Chapter 1060 — The Immortal Court Above the Nine Heavens

Shen Mu looked at the youth, his gaze flickering, and thought: "Luo Xiao, prophet of the race of Creators of Taixu, who carried three terrifying prophecies to the Creators of Taixu. Prophecy one: the Grand Emperor will invade, and a human Celestial Venerable Yun will go to help them stand against the Grand Emperor and see them through the crisis. " The first prophecy was fulfilled before long: the Celestial Venerable Yun went to Taixu, helped the Creators there lay their plans, trapped the Grand Emperor's mortal body, and cut down a portion of the Grand Emperor. The second prophecy of the Fore-Spirit Luo Xiao was the Void Bridge and the Other Shore World, and that too came to pass.

After the Grand Emperor's death, that great war left the land of Taixu unfit for any to live in, and so the Creators, led by the God King Langwan and other chieftains, envisioned the Void Bridge and forged the Other Shore World. Luo Xiao's third prophecy was that in the future of the Creator race a Sacred Infant would appear, born into the world bearing the Primeval Stone of the Great Beginning; from the very hour of his birth he would stand for the supreme authority of the Creators, the Grand Emperor's Seal in his hand, descending upon the Grand Emperor's Altar.

And that prophecy was Shen Mu.

Shen Mu watched Luo Xiao, who sat at his side, with a smiling look, and Luo Xiao grew so uneasy under that gaze that his eyes darted left and right, and he thought: "Can this man have seen through my origins? Impossible.

I gathered the divine consciousness of the strong ones of my race to envision this body, making my flesh no different from any ordinary man's; even a common ancient god cannot see my true form. . .

" The vertical eye at his brow had been hidden as well, leaving only a streak of red down the center of his forehead, and his clothes were not the garments of the Creator race but cut in the style of the people of this age.

"The one who told Luo Xiao these three prophecies must be none other than me. This young Creator takes me for the divine consciousness of the Creators' ancestors, and then goes back to Taixu and tells them these three prophecies. " Shen Mu blinked and thought: "One day in the future, when I enter Taixu and become their Creator, and go to the Fore-Spirit Realm to see him, it is only then, when he lays eyes on me, that he will suddenly go mad. If I do not tell him these three prophecies, will that change the future? But I must tell him these three prophecies; only so can I keep the Land of No Sorrow safe, and only so can I become the Sacred Infant of the Creator race and make the Creators serve my purpose.

. . " Luo Xiao was studying him in turn.

He saw that Shen Mu likewise had something at his brow like a scar, and beneath the scar lay an eye, and he thought: "This man called Shen Mu gives me a familiar feeling. Can he be a Creator too? But the people outside are a cunning lot, and I must not betray the slightest sign, for I am the sharpest of our whole Creator race.

. . " Shen Mu looked out the window and thought: "Luo Xiao left the land of Taixu a million years ago to see whether the outside world was safe. He asks me the way to the Heavenly Court, which means the Longhan Heavenly Court has already been founded; I simply do not know what year this is. . .

If this is the early years of Longhan, and I go to the Heavenly Court now, will I run into myself, the one who is even now raising havoc in the Jade Pool. . . " His face took on a strange cast. In those days he had appeared in the Heavenly Court wearing the face of Mu Qing, and had never used his true countenance.

If he truly met himself in the Heavenly Court, would that not mean two of him existed at once? By the rule that matter does not change, one of them must surely vanish, for two identical things cannot exist at the same time! Luo Xiao stole glances at him and thought: "Brother Shen Mu here is a strange one. . .

Ah—" He nearly leapt to his feet. Shen Mu's face was changing, and in a few short moments he had put on an altogether different appearance!

Shen Mu was now a youth who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen, his face still carrying a touch of unripe greenness.

"Brother Luo Xiao, do not be alarmed. " Shen Mu said kindly: "I have a great many enemies, so I must go about under a changed face.

A new face, and I am safe.

" Luo Xiao's heart pounded. He blurted out: "You wear such splendid robes and ride in such a magnificent jeweled carriage that I took you for some great man who could surely reach the Heavenly Court in safety, and so I begged you to carry me a way.

Since you have so many enemies, I had best get off first! " Shen Mu hastily caught hold of him and laughed: "But I have changed my face, have I not?

Then I have no enemies left.

Brother Luo, do not be forever crying out in alarm like a man who has never seen the world. Truth told, the Heavenly Court is heavily guarded; if you want to go there without some standing, you cannot get in.

You must keep company with me. . .

" Suddenly the voice of the Dragon Qilin came from outside: "Hierarch, look below, quickly! " Shen Mu stepped out of the jeweled carriage and looked down the Heavenly River, and could not help showing astonishment. On the plain beneath the Heavenly River, tens of thousands of human divine-ability wielders had gathered, busy at a great work, raising palace after palace; they quarried minerals, turned their own mana into blazing fire, and smelted divine gold. They had already built a city of no small size, and were now building a gate, in the very style of the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Heavenly Court.

"The human race is building a Heavenly Court?

" Shen Mu was stunned for a moment.

He had the Dragon Qilin halt the jeweled carriage, and said in surprise: "The Heavenly Court of the human race is the Xiaohan Heavenly Court. So this Heavenly Court is being built on the ground, and does not float in the sky? " This was nothing like the Xiaohan Heavenly Court he had pictured!

And at that moment many human gods who had already cultivated to the god realm came flying toward the Heavenly River; among them were Daoist priests and monks, and Shen Mu also saw the Celestial Venerable Ling and the Celestial Venerable Moon. And that monk and that Daoist were none other than the Dao Ancestor and Mahabrahma!

Besides them there were some young human masters, all of them at the god realm, their cultivation by no means weak.

Shen Mu's face took on a strange cast. These ancient pioneers had already reached high cultivation; celestial palaces floated behind them, and their primal spirits stood, some upon the Jade Pool, some upon the God-Slaying Platform. "By now many years must have passed since I left the Jade Pool gathering," Shen Mu thought.

He stood upon the jeweled carriage.

The Celestial Venerable Ling, the Celestial Venerable Moon and the rest flew near the Heavenly River, and he heard the voice of the Celestial Venerable Moon come over: "Old Daoist, the Heavenly River floats in the air. To use the waters of the Heavenly River to hold up our human Heavenly Court, to make the human Heavenly Court float in the heavens, you must make certain your calculations do not go wrong, and that the forces borne by every palace are reckoned exactly, or the celestial palace will come crashing down.

" "Rest easy, Celestial Venerable Moon.

" The Dao Ancestor held up a divination compass, calculation runes tumbling about him, and said: "My reckoning will never go wrong.

Back then, when the Celestial Venerable Mu gave me that one hint, I discovered the wonder of the arts of calculation, and I mean to enter the Dao through calculation. Celestial Venerable Moon, when my reckoning is done, I shall still need your art of space to fold the Heavenly River. Do you have such power?

" "Naturally.