Chapter 956 — The Peerless Flesh Since Time Immemorial

Wei Suifeng's divine art stretched across hundreds of thousands of li of empty sky, its sheer length terrifying to behold. This was not a divine art Wei Suifeng could have unleashed on his own; formidable as his cultivation was, it was not formidable to that degree.

Which meant that here existed a method of using the Great Void to amplify one's divine arts!

And Wei Suifeng had already found that method!

Such a method could likely be used only within the Great Void, for only the Great Void possessed spiritual sense so pure and so unclaimed.

"Perhaps Wei Suifeng concealed the method within his divine art, conveying the message through the sequence in which the stars are arranged..."

Shen Mu's gaze flickered ceaselessly as he studied the trajectory of every star, calculating at furious speed. Yet to his disappointment, Wei Suifeng's divine art contained no other message; it was merely one of his divine arts and nothing more.

"The direction this River of Stars points..."

Shen Mu was taken aback. The River of Stars was like an arrow, pointing toward the depths of the Great Void.

This divine art had most likely been left by Wei Suifeng to indicate direction.

The tower ship was at this moment advancing along the River of Stars; clearly the Heavenly Court too knew the purpose of Wei Suifeng's divine art.

Seeing him studying the River of Stars, Yun Chuxiu smiled and said: "This divine art was left behind by Emperor Yunluo when he explored these parts — a divine art for fixing one's bearings within the Great Void. You should know Emperor Yunluo; he was a most remarkable man, one who once stirred no small commotion in the Heavenly Court."

Shen Mu nodded. "Emperor Yunluo, Wei Suifeng, is my senior brother."

"No existence of the Imperial Throne realm has been born in the past twenty thousand years. He is the only one to have cultivated to the Imperial Throne, and so the Heavenly Court thought highly of him, appointing him Great Emperor of the Yunluo Heavenly Palace, to govern a region and command the two hundred fifty-six heavens of Yunluo and its countless Yunluo star domains."

Yun Chuxiu said: "But when the Heavenly Court later investigated his origins, they discovered that he had forged his origins, forged his name, and even tampered with the Book of Life and Death of the Black Emperor, Yin Tianzi. Not only did he tamper with the Heavenly Court's Book of Life and Death — there are nine such books in all, and this man altered nine of them! He even tampered with the Book of Life and Death of the Earth Lord of Youdu! Truly, audacity beyond the heavens!"

Shen Mu could not help but laugh. "My senior brother is indeed audacious beyond the heavens, utterly heedless of life and death."

"So long as the Heavenly Court wishes to investigate a person's roots, no matter who he is, they can uncover everything. Yet investigating him cost them great trouble. In the end they traced matters to Yin Tianzi and discovered that he had changed his appearance and name and become Yin Tianzi's disciple — and remained so for several hundred years! Yin Tianzi prized him enormously, regarded him as his most favored disciple, and entrusted him with weighty responsibilities. Later he faked his death to escape, and Yin Tianzi grieved for a long while."

Yun Chuxiu continued: "The Heavenly Court pressed on with its investigation, and made yet more shocking discoveries. He had not only been to the Nether Capital, but also to the Crimson Emperor, the White Emperor, and the Azure Emperor — he had even taken several Heavenly Venerables as masters, and gone so far as to run to the Heavenly Duke and call the Great Sun Star Lord his brother! Each time the name and face he used were different; always false names and false faces, and after several hundred years of mingling among them he would fake his death and slip away!"

Shen Mu was caught between laughter and tears.

He did know that Wei Suifeng had once infiltrated the Nether Capital. Among the geographical maps Wei Suifeng had left behind was one of the great prison of the Nether Capital; with the aid of that map, the Woodcutter Sage had infiltrated the Nether Capital and rescued Di Yiyue.

"The Heavenly Court too considered him a talent worth cultivating, and would have entrusted him with great responsibility had he not committed grave evils. But when they investigated his foundations, they finally discovered that he came from the ruins of the Kaihuang era — that he was one of a tiny remnant of Kaihuang survivors! Only then did the Heavenly Court take fright."

Yun Chuxiu said: "At the time, those remnants numbered at most ten million, and the transmission of their divine arts and cultivation methods had been severed — even their divine bridges were broken. They were a people abandoned by the gods, utterly without prospects. Yet from such a place, a mud pit though it was, a figure of the Imperial Throne had emerged! The Heavenly Court was truly startled, and deemed the matter no trifling thing, and so they seized and suppressed him. But Emperor Yunluo was indeed a man of great ability; he did much for the Heavenly Court — exploring the Great Void, for instance. He went deeper than any other."

Ahead of the tower ship, another River of Stars appeared, guiding their way.

"He even went farther than the Heavenly Venerables, leaving behind these Rivers of Stars, and certain void fortresses, to help us establish the spatial geography of the Great Void."

Yun Chuxiu said with heartfelt sincerity: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, you and your senior brother are both prodigies."

Shen Mu shook his head. "My eldest senior brother is indeed a prodigy. I am not."

"Hypocrite. Emperor Yunluo caused no small sensation, but in the end he was discovered by the Heavenly Court, seized, and suppressed; he did the Heavenly Court not the slightest harm."

Yun Chuxiu smiled. "You are different. You entered the Heavenly Court openly and honorably; you caused the Heavenly Court to split, you turned the Ten Heavenly Venerables against one another, and the present peace of the Heavenly Court, I think, will not last much longer. Even so, the Heavenly Court cannot touch you, and no small number of people are willing to defend you to the death. That is where you surpass him. Compared with what you have done, your senior brother's deeds are as a minor sorcerer beside a great one."

Shen Mu smiled faintly.

The tower ship sailed on. After a long while, true stars suddenly appeared ahead.

These were likely stars made by the Creators. Five of them were linked by chains, and at the center of the chains stood a gigantic fortress, like some colossal engine of war.

Around the fortress drifted fresh blood and corpses; many battles had clearly been fought here.

Divine beings came forward from the fortress to verify the identities of those aboard and invite them in to rest.

Because of the chaos of inner demons unleashed by Luo Wushuang's unconscious eruption, many aboard had died; of three hundred, only a little over two hundred sixty remained, and no small number were wounded.

Shen Mu entered the fortress and looked around. The gods and demons stationed here wore numb expressions, their faces and bodies covered in scars left after wounds had healed, like red centipedes crawling upon their skin.

These gods and demons often had three heads and six arms, bearing all manner of weapons. They seemed utterly devoid of emotion, their eyes hollow and empty.

"What has happened to these gods and demons?" he wondered inwardly.

"They have no emotions left."