Chapter 1038 — The Hidden Other Side
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Yuandu is the birthplace of the Earth Mother Yuanjun, not the Ancestral Court of my Creator race. In the ancient memories of the Creators, the Ancestral Court was richer by far than Yuandu—teeming with abundance, with every heavenly material and precious treasure one could name.
But the Creators have suffered calamity upon calamity, and little of what was handed down survives.
" Shen Mu thought for a while.
"Could it be on the far side of the Yuan World? No one has ever gone to the far side of the Yuan World. It should be vast—no smaller than the Yuan World itself. " Divine King Langwo asked, "Has the Holy Infant been there? " Shen Mu shook his head and smiled.
"The farthest I have ever gone in the Yuan World is Guixu. What lies on its far side, I cannot say. The Heavenly Dragon palanquin is exceedingly swift—why not go and take a look?
" Divine King Langwo nodded.
At once Shen Mu gave the order, and the six heavenly dragons drew the palanquin straight for the Eastern Sea. The palanquin raced like wind and lightning, its speed unmatched, cutting a brilliant streak across the heavens. On it flew, and more than ten days later Shen Mu looked ahead and saw the sea still without end.
He began to fret.
The palanquin was faster even than he was; the distance it had covered in so long a time would have taken him half a year.
Yet still they had not found the end of the Yuan World. What they had found were many shattered continents adrift in the sea. "Guixu is near," Shen Mu thought.
The palanquin pressed on, past Guixu now, and flew another ten-odd days. Far ahead, Shen Mu saw a stretch of land rise into view, unbroken and endless, encircling the ocean, and upon it stood mostly divine mountains, exceedingly steep. "Is this the end of the Yuan World?
" Shen Mu was delighted.
He bade the palanquin fly over those divine mountains—snow-clad, frozen, utterly lifeless. And when they had crossed the endless snow peaks and he looked down, the vast Western Lands appeared before his eyes. Shen Mu was stunned.
He looked back: the ocean of the Yuan World was a flat plane, not a sphere—and yet they had crossed the sea and come straight to the Western Lands!
That was all but impossible! He had once flown with Bai Qu'er beyond the Yuan World, and looking at it from outside, the Yuan World lay essentially upon a single plane; it was no planet. Then why, sailing toward the Eastern Sea, had they failed to reach the end of the Yuan World and instead arrived at the Western Lands?
"The far side of the Yuan World has been hidden away by someone! " Shen Mu grew feverish with excitement.
"To hide the far side of the Yuan World, one would have to fold space—and fold the Yuan World's entire boundary in one sweep!
That is no easier than folding the whole Yuan World and sealing it away! Only the Ten Venerables, or the ancient Divine Emperor at his peak, could have the strength for such a thing.
So what did they mean to do by sealing off the far side of the Yuan World?
" Divine King Langwo watched him, curious, as Shen Mu stepped out of the palanquin and came to stand above the snow mountains, testing with his primal-magnetism divine art whether any seal lay there.
After a moment Shen Mu dispersed the art and shook his head. "No trace of a seal. . . Open!
" The vertical eye at his brow opened, sweeping all around, surveying the void. After another moment the eye closed.
Even his unfathomable third eye could detect no spatial seal here.
"Primordial spirit, leave the body! " Shen Mu's primordial spirit flew out and plunged into the earth, driving deeper and deeper below. Since no seal could be seen, then he would send his primordial spirit ever deeper into the ground—perhaps in that way he might find the far side of the Yuan World.
A long while later, Shen Mu's primordial spirit burst suddenly out of the earth and gazed about him, bewildered.
"What did the Holy Infant find?