Chapter 921 — The Blood-Rust Domain
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu stood at the bow and watched the ship cleave through space, which appeared as ribbons of dazzling light; he could not tell how fast the treasure vessel traveled among them. Its speed surpassed his understanding, proof that Qi Xiayu did indeed possess extraordinary powers.
"Indra, the King Buddha of the Heavenly Worthy, has always wished to attain the Emperor Throne and even borrowed cultivation methods from the Great Brahma; but the gulf between the Emperor Throne and Lingxiao is a natural chasm. In both knowledge and foundation, there are barriers that cannot be crossed.
" Shen Mu could not help marveling at the ship's speed; from it he could gauge Qi Xiayu's prowess, and recalling the enmity between Indra and Qi Xiayu, he thought: "There are many strong ones at the Lingxiao realm in this world, but few at the Emperor Throne realm.
This is likely the chief reason. To go from Lingxiao to the Emperor Throne is as hard as ascending to heaven. " Indra, Li Youran, had created his own Indra King Buddha Scripture, yet compared with the Great Brahma King Buddha's Sutra of Immeasurable Kalpas, the gap in knowledge and foundation was not something cultivation could make up.
Though Qi Xiayu was inferior to the Great Brahma King Buddha, Indra Li Youran was likely far inferior to her in turn. The Phoenix Ship threaded through space, and after an unknowable length of time it gave a gentle jolt, emerged from the depths, and came into a vast starry sky. Shen Mu looked out from the bow and saw stars blazing with extraordinary brilliance, ribbons of light linking star to star like chains. This was the true starry sky, not a celestial diagram.
"That is the Tiangang star cluster, one of the Thirty-Six Tiangang; at its center is Tiangang City, also called the Jade Qilin Cluster. " Qi Jiuyi said, "From another angle you would see that the Tiangang cluster takes the form of the ancient god Jade Qilin.
The Tiangang Star Lord among the orthodox deities of the celestial stars was born in Tiangang City.
" Long Qilin grew agitated, leaned over the bow to peer out, and said, "That is where the ancestor of the Qilin divine race was born? The Tiangang Star Lord was born there?
" The Phoenix Ship flew swiftly and soon came before the face of the Tiangang cluster; seen from afar, the linked stars and star chains formed precisely the shape of a qilin. At the center of the interwoven star-chain light stood a jade divine city of immense size.
Qi Jiuyi hesitated, then said, "There are many kinds of qilin.
The Tiangang Star Lord is a Jade Qilin, the most noble of them all.
Beyond that, in the Yuan World there are essences of water, fire, metal, wood, and earth, which gave birth to the five great Qilin ancient gods. As for whether my second brother is a descendant of the Tiangang Star Lord, that is beyond my knowledge.
" Long Qilin's face darkened. From birth he had been able to command the Qilin Sacred Flame, clearly belonging to the fire qilin lineage of the Yuan World, unrelated to the Tiangang Star Lord's bloodline.
The Phoenix Ship flew into the constellation formed by the Thirty-Six Tiangang stars, where great divine cities stood within each cluster: Tiankui City, Tianji City, Tianxian City, Tianyong City, Tianxiong City, Tianmeng City, and many more. Each cluster took a different form; the star chains shaped various ancient gods, archaic in aspect and fierce, indescribably hideous and terrifying.
The forms of the clusters were the forms of ancient gods; one could well imagine that those ancient god star lords looked the same.
"Those divine cities are garrison grounds. " Qi Jiuyi said, "In this assault on the Yuan World, the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals deployed came mostly from the great divine cities of the Tiangang and Disha star clusters. The forces of the Heavenly Court proper, and of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Palaces and Seventy-Two Treasure Halls, were never used. " Shen Mu's heart tightened.