Chapter 916 — The Venerable Breaks the Prison

The core of the Yuan Wood flew back without a sound, and the warden meant to examine it closely, never guessing where Shen Mu had hidden it.

After a moment he led Shen Mu and the others to a shrine of white bone, saying, "If you wish to visit Jiang Baigui in prison, you must first register with Judge Yan. " Just then a deity came out of the White Bone Shrine, his face wreathed in smiles: "Heaven Venerable Mu is a Heaven Venerable—what need has he of registration?

You may withdraw. Heaven Venerable, the Great Prison is a perilous place; I will escort you down myself.

" Shen Mu thanked him.

"Why does Heaven Venerable stand on such ceremony?

What virtue or ability has Yan to deserve it? " The judge returned the salute in a fluster and said with a laugh, "You are a Heaven Venerable.

Since ancient times only nine beings have been worthy of the name. If Heaven Venerable bows to me, will it not be the death of me? This way, please!

" Shen Mu followed him, and saw that this Judge Yan led them to the entrance of the Great Prison. The prison was built beneath the roots of the Yuan Wood; in one root thick as a mountain a doorway had been opened, carved from the Yuan Wood itself, guarded by heavy troops, its defenses stern.

Passing through the doorway, they saw a wooden stair winding down, and on either wall the bones of gods and demons hung as lamps, though the divine and demonic radiance given off by those corpses was somewhat dim.

"How should I address Judge Yan?

" Shen Mu asked, looking about.

"This junior is Yan Shaoqing. " Judge Yan said with a smile, "This junior is nameless in the Heavenly Court; Heaven Venerable Mu has likely never heard of me.

" Shen Mu's heart gave a leap, and he smiled: "Yan Shaoqing, Left Junior Assistant of the Heavenly Court, master of spirit divine abilities, who tricked Tian Shu, the Heavenly King of the Nether Capital of Kaihuang, into the Imperial Gate Divine Blade and trapped that Heavenly King inside the blade for seven or eight million years.

" Judge Yan said in astonishment, "Heaven Venerable has actually heard of me? " Shen Mu said, "I too was trapped in the Imperial Gate Divine Blade for several years, and only with great difficulty escaped. Inside that blade I saw the fine wine the Left Junior Assistant used to deceive Heavenly King Tian Shu.

In spirit divine abilities, the Left Junior Assistant is the foremost among all the strong I have met—none can match him!

" Dragon Qilin said, "I drank your wine, and I swore brotherhood with Tian Shu. " Yan Shaoqing laughed: "Heaven Venerable overpraises me.

I cannot be called foremost.

What Heaven Venerable calls spirit, I call consciousness. The foremost in consciousness divine abilities is in truth the Crimson Emperor of the Chiming era.

" Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly. The Crimson Emperor's Undying Consciousness of the Three Primal Spirits had indeed been passed to him, but the divine ability within that Emperor Throne cultivation method the Crimson Emperor had not taught him.

The Crimson Emperor was, after all, a figure of the early ancient age; his Undying Consciousness leaned toward cultivating the Three Primal Spirits and strengthening one's own primal spirit, and in developing consciousness divine abilities it fell far short of later talents like Yan Shaoqing.

In consciousness divine abilities, Yan Shaoqing could be called the very pinnacle of the Heavenly Court! Yan Shaoqing and Tian Shu held the same office—one the Left Junior Assistant of the Outland Heavenly Court, the other the Left Junior Assistant of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court. Tian Shu excelled in Youdu divine abilities; his talent and attainment in the Youdu demonic path were exceedingly high, on a par with Yin Tianzi.

Yan Shaoqing, by contrast, excelled in consciousness divine abilities; he had been able to plot against Tian Shu without the least effort, and Tian Shu called him an old rival—so his strength must be exceedingly high, and he had surely crossed swords with Tian Shu more than once. The two of them must both have cultivated the Great Dao system of Youdu, only in different directions.

"The Heavenly Court has always lacked an Emperor Throne-level consciousness cultivation method.

A pity the Crimson Emperor has been dead four hundred thousand years, and his Undying Consciousness of the Three Primal Spirits is lost. " Yan Shaoqing said, "The Heavenly Court placed its hopes in me, expecting me to create an Emperor Throne consciousness method, yet again and again I failed their high expectations, and so this time I was banished down here to serve as judge of the Great Prison.

Only when I came to the lower realm did I discover that the Undying Consciousness of the Three Primal Spirits the Heavenly Court searched so hard for was common as cabbage—almost every divine-ability user had learned it, only with varying degrees of attainment. " Shen Mu smiled. Yan Shaoqing said, "Jiang Baigui passed this method on to me, and so I have shown him considerable care and spared him suffering. These days I have pondered the Undying Consciousness of the Three Primal Spirits and profited greatly.

Heaven Venerable can live without a soul and not die—that too must be the work of the Undying Consciousness, no?

" Shen Mu said with a smile, "I was the one who spread this method abroad; naturally I understand it. " Yan Shaoqing laughed aloud: "Then I need not display my paltry skill before an expert. " There was a warning in his words—a warning that Shen Mu should not show off his paltry skill before him.

They had already gone deep underground, and the depths grew darker and damper, rank with stench.

A river of blood flowed down from the world above, winding along its channel, past cage after cage.

The roots of the Yuan Wood were a tangled maze; root after root knotted into cages, pinning the prisoners within.

The finer roots were like chains, binding god after god and demon after demon, piercing through their bodies and their primal spirits. These prisoners hung in their cages, wailing miserably day and night, the divine and demonic blood of their bodies dripping down the roots into the river of blood below.

That river of blood was foul and turbid, and in it had bred many demon creatures—great worms and vermin, many-limbed and many-legged, monstrous in every shape, clinging to the prisoners and sucking their blood. When the wardens came by, the creatures hid in the shadows behind the prisoners; only after the wardens had passed did they poke out their heads and crawl forth to drink blood again.

Wardens patrolled the Great Prison back and forth, its defenses stern. Shen Mu observed closely: the roots of the Yuan Wood were incomparably hard.

This Yuan Wood was the body of the Earth Mother Yuanjun, and the flesh of such an ancient god was hard almost as an Emperor Throne divine weapon—it would take a treasure like the Imperial Gate Divine Blade to cut it. Moreover, the runes on the surface of the Yuan Wood's roots were the Great Dao runes of the Earth Mother Yuanjun's own body; to escape from here was therefore all but impossible!

Among those imprisoned here were beings of the Jade Capital and Lingxiao realms—leaders of the various clans under the Earth Mother, beings who had ruled the great heavens of the Yuan Realm, now fallen to prisoners. Toward them the wardens showed considerable care, catching the divine and demonic blood that dripped from their bodies in great basins, and when a basin was full, carrying it out with the utmost caution.

"The blood on their bodies is very useful—the finest pigment.