Chapter 747 — Clash of the Youth and the Sovereign
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
The Yaochi Gathering had always been a place of thronging comings and goings, people everywhere; when Shen Mu sent Fire Tianzun flying, uproar broke out on the spot, the crowd buzzed with talk, and more and more people came surging over. To send Fire Tianzun flying, a demigod might manage; a divine art practitioner could never do it.
Fire Tianzun was one of the pioneers of the divine treasury cultivation system, the Heaven-Man treasury was opened up by him, he had received the blessing of the ancient gods, and his cultivation was mighty; only the other six Tianzuns could stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
Moreover, among the seven Tianzuns, Fire Tianzun was by no means the weakest in strength. Fire Tianzun commanded the power of flame, and in the arts of fire his attainments were unmatched by any man alive; yet Shen Mu had sent him flying with ease.
How could that not stir a commotion?
"The equal of the gods? " Shen Mu paid the surging crowd no mind.
Tilting his head, he pondered: where had this definition of "god" come from?
If achieving deathless immortality was enough to make one a god, then one who cultivated the Creation divine art could indeed be called a god.
The Creation divine art could make a man's own flesh deathless, keeping his organs forever in an unaging state; judged by lifespan alone, he could already stand alongside the ancient gods.
And the method Yu Tianzun had founded must be the Heavenly Palace cultivation system of later ages, likewise a deathless, immortal body. The two methods differed: the Heavenly Palace cultivation system had clear divisions of realm, one climbing realm by realm straight up to the Emperor's Throne.
The Art of Creation had no such clear-cut divisions; it worked chiefly through divine arts to alter the structure of the flesh, keeping one forever young.
But the Art of Creation was harder to cultivate, and being a mere divine art, it could not be spread abroad and accepted by the world as the Heavenly Palace cultivation system was. "The Art of Creation is too limited.
" Having weighed it all out, Shen Mu said to Ling Tianzun: "Sister Ling, the Art of Creation may make a god of a man, but it cannot compare with the method Yu Tianzun opened. It is not that its power falls short, but that it is too hard to learn.
" Ling Tianzun laughed: "Those are all mediocrities.
What we seek is the Dao; what business have we with mediocrities?
Your Creation divine art can truly help me perfect my own divine art. We must study it well and thoroughly, you and I!
" She took Shen Mu by one hand and pushed her way out of the crowd, and just then, with a great boom, Fire Tianzun came flying over, flames blazing all about him, searing the air until it burst, and bellowed: "I was careless, that is the only reason you sent me flying! Brat, come again!
" One of Shen Mu's hands was held by Ling Tianzun; his other five turned and flew, meeting Fire Tianzun's attack, and with another thunderous boom Fire Tianzun was flung back again. Kaihuang was furious; lowering his voice, he shouted: "I told you not to make a move! How great a stir do you mean to raise?
" Shen Mu was angered as well: "He struck at me. Had I not taken it, would I not have been wounded?
Were it you, would you not fight back, and suffer the beating gladly?
" Kaihuang frowned. Fire Tianzun charged again, his fury soaring to the heavens, roaring: "All of you, scatter!
There are too many people, I have no room to move!
" The crowd scattered with a roar, leaving open ground.
Kaihuang said hastily: "Fire Tianzun, this is only a misunderstanding.
.
. " Flames blazed all over Fire Tianzun; his body grew larger and larger, until he became a giant twelve zhang tall, fire dragons coiling about him, his might boundless.
Kaihuang's brows knit tight.
Fire Tianzun plainly possessed no shallow attainments in both fire divine arts and body divine arts; though in his eyes they were still somewhat shallow.