Chapter 929 — Meeting Beneath the Moon at Yao Terrace
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 5
The palace maids here all served Her Majesty the Empress, each one a deity, gorgeously adorned, beautiful and alluring.
It was only that Yan'er worried someone might poison Shen Mu, so she had Qi Jiuyi and Long Qilin taste every kind of food first. Only when they were fine did she dare give it to Shen Mu.
"Sister Yan'er need not be so cautious. I am well-versed in medicine as well—using food to administer poison should not be an easy method."
Shen Mu smiled and said, "Moreover, the Heavenly Court has no need to resort to poisoning to dispose of me. They have no shortage of methods."
Qi Jiuyi's eyes flickered as he surveyed his surroundings, and said, "Sect Master Shen knows. This is the place where Lord Yu, foremost of the Nine Celestial Lords, was murdered?"
Shen Mu nodded slightly. "This is also the place of origin for the successive calamities from Dragon Han to Jingping."
Qi Jiuyi said, "I heard the Heaven Alliance originated here—that Lord Ling, Lord Yun, and Lord Yue established the Heaven Alliance here, and together with Lord Mu and Lord Shen became the five founding elders of the Heaven Alliance."
Shen Mu's brow arched. "I had already left by then."
Qi Jiuyi glanced at him. "I heard that after the Heaven Alliance succeeded, its leaders would often come here to deliberate. This place counts as one of the Heaven Alliance's main headquarters."
Shen Mu's interest was piqued. "Who are the leaders of the Heaven Alliance?"
"The Heaven Alliance today has ten leaders, all invested with the title of Celestial Lord by His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor. It is only that some ancient gods do not acknowledge these ten Celestial Lords, recognizing only the original Nine Celestial Lords."
Qi Jiuyi said, "The first is Lord Hao, the second is Lord Fire, the third is Lord Xiao, the fourth is the Ancestral God King, titled Lord Ancestor. The fifth is the Langxuan Divine Emperor, Lord Lang. The sixth is Consort Qiang, invested as Lord Qiang. The seventh is Consort Yan, invested as Lord Yan. The eighth is Lord Hong, the ninth is Lord Xu, and the tenth is Lord Gong."
Shen Mu frowned. Of these ten new Celestial Lords, he recognized only Lords Hao and Fire, and then the Ancestral God King—though he had only crossed weapons with the Ancestral God King's Lord Yu weapon, and had never met the man himself.
As for the other Celestial Lords, he had never laid eyes on them at all.
"There are also Lord Yue and Lord You—why are they not among the Ten Celestial Lords?" Shen Mu asked.
Qi Jiuyi shook his head. "I heard Lord Yue and Lord You long ago went into seclusion to avoid the world, their names obscure. When His Majesty redefined the rankings of the Celestial Lords, he did not include them. The new Ten Celestial Lords all wield tremendous power in the Heavenly Court. However, the new rankings of the Celestial Lords truly cannot command the allegiance of the masses."
He glanced around, lowered his voice, and said, "Some say that the former Nine Celestial Lords, with the exception of Lord Shen, all possessed tremendous merit and virtue—they established the Divine Treasury cultivation system and the Heavenly Palace cultivation system, their achievements so great they blessed ten thousand generations. Even Lord Shen—back then, in his battle at the Yao Pool, his divine powers influenced untold numbers of later generations, so he can barely be counted as having great merit. But the Celestial Lords of today all rely on strength, on battle achievements. As for great merit that influences later generations, they have none. Therefore many in the Heavenly Court refuse to accept them. Few ever speak of the Ten Celestial Lords—they all speak of the Nine Celestial Lords."
Shen Mu smiled. "Then does Brother Qi also believe I possess great merit, and am worthy of the name Lord Mu?"