Chapter 898 — Galloping Eighty Thousand Li
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
Yan Qiling's heart went cold.
A moment before, she had forgotten the blessing the Heavenly Emperor had bestowed upon the back of her head, and had nearly spoken her heart's true voice aloud. Granted, at this moment the Heavenly Emperor's second soul should be in urgent haste to return to the Heavenly Court and fuse with the soul he had left there, with no leisure to spy upon or eavesdrop on her; yet in all things there is always that one chance in ten thousand. If her heart's voice were heard by the ancient god, the Heavenly Emperor, she would not be able to save herself either.
Shen Mu drew back his finger. In those days, to undo the many ancient-god blessings upon the back of the Celestial Venerable Yu's head, he had taxed his mind to the utmost, summoning heroes and wise men from all under heaven to the capital of Jingping to break those blessings, and so the Heavenly Emperor's blessing was no stranger to him. Moreover, the Pavilion of Archives also held the great dao runes of the Heavenly Emperor, and so his understanding of that blessing had climbed to an even higher plane.
He had not undone the Heavenly Emperor's blessing on the back of Yan Qiling's head; he had merely tainted it, so that for the time being the Heavenly Emperor could not hear their conversation through her.
This was much the same trick the woodcutter in the capital of Jingping had used to undo the blessing of Mother Earth on the back of Shen Mu's own head; both were feats of cunning. "Thank you," said Yan Qiling, a smile breaking across her face.
"You are sometimes especially gentle, and sometimes especially infuriating.
" Shen Mu smiled faintly and took this as a compliment.
Yan Qiling went on, "I have come to see that my master is truly heartless.
The bond between master and disciple, I fear, weighs not the least bit in his heart.
That is why I spoke up for you in the Tianyin Realm. To help you is to help myself. " Shen Mu was silent a moment, then said, "Then your master's wife.
.
.
" Yan Qiling's body gave a shudder. After a moment she said, "My master's wife's traveling palace is just ahead.
" Yan'er folded her wings and descended, and Yan Qiling leaped down from her back, saying, "Does the Celestial Venerable Mu wish to go in with me?
" Shen Mu hesitated, then nodded, and bade Long Qilin and Yan'er remain where they were.
This concerned the one and only chance of life for Jingping; he must see it with his own eyes and make certain that nothing went amiss. The two walked toward the traveling palace of the new Mother Earth.
This complex of palaces could not have been built long ago; many powerful demigods of various races stood guard there, and these demigods had doubtless been subdued by the new Mother Earth.
The breaking of the seal upon the Yuan Realm this time had caused tremendous repercussions. The true Mother Earth had never dared show herself.
The Heaven Alliance had hunted her until only a single heavenly soul remained to her, and her physical body, whose true form was the Yuan Tree, had been seized by the Heaven Alliance and cultivated into the new Mother Earth. Lacking a body, Mother Earth could not command the same allegiance among the demigods as the new Mother Earth; though she still had a band of fiercely loyal powerhouses at her back, in those days her momentum could not compare with that of the new Mother Earth. In the traveling palace, the demigods who saw Yan Qiling and Shen Mu approach all showed strange looks, yet asked no questions.
When they came to the hall of Mother Earth, Yan Qiling knelt and bowed to the new Mother Earth, saying, "Master's Wife.
" Though the new Mother Earth looked exactly like Mother Earth, she lacked Mother Earth's aggressive, domineering air; on the contrary she was very gentle, and she said in haste, "Get up at once.