Chapter 922 — The Calamity of the Third Eye

"Would I lie to you?

" Shen Mu rolled up the map and said, "I have a senior brother who loves to wander about, hunting down historical riddles and uncovering the truth of history. He left me many maps; this is one of them. " Qi Jiuyi ordered the deities aboard the ship to draw near the ruined continent, and said, "That senior brother of yours is even more bent on courting death than you.

He could leap out of the Yuan World and come here, and then withdraw unscathed—clearly his cultivation is no small thing. He is no nameless nobody. What is his name? " "Wei Suifeng.

" "Wei Suifeng?

" Qi Jiuyi thought it over, then shook his head.

"Never heard of him.

" A deity aboard the ship who served under the Red Emperor heard the name Wei Suifeng, and his expression shifted subtly. He said in a low voice, "Young Master, Wei Suifeng is no nameless nobody. He is the Emperor of the Yunluo Heavenly Palace.

" Qi Jiuyi was startled and turned his head, speaking in a whisper. "The Emperor of the Yunluo Heavenly Palace? This Wei Suifeng is the sovereign of the Yunluo Heavenly Palace, one of the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces? What lofty rank and heavy authority is that? In the Heavenly Court his standing would be only a single notch below my own master.

How is he a fellow disciple of the rebel Shen Mu? " That deity said quietly, "This Yunluo Emperor is a rebel as well! He turned traitor thousands of years ago.

I hear a Heavenly Venerable of the Heavenly Court saw through him, seized him, and suppressed him, leaving him in a state worse than death. " Qi Jiuyi suddenly understood, and laughed.

"He who stays near vermilion is stained red; he who stays near ink is stained black.

Cult Master Shen's whole household are rebels born and bred. " Shen Mu coughed to remind him. "Brother Qi, I am listening.

" Qi Jiuyi pretended not to hear. The Phoenix Ship slowed more and more.

Shen Mu opened the map and found the place Wei Suifeng had marked on it; matching it to this continent, he located the spot where Wei Suifeng had hidden his treasure. The Phoenix Ship flew over the continent and gradually descended, when suddenly it shuddered violently, heaved up by a savage force, and tumbled over and over! The more than six thousand deities aboard roared in unison, marshaling all their dharma power.

In an instant all manner of Heavenly Palaces surfaced upon the treasure ship, and countless primordial spirits stood within those palaces, unleashing every shred of power to rouse the full might of the Phoenix Ship! The ship's phoenix wings whirled and sliced, and in truth they burst forth blade-light, cleaving that uncanny force into countless pieces in an instant and steadying the ship once more! Just then, a vast sound rose from the ruins of the continent below.

The sound carried a strange rhythm, as though countless people were offering sacrifice to something. Light erupted from the source of the sound.

The light grew brighter and brighter, so thick it seemed about to condense into substance, and it rushed at the Phoenix Ship that had just steadied itself! Under the stupefied gazes of everyone aboard, the light condensed and took shape as a colossal god of incomparable majesty.

He seemed a spirit body without flesh, and shifting light and darkness wove strange patterns across the surface of his form. His body was far more enormous than the Phoenix Ship. His head rose from the ship's left side, halos of light spinning madly behind his head, and he reached out a hand to smite the Phoenix Ship!

A roar thundered through Shen Mu's mind. He stared blankly at the colossal, majestic god.

"The Lord of Heaven.

.

. " This colossus was almost identical to the Lord of Heaven with his white brows, white beard, and white eyes, save that the patterns on the surface of his skin differed from the Lord of Heaven's, and the true Lord of Heaven had no such intricate halos behind his head. The more than six thousand deities aboard roared together, rousing their power to the utmost, yet when that "Lord of Heaven" brought his palm down, every one of them felt their blood and breath churn, and they spat out mouthfuls of blood.

At that moment a vast and mighty power erupted from within the ship, as though a powerhouse of the Emperor Throne had arrived in person. Shen Mu looked back and saw the figure of a nine-headed phoenix appear above the Phoenix Ship. The nine phoenixes soared, swift as light and lightning.

The Phoenix Ship moved at a terrifying speed, evading the "Lord of Heaven's" second strike, and in the next instant it pierced through the forehead of that "Lord of Heaven" and burst out from the back of his head! The "Lord of Heaven" collapsed with a thunderous crash, and streams of light cascaded down like water. The people aboard, their souls still unsettled, scrambled to their feet one after another.

Shen Mu's eyes twitched. The Phoenix Ship's outburst just now had not been driven by the more than six thousand deities aboard; rather, it was the dharma power of the Red Emperor, Qi Xiayu, that raised the ship's might to its peak and shattered that "Lord of Heaven"! Qi Xiayu was not aboard the ship but in the Yuan World, no one knew how far from here.

The reason her dharma power could rouse the Phoenix Ship's might was that she sensed the peril the ship faced, and so she empowered it from the Yuan World.

This was the true terror of the Red Emperor.

Shen Mu had met Qi Xiayu several times. Back then, when Qi Xiayu pursued and tried to kill him and Emperor Shitian, the Deva King Buddha, she was in the Buddha Realm, yet a single melody of her zither chased them across layer upon layer of time and space—a feat of dazzling brilliance. In the Yuan World, Shen Mu had also seen Qi Xiayu duel on the zither with the scholar Zi Xi.

When two Earth Mother Sovereigns came to blows, Qi Xiayu took no part, but simply withdrew. Later they met several more times. During the catastrophe in the Yuan World, Qi Xiayu had faced Shen Mu and Shen Fengqing in person, driving them back again and again. The woman did not give the impression of being all that strong; it seemed the way of music was her true mastery.

But only after Shen Mu entered the peach grove did he learn that Qi Xiayu was a disciple of the Moon Heavenly Venerable, whose attainments in the art of space were terrifying beyond measure.

Her peach grove, ten thousand li across, folded countless spaces and linked countless heavens! Qi Xiayu had learned the art of space from her, and that was how she could transmit her dharma power across such a distance to rouse the Phoenix Ship and help them through the crisis. "If Emperor Shitian wants to catch up with her, it will be next to impossible," Shen Mu thought.

The Phoenix Ship steadied, and the phantom nine-headed phoenix above it slowly faded away. Qi Jiuyi's face was pale. Suddenly he barked, "Turn back!

Get out of here! " Shen Mu said hurriedly, "Wait!

" Qi Jiuyi glared at him viciously and shouted, "Turn back!

" Shen Mu reached out, seized Long Qilin, and leaped out of the Phoenix Ship. Qi Jiuyi said in alarm, "Wait! Cult Master Shen, this place is so deadly, and you still insist on forcing your way in?

The Lord of Heaven just struck at us—clearly he does not want us to explore this place! If my master had not roused the Phoenix Ship, we would all have died with no place for our bones!

" Shen Mu set Long Qilin down and laughed.

"That was not the Lord of Heaven.

It was some strange spirit body in these ruins, one rather like a spirit fetus.

The Red Emperor has just shattered it, and by my reckoning it will not recover for some time.

Going in now is actually not very dangerous.