Chapter 680 — Why the Arts of Calculation Enchant
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 5
As for the other divine-ability practitioners, they could travel over the magma sea, treading on magma, walking upon the sea—no great difficulty for them.
The only thing needed was for the gods present to hold back the towering magma waves and that unspeakably dreadful hurricane!
A hurricane a hundred times the speed of sound would easily sweep any divine-ability practitioner off their feet, and the poisonous gases and mountain-sized fire-stones mingled in the wind would leave them gravely wounded or dead. So there had to be gods and demons guarding the outer perimeter.
'The volcanoes that erupt from the seabed now and then—those will be a little difficult. . .
' Shen Mu mused. The depths of the magma sea were filled with volcanoes, and each eruption released energy almost equal to a strike from a god or demon; the consequences of such dreadful energy striking a divine-ability practitioner could well be imagined.
'The Sword God and I will deal with the volcanoes.
' Xing An said abruptly: 'His swordsmanship, plus my divine ability, will be enough to suppress the volcanoes.
' Shen Mu nodded, assigned everyone their duties, and said in a deep voice: 'My friends, Taihuang Heaven is destroyed. It is hard to leave one's native land, but what matters most is that people live.
Perhaps in the future we will return and pacify earth, water, wind, and fire.
But for now, we must go!
' Sang Hua knelt and kissed the ground, rubbing her cheek gently against the land. One by one, the other divine-ability practitioners of Taihuang Heaven knelt as well; some kissed the ground, some embraced the earth. The divine-ability practitioners of Jingping watched these people in silence.
The sentiment of home and country is perhaps hard to know in times of peace and prosperity; only at the brink of disaster can it stir that deep, weighty feeling in every heart. After a while, the people rose to their feet.
One after another, the deities stood guard around them, each exerting great dharma power to still earth, water, wind, and fire, while the others trod upon the now-calm surface of the magma sea, following those ahead and pressing forward with all their strength. The magma sea was scorching hot, and the air was dreadfully warm; even with Ma Rulai's Buddha light, it was hard to cool the air.
'Seal every pore of your body and hold in the moisture within you! ' Shen Mu called out loudly: 'Those with flight divine abilities, do not fly—save your vitality. The road is long, and we must walk a long way!
Those of higher cultivation, look after your junior brothers and sisters of lower cultivation!
' He walked to the front.
The Lame Elder took out a compass—very ancient, with a great many markings on it; it must have been a treasure, stolen from some unknown place. The needle on the compass spun wildly like a revolving lantern, making it impossible to tell direction at all.
The Lame Elder sighed, put the compass away, and looked around. Everywhere in Taihuang Heaven was a magma sea; the only thing that might serve to fix direction was Luofu Heaven, thrust slantwise into the center of Taihuang Heaven. Daoist Master Linxuan and a group of old Daoists were using the art of positioning by the stars of the firmament to determine their direction, when Daoist Cha said abruptly: 'Taihuang Heaven has no stars—how can you fix a position?
' Daoist Master Linxuan and the old Daoists were dumbfounded, and slumped in dismay. Others too wished to fix their bearings, but Taihuang Heaven now had no stars, and its prime magnetism was in chaos.
The prime magnetism of Luofu Heaven and that of Taihuang Heaven had been shattered by the impact, forming countless points of magnetic anomaly; there was simply no way to tell one direction from another. Among them were also many strange beasts—dragon-kylins, giant deer, and others—that had always relied on prime magnetism to find their way.
Now the magnetic anomalies left these beasts dizzy and disoriented.