Chapter 904 — The Dark Night Approaches

This strange spectacle gave full display to the power of the Earth Mother, yet the one who wielded that power was not the Earth Mother but the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor.

That "Heavenly Venerable Yu" came walking over and said to the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court: "Withdraw, all of you. He is no longer the Divine Son of Youdu. " Qi Xiayu and the others were taken aback.

Yin Tianzi said: "This boy is one of the Three Outstanding Men of the Jingping Reform, and the renowned Overlord Body of Jingping, a remnant of Kaihuang. He cannot be left alive.

. .

" "Heavenly Venerable Yu" glanced at him, half smiling: "Yin Zhaojin, he has another identity. It is Heavenly Venerable Mu.

" Yin Tianzi's face went deathly pale in an instant. "Heavenly Venerable Yu" said calmly: "Heavenly Venerable Mu's merits cover the world.

He preached the Dharma at the Jade Pool, and his grace has flowed down through ten thousand generations and ten thousand times ten thousand more. How many in this world are qualified to kill him?

Kill him, and you will only shoulder the infamy.

Withdraw. He is ruined now. He has no soul, only spirit and flesh.

He is no longer an Overlord Body. " Yin Tianzi was dazed.

He wanted to look Shen Mu over carefully, but because of the guilt in his heart his gaze shifted and dodged, and he did not dare let his eyes meet Shen Mu's. Though he was the Black Emperor of the Heavenly Court, an existence of the Emperor Throne realm, governing Mingdu with power that swayed the whole court, the moment his eyes met Shen Mu's he could not keep himself from thinking back a million years.

Shen Mu, for his part, was untroubled.

The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor had not been wrong: he had no soul left now, only a spirit fetus and a physical body. He himself had come into being as a consciousness born within this body after Shen Fengqing was sealed; strictly speaking, even the body was not his own but Shen Fengqing's.

From first to last he was nothing but an orphan. On that night thirty-two years ago, when Granny Zhu lifted him out of the basket by the river, his consciousness had only just been born.

Shen Mu: that was the name the village headman had given him.

Yin Tianzi turned and departed. Qi Xiayu's gaze rested on Shen Mu, and after a moment he too spread his wings and left. "Heavenly Venerable Mu? Shen the Overlord Body? " The Azure Emperor and the White Emperor shook their heads and drifted away, indifferent: "Ruined.

" "Heavenly Venerable Yu" held Shen Mu in the palm of his hand, examined him left and right, and shook his head: "A man without a soul, how could he possibly help me win back my physical body?

Heavenly Venerable Mu, it is very hard for Us to trust you. " Shen Mu put away the peach-wood hairpin and sat down in his palm, saying calmly: "Indeed.

Had I not cultivated the Undying Consciousness, I might well have died when I dug out my third eye, my consciousness scattering away. It is only natural that Your Majesty should be uneasy. But Your Majesty must take one gamble.

" "Heavenly Venerable Yu" smiled: "We seldom gamble.

But after meeting you, We gambled right.

Threats to the Heavenly Court and the Heavenly Alliance are few now; the descent of the strongest divine treasures this time is merely the Heavenly Court's distribution of spoils. We have come to carve up the benefits. Someone has gained Youdu, someone Xuandu, someone Guixu, and some have gained the Four Heavenly Poles.

But I have snatched the Primordial Realm out of Heavenly Venerable Yu's hands!

In the days to come, I will seize still more. " Shen Mu's breath was withered and failing.

He forced a smile: "Your Majesty has gained the Primordial Realm.

Then Jingping. .

.

" "Jingping, We need not destroy.

We promised you that. " "Heavenly Venerable Yu" smiled: "Our word still holds. We do not break Our promises.

The factions of the Primordial Realm are tangled and hard to govern; to grant your human race a small patch of land and let you live on is also the virtue of Heaven, which loves life. And besides, I am Heaven itself. " Shen Mu let out a breath of relief. "However, the Reform must be brought to an end, and the Three Outstanding Men of Jingping must lose their heads, must take a turn upon the God-Slaying Platform. Otherwise, where would the Heavenly Court's authority be?

" "Heavenly Venerable Yu" looked at his face and smiled: "You may live. The people of Jingping may live as well. A new Heavenly Chart will shroud the whole of the Primordial Realm. This is the future I grant to you, to Jingping, and to all living beings of the Primordial Realm. " Shen Mu's heart sank lower and lower. A future of utter despair, shrouded beneath the Heavenly Chart. Emperor Yanfeng, Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, would become the sacrifice that ends this Jingping Reform.

"There are still forces in the Primordial Realm that must be put down, that must be subjugated.

Great Black Heaven, for instance.

The Chiming Divine Son, for instance. Fengdu, for instance. " "Heavenly Venerable Yu" set him down and laughed: "Your friend has come for you. Go with him.

" Shen Mu saw the Lame Elder racing toward him like the wind, terror and unease written plain upon the old man's wrinkled face.

He seemed to have made up his mind, to have summoned up his courage, and he charged straight at Shen Mu and "Heavenly Venerable Yu". Of all the Woeful Elders, the Lame Elder was the most cowardly, yet here he was, ready to cast away his own life to save Shen Mu.

"Heavenly Venerable Yu" laughed aloud and floated away into the sky. "Cripple Grandpa. " Shen Mu looked at the old man who had rushed to his side, and a smile came over his face: "I am fine.

I am only very tired.

" "Don't talk!

" The Lame Elder hoisted him onto his back and ran east with all his strength.

The old man felt warm blood flowing down his back and onto his chest, and he felt Shen Mu's breath growing fainter and fainter. "Cripple Grandpa, I remember now, from when I was little.

Granny gave me away to people from another village, and every time, you stole me back. " Blood kept flowing from Shen Mu's mouth, and his voice grew lower and lower as he murmured: "I could not remember anything from when I was little before.

Back then I was only a very faint consciousness in this body, and now suddenly I remember it all. . .

I was only a consciousness born within this body, and little by little I grew up, and I could remember many things. .

.

" "Don't talk.

" The Lame Elder's eyes were wide, and he ran with all his might. "Shen'er, don't talk.

I am taking you to the Alchemist.

. . Alchemist, damn you, why have you still not come?

This old man is too slow, too slow! " He ran with all his strength until he coughed blood from the effort, and the Shen Mu on his back had fallen silent.

The Lame Elder grew anxious again and said: "Shen'er, talk with me a while. Don't fall asleep. Shen'er? " Shen Mu opened his eyes and gazed hazily ahead, where the Dragon Sparrow flew, dancing with the heavens in its beak, and Yan Qiling stood upon the Dragon Sparrow's back with the Dragon Qilin.