Chapter 981 — One Boat, Three Venerables

He feared Shen Mu would never turn around, but would charge straight ahead, ultimately destroying the ship and perishing.

After resting, Shen Mu repeated the same method. He once again deployed the Divine Treasury Domain, unfolded the double-layered dream, and drove the Ark of the Other Shore forward.

The Void Bridge was intermittent. Every so often, at a great distance, there was a light bridge where one could temporarily stop and rest.

But one could not linger too long, for the light bridge might annihilate at any moment and reassemble elsewhere. The moment the light bridge dispersed was also the most dangerous. If Shen Mu were not visualizing at that moment, the Ark of the Other Shore likely could not last even a breath before being shredded by the void storm.

Fortunately, Shen Mu was very alert, always entering the dream before the light bridge dispersed, dodging crisis after crisis.

Ahead, the trapped Heaven Venerable Xu was no longer far.

That they had come this far was already something to be proud of. After all, Heaven Venerable Xu was a being of half the Heavenly Court Realm, one of the Ten Heaven Venerables of the highest realm, while Shen Mu was merely a minor Venerable God—yet he could approach Heaven Venerable Xu with a ship.

If word of this got out, no one would believe it.

Luo Wushuang stood at the bow, gazing at Heaven Venerable Xu from afar. The woman seemed to have noticed the Ark of the Other Shore as well and was trying to break free and rush over.

Luo Wushuang's heart tightened. He gathered qi into a blade and gripped the hilt tightly, thinking, "With my strength, I wonder if I could cleave Heaven Venerable Xu back with one strike... Speaking of which, my courage grows greater and greater. Without even thinking, my first impulse is to slay Heaven Venerable Xu?"

His expression was strange.

In the past, when facing an existence like Heaven Venerable Xu, his first thought would have been to kneel and worship. It had almost become a habit, servility deeply rooted in his Dao heart.

Yet after meeting Shen Mu, this servility had dwindled more and more. Even on the way to the Great Void, he had already struck at the phantom of Heaven Venerable Hong once.

The deeper his contact with Shen Mu, the less his servility became. He had even dared to slash Lian Huahun and Yun Chuxiu with two strikes. After all, these two women were the clones of Empress Di Hou and Lady Yuanmu, and these two ladies were very likely among the Ten Heaven Venerables.

And now, his courage was even greater. Yun Chuxiu and Lian Huahun were, after all, only clones, while Heaven Venerable Xu was a true and genuine Heaven Venerable.

Just then, the Ark of the Other Shore trembled violently. The light bridge Shen Mu had planned to dock at had vanished.

Luo Wushuang shuddered with fear and was at a loss. Shen Mu had clearly consumed most of his divine consciousness and intended to dock at the light bridge for temporary rest, but the bridge's disappearance meant there was no place to rest.

With his remaining divine consciousness, he was absolutely unable to reach another light bridge.

"Even turning back now will not get us back."

Luo Wushuang felt despair. He watched the Ark of the Other Shore continuously disintegrating in the void storm and murmured, "We are dead..."

Shen Mu was still deep in his dream, yet within the dream worlds, those ancient gods—all Shen Mu—cried out in unison, "Heaven Venerable Huo! Where is Heaven Venerable Huo?"

Luo Wushuang was greatly shaken. "Why is Sect Master Shen calling for Heaven Venerable Huo?"

Those ancient gods—all Shen Mu—their myriad voices merged into a stream, deafening, shouting, "You have ridden this ship for so long, it is time you contributed!"

Luo Wushuang was startled and hurriedly looked around. "Heaven Venerable Huo is truly on this ship? When did he come aboard? Right—when Master Yue drew the geographic map leading to the Void Bridge, his golden dragon was there too. Heaven Venerable Huo also learned of the Void Bridge and came, but never revealed himself. He wanted to hide on the Ark of the Other Shore without my notice—with my strength, I could never discover him. But is Heaven Venerable Huo truly on the ship?"

He had just thought this when Heaven Venerable Huo's figure appeared at the center of the Ark of the Other Shore. Intense firelight melted the void, holding back the void storm.

Heaven Venerable Huo could deceive Luo Wushuang, but not Shen Mu, because the entire Ark of the Other Shore was visualized by Shen Mu. No matter where he hid on the ship, it was equivalent to hiding right under Shen Mu's eyes.

"Venerable Mu, with my strength, I cannot hold out for long either."

Heaven Venerable Huo's voice came, rumbling, "I will hold on for a while. Use the time to restore your divine consciousness."

Shen Mu immediately freed himself from the dream worlds. With Heaven Venerable Huo protecting the Ark of the Other Shore, he wholeheartedly activated the Mystic Body Three Cores Art to restore his divine consciousness.

Before long, Heaven Venerable Huo let out a muffled groan, unable to hold on. Shen Mu immediately took over and re-entered visualization, while Heaven Venerable Huo sat cross-legged, doing his utmost to recover his cultivation.

The two alternated. At last, the end of the Void Bridge was not far, and the ball of light grew larger and larger. Seen from afar, it was actually three houses in the void—the light was lamplight from within the houses.

"Could people actually live there?" A sense of absurdity rose in Shen Mu's heart.

Suddenly, light flickered at the bow, and Heaven Venerable Xu appeared there, staggering.

Luo Wushuang immediately drew his blade to strike at Heaven Venerable Xu. A cold gleam flashed in the woman's eyes. Shen Mu hurriedly raised his hand to stop Luo Wushuang and shook his head, "Since she has boarded the ship, she is one of us on this boat—we share the same vessel and must weather the hardship together. Heaven Venerable Xu, do you still remember Achou?"

Heaven Venerable Xu was slightly startled. Shen Mu smiled, his gaze falling on the pair of curved ox horns on the Venerable's forehead.

He took out a great cauldron. From within it, face after face floated up, swaying and drifting around Shen Mu.

"Achou." Those faces called out to Shen Mu.

Heaven Venerable Xu's expression changed drastically, and she blurted out, "You—"