Chapter 527 — To Grant Forgiveness
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu demanded, and behind him a volcano suddenly roared and burst, flames shooting up to the sky; that was Human Emperor Qi Kang's fist art, gathering the fire of the heart into momentum, brewing for the eruption.
The First Ancestor Human Emperor's expression shifted slightly; the power in Shen Mu's two palms abruptly surged, and he blasted him flying!
"You did nothing at all!"
While the First Ancestor Human Emperor was still in midair, he saw Shen Mu standing on one foot, his body sweeping one full circle about that pivot, shh, shh, shh, vital essence turning into countless blades of every hue and hurling themselves at him in the air!
That was Human Emperor Lan Po's art of weapon forging!
The First Ancestor Human Emperor's sleeve rolled and coiled, shredding every weapon, and before he had even landed he saw Shen Mu point a finger, and from its tip burst unbroken ranges of grey mountains that drowned him whole.
Lianbi Dots the Cang Mountains!
"They were not your equal. Then teach them! Teach them!"
The First Ancestor Human Emperor broke the move by force; before he landed, a great bell came hurtling at him head-on. Shen Mu had already closed in; the great bell shrouded him about, and inside it Shen Mu attacked, every fist and every kick landing upon the bell's wall.
The bell tolled and boomed, its might growing fiercer and fiercer; the bell tilted now this way and now that, sometimes turning mouth-down, sometimes lying on its side, sometimes righting itself, sometimes turning its mouth toward the First Ancestor.
The Fifth Ancestor's Five Thunder Heaven-Upholding Bell!
The First Ancestor Human Emperor retreated again and again, and amid the tolling came Shen Mu's furious questions: "How did the Second Ancestor die? He died of old age!"
Boom!
The First Ancestor Human Emperor was shaken until his steps scattered.
"How did the Third Ancestor die? He died of old age!"
"How did the Fourth Ancestor die? He died of old age!"
"All the Human Emperors, were they inferior to you in aptitude, or in comprehension? If you could not do it, then pass down your art of becoming a god and let them do the work! Why let them die of old age?"
Shen Mu brought out one divine ability after another of the thirty-four generations of Human Emperors, the arts he had learned in Fengdu. The thirty-four generations of Human Emperors had handed them down only to test his aptitude and comprehension; they had not taught him completely. They had only hoped that Shen Mu would return to the Human Emperor Hall and receive their inheritance in full.
They had taught him roughly, never expecting him to learn much. Yet in Shen Mu's hands these abilities erupted with terrifying power, driving the First Ancestor Human Emperor back step by step.
"You clearly have the art of becoming a god, so teach it! Teach it, then!"
"What did they ever get from you? Nothing but a broken seal! Nothing but a mountain of duty and burden; they got nothing else!"
"They could not learn your arts or your divine abilities, yet for the sake of a burden you yourself could not bear, they threw away their lives, they slaughtered the enemies who made even you tremble in fear! And you destroy the fruit of their toil, and now you would destroy their very bones! To the last they felt they had failed you, failed you, the First Ancestor Human Emperor, and could not bear to face you in death!"
"And yet you would destroy everything they were! What face have you to call them trash, to call them useless?"
Shen Mu launched his final move. The First Ancestor abruptly shot out a hand, seized his fist, swung him up and smashed him savagely into the ground.
Shen Mu flipped over and leapt up. The First Ancestor Human Emperor counterattacked, fist arts, body arts, sword arts, formation arts; every divine ability exquisite to the last hair, exquisite beyond words, breaking Shen Mu's assaults with ease, with ease driving Shen Mu into defense, into a beating.