Chapter 1078 — Old Tales of the Sovereign of Yore

Luo Xiao, full of misgivings, followed after them and said, "We truly cannot barge in so lightly. This place is exceedingly dangerous.

Let me lead the way!

" Shen Mu blocked him and said with a smile, "Dangerous? Where is this danger you speak of?

" Luo Xiao was briefly startled.

Strange to say, ever since they had entered the Taichu Divine Stone lode, they had truly met none of the dangers rumored of it; on the contrary, it was eerily still. "Could it be that the clan chief and the others merely spoke offhandedly, and in truth there is no danger in this lode at all?

" he wondered inwardly.

Gu Xiao and Dahong walked shoulder to shoulder; the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot brought up the rear, and Yan'er stood upon it holding a lantern, letting its light shine ahead. Dahong turned his head and said with a smile, "Brother Mu, Brother Luo, keep closer.

" Shen Mu steeled himself and went forward. Luo Xiao hesitated: "I still want to go look whether there are ancestral spirits deep in the void.

. .

" Gu Xiao turned back and said with a smile, "The nineteenth void is guarded by the void mother-beast. Your divine consciousness cannot pass beyond the nineteenth void. There is no need to hurry, Brother Luo. " Luo Xiao thought it over, and indeed that was so. The void mother-beast was so powerful that if his divine consciousness reached the nineteenth void, it would surely be detected and devoured by her.

Rosy radiance drifted among the grass and trees all around. Luo Xiao looked this way and that, murmuring, "How strange.

This place matches the clan chief's description, so why is there no danger? This is the Taichu Divine Stone lode; the divine consciousness within the lode, upon meeting a person's thoughts, transforms into one true-seeming illusion after another. Even the mightiest Creator may fall prey to it.

. .

" Shen Mu's gaze fell on the backs of the two figures ahead, and he reminded him, "Perhaps some powerful being is suppressing this lode. " A chill went through Luo Xiao's heart. His gaze fell on the golden coffin ahead, and he said in a low voice, "You mean the one buried in that golden coffin is so powerful that he suppresses this entire lode?

What sort of person has such cultivation? Could it be. . .

" His eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands abruptly: "I know! It is the Great Emperor! The golden coffin must hold the Great Emperor's corpse! " He said excitedly, "I heard the clan chief and the others say the Great Emperor died in the Blood Rust War.

Surely the Ancient God Heaven Emperor, fearing his resurrection, ordered his corpse suppressed here! The Great Emperor is dead at last! " Gu Xiao's voice came from ahead, faint and distant: "The Great Emperor, the mightiest divine consciousness since the beginning of history — how could he die?

I have heard that in the Blood Rust War, only the Taichu Origin Stone in his brow was shattered; he did not die.

From that time on he was a dog without a home, hiding here and there, living in constant dread.

" Dahong laughed: "I too have heard that the means by which the Heaven Emperor defeated the Great Emperor were far from honorable — it was not the Heaven Emperor who shattered the Taichu Origin Stone, but the Great Emperor's wife, the Goddess King Gong Yun.

And moreover, the Heaven Emperor burned the bridge after crossing the river: once he had defeated the Great Emperor, he killed the Goddess King Gong Yun, to preserve his glorious, towering image.

" Luo Xiao blinked his big eyes and said with a smile, "Elder brothers, where did the two of you hear such things?

Even I, a Creator, know nothing of these matters, and the clan elders and the clan chief have never spoken of them.

" The two did not answer, and walked on. Luo Xiao was suspicious. After a long while, they finally came to the side of the eight Ancient God corpses. Their bodies floated up, and they stood beside the golden coffin. Gu Xiao and Dahong each looked at the golden coffin, their gazes deep and dark, saying nothing.

Shen Mu and Luo Xiao came over, Long Qilin following behind, while Yan'er still stood on the chariot holding the lantern. Dahong smiled faintly: "The Ancient God Heaven Emperor, who styled himself radiant and righteous, made use of the Great Emperor's wife, Gong Yun. He must have promised her many things — promised, for instance, that her clansmen would be allowed to live. Yet to preserve his image, he had no choice but to kill Gong Yun. And not only to kill Gong Yun, but to do away with the eight Ancient Gods who escorted her corpse into this place.

" He raised his head, his gaze falling on Gu Xiao's face, and a mocking look appeared: "And the best way to be rid of those eight Ancient Gods was undoubtedly the Taichu lode. The Heaven Emperor was himself an egg from this very lode; he knew well how terrifying it is. Ordering the eight Ancient Gods to bring Gong Yun's corpse here for burial was to borrow the lode's dread power and destroy these eight who knew the truth! " Gu Xiao gave a soft "oh" and said indifferently, "What I heard is that the Great Emperor was cruel and tyrannical, and fearing that the Creator race would raise up another Great Emperor, he wiped out all the Juyu clansmen in one stroke, slaughtered the clansmen of the Goddess King Gong Yun, and even intended to exterminate every Creator. His wife Gong Yun was heartbroken beyond healing, took to an illicit affair with the Heaven Emperor, and bore him a son.

" Dahong's pupils contracted sharply: "Yet even though the Great Emperor was betrayed by Gong Yun, even though she shattered the Taichu Origin Stone in his brow, he never harmed a single hair of hers. But the Heaven Emperor betrayed Gong Yun, and killed her! " At this moment the two of them cared nothing at all for Luo Xiao, Shen Mu, and the rest.

Clearly, upon arriving here, each had determined the other's true identity, and they were about to lay their cards on the table and fight to the death! Luo Xiao was bewildered.

He shook his head and said to Shen Mu, "Are your human race and demon race truly so ancient? You even know of things that happened in the primordial age.

" The corner of Shen Mu's eye twitched, and he forcibly suppressed the urge to beat him until he grew a little smarter.

Dahong and Gu Xiao each reached out and seized the coffin, preparing to open the golden coffin.

Shen Mu took a step back.

The golden coffin was lifted open by the two of them, but their gazes remained fixed on each other's faces, unwilling to miss any expression or bearing of the other. Shen Mu gritted his teeth.

Unable to hold back his curiosity, he steeled himself and stepped forward to look into the golden coffin.

The golden coffin was very large, and the woman within it was a giant as well. She lay there quietly with her eyes closed, as though asleep.

The vertical eye in her brow had been gouged out, and there was a patch of deep crimson at her chest. The fatal wound must be at her chest; gouging out her vertical eye had merely been to greatly diminish the power of her divine-consciousness arts.

She had died at the hands of someone close to her. The one who killed her must have stood very near to her, for only thus could he have gouged out the vertical eye in her brow while she was off guard, crippling her strength.

This person had treated her well; after her death he had even arranged her appearance, dressing her in the most magnificent garments, with a phoenix crown upon her head, like an empress enthroned on high. In her hand she still clutched a flower, and to this day the flower had not withered; it was still held before her breast, precisely covering the fatal wound there.

Dahong chuckled: "Brothers three, the Heaven Emperor truly deserves death, does he not? " Shen Mu shuddered with cold dread and retreated, coughing once: "Brother Luo, let us go seek your ancestral spirits!

" Luo Xiao made to step closer: "I have never seen the Goddess King Gong Yun.