Chapter 984 — Three Prophecies

Shen Mu was dumbfounded, at a loss, unable to understand why these Creators were so elated.

"What is this about the Primordial Stone manifesting its divinity? And what is the Holy Infant? And what is this big-headed monster infant of Shen Ye's house?"

His face was blank with bewilderment. Xiu Zhong, seeing his expression, laughed: "Has that fool Shu Jun never told you?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "Teacher Shu Jun only taught me the cultivation method of Shangshi of the Three Enclosures. He taught me nothing else."

"That fool keeps his mouth shut tight."

Xiu Zhong laughed. "It is no harm to tell you. A million years ago, our forebears sent a youth out from Taixu to the Ancestral Court. The Creators of the Ancestral Court were slaughtered clean, but the divine consciousness of our ancestors remained there. The ancestors' divine consciousness saw everything. This youth wandered the Ancestral Court for a long time before he returned to Taixu. He was pursued by the Great Emperor, and arrived at death's door; he died soon after. But he brought back the Great Emperor's gemstone — the Primordial Stone."

Shen Mu's heart stirred.

The Primordial Stone?

The crystal in the third eye at his brow was itself a fragment of the Primordial Stone. Which meant the Other Shore also possessed fragments of the Primordial Stone!

"He died, yes, but he brought back terrifying news — three prophecies told to him by the divine consciousness of our forebears."

Xiu Zhong clenched his enormous fist. "The first prophecy: Taixu would suffer a great calamity, but a youth would come to help us survive it. And the calamity did come — the Great Emperor found Taixu and brought catastrophe, and we were nearly all buried in it. But as the prophecy said, a youth came from beyond, calling himself Heaven Venerable Yun."

Shen Mu's frame shook, and he murmured: "Heaven Venerable Yun!"

"This Heaven Venerable Yun was not of our clan, yet he helped us with all his heart. His wisdom was peerless, and he set a trap. He used the suppression of Taixu's heart-demon over the Great Emperor to limit the Great Emperor's cultivation, then lured him into the trap and struck him down."

Xiu Zhong continued: "The ancestors' second prophecy concerned the Other Shore. We survivors, in accordance with the prophecy, used the Primordial Stone to open up the Other Shore, melding the Stone into the Other Shore and creating that world. And the ancestors' third prophecy concerned the Holy Infant!"

He looked at Shen Mu, unable to conceal his elation. "The third prophecy said that one day, a Holy Infant born of the Primordial Stone would appear, and lead the clan back to the Ancestral Court! The moment I first laid eyes on you, I suspected you might be the Holy Infant of prophecy. Now the elders think so too — so you truly may be the Stone-born Holy Infant, sent by the Primordial Stone to save us!"

Shen Mu's eyes went wide, his mouth agape, and he could not speak.

"I really am not..." he said silently in his heart.

"Divine King Shu Jun, I am not the Holy Infant, am I?" he hurriedly asked Shu Jun.

Shu Jun gave a sullen snort, deeply displeased: "Of course you are not! If anyone is, it is I! That Primordial Stone is mine! My body was destroyed, my cultivation crippled — I was born from the Primordial Stone! I am the Holy Infant who will save the Creators! You are a human spy!"

"Heh heh." Shen Mu gave a simple-minded laugh.

Xiu Zhong said: "Whether you are the Holy Infant must still be confirmed by the ancestral spirits. That youth who brought the three prophecies, before he died, shaped the Realm of the Ancestral Spirits, so that the divine consciousness of our dead Creators might dwell there forever, undisturbed by worldly affairs. I am taking you back to the clan lands to notify the various clans and prepare for entry into the Realm of the Ancestral Spirits. Before you enter, you must pass through several trials — very simple trials..."

Shen Mu's face darkened, and he thought: "Go to the Realm of the Ancestral Spirits? Then won't I be exposed? Aren't my father and mother coming to fetch me? Why haven't they appeared yet? Come rob the road, hurry — carry me off!"

"I am the Holy Infant!"

Shu Jun remained greatly aggrieved, seething with fury: "That fellow is an imposter! I am the genuine Holy Infant!"

"Shut up!"

Shen Mu scolded him, anxious at heart: "You don't have the Primordial Stone. The Primordial Stone is growing in my brow."

Shu Jun was enraged: "You stole mine! You and your senior brother stole mine! That Stone originally belonged to me — your black-hearted senior brother snatched it, and then you set it in your brow! I am the Holy Infant..."

Shen Mu at once stirred his Supreme Daluo Divine Consciousness and sealed the internal space of the Primordial Stone, lest Shu Jun's consciousness burst out and disturb Xiu Zhong.

"Father and Mother should be here by now, shouldn't they?" he thought silently.

Xiu Zhong urged the treasure carriage onward, saying: "As for the big-headed monster infant of Shen Ye's house, that is another matter altogether. A year or so ago, a big-headed monster infant suddenly appeared in Shen Ye's household — its body no smaller than one of us Creators, and its methods were legion. It killed a great many of our Creators — formidable indeed. That bastard Shen Ye even bragged that it was his one hundred and seventh generation grandson, marvelous beyond measure, and that when grown it would eat us all."

He gave a cold laugh: "But now that the Holy Infant has appeared, the big-headed monster infant's good days are over!"

Shen Mu gave a dry laugh.

Elsewhere, a tower ship burst out of the void and arrived before the three houses.

"Shen'er!"

Princess Consort Zhen stepped out of the tower ship, overjoyed: "Shen'er, are you here? Come out quickly — let us go home!"

Qin Hanzhen flew out of the ship, traces of petrification still upon his body. He surveyed the surroundings, and frowned: "He is not here. Has he run off wandering again? When Heaven Venerable You captured me, I heard him say Shen'er was a restless sort who could never stay in one place for half a day, and would surely stir up no end of trouble... Oh no!"

He looked down the mountain, and his expression changed drastically: "There are footprints left by Creators here!"

Princess Consort Zhen's voice trembled: "You mean Shen'er has fallen to the Creators' foul play? He can't be..."

"Impossible!"

Qin Hanzhen hastily consoled her: "If the Creators knew he was of Kaihuang's line, they would surely capture him and torture him, or even use him to threaten Kaihuang. He will suffer some, but we will certainly rescue him, whatever the cost! Let us go back first!"

Princess Consort Zhen wept: "Shen'er is a child of bitter fate. He has already suffered so much — must he suffer even here in the Carefree Land? Why does Heaven treat him so unjustly..."