Chapter 1216 — Blossoms Crowd Every Branch
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
The art of that peach blossom was exceedingly subtle: its petals cut through the air, seeming to grow ever larger, until by degrees they filled all heaven and earth, so that nothing else remained in anyone's eyes. The ghost ship's energy burst forth utterly, and yet that raging, incomparable impact could not break through the worlds the peach blossoms had formed, one upon another.
But those outside the petals felt that unspeakably dreadful fluctuation, and could not keep their faces from changing. Should it reach them, the energy within their bodies and the very space and time of their being would surely blow apart entirely, and they would exist no more!
At last the fluctuation subsided. "Yue Tianzun.
. .
" Shen Mu stared blankly at the whirling petals, his mind in violent turmoil, and he hurriedly strove with all his might to steady it.
In their present state they could not afford the least surge of emotion; after all, they had no fleshly bodies left, being nothing but bodies of energy, and a surge of emotion was a surge of energy.
A surge of energy meant that the energy was unstable, and at any moment they might explode! Within their bodies no substance bound the energy; should they explode they would be utterly annihilated, everything gone without a trace, and even the black sand of their souls would cease to be.
"Perhaps this is another art that destroys the soul completely. .
.
" As Shen Mu thought this, he found it rather odd that in a state neither living nor dead he should still have the idle heart to ponder arts. Just then the whirling petals grew smaller and smaller, shrinking without cease, and a woman with long, drifting hair came flying through the air, like a goddess of the moon palace, untouched by any breath of dust; lightly she reached out her hand and drew along two stretches of the Heavenly River.
She joined the Heavenly River together, then extended thumb and middle finger and gave a light pinch, holding the bare peach branch between them. And the whirling petals came flying one after another, alighting upon the branch, until they formed a peach blossom once more, its stamens swaying gently. The woman bowed her head and sniffed at the blossom, yet the blossom crumbled away, petal by petal.
It was only an ordinary peach blossom; it was her art that had withstood the explosion of the ghost ship's energy, but how could a peach blossom bear so dreadful an impact? So it was annihilated all the same. "What a pity.
. .
" A look of regret came over the woman, and her manner was somewhat sorrowful; but in the next moment she cheered again and said with a smile, "Fallen petals are not heartless things; turned to spring mud, they nurture the flowers the more. I shall plant you, and next year you will become a peach tree; the peach tree will become a peach grove, and who knows but it may spread through all the heavens and the myriad worlds.
" She put away the peach branch and looked toward Shen Mu and the others, curiosity written on her face.
Shen Mu leaped forward and bowed in salute. "We meet again, Yue Tianzun. " This woman was indeed Yue Tianzun; as she looked at him, the astonishment on her face deepened.
"Mu Tianzun?
" she said, startled and delighted at once, testing the name. Shen Mu nodded helplessly. "It is I. " Yue Tianzun hurried forward and was about to seize his hand, but grasped only emptiness.
She was taken aback; she grasped again, and again caught nothing.
Shen Mu said helplessly, "Our present state is rather peculiar; it cannot be told in a word.
That is my senior brother Wei Suifeng, and there are a few friends.
.
.
" Wei Suifeng hurried over to pay his respects. Feng Qiuyun, seeing Yue Tianzun from afar, did not dare approach; but the corpse of the Supreme Emperor recognized Yue Tianzun, and could not help but grow agitated.
It gave a hoarse roar, and the imperial corpse grew brighter and brighter. Everyone's faces changed drastically.