Chapter 1723 — The Simplehearted Venerable
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
And when Yan'er and the Southern Emperor came to see me, they never once raised the matter of reviving him either, so I put it from my mind. Reviving the Eastern Emperor now can count as repaying the debt I owe him for helping me forge my sword back then.
" Heavenly Venerable Yun said, "I once heard it said that one must never accept a favor from Heavenly Venerable Mu, and must never, ever accept a note of debt from him — otherwise one's life is in danger. " "Slander, all of it! " Before Shen Mu could speak, Ling Yuxiu came up with the Eastern Emperor's dragon scales and said coldly, "All of it is rumor spread by the Ten Heavenly Venerables to ruin my husband's name! When many mouths melt metal and piled slander dissolves bone, his reputation was destroyed by them — so thoroughly that even Heavenly Venerable Yun believed it!
" Heavenly Venerable Yun said hurriedly, "I never believed it, truly! " Shen Mu said with feeling, "My wife knows me.
" He took the Eastern Emperor's dragon scales and cast a spell to summon the soul.
Suddenly astonishment showed on his face. "The Eastern Emperor's soul is not in Youdu, nor in the Tianyin Realm! " Heavenly Venerable Yun and the others were briefly stunned.
If the Azure Dragon had been killed and his soul survived, it ought to fall into Youdu; if his soul had been shattered and turned to black sand, it must fall into the Tianyin Realm.
Yet Shen Mu said the Azure Dragon's soul was in neither place, which was strange indeed.
"Of course. " Shen Mu laughed.
"Taichu killed the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon, so the Azure Dragon's soul must have fallen into Taichu's hands. It must be that Taichu has hidden it away.
" Heavenly Venerable Yun's heart stirred.
"The Ultimate Void — the One Qi Great Luotian!
" "Or perhaps one of the Ancestral Court's treasured halls that Taichu obtained. Both places can block my divine sense.
" Shen Mu mused, "If it is Taichu's One Qi Great Luotian, then so be it.
Taichu's Luotian has already descended upon the Yuan Realm, to overawe Jingping.
Forcing a spell through to reclaim the Azure Dragon's soul will not be difficult. But if the soul is suppressed within a treasured hall of the Ancestral Court, that will be trouble. " He drew a long breath and strode out, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
"Taichu sent the dragon scales, and hid the Eastern Emperor's soul — he means to scheme against me while I work the spell! Very well, then.
I shall give him what he wants! " Ling Yuxiu hurried out of the hall, and Heavenly Venerable Yun hurried after her — and there they saw Shen Mu standing upon open ground, his divine consciousness surging, visualizing an immense sacrificial altar.
The altar rose slowly from beneath his feet, and his vital qi transformed into runes of all the great Daos, branded upon it; the runes formed Dao patterns, the Dao patterns formed Dao chains, and thus a most fundamental domain took shape. Behind Shen Mu drifted the Great Heavenly Court, and within it rose Jade Capital City.
At the heart of Jade Capital City, before the Hall of Chaos, his spirit-origin stood; he stamped his foot, and an altar appeared before the Hall of Chaos as well — only it was the mirror-reverse of the altar beneath his fleshly body. Heavenly Venerable Yun studied it for a while and could make nothing of it. "Sister-in-law, what use is Heavenly Venerable Mu's other altar?
" Ling Yuxiu could not make it out either.
"It has its own wondrous use.
" Heavenly Venerable Yun nodded.
"Quite so. " Shen Mu's fleshly body worked the spell upon the altar, and at the same time his spirit-origin worked a spell before the Hall of Chaos. But whereas the fleshly body's spell drove the Soul-Summoning Charm to draw out the soul of the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon, what his spirit-origin was doing defied comprehension.
Some nameless force spread outward, sinking deep into the void, elusive beyond grasp — supple, ethereal, hidden, formless.