Chapter 1176 — Wealth Most Beguiles the Heart
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
From of old, wealth has stirred the hearts of men.
"Until now, no one ever knew that the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner, the foremost treasure under heaven, had fallen into my hands. Now eight Heavenly Venerables know of it."
Shen Mu looked around him, a smile on his face. The commotion here was far too great; the collapse of a primeval ore vein was bound to draw the attention of those Heavenly Venerables. Even if Xiao, Qiang, Hao, Gong, Langxuan and the rest had not come here in person, they could "see" this place with their divine consciousness. They might not have witnessed Shen Mu walking out from under the suppression of the chaos mountains, but they would certainly have heard the Ancestor God King's words.
In Shen Mu's eyes, the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner hardly deserved the name of foremost treasure under heaven, for it had been refined in the crudest of fashions; what truly did the work was that Ancient God Egg.
Yet in might and in transformations, the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner was indeed exceedingly powerful and dreadful. Deployed to marshal troops and lay out battle formations, or to slay a mighty foe, it demanded almost none of one's own cultivation - one had only to utter a single word, "sacrifice", to the Azure Heaven Banner.
Such a treasure could not but stir the heart of every living soul!
Even the God King Gong Jun, who stood on rather good terms with Shen Mu, was not exempt from that common weakness.
The bond between Shen Mu and Gong Jun was one of mutual exploitation more than anything else; there was scant friendship to speak of. In all the Ancestral Court, he feared, only Heavenly Venerable Hong and Heavenly Venerable Xiao would not covet the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner.
Never mind Heavenly Venerable Hong. Though Heavenly Venerable Xiao would not covet the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner either, judging by how he had sealed and suppressed the egg of Taishi, he was a man who prized power above all things. He would never permit another Ancient God Heavenly Emperor to be born into the world!
The other Ancient God Eggs, like himself, had come forth from the primeval ore veins. He was Taichu; because his emergence had not gone smoothly - he had been plotted against by the Great Emperor and had absorbed a vast measure of sacrificial power from the Creators - his growth had been incomplete. The "egg fluid" within the shell had never been fully absorbed, nor had he finished absorbing the Taichu divine stone and the Taichu primordial stone.
He bore a great flaw, and his strength was not truly at its peak.
The other Ancient God Eggs, by contrast, might yet grow into complete forms, with strength that could perhaps surpass his own.
To a power-mad creature such as he, this was absolutely intolerable.
"The Lord of Heaven's fine son has landed me in a fine mess!"
Shen Mu brought out the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner. Since it had come to this, he would no longer hide the fact that the treasure had fallen into his hands; with the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er in tow, he strode out of the Sea of Chaos.
"Since that is so, there is no need to hide!"
Shen Mu murmured to himself, "Whoever comes to seize this treasure, I will simply make him a gift of it! I should like to see which Heavenly Venerable is so formidable that he can withstand the siege of all the others!"
Beyond the Sea of Chaos, the Void Beast Shen Mu had tamed was already waiting; the giant beast had not perished in the shock of the chaos mountains' collapse.
Shen Mu sprang up, and with Yan'er and the Dragon Qilin vaulted onto the Void Beast's head. Leaning on the Azure Heaven Banner, he gazed in every direction and said with a smile, "In any case, I cannot die. If I die, not one of you will ever leave this place - unless you join hands to break the seal of the Ancestral Court!"
In the sky, strand after strand of divine consciousness was swiftly withdrawn.