Chapter 749 — You Tianzun Smiles Through Sorrow
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Yin Tianzi showed a look of suspicion and thought, "Earlier, on the great Kun's back, they seemed to be meeting for the first time, strangers to one another. Why does Shen Kai now say that as they fought, their dao arts and divine powers improved? That does not sound like the truth."
Though he thought this, he did not say it aloud.
Yu Tianzun frowned slightly and smiled. "If you two do not wish to speak of it, I will not press. Many divine-power wielders came to this gathering, talents as numerous as carp crossing the river, but only three are truly worth a glance. Ahead, past this floating bridge, is the Jade Pool Lodge, untouched by ruin."
Ahead, a flying bridge spanned the air, unsupported, drifting in long stretch over the sea, many divine-power wielders walking upon it toward another island.
Shen Mu looked back. The precious island of the Jade Pool had been reduced by the three of them to a battered ruin; many demigods flew in, repairing the broken palaces.
Yu Tianzun walked on, gazing at the shimmering sea. In the distance, two ancient gods were pulling out the ancient god planted in the sea—that ancient god, beaten senseless by the old ox, his head thrust into the water.
And old turtles were surfacing from beneath the sea, the divine and sacred mountains on their backs rising from the ocean floor, seawater rushing down the mountainsides in cascades of waterfalls.
This was the destruction wrought by the old ox in one of his tempers.
"The Heavenly Emperor is broad-minded, and will not hold it against you three."
Yu Tianzun smiled with something less than a smile. "But the Empress may throw a little tantrum, so the three of you had best be careful... You Tianzun!"
He called out to a youth, who was also heading toward the Jade Pool Lodge, walking along and idly flinging talismans at the sea.
Shen Mu's heart stirred. The talismans this You Tianzun threw were somewhat like the script of Youdu; flung into the sea, they blew several great fish apart.
"You Tianzun, who opened the Life-and-Death Divine Treasury? Why does he have a child's temper?" he wondered.
You Tianzun wore a little braid sticking straight up on his head, a bubble of snot puffing from his nostrils, and a ghost-face mask on the back of his head—the mask a smiling face, yet beneath each of its two eyes ran a tear-track.
This Tianzun was unlike any of the Tianzuns Shen Mu had seen before; his nature seemed somewhat withdrawn. Even when Yu Tianzun spoke to him of his own accord, he barely deigned to answer, only lifting his eyes to glance at Yu Tianzun, then at Shen Mu and Kai Huang and the others, then going back to idly flinging Youdu talismans.
Shen Mu studied You Tianzun with curiosity. Since You Tianzun had opened the Life-and-Death Secret Realm, it was only natural that he master the Youdu script; surely he excelled in Youdu divine powers.
In that ancient age, mastery of Youdu divine powers meant mastery of life and death—an achievement already most remarkable.
"You Tianzun..."
Shen Mu took out a little notebook and smiled. "Could I have your autograph?"
You Tianzun shot him a glance, looked at the center of his brow, and suddenly took a flicker of interest. "The eye in your brow is strange."
Shen Mu was startled and smiled. "You saw through it. My strength is too great, so I had to seal my eye lest it stir up trouble."
You Tianzun raised a hand, meaning to pluck away the willow leaf on his brow, and Shen Mu hastily blocked him.
You Tianzun was immediately displeased; he sprang from the floating bridge and jumped down. "Fine, don't show me! Nothing special!"
Shen Mu looked down from the bridge, and saw that You Tianzun had not landed on the sea, but had taken out a little paper boat; the boat grew larger and larger, he landed on it, and the boat drifted toward the island where the Jade Pool Lodge stood.
"That paper boat..."