Chapter 1075 — First Step into the Ancestral Land

"Void Beast?"

Shen Mu frowned, and Gu Xiao and Da Hong each knit their brows as well.

From the primal spirits of the Primal Spirit Realm, Shen Mu had obtained the wisdom of the Creator race, and among it were records concerning the Void Beasts.

The Void Beast was one of the primordial colossi of the Ancestral Court. These Void Beasts could traverse the void, appearing and vanishing without a trace; in the age of primordial darkness, they were among the most formidable predators of all!

Only the powerful divine consciousness of the Creators could control such Void Beasts. In the age of primordial darkness, the other races, when faced with such a Void Beast, often had no fighting power whatsoever!

They roamed through the void, devouring even stars, even the heavens themselves!

What kind of catastrophe would summoning a Void Beast bring?

Da Hong's eyes flickered, and a faint smile rose to his face.

Gu Xiao let out a sigh, his expression wooden.

Shen Mu shuddered, sensing the killing intent coming from Gu Xiao. He knew that if Luo Xiao remained bent on his own way, then Gu Xiao would surely strike without mercy!

Gu Xiao's aim was to find the surviving descendants of the Creators; but if Luo Xiao found the Ancestral Court and summoned a Void Beast from it, that would mean Luo Xiao had already lost control.

At such a time, killing Luo Xiao was, on the contrary, the best choice!

Suddenly Shen Mu said in a composed voice, "Brother Luo, can we verify whether this is the Creator race's Ancestral Court without summoning a Void Beast? I have heard that Void Beasts are extremely difficult to restrain and that they devour everything. If you cannot control the Void Beast, would that not bring calamity upon the world?"

He had always wanted to protect Luo Xiao, to see whether he could change history; this was yet another attempt of his to save Luo Xiao.

Had Luo Xiao not encountered Shen Mu after emerging from the Great Void, he would have died long ago and would never have returned to the Great Void to bring back three prophecies. To protect the life of this Creator, Shen Mu had gone to great lengths.

He had to see this history fulfilled.

Luo Xiao hesitated, thought it over carefully, and said with some embarrassment, "My divine consciousness is indeed not powerful enough to restrain a Void Beast. But when I came out this time, the clan chief taught me only how to summon a Void Beast. The methods for summoning the other primordial colossi were not passed on to me."

Shen Mu suggested, "Since it is a summoning, it must be two-way. Our divine consciousness and thoughts can establish a connection with Void Beasts to summon them, and we can also use this connection to probe their whereabouts."

Luo Xiao listened in bewilderment.

Da Hong and Gu Xiao, however, understood. Da Hong probed, "A reverse summoning?"

Shen Mu nodded. "Once the divine consciousness establishes a resonance with a Void Beast — since the two can sense each other — the divine consciousness can then unleash divine-consciousness arts within the beast's mind. It is not impossible to establish a reverse summoning."

With his explanation, Luo Xiao understood as well, and said hesitantly, "Our clan has no such divine-consciousness art..."

"Then it must be created."

Sensing that the killing intent from Gu Xiao was gradually fading, Shen Mu felt a little relieved and said with a smile, "You also know that my divine consciousness is no weaker than yours, and modifying arts is what I am best at. Pass the method for summoning a Void Beast on to me, and I will establish the reverse summoning."

At that moment, he suddenly sensed a faint killing intent coming from Da Hong.

Shen Mu's heart turned cold: the killing intent on Da Hong was not aimed at Luo Xiao — it was aimed at him!

Clearly, his own words had caused Da Hong to harbor killing intent against him.

He had dispelled Gu Xiao's killing intent toward Luo Xiao, and yet he had stirred up Da Hong's killing intent toward himself!

"It may be that I performed too well."

Shen Mu blinked, thinking to himself, "When I said I could modify the Creator race's divine-consciousness summoning and establish a reverse summoning, I reckon he had never thought of it before. I came across as cleverer than he, which made him wary, and so he wants to kill me. I should act a little more foolish..."

Luo Xiao's divine consciousness rippled, transmitting the divine-consciousness method for summoning Void Beasts into Shen Mu's mind, and said, "Younger brother Mu, you have a try."

Shen Mu glanced at Da Hong. Da Hong smiled faintly and encouraged him, "Brother Mu, by all means have a try."

Shen Mu then looked at Gu Xiao and said tentatively, "If I attempt a reverse summoning, there may be unpredictable and grave peril. Elder brother Gu Xiao, you must see to my safety."

Gu Xiao glanced at Da Hong and said with an enigmatic smile, "I, too, would like to witness the attainments in divine arts of Mu the Heavenly Venerable, renowned far and wide for establishing his Dao through divine powers. Rest assured — you and I are both of the human race, and brothers besides; I will not let you come to harm."

Shen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

Da Hong laughed heartily, both hands tucked into his sleeves.

Gu Xiao laughed as well, and producing a nail file from nowhere, idly filed his fingernails.

Luo Xiao felt that the atmosphere was somehow amiss, yet where exactly the problem lay, he could not tell clearly.

Shen Mu studied the method for summoning Void Beasts several times over and soon got to the bottom of its principle. After all, he had obtained the wisdom accumulated by the Creators of the Other Shore Void; comprehending the Creators' divine-consciousness techniques was no trouble for him.

He deconstructed the method for summoning Void Beasts with the Great Dao runes of a later age; only after a long while did he complete this summoning method. After that, he used numerology to deconstruct the summoning method as it had evolved from the Great Dao runes, and then he established the summoning method in reverse.

When he had finally done all this, he stretched his back lazily, then went up to the altar that Luo Xiao had produced and studied the altar's construction in fine detail.

Shen Mu pondered for a moment, then set about modifying the altar. Gu Xiao, Da Hong, and Luo Xiao watched him busily inscribing formation runes on the altar. They had a mind to examine them, yet found that they could not fully understand the formation runes Shen Mu used.

Some of these formation runes were later-age Dao arts used by Shen Mu to deconstruct divine consciousness; others were divine consciousness used by Shen Mu to deconstruct later-age Dao arts, giving rise to runes that spanned the ages; and what was more, most of them were runes of the Acquired Great Dao, leaving the three of them utterly in the dark.

Shen Mu then set up a smelting table and forged divine weapons before it, crafting one component after another. He had the Dragon Qilin come forward and take these components to modify the altar.

Without any need for his direction, the Dragon Qilin embedded the divine-weapon components into the altar.

"Mu the Heavenly Venerable, who established his Dao through divine powers, indeed has great substance to him!"

Da Hong and Gu Xiao could not refrain from praising inwardly, "Even his mount is versed in Dao arts and divine powers — a skill by no means to be underestimated!"

Shen Mu forged even more divine-weapon components, fitted the remaining components together to make a smaller altar, and placed it beside the other altar.

The two altars, one large and one small, were of opposing construction.