Qikang, Human Sovereign, looked around and asked doubtfully: "Where are the people you saved?"

Suddenly the giant spider stopped. They had come to a town. Some elderly folk in the town had not yet had time to evacuate. The Silent Craftsman, whose voice was tremendously loud, called everyone in the town out and told them to stand together.

The Deaf Elder jumped down from the spider's back, unrolled a scroll, spread the painting out, and faced it toward them. Everyone in the town was drawn into the painting.

Qikang, Human Sovereign, looked into the painting and saw those people walking about within it. There were others in the painting too—tens of thousands of them.

Qikang was aghast. Then he saw that in the Silent Craftsman's box were several hundred scrolls.

"It's good that you're awake, teacher."

The Village Chief said: "In our company, anyone can die—only the Deaf Elder cannot. No matter what, we must deliver the Deaf Elder alive to the capital of Jingping!"

Qikang, Human Sovereign, nodded silently. Suddenly his voice went hoarse: "And when we reach the capital?"

The Village Chief was silent for a moment, then said bitterly: "I don't know either. I don't know either..."

"The Four Great Heavenly Masters, the Four Great Heavenly Kings—where are they?" Qikang, Human Sovereign, asked again.

The group remained silent. The Village Chief said bitterly: "I don't know..."

"They are Kaihuang's faction. We are Jingping."

Granny Zhu smiled gently: "It is only natural that they do not help Jingping. Begging their aid would only harm them."

The group nodded and said no more.

"By the way, do any of you know Wei Suifeng?" Qikang, Human Sovereign, thought of the strange man in the cage and asked.

Granny Zhu was startled and said: "Wei Suifeng is the founding patriarch of our Heavenly Sage Cult, the eldest disciple of the Woodcutter Sage. How does the Human Sovereign know his name? Shen has been searching for him for a long time—he says the patriarch left behind some geographical maps concealing many secrets."

Qikang, Human Sovereign, was stunned. He blurted out: "The founding patriarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult? No wonder he was so demonic! I met him—he was taken by Qingdi of the Eastern Heaven and sunk in the river, merged with the ghost ship. He also said something about following the map to save him. I think..."

He hesitated, then said: "I think the founding patriarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult may be the most powerful person from the fall of the Kaihuang era to the present Jingping era."

Granny Zhu shook her head: "That patriarch was an absentee leader. After founding the Heavenly Sage Cult, he vanished without a trace. He cannot be very strong. That he could cultivate to godhood at all is thanks to his ancestors' blessings."

Qikang, Human Sovereign, was taken aback. He scratched his head and said: "He may have already cultivated to the Imperial Throne realm—the only existence at the Imperial Throne realm in all of Jingping."

The group was shocked.

The Village Chief said: "You mean he was sunk in the river by Qingdi of the Eastern Heaven and merged with the ghost ship?"

Qikang, Human Sovereign, nodded.

The Village Chief said decisively: "Then there is no saving him!"

The group was puzzled. The Village Chief explained: "Shen once told me about the ghost ship. He said it was only by relying on the divine powers of the Four Ancient Gods and the strength of the most powerful army of gods and demons from antiquity that he broke the ghost ship's power and walked out alive. Wei Suifeng has merged with the ghost ship—where would one find the Four Ancient Gods? Don't even think of saving him. He is dead beyond any doubt."

Granny Zhu frowned.

The Butcher laughed: "Best to tell Shen about this. Whether to save him or not, let him decide."

Granny Zhu breathed a sigh of relief, then worried again: "Who knows where that little scoundrel Shen has run off to?"

Qikang, Human Sovereign, said hastily: "He is still in the Wasteland Ruins, probably near Crimson Dragon City! When we passed through there, there were Heavenly Court armies saying they had orders to encircle and suppress the Divine Son of Youdu!"

The Village Chief thought for a moment, then said decisively: "Lame Elder, you go notify Shen. You are the fastest, and also the most cowardly—the moment a fight starts, you run. There is no place for you here anyway."

The simple and honest Lame Elder snorted, somewhat displeased.

The Blind Elder said with concern: "Lame Elder, be careful on the road. Don't die."

"I haven't even robbed the Heavenly Court yet—how could I die?"

The Lame Elder laughed heartily and vanished in a flash. A string of thunderclaps came from the distance—he was already several hundred li away.

"That fellow runs damn fast!" the group exclaimed in admiration.

The Lame Elder raced on. After several days and nights he arrived near Crimson Dragon City. He looked around but found no trace of Shen Mu. Then he saw the sky suddenly brilliant with stars—abruptly, in an instant, a radiant river of stars emerged.

The Lame Elder was startled. The stars in the sky grew more numerous and larger, and from afar came the faint sound of war drums.

Those stars soon became distinguishable to the naked eye—they were ancient gods, utterly different from humans, like ancient deities stepping out of myth and legend, halos behind their heads like stars.

"Spread the net of heaven and earth! Capture the Divine Son of Youdu!" A thunderous voice came from the sky.

The Lame Elder's heart stirred. He followed the direction of the star river's flow, and from afar saw boundless darkness like a massive black pot overturned upon the Yuan Realm, shrouding countless tens of thousands of li.

Within the darkness, countless Heavenly soldiers and generals drove tower ships and great vessels in a charge, the radiance of all manner of divine powers tearing through the dark.

Within the torn darkness, a deity with three heads and six arms was slaughtering freely, drawing nearly thirty percent of the Heavenly Court's forces sent down to this realm.

The Lame Elder shrank his neck: "Is that Shen? The Shen who fought me over candied hawthorns when we were children?"