Chapter 735 — Strange Peaks at Heaven's Edge, a Hundred Palms Revolving
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
When the two great martial dao divine abilities collided, the earth beneath their feet instantly grew brittle and burst apart. Though this was the Dou Niu Palace, incomparably firm, these two experts marching toward the martial dao still stirred up a terrifying upheaval.
A mass of brilliant light burst from the singular point of their collision, growing brighter and brighter, swelling at furious speed, swallowing all around it; then wild currents of air surged along the ground in every direction, and the swelling hurricane whipped the robes of the distant War Gods.
And at the center of that brilliance, two raging tides of qi and blood shot skyward, and within the blood light appeared the strange vision of two majestic War Gods colliding, their sinewy frames hideous with power.
At last the hurricane receded, the light dispersed, and the bloody vision faded of itself.
Shen Mu and Hu Bugui each coughed up blood, their auras wilted and faint.
The two plopped down onto the ground, gasping for breath, the air they exhaled flecked with foam of blood.
Hu Bugui looked at Shen Mu, and Shen Mu looked at Hu Bugui; the smiles on their faces deepened, and suddenly their two great hands struck together heavily, gripping tight, and laughter rang out!
Old Ox and the thirty-six War Gods all breathed a sigh of relief. They had feared the two, neither yielding to the other, would come to blows again; but it turned out both were broad-minded men, harboring only the mutual admiration of fellow travelers, with none of that jealous pettiness in their hearts.
"Brother Hu, there is little future for you here in the Dou Niu Realm."
Shen Mu, full of vigor, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, dispelled his three heads and six arms, and pressed the willow leaf back to the center of his brow to seal the third eye. He said with a laugh, "The world beyond holds many figures who are no less than you or me, and the Jingping Reforms are raging like a fire — they need geniuses like you. Did you not want to cross the Divine Bridge in a single leap and ascend to the Heavenly Palace? I rather think you should meet my close friend Xu Shenghua!"
His brows danced and his spirit soared. "Xu Shenghua is truly remarkable — even cleverer than I am... hmm, a genius second only to me! He has reasoned out that all divine treasures are in fact one divine treasure, and means to refine all divine treasures into a single body, into one divine treasure. He has already merged the Six Harmonies realm and the Seven Stars realm into one, giving divine ability users one realm fewer; at present he intends to fuse the Heaven-Man divine treasure in as well."
Hu Bugui blurted out, "You mean that since the martial artists of our Dou Niu Realm have no Divine Bridge divine treasure, we should fuse the other divine treasures instead?"
Shen Mu nodded and said with a smile, "Do you think Xu Shenghua is worth meeting?"
Hu Bugui was stirred beyond measure and rose abruptly to his feet. "Meet him — meet him I must! I am already impatient to see him! When do we leave? Why not go now, and see him at once!"
Shen Mu said joyfully, "When you meet him, you are sure to like him too. He is a most fascinating fellow!"
Old Ox stared wide-eyed at these two rather agitated youths and thought, "Do they not intend to go on with the challenge? All they need do is defeat me, and they can enter the Lingxiao Hall and challenge the lord upon the Imperial Throne..."
The thirty-six War Gods of Jade Capital City likewise looked at one another, somewhat at a loss.
The purpose of this grand examination of the Dou Niu Realm's martial artists was to find a path by which the god-clan descendants of the Dou Niu Realm, who lacked the Divine Bridge, could ascend directly to the Heavenly Palace and become deities.
Yet these two youngsters grew more and more excited the more they spoke, looking ready to up and leave at any moment.