Chapter 1094 — The Azure Bird Swoops, the Canopy Blots Out the Sky

Cloud Venerable and his party had arrived outside the Great Void; when they turned back once more, they saw that the Great Void, which had lain hidden in the emptiness, had now been torn open by the Great Emperor, streaks of rosy light streaming through the rents.

In the Empyrean Heavenly Court, in Venerable Ling's residence, Shen Mu set down all the blueprints and closed his eyes.

In his mind the Battle of the Great Void had already unfolded; every step of Cloud Venerable's plan was reflected with perfect clarity, becoming one image after another. From the Great Emperor crushing the land of the Great Void, which was spun from divine sense, and using the collapsing divine sense to blast thousands upon thousands of Creators to death, to the leader of the Creators luring the enemy deep and drawing the Great Emperor into a trap; then to Venerable Ling deconstructing the Great Emperor's Seal and the Great Emperor's Altar, Cloud Venerable designing the trap's inner structure, and Venerable Ling laying out a Supreme Divine-Sense Domain—though he had not witnessed these things with his own eyes, from the blueprints in Venerable Ling's residence he could deduce the details of that killing stroke.

After a while, Shen Mu opened his eyes, their light shifting, and said in a low voice, "Yan'er, Long Pi, let us go wait upon the Celestial River outside the Empyrean Heavenly Court.

" Yan'er asked curiously, "Wait for whom?

For Cloud Venerable and the others?

" "No.

" Shen Mu's eyes blazed with sharp light.

"We wait for Great Hong!

If the Great Emperor dies, Great Hong is sure to come bearing his grievance to destroy the Empyrean Heavenly Court!

" Shen Mu went on, his voice low, "In the Western Extremity Heaven of the Western Emperor White Tiger, I held Hong back and kept him from harming the Western Emperor.

When there was no longer any reason for him to strike at the Western Emperor, he still exacted an IOU from me, saying that I owed him a favor. His temperament is to repay the merest grudge; Cloud Venerable destroyed his physical body and trapped his divine sense, so he is bound to come seeking revenge! " Yan'er and the Dragon Qilin were startled, and hurried after him to a spot outside the Empyrean Heavenly Court, where the Dragon Qilin tethered the carriage.

Shen Mu sat behind the pearl curtain of the treasure palanquin, steadied his spirit, and took out the Sword Elixir; with a gentle flick it flowed and turned into a divine sword lying across his knees.

Six celestial dragons drew the palanquin to a stop on the Celestial River before the Empyrean Heavenly Court, and Shen Mu, sword across his lap, closed his eyes to husband his spirit and waited in silence.

Cloud Venerable's scheme for killing the Great Emperor in the Great Void, Shen Mu understood in full; yet the Empyrean Heavenly Court was not the Great Void, and therefore that scheme he could not reproduce.

All he could rely on was Venerable Ling's method for breaking the Great Emperor's Seal and the Great Emperor's Altar.

Still, Great Hong was tremendously powerful; in the Ancestral Court, his battle with the reincarnated body of the Heavenly Emperor had already revealed the full horror of his fighting power.

Shen Mu knew well that his own strength was a world apart from Hong's, and whether he could use Venerable Ling's approach to break Hong's Great Luo Supreme Divine Sense and Supreme Divine-Sense Domain, he had no confidence whatsoever.

The waters of the Celestial River ran from west to east, a vast and mighty current across the heavens, surging ceaselessly by day and by night.

The celestial-dragon palanquin rested outside the Empyrean Heavenly Court; the river might race on below, yet the palanquin did not stir by a hair.

The Great Sun sank in the west, and the jeweled lanterns hanging before the palanquin brightened; the Great Moon descended, and the Great Sun rose again from the Eastern Sea.

So passed several days and nights, and once a thin rain fell—there had been a drought in the Primal World, and the people of a tribe had offered three pairs of virgin boys and girls in sacrifice to the Rain Master, an ancient god.

After devouring the children, the Rain Master sent his projection to the Primal World to bring rain, but being annoyed that the offerings were too few, he let down only a thin layer of rain, then warned the people below with thunder that if they wanted more rain they should sacrifice more virgin boys and girls.

After the Rain Master had brought rain, a Drought Fiend in turn spread calamity, scorching the wilds for a thousand li and baking the earth dry.

Many adepts ran to the Empyrean Heavenly Court, begging the divine beings there to go down and subdue the Drought Fiend; they flew hastily past the palanquin. Shen Mu remained as still as ever.

Yan'er grew a little anxious, craning her neck and peering about; she saw the phantom forms of the Thunder Duke and the Lightning Mother racing through the clouds, hurling heavenly thunderbolts without cease—thunder rolling, lightning flashing—as they hunted down thieves who had slipped into the Mystic Capital to steal heavenly fire.

Such was the daily life of the Primal World, the ancient gods still dominating the stage; scenes like this, of course, would be hard to see in later ages.

As Yan'er was peering about, suddenly a voice, as if weeping and lamenting, came from afar, crying shrilly, "Great Hong—Great Hong!

" Yan'er's heart jumped; the Dragon Qilin likewise sprang to his feet, and the six celestial dragons' sinews went slack and their bones soft, so that they nearly collapsed upon the river's surface. Far away, a great bird beat its wings and flew toward them; even from a distance, its blue-gold pinions veiled the sky and hid the sun, like an enormous dark cloud hurtling at the Empyrean Heavenly Court.

Nearer and nearer the great bird came, and larger and larger it loomed; with its wings spread, it actually seemed able to cover the Empyrean Heavenly Court entirely!

The canopy of the celestial-dragon palanquin suddenly shot into the air, spinning round and round; higher and higher it rose, and one by one the canopy's ribs soared into the firmament, merging with the azure sky and turning into forty-nine Ways of Heaven that slanted down to shroud the Empyrean Heavenly Court.

Shen Mu sat in the carriage and said in a low voice, "Great Hong, it has been a long time.

Why not come and have a word?

" At the sound of his voice, the great blue-gold bird swept its dazzling gaze toward him, and a flood of divine sense rolled out, vast and overwhelming, like a heavenly torrent bursting forth, blanketing the sky and the earth!

That was Great Hong's divine sense; he had not used the Supreme Divine-Sense Domain—for dealing with so small a human Venerable as Shen Mu, he disdained to employ so consummate an art. Shen Mu kept his hand on his sword, unmoving, and spurred the Mystic-Body Three-Elixir Art; his divine sense instantly turned into an expanse of Great Luo Heaven, wrapping the celestial-dragon palanquin within it.

The two divine senses collided, and the waters of the Celestial River seethed in every direction; only a space a thousand zhang on every side of the palanquin remained tolerably calm.

Around the palanquin formed a huge sphere: beyond it, waves towered to the sky; within it, the wind ceased and the waves lay flat.

Shen Mu held his breath and concentrated his spirit.

His cultivation realm was not high, but his divine sense was absolutely mighty; Great Hong was not attacking at full strength, merely using a divine-sense strike, and Shen Mu had the strength to withstand it!