Chapter 1076 — Ancient Gods and the Sarcophagus

"How could there be such a terrifying creature?

" Shen Mu could not help but shudder, and only then did he notice that between the four forelegs of the Void Beast there actually grew membranes of flesh, so that this colossus could also fly!

When those membranes spread, it could surely soar through the sky like a bat!

A primeval brute that could fly, that could cross the void, that would eat anything, and yet the Creators had not been eaten clean by such monsters, which was itself a marvel!

"Could it be that the prehistoric Creators could control such powerful life with their divine consciousness?

" A doubt rose in Shen Mu's heart. Luo Xiao was beside himself with excitement, darting forward to stroke the incomparably rough hide of the Void Beast, unable to hide his agitation, babbling, "A Void Beast, this is the Void Beast our forebears spoke of, the beast that legend says only the mightiest warriors of every race could subdue, and I never thought I too could subdue one. .

.

" Shen Mu studied the Void Beast closely and saw many whirlpool-like markings upon its skin, which must be void patterns. His heart stirred: "If I could study the void patterns on a Void Beast thoroughly, I might be able to sort out a set of void runes and establish another system of void arts.

I might even found an entirely new Great Dao.

.

.

" His eyes shone as he took out a mirror, leapt up, and flew round and round the beast, shining the light upon it.

Suddenly Yan Er's cry of alarm came: "My lord, look around!

" Shen Mu looked about and his heart jolted, for he saw the earth of the Ancestral Court split open, and upon the ground there were several huge eyeballs!

These eyes were large and small, and some seemed to grow right out of the mountains! Even the smallest eye measured dozens of zhang across!

More great eyeballs surged up from the earth, springing forth like bamboo shoots after rain, each blinking and staring toward them in excitement. Nor was that all, for he saw in the sky also one huge eyeball after another popping into growth, and soon the eyes in the sky grew more and more numerous, until at a glance they threatened to blot out the firmament of the Ancestral Court! A chill ran down Shen Mu's spine, and with no time to finish imaging the void patterns on the Void Beast Luo Xiao had captured, he hastened back down upon the altar and said urgently, "There are most likely no other living things left in the Ancestral Court, all eaten clean by the Void Beasts, and this is no place to linger, so let us return at once!

" Luo Xiao said in panic, "I still must commune with the ancestors of the Ancestral Court, wait a little longer!

" Da Hong smiled faintly and said, "Brother Mu, are you not curious about that Taichu divine stone lode in the Ancestral Court? I would like to go and see it, for I have heard the Heavenly Emperor was born from an egg quarried from that lode.

Brother Gu Xiao, are you not curious?

" Shen Mu glanced at him. Gu Xiao said coolly, "I have heard the Tai Emperor's Taichu primal stone also came from that lode, so naturally I am most curious.

Only by walking there ourselves would this trip not be in vain.

" The two stood on either side of the altar, their gazes locked.

Cold sweat broke out on Shen Mu's brow as he stepped back, sending his divine consciousness in transmission: "Yan Er, be ready to snuff the lamp at any moment! " Yan Er hastily took down the lantern hanging from the precious carriage and alighted upon Shen Mu's shoulder, whispering in his ear, "My lord, the sky is bright, and even if we snuff the lamp I fear we cannot return to the ghost ship.

" Shen Mu's divine consciousness rippled: "I was once the divine son of Youdu, Little Tu Bo, and I have plenty of ways to darken the sky.

The moment they move, you snuff the lamp!

" If Da Hong and Gu Xiao were to fight, the peril would likely surpass even the Void Beasts! He was uneasy in his heart, for the Ancestral Court was plainly a place sealed jointly by the ancient gods, and sealed with the backs of Youdu, Xuandu, Yuandu, the Heavenly Court, Guixu, the Four Polar Heavens and other worlds, a seal too mighty to imagine.

Whether snuffing the lamp within the Ancestral Court could bring them back to the ghost ship, he truly had no confidence.

Da Hong and Gu Xiao faced each other, one with hands tucked in his sleeves, the other holding a file and trimming his nails, both wearing smiles as warm as a spring breeze.

"Roar!

" Heaven and earth shook violently as one colossal Void Beast after another either drifted slowly up out of the earth, or passed through mountain rock, or emerged from the sky. These immensely huge things seemed to have no true form at all and could pass through anything!

More cold sweat gathered on Shen Mu's brow as he said in a low voice, "Luo Xiao, have you linked your divine consciousness with your forebears?

If you have, we leave at once!

" Luo Xiao's divine consciousness pierced through layer upon layer of the Ancestral Court's void, seeking the consciousness of his forebears, while bewilderment spread across his face, and he murmured, "No consciousness, there is no consciousness here at all. .

. " He abruptly grew utterly dejected and laughed hollowly: "Brother Mu, there is no consciousness of our Creator forebears in the Ancestral Court, I cannot find them.

Their consciousness was most likely devoured by the Void Beasts, so how am I to return and answer to the clan chief.

.

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" He slumped to the ground in a daze, the faith that had sustained him collapsing.

In the age of the Creators there was no talk of a Dao heart, for the Dao heart only came after the Divine Treasury Heavenly Palace system was established, and his cultivation of mind was poor, far inferior to Shen Mu and the others. More Void Beasts surfaced, and those in the sky had already begun to spread their vast membranes, beating them as they flew toward them from above!

Shen Mu suddenly bellowed, "If I die, none of us can ever leave the Ancestral Court!

" Upon the altar Gu Xiao and Da Hong each looked away, and Gu Xiao stretched his frame and smiled: "Since we all mean to see that lode, why not go together. What does Brother Hong think?

" Da Hong chuckled: "That is exactly what I had in mind.

" Shen Mu seized Luo Xiao and hauled him up, shouting, "The ancestral spirits of your forebears are most likely hidden in a higher void where the void beasts cannot reach, so stop wallowing in self-pity. Drive your void beast and carry us away from here!

" Upon the earth countless void beasts rushed toward them like a tide, and the colossi had closed the ring!

Luo Xiao rallied his spirits: "Right! The cultivation of our ancestral spirits is far more profound than mine, they must have entrusted their divine consciousness to a higher void!

It must be so! " Shen Mu's magic erupted and swept up the altar, whistling into the air, and the altar landed upon the head of the void beast Luo Xiao had subdued, wedged fast by a mountain of bone.

Luo Xiao at once bent his whole mind to driving the beast at a gallop, and with its six legs striding its speed grew ever greater, until with a sudden leap, just before the other Void Beasts could fall upon it, it sprang into the void!

The space around them turned strange and shifting, and upon the altar the bodies of Shen Mu and the others gradually turned transparent, so that Shen Mu raised his palm and could see through his skin the veins and the grain of muscle. Of all present, only the flesh and workings of Gu Xiao and Da Hong suffered no change at all.

The void beast leapt into the first void to escape the slaughter of the other Void Beasts, when suddenly a sharp claw thrust out of the void and swept toward the beast and the people upon the altar!

The claw of the Void Beast actually gleamed with the cold light of a divine weapon, and where it passed even the first void was torn apart.