Chapter 912 — Meeting an Old Acquaintance on the Escort Road

The Divine Sovereign Wuji waved a hand. "No pursuit.

Pass down the order: treat the Dragon-Keeper Lord well, and be kinder to the Dragon King of the Yong River; there is no need for such cruelty.

Also, if those common mortals of Jingping pay their tribute on time and in full, do not press them too hard; give them a way to live. " The heavenly soldiers and generals were doubtful at heart, but they bowed and assented. "Another order from me! " The Divine Sovereign Wuji said in a deep voice, "The Overlord Body of Jingping, the Heaven Venerable Mu of Longhan, is about to set out for the Great Prison!

Let the swiftest divine general pilot the fastest ship and inform the Southern Heaven Palace, the Northern Heaven Palace, and the Western Heaven Palace, so that they may prepare in advance!

" The heavenly soldiers and generals grew even more doubtful.

The Divine Sovereign Wuji narrowed his eyes and thought, "The Heaven Venerable Mu knows that many wish him dead, so why reveal his whereabouts to me? Still, since he has spoken of his movements, I shall simply go along with the current. Whether he kills those mighty ones of the Heavenly Court or they kill him, it has nothing to do with me! " He exhaled a turbid breath.

"He wants to go to the Heavenly Court.

. . to the Heavenly Court! This fellow is outrageously bold! " The dragon qilin traveled up the Yong River.

Shen Mu sat upon its forehead, breathing and circulating his qi, cultivating the art he had comprehended for himself. His cultivation rose day by day, and four months later it had caught up with what it once was, on the verge of returning to its peak.

Yet strangely, even as he neared his former peak, he still felt that the potential of the Primordial Fetus Divine Treasury remained vast, far from reaching its end! This left him deeply perplexed. He had destroyed the heavenly palaces and the various divine treasuries, reopened the heavens and the earth, and opened the Primordial Fetus Divine Treasury anew, making his single spark of primal spirit imperishable and unchangeable, and giving birth to a divine soul from the opening of the heavens and the establishment of the earth. The path he walked now diverged utterly from the former divine treasury cultivation system and the heavenly palace cultivation system.

How long the Primordial Fetus Divine Treasury must be cultivated before it reached its end, and what lay at that end, he had no idea. He again stirred the Scripture of Immeasurable Calamities and entered dreams several times, deducing countless possibilities, yet he could never find where the limit of the Primordial Fetus Divine Treasury lay, nor where the path beyond that limit led.

Without finding the limit, he could not enter the next realm, could not cultivate into a deity.

"At the grand gathering at the Jade Pool in the early years of Longhan, Heaven Venerable Ling once said that the art of creation could achieve agelessness, deathlessness, and imperishability. To reach that step is to be equal to a god, and whether one becomes a god or not no longer matters. Then what is a god? How is a god defined?

" "Does crossing the divine bridge and entering the heavenly palace make one a god? " "This so-called god is in truth merely a name for a divine-power wielder who has attained eternal life and shares the lifespan of heaven and earth.

Those mighty ones who break through the divine treasury and enter the heavenly palace are merely more powerful divine-power wielders, not true gods! " "Then what of the ancient gods? " "The ancient gods are mighty beings born of the great Dao of heaven and earth.

Are they gods?

I fear not. They are bound by their own Dao, unable to break through their shackles. They are not omnipotent; they are not gods, only mighty beings. " "In this world, there are no gods at all.

" Shen Mu laughed despite himself and looked up.

The dragon qilin had reached the middle stretch of the Yong River, and the Origin Tree deep within the Origin World loomed ever vaster. "My art has already leapt beyond the scope of the original Mystic Body Three-Cinnabar Art, and stands outside the present cultivation systems. Then what should the new art be called? " He fell into a daze again, then suddenly smiled.

"My art cannot be passed on to anyone else, so what does the name matter?

I shall carry on the old name and still call it the Mystic Body Three-Cinnabar Art. " Ahead, the roots of the Origin Tree spanned the Yong River. One root lay across the river's surface, a hundred or so zhang above the water, and from the water countless fine roots hung down like a curtain. The dragon qilin halted.

Upon the tip of one dark root a green sprout suddenly appeared.

The sprout grew with astonishing speed into a flowering plant with two green leaves and a great flower bud at its center. This plant hung down from above, drooping to the water's surface.

The flower bloomed, opened wide, and spat out a stone coffin, yet the coffin did not fall into the river. "A demon is at work! " the dragon qilin thought in alarm.

Shen Mu stepped down from its forehead and came to the flower's side. The river rushed on, and from within the flower a faint voice said, "Heaven Venerable Mu. .

. " "The Earth Mother Yuanjun. " Shen Mu broke into a smile.

"I thought you had already died at the hands of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor. Earth Mother, your remnant soul persists; for what purpose do you block my way? "