Chapter 1010 — The Struggle of Sovereigns, Close-Quarters Slaughter

Shen Mu only heard Kaihuang's deep, weighty voice come from within the Heavenly Court—it should be urging the people of Wuyou Township to go out, urging them to keep fighting, to keep reforming. But as Princess Consort Zhen and Yan Yunxi carried him farther and farther away, gradually he could no longer hear clearly what Kaihuang was saying.

They came to Pingyu Heaven.

Princess Consort Zhen led them toward the Manor of Prince Zhen.

Shen Mu saw the manor from afar and shook his head: "I have already fought Kaihuang.

I will not go in. I will just sit here a while. Celestial Master Zixi, please go and bring God King Shujun over. " Princess Consort Zhen was taken aback and said nothing.

Yan Yunxi departed at once, returning to the Kaihuang Heavenly Court to find God King Shujun.

Time passed little by little. What happened afterward in the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, Shen Mu did not know, nor did he need to know. He knew only that Wuyou Township today had come alive, that its people would no longer go on dreaming their drunken dreams, that they would try to go out. And the Creator race would not cling to its old confines either; they too would go out.

He looked at the tombs of the Shen clan's ancestors, generation upon generation, at the white mist rising here, spreading among the graves.

His heart was at peace. He longed to resurrect his ancestors, to bring those once-living lives back into the world—but this was not the outside world. Here he could not borrow the power of the Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth, and without a physical body he could not revive them.

He sat quietly, longing to commune with them, but their consciousness had dispersed as well; after all, they were not of the Creator race. What is there to say of the dead?

Their bodies are entrusted to the mountain's slope. They had died where they belonged, and that was enough. How long passed, he did not know. Kaihuang and Qin Hanzhen came walking up one after the other, with Shujun and Yan Yunxi at their side.

Shen Mu rose to his feet, patted the dirt off his backside, and said: "I am afraid I cannot stay in Wuyou Township any longer.

No one in Wuyou Township will welcome me.

It is time I left—after all, I am not of Wuyou Township. I am the Sacred Infant of the Creators. " Qin Hanzhen and Princess Consort Zhen wore complicated expressions. Shen Mu had offended all of Wuyou Township.

Not only could he not remain on the Shen family genealogy—he could not even remain in Wuyou Township.

Kaihuang said: "I will see you off. " Shen Mu nodded, stepped upon the void, and walked toward the heavens beyond.

Kaihuang walked shoulder to shoulder with him; Shujun fell several paces behind, not following close.

He had keenly sensed that these two were very strange, and that it was best not to draw near. They walked all the way beyond the heavens. Shen Mu looked back: Qin Hanzhen and his wife were no longer visible, and the Creators beyond the heavens had already withdrawn their troops; the starry sky outside Wuyou Township was utterly empty.

"Shen Kai, did I hit you hard? " Shen Mu asked with concern.

Hearing the two words "Shen Kai," Kaihuang's left eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Very hard.

But I can bear it.

" "Your hide is thick and your flesh tough—you can surely bear it. " Shen Mu laughed: "Would you like to know which of us is stronger? " Kaihuang betrayed nothing: "Fifty-fifty, I would say. " Shen Mu gave a light laugh: "I think so too.

Let us stop here.

Your Wuyou Township is a hundred things waiting to be rebuilt; you have plenty to do. " Kaihuang nodded and halted.

Shen Mu walked in the direction of the Creator race's territory.

Shujun wanted to follow, yet suddenly, involuntarily, he stopped.

Kaihuang drew the Wuyou Sword and said softly: "Daoist Muqing, you are at the Venerable God realm?

" Shen Mu halted, turned his head, and laughed: "That is right.

" "Then your vital essence is truly magnificent—stronger even than mine. " Kaihuang gripped the Wuyou Sword tightly and said unhurriedly: "In divine powers, I seem to fall short of you. You have mastered more of the great Dao of runes, and you have already formed a domain.

By mana alone you could crush me.

" Shen Mu turned around. The sword core had appeared in his hand at some point, slowly transforming into a divine sword, its sword-light flowing gently.

He laughed: "That is right.

" Kaihuang said: "But a true clash cannot be judged by divine powers or swordsmanship alone.

Will your Jingping reforms work or not?

" Shen Mu's face was full of smiles: "Try it and we will know, will we not? If you do not try, how will you know that my Jingping reforms are stronger than your Kaihuang reforms?

" Shujun quietly retreated, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Kaihuang smiled. His feet suddenly surged with power, his sword-path domain swelled, and in that instant his sword path was raised to its utmost.

He laughed: "Muqing, have you seen the Twentieth Sword Form?

" Boom— A radiance of incomparable dazzle burst forth.

Shen Mu thundered open his Divine Treasury domain; the Taiji diagram spun and expanded, the sun, moon, and starry river rose surging from within his body, and the divine sword in his hand swelled enormously!

"This is the very sentence I have been waiting for! Let me see your sword domain and your Twentieth Sword! " The radiance in their two hands collided.

In that instant Shujun's eyes stung sharply; tears came unbidden, and his vision blurred, so that he could only sense the ripples cast by the ultimate sword path piercing the void! His skin felt as though ten thousand swords had run through it, piercing his body, his soul, his spirit-consciousness, so that a great terror rose in him unbidden!

Soon the dazzling radiance bursting from the sword path dispersed, and Shen Mu, clutching his chest, turned and walked away. Kaihuang sheathed his sword; blood dripped from the blade.

"Shujun, let us go! " Shen Mu's voice came, somewhat lacking in vigor: "I cannot walk anymore.

Carry me back.

. .

" Shujun hurried after him, appalled at heart, and stole a glance at Kaihuang.

Kaihuang stood desolate, watching them go. His sword-path domain was above Shen Mu's, and the Twentieth Sword Form had indeed not failed his expectations—it had pierced through Shen Mu's Divine Treasury domain and broken Shen Mu's sword art.

And yet a stunning blade of sword-light had flown past his divine bridge within his Divine Treasury, skimming along it, graceful as a startled swan, supple as a roaming dragon.

Shen Mu's Calamity-Answering Sword had not severed his divine bridge; it had only grazed past it—and yet it left him drenched in cold sweat. Had that sword truly severed his divine bridge, his heavenly palace would surely have collapsed and crumbled, crushing the other six great Divine Treasuries in its fall and utterly destroying his cultivation! A single ringing note.

He did not know whether Shen Mu had lacked the strength to cut with that sword, or had held back out of mercy. Kaihuang swept his sword into its sheath and turned back toward Wuyou Township: "I need to go and see the Jingping reforms.

"