Chapter 1123 — The Phoenix Descends in Grace

Shen Mu took out the Grand Emperor's Seal and the Grand Emperor's Altar. The vertical eye between his brows opened; he gathered his spirit, and vital qi and divine consciousness surged forth. A beam of light shot from his vertical eye and struck the Grand Emperor's Altar!

The altar was only palm-sized, but bathed in the glow of his divine consciousness and vital qi, it at once gave off a soft hum, and faint, elusive ripples spread outward.

Runes gradually surfaced on the altar—Shen Mu's spiritual imprints. Then the runes burned brighter and brighter, and with a hum, beams of light shone down upon the Grand Emperor's Seal.

Shen Mu kept circling the little altar and the seal, hands fluttering, branding more and more runes into the two treasures.

Gradually his arms multiplied, the seal techniques of each hand shifting without pause, and the imprinted runes grew ever more numerous!

After a long while, Shen Mu stopped to rest.

Gongsun Yan was about to ask questions, but remembering his words, she restrained herself.

Shen Mu went to the Yuanmu tree and buried the Grand Emperor's Altar among its roots; then he rose into the sky above the Upper Capital and set the Grand Emperor's Seal within the canopy.

Gongsun Yan followed him, and saw that once he had finished all this, his ten fingers shifted with blinding speed, casting out seal after seal—and the Grand Emperor's Seal and the Grand Emperor's Altar shuddered at once!

Gongsun Yan let out a soft cry; her whole body felt numb and itchy, as if countless tiny insects were burrowing all over her.

But the strange sensation soon passed.

Shen Mu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "For these two days, speak to no one, drink no water, eat no food—and do not open your mouth."

Gongsun Yan nodded obediently.

"Yan'er, Fatty Dragon, watch over her. On no account let her speak."

Dragon Qilin and Yan'er hastily assented.

Shen Mu left the capital and came to the far bank of the Tu River, where he chose a deserted spot. The vertical eye between his brows opened; he visualized an altar, then busied himself at once, laying rune after rune of the Great Dao upon it.

When the runes were laid, he cut open his wrist and traced each rune anew with the divine blood from his own body.

While he labored, Gongsun Yan bustled about helping Yan'er set up her nest. Yan'er had always loved to wait upon others, yet whenever she was with Gongsun Yan, the girl would wait upon her instead until she was utterly comfortable—a pleasure beyond words.

"Yanzi, Fatty Dragon and I will be married soon," Yan'er said with a smile. "When that day comes, we'll hatch a brood of little birds and let them live here with you."

Gongsun Yan beamed and was just about to speak when Yan'er hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth. "You mustn't talk!"

Gongsun Yan's brow knitted in dismay.

Dragon Qilin said, "The Cult Master means well by you. His divine art can keep you safe from outside enemies—but it requires you to seal your senses. The moment you open your mouth, the qi leaks out, and his art can no longer guard your flesh. If the Earth Mother comes, she will be able to seize your body."

Gongsun Yan blinked, a doubt stirring in her heart. "The Earth Mother wants to possess me?"

All at once, streaks of rosy cloud spread across the sky, and a phoenix came flying, circling the Yuanmu tree in graceful dance. The pair of phoenixes flitted round and round the tree, their dancing exquisite, and from their beaks came a song:

"O phoenix, whence do you come?

Rustling your wings, you sing upon the high ridge;

The mountain wind passes like a flute of jade,

And bamboo seeds abound for your store—"

Throughout the Upper Capital, the people who heard it jumped for joy, all declaring that a phoenix had come in grace—a most auspicious omen.

Gongsun Yan too was thrilled. She had long wanted to raise a pair of phoenixes, and now that they had truly come, she could hardly resist flying over to lure them into her nest.

Suddenly a Dragon Sparrow burst from the nest in the canopy and, without the slightest ceremony, seized the pair of phoenixes and devoured them—to the utter astonishment of the people of the capital.

Having swallowed the two phoenixes, Yan'er returned to her nest and snarled, "Yanzi, those were sent by the Earth Mother to lure you into speaking. You must not fall for it!"

Gongsun Yan looked utterly aggrieved. At that very moment, more phoenixes came flying, singing at the top of their voices: "In the Yuan Realm dwells a phoenix, perched upon my parasol branch; with heart unbarred I await the homing wind..."

The Dragon Sparrow soared up once more and, before the eyes of everyone in the Upper Capital, ate that pair of phoenixes too. Then, fierce as a demon, it perched in dominion atop the Yuanmu's crown, glaring savagely in every direction.

The people of the Jingping Upper Capital, seeing this, trembled and dared not say another word.

In the Lower Capital, waves of fragrant wind rose without warning and golden springs gushed from the earth. Well after well in the city overflowed with perfume; lotus blossoms of every color burst into bloom, and from the flowers emerged young maidens, who laughed as one: "What delight! Go quickly—go fetch your sisters!"

With that, the maidens all made for the Yuanmu tree, to the astonishment of the city's people.

Resplendent as flowering branches, the girls sought out Gongsun Yan, swarming around her, pulling her into song and dance, and laughing: "Yanzi, you don't know us? We are the fruit trees you planted in your back courtyard!"

Startled and delighted, Gongsun Yan was just opening her mouth to speak when Dragon Qilin loosed a furious roar; flames blazed around his body and burned those women to ash!

"Do not open your mouth!" Dragon Qilin said with utmost solemnity.

Gongsun Yan nodded and nodded, like a chick pecking at grain.

Dragon Qilin glanced warily about. "The Earth Mother is certain to try some new trick; she will not give up so easily. But so long as you do not open your mouth, she cannot break through the Grand Emperor's Seal and the Grand Emperor's Altar to enter your body and seize it."

By this time, the appointed hour between Shen Mu and the Earth Mother had arrived. Shen Mu raised his altar and began the rite, gathering the soul of Earth Mother Yuanjun.

Through that uninhabited wasteland, chill winds blew in gusts and black sand rolled in billows, swarming in like a tide.

Shen Mu opened the Mystic Gate of Heaven and Earth, receiving the power of the Heavenly Duke and the Earl of Earth. The words of the Dao thundered, the sounds of the Dao shook the air, and with supreme and wondrous art he reforged the three souls of Earth Mother Yuanjun.

Violent tremors rolled ceaselessly out of the earth. The Earth Mother's roots threaded through the deep ground and reached this place as well, awaiting the reawakening of her soul.

After a long while, Shen Mu, drenched in sweat, at last reforged Earth Mother Yuanjun's three souls of heaven, earth, and spirit.

The three souls stood upon the altar. Shen Mu said in a low voice, "Earth Mother, our pact is fulfilled. From this day forth, neither of us owes the other anything."

Earth Mother Yuanjun's soul sank slowly into the ground, and she laughed. "Splendid! Splendid! The Grand Sorcerer truly lives up to his name. Once I am reborn, I shall put in a few good words for you before the other ancient gods."

Shen Mu snorted and said with a flick of his sleeve, "Since your soul is whole again, be gone—and quickly!"

Earth Mother Yuanjun giggled. "This is merely my soul reborn—I have no body yet. Grand Sorcerer, your Jingping lacks the protection of a mighty ancient god. Allow me to oblige you!" With that, the three souls vanished.