Chapter 873 — The Secret Treasure of the Star Sea
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Though Dragon Qilin said only a single word, "Yes," Shen Mu looked as though he had been granted some vast encouragement, and his spirits soared anew. Yan'er, seeing this, could not help but click her tongue in wonder, and stuffed a spirit pill into Dragon Qilin's mouth.
The Water Qilin looked on with no small envy, thinking, "When my lord is at a loss, I too shall say yes, and so wrangle more rations out of him.
Though it seems my lord has been at a loss for as long as I can remember. . .
" Lady Tianyin saw them courteously out of the Tianyin Realm, and at parting she said in a low voice, "The Great Dharma Master won't be angry at what I have done, will he? The Heavenly Emperor is, after all, the sovereign of us ancient gods. He has done many wicked things to the other ancient gods, but at bottom he is not a bad sort. When the Dao Ancestor came to me, wanting the runes of the Tianyin Realm to gather the Emperor's soul, I could not refuse. " "Say no more, my lady.
I understand it all.
" Shen Mu smiled. "That you remember old ties and choose accordingly is only natural. But my lady, you are no longer an ancient god born of heaven and nurtured by earth. The ancient god you were is dead; you are now an entirely new being.
You are like us, a creature born after heaven and earth.
" Lady Tianyin was taken aback. "You are a simple soul, my lady, so simple that you keep no guard against outsiders, so simple that you do not know why you died, so simple that you have once more placed yourself beneath the Heavenly Emperor's banner. But have you never considered this? At the very moment of your death, a wisp of the Heavenly Emperor's soul was already serving as a high-ranking member of the Heaven Alliance.
" Shen Mu bowed and took his leave, saying with utter sincerity, "He did not stop the Yin Son of Heaven from striking at you. Nor did he stop the Heaven Alliance from moving against the Earth Mother Yuanjun. My lady, your mortal body was destroyed; when I revived you, nothing remained but an empty husk. And after your revival you were not the same as the Heavenly Emperor, for his ancient divine flesh still endures, and he may yet become an ancient god again. You and he are no longer the same species.
" Confusion showed on Lady Tianyin's face as she watched them go, and Shen Mu's voice still echoed at her ear: "My lady, you must not be so simple anymore. " Dragon Qilin bound a great mirror with his vital essence and carried it on his back as he went forward, yet Shen Mu was not perched on his head.
The Water Qilin walked alongside, Yu Tianzun had vanished as well, and only Yan'er hopped to and fro, busily feeding them spirit pills. Now and then the girl would pinch a spirit pill and thrust her hand into the mirror, and within the mirror Yu Tianzun would open his mouth and catch it. Shen Mu was in the mirror world as well.
He took out a small mirror, turned his back to the jade slip within the glass, and raised the mirror to study the runes upon it. Then he brought out a great many computation elemental soldiers and assembled them into a massive calculating instrument, working ceaselessly at his figures, trying to fuse into it the Taiwei Calculation Classic as perfected by Dao Master Lin Xuan, and so perfect those runes.
Yu Tianzun, meanwhile, sat nearby in a daze. He had cultivated to a bottleneck, having reached the very peak of the Spirit Fetus realm, and meant to advance one step further.
Shen Mu did not teach him how to open the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury, nor did he teach him how to cultivate; and Yu Tianzun did not ask, for Shen Mu had told him that those with bodies like theirs, bodies of tyranny, all created their own methods and groped out their own paths. So he stubbornly resolved to find a path of his own. Dragon Qilin followed the Yong River eastward.