Chapter 1053 — The Ancient War-Presiding Deity

The Western Emperor had changed out of her battle garb. Clad in armor as she had been, her face had been hidden from view—only her large eyes were visible—but now Shen Mu could finally behold her in full.

She wore a white gown embroidered with a tiger’s head in golden thread. On her head sat a yishan crown, worked in gold with the pattern of two tigers holding up an embroidered ball.

On an ordinary yishan crown, two ears are folded out of black gauze at the summit, like a pair of little wings, but on hers two actual ears jutted straight through. Her tiger ears had nowhere to rest, so they simply pierced out on either side of the crown, furry and twitching from time to time—quite spirited.

This ancient goddess had a round, plump face with a trace of baby fat. Her sleeves were extremely wide and long, her hands tucked away inside, while her skirt was short, ending seven inches above the knee.

Her legs were bare, and her feet were shod in a pair of tiger-head shoes. Shen Mu finally understood why her skirt was so short: she had a tail with nowhere to put it. It would rise up from behind her at odd moments, even arching over her shoulder, incomparably nimble.

If that tail had eyes, it would surely poke its head about in every direction, peering all around. This was the first adorable ancient god Shen Mu had ever seen—and she was one of the Four Emperors of the ancient gods at that. The status of the ancient gods was enormously high.

Even the straw-gods waiting on the Earth Mother in the Primal Realm held status enough to frighten one, so the Four Emperors of the ancient gods stood higher still!

Even if the prestige of the ancient gods no longer matched what it had been, they still reigned as the supreme beings ruling the four poles of the universe!

Of the Four Emperors, Shen Mu had met three: the Azure Dragon possessed the countenance of an emperor, the Black Tortoise was reserved yet imposing to an extraordinary degree, and the Southern Emperor, the Vermilion Bird, though fond of prying into others’ private affairs, displayed the full bearing of an ancient god-emperor both in public and in private. Only this Western Emperor was like a girl who had never grown up.

Shen Mu’s expression turned odd. *The Western Emperor must be the little sister in the hearts of all the ancient gods,* he thought.

The Western Emperor came over, laughing. “With the armor off, I feel much more comfortable. Celestial Venerable, this way, please.

” When she smiled, she revealed a pair of tiger fangs.

Shen Mu followed her, but her tail was still ill-behaved—now coiling around her waist, now creeping up to her shoulder, sometimes even sweeping at the branches, flowers, and grass along the way.

*When she was wearing armor, I didn’t see her tail.

Where was it hiding then?

* Shen Mu stared at that white-tiger tail. *What if I were to touch it.

.

.

? * He grew more and more tempted, but after all, she was a great emperor among the ancient gods, and reaching out to touch her directly was hardly proper.

Yan’er, however, had no such qualms.

She bounced over and stroked the Western Emperor’s tail. The Western Emperor giggled, and the tip of her tail tilted Yan’er’s chin up.

“You little minx,” she said with a laugh, “I’m your aunt, and you dare to tease me? ” Yan’er turned into a little green sparrow, flew over, and perched on the tail’s tip.

“Auntie, do you know me?

” she asked curiously. “Of course I do. Your bloodline is special—I could tell at a glance.

” The tip of the Western Emperor’s tail swung to her shoulder and set the sparrow down on it; the tail gently tousled the little bird’s head. Yan’er, perfectly comfortable, sat on her shoulder with her head tilted, dozing. The Western Emperor led them up to the jade terrace to enjoy the view.

The terrace of the White Tiger Heavenly Palace was nothing like what Shen Mu had imagined: here stood many smelting platforms arranged in rows along the Jade Pool, where great furnaces blazed day and night, making the air scorching hot. Shen Mu surveyed the smelting platforms and said in surprise, “This is the standard of the Heavenly Artificers of the Kaihuang Era.

Did Kaihuang come here?

” “He did. ” Catching sight of a massive wooden post, the Western Emperor dashed over, thrust both hands out of her big sleeves to reveal sharp tiger claws, raked the post twice at lightning speed, then lay flat upon it in a languid stretch before hopping down. “Kaihuang brought a handsome young fellow named Li Youran,” she said. “He was utterly charming, and he charmed a whole host of the girls in my palace. The smelting platforms here were his design. When I said we couldn’t be hammering iron beside the Jade Pool, those girls raised such a clamor at me that I had no choice but to let them have their way. ” She looked rather resigned. “My Western Expanse Heaven abounds in divine gold and exquisite jade, and I am the ancient god who rules over war, so building these smelting platforms is not a bad thing, after all—at least they serve some use.

That Li Youran was sent by Shen Ye to learn casting and smelting from me, but my cultivation art draws in metal qi, which he could not learn. From him, though, I did pick up some techniques for forging divine weapons, just not as refined as his. ” Li Youran was none other than the Heavenly King-Buddha Shakra, the War Heavenly King of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court. Li Youran’s personal strength was unremarkable among the Four Heavenly Kings—one might even say he ranked last—but his reputation as the War Heavenly King was fully earned. In the art of forging, the Silent Craftsman would be hard-pressed to surpass him, although of late the Silent Craftsman and the Blind Elder had begun joining forces, attempting to combine the divine-consciousness powers of the Creators to found a craft of microscale forging. If their research succeeded, they would surpass Li Youran at the way of forging.

Just now, the female Heavenly Artificers who had been repairing the Heavenly Dragon Palanquin carried it back, set it by the Jade Pool, and began drawing and measuring its structure.

Shen Mu and the Western Emperor stepped forward to look. These female Heavenly Artificers were strapping, sturdy women, full of dash and vigor, their craft mature, their hands and feet deft and sure—clearly they had received the true transmission of the Heavenly King-Buddha Shakra, Li Youran.

Shen Mu was inwardly delighted. *When the Silent Craftsman sees them, he is sure to be pleased. * “Western Emperor,” he said, “Jingping has now made forging the very foundation of the state, and we are exactly in need of such Heavenly Artificers.

If the Western Emperor could send Heavenly Artificers from the Western Expanse Heaven to help, I would hold the favor in my heart forever!

” The more Shen Mu looked at these women, the more he liked them. “Jingping has achieved a good deal in the art of forging as well, and has no lack of able craftsmen,” he said.

“If the Western Emperor sends some female Heavenly Artificers, the two sides can complement each other’s strengths and shortcomings. ” The Western Emperor shook her head and smiled. “You’re trying to hoodwink me again!

I’ve heard of Jingping, too.

Your Jingping forges divine weapons for the Heavenly Court. If I send the Heavenly Artificers of the Western Expanse Heaven to Jingping, wouldn’t I be boosting the Heavenly Court’s might? That is aiding the enemy!

” Shen Mu gave a mocking smile. “Western Emperor, this is precisely where your insight falls short. From the fall of the Kaihuang Era to this day, a full twenty thousand years, the forging of your Western Expanse Heaven has never advanced.