Chapter 1388 — The Soul Cage

Long Xiao raised his nine heads and searched for any trace of Shen Mu, yet he could find no sign of Shen Mu's divine consciousness, only a final lingering remnant. Long Xiao seized that remnant, and it at once swelled into a vast voice, "Long Xiao, I have no wish to break with you utterly, and I ask you in turn not to act without mercy and to leave yourself a way out.

Release my people, and I will surely repay you in days to come! " Long Xiao gave a cold snort and ground that wisp of Shen Mu's consciousness to nothing. "A mere mount dares to bargain with me and bid me release my spoils.

" He drew back his own consciousness, and one of his heads opened its towering eye.

Within its gaze, Shu Jun, Lan Yutian, Xu Shenghua, the First Ancestor, and the others were trapped inside a huge cage of divine consciousness.

The company looked worn and weary, some seated and some standing, glancing about. On every side stood primeval colossal beasts of terrifying power, motionless as stone statues, guarding Long Xiao in a ring.

They had followed Shu Jun to the back of the Ancestral Court intending to subdue Long Xiao, or if not Long Xiao himself, then at least some rare giant beasts. Every one of them had set out brimming with confidence, for they were the foremost figures of Jingping, and among them was the First Ancestor Human Emperor, a great master already cultivated to the Lingxiao realm, as well as Shu Jun, a native guide, and the successive Human Emperors, all old veterans of the world.

With learned and versatile talents like Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua besides, they believed they could ride unchecked across the back of the Ancestral Court and carry all before them. Ever since Shen Mu had carried the Creator's method of cultivating divine consciousness to Jingping, such cultivation had become a required lesson for every Jingping adept and god.

With Jingping's many arts fusing divine consciousness into its own system of cultivation, their attainments had advanced by leaps and bounds, and subduing giant beasts seemed well within their grasp. Yet only days after reaching the back of the Ancestral Court, they were beset by a horde of giant beasts and reduced to a sorry rout. They tried to subdue those beasts, only to discover in horror that the beasts possessed mighty consciousness, able not only to withstand their own but even to give a powerful being like Shu Jun a formidable foe.

Only then did they know things had gone wrong.

Fortunately the successive Human Emperors were all shrewd old hands, men who had once ridden the world at will, unmatched in craft and means. Leading the company in roaming warfare across the back of the Ancestral Court, dodging one encirclement after another, and aided by Shu Jun the native and by the strongest consciousness among them, they had somehow survived in that perilous land.

But not long ago, their whole party was wiped out at a stroke, for Long Xiao himself had moved against them. Strong though Shu Jun's consciousness was, set against Long Xiao's it was as heaven against earth, and it collapsed at a touch.

Mighty though the First Ancestor Human Emperor was, when Long Xiao's vast consciousness rolled over him, he could bring none of his strength to bear and fell flat to the ground.

All the worldly wisdom of those old Human Emperors was useless. With one sweep of Long Xiao's consciousness, the company dropped senseless one by one.

Only Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian, by virtue of their strange arts, held out for a moment before they too lost all power to resist. And precisely because they had withstood his consciousness for that moment, Long Xiao looked upon them with favor, judging that though their cultivation was not high, their gifts were extraordinary and worth nurturing.

Once they were grown, they would serve as his two great mounts, and how splendid that would be. "That little Creator says the back of the Ancestral Court is about to be sealed and the Ten Heavenly Venerables must surely invade. Heh, he thinks far too little of me.

" Long Xiao slowly closed his eyes and thought to himself, "Once the seal of the Ancestral Court is undone, the backs of the other worlds will be unsealed as well.

In those worlds my sons and grandsons are numberless.

In the Yuan Realm, in Xuandu, in Youdu, in all the heavens and myriad worlds, my people dwell upon their hidden sides. Then who shall be called the rightful lords of heaven and earth is yet to be decided.

It may well be that gods and devils and all other living things shall become mounts and slaves to my children.

" "And I need only raise these two little ones and wait at leisure for them to grow into Heavenly Venerables.

Then I shall possess two mounts of Heavenly Venerable rank. What will the Ten Heavenly Venerables have to match me?

" His snoring began to rise, "Shu Jun as a mount is a grade too low, though he has promise, yet riding him would shame me.

In former days I rode Divine King Boyang.

. . " Within the divine consciousness cage, Shu Jun said in a low voice, "Heavenly Venerable Mu has not been taken by him. Rest assured, all of you. Heavenly Venerable Mu will surely come to save us.

" The First Ancestor Human Emperor lightly touched the divine consciousness cage, but the instant his palm met it, the consciousness forming the cage swiftly turned solid and drew his hand in, threatening to make his hand solid with the cage itself. The First Ancestor hastily snatched his hand back, his heart still pounding.

The solidified cage at once turned transparent again. The divine consciousness cage seemed to have no substance at all, only a space veiled in transparent consciousness, yet it locked them fast and left them no way out.

"If we move at the utmost speed, could we escape the cage? " Jiang Yunjian suddenly asked.

The First Ancestor Human Emperor's heart stirred, and he looked toward Shu Jun. Shu Jun shook his head, "There is no escaping.

Long Xiao's consciousness is too strong, stronger even than mine at my peak.

His divine consciousness cage shifts in a thousand ways.

At any moment it can condense into the hardest substance or unfold into the vastest void. No matter how fast you are, you cannot get out.

" Jiang Yunjian's eyes flashed, "My master studied long under the Shadow Thief, and in the art of Stealing Heaven and Replacing the Sun even the Shadow Thief admits himself inferior.

If his speed could outrun even the changing of the divine consciousness cage, he could burst through and flee this place. " The First Ancestor and Shu Jun turned together to look at Lan Yutian. Lan Yutian said, "I do not know where the limit of this divine consciousness cage's changes lies. First we must probe out that limit before we can reckon its speed and its laws.

And. . .

" He looked a little shy and said with embarrassment, "My attainments in mathematics are not high. . .

" "Mine are passable.

" Xu Shenghua smiled, "Dao Master Lin Xuan's attainments in mathematics are no less than my own.

" The First Ancestor Human Emperor said gravely, "Good.

Then I shall test the limit of this divine consciousness cage's changes.

" He drew the Yuming Sword, fell back several paces, and suddenly hurled himself with all his might at the divine consciousness cage. In moments his speed rose to its peak, and he crashed thunderously into the wall of consciousness.

Swift as drifting light and fleeting shadow, he raced through the wall, yet the instant he moved, the divine consciousness cage began to change with flying speed. The cage looked thin, but once inside its wall he saw boundless void spreading rapidly, space stretching without end.

Nor was that all, for even as that space was born it began to solidify, as though he had plunged into ever thickening matter. His speed grew slower and slower, and he even felt the cage assimilating his flesh and primordial spirit, merging him into one body with the cage itself.