Chapter 1593 — Forged a Thousand Times Yet Undying

The ship always gave him a feeling of indescribable strangeness, and above all the figure aboard whose face could not be made out left him vaguely ill at ease.

Ling boarded the golden ship, bowed very slightly, and made to take her leave. Yun knew her temper; that she would salute him at all was already unprecedented. In the past, no matter whom Ling met, she was unkempt and slovenly, never saluted, and was nothing like a woman. Now she understood the proprieties; though she went through them only to be done with it, at least she dressed like a woman.

"Ling, how is your strength now?

" Yun asked hurriedly.

"You could slay the Grand Emperor, so your strength must be exceedingly high—how far are you from attaining the Dao? " "Attaining the Dao?

" Ling tilted her head and thought, then said, "I do not know what attaining the Dao is. " Yun was dumbstruck for a moment, then ventured, "Do you not feel that your realm is about to imprint itself upon the Ultimate Void and bring forth a Dao Tree? " Ling shook her head.

"I do not know what you are talking about.

Why must attaining the Dao require a Dao Tree?

To be like the Grand Emperor, like Emperor Kai, like you—is that not spinning a cocoon around oneself? In my eyes, the Dao Trees you cultivate are all a superfluous act. " Yun's eyes went wide, and once again she left him choking on pent-up anger.

But he was used to it; back in the Longhan era, in the days of the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, Ling had often left him choking with anger.

"Ling, what realm are you at now? " he asked patiently.

"By your strength, you slew the Grand Emperor in a single blow, yet when you faced Xiao Tianzun with the same single blow, Xiao dodged it.

Your strength seems to rise and fall.

" Ling was aware of this too. "I am not good at fighting.

Just now Yue met me and sent me behind the Grand Emperor. I saw that his posture was very good, so I called out to him; he turned his head, and I struck him. " Yun's eyes went wide.

After a moment he waved his hand, strengthless.

"Go. Do not let Emperor Kai and Mu Tianzun learn of this matter, and above all do not let Xiao Tianzun and Hao Tianzun know of it.

Keep up the image of cold arrogance and unfathomable depth as best you can.

Otherwise your life will be hard to keep. . .

" He was utterly helpless before Ling; nor did Ling much care to talk with him. She said a word to the golden ship, and the ship actually bore her away just like that. Yun watched her go into the distance, his face caught between laughter and tears.

"Ling, oh Ling, you are just as you were before, not changed in the least. The only change, perhaps, is your clothes. . .

" He moved the Daluo Heaven of Divine Consciousness, and the Daluo Heaven came to the Ancestral Court. Yun gazed from afar at the Heavenly Court above the Ancestral Court and thought, "I wonder how Mu Tianzun is faring.

. . Hao Tianzun must surely be tormenting him in a hundred ways.

" The Heavenly Court.

Hao Tianzun summoned the various Heavenly Venerables and the mighty ones of every faction; he saw that Huo, Zu, Lang, Gong and the rest of the Heavenly Venerables were each wounded, every wound a sword wound, and could not help frowning. "The Grand Emperor is dead, and Mu Tianzun, chief of the rebels, has been taken by me.

" Hao swept his gaze around the hall and said, unhurried, "The bandit Mu Tianzun deserves ten thousand deaths; his crimes admit no pardon.

Yet this fellow is like a malignant tumor, stubborn and unyielding. I fought the Grand Emperor head-on and bear wounds, and I cannot refine him to death; therefore I have summoned you all here to put this beast to death.

" At these words, Heavenly Venerables and great ministers of the Heavenly Court alike were both startled and delighted.

Huo Tianzun stepped out from the ranks despite his wounds and declared with fervor, "The thief Mu is a traitor to the human race! I am the Heavenly Venerable of the human race; it falls to me to clear the human race's name and root out this beast! Brother Hao, your subject is willing to try! " Hao leaned forward and smiled.

"Brother Huo, I am still crown prince and not yet enthroned; there is no need to call yourself my subject.

" Huo said gravely, "It is only a matter of time. The great enterprise His Majesty could not accomplish in a million years has been accomplished in Your Highness's hands.

Such a glorious achievement wins the hearts of all under heaven, and His Majesty will surely follow the will of the people and the will of heaven, and abdicate of his own accord in favor of the worthy. Your Highness taking the throne is what all hope for.

" Hao made a show of modesty and said, "We will speak of that afterward. What means does Brother Huo have to refine the thief Mu? " "I have thirty-five heavenly palaces and twenty-eight heavens of Dao-fire. I can refine this beast!

" Hao produced the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel, and Shen Mu's head poked out of it; he glanced around and saw that everyone was present. At the sight, they all laughed coldly, and the Ancestral Godking jeered, "Mu Tianzun, so even you have a day like this?

" Shen Mu shot him a glance, then shrank back into the wheel, ignoring him.

Huo begged pardon, sat cross-legged, and a heavenly court appeared behind his head—one layer of Dao realm, one layer of heaven—with Dao-fire spreading everywhere, burning the void until it collapsed; he placed the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel into the Dao-fire to be forged. Runes swirled about his body, turning into flame Dao-patterns that he struck ceaselessly into the wheel.

After refining in this way for forty-nine days, Huo rose to his full height and laughed long.

"It is done!

The thief Mu has been reduced to flying ash! " Everyone looked toward the wheel; the red-hot Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel gradually cooled.

They all marveled, saying, "Huo Tianzun's Dao arts are unmatched!

" Huo hastily made modest noises—but just then, Shen Mu slowly poked his head out of the wheel, slowly turned his head in a full circle with cold eyes, and then slowly sank back into the wheel. Huo's face flushed crimson.

"Let me do it!

" The Ancestral Godking strode forward and said coldly, "I have the Lord of Heaven's fleshly body; I command a trillion star rivers, I rule the order of the heavenly Dao—to refine him to death is child's play!

" Xu Tianzun clapped his hands. "With the Ancestral Godking taking action, victory is certain! " The Ancestral Godking lifted the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel and walked out of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall to the Heavenly Altar outside; he flicked his sleeve, the clouds in the sky parted, and the incomparably vast fleshly body of the Lord of Heaven bent down over him, while the light of numberless constellations, stars, and star rivers surged and became chains of stars that howled into the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel.

The Ancestral Godking shouted again and again, circling the wheel without pause; the heavenly Dao gathered in the sky and became radiance that, at his urging, poured madly into the wheel.

After refining in this way for more than ten days, the Ancestral Godking, having driven the Lord of Heaven's fleshly body, was worn out and panting.

"The thief Mu must surely be dead! " said the Ancestral Godking, sending away the Lord of Heaven's body and wiping the sweat from his brow with a smile.

Shen Mu's face surfaced upon the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel, gazing at him with a faint and eerie look; suddenly he rolled both eyes, then slowly faded away.

Blood seeped from the corner of the Ancestral Godking's mouth, and his body trembled slightly. "I was wounded by Emperor Kai and cannot exert my full strength—I am ashamed before Brother Hao. . .

"