Chapter 1030 — Ambushing That Heavenly Emperor

Shen Mu nodded, a faint, enigmatic smile playing on his lips.

Five years ago, Xing'an had taken out the token of Heavenly Lord Shen to scheme against him, luring him to the Fallen God Valley. The valley was merely a passage leading to the High Sovereign's Heavenly Court, where Yi Shisheng, a disciple of Heavenly Lord Ling, had ceaselessly been collecting his master's remains.

When Shen Mu first came to the Fallen God Valley, the disciples of the Heavenly Emperor, Yan Qiling and Mu Qiubai among them, had also arrived there, along with the Heavenly Dragon King serving under the Earth Mother, and the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Lord, which had crept in covertly. On the hanging coffins in the valley was written "Opens on encountering Shen Mu," but in truth it meant "opens on encountering Heavenly Lord Shen and Heavenly Lord Mu.

" At the time, Shen Mu had pondered the matter: if he did not go to the Fallen God Valley, no one else went to explore it; but once he went, a whole crowd rushed over—surely too much of a coincidence.

Now he saw that it had merely been a scheme devised by the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor and the Grand Emperor against him, and, of course, the Primordial Earth Mother was also in on it. Five years ago, Shen Mu could not see through their design; only now did he understand the true meaning of that affair.

The Heavenly Emperor, the Grand Emperor, and the Primordial Earth Mother knew that only by assembling both the token of Heavenly Lord Shen and the token of Heavenly Lord Mu could the passage to the Fallen God Valley be opened, and so they had waited for Shen Mu to come and clear the way for them.

Yet sly and cunning as they were, none of them had anticipated that Shen Mu would destroy the Grand Emperor's divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Lord, and that Xing'an would then seal and suppress the Heavenly Lord's consciousness within the artifact, seize the artifact, and swagger off with it.

The entire company under the Heavenly Dragon King was wiped out to the last, and among the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's disciples only Yan Qiling remained. The Primordial Earth Mother suffered heavy losses; the Heavenly Emperor failed to recover his own fleshly body; and the Grand Emperor could neither confirm whether Heavenly Lord Ling was truly dead nor reclaim the divine consciousness he had used to control the Heavenly Emperor's body.

Shen Mu gained no profit either; only Xing'an obtained the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Lord and suppressed the Grand Emperor's consciousness within it. On the surface, Xing'an appeared to be the greatest winner of that battle. But fate played an ironic trick: Xing'an, like a turtledove occupying a magpie's nest, took the divine artifact as his own body, yet he squandered five years on the runes of the Ancient God's Great Dao, and all that labor came to nothing.

As for the most crucial prize, the Grand Emperor's consciousness, he could not refine it at all, and in the end it fell into Shen Mu's hands.

Looking at the jade bottle, Shen Mu smiled. The smile grew broader and broader, until he could not help but burst into laughter, his laughter growing ever more joyful.

"Five years ago, who could have guessed that I would be the final victor? " He laughed aloud, while his vital energy and divine consciousness swirled around him, shaping into all manner of runes.

Shen Mu adjusted the runes, took out various computational instruments, and ceaselessly calculated and revised them.

Divine King Langwo watched him scribbling and emending, her expression stirring slightly. "Holy Infant, should I help you refine the Grand Emperor's consciousness? The consciousness in the jade bottle is very faint; refining it should not be difficult.

" "Not for now. " Shen Mu, absorbed in his calculations, said without raising his head, "Once I have perfected this divine art, I will ask Elder Sister Divine King for her trouble.

" Divine King Langwo examined the runes formed from his divine consciousness and vital energy.

They were extraordinarily exquisite and complex, but she could not understand them. Shujun was likewise baffled and asked Long Qilin.

Long Qilin glanced over and said, "The Sect Master is revising the Soul-Guiding Art. The Soul-Guiding Art tugs at souls and spirits.

Judging from the runes he is altering, he intends to turn it from guiding souls into guiding divine consciousness.

" "Guiding divine consciousness?

" Divine King Langwo and Divine King Shujun were greatly perplexed.

Was there even such a divine art as guiding divine consciousness? Long Qilin thought for a while and said, "The Soul-Guiding Art should in fact be called the Soul-Snatching Art. It can snatch souls from the Nether Capital and summon the spirits of the dead back to the world of the living.

Later, after the Sect Master improved it, it could summon even fragmented souls.

He is probably trying to develop it further and summon the Grand Emperor's divine consciousness scattered across the Primordial World.

" After a long time, Shen Mu finally finished his calculations. Everyone stared at the magnificent runes floating throughout the treasure chariot, entirely at a loss. Shen Mu checked carefully, corrected several calculation errors, and only then felt fully satisfied. He picked up the jade bottle, stepped outside the chariot, and placed it on the ground of the Fallen God Valley, which had long been leveled to the earth.

Suddenly, his magical power surged to a near-frenzy as he drove the improved Soul-Guiding Art; countless runes whirled up and revolved around the jade bottle. His primordial spirit manifested, a towering figure standing in the chief celestial palace on the Taiji Diagram, beneath the Southern Heavenly Gate.

Weighty Dao words flowed from his mouth as he intoned the mysterious tongue of the Nether Capital, and countless Celestial Yin Realm runes lit up around him, brightening and dimming by turns.

"When I descended this time, the Grand Emperor wanted to kill me and sent out the eleventh Heavenly Lord's fleshly body.

But on the way it met Kaihuang and was slain with a single stroke of his sword.

" While his primordial spirit activated the improved Soul-Guiding Art, his true body smiled. "The Grand Emperor's consciousness was driving a Heavenly Lord corpse. Kaihuang had no idea how to gather up the Grand Emperor's divine consciousness and simply slew it on the spot, scattering that consciousness.

I had no object belonging to the Grand Emperor, so I could not summon his soul. Now, with the consciousness in this jade bottle, I can try to call his divine consciousness here!

" Divine King Langwo followed him onto that open ground and saw that the earth around Shen Mu was covered with countless runes, lighting up one after another and spreading in every direction, the area they covered growing ever wider. Soon the runes spanned a hundred li in every direction, forming an immense formation diagram. Divine King Langwo mused, "The Grand Emperor's divine consciousness within that Heavenly Lord corpse, even if scattered by Kaihuang, will eventually reconverge. He has most likely already gathered it back. " "Elder Sister Divine King, rest assured.

Kaihuang had to use Sword Twenty and then the thirty-four-layered Heavenly Sword Dao to slaughter him. His divine consciousness cannot reassemble any time soon.

Besides.

. .

" As Shen Mu's primordial spirit fully drove the Soul-Guiding Art into operation, countless resplendent runes spun around the jade bottle, imprinting on it one after another. Wave after wave of obscure fluctuations sank into the bottle, then emanated outward in a wondrous rhythm that spread through the surroundings.

Ordinary people could not perceive this rhythm; even Divine King Langwo and Divine King Shujun barely sensed it. "Besides, he came this time to kill me.

Would he so readily withdraw his divine consciousness?