Chapter 987 — As If the Gods Lend Aid

Divine King Langwan's eyes shifted, and she smiled. "Divine King Shujun fell in battle in the Blood Rust Belt in the Primordial Age, and by that time we had long since migrated to the Great Void. It is impossible that the Divine King fled into the Great Void, for in those years no one ever told you where the Great Void was.

" On the altar, Divine King Shujun gave a snort, deeply displeased.

Yet Divine King Langwan was not wrong.

Though later generations called them all Creators and took them for the Creator race, the Creators were themselves divided into different races belonging to different powers, and there were old grudges among them. Where there are people, there is the world of feuds and factions; and so it is wherever there are Creators.

The Three Kings of the Primordial Age had been among the stronger powers of that time, while the strongest was the Great Emperor; and besides the Three Kings there were all manner of other powers, contending for authority and profit in no small clamor.

The Three Kings disliked one another, and between the Three Kings and the Great Emperor there was a great rift as well; add to that the fact that some among them went over to the Ancient Gods — that they were defeated by the Ancient Gods, their clans exterminated, and blotted from the world was no accident, but inevitable. At the time, Shujun's reputation among the Three Kings was foul indeed; truly, no one had ever told him where the Great Void was.

Divine King Langwan mused a moment, then smiled. "Then Divine King Shujun must have come upon the Holy Infant in the outside world and hidden himself within the Holy Infant's body, reviving by borrowing his divine consciousness, qi and blood — only without fully coming back to life, so that his strength is meager.

" Divine King Shujun snorted again, more displeased than ever, for the woman had guessed right once more.

He had meant to overawe her by virtue of being a Divine King of the Primordial Age, but never expected her to guess his origins in a few words; instead it was he who had been overawed. Divine King Langwan went on: "Divine King Shujun comes from afar and is our guest, and he has brought the Holy Infant besides; the Creators of my Other Shore must of course treat him with courtesy. Attendants — invite Divine King Shujun to take a seat.

Beside me.

" Xiuzhong stepped forward and lifted Divine King Shujun's head from the altar; a throne was brought and set beside Divine King Langwan, and Xiuzhong laid the head upon the seat. Within their sockets Divine King Shujun's two great eyeballs bounced and bounded to and fro; he wanted to speak, yet did not know what to say to salvage a shred of his dignity.

Shen Mu thought, "This woman is formidable; in a few words she has arranged Divine King Shujun so neatly that he has not a thought left to call his own. Truly worthy of the one who commands the remnant of the Creators and has held her ground against Kaihuang to this day.

" To be able to match Kaihuang blow for blow, and to have absorbed the cultivation system of the Divine Treasury Heavenly Palace, keeping pace with the times — this Divine King Langwan was extraordinary in vision, in breadth of mind, and in skill and cunning alike! In the age of the Three Kings, though the Creators ruled the cosmos and the heavens, they were at bottom no more than primitive tribes; yet in the hands of this Divine King Langwan, though the Creators' standing was lesser than before, they had advanced a great deal.

Divine King Langwan gave Shen Mu a deep look, and her voice rose within his mind: "You are of the human race, not a Creator. " Shen Mu's blood ran cold, and he nodded in silence.

That Divine King Langwan should guess he was no Creator was only natural; denial would serve no purpose. Shujun had already admitted that they had come to the Other Shore world from the outside, that the Creators of the outside world were long since extinct — so Shen Mu could not possibly be a Creator.

With her wisdom, Divine King Langwan had easily guessed as much. "You need not worry.

The third prophecy says a Holy Infant will descend into the world, but it does not say that he must be a Creator; perhaps you truly are the Holy Infant. " The chaplet at her brow gave off a soft pearl luster, and her voice continued in Shen Mu's mind: "Yet if a human becomes the Holy Infant and goes to the Realm of the Ancestral Spirits to meet the ancestral spirits of the ages, he will most likely be slain in their wrath. And even if they do not kill you, should my clansmen learn your true identity, they too will strike you down without mercy.

" Shen Mu blinked. Divine King Langwan continued: "But I can refrain from exposing you; and should your identity be exposed, my standing is enough to protect you — I can protect you even before the ancestral spirits of the Realm of the Ancestral Spirits.

Before that, however, you must pass the trials set by me and the other clan chiefs.

" Shen Mu gave a muffled snort.

He too had been arranged neatly by this woman. Having finished with him, Divine King Langwan said with a smile, "My lords, since a Holy Infant has descended into the world, then surely the Holy Infant possesses a divine consciousness beyond the common, a body beyond the common, arts of battle beyond the common, and wisdom beyond the common — only thus can he lead our people out of the Other Shore and back to the Ancestral Court.

I therefore hold that the trials should be divided into four stages. Considering that the Holy Infant is not yet two years old, the first stage, which tests divine consciousness, shall be against an adult Creator.

" Xiuzhong said to Shen Mu, "Did I not say it was not perilous? " Shen Mu let out a breath and thanked him. Divine King Langwan said, "The second stage tests the body, also against an adult Creator. The third stage tests arts of battle, likewise.

The fourth stage tests wisdom, and that I myself shall judge.

Have any of you objections? " Xiuzhong smiled at Shen Mu. "You see?

Four simple stages.

With the Holy Infant's abilities, he will pass them easily!

" Shen Mu was somewhat uneasy at heart. The trials of the body and of the arts of battle seemed ordinary enough, and yet of the Creators' techniques for bodily combat and for battle by visualized divine consciousness he knew truly little! The clan chiefs conferred in whispers and raised no objection. "I object! " Upon the throne, Shujun's great head gave a bound, and he chuckled.

"These four trials are far too simple.

The Holy Infant is, after all, my disciple — trials as trifling as these will be easy as turning a palm for him!

" Shen Mu was seized with fury: "This scoundrel means to make trouble for me! " Divine King Langwan smiled. "Divine King Shujun does not know.

These four stages seem simple, but in truth they are difficult.

The first stage tests divine consciousness, which is to say, the visualization of a creation. And it is not against one adult Creator, but against nine adult Creators.

The nine Creators will unleash their divine consciousness together to disrupt his visualization; if he can suppress the nine Creators and complete his visualization of the creation, then he passes.

" Xiuzhong's expression shifted slightly, and the faces of the other clan chiefs could not help but change as well.

Shujun chuckled. "Nine adult Creators disrupting his visualization — that is a contest of divine consciousness. One careless moment and the Holy Infant will be blasted into an idiot by their divine consciousness.

Now that is more like a trial.

It has some flavor to it. Disciple, are you afraid? " "Your disciple is not afraid. " Shen Mu showed a plain, simple smile, and his gaze settled upon Shujun's great head. Shujun felt a chill beneath that gaze and thought, "If I go back into the Origin Stone, this brat will surely not let me off; and yet who would lend me qi, blood, and divine consciousness to restore my body?