Chapter 913 — The Earth Mother's Rings

From the flower hung the stone coffin, and from within it came the voice of the Earth Mother—very weak, yet seething with fury, sharp and stern: "You know it was the Ancient God Heaven Emperor who struck at me? You know he is not dead?

" Shen Mu's face was calm, and he waited for her to settle.

Seizing the moment, he studied the coffin closely.

It was the Emperor's Coffin of the Northern Supreme Emperor of Heaven; he had seen it in the underground palace.

He did not know how the Earth Mother's remnant soul had escaped the Ancient God Heaven Emperor's grasp, nor how she had found the Emperor's Coffin. At the time of the calamity, Heaven Venerable Hao had wielded the strongest weapon and fought a great battle with the Earth Mother; Shen Mu, using the Earth Mother's hand, had gravely wounded that strongest weapon, and afterward he had taken the chance to return to the Yuan Realm.

Later he was discovered by the Heavenly Court's army of gods and demons and caught in their encirclement, until beings at the Emperor Throne realm such as Qi Xiayu and Yin Tianzi appeared, forcing him to abandon his soul and spirit and send his brother Shen Fengqing back to Youdu. After that, the Ancient God Heaven Emperor descended with the strongest weapon and drove the Yuan Wood into the Yuan Realm—only then did he learn that the Earth Mother was dead. As for what had happened in between, he did not know, but he could guess that the Ancient God Heaven Emperor himself had descended into the world, driven off Heaven Venerable Hao, and slain the Earth Mother.

Even so, in such peril, the Earth Mother had still escaped as a remnant soul; such ability truly earned his admiration. The Earth Mother had nothing left: her forces were dead or fled, and uncounted of her surviving followers and the various heavens had been broken open and turned into slaves, into prisoners.

Yet even so, the Earth Mother still made him wary. A centipede dies but does not stiffen; the Earth Mother, mightiest of the ancient gods born of Yuandu, even reduced to a remnant soul, was still far beyond his power to contend with.

The coffin hanging from the flower was the Emperor's Coffin of the Northern Supreme Emperor of Heaven; he did not know whether the corpse of the Northern Supreme Emperor of Heaven still lay within.

At last the Earth Mother in the coffin calmed, and said coldly: "Heaven Venerable Hao withdrew, and the Ancient God Heaven Emperor rode the Heavenly Court's mightiest weapon and struck me down without mercy. The divine powers he worked through that weapon, though formidable, were not enough to kill me easily; in the end he still used the Emperor of Heaven's supreme art.

Only then did I know it was him!

" She grew agitated again: "Heh heh, in those years he reincarnated into the Yuan Realm and took that woman Jue Wuchen as his wife—never guessing that Jue Wuchen was of the Heaven Alliance. The Heaven Alliance surrounded and killed him.

I watched; I did not lift a hand. Who would have thought he did not die—that he was still alive!

Once he used his supreme art, I recognized him. He came for vengeance—vengeance against me! " "The Ancient God Heaven Emperor had a soul that did not disperse; afterward in the Heavenly Court he became one of the Heaven Alliance's heads. I learned of this only later.

" Shen Mu stared at the coffin. "Earth Mother, you stopped me because you want me to revive you again? To speak plainly, I am no longer the Divine Son of Youdu. " "But you are still the Undying Great Dharma Master of Ten Thousand Kalpas.

" The Earth Mother's voice came from the coffin: "Nearly all the ancient gods know your name; they know you have the power to revive ancient gods. The Undying Great Dharma Master of Ten Thousand Kalpas is you—not the Divine Son of Youdu.

You still have the power to revive me! " Shen Mu shook his head, and unwittingly an air came over him of desolate autumn falling upon withered leaves, melancholy and faint, as though he had seen through the red dust of the world: "I have no soul and no spirit left; I have not the strength to revive you.

Blocking my way is useless.

My days are numbered; this time I came out only to find a place of green hills and clear waters to bury myself. " Yan'er tilted her head and studied Shen Mu; the plump round bird lifted a claw and rubbed the corner of its beak, thinking: "The young master lies without changing expression—clearly not the work of a single day. " The Earth Mother fell silent, and after a moment the coffin opened.

Shen Mu's scalp went numb; Yan'er turned her head and studied his neck, and at once saw the skin behind it quiver and rise in tiny bumps—plainly he was in great alarm. Yet to her astonishment, though Shen Mu was so alarmed, his breath and the flow of his blood did not change in the least; clearly he had worked hard to make certain he betrayed no flaw. "From whom did the young master learn this? " she wondered.

Within the coffin a mass of blue-green light moved, like water and like light, exceedingly mild and smooth. That mass of blue-green light did not fall into the river; instead it coiled within the coffin, and Shen Mu could dimly see a wisp of remnant soul steeped in the purple light.

With the purple light's appearance, Shen Mu instantly felt an incomparable breath of life rush at his face, lifting his spirits with a start!

Even his soul and spirit seemed to cheer and leap, greatly stirred. "My true body is the Yuan Wood; when I was born I took root in this luminous fluid.

I do not know its name, so I named it the Hongmeng Primal Liquid. " In the purple vortex, the Earth Mother's remnant soul seemed a little reluctant to part with it: "That I have survived two great calamities of destruction without dying is precisely the work of the Hongmeng Primal Liquid.

From remotest antiquity to this day, the Hongmeng Primal Liquid has been much consumed—only this much remains.

" A drop of Hongmeng Primal Liquid flew out of the coffin.

Under the purple light, fish swam in the river; those fish leaped from the water's surface, exceedingly joyous, and the instant they left the water they grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, swelling larger, and before they fell back had grown more than ten times over, becoming colossal! Suddenly a great fish grew to tens of zhang in length, and in that brief moment demonic qi surged from its body—thick beyond measure!

The demon fish rode its demonic qi and lunged at the Hongmeng Primal Liquid; before it drew near it had grown to a hundred zhang, long bone spurs sprouting from its body like so many spears, and just as it reached the liquid's side it burst with a bang, flesh and blood spattering. Other demon fish on the river burst open one after another; the scene was bloody and horrifying to the extreme!

Even from the banks of the Yong River came the breath of gods and demons—the corpses of gods, demons, and dragons sunk in the river, and now those corpses too were transforming at furious speed, turning undead, opening their eyes, green light shining from them, rising from the river bottom to pounce at the Hongmeng Primal Liquid!

For a time that stretch of the Yong River was in tremendous uproar. Those divine corpses, demon corpses, and dragon corpses never touched the Hongmeng Primal Liquid either, yet their flesh grew to a fearful state and at last crushed them until they burst!

The stench over the river stung the nose. That drop of Hongmeng Primal Liquid flew to Shen Mu's presence. The dragon qilin was the first unable to bear it; its flesh began to grow madly, its dragon claws lengthening to six or seven zhang, its scales growing larger still, bright enough to mirror a person, its mane sprouting madly, longer and longer!