Chapter 1541 — Asking Heaven for the Dao

Shen Mu had no sooner retreated to the little boat than the Ten Heavenly Venerables discovered him, and each privately thought, "What a crafty devil! " "Venerable Mu, since you've come, why leave?

" Venerable Xiao's voice came over.

Shen Mu's feet landed on the boat, and only then did he relax. With a smile he said, "I saw you all like wolves and tigers, closing in on a young wife fair as a flower. I felt uneasy, and since I wasn't about to rush in and save her, the only thing to do was withdraw. " The Patriarch God-King snorted.

"A young wife fair as a flower? Can the Grand Emperor be considered a young wife fair as a flower?

Ridiculous!

" "A base, father-killing wretch—does he deserve to comment on the Grand Emperor? " Shen Mu barked. Consort Qiang could not help feeling a little kindness toward him.

"So even this villain speaks up for me sometimes. . . Hah! The wretch is only muddying the water!

" The Patriarch God-King flew into a rage and suddenly burst into laughter. "Heavenly Duke?

Venerable Mu, don't you forget—the order to attack the Heavenly Duke was issued by you before the eyes of the world! And now I am the Heavenly Duke! Who dares to find fault with me? Are you not afraid of living out your days without sunlight?

Offend me, and I'll shut off the sun and the starlight of the entire world!

" Shen Mu smiled. "Patriarch Heavenly Duke truly has a generous heart, not at all like the petty, small-minded Heavenly Duke.

Who said Consort Qiang is the Grand Emperor? " Then he changed tack and said indignantly, "Even the Ten Heavenly Venerables must have evidence before killing people, especially a Heavenly Venerable who has rendered service to the world!

Consort Qiang is the consort of the Heavenly Emperor and a Heavenly Venerable in her own right.

Without solid evidence, wanting to kill her goes against both reason and decency! " Consort Qiang turned her gaze to him, thinking, "When did this fellow learn to speak so pleasantly?

" Venerable Gong suddenly said, "Could it be that Venerable Mu is mourning one of his own kind? Are you afraid that after we eliminate the Grand Emperor, we'll turn around and eliminate you? " In one sentence she had exposed Shen Mu's true thought.

He was indeed worried that once they dealt with Consort Qiang, they would come for him next, so he spoke up for her.

To defend Consort Qiang was to defend himself. If the Ten could tolerate the Grand Emperor, then tolerating a mere Venerable Mu was not a great matter.

Venerable Hao said coolly, "Venerable Mu, I'm afraid you guessed wrong. We surrounded Consort Qiang to make her lead us into the secrets of this Jade Capital, not to kill her.

" Shen Mu's heart lurched; he understood. Venerable Hao, Venerable Xiao, and the others had split into two parties, each entering the River of Chaos in an attempt to cross to the other shore, but they had all lost their way in it. They must have run into Consort Qiang by chance, followed her, and only thus found this place.

Their purpose in surrounding her was naturally not murder. They had seen another great River of Chaos blocking the way ahead, so they stopped her and forced her to lead them across! Sure enough, Venerable Xiao said with a half-smile, "Consort Qiang has colluded with mighty beings from a past universe; her crime deserves death ten thousand times over, and it would be only right for us to execute her. Still, she has her uses. We still need her help to cross this great River of Chaos, explore the mysteries of the Jade Capital, and save the people of the world from fire and flood.

" "I went after a fox and only got its stink on me.

" Shen Mu secretly regretted. Shi Qiluo's face, thick with whiskers, rippled into a grin, and he stuck out his tongue at Shen Mu. Shen Mu pretended not to see, thinking, "This time I've stumbled, but not too badly. All I have to do is retreat into the River of Chaos and they can't touch me.

. . " Fire Venerable sneered, "Shen Mu, you speak up for Consort Qiang—have you too colluded with Dao-attainers from a past universe? I always knew you were the sort to bite the hand that feeds you and forget kindness.

My only regret is that I didn't see through your true face sooner and do away with you!

" Shen Mu smiled slightly, and the little boat under his feet was about to drift backward. Suddenly Venerable Hao said mildly, "Brother Fire, there's no need to say that. Venerable Mu is, after all, the Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Alliance. How could he betray the Heavenly Alliance?

How could he betray the people of the world?

If he did, would he not be betraying himself?

Betraying the very Heavenly Alliance he founded? " Shen Mu was taken aback. He had not expected Venerable Hao to speak for him. Fire Venerable had not expected it either; he bowed slightly. "The elder brother is right.

" Venerable Hao continued warmly, "Venerable Mu, the fact that you could get here shows your strength has advanced by leaps and bounds.

We ten Heavenly Venerables joined forces to break into the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court, and it cost us a great deal of time.

One more person means one more share of strength. Since you are our Alliance Lord, please lead us all in exploring this Jade Capital.

" Shen Mu hesitated. Venerable Hao suddenly demanded in Dao speech: "Venerable Mu, do you intend to betray yourself and the Heavenly Alliance?

" The question came without warning; the Dao speech blasted straight into Shen Mu's Dao-heart and formed a Great Dao interrogation there!

In that instant, the Great Dao thundered and quaked inside his Dao-heart as if every Dao he had tempered in his body were challenging him at once, pointing straight at his heart.

Shocked, Shen Mu raised his head and looked at Venerable Hao as if seeing him for the first time. Few could speak in Dao speech; it required a profound understanding of the Dao! The Five Primordial Tais communicated in Dao speech, but that was an inborn gift for Taiyi, Taichu, and the others.

Kaihuang had cultivated the Sword Dao to the thirty-fifth layer of heaven and could now use Dao speech. Shen Mu could speak in Dao speech only because his own cultivation in the Dao realm was extremely lofty and he had studied the Great Dao of the Five Primordial Tais.

Venerable Hao's sudden challenge in Dao speech had formed a Great Dao interrogation in Shen Mu's Dao-heart, aimed directly at it, making refusal impossible. If Shen Mu refused, he would be acting against his own Dao-heart, and the damage would be enormous; it might even create self-doubt in him.

Self-doubt and self-questioning were terrifying to a cultivator, especially one who had achieved something in the Dao realm. On the path of cultivation, self-doubt meant losing ground instead of advancing.

If Shen Mu refused to travel with them, he might only keep regressing from then on; the various Great Daos he had mastered would gradually peel away from his body, and his power would be destroyed! This was the divine art of the Dao-Inquiry!

The Dao-Inquiry divine art had the same exquisite effect as the Nine-Prison Terrace, though it lacked the uncanny weirdness of Shen Mu's Nine-Prison Heart-Sealing Everlasting Dao. Had Shen Mu been on guard, Hao's Dao-Inquiry could never have blasted straight into his Dao-heart. But the crucial point was that he had not been on guard!

"Is there really some mighty existence from a past universe behind Venerable Hao, guiding him?

Or did he understand this much on his own? " Shen Mu took his eyes from Venerable Hao's face, smiled faintly, and stepped ashore. "If it is the latter, then I have underestimated him.

His talent, natural endowments, and comprehension are absolutely not inferior to Kaihuang's!

" His feet touched solid ground, and only then did the tremors and waves stirred up in his Dao-heart by the Dao-Inquiry gradually settle. Behind him, the little boat flew up, arced over his head, and dropped in front of him.