Chapter 937 — The Lord of Creation of the Heavenly Palace

The woman's beauty was like water of a lake of utmost purity, with no impurity to be seen; her smile seemed to mirror her heart, so utterly spotless that even an excessive imagining of her felt like a desecration.

Shen Mu withdrew his gaze, his face wreathed in smiles, and forced down his pounding heart. To himself he thought, "She is even more formidable than that demon Fan Xuanshu, the former sect master. In the art of playing with men's hearts, Fan Xuanshu is still a mere apprentice. Had I not once laid eyes on Jue Wuchen, she would truly have stolen my soul away. She has only one flaw: her breasts are not large enough..."

In the Yao Sea the winds and waves surged, and dreadful roars rang out without cease. Those two divine fiends hid themselves in the darkness, their divine powers clashing in secret, so that the Yao Sea beyond the Manhui Corridor Pavilion was like a heaven and earth in the midst of destruction.

Shen Mu turned and walked back into the pavilion, smiling. "Brother Yun, this place will only grow more clamorous. Since we have nothing better to do, why not take the chance for me to undo the great bloodline curse on you?"

Yun Jianli hurried after him. The two came to the sea-facing pavilion of the Manhui Corridor Pavilion; Shen Mu sat down and said, "Who is that Divine King up in the sky? Do you recognize him, Brother Yun?"

Yun Jianli said, "That man wears a dharma form, not his true face. Yet from his divine powers one can tell who he is; the divine powers of a being such as he are easy enough to identify. He is the Nanming Divine King, one of the Heavenly Court's Four Heavenly Kings. And the one in the sea is the Ancient God Xuanwu, the Northern Emperor. Nanming's thunder-fire against the Five Great Cloud Thunders—though they veil their faces, they cannot hide from each other."

The third eye at the center of Shen Mu's brow opened. He roused the Taiwei Enclosure's Higher Perception and marshaled his divine sense, and in the space of a single turn his divine sense became immeasurably powerful!

Hum—

From the diamond-shaped pupil of his third eye, his divine sense became a beam of light shining straight upon the center of Yun Jianli's brow!

At that very moment a dim great sun suddenly kindled in the sky; seen through layer upon layer of fog and mist, the sun looked bleak beyond measure.

Yet the sun gave a gentle shake, and in the blink of an eye countless suns appeared behind the dark clouds, disc after disc, hanging in the heavens, hidden behind the cloud banks.

Then numberless black three-legged crows flew out from those suns, rushing at the black clouds, threading through them to come to the Yao Pond in the darkness!

All manner of shrill, mournful cries came from the sky as countless three-legged golden crows, trailing brilliant fire through the darkness, hurtled toward the pavilion of the Manhui Corridor Pavilion—blotting out the sky and hiding the sun!

Yun Jianli could not keep his eyes from turning outward, and said hoarsely, "It is the Star Lord of the Great Sun!"

Yan'er, Long Qilin, and the others hurried over. As they neared the pavilion, Yan'er suddenly transformed into a dragon-sparrow, beat her wings, and alighted on the pavilion's peak, gazing in alarm at the golden crows swooping in from all sides.

Qi Jiuyi was just about to head over when Yun Chuxiu smiled and said, "Young Master Qi, that is a place of deadly peril. Why risk yourself there?"

Qi Jiuyi's gaze was tender. "Staying at your side is more perilous still. You have unsettled my heart of the Dao." With that he walked toward the pavilion where Shen Mu sat.

Yun Chuxiu, puffing with indignation, followed after him.

Suddenly dim, uncertain stars emerged in the sky; then the stars began to sway, as though space and time itself had grown unstable, and one after another they fell, plunging into the Yao Sea with a rumbling roar.

The stars in the sky pierced the immeasurably thick black clouds, dragging long tails of fire; as they smashed into the Yao Sea the surface burst apart, and one after another archaic, majestic deities rose slowly out of the sea in the darkness and reached out to seize the golden crows dancing through the heavens.

The giants in the sea were beyond counting, and the golden crows flying in the sky were beyond counting; they slaughtered one another, making it impossible for anyone else to approach the Manhui Corridor Pavilion.

Shen Mu, clearing the root and purifying the source, sent his divine sense along Yun Jianli's bloodline straight to the origin of the great bloodline curse, and at last found the curse art hidden within the blood.

Yet at that moment a furious roar came from the sky, and an enormous palm pushed aside the suns, the stars, and the black clouds filling the heavens, descending from on high to press down upon the Manhui Corridor Pavilion!

The palm chafed against the air and kindled roaring flames, and it would surely crush the island where the Manhui Corridor Pavilion stood, burning it to ash as well!

Then came a clang of metal. To the west of the island a great golden light blazed forth, and a round, lumpish mass of radiance came from the west, rolling at furious speed to the sky above the Manhui Corridor Pavilion.

The ball of golden light spun rapidly, and within it a white tiger could dimly be seen leaping in exultation. Then countless golden sword-qi soared skyward, and in an instant that fiery great hand was shot full of a thousand holes!

A cold snort came from the sky; suddenly fire flashed, and a golden pillar descended from the heavens, plunging straight into the Yao Sea. The pillar's height could not be measured, and with the Manhui Corridor Pavilion as its center it began to churn, overturning rivers and seas!

And that ball of golden light floated above the Manhui Corridor Pavilion, blazing with radiance, the sound of the Dao reverberating and echoing; within the light the white tiger pounced, time and again blocking the pillar.

The pillar shrank sharply, becoming like a golden needle, appearing and vanishing with uncanny swiftness, until the ball of golden light could no longer hold it off.

At that moment a golden scroll came flying out of the night, streaming in the wind; with a ding the golden needle pierced into the scroll, and it very nearly failed to get free.

The golden scroll and the golden needle collided in midair, and the power they burst forth was terrifying beyond measure, striking such dread into the hearts of everyone on the island that their courage quailed. Any single one of these attacks, were it to fall upon this island, would be enough to vaporize the island together with everyone on it, leaving not even a soul behind!

Even Yan'er, at the Lingxiao realm, could never withstand it; for her there would be only death!

"Brother Yun, do not let your mind wander."

Sensing that Yun Jianli's divine sense had grown somewhat scattered, Shen Mu reminded him, "Your mind is in disorder, and it interferes with my driving out the great bloodline curse from your body."

Yun Jianli could not help saying, "Can a Heavenly Venerable truly be so calm? Are you not afraid? If those mighty ones who guard you cannot hold them off, any single divine power would be enough to kill us a thousand times over!"

Shen Mu's divine sense poured into his primordial-embryo spirit treasury like a golden flood, surging against the spiritual platform and taking form as a blazing golden altar. He said with a smile, "Naturally I am afraid. But they know their limits. Those who wish me dead will not tear all pretense away—to tear it away completely would be to tear the Heavenly Court apart. And those who wish me to live will surely protect me at any cost. That is where my chance of survival lies. Have you not long since made your peace with death, Brother Yun? Why then should you still fear?"