Chapter 1066 — The Five Luminaries' Omen of Doom Descends Upon the World

In the one thousand four hundred and first year of Longhan, the Yuan Realm was stricken by a Great Calamity: a baleful star appeared and moved across the heavens.

The Yuan Realm holds ten thousand races, dwelling either in the myriad heavens and worlds about the Yuan Tree, or amid the great mountains and rivers of the Yuan Realm itself; and on this day the races of those worlds beheld a five-colored radiance slash across the Yuan Realm's sky, as the Five Ancient Gods of Calamity led a thousand armies flying over the Yuan Realm. Wherever that radiance passed, rivers and seas ran dry, grass and trees withered, crops would not grow, fire fell from the heavens, wars broke out on every side, bandits ran rampant, and bones lay strewn across the land. When night fell, some saw a lamp burning out of the darkness; following that lamp, they came upon a youth in a paper boat, gathering up the wronged souls that drifted loose through the world.

For a time, many across the Yuan Realm saw this strange youth, as though he had thousands upon thousands of bodies; and rumor said he was an envoy of Youdu, come to harvest souls. The five-colored radiance flew toward the Heavenly River, farther and farther from the Yuan Realm's continent; yet the disasters loosed by the baleful star's descent could not be undone in a moment, and their poison lingered a hundred years and more before the storm subsided.

On the Heavenly River, a Heavenly Dragon carriage made its way neither fast nor slow, six heavenly dragons drawing that incomparably gorgeous carriage across the water. The Heavenly Court still hung above the Yuan Realm; on clear days even mortal eyes could see that high and exalted court, though only dimly, as if it hung inverted in the sky.

With the Sacred Pupil cultivated, one could even see the market streets of heaven, and the Southern Gate of Heaven guarded by the gods. In later ages, of course, such a sight was rarely seen.

But the Heavenly Court, near as it looked, was in truth far. It had once stood above the Yuan Tree; with enough endurance, even a common mortal could climb the Yuan Tree and slip secretly into the Heavenly Court. Later it was said that the Earth Mother Yuanjun loathed the court's pressing down upon the Yuan Tree, and so they were parted.

In time, the only road left to the Heavenly Court was the Heavenly River. The Heavenly River runs through the heavens; many boats ply its waters, but those who can sail it are usually demigod races.

Shen Mu's Heavenly Dragon carriage sped across the river, and even it had to steer clear of those boats, lest it smash them to splinters. More often, of course, it was the boats that turned aside the moment they glimpsed the Heavenly Dragon carriage from afar; after all, whoever owned such a carriage was usually a being of tremendous standing, and in this age, to be crushed to death by such a one was a matter no one took note of. In the carriage, Luo Xiao gazed out the window at the Heavenly River, his eyes dark and deep; Yan'er had grown rather cheerful, and brought out dried fruit to feed him.

Luo Xiao refused at first, then grew used to it, eating without much thought — but even a Creator can eat his fill.

So Yan'er went outside the carriage to feed the Dragon Qilin.

Shen Mu was glad to see the light return to her. Yan'er was a simple girl, and life in this cruel world was not easy for her; when she grieved, Shen Mu grieved with her. "Luo Xiao, what exactly do you mean to do in the Heavenly Court? " Shen Mu asked, regarding this young Creator.

Luo Xiao came back to himself.

"I came here by the clan chief's order, to see whether any of my people still live in this world. And the chief bade me seek the Ancestral Court, to ask certain things of the ancestors there.

" He did not reveal that he was a Creator, and spoke with great caution; one who did not know his identity could not know what place the Ancestral Court he spoke of might be. "The Ancestral Court? " Shen Mu's heart gave a great shock. It came to him suddenly that the Creator Xiu Zhong had once said that a million years ago Luo Xiao left Taixu and went to the Ancestral Court, and journeyed there a long while, receiving from the divine consciousness of the ancestors of the Ancestral Court three prophecies concerning the fate of the Creator race! So then: the Creator spirit Luo Xiao's purpose on this journey was in fact the same as that of the God-King Langwan — to seek the Ancestral Court!

Presumably he had come from Taixu to the Yuan Realm, found that the Yuan Realm was not the Ancestral Court, and so meant to go on to the Heavenly Court to see whether the Heavenly Court might be it. Yet so far as Shen Mu knew, neither the Yuan Realm nor the Heavenly Court, nor Youdu, nor Xuandu, nor the Four Extremes Heavens, was the Ancestral Court. The true Ancestral Court was in fact sealed upon the reverse side of each great world! On this journey, Luo Xiao was fated never to find where the Ancestral Court lay!

Luo Xiao gazed out, his eyes dark and deep.

He was a brave young Creator: knowing full well that this journey might be one from which he never returned, he had still walked out of Taixu without a backward glance. "Have you found any of your people?

" Shen Mu asked. Luo Xiao shook his head.

"For a moment, I thought you were one of my people; and for another moment, I thought the Divine Emperor Langxuan seemed one of my people. In the end I found that neither of you was. " He forced a smile and explained, "My people have a strange eye at the center of the brow.

You have one too, but I observed you closely, and you are not one of us. I also sensed the blood of my people in the Divine Emperor Langxuan, but he is not one either.

Perhaps there may be some of my people in the Heavenly Court; if there are, then through them I may be able to find the Ancestral Court of our race.

" Shen Mu thought for a moment, then said, "If there are any of your people in the Heavenly Court, they are enemies too. " Luo Xiao's body gave a slight shudder. He was about to ask what he meant by that when the five-colored radiance suddenly burst upon their sight. The Heavenly River heaved violently, and nearly every boat was swatted away by the hurricane raised by that five-colored light!

A few boats were not swept away, but the demigods aboard them gave shrill, agonized screams; they were aging at a speed visible to the naked eye, and soon became doddering old men and women, white-haired and chicken-skinned! "Lord Zhenxing, you flaunt your Dao-might so wantonly it's ruining the flavor!

" A voice came down from above; then the five-colored radiance descended with a swish before the Heavenly Dragon carriage, a dozen or so li away. One after another, incomparably mighty ancient gods descended, and behind them a host of thousands upon thousands of gods and demons.

The foremost of them, an ancient god with red hair and a serpent's body, reached out a hand and seized up the few remaining boats, drew them in, and laughed. "Lord Suixing, you have the greater skill — make them a bit more tasty. " Another, an ancient sage with a bird's head, a man's body, and bird's feet, shot light from his pupils; the demigods aboard, so aged and failing, seemed to run backward through time, swiftly growing young again.

Soon the old women became maids in their prime, and the old men became handsome youths.

"Now that is how they'll taste right! " The red-haired, serpent-bodied ancient god laughed heartily, drew up the demigods from those boats in one breath and swallowed them down; then he turned to look at the Heavenly Dragon carriage, which had now halted, and chuckled.

"Tianzun Mu, you're found out!

Will you not come down and die? " Luo Xiao's face changed dramatically; he was thrown into a panic. Shen Mu glanced at him.