Chapter 1178 — True and False Polarities

Shen Mu sent out ripples of divine consciousness, probing into the void above this black desert, and saw that layer upon layer of the void was filled with whirling black sand, howling as it swept past — even a void beast would not dare set foot here! He raised a barrier of divine consciousness to hold back the windblown sand, but it too was soon riddled like a sieve.

Hss, hss, hss — grain after grain of black sand passed clean through their bodies, punching them full of a thousand wounds!

Shen Mu, Yan'er, Long Qilin, and the void beast beneath their feet were all dripping with blood, yet the beast seemed to have gone mad with obsession, plunging headlong into the black-sand desert without a pause in its stride.

Shen Mu swiftly switched to a barrier of vital qi, but before long it too was peppered with countless tiny holes.

He drew the broken sword he had forged himself and poured his dharma power into it; the blade blazed with light as he hacked against the sandstorm, and an unbroken cascade of crisp clangs rang out while the microscopic runes he had branded into the sword were snuffed out one after another! Shen Mu's heart pounded with alarm.

This broken sword had been refined from strange treasures of the Ancestral Court, from materials of the very highest grade, and its craftsmanship had won endless praise even from the Silent Craftsman, who held that Shen Mu's art of casting had truly come into its own — enough to establish a Heavenly Palace of Casting.

Yet faced with the black sand of this desert, even the broken sword could scarcely endure! He promptly raised the Lapis Azure-Sky Banner and urged on the Twenty-Eight Heavens; the heavens of every layer revolved without cease to shield them and the void beast, yet even the Twenty-Eight Heavens were broken through by the black sand.

The raging sandstorm swept wildly through the Twenty-Eight Heavens, and even the treasures within them were battered until they flared with light, sparks scattering on every side. No one knew what the grains of sand were; they were terrifying beyond measure — nothing less than the hardest divine metal. Shen Mu leaned on the Lapis Azure-Sky Banner, straining with all his might to keep the Twenty-Eight Heavens unbroken and to guard them and the void beast.

The void beast walked on into the depths of the desert, straight into the black sand that filled the sky.

"This desert is a treasure land too — the black sand can be used to refine treasures. It is only that this place is too perilous, far too hard to enter.

" Long Qilin caught a falling grain of black sand and saw that it gleamed with a metallic luster yet bore no visible metallic grain; the sand was remarkably dense and heavy. The void beast pressed forward with difficulty.

There was no sun here and no moon; they walked for none knew how long before the sandstorm abruptly abated and a faint brightness slowly dawned in the sky.

Shen Mu let out a breath of relief.

Bracing himself on the Lapis Azure-Sky Banner, he looked ahead — and saw a white desert spread out before them!

Sandstorms swept through the white desert as well, dreadful beyond all telling!

And between the black desert and the white one there stood a long, narrow, winding mountain range, glowing with a plain and unadorned sheen. Along the edge of this range lay many ancient ruins — villages of the Creators.

Some Creators, by some unknown means, must have crossed the desert and reached this place, raising villages here in preparation to settle.

No sandstorm raged on either side of the range.

When the void beast reached the foot of the mountains it stopped, and Shen Mu leaped down.

Looking up, he saw cliffs steep as walls, yet here the hills were green and the waters clear, lush with all manner of plants and vegetation — utterly unlike the desolation of the lands elsewhere.

Suddenly Shen Mu saw the forest on the mountain sway, and a giant beast poked its head out.

It was no void beast but another of the primordial giant beasts, hiding here — it had somehow escaped the slaughter of the void beasts! "The giant beasts of the Ancestral Court are not extinct!

" Shen Mu was startled and overjoyed at once. The village nearby held tall houses, but they stood empty now, with no Creators within. Shen Mu searched through the village and found several sets of Creator bones; in the hand of one withered skeleton was clutched a gemstone.

He stepped forward and pried open the finger bones.

The gemstone was like the simplest of Taiji diagrams: one side black, one side white, one side cold, one side hot, with a curved line dividing black from white through its center — yin and yang in perfect harmony, a thing of great beauty.

Shen Mu wiped away the dust, and all at once the Taiji gemstone began to change, floating above his palm as yin and yang flowed and crossed through each other.

As it flowed, the stone seemed to have no fixed state and no fixed form, changing without end.

Shen Mu watched, entranced, and before he knew it he had slipped into a state of mystery beyond mystery, wonder beyond wonder.

The yin-yang Taiji diagram of the gemstone and the yin-yang Taiji diagram of his Primordial Embryo divine treasure were, though different in form, wondrously of one spirit, so that at the sight of the Taiji divine stone he found himself, without realizing it, linking it to the Taiji diagram of his own divine treasure. After none knew how long, he came back to himself, put away the Taiji divine stone, and smiled, breathing a long sigh of relief.

"So this is the true Taiji mine vein! The place Heavenly Emperor Langxuan occupies also looks like a Taiji diagram, but it must be a false site!

No wonder nothing could be dug up there! " "Young Master, you're awake!

" Yan'er's cry of joy rang out. Shen Mu turned toward the voice and saw that Yan'er had taken the form of a woman and was stir-frying vegetables and cooking a meal, while Long Qilin sat to one side in meditation, cultivating his qi, the Taichu divine stone pressed to the spot between his brows as he trained his divine consciousness.

Shen Mu was astonished. "How long have I been standing here? " "Ten days already.

" Yan'er set out the meal and said, "It's rather bare here, but luckily I brought some spirit herbs, vegetables, and fruit.

Fatty Long has already cleared a few acres of wasteland — he means to plant spirit herbs here. " She brewed a pot of tea and brought it over, calling, "Pi, time to eat!

" Long Qilin woke, and at the sight of Shen Mu he was overjoyed.

"The Cult Master is awake," he said with a smile.

The three of them sat down. Yan'er picked Little Tu Bo up and set him on the table, placing a plate before him; on the plate was a spirit pill.

"Don't get it all over yourself," Yan'er admonished the tiny Little Tu Bo.

She brought out two more plates of spirit pills, stir-fried with tender green leaves of spirit herbs, and set them before Long Qilin.

"I added a bit of cooling snow lingzhi for you — good for bringing down your inner fire. " The void beast sat down on its haunches, its four forelegs braced against the ground, and watched them eat.

Shen Mu visualized forth some flesh and blood, and the void beast hurried over and fell to with a will.

When he had finished eating, Shen Mu sipped his tea slowly and gazed at leisure over the mountain range that stretched for thousands of li, its forests full of rare and wondrous flora, giant beasts coming and going among them — and suddenly he burst out laughing. Long Qilin hastily swallowed his spirit pill and asked with impeccable timing, "What makes the Cult Master laugh?

" Shen Mu pointed at the mountain range and said leisurely, "I laugh at Heavenly Emperor Langxuan, who has eyes yet cannot see, blind to a true treasure land.

He believed he had taken the Taiji mine vein — never dreaming that the Taiji mine vein has fallen into my hands!