Chapter 471 — The Heavenly Grand Banquet
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu felt a chill of unease. If the True Heaven Mother was still hiding within the True Heaven Palace, then the enemy was concealed and they were exposed. Should she launch a surprise attack on them, who could possibly stop her?
Whether the Imperial Preceptor Jingping could withstand her, he did not know, but he was certain that he himself absolutely could not.
Even if the True Heaven Mother could not kill the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, she could certainly kill him.
"Who is the True Heaven Mother's real target—the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, or me?"
Shen Mu blinked. The Imperial Preceptor Jingping posed the greater threat. He had cultivated the Divine Bridge and destroyed Bagou and her false body. By all reasoning, her target should be the Imperial Preceptor Jingping.
And yet, in the Flame Desert, the True Heaven Mother's divine statues had repeatedly struck at Shen Mu; and in this conquest of the True Heaven Palace, Shen Mu's contributions were paramount. Compared with the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, the True Heaven Mother's hatred for Shen Mu must surely run deeper!
"No matter what, I must stay at the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's side and not leave him for even a step!" he resolved silently.
The Imperial Preceptor Jingping reached out and swept his hand. The many women on the wall slid involuntarily to one side, revealing the fourth mural.
The fourth mural recorded a battle—the battle between the True Heaven Mother and the Xizhou and Pozhou.
This war was one the True Heaven Mother had deliberately provoked. She had stormed into the Desolate Ruins, drawn out the Pozhou and Xizhou dwelling there, and retreated all the way toward the Flame Desert, where she finally destroyed the many Pozhou and Xizhou one after another.
The battle scene in the mural was exceedingly grand and magnificent. Colossal land-ships released the sun or the moon; the Sun Guardian and Moon Guardian stood upon enormous vessels, their physiques imposing, their features base and lewd—at a glance, villains of the most vicious sort.
Yet it was not only the True Heaven Mother who took part in the battle; there were also certain deities of the heavens. In the mural, however, these deities were painted very small, while the True Heaven Mother was heroic and divine, radiant with ten thousand beams, possessed of a bearing that seemed to hold up the very sky. Before her, the other deities were no more than infants!
"Is the True Heaven Mother really that powerful?" Shen Mu could not help but wonder.
The Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "Let me tell you a story, and you will know whether the True Heaven Mother is strong or not. One day, the emperor took me and his ministers on a hunting expedition. When the catch was gathered, the emperor ordered the palace painter to make a painting. The painter drew the emperor this large."
He spread both hands in an empty gesture, then spread two fingers apart to indicate his own figure in the painting, and said, "And I, this small. The emperor towered to the heavens, while I and the ministers were all tiny—and among them, I was the smallest. Moreover, when he painted me, the painter made me base and vicious, wearing an expression of sinister cunning. The emperor was displeased and ordered the painter to paint again, but when the painter painted again, it was the same. So the emperor stripped him of his post and sent him packing home."
Shen Mu understood his meaning and laughed. "Whoever painted this mural was flattering the True Heaven Mother. She may not be stronger than you—otherwise she would not have used a false body to launch a sneak attack on you."
"The True Heaven Mother's power is probably very great, but her combat strength has a considerable flaw. Her dharma power is exceedingly strong, but her arts follow the same path of all things having spirits and all things having gods. If she does not show herself, I can do nothing against her; if she shows herself, she dies."