Chapter 1043 — Nine Farewells to the Heavenly Worthy
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
Long Qilin and Yan'er stepped cautiously out from behind him. Gazing at the countless experts of the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace filling the sky, their hearts thumped wildly.
"Long Pang, is this going to end well?"
In her panic, Yan'er found herself involuntarily transforming into a little green sparrow. She landed atop Long Qilin's big head, scratched at his scalp with her claws, and whispered, "The young master seems to have beaten the East Emperor's reincarnated body far too badly..."
Far off, a sudden thunderous crash rang out—a palace the East Emperor's reincarnated body had smashed through could bear it no longer and toppled, swaying.
The fall of that one palace was one thing, but other palaces came crashing down after it, boom upon boom, rousing the dragon experts in the sky from their shock.
Yan'er grew more frantic still, her scratching making Long Qilin's head itch worse and worse.
Long Qilin steadied himself and said quietly, "Whether this can be smoothed over is hard to say. But this time the Cult Master came to the Eastern Pole Heaven to visit the East Emperor, and the East Emperor meant to borrow the Cult Master's name to establish his own authority. The Cult Master was merely striking back."
Yan'er was baffled by his meaning.
Long Qilin, however, saw it all with perfect clarity.
The East Emperor clearly intended to suppress the Heavenly Worthy Mu's reputation, and that was why he had staged so grand an occasion, stirring up the greater part of the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace's dragon clans.
Had it been merely a test of Shen Mu's potential, there would have been no need to summon every civil and military minister of the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace, nor to alarm so many. Clearly the East Emperor harbored other designs.
That the East Emperor wished to make use of Shen Mu's title of Heavenly Worthy to build up his own prestige was, after all, understandable.
In recent years the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace had tottered amid wind and rain, and the days of the ancient gods had grown worse by the day. The fame of the Heavenly Court's Ten Heavenly Worthies rang ever louder; at times the Ten Heavenly Worthies, in their dealings, disdained even to borrow the name of the ancient gods' Heavenly Emperor—the nominal overlord—and issued orders directly under their own title of Heavenly Worthy.
To dare disobey meant the confiscation of one's household and the extermination of one's clan, all hinging on a single thought of the Heavenly Worthies.
The crisis of the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace was plain for all the people of the Eastern Pole Heaven to see: pressed from above by the Ten Heavenly Worthies, harried from below by the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven, and now the Heavenly Worthy Yuyuan had descended from the Heavenly Court bearing six divine cities in his palm, arraying millions of gods and demons in arms!
What was more, the Heavenly Worthy Yuyuan formed hand seals and pointed straight at the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace, arrogant beyond measure, crushing the confidence of the Eastern Pole Heaven's dragon clans.
As one of the four rulers among the ancient gods, the East Emperor did indeed need an opportunity to lift morale and restore faith.
To suppress Shen Mu was, first, to make Shen Mu understand his place in their partnership: without the support of these ancient gods, Shen Mu would accomplish nothing at all!
In this partnership, the ancient gods were the masters, holding the dominant position, while Shen Mu was the subordinate, able only to act on their commands.
Second, though the Heavenly Worthy Mu's name did not rival that of the Ten Heavenly Worthies of today, he was still the highest elder of the Heavenly Alliance in the open. To make Shen Mu suffer defeat at his hands would still build, in the hearts of his subjects, the image of the ancient gods as invincible.
Shen Mu had come to the Eastern Pole Heaven, and the East Emperor had set two trials. This was his purpose.