Chapter 1041 — A Passing Guest Among the Purple Blooms

I only fear my fists and feet are heavy, and I might injure the Great Mage.

" "No trouble at all," Shen Mu said, all smiles.

"My body is very sturdy. " "Father!

" The dragon maiden Guyan bowed, then lifted her head and stole a glance at Shen Mu.

She smiled.

"Heavenly Venerable Mu's fame is known far and wide; your child would very much like to taste his methods. " The dragon son Qingming burned with fighting spirit.

"Why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken? " The Eastern Emperor looked at Shen Mu and smiled.

"What say you, Great Mage?

" Shen Mu raised his hand lightly.

A lotus flower flew up from the Jade Pool and settled in his palm. He smiled.

"It is a fine thing that my worthy nephew and niece should have such ambition, but they still lack tempering. " He plucked a single petal, handed the rest of the lotus to Yan'er, and Yan'er hastily transformed into a young girl, cradling the lotus before her breast.

Shen Mu blew gently. The petal rose from his palm and flew toward Guyan and Qingming.

It tumbled through the air; with each turn it split in two, then two became four, four became eight.

Before long, the lotus petals flying toward Guyan and Qingming blotted out the sky and hid the sun, a pink sea of blossoms surging toward them. Guyan and Qingming each unleashed their divine arts and charged into the oncoming sea of flowers, meaning to tear it apart and come straight at Shen Mu.

Yet when their divine arts fell into the sea of blossoms, they seemed only to speed its division, multiplying the petals. The sea of flowers drowned them; the two rode the clouds and mist, struggling with all their might, but every art they used was absorbed by the petals, and the petals grew ever more numerous, until they slowly submerged the dragon island.

On the dragon island, the young dragon men and women cultivating in the Jade Pool all struck out to hold it back, and the sea of flowers drank in their divine arts and swelled, and swelled again, spreading ever wider. The Jade Pool of the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace was not so vast as that of the Heavenly Court, yet it could count as a small sea; and now the sea of flowers had seized the center of the Jade Pool, threatening to swallow it whole. In the ocean of petals, dragon roars shook the air, some in fury, some in dread.

The petals grew more and more numerous, falling even upon their bodies, there to grow into their flesh and blood, as though pink scales had sprouted all over them.

And more terrible still, the petals drew the energy from their bodies and split into more petals, covering them from head to foot, replacing their dragon scales. They even felt the petals replacing their flesh and blood, replacing their bones.

What was worse, the petals drifted into their bodies and settled upon their spirits; the petals were draining the power of their spirits. By and by the roaring was left with nothing but dread.

Even the likes of Guyan and Qingming, experts prized so highly by the Eastern Emperor Qinglong, could do nothing now but shriek in terror.

They could not break open the sea of flowers; they could only sink deeper into it, and every attempt to break the art only fed its power.

They could only watch as the petals grew upon their bodies, rooted into their flesh, rooted into their spirits, draining their bodies, draining their vital essence, draining their strength.

That slow walk toward death shattered their dao hearts. At last the sea of flowers crept to Shen Mu's side and was about to swallow the painted boat.

Shen Mu stood at the prow, raised his palm lightly, and pinched off a petal. When that petal fell into his hand, the sea of flowers across the sky vanished in an instant; Guyan, Qingming, and all the dragon sons and grandsons lay limp upon the dragon island, utterly spent, the sea of flowers having drained their vital essence and cultivation to the very last drop.

Had the sea not vanished, they would likely have lost their lives as well, becoming nourishment for those petals. "The Art of Creation? The art of Creation?

" The Eastern Emperor Qinglong stared at the petal in Shen Mu's hand and said in a low voice, "You have employed many things in this art.

Besides the art of Creation, there is divination, swordsmanship, the Heavenly Dao, the methods of Youdu.

.

. no, and the visualization arts of the Creator race, and Heavenly Venerable Ling's Art of Immutability. " Shen Mu came before Yan'er, took up the petal, and laid it gently upon the lotus.

When the petal returned to the flower, the energy stored within it flowed at once through the whole lotus; the lotus shone with golden light, and streams of dread energy gushed like fountains, most splendid to behold.

The lotus's power surged higher and higher, until in but a short while it had turned into a marvel of terrifying might.

This was because Shen Mu had drawn away all the cultivation of the dragon sons and grandsons on the island to refine the lotus; with so many divine dragons contributing their cultivation, how could the lotus be anything but mighty? "This art is the fourth form of the arts by which I entered the Dao. It is called 'Guest Amid the Purple Blooms. '" Shen Mu handed the lotus, now refined into a treasure, to Yan'er, then turned and smiled.

"Your Majesty, what you saw is only what I let you see.

The true mystery of my art is something you, as an ancient god, would not understand. Now.

.

. " His aura gathered; the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art revolved, and a broken Heavenly Court leaped out from behind his head, its radiance filling the whole Jade Pool.

Shen Mu clenched his fist and said calmly, "It is time for Your Majesty to test me himself.

"