Chapter 1094 — The Azure Bird Swoops, the Canopy Blots Out the Sky
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
So passed several days and nights, and once a thin rain fell—there had been a drought in the Primal World, and the people of a tribe had offered three pairs of virgin boys and girls in sacrifice to the Rain Master, an ancient god.
After devouring the children, the Rain Master sent his projection to the Primal World to bring rain, but being annoyed that the offerings were too few, he let down only a thin layer of rain, then warned the people below with thunder that if they wanted more rain they should sacrifice more virgin boys and girls.
After the Rain Master had brought rain, a Drought Fiend in turn spread calamity, scorching the wilds for a thousand li and baking the earth dry.
Many adepts ran to the Empyrean Heavenly Court, begging the divine beings there to go down and subdue the Drought Fiend; they flew hastily past the palanquin. Shen Mu remained as still as ever.
Yan'er grew a little anxious, craning her neck and peering about; she saw the phantom forms of the Thunder Duke and the Lightning Mother racing through the clouds, hurling heavenly thunderbolts without cease—thunder rolling, lightning flashing—as they hunted down thieves who had slipped into the Mystic Capital to steal heavenly fire.
Such was the daily life of the Primal World, the ancient gods still dominating the stage; scenes like this, of course, would be hard to see in later ages.
As Yan'er was peering about, suddenly a voice, as if weeping and lamenting, came from afar, crying shrilly, "Great Hong—Great Hong!
" Yan'er's heart jumped; the Dragon Qilin likewise sprang to his feet, and the six celestial dragons' sinews went slack and their bones soft, so that they nearly collapsed upon the river's surface. Far away, a great bird beat its wings and flew toward them; even from a distance, its blue-gold pinions veiled the sky and hid the sun, like an enormous dark cloud hurtling at the Empyrean Heavenly Court.
Nearer and nearer the great bird came, and larger and larger it loomed; with its wings spread, it actually seemed able to cover the Empyrean Heavenly Court entirely!
The canopy of the celestial-dragon palanquin suddenly shot into the air, spinning round and round; higher and higher it rose, and one by one the canopy's ribs soared into the firmament, merging with the azure sky and turning into forty-nine Ways of Heaven that slanted down to shroud the Empyrean Heavenly Court.
Shen Mu sat in the carriage and said in a low voice, "Great Hong, it has been a long time.
Why not come and have a word?
" At the sound of his voice, the great blue-gold bird swept its dazzling gaze toward him, and a flood of divine sense rolled out, vast and overwhelming, like a heavenly torrent bursting forth, blanketing the sky and the earth!
That was Great Hong's divine sense; he had not used the Supreme Divine-Sense Domain—for dealing with so small a human Venerable as Shen Mu, he disdained to employ so consummate an art. Shen Mu kept his hand on his sword, unmoving, and spurred the Mystic-Body Three-Elixir Art; his divine sense instantly turned into an expanse of Great Luo Heaven, wrapping the celestial-dragon palanquin within it.
The two divine senses collided, and the waters of the Celestial River seethed in every direction; only a space a thousand zhang on every side of the palanquin remained tolerably calm.
Around the palanquin formed a huge sphere: beyond it, waves towered to the sky; within it, the wind ceased and the waves lay flat.
Shen Mu held his breath and concentrated his spirit.
His cultivation realm was not high, but his divine sense was absolutely mighty; Great Hong was not attacking at full strength, merely using a divine-sense strike, and Shen Mu had the strength to withstand it!