Chapter 1182 — Only the Bold Dare Cross the River

In the eyes of each Creator, the two qi of black and white swirled, as though in wonder; yet they had little thought of their own, and the moment Shen Mu's shout rang out, these Creators howled and charged at him once more!

Those aloft remained aloft; those treading the cliff walls to either side remained upon the cliff walls; those running along the ground broke into a furious sprint!

Their axes and picks still followed their original trajectories, bearing the subtle mystery of the Dao of Yin and Yang, as they came slashing at Shen Mu from every angle!

Boom!

A violent tremor swept through, and in the heavens the black and white yin-yang fish appeared once more, revolving one about the other.

At the foot of the mountain, Dragon Qilin raised his head to look, and wonder stirred in his heart: "This all seems... as though it has happened before..."

Within the mining grounds, time seemed to return once more to its starting point.

Those Creators slaughtered Shen Mu and beat him into a pulp, yet the next moment they had each returned to their former positions, leaning on their axes and picks, standing in an inverted-V formation.

Shen Mu still stood before them, laughing heartily: "Come on—"

Everything seemed to replay itself once more; the Creators charged again, swung their axes and picks again, and once more that incomparably brilliant and terrifying power erupted, the yin-yang fish revolving at the vault of heaven.

Yet this time, Shen Mu survived the blow, standing unsteadily amid the many Creators, not having fallen.

Each time the moves he brought forth were different, and these three times had already let him seek out a path of life.

Shen Mu grinned, his mouth full of fresh blood, and chuckled: "I didn't die..."

Pfft.

Behind him a Creator swung up its axe and pick; the blade stabbed into his forehead and smashed him to bits.

Shen Mu once more stood there perfectly intact, laughing heartily, and cried: "Come on—"

At the foot of the mountain, Dragon Qilin, Yan'er, the Void Beast, and the tiny Earth Count had already grown accustomed to the two black and white pillars of light and the yin-yang fish that appeared from time to time in the sky, and went on about their own business.

The tiny Earth Count lay sprawled atop the Void Beast's head, and together with the Void Beast stared drooling at the primeval giant beasts that came and went uncannily upon the mountain. Yan'er took out the treasure-gathering basin that the Divine King Langwan had given her, intending to conjure more spirit pills, while Dragon Qilin lay dozing before the gate of the village.

And within the mining grounds, Shen Mu was shattered time and again, and revived time and again, each time living a little longer.

Clearly, a self-consciousness had been born within this Taiji ore vein, and it recognized that Shen Mu was using this scoundrel's trick to make himself ever stronger and his understanding of the Dao of Yin and Yang ever deeper, so it simply took advantage of his death to assimilate him first and turn him into a part of the mining grounds!

The yin and yang qi left the bodies of those Creators, and the Creators swiftly turned to stone, becoming stone statues one and all!

Yet when the yin and yang qi bored into Shen Mu's flesh and blood, they clashed violently with the divine ability of Material Immutability; the Shen Mu beaten into pulp now gathered together, now turned into blocks of stone, now flesh and blood appeared again, now became a many-headed monster, now again took on the form of Shen Mu!

Upon the foundation of the Dao of Creation, Heavenly Venerable Ling had opened up the divine ability of Material Immutability, and it clashed violently with the yin and yang qi; the one was Material Immutability, the other the transformation of matter, evolving all things and even life itself.

Of such a clash, one side must surely lose.

If the Immutability ability lost, Shen Mu died.

If the yin and yang qi lost, Shen Mu lived.

It was that simple!

How long the violent clash lasted, none could say; Shen Mu slowly rose to his feet from the pool of blood, and had just revealed a trace of a smile when with a sudden bang he exploded, transforming into an unfurled Taiji diagram.

Within the Taiji diagram, the yin and yang qi flowed slowly.

After another moment, the yin and yang qi gradually swelled up from within the diagram and took on the form of Shen Mu.

That was his spirit fetus; Heavenly Venerable Ling's Immutability ability and the yin and yang qi had clashed, annihilating his mortal body and his primordial spirit, leaving him with only the spirit fetus, which did not perish!

Shen Mu's spirit fetus stood at the center of the Taiji diagram, gripping the broken sword in his hand.

Upon the sword's hilt were imprinted two Taiji patterns, for two Taiji divine stones were set into the front and back faces of the broken sword's hilt.

The spirit fetus swung the sword and swept it levelly all around!

"The heavens open!"

Boom!

All around him, the Great Dao trembled; a thunderous roar like the splitting of heaven and earth came forth, and there a Primal Tree shot up from the earth, propping apart the two qi of clear and turbid, dividing yin and yang, as countless stars emerged, floated aloft, and gradually receded, becoming Xuandu upon the vault of heaven!

The Heavenly River poured down, flowing out from Xuandu, rushing on in vast torrents, passing through the lands of the Four Poles. The Northern Pole Heaven emerged, and there were born two ancient gods, one named Xuan and one named Wu; Dark Warrior and Dark Tortoise joined together, the soaring serpent coiled about the dark turtle, and with a sudden quake, countless stars and constellations of the northern heaven were born.

One after another, the ancient gods of the northern heaven, in strange and uncanny forms, took their seats presiding over the great star domains.

The Heavenly River flowed on to the west, and the Western Pole Heaven appeared; the White Tiger roared, and countless stars and constellations of the western heaven were born, the great ancient gods of the western heaven presiding over each of the constellations, of vast divine power.

Then came the Vermilion Bird of the Southern Pole Heaven, the Azure Dragon of the Eastern Pole Heaven, and the various great star domains, emerging one after another.

The Heavenly River rushed on, flowing past Yuandu, descending from the heavens around the Primal Tree, and the many heavens gushed forth, giving off lights of every hue, hanging all about the Primal Tree.

The Heavenly River, vast and mighty, rushed on into the sea, sank into the gloomy Youdu, passing between two Nine-Bend Yellow Springs, becoming the River of the Dead, coiling about the body of the Earth Count.

The River of the Dead flowed to the Earth Count's feet and plunged into Guixu, rushing into the Great Abyss.

Within the Great Abyss, a twin lotus upon a single stem trembled lightly against the river's waters, growing up out of the black depths of the Abyss.

And at the other end of Guixu, the Heavenly River rushed on, appearing above Xuandu, flowing across the brows of Heaven Lord, whose long brows streamed and fluttered, mirroring the Heavenly River.

In the gloom beneath Heaven Lord's feet, a tremor came from within the Tianyin Realm; countless black sands of souls flew out, falling from the heavens into Shen Mu's spirit fetus, becoming his three hun and seven po.

Upon the Taiji diagram, clang after clang sounded without cease, the sounds of the Dao in waves, and there, within the yin and yang qi, heavenly palaces rose one after another in serried rows, floating up out of the diagram, the sound of the Dao thundering and shaking within each palace, gleaming bright as new.

Upon the God-Slaying Platforms within each of the heavenly palaces, the yin and yang qi soared and transformed, like two divine blades slaughtering all things.

This was Shen Mu's Primal Fetus Divine Treasury domain!