Chapter 958 — The Demonic Thought Takes the Form of the Heavenly Emperor

Had Shen Mu been aboard the ship, those words would have made him leap up in fright.

He had long suspected that Yun Chuxiu was none other than Her Majesty the Empress, and every manner of sign had pointed to it: that the Empress had been the true author of it all, that she had murdered her own younger sister, Lady Yuanmu, and seized Lady Yuanmu's flesh to return to the Heavenly Court. The Empress had then taken the form of Jue Wuchen to lure the Heavenly Emperor into reincarnating, and murdered him in the dark; slain by Heavenly Venerable Ling, she had seized the moment to reincarnate in turn, slipped into the Heavenly Alliance, and become one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables.

He had likewise guessed that Lian Huanhun was Lady Yuanmu reborn — had even wondered whether Lady Yuanmu, dead yet not dissolved, had also wormed her way into the Heavenly Alliance and become one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables. The ground on which he built these guesses and believed them beyond all doubt was this: Yun Chuxiu knew that he had once summoned the Empress's soul aboard the ghost ship.

And yet that single utterance of Lian Huanhun's — 'Sister' — had turned his whole conjecture upside down!

A pity, then, that Shen Mu was not aboard; and a greater pity still that Luo Wushuang had no notion of the origins of these two women and felt not the least interest in their sisterly quarrel, for he was looking up above the star river.

There, the figures of Shen Mu and his companions flew swift as streaming light, while one god after another came snapping at their heels in pursuit.

"If Shen the Overlord Body runs out past the corpsewalkers' shroud, the inner demons will be roused in him — so why must he be so reckless, so bent on provoking these strong men aboard the ship? " Following the star river with his eyes, Luo Wushuang suddenly felt his heart lurch: in the dark void, at the very end of the star river, a boundless continent had appeared.

"The Land of the Great Void.

. .

So that is it. He has seen the Land of the Great Void!

" Two blades of light shot from Luo Wushuang's eyes and crossed in midair with a ringing clash that startled everyone on the tower ship awake; he bellowed: "Drive the ship at once — make for the Land of the Great Void!

" The twenty or thirty people left aboard hurried to urge the tower ship on, quickening its pace, and Yun Chuxiu and Lian Huanhun each turned their eyes away and lent the vessel their strength as well. The Land of the Great Void was a continent floating in the Great Void, discovered by Emperor Yunluo, Wei Suifeng; there were no uncanny, unfathomable inner demons in that place.

This time, Heavenly Venerable Fire and Heavenly Venerable Void were leading a great host of disciples roving through the Great Void, intending to plumb the secrets of the Land of the Great Void and seek out the traces of the Land of No Sorrow and of Kaihuang.

The tower ship at once gathered speed in pursuit of Shen Mu and his party, and Luo Wushuang himself poured in his vital essence and drove the vessel to the utmost limit of its speed. Swiftly the tower ship overtook the pursuers ahead, and Luo Wushuang called out in a loud voice: "The Land of the Great Void is here — come aboard! " Streaks of light wheeled and fell from above the star river, alighting one after another on the tower ship.

Killing intent boiling from them, the crowd looked ahead to Shen Mu running along the surface of the river, each readying divine arts and summoning divine weapons, waiting only to catch up with him and strike him down across the River of Heaven. Just then cold sweat broke out on Luo Wushuang's brow, and his voice came out somewhat hoarse: "There are no more corpsewalkers ahead. .

.

Stop the ship! Stop the ship, quickly!

" At that very moment Shen Mu was springing up from the shoulder of the last corpsewalker; in the instant of his leap, countless transmission runes blazed to life about his body, whirling with a rushing clatter, wrapped themselves around him — and he vanished! "Heavenly Venerable Mu is truly slippery beyond all grasping!

" Yun Chuxiu said, clapping her hands in admiration. The tower ship slowed, yet by sheer momentum it still flew past beneath the last corpsewalker, hurtling on for a hundred li and more; dread clutched at every heart aboard, and inner demons came crowding in upon them from all sides.

Luo Wushuang shook his head and cried out: "Do not stop!

Drive the ship with all your strength — into the Land of the Great Void before the inner demons take solid form! " Scarcely had the words left his mouth when a clatter of tapping came to his ears.

Cold sweat stood out on Luo Wushuang's brow; he turned and looked back, and there behind the tower ship stood Shen Mu atop his box, gazing at him with a chill and baleful look.

The box ran at full stretch, pursuing the tower ship. At the same time the space beyond the tower ship quivered, and an enormous eyeball squeezed its way out of the void, its gaze cruel and savage — whose inner demon it was, no one aboard could say.

The great eyeball suddenly split apart top and bottom; within it, incredibly, the eye was packed with jagged fangs.

It opened its vast mouth and bit down at the tower ship! And at the same moment monsters of every kind burrowed out of the void!

Wicked dragons longer than the tower ship itself; tentacled horrors lurking beneath the hull; giant spiders with more eyes on their backs than could be counted; a headless bride; an ancient god clad in raging fire!

Nor were there monsters alone — the figure of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor too was rising out of the void.

And not the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor alone, but Heavenly Venerables as well; some disciple or other had taken his own master for an inner demon! "We have been tricked.

" Luo Wushuang sighed inwardly, drew his blade with his one arm and cut at the great eyeball, thinking: "The reason Shen the Overlord Body began his flight before he ever reached the Land of the Great Void is that he wants us to chase him.

He can use his transmission divine art to carry himself to the Land of the Great Void a step ahead of us, while we — once we burst past the shroud of the corpsewalkers' aura — will be cut down by inner demons.

Ruthless and vicious, this fellow, ruthless indeed!

" A divine officer aboard cried out shrilly: "No more of the Neither-Thought-Nor-No-Thought! Spend every scrap of your power — charge for the Land of the Great Void! " Before he had finished speaking, a winged dragon swooped down, seized him, and dragged him into the void. A scream came out of the emptiness; countless monsters surged up from the void and fell upon the divine officer, and he was dead in moments.

Luo Wushuang slew the great eyeball monster, then drove the tower ship with all his might, and everyone aboard strained to the last of their strength to force the vessel to its utmost speed.

The tower ship flew like a gleam of light, a shadow skimming past; divine weapon of the first rank though it was, at such speed its hull began to groan and creak, deck planks bursting apart with sharp cracks, rivets tearing loose and shooting away behind them.

The hull lurched and shuddered; at any moment it might come apart!

Luo Wushuang stole a glance and saw that in the void the matchless, towering Heavenly Emperor was slowly turning his head to look at the ship. His heart went cold as ice.

The Heavenly Emperor's body was vast beyond all measure. Fast as the tower ship was, before that colossal being it seemed utterly insignificant — a tiny insect crawling slowly past the face of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, skimming by the wing of his nose.

Luckily, even the Great Void could not conjure an inner demon of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor all at once; they still had a chance to flee into the Land of the Great Void.

Yet though the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor took shape slowly, the other inner demons formed with terrifying swiftness.