Chapter 536 — Forging Iron Before the Foe
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The Black Tiger God spoke sternly, barking, "Your cultivation of the mind was never strong enough. Steady your heart at once!"
Shen Mu, dazed and muddled, asked in confusion, "What fight?"
"We have arrived!"
The Black Tiger God halted abruptly, shook his body, and flung both of them off. The two landed; the Black Tiger God swayed and transformed into a god with a tiger's head and a man's body. He looked down at the two and frowned, then called out loudly, "My lord, these two are of no use. Their hearts are both in turmoil. Send them to fight, and they will surely lose abominably!"
Sang Hua had just seen the demon god who had nearly annihilated her family, and her heart still seethed; Shen Mu had been shaken by the Black Tiger God's news, his mind in turmoil. Indeed, their condition now was somewhat precarious.
Yet at the Black Tiger God's words they both came to their senses. They looked ahead, and their hearts went cold.
Before them stood a cluster of palaces, strangely arrayed. They bathed in a great fire yet were not destroyed. The flames seemed to emanate from the palaces themselves, burning them nearly transparent, so that from outside one could actually see the arrangements within.
The palaces themselves gave off fire, and the fire gave off light, illuminating the whole city as bright as day.
Above the palaces, god after god and demon after demon faced off against one another. Shen Mu quickly spotted the Woodcutter Sage, with many gods standing behind him — and among them, Sang Hua's father.
Opposite them stood another demon god. Yet this one did not look like a demon at all — rather, there was something almost gentle and refined about him. He simply had no ears.
Where his left ear should have been, there was a face. Where his right ear should have been, there was another face.
Shen Mu could not see behind him, and did not know whether the back of his head also bore a face.
Hall after hall encircled a black pillar several zhang thick. The black pillar was like a black pagoda, driven at a slant into the vast plaza.
An axe of absurd size was also embedded in the plaza, its haft almost as thick as the black pillar.
Only then did Shen Mu realize that it was neither a black pillar nor a black pagoda, but a great spear.
The great black spear crossed with the Woodcutter Sage's axe, standing in the plaza.
The two weapons were so massive they pressed cracks into the ground.
"Enter."
The Black Tiger God urged them on. "When those in front die, it will be your turn."
Shen Mu and Sang Hua walked forward to the edge of the plaza. Around it stood several young practitioners of divine arts, drenched in blood, regulating their breath. They still wore armor — they must have just come from the battlefield.
Opposite, there were likewise young divine-arts practitioners, but these were of the demon race, also fresh from battle, still bearing wounds, each of them fierce of countenance and full of valor.
"My lord, I have brought them." The Black Tiger God bowed to the Woodcutter Sage in the air above.
The Woodcutter Sage said, "Why are their hearts unsettled?"
The Black Tiger God said hurriedly, "My lord's juniors have poor cultivation of the mind. Hearing that it is still the Kaihuang era, their souls have flown from them."
The Woodcutter Sage shot him a glare. The Black Tiger God's two long ears slapped flat against the back of his head, docile, not daring to say another word.
The Woodcutter Sage looked toward Shen Mu, only to find him rummaging through a Taotie pouch. He fished out a piece of black iron and poked at the great fire spilling from one of the palaces.
The Woodcutter Sage frowned. "Unsettled of mind and flighty of temper besides — I wonder if he is of any use. Could I have misjudged him? On the battlefield, he was clearly not so curious and skittish..."