Chapter 1104 — A Fame That Dazzles Through the Ages
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
" Shen Mu's divine consciousness came to him, instructing him: "Rotate the first heaven eight degrees, turn the second heaven three degrees widdershins, rotate the third heaven sixty-two degrees. . .
" Dragon Qilin hurried to the pillar of the Azure Sky Canopy of Colored Glass and bowed low; and lo, heaven upon heaven of the canopy revolved, each on its own, and the various treasures within that treasure, and the Soaring Serpent goddesses and Dark Turtle deities who guarded them, shifted at once, each moving off in a different direction!
The navy's commander had framed his formation to counter the guardian formations that held each treasure; now the formations changed and the treasures were traded about, throwing the whole of the Heavenly River Navy into chaos, with grievous losses.
The commander came himself to attack, and Dragon Qilin sent Crown Prince Youming out to meet him.
Crown Prince Youming, though honest and simple of heart, was an Emperor's Throne powerhouse of a cultivation rarely seen in the world, and with the blood of the Dark Emperor and the Martial Emperor in his veins his fighting strength was frightful; within a few exchanges he grievously wounded the navy's commander.
The ships of the Heavenly River Navy swarmed in, fighting to the death to hold Crown Prince Youming off, and at last dragged their commander back. Dragon Qilin sighed inwardly.
"If the Lord Sect Master himself were wielding this Azure Sky Canopy of Colored Glass," he thought, "I fear he would wipe out this whole Heavenly River Navy with ease! " For Shen Mu's guidance in laying formations was, after all, a step slow. Crown Prince Youming returned in triumph, beside himself with joy.
"Brother Dragon, you are truly a scholar of Heaven and man! " he laughed.
"This skill of yours has indeed shaken the world!
You would be fit to serve as the Heavenly Court's Heavenly Master! " Dragon Qilin hastily disclaimed the honor.
"The Heavenly River Navy has taken a beating, but they will hardly let it go at that.
For now it is only the navy that bars our way north; the rest of Heaven's armies have not yet come up. We must not be careless.
" Crown Prince Youming could not praise him enough, and the Nether Lord, hearing it, was quite put out, though he had to grant that the qilin-head's abilities were indeed beyond the human and into the holy.
"A disciple of the East Emperor? Strange—I have never laid eyes on the man.
" The Nether Lord's gaze flickered. He thought: "I know every one of the East Emperor's princes and princesses of power and position, and my friendship with them is not poor—yet I have never seen this fellow.
With such ability he should not be nameless in the Azure Dragon Heaven Palace, and yet his name does not show. The East Emperor, it seems, is a deep and calculating one as well.
.
. " With Dragon Qilin here, commanding the Azure Sky Canopy of Colored Glass, the Nether Lord was left altogether useless, and he ground his teeth in hatred of the man, with never a chance to trick the canopy away. That strange treasure was the purpose of his coming.
Crown Prince Youming was a man without a scheming bone in his body; the Dark Emperor of the North's treasure was seldom shown to outsiders, yet the crown prince had brought hosts of dubious friends to view it several times over, and so it was hardly surprising that Yin Chaojin and Wei Suifeng had set their hearts on it. The Black Tortoise Heaven Palace pressed on northward, yet outside, the Heavenly River Navy still clung to them like shadow to shape, though it did not attack again; only its officers kept urging Crown Prince Youming to halt and return to the Heavenly Court.
Suddenly the navy's ranks parted, and an army thrust in from the flank, passing beyond the navy's tower-ship formations to the front, where god after mighty god sized up the Azure Sky Canopy of Colored Glass's formations.