Chapter 1299 — A Funeral Held On the Spot

The ancient giant sat in the void of space; though he had no head, though he was missing an arm, though his body was a mass of wounds, he was still alive, still immeasurably powerful! So long as the Great Luotian of Divine Consciousness, anchored in the Ultimate Void, endured, he would never die!

His voice brimmed with coldness and mockery: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, do not forget what you promised me.

I have already done my part and blocked Heavenly Venerable Hao. The Taichu Primordial Stone — you should return it to me now! " "Return it!

And I will let you live!

" "Not return it!

Then today I shall hold your funeral! " Shen Mu felt a pang of guilt. Though he had imagined every manner of scene in which he faced the Emperor Venerable demanding the Taichu Primordial Stone, and had even devised every manner of countermeasure, now that he truly stood before this invincible overlord of the most ancient age, he still felt a little shaky inside.

"Emperor Venerable, our agreement was that you would block Heavenly Venerable Hao and keep him from descending upon the Great Void! Have you done it?

" Shen Mu raised his head, looked upon the Emperor Venerable's headless body, and said in a clear voice: "You have not done it! Heavenly Venerable Hao is at this very moment sitting safe and sound in the Great Void, holding court there, living very happily indeed! Since you have not fulfilled the agreement, how dare you come demanding the Taichu Primordial Stone?

" The Emperor Venerable said coldly: "I wounded Heavenly Venerable Hao grievously; his injuries will not heal in a hundred thousand years and more. As he is now he is a cripple, and his holding court in the Great Void is of no use to anyone. Whatever the outcome, your aim has been achieved. Hand over the Taichu Primordial Stone.

" Shen Mu sneered: "He was saved by another egg-born ancient god, Taisu. He has already restored nine of his heavenly palaces.

And you dare call him a cripple?

You have not kept your promise. . .

" "You may hold your funeral now. " The Emperor Venerable said indifferently: "Taisu's appearance was an accident.

What I promised you, I have done.

Yet you would go back on your word. To hold your funeral and take the primordial stone from your corpse would be ten thousand times easier than fighting Heavenly Venerable Hao! " With a swish, Shen Mu drew out Heavenly Venerable Ling's hairpin and laughed aloud: "Emperor Venerable, do not forget that Heavenly Venerable Ling's Immutability Art is the very bane of your powers! Do you mean to drag me down with you? " "Drag you down with me?

Hahaha, Heavenly Venerable Mu, you think far too highly of yourself — and far too highly of Heavenly Venerable Ling. " The voice came from the Emperor Venerable's chest cavity, unhurried: "In that pitifully narrow vision of yours, you most likely believe that Heavenly Venerable Ling's art has me pinned down utterly, and that having learned her art, you can haggle with me.

You most likely believe that with a mere ancient god's egg to back you, you can chat and laugh with me as an equal.

You are wrong.

" That peerless giant rose to his feet, his palm bearing Shen Mu, bearing the egg of Taishi and the bodies of the Empress Sisters, and the funeral procession besides, and walked through the vast reaches of space. "You are utterly wrong. " "And not only you — Heavenly Venerable Yun was wrong, and Heavenly Venerable Ling was wrong. " His strides were immense; he walked faster than the stars in their courses by countless times, and the space beneath his feet crumbled and dissolved without cease: "Where are the heroes of old? All are bubbles and shadows in a dream.

Heavenly Venerable Yun is dead; Heavenly Venerable Ling is trapped by her own art; and as for the Celestial Emperor Taichu — did I not take his very body from him?

His reincarnated self dares do nothing but pull in his head like a coward.

" "Do you think it was Heavenly Venerable Yun who killed me? Was it Heavenly Venerable Ling who killed me?

" "A pity — they are all dead, and only I remain here. " "I sit enthroned above in the Great Luotian of Divine Consciousness.

All that you killed and wounded with such desperate effort was no more than a part of me; you could never touch my origin. " "Do you still imagine I fear Heavenly Venerable Ling's Immutability Art?

Do you think I fear a pair of Empress Sisters, or a mere god within an egg?

" Though he had no head, at that moment Shen Mu seemed to sense a pair of icy eyes fixed upon him, upon the egg of Taishi, upon the body of Her Highness Empress Yuanmu.

Those eyes held mockery, and scorn. To stand before a being such as the Emperor Venerable was a pressure almost beyond bearing. In Shen Mu's hand, the egg of Taishi quietly transmitted its voice: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, on the strength of my experience in keeping my life through all the years the Celestial Emperor Taichu had me suppressed, I will give you one piece of advice: back down.

" Taishi within the egg said, with weight and earnestness: "I truly cannot beat him — I cannot beat him at all. In the old days, of the five great ore veins of the Ancestral Court and the five egg-born ancient gods, three were dug out by the Creator. Taiyi had long since slipped free, and Taiji abandoned a false vein and fled. If we could have beaten him, would we have let the Creator dig us out to dry in the sun? Heavenly Venerable Mu, bow your head for a time, and win back your ground another day.

" Shen Mu pondered for a moment, then said: "Emperor Venerable, you and I can indeed fall out. I can destroy this body you now wear; the Empress Sisters can wear away your divine consciousness; and Brother Taishi can make it so that you never again break the art I have left behind. Of course, I will also die at your hands. But there is a second road we might take.

" Taishi in the egg said in a small voice: "Do not drag me into this.

I was merely brought here by you. . . " The Emperor Venerable halted his steps and sneered: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, I grant that you have the power, and I grant that the fellow in the egg has the skill.

But if your second road does not please me, then even at the cost of this body, I will hold your funeral on the spot! " Shen Mu let out a breath and said gravely: "I can give you half of the Taichu Primordial Stone I obtained. In blocking Heavenly Venerable Hao you completed only half the task; so in fairness, I can give you only half.

" The Emperor Venerable gave an angry snort.

Shen Mu said hastily: "Emperor Venerable, do you think it worth it to kill me and bury this body of yours — the strongest flesh in all history — along with me? " The Emperor Venerable sneered: "I think it worth it indeed.

My Mingfang Yu body was destroyed by a single sword stroke from Kaihuang Shen Ye — and that too because of you. This time my body has lost its head and an arm. Do you think I still begrudge this flesh? To trade this broken carcass for your life, and gain the Taichu Primordial Stone besides — well worth it!

" Shen Mu laughed heartily: "With the Taichu Primordial Stone, but without the peerless Creator, the Emperor Venerable — what use is the stone to you? Let it be this way, Emperor Venerable: I will not haggle with you. Of the Taichu Primordial Stone in my brow, I will give you three quarters and keep only one quarter for myself — and you will give me Heavenly Venerable Hao's heart in exchange! " The Emperor Venerable mused.

Shen Mu smiled slightly: "With my own eyes I saw you tear out Heavenly Venerable Hao's heart.

Surely you have not destroyed such a treasure? It is of little use to you; to trade it for a quarter of the primordial stone, you still come out ahead! " The Emperor Venerable calculated for a moment, and a vast heart flew out of the void, still beating without pause — a divine heart, the heart of a Heavenly Venerable!