Chapter 435 — An Eerie Affair at the Door
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
"The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has activated the Quake Cauldron — shaken this range apart and sunk it into the earth! " Shen Mu sensed the trembling that came from the grey fog, and an ill omen rose in his heart. That the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping should use the Quake Cauldron showed that this Imperial Preceptor too felt he could not save himself, and was willing to perish together with his foes if only he could block them and keep them from crossing the Divine Severance Mountains! The sun set.
Darkness came surging from the west like a black deluge blotting out sky and sun, devouring all in its path; wherever it passed, everything vanished without a trace. The darkness, as though it had substance, came to the Divine Severance Mountains and drowned them. It surged up before Shen Mu — and suddenly halted!
Shen Mu raised his head. The darkness of the Waste stood like a sheer cliff, its top beyond sight, dividing itself from the night of Jingping!
"The Waste has swallowed the Divine Severance Mountains and is invading the kingdom of Jingping — in one gulp it has taken a hundred li or so. " Shen Mu bent down, took a flag, and planted it where the darkness of the Waste met the night of Jingping.
In a low voice he said, "In a few days we shall know whether the darkness is growing. If the darkness of the Waste grows, I fear it will be a catastrophe beyond salvation for Jingping as well.
Flood Dragon King God, let us go in! " The Flood Dragon King God assented, transformed into the likeness of a youth, and, divine light blooming from all his body, led Shen Mu and the Dragon Qilin into the ruins of the Divine Severance Mountains. "All jiao dragons, possess me! " Shen Mu gave a low shout and worked the Dragon-Taming Art. Jiao dragons came flying one after another — some coiling about his body, some about his arms, some about his legs; some settled beneath his feet, and two hung from his ears like earrings.
At once the magic power of the dragons merged with his own, and Shen Mu's strength soared madly. "Ninth Heaven, open!
" In Shen Mu's eyes the array patterns spun madly as he opened the Ninth Heaven Eye.
Divine light shot from his gaze, piercing into the darkness; wherever his eyes fell, it was as though a shaft of light had stabbed through the darkness and the grey fog. The Flood Dragon King God possessed no such ability, and envied him greatly. Shen Mu bade him keep close at his side, and they advanced by degrees into the ruins of the Divine Severance Mountains. Suddenly Shen Mu halted; the Flood Dragon King God hastily halted too.
There, in the air before them, a great painting, tattered and torn, drifted quietly past.
This was a painting of the Deaf Elder.
The things within the painting were already shattered, as though something had leapt out of the painting and torn it apart. Yet a fearsome power still lingered in the painting; if one carelessly stirred it, it would still bring peril. Shen Mu avoided the painting and was walking on when he suddenly stopped again.
There, in the air, several hundred damaged paintings, great and small, floated quietly in the grey fog, drifting without sound or breath.
Besides the paintings, great boulders too hung silently in the air. Shen Mu frowned. This must have been the Deaf Elder's battlefield.
The Deaf Elder excelled at painting, and the worlds within his paintings held vast and strange phenomena, magnificent and sublime; even a master of Xing An's caliber, once sealed within unawares, would find it hard to break free. That so many of the Deaf Elder's ruined paintings lay in this place — one could well imagine how fierce the fighting had been! "My lord, take care! " The Flood Dragon King God hastily threw himself across in front of Shen Mu.