荒墟牧神 - 第643章 玄都天闕 - 簡牘書房

Ling Yuxiu ran out from the cabin of the tower ship. She too had noticed that something was amiss with the vessel, and said in a low voice, "Oxherd, this ship's keel—it is a true dragon's keel!"

Shen Mu was taken aback. He followed her into the cabin, and saw that the keel was the enormous skeleton of a divine dragon; when the ship took flight, that keel swayed from side to side like a serpent.

Nor was that all: great ribs, one after another, made up the main body of the ship.

He touched the hull lightly, and it felt warm and smooth against his fingers. The ship's sheathing, too, was the hide of gods and demons!

"To forge a ship from the flesh and blood of gods and demons, to forge treasures from their skulls—the Crimson Bright era was savage indeed."

Shen Mu and Ling Yuxiu shivered again and again. The tower ship had already set out, flying toward the Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridge. Shen Mu came up onto the deck, where Ban Gongcuo was studying the planking. Shen Mu examined it closely in turn, then raised his head to look at Ban Gongcuo, who was looking back at him; the two were of one mind, and said in unison, "Bone plating and hide!"

The deck of the entire tower ship was forged from bone plating and hide. How many gods and demons must have been slain to forge a vessel such as this?

"Master Chixi, the gods and demons of your Crimson Bright era conducted themselves with far too much tyranny and terror."

The Primordial Human Emperor was studying the ship's towers and halls. He shook his head. "To forge a ship like this, I fear several thousand gods and demons had to be killed."

Chixi laughed. "Your Kaihuang era lasted only twenty thousand years, did it not?"

The Primordial Human Emperor was briefly startled, then nodded. "Less than twenty thousand years."

Chixi said, "Less than twenty thousand years, and you have no notion of what the Crimson Bright era endured. Gods and demons have no limit to their lifespan; twenty thousand years is time enough to birth millions of them. These gods and demons neither age nor die, so the older a dynasty, the more gods and demons it holds. Yet the Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty had a history of a hundred thousand years, and its gods and demons grew so numerous that even heaven and earth could scarcely bear them. The cosmic territory your Kaihuang era ruled never came close to the Crimson Bright era's; your domain was two or three times smaller than the Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty's. But even so vast a domain could not nourish so many gods and demons. Some latecomers had no room to rise, and so they rebelled; they stirred up chaos. And chaos..."

His face was calm, but his voice carried boundless killing intent: "Naturally, we killed them! Heh heh. Kill a few thousand gods and demons to forge a treasure—and so precious a treasure at that—of course it was worth the price."

The Primordial Human Emperor frowned. "That wounds the harmony of Heaven."

"Wounds the harmony of Heaven? Your Kaihuang era was annihilated; who knows how many died. Did that not wound the harmony of Heaven?"

Chixi sneered. "Take the Taotie Pouch you carry, for instance—was it not a treasure forged by killing Taotie beasts?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "Both of my Taotie Pouches were forged by the Great Venerable and given to me by him."

Ban Gongcuo's face turned ashen.

Chixi said, "Killing gods and demons to forge treasures has happened in every age. Our Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty was destroyed three hundred and fifty thousand years ago; after that came the Shanghuang era. The Shanghuang era lasted three hundred thousand years—the longest era in all history, and the most flourishing. The reason we remnants of the Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty hid away in the Suspended Realm so long without ever coming to seek the ancestral land was chiefly that we feared being seized by the Shanghuang Heavenly Court and forged into treasures!"