Chapter 1661 — The Strange Beast's Congratulatory Gift

Shen Mu asked, "What is this matter with Xing'an?"

Ling Yuxiu recounted how she had sent Xing'an to kill the reincarnation of the Fire Tianzun, and said, "After Mr. Xing returned, he went into seclusion and has been living in hiding on Zhaixing Peak. I do not know what happened."

"The one who most wanted to kill the Fire Tianzun was the Heavenly Emperor Hao. The Heavenly Emperor Hao's reincarnation must have encountered Xing'an and died at his hands."

In an instant, Shen Mu deduced the truth and said, "This Xing'an walks the path of the heterodox. I once told him that studying dao arts and divine powers alone would make it difficult for him to achieve great things. So he began to approach Jingping's reforms. It seems that over these years, he has made no small achievement—that is how he was able to defeat the Heavenly Emperor Hao. For our wedding this time, what did he send?"

Ling Yuxiu hesitated, then said in a low voice, "What he sent was a piece of human skin covered in various dao patterns. Because it was truly shocking and outrageous, I did not bring it to show you."

Shen Mu's heart stirred, and he said in a deep voice, "Where is the human skin? I want to see it!"

The dao wounds left by the Heavenly Emperor Hao were extremely stubborn, recurring from time to time and causing him intense pain, yet unable to kill him.

Shen Mu frowned from time to time—after the inner demon in the Heavenly Emperor Hao's dao heart was removed, he was indeed stronger than before!

Ling Yuxiu brought a jade box. The box bore a seal, presumably left by her.

Shen Mu undid the seal and spread out the human skin, examining it closely. The dao patterns drawn on the skin were the detailed structures of the thirty-six heavenly palaces and fifty-eight treasure halls, while on the reverse side were the structures of the thirty-five heavenly palaces and fifty-eight treasure halls.

Two great heavenly courts had been deconstructed in incomparable detail through dao patterns—even the crucial Zixiao Hall and Lingxiao Hall had been deconstructed!

This human skin was, astonishingly, the circulation pathways of the Heavenly Emperor Hao's cultivation method and the principles contained within his great dao!

Shen Mu drew in a sharp breath: "This is the skin of the Heavenly Emperor Hao's reincarnation! This fellow Xing'an—not only did he kill the Heavenly Emperor Hao's reincarnation, he flayed him! No—Xing'an dissected the Heavenly Emperor Hao's reincarnation completely! No wonder he sent this as a congratulatory gift. This gift is truly no small matter!"

Ling Yuxiu felt a chill—this human skin was actually the skin of the Heavenly Emperor Hao's reincarnation!

What shocked her even more was that Xing'an had actually analyzed the Heavenly Emperor Hao's two great heavenly court cultivation methods!

This was simply not something human power could accomplish!

Shen Mu pondered carefully, and soon found a solution to the dao wounds within his body. He said, "This skin Xing'an sent me contains six flaws of the Heavenly Emperor Hao. He must have been attempting to find all the flaws in the Heavenly Emperor Hao's cultivation method... This monstrous talent—over these years he should not have attained such deep mastery. Even with exposure to Jingping's reforms, he could not have reached this step..."

Ling Yuxiu said cautiously, "Over these years, Mr. Xing has resided on Zhaixing Peak. I ordered people to send him all of Jingping's reform achievements... Have I done wrong?"

Shen Mu was taken aback, then shook his head and smiled: "You did not do wrong. This Xing'an is incomparably heterodox and evil, but he has one principle—he never targets the weak, and rarely takes lives. If you let him loose in the martial world, he would be an evil god. But if you employ him and provide what he wants, he will do no evil at all, only devote himself to research."

Ling Yuxiu breathed a sigh of relief: "Then shall we send Mr. Xing to the Heavenly Court?"

"If he wishes to go, then let him."

Shen Mu did not even raise his head, continuing his study, and said, "He will not stay in the Heavenly Court for long. Since he has already entered Jingping, he is a man of Jingping. The Heavenly Court is a place of decay—there is nothing there worth his lingering... Wait!"

As he spoke, he suddenly entered a dream. Layer upon layer of dreamscapes unfolded, and countless tiny Shen Mus busied themselves around the human skin of the Heavenly Emperor Hao's reincarnation.

Ling Yuxiu was caught between laughter and tears, and could only wait for him to wake.

Shen Mu slept for a day and a night, the dreamscapes growing deeper and deeper. Within the dreams, several hundred years had passed. Suddenly, layer upon layer of dreamscapes dispersed, and Shen Mu awoke. He took up a brush and wrote several dao patterns on the human skin, saying, "Madam, have someone deliver the human skin to Xing'an. The several dao patterns he could not deduce—I have filled them in for him."

Ling Yuxiu laughed with a titter: "Mu Tianzun will not be outdone by anyone—must you compete?"

Shen Mu clasped his hands behind his back and said leisurely, "Naturally!"

Ling Yuxiu put away the human skin and immediately had someone send it to Zhaixing Peak of the Wendao Academy.

Shen Mu closed his eyes and pondered the Heavenly Emperor Hao's cultivation method in detail, committing it thoroughly to memory. The Heavenly Emperor Hao's mastery of the Primordial One Qi surpassed his own, and he also had considerable attainment in the Dao of Guixu—especially the Dao of Taisu, some of which even Shen Mu did not understand.

Shen Mu absorbed his strengths and supplemented his own deficiencies, improving his Xuanti Three Elixir Method. After a long while, he slowly circulated the Xuanti Three Elixir Method. His vital essence revolved, his divine treasury domain emerged, and within his body a universe unto itself took form.

At that very moment, he heard a faint crack from within his divine treasury's Guixu.

In the chaotic sea at the very bottom of the Guixu, a Guixu lotus seed had sprouted.