Chapter 1279 — That Cunning Senior
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
Qi Xiayu's face was grave. The restriction Lord Hao had laid blasted barrier after barrier of space to powder, its force reaching all the way to her side.
Suddenly a phoenix cry rang out. She revealed her true form, becoming a nine-headed phoenix, and beat her wings to withstand the restriction head-on.
At the same time, Lord Xi's demon-quelling pestle could scarce hold back the restriction's Dao-might; he felt as though ancient gods, one after another, were striking the pestle with unmatched Dao-power.
Left with no choice, he too revealed his true form — a Taowu, divine light bursting from every part of it!
The two joined forces and withstood the restriction's might — yet of the Lingxiao-realm experts about them, only ten or so remained; another dozen or more had perished in that dread restriction of the canyon!
Together the two shattered the rosy radiance and finally won a moment to breathe. Lord Xi resumed human form and bellowed in fury, "Wen, you chicken-thief—"
They had been unprepared; but the Martial Celestial Master, Yan Yunxi, Xiuzhong, and the others had been ready, and though wounded, they kept their lives.
When the Woodcutter Sage heard Lord Xi's shout, he turned a deaf ear to it. Long since accustomed to such names, he went on directing the others: "There are ancient gods' Great Dao runes in Jingping, sent over by my good-for-nothing second disciple. If you have any study of the ancient gods' Great Dao runes, unraveling them is in truth no hard matter. This rosy-radiance restriction is in fact the Xuandu Great Dao of the Lord of Heaven, the Heavenly Seal within Heaven's Dao; you need only break it thus..."
At the canyon's mouth, Bai Yuqiong and Shen Mu stood looking in.
When Bai Yuqiong saw the rosy radiance erupt, her heart pounded with fright. She probed, "As a disciple of Wen the chicken— of Wentiange, Lord Mu, you should know how to break the seal here, should you not? Surely Wentiange did not fail to pass even this on to you?"
Shen Mu gave a cold snort and said lightly, "He never passed his knowledge on to me; rather, he learned no small amount from me. The method by which he breaks seals must have come from Jingping — either from the Daoist sect, or from Xu Shenghua. Breaking this is no difficulty for me."
Bai Yuqiong smiled faintly, taking it for boasting, for him to salvage his pride.
What she did not know was that the ancient gods' Great Dao runes of Jingping had indeed come from Shen Mu — stolen by Shen Mu from the Heavenly Court's Repository Pavilion.
Shen Mu said gravely, "However, my dharma-power is not strong enough; I fear it will be hard for me to break the seal and walk deep within, so I must ask Celestial Master Bai to lend a hand. Follow me — back to back, each of us guarding one side."
He shook his body, and there appeared three heads and six arms; thus he could take in the rosy-radiance seals of every direction at once.
Though he had only the strength to protect himself and could not shield Bai Yuqiong, he could still guide her.
The two walked cautiously into the canyon; beside Red Emperor Qi Xiayu and his company, they seemed far more at ease.
Yet Red Emperor and Lord Xi were, after all, at the very front, and their strength was exceedingly formidable; all along the way they forced their way through the seals, pressing ever deeper into the Eighth Canyon.
Along this road, Shen Mu and Bai Yuqiong met fright but no peril, and were soon to reach the canyon's end.
The four groups ahead had already reached the end, where a valley shrouded in thick black qi lay before them; each group sent out its vanguard to probe the way.
Suddenly, from ahead came a shrill and mournful cry: "Lord Hao's heart demon has appeared! Be careful, everyone!"
"The heart demon is very strong!"
"Watch out! That is Mu— ah—"
Some met a foul end and died on the spot, but others still cried out sternly, "Beware Lord Mu!"
Lord Xi and the Red Emperor were stunned. "Lord Mu?"