Chapter 958 — The Demonic Thought Takes the Form of the Heavenly Emperor
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
The tower ship passed through the halo behind the phantom's head and swept on its way. Ahead lay the Land of the Great Void.
The phantom of Heavenly Venerable Hong turned slowly; and behind Heavenly Venerable Hong the phantom hand of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor came sweeping down at the tower ship.
The tower ship rushed with a roar into the Land of the Great Void, and at that same moment the Heavenly Emperor's palm arrived there too. Terror beyond bearing seized every heart; they stared dumbly at the palm that grew larger and larger, nothing left to them but despair.
Then that vast palm reached the atmosphere of the Land of the Great Void, and at once it began to burn, and in an instant it scattered away as black ash.
The Land of the Great Void was plainly guarded by some strange power, so that it might not be invaded by the monsters outside. Yet the force of that palm still raised up a dreadful surge; though it did not strike the tower ship, the vessel burst apart with a thunderous roar, its divine timber exploding into splinters.
Everyone aboard was struck as by a hammer, coughing blood; those of weaker strength were crushed outright, their bodies bursting apart in midair, their primal spirits scattering into flying ash!
Whose inner demon that Ancient God Heavenly Emperor was, no one knew; phantom though he was, not yet given substance, and though the Heavenly Emperor's palm collapsed of itself the moment it touched the Land of the Great Void, the aftermath of that one palm had all but wiped them out entire!
Luo Wushuang had thrown himself desperately against the blow and borne the brunt of it; countless wounds burst open all over his body, blood spraying and streaming, and he fell out of the sky.
He had failed to protect the disciples of the various Heavenly Venerables and of the great men of the Heavenly Court aboard the ship; at least half of those divine beings had perished in the aftermath of that strike.
Luo Wushuang's heart was ice; an unbearable desolation welled up in him and could not be pressed down. Their expedition had been led by Shen Mu, but it was he who had been charged with safeguarding these disciples of the Heavenly Venerables and the great men; with so many dead, he could not escape the blame.
Even if he lived to leave the Great Void and return to the Heavenly Court, he would not escape death.
All his hopes were ashes; he let his body fall from the sky.
Below him he saw mountains magnificent and strange, greater than ordinary mountains, taller and more graceful; rivers wider; waterfalls that truly seemed to fall from heaven, plunging hundreds of li in their headlong course.
White clouds drifted, vast as a sea. His falling body tore through the air, and as it slanted past one high mountain he saw the flying waterfall like the Silver River descending from the heavens.
He saw Shen Mu standing at the crest of that waterfall, looking up as a hundred-odd figures from the shattered tower ship, trailing long flames and thick smoke, plummeted from the sky and fell scattered across the world of the Land of the Great Void. Shen Mu drew back his gaze; he seemed to notice him, and even smiled faintly at him.
"This devil king!
" Luo Wushuang's fury blazed up, and he crashed into the deep pool beneath the waterfall.
At the crest of the waterfall, Shen Mu unrolled a map of the land and studied it closely, then looked all about him, comparing it against the mountains and rivers.
After a moment the waterfall abruptly reversed its flow and rushed up into the sky like a water blade of monstrous size, cleaving the heavens. Standing upon the uprushing waterfall, Luo Wushuang walked toward him wreathed in killing intent, and said, word by word: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, you are a hidden peril to the whole Heavenly Court — deep in scheme, ruthless of hand!
" Shen Mu rolled up the map and said with a smile: "I saved your life.