Chapter 1045 — The Twin Emperors of Xuanwu
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
"Heavenly Worthy Mu, this must be our second meeting? " Emperor Xuan laughed heartily. Shen Mu made his salute and said, flat and cool, "Before the Jingping Calamity broke out, there was the Great Calamity of Celestial Phenomena, and among its workings were the Northern Emperor's divine weapons, formidable beyond measure.
I do admire Emperor Xuan's treasures greatly. " Emperor Xuan returned the salute and laughed.
"Is Heavenly Worthy Mu reproaching me over this matter?
Heavenly Worthy does not know: it was the witch who lent out those Five Thunder Pots — it has nothing to do with me. I said at the time that the witch brings ruin on herself and cannot live; before, she lent out Five Thunder Pots to destroy the Shanghuang age, and afterward she lent them out again to destroy the Kaihuang age, and now she would destroy Jingping.
Sooner or later she will offend someone who must not be offended, and die for it! " Shen Mu's expression eased somewhat.
"So it had nothing to do with Emperor Xuan; I wronged you.
The Five Thunder Pot, that rare treasure, can hold the five great cloud-thunders, and from the cloud-thunders the Fire-Bell divine weapons are refined. I admire it greatly.
" Emperor Xuan, hearing the tune and knowing its meaning, said, "Heavenly Worthy Mu and I have hit it off at first sight; I regard you as a kindred spirit. The witch and I divided the Five Thunder Pots equally — she has a dozen or so, and I have a dozen or so. When Heavenly Worthy departs, I shall give you one, by way of apology! " Shen Mu's expression eased further, and he smiled. "Just now I met your worthy nephew Youming. I heard him say that he has been sealed beneath the mountain for six hundred thousand years, and that in six hundred thousand years nearly six hundred Five Thunder Pots were formed.
Why then does Your Majesty Emperor Xuan have only a dozen or so? And from the most ancient times to this day, who knows how many hundreds of millions of years have passed — how could a dozen or so be all there is? " Emperor Xuan's face flushed red, and he cursed.
"So many were formed? The witch must have pocketed them for herself! " He sighed. "To tell you the truth, in the wars of dynasty after dynasty, who knows how many Five Thunder Pots were destroyed; I truly do not have many left.
Very well — I shall give Heavenly Worthy all sixteen of my Five Thunder Pots. " Shen Mu sighed. "Jingping is weak and frail. Without mighty divine artifacts to guard the realm, its destruction lies in a single thought of the Heavenly Court.
If Jingping is gone, I will not live on alone.
" Emperor Xuan smiled. "Heavenly Worthy must not speak so. You came from the Eastern Emperor's side?
The Eastern Emperor has always been forthright of temper — he did not make things difficult for you, I trust? " Shen Mu said, "The Eastern Emperor set two trials.
The first was to revive another without borrowing the power of the Heaven Duke and the Earth Lord; the second was to test my potential. " Emperor Xuan's eyes flickered; clearly he was waiting to see how the price would run.
"And did Heavenly Worthy pass the trials? " Shen Mu said coolly, "After I revived the man, I smashed his Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace, wounded his reincarnated body, and made him lose a little face before all the divine dragons of the Eastern Pole Heaven.
" Emperor Xuan laughed heartily and raised five fingers.
"It has just come back to me that in my long-sealed treasury there are still some stores. I can give Heavenly Worthy fifty Five Thunder Pots, enough to form a Five Thunder Army!
" Shen Mu raised one finger. Emperor Xuan shook his head. "Truthfully, in the wars of successive ages, many Five Thunder Pots were indeed destroyed.
And in the Kaihuang age I gave Kaihuang fifty Five Thunder Pots — Kaihuang is Heavenly Worthy Shen, and I cannot favor one and neglect the other.