Chapter 1405 — The Origins of Summoning Arts
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
" Shen Mu was silent. At this Long Xiao laughed in alarm.
"Heavenly Venerable Mu, fourth road or no, I am deeply grateful to you and still count you my ally! Rest assured, I will never betray you! " Shen Mu made up his mind and abruptly lifted his head.
"There is a fourth road.
Difficult though it is, it is also the best road, the easiest to bring to pass; it will even preserve your rule, free you from the grasp of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, and set you beyond the strife of the world! But this road will cut into my own interests.
Therefore I ask you to promise me three things.
Promise, and I will strive for this road on your behalf. " Long Xiao hesitated a moment, then said in a low voice, "Good! I promise you three requests!
" "The fourth road is this: the Twelve Heavenly Venerables carve up the back of the Ancestral Court, and the behemoths migrate to the backs of the Yuan Realm and the other heavens and myriad worlds, there to establish a Great World of Behemoths. " Shen Mu's eyes flickered. "The Beast Realm shall stand apart from all other realms, with Long Xiao as its ruler, its one and only ancient god. The behemoths of the Beast Realm may enter summoning contracts with gods or with divine arts practitioners, answering the summons, descending from the Beast Realm to fight alongside them. When the fighting ends, the behemoths return to the Beast Realm. In this way every Heavenly Venerable may share in the power of the behemoths, and through you hold the Beast Realm in hand; and so they will all nod in assent. " Long Xiao's eyes lit up.
This road was indeed the best: he would have no clash of interests with the Twelve, nor would he be subdued by them and made into a mount, and his life would not be in peril!
Only, would this road be easy to bring about? "The Twelve each have their own interests; this road harms none of them, and they may likewise borrow the strength of the behemoths in war.
So long as you hold to the middle and lean neither way, it is in fact the easiest of all to bring about. " Shen Mu sighed. "Only, this road injures my interests. Without your aid I will become the weakest party in the back of the Ancestral Court. Yet for that very reason, the other eleven Heavenly Venerables will all agree to the proposal. " Long Xiao laughed. "This road is best!
" Shen Mu shot him a glance. "I can help you bring it about. " Long Xiao said hastily, "I promise your three requests, and I will not break my word!
" Shen Mu's face eased.
"It is not that I do not trust you, but even a basic contract must be had. You and I will sign a Little Earth Duke's Pact; should you break it hereafter, the Little Earth Duke will take away your soul. " Long Xiao laughed.
"That is only right. " The two concluded the Little Earth Duke's Pact, yet Long Xiao could sense no trace of where this Little Earth Duke might be. He thought, "Never mind a Little Earth Duke's Pact; even a pact with the Earth Duke himself could not bind me. The Earth Duke may take my soul, but there are places even he cannot reach.
So long as I remain in my Beast Realm, where the Earth Duke cannot enter, he can do nothing to me.
Could a Little Earth Duke be greater than the Earth Duke?
" Shen Mu said, weighty and earnest, "Long Xiao, I do not wish to scheme against you, but I must warn you beforehand: the Little Earth Duke is not the Earth Duke.
He is not bound by the Great Dao of Youdu, and there is no place under heaven he cannot reach. If you break the contract, the day he comes to the Beast Realm will be your death. " Long Xiao's face changed greatly.
Warily he asked, "Then this Little Earth Duke is.
. . " Shen Mu did not conceal it. "He is my brother, born of the same parents, savage by nature and exceedingly formidable. Even I fear him a little. " Long Xiao was instantly reassured.