Chapter 1262 — A Plan to Slay the Enemy

Fire Tianzun could not keep the anger from rising in his heart. Because his dao heart was flawed, Shang Pingyin had in his early years been gravely wounded in the dao heart by Longshan the Wanderer; though he had since patched the wound, the crack in his dao heart remained.

And now he had again been trapped by Shen Mu's "Longshan the Wanderer" formation — even if the heavenly physicians cured him, the Longshan Wanderer's formation would haunt his mind forever, forever turning over how to break it. In such a state, Shang Pingyin could scarcely contend with Kaihuang's army of tigers and wolves.

Fire Tianzun frowned, summoned a divine being, and asked, "Where is Mu Tianzun?

" "Reporting to Tianzun: after Mu Tianzun left this place, he went to see the Fourth Celestial Master, Zhu Shaoping, and afterward to see the Northern Heavenly King, Yiluo.

" Fire Tianzun's frown deepened.

"He went to see the Southern Celestial Master Zhu Shaoping?

How is Zhu Shaoping now?

" The divine being hesitated. "Celestial Master Zhu is well; he chatted and laughed with Mu Tianzun, and when Mu Tianzun took his leave, Celestial Master Zhu even saw him off with great courtesy.

" Fire Tianzun let out a breath of relief. If even Celestial Master Zhu had been crushed into dejection by Shen Mu, then the Heavenly Court's Four Celestial Masters would have lost two of their great fighting forces!

He looked again at Shang Pingyin.

After the heavenly physicians' treatment, Shang Pingyin's color had recovered a great deal, though still he drifted into a daze from time to time. "Without bloodying a single blade, he has ruined the Heavenly Court's First Celestial Master. This Shen Mu.

. .

" Fire Tianzun felt a splitting headache coming on.

Yet just now he could not catch Shen Mu out at all; even Shang Pingyin believed that Shen Mu had not been harming him but pointing him the way.

Even if Fire Tianzun wished to move against Shen Mu, he could find no pretext. "The aim of this journey is to pay his respects to the Four Heavenly Kings after paying them to the Four Celestial Masters.

There is no guaranteeing that one of the Four Heavenly Kings will not be bewitched by him — he cannot be allowed to run wild any longer!

" He came to Zhu Shaoping's Divine City, and Zhu Shaoping hurried out to welcome him. "For what matter has Tianzun come? " Fire Tianzun asked, "When Mu Tianzun came to you, did he do anything?

" Zhu Shaoping smiled faintly.

"Mu Tianzun came to sound out my strength and to look over the formations of my great army. But the Dao the Celestial Master seeks is the situation of the realm; the shifts of formation he saw are but a minor Dao.

" Fire Tianzun praised him inwardly, and asked, "How shall we do away with Mu Tianzun?

" Zhu Shaoping was unused to his coming straight to the point; he hesitated, then said, "Whoever kills Mu Tianzun must bear the infamy. Since that is so, why not give the infamy to another? This servant has a plan: when we attack Taixu in days to come, let Mu Tianzun charge at the very front.

" Fire Tianzun said with displeasure, "Shen Ye is in league with him; he will never kill him!

" Zhu Shaoping laughed. "Tianzun, Kaihuang will not kill him — but will we not? In the chaos of battle, blade and spear have no eyes; that Mu Tianzun fell in battle on the field, slain by Kaihuang — a matter of course.

" Fire Tianzun pondered a moment. "How many troops do you need to make Mu Tianzun die amid the chaos of the army? " Zhu Shaoping said, "The Yin Son of Heaven sent three great masters — Hu Mengdie, Yin Jiuzun, and Yu Wufei — to hunt him down, and he killed them. Mu Tianzun has too many arts at his command; his realm cannot measure his strength. Judged by the Divine Treasury Heavenly Palace realms, his strength rises and falls without rhyme or reason, very hard to read.

" Fire Tianzun frowned: Shen Mu's cultivation strength was indeed a riddle. Zhu Shaoping analyzed, "I think it is because he cultivates too many merged systems.

Judged by the Heavenly Palace, his realm is True God; judged by the Dao Realm, he is roughly the equal of the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth heaven of Dao Entry. But neither can measure him accurately. " He paced to and fro, and said, "When he meets masters of the Lingxiao realm, if their entry into the Dao runs deep, then his strength seems the weaker; if they entered the Dao merely by way of cultivation arts and divine powers, then he seems very strong.

Only find a few Lingxiao masters of deep insight into the Dao, and he can be slain amid the chaos of the army. And if there were one at the twenty-seventh heaven of Dao Entry, or even at the Yujing realm, he could be finished off! " He analyzed point by point and went on, "But this is not the whole of his strength.

I have not seen him do great battle with the Samsara Bell, though I have heard the course of that fight.

He must be proficient in Ling Tianzun's Unchanging divine ability. " Fire Tianzun's brows knit tight, and the wheel of fire behind his head suddenly spun faster; his mood was far from calm. "In those years the four of you Celestial Masters studied Ling Tianzun's journals together, and yet could not decipher the mystery of the Unchanging divine ability. You have disappointed me.

" Zhu Shaoping said cautiously, "Ling Tianzun spent more than nine hundred thousand years, on and off, before he comprehended the Unchanging divine ability; we four Celestial Masters, wearing out our eyes over the texts, could not possibly comprehend it in the space of a mere few tens of thousands of years. " "But Mu Tianzun learned it.

" Fire Tianzun reminded him. Zhu Shaoping's face reddened slightly. "Most likely Ling Tianzun taught it to him, so of course we cannot compare.

Tianzun, though I have not comprehended Ling Tianzun's journals thoroughly, I have grasped certain mysteries in them.

Add to that what the other three Celestial Masters each gained, and the four of us together should be able to grope out a way to restrain the Unchanging divine ability; killing him will not be difficult.

" Fire Tianzun nodded lightly. "Shang Pingyin's dao heart is cracked; only the three of you Celestial Masters remain.

Can you devise a means to deal with Mu Tianzun? " Zhu Shaoping smiled faintly, brimming with confidence: "We Celestial Masters excel in wisdom; in fighting strength we are not the finest, but in stratagem, looking over the whole of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, only Wentian Pavilion deserves to be our rival.

" Fire Tianzun let out a breath and said gravely, "Go and invite Bai Yuqiong and Meng Yungui, and begin preparations at once! " Shen Mu left the Divine City where the Northern Heavenly King Yiluo was stationed and went to see the Eastern Heavenly King, Huang Qianxi.

The Northern Heavenly King Yiluo was also called Heavenly Lord Yi; though a clever man, he was skilled only at charging into battle, and Shen Mu could see that the shifts of formation in the great army under his command were not the equal of the Four Celestial Masters'.

Each has his own specialty: the Four Celestial Masters were called Celestial Masters for their stratagems, esteeming cunning and schemes; the Four Heavenly Kings were skilled at charging into battle, esteeming martial force. The reason the Kaihuang Heavenly Court in its later years was defeated so swiftly and so wretchedly was precisely that the Four Heavenly Kings, for various reasons, could not enter the field, and the Four Celestial Masters were made to charge to the front, until the army collapsed like a toppling mountain.

"Heavenly Kings are easy enough to deal with, but Celestial Masters are hard. Fortunately, the Heavenly Court's Celestial Master Shang Pingyin has a flaw in his dao heart.