Chapter 1071 — A Brotherhood of Glass

"Hong. Great Hong. Could it be the Hong Tianzun of a later age? Which would mean he might be the Tai Emperor?"

Shen Mu stared at the young man in the loose robe and wide sleeves, and all at once felt as though his life were being held in someone's fist.

He suspected that Hong Tianzun was the identity the Tai Emperor had hidden within the Heavenly Court, and now that this young man named Hong had appeared so abruptly here, he felt himself being watched.

Had he not come from a later age, had he not known that a Hong Tianzun existed in the ages to come, he might truly have been taken in by this young man called Great Hong.

If Hong really was the Tai Emperor, then it was too terrible to contemplate.

The Tai Emperor's strength was of the same order as the Heaven Emperor's; his fleshly body had been honored by the Creator as the strongest body in the world — though Shen Mu held the Heaven Emperor's body to be stronger still.

But one thing was certain: the Tai Emperor's divine consciousness was absolutely first, unmatched by any before him, and for a million years to come there would be none whose consciousness was so mighty — even the Crimson Emperor, famed for his indestructible consciousness, stood a hundred thousand leagues behind him!

If the Tai Emperor wished to kill him, it would be effortless.

Shen Mu sat in the carriage with the feeling of sitting before the ancient god Heaven Emperor, and a chill ran through him. Of course, he restrained his terror, letting only the nape of his neck prickle with gooseflesh.

The banners of the Heavenly River Navy's tower ships and great vessels streamed one after another, and on every tower ship stood a thousand troops and ten thousand horses, most of them gods and demons cultivated up from demigods.

Shen Mu gazed into the distance and laughed: "Daoist Hong, too many people are hunting you. Best not to drag us down with you."

But Hong abruptly boarded the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot and laughed: "Mu Tianzun, you too are a man on the run. What harm is there in taking me along?"

He stepped into the carriage. Shen Mu strained to suppress the dread in his heart. The Tai Emperor of this era had not yet been schemed to death by Yun Tianzun and the Creator of Taixu.

Yun Tianzun and the Creator of Taixu had trapped and slain the Tai Emperor's fleshly body and half his divine consciousness; the Hong of this moment was, in all likelihood, the Tai Emperor in his complete form.

Shen Mu felt cold sweat about to break out on his neck, and forcibly shut down his body's function of sweating, and laughed: "Daoist Hong — Daoist Hong Tian knows me?"

Hong sat opposite Luo Xiao, glanced at Luo Xiao, then glanced out the window, and said, greatly agitated: "A thousand years ago, Mu Tianzun wreaked havoc in the Jade Pool, withstood the attack of Lady Yuanmu's projection, and even, beneath the dao-pressure of that projection, wounded Hao Tianzun with a single sword, overawing the world. Having done such earth-shaking deeds, who in the world could fail to know you?"

Just then, from outside the carriage came another cry for help: "Is that Mu Tianzun? Save me, I beg you!"

Shen Mu, Luo Xiao, and Hong all looked out, and saw another army burst forth from the Southern Heaven Gate — the great army of the Nanluo sect, pursuing a handsome youth.

The youth trod the Heavenly River, running toward the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot with great speed, and in moments rushed onto the carriage, crying: "Go, go!"

The armies of the Heavenly Court's four great sects were commanded by the Heavenly Court's four great Heavenly Masters. Though Shen Mu did not know who the four great Heavenly Masters of the Longhan era were, anyone worth the Nanluo sect sending out a great army to hunt down was certainly no small matter!

The Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot sped away, leaving the Heavenly River Navy and the Nanluo sect behind.

Shen Mu's divine consciousness rippled; he transmitted a message to the Dragon Qilin, telling him the location of the Ancestral Court, and bade him head there.

Just then, he sensed his divine consciousness being probed.

The one probing him was Luo Xiao — Luo Xiao's consciousness was the most obvious of all. He was intensely curious about Shen Mu, knowing Shen Mu's consciousness to be exceedingly powerful and profoundly mysterious, and that he seemed to understand the Creators extremely well.

So when he sensed the ripples of Shen Mu's consciousness, he tried to probe it with his own.

Yet Shen Mu also sensed a second consciousness.

This consciousness was exceedingly hidden, hidden to the point of being almost imperceptible!

It came from layer upon layer of the void, and so was hard to detect. Had Shen Mu not obtained the Tai Emperor's Great Luo Supreme Consciousness, he too would have found it hard to detect this consciousness secretly probing him.

Yet in this treasure chariot, besides Luo Xiao and Hong, there was also the youth who had just boarded; it was hard to determine which of the two was probing Shen Mu.

"But one thing is certain: the Tai Emperor is in this carriage!"

Shen Mu forced down his dread and said: "Daoist Hong, you were in the Heavenly Court in those years? If you were not at the Jade Pool, then you must have been at the Heavenly Court Grand Gathering. Since you could receive the Heaven Emperor's invitation to the Grand Gathering, your strength must be fearsome — surely a leader among demigods. Why then are you hunted by the Heavenly River Navy?"

Hong tucked his hands into his sleeves and sighed: "Mu Tianzun is truly a clever man. I am the world's foremost demon, after all different from you humans. Our demon race awakened very early; when you humans could not yet cultivate, we demons had already begun our practice. I was the first demon to awaken, feeding on wind and drinking dew, absorbing the essence of sun and moon, and in time gave birth to a spirit of intelligence. The Heaven Emperor commanded me to lead the demon race, and invited me to the Heavenly Court Grand Gathering. Only, I was in the Lingxiao Treasure Hall at the time and did not see Mu Tianzun."

"So that is how it is."

Shen Mu looked at the handsome youth who had just boarded the treasure chariot, and silently praised the youth's comeliness — surely a beauty who could vie with Yin Tianzi and Yin Chaojin — and laughed: "May I ask how to address you, Daoist?"

"My name is Xiao."

The handsome youth laughed: "The Xiao of the human race, the Xiao of the spring dawn. Mu Tianzun may not have heard my name, but your name has long been thunder in my ears."

Shen Mu's heart gave a sudden lurch, his blood nearly congealing: "It cannot be Xiao Tianzun? If it is Xiao Tianzun, then this little treasure chariot of mine is in a fine uproar. The Tai Emperor among the Creators and the ancient god Heaven Emperor have both graced us with their presence."

He forcibly suppressed the urge to have Yan'er douse the lamps and flee this place, and with a smile that was no smile said: "Xiao is your name, but what is your surname?"

The handsome youth said: "Mu Tianzun does not know — surnames came later, and only persons of some standing were entitled to bear one. My family was poor and lowly, and had no surname, only a name. Later I took a surname at random — Gu, so Gu Xiao — but those who know me still call me Xiao."

Shen Mu looked at Great Hong and at this human Gu Xiao in the carriage, and his heart convulsed violently twice more.

Great Hong looked very young, smiling, hands tucked in his sleeves and folded before his chest; from his appearance one could faintly make out the look of the Hong Tianzun of later ages.

Gu Xiao, by contrast, was extraordinarily handsome, utterly unlike the Xiao Tianzun of later ages.

The Xiao Tianzun of later ages was aloof, eccentric, domineering — the nominal Tianzun of the human race — yet not handsome at all, with not the slightest resemblance to this youth called Gu Xiao.