Chapter 1084 — An Upheaval Unseen Since Time Immemorial
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Since I left Jingping for the Heavenly Court, five years have passed, and I have not had a single fruit of reform."
Shen Mu sighed. "And when I return to the past, that tendency grows ever more pronounced."
Ever since he had left the Yuan Realm and come to the Heavenly Court, he had created fewer and fewer arts of the Way and divine powers; yet every time he went back to Jingping, he always learned something new.
Such is the work of soil.
The Jingping reforms were still going on, and he had torn himself away from that soil of reform; every return was a replenishing of nutrients.
If it was so even in the Heavenly Court, what if he had stayed in the past? That age was still benighted and ignorant to him, its arts of the Way and divine powers still in the making. Any single divine power of a later age, brought into this era, would shock the world. On what, then, would Shen Mu grow?
His purpose was to surpass the ancients, not to become one of them.
The Heavenly Court drew nearer and nearer.
And the ancient gods of the Twenty-Seven Constellations took the God-Slaying Platform and the God-Slaying Mystic Blade and set out for the heavens where Achou was. Kuimu Lang said, "This time it is inconvenient for us to show ourselves. Take this divine blade and strike him down. We will hide in the shadows against any mischance. Do it well, and Crown Prince Qi will reward you richly!"
In that heaven, Achou had come to the end of his road. Many demigods stood upon a high cliff, holding Achou's child, and said down to Achou below, "Kneel!"
Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Court's imperial garden, Yun Tianzun followed at the heels of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor. On this visit to the Heavenly Court he had impeached Hao Tianzun before the whole court; after the court dispersed, the Heavenly Emperor kept him back to stroll the imperial garden and exchange a few intimate words.
"Yun, you govern the human clans, and you should know that it is no easy thing to be an emperor. Yet what I govern is the whole of the cosmos, the heavens and the ten thousand worlds."
The Heavenly Emperor had a headache. He rubbed his temples and sighed, "The human clans are only one among countless races in the heavens and ten thousand worlds, and look at the foul mess they make. And just now you and Hao'er quarreled yourselves hoarse in the court. I am truly caught in a hard place. I must indulge the feelings of my old brothers, hold fast the loyalty of the demigods, and still bear the worries and troubles of you later-born living things. The seat of the Heavenly Emperor is not an easy one to hold."
Yun Tianzun smiled. "This subject knows Your Majesty's difficulty. After all, Hao Tianzun is..."
The Heavenly Emperor glanced at him. Yun Tianzun understood, and said no more.
Suddenly the Great Sun Star Lord came striding up, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, a great calamity has come!"
The Heavenly Emperor frowned and rebuked him. "What great calamity? The world today flourishes, all under heaven is at peace, the living dwell in contentment. Where is there any evil?"
The Great Sun Star Lord said hurriedly, "The ancient gods of the Twenty-Eight Constellations have come; they came to the Heavenly Court and borrowed the God-Slaying Platform. I fear great trouble will follow! By Your Majesty's command I keep watch over the heavens, and now I have found the demigods stirring strangely; it seems they have some dealings with the Twenty-Eight Constellations. And in this matter, in this matter..."
He gritted his teeth and, summoning his courage, said, "I fear Crown Prince Qi is involved as well!"
The Heavenly Emperor's face darkened. The Great Sun Star Lord could not help but shiver, sensing an inexplicable killing intent radiating from him.
"Your Majesty trusts this subject and laid a heavy charge upon me; I had no choice but to speak. I beg Your Majesty's pardon!"