Chapter 1621 — Cloud and Flame Converge
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Celestial Venerable Yun grew even more flustered. In but a brief moment, of all his divine treasures, only the Spirit Fetus remained!
And what was this talk of doing the opposite of what was expected?
Weren't they supposed to be protecting Earth Count?
Celestial Venerable Hao and his lot had taken Earth Count hostage to force Shen Mu and the others to come to the rescue, to walk of their own accord into their trap — so why would Shen Mu instead be the first to kill the hostage?
However wretched Earth Count might be, he was still an ally. Who ever heard of wiping out one's strongest ally before the great battle had even begun?
Earth Count too was a being of formidable fighting strength. Though today's Celestial Venerables were far mightier than those of old, Earth Count ought to be able to drag down the Ancestral God King who now wielded Heaven Duke's fleshly body and perish together with him!
To not first let Earth Count and the Ancestral God King die together, but to finish Earth Count off first — Celestial Venerable Mu's stratagem was outrageous, incomprehensible.
"So long as Earth Count lives, he's a great big target; whatever arrow comes, it can be loosed at the target!"
Brimming with excitement, Shen Mu sealed Celestial Venerable Yun's heavenly palace completely so that its energies could not escape, and said, "Celestial Venerable Hao can shoot, so naturally we can shoot too! Our aim is to keep Youdu out of the Heavenly Court's hands, and next to rescue Earth Count — to free him from the shackles of the ancient gods and let him be reborn as a man. So long as we strike one step ahead of the Heavenly Court, we can lay out Youdu one step ahead of Celestial Venerable Hao and the rest, and seize the initiative!"
Celestial Venerable Yun's eyes went wide, his mouth agape. "I..."
"Before, it was Celestial Venerable Hao and Taichu who held the initiative. If they attack Youdu and kill Earth Count, then we must respond — and the moment we respond, we fall into their trap."
Shen Mu's ten fingers flew, tapping ceaselessly over his body, his words coming even faster than his fingers. "They can act whenever they please. They can set their traps at leisure while we can only watch helplessly, and then go blundering headlong into them. The moment we step in, they close the net and hold us fast in it, to be butchered as they will. But what if we do the opposite — what if we lay the trap, what if we are the ones who kill Earth Count?"
His eyes shining bright, he looked at Celestial Venerable Yun with an expression of expectation.
Celestial Venerable Yun opened his mouth. "I..."
"I knew you would agree to this plan!"
Shen Mu clenched his fist in elation and laughed. "Then it's settled! Cultivate well!"
Celestial Venerable Yun hurriedly caught hold of him. "Don't go yet! You destroyed my divine treasures — how am I to cultivate? You owe me for this!"
Shen Mu pulled free of his hand and laughed. "I've already found you a teacher. You have a physical body now, so you can leave Great Luo Heaven. I'll send you to Jingping; someone there will take you to the World Tree of the Ancestral Court. Your teacher is waiting for you there."
Celestial Venerable Yun felt that not a shred of power could be drawn from his physical body, and his heart was heavy with gloom.
Once, for a time, he had admired Shen Mu, dreaming of fighting shoulder to shoulder with him, dreaming of sharing wine and laughter with him, dreaming of sweeping the age before them together and pointing out the rivers and mountains.
Yet now, the more he came into contact with Shen Mu, the more he felt that this Shen Mu was utterly unlike the Celestial Venerable Mu of his imagining.
This true Celestial Venerable Mu was somewhat unreliable.