Chapter 1383 — The Peerless Divine Eye

The Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth exchanged a glance, and each of them frowned.

Both were men of uncommon intelligence, and both understood why Shen Mu looked so utterly desolate. Tai Yi had not answered Shen Mu's question. To be sure, that silence admitted of two readings—success, or failure—but judging by Tai Yi's manner, failure was far the likelier of the two.

For when the Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth had put their own questions to him, Tai Yi had answered each of them with success.

Had Shen Mu's endeavor been destined for success as well, then Tai Yi would have had no cause to choose silence.

They knew that Shen Mu had guessed the reason behind that silence too, and that this was why his spirit had sunk so low.

Nor did they know how to comfort this Heavenly Venerable Mu; this, after all, was the goal for which Shen Mu had striven his whole life. From the moment the boy came to Hidden Remnant Village, from the moment he and the Blind Elder pissed on the divine statue together, he had begun to shatter the god within his heart. From the moment he left the Desolate Ruins and entered Jingping, from the moment he came to understand the ideals of Jingping's Imperial Preceptor and of Emperor Yanfeng, and the ideals of the Heavenly Sage Cult, he had chosen the goal of his life.

Everything he had done in all his years had been for the sake of reaching that goal. Tai Yi's refusal to answer struck him a heavy blow, one that all but shattered his dao heart.

Had it been anyone other than Tai Yi, he would not have been so utterly unmanned; it was precisely because the one who kept silent was Tai Yi that his dao heart had come to harm.

Shen Mu's eyes stirred faintly, as though a measure of their light had returned, and a trace of a smile touched his lips.

"Brothers of the Way, I am fine. You may begin.

" The Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth exchanged another glance, and the Lord of Earth brought out a horn of origin he had already refined.

This horn of origin was likewise one of the Lord of Earth's own horns, long tempered and refined by him with the Great Way of the Dark Capital. The Shen-character continent Shen Mu had obtained the last time had also been a horn of the Lord of Earth's; yet the Lord of Earth had refined that continent not to serve Shen Mu as an eye, but to seal away his demonic nature.

And that horn had been no more than an ordinary horn of the Lord of Earth. This time, however, the Lord of Earth had used his own horn of origin, refining an iris for Shen Mu with his own hands—a thing far more formidable indeed.

The Lord of Heaven, in turn, brought out the Heavenly Way crystal from his own divine pupil. This crystal was no jade; on the contrary, it was exceedingly soft and transparent, almost as limpid as the blue sky itself.

When the two had each made their preparations, Shen Mu opened the vertical eye at the center of his brow and took out the Egg of Taichu, though his expression was somewhat dazed.

He said softly, "Man proposes, does he not?

If one knew the ending was already fixed, what pleasure would there be in striving. .

. I possess the Overlord Body; I never concede defeat! " The Lord of Earth barked, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, this is the critical moment—do not let your thoughts wander, or you may well ruin that eye of yours!

" A faint smile appeared on Shen Mu's face, as though a great stone had suddenly been lifted from him, and after a moment's hesitation he set the Egg of Taichu aside.

After all, the Egg of Taichu was where the Heavenly Emperor Taichu had been born; if he should encounter Heavenly Venerable Xiao again, would he not have to gouge out his own eyeball once more to seal that one away? "If I am to do this, then let it be done in a grand way!

" From the ore vein of the Ancestral Court within his Primal Fetus Divine Treasury, he dug out Tai Yi's two chaos eggs, took one of them, and, circulating his mana, stuffed it into his third eye. Tai Yi had not told him the outcome he wished to know, and so there was a certain measure of spite in this act, even though the chaos eggshell was of no use whatsoever to Tai Yi.

He set the chaos eggshell in place, and the Lord of Earth moved next, striking out with the horn of origin and driving it into Shen Mu's vertical eye.

Then, with a light flick of his hand, the radiating striations spun like gears and came to rest one after another. Shen Mu took out the Taiji primordial stone; it flew into his vertical eye and became its pupil.

The Lord of Heaven followed close behind, filling the anterior chamber of his vertical eye with the Heavenly Way crystal and imprinting it again and again with his own cultivation of the Heavenly Way. The Lord of Earth said in a low, heavy voice, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, rouse your pupil—I will lend you my strength!

" Shen Mu did as he was told and roused the pupil of his vertical eye. At once the Taiji primordial stone within the pupil began to turn, and the two qi of yin and yang revolved faster and faster until they became the Way of the Taiji.

At the same time, the Lord of Earth roused the sixty-four Great Ways of the Dark Capital, imprinting them again and again, and together with the Lord of Heaven raised the power of this vertical eye of his.

How long passed, no one could say; at length the two divinities each dispersed their mana and stepped back, and the yin and yang qi diffusing through Shen Mu's pupil gradually settled.

This eye brimmed with the breath of the Heavenly Way, the Great Way of the Dark Capital, and the Way of the Taiji; a single eye, and yet its power and its might felt in no way inferior to a Heavenly Venerable's treasure. The Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth looked delighted.

The Lord of Heaven said with a smile, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, how does the power of this divine pupil feel?

Can it match the divine pupil you once had? " The Lord of Earth was eager as well.

"Why not rouse it and let us see for ourselves the power that comes of joining the strength of the Lord of Heaven with that of the Lord of Earth? " "Very well!

" Shen Mu shook off the dejection of moments before, closed both his eyes, and roused only the vertical eye at the center of his brow. The vertical eye opened, his mana poured into it, and first of all he roused the power of the chaos eggshell.

The Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth waited a while, yet the eye showed no sign of movement at all, and they could not help but grow doubtful. The Lord of Heaven cleared his throat.

"Heavenly Venerable Mu, you may rouse the power of this eye now.

" Still Shen Mu gave no response.

The Lord of Heaven reminded him once more, and saw that Shen Mu was utterly at a loss. He murmured, "I am blind.

.

. This eye of mine sees nothing at all!

Only chaos, and nothing but chaos!

" The Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth were startled, and hurriedly examined their work.

The iris and the crystal they had refined for Shen Mu were flawless, the Taiji primordial stone was flawless—and yet Shen Mu saw nothing at all.

Not only that, but tendrils of chaos qi were seeping out from the depths of his pupil, gradually plunging the Great Way of the Dark Capital into chaos, and the Heavenly Way soon sank into chaos as well—vast, boundless, and utterly turbid. "Could it be the doing of that eggshell?

" Neither divinity had any idea what to do. The Lord of Heaven ventured, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, what if you were to dig out this eye, take out that eggshell, and replace it with the other Taichu eggshell? " Shen Mu hesitated.

Just then the little green sparrow that Yan'er had transformed into came flying on beating wings, a single leaf held in its beak, and hovered fluttering before Shen Mu's face. At the tip of that leaf hung a single drop of water, crystalline and clear. The drop fell and slid into Shen Mu's eye.