Chapter 1056 — The Incense Hall Descends Upon the Mortal World
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
Shen Mu's face darkened.
"Was this your idea, yours and the Southern Emperor's? " he said coldly. The Red Emperor Qi Xiayu looked puzzled.
"This was the Moon Celestial Venerable's idea as well.
Celestial Venerable Mu, you are a Great Mage imperishable through ten thousand kalpas; by rights you should not be so frantic. As far as you are concerned, Heaven Duke and Earth Count both still live, and to resurrect the Southern Emperor, to free her from the bondage of the ancient gods' Great Way — is that not a heaven-sent opportunity? " "A heaven-sent opportunity?
" Shen Mu laughed in his fury, then sank weakly onto the throne and said in defeat, "A heaven-sent opportunity?
You did not consult me, and yet you dare call it a heaven-sent opportunity?
My resurrection arts are not omnipotent. There are still arts in this world that can counter my soul-remolding, and every one of them lies in the hands of the Heavenly Court's Ten Celestial Venerables.
.
. " The Red Emperor Qi Xiayu's expression changed drastically.
Shen Mu had already given his order; the Celestial Dragon Palanquin charged toward the Southern Pole Forbidden Zone.
"The Grand Emperor's Great Luotian of divine consciousness, the Heavenly Court's Hall of Wafting Incense, the Heaven Emperor's Forbidden Zone, the Empress Yuanmu's Gulf of Returning — all of them can resist my soul-summoning arts.
They could even hide your soul away in the Great Void, and I would never find it.
" Sitting in the carriage, Shen Mu felt a flare of anger. "Southern Emperor, are you so certain that I can bring you back to life?
" He could not help being angry.
The Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird was one of the few among the ancient gods with whom he shared a deep bond; after Heaven Duke and Earth Count, she stood closest to his heart. When Shen Mu first returned to the early years of the Longhan Era, the first ancient god he met was the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird; the two had talked joyfully aboard a ship, and the Vermilion Bird had taken him as her little brother.
Later, when Shen Mu beat Celestial Venerable Hao bloody and had no place left to stand in the Heavenly Court, it was in the Vermilion Bird's heavenly palace that he took shelter. What was more, the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird was also the first ancient god to learn of the Heaven Alliance.
And later still, aboard the ghost ship, when Shen Mu stole the power of the four emperors of the ancient gods and the four emperors seized him and Zhe Huali, it was the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird who decided alone to set them free, letting them break loose from the ghost ship's bonds. His feelings for Heaven Duke and Earth Count were those of a junior for his elders; his feelings for the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird were those between a younger brother and an elder sister.
Her design was plain enough to him: to seize this chance, as Lady Tianyin had done, to cast off her ancient god's body and win rebirth, no longer bound by the Great Way of heaven and earth.
And the very reason for Shen Mu's anger was that she had done this without consulting him, deciding on her own, so certain that Shen Mu, a Great Mage imperishable through ten thousand kalpas, was omnipotent and would surely resurrect her! To her, the Ten Celestial Venerables' scheme was the perfect moment: to die at the Ten Celestial Venerables' hands, and at the same time to wash away in blood the gods and demons the Heavenly Court had planted in the Southern Heaven — two ends met at once.
"And yet this chance is also the perfect moment to strike at me, and at the ancient gods!
" Shen Mu clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.