Chapter 990 — Old Friends Reunited

Divine King Langwan was still stunned that Shen Mu had, with one light stroke of a peach-wood hairpin, broken open the Supreme Consciousness Domain that had beset her for countless tens of thousands of years; she scarcely heard a word he said. So shocking, so staggering was it: to an outsider, Shen Mu had spent more than a year breaking the Supreme Consciousness Domain, yet to her he had merely stood in thought for a brief moment and then shattered that invincible domain with a single hairpin!

"Who killed Heavenly Venerable Ling? " She said blankly, "And who is Heavenly Venerable Ling? " Shen Mu paced the altar in a fever of excitement, laughing aloud.

"The Great Emperor!

It was the Great Emperor!

The one who seized the Heavenly Emperor's body and murdered Heavenly Venerable Ling — that was the Great Emperor! " Divine King Langwan was still bewildered.

"Who is the Heavenly Emperor?

" Shen Mu was beside himself. Now he clenched his fists, now he brandished the peach-wood hairpin, circling her again and again. "Heavenly Venerable Ling's Material Immutability happens to counter the Great Emperor's Supreme Consciousness Domain.

Not merely counter it: it breaks it completely! " "The Supreme Consciousness Domain congeals time and space with consciousness, so that time stands still while the world outside passes through ages of change. Anyone who enters his domain is all but frozen in place. But Heavenly Venerable Ling's Material Immutability denies the very concept of time's existence — the so-called passage of time is only an illusion produced by the alteration of matter.

" "Their divine abilities — one holds that consciousness determines matter, the other that matter determines consciousness.

Two extremes. " "The Great Emperor believed he had comprehended the great Dao of controlling time, but Heavenly Venerable Ling's ability told him that his strongest technique was nothing but an illusion, a delusion conjured by the alteration of matter!

" "His Supreme Consciousness Domain was a mere illusion, easily pierced by Heavenly Venerable Ling's Material Immutability!

" "So Heavenly Venerable Ling had to die!

" "While Heavenly Venerable Ling lived, he could not be counted invincible!

" "Many Heavenly Venerables in the Heaven Alliance had reason to kill Heavenly Venerable Ling, but none so pressing as his. Therefore the one who killed Heavenly Venerable Ling and was then trapped within the body of the Heavenly Emperor in the Heavenly River must be the Great Emperor!

" Divine King Langwan shook her head; she could hardly keep pace with his reasoning.

Still, what Shen Mu called consciousness determining matter was indeed the very essence of the Creator race; that single phrase could describe the divine abilities and the civilization of the Creators. And matter determining consciousness struck her as quite novel as well.

Shen Mu looked up at the sky, his eyes flickering, and said softly, "Then why did the Great Emperor borrow the Heavenly Emperor's body to assassinate Heavenly Venerable Ling?

It means that without the Heavenly Emperor's body, he could not deal with Heavenly Venerable Ling. It also means he is hidden in the Heavenly Court, that he is one of the heads of the Heaven Alliance. By assassinating Heavenly Venerable Ling he could also destroy the Heavenly Emperor's body, that great weapon — and then no one in the Heavenly Court would remain who could threaten him. " Divine King Langwan looked at this creature not yet two years old, and found that the little fellow was, when unraveling a mystery, rather captivating. "A moment ago the Divine King said that the Great Emperor possesses an eternal, indestructible consciousness and can survive in any form.

Then I have a conjecture. The Great Emperor trapped in the Heavenly Emperor's body in the Heavenly River is not the whole of him — perhaps only a part.

" Shen Mu thought for a moment, then said, "Another part of him is still active in the Heavenly Court in the guise of a Heavenly Venerable. If so, the Great Emperor is divided into three: in the Great Void are his body and part of his consciousness; in the Heavenly River are his soul or consciousness; and in the Heavenly Court also part of his soul or consciousness. What makes me curious now is why Jue Wuchen should so resemble the Divine King.

" He stood before Divine King Langwan and studied closely her face, beautiful enough to make the heart tremble — lips thin and red, nose like fine jade, eyes like precious stone. Never before had he examined so fair a girl at such close range. Yun Chuxiu often clung to him, yet he dared not look at her closely; Divine King Langwan was not of Yun Chuxiu's wanton temper, and so Shen Mu's courage grew instead. "Divine King Langwan, was it Heavenly Venerable Ling who saw you, or Heavenly Venerable Yun, or the Great Emperor? " Shen Mu said abruptly, "One of them must have seen you — only so could they create a perfect Jue Wuchen to seduce the ancient god Heavenly Emperor.

Of those three, which one saw you? " Divine King Langwan let him gaze and study her without the least embarrassment, and said quietly, "The fourth trial tests wisdom. You have passed.

" Shen Mu still stared at her. "One of those three must have seen you, or they could not have used the art of Creation to make a woman identical to you.

To create a Jue Wuchen to seduce the ancient god Heavenly Emperor — who thought of that matters greatly.

What makes me curious is whether Divine King Langwan has ever gone out. " He added, "I mean, in the Longhan Era, did Divine King Langwan ever leave the Great Void?

" Divine King Langwan smiled faintly.

"Holy Infant, I am a Divine King and you are the Holy Infant. Do not be too curious. Too much curiosity will get a man killed. " Shen Mu at once became docile, asked no more, smoothed his great crimson robe, and sat obediently on the altar.

Divine King Langwan stepped down from the altar and returned to her seat, saying, "The Holy Infant has passed all four trials.

Let the Holy Infant go now and rest. The chiefs of the clans will prepare the great sacrifice to the Ancestral Spirit Realm; the great rite will be held before long, to send the Holy Infant to the Ancestral Spirit Realm.

" At her command, Xiu Zhong and the clan chiefs of the various clans went off to make preparations.

Shen Mu also came down from the altar, glanced at Shu Jun on the throne, and his expression turned somewhat sour. Shu Jun, thick-skinned beyond shame, did not change countenance, and said with a chuckle, "Congratulations, Holy Infant. " Shen Mu snorted.

Thinking of the fellow's vile conduct, he felt rather displeased. Divine King Langwan said, "The Holy Infant's attainments in the consciousness arts are not high.

These days you had best devote yourself to studying the divine abilities of the Creators of today.

I do not wish to arrive in the Ancestral Spirit Realm and have to spend half a day explaining your human identity to the Ancestral Spirits.

If you are excellent enough, then even though you are human, the Ancestral Spirits will accept you as the Holy Infant. If you are not good enough, I will have to go to considerable trouble before they accept you. " Her presence was overpowering; though she had the same face as Yun Chuxiu, her bearing was utterly different. Shen Mu assented, and asked, "Divine King, what is the purpose of going to the Ancestral Spirit Realm to meet the Ancestral Spirits of the Creators? " "Inheritance.

" Divine King Langwan strode away, saying, "To obtain the inheritance of the Creator race.

The civilization of our Creator race, from the most ancient times to this day, has accumulated boundless knowledge.

If the Ancestral Spirits acknowledge you, they will pass that knowledge on to you, and in a single instant you will become the most learned being in the entire universe.