Chapter 1176 — Wealth Most Beguiles the Heart

From of old, wealth has stirred the hearts of men.

"Until now, no one ever knew that the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner, the foremost treasure under heaven, had fallen into my hands. Now eight Heavenly Venerables know of it."

Shen Mu looked around him, a smile on his face. The commotion here was far too great; the collapse of a primeval ore vein was bound to draw the attention of those Heavenly Venerables. Even if Xiao, Qiang, Hao, Gong, Langxuan and the rest had not come here in person, they could "see" this place with their divine consciousness. They might not have witnessed Shen Mu walking out from under the suppression of the chaos mountains, but they would certainly have heard the Ancestor God King's words.

In Shen Mu's eyes, the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner hardly deserved the name of foremost treasure under heaven, for it had been refined in the crudest of fashions; what truly did the work was that Ancient God Egg.

Yet in might and in transformations, the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner was indeed exceedingly powerful and dreadful. Deployed to marshal troops and lay out battle formations, or to slay a mighty foe, it demanded almost none of one's own cultivation - one had only to utter a single word, "sacrifice", to the Azure Heaven Banner.

Such a treasure could not but stir the heart of every living soul!

Even the God King Gong Jun, who stood on rather good terms with Shen Mu, was not exempt from that common weakness.

The bond between Shen Mu and Gong Jun was one of mutual exploitation more than anything else; there was scant friendship to speak of. In all the Ancestral Court, he feared, only Heavenly Venerable Hong and Heavenly Venerable Xiao would not covet the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner.

Never mind Heavenly Venerable Hong. Though Heavenly Venerable Xiao would not covet the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner either, judging by how he had sealed and suppressed the egg of Taishi, he was a man who prized power above all things. He would never permit another Ancient God Heavenly Emperor to be born into the world!

The other Ancient God Eggs, like himself, had come forth from the primeval ore veins. He was Taichu; because his emergence had not gone smoothly - he had been plotted against by the Great Emperor and had absorbed a vast measure of sacrificial power from the Creators - his growth had been incomplete. The "egg fluid" within the shell had never been fully absorbed, nor had he finished absorbing the Taichu divine stone and the Taichu primordial stone.

He bore a great flaw, and his strength was not truly at its peak.

The other Ancient God Eggs, by contrast, might yet grow into complete forms, with strength that could perhaps surpass his own.

To a power-mad creature such as he, this was absolutely intolerable.

"The Lord of Heaven's fine son has landed me in a fine mess!"

Shen Mu brought out the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner. Since it had come to this, he would no longer hide the fact that the treasure had fallen into his hands; with the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er in tow, he strode out of the Sea of Chaos.

"Since that is so, there is no need to hide!"

Shen Mu murmured to himself, "Whoever comes to seize this treasure, I will simply make him a gift of it! I should like to see which Heavenly Venerable is so formidable that he can withstand the siege of all the others!"

Beyond the Sea of Chaos, the Void Beast Shen Mu had tamed was already waiting; the giant beast had not perished in the shock of the chaos mountains' collapse.

Shen Mu sprang up, and with Yan'er and the Dragon Qilin vaulted onto the Void Beast's head. Leaning on the Azure Heaven Banner, he gazed in every direction and said with a smile, "In any case, I cannot die. If I die, not one of you will ever leave this place - unless you join hands to break the seal of the Ancestral Court!"

In the sky, strand after strand of divine consciousness was swiftly withdrawn.

Heavenly Venerable Hao's expression shifted between fair and foul. He paced to and fro, then suddenly raised his palm, and in his domain divine gold and stone of every kind shrieked into the air and swiftly piled up into a magnificent palace.

Heavenly Venerable Hao thought for a moment, then took out his own Myriad Ways Heaven Wheel and hung it before the palace gate, muttering, "That fellow Heavenly Venerable Mu still carries on like a common thug! A bumpkin to the bone, without a shred of refinement!"

Divine Emperor Langxuan had taken the Ancestral Court's Jade Pool. Though little of the primordial liquid remained in that pool, some yet lingered, and this too was a precious ground.

The primordial liquid could heal any wound, elevate one's cultivation, and strengthen the primordial spirit and divine consciousness alike; it was no small thing.

What was more, the birthplace of the Mother Earth Primordial Lady lay nearby, and a place capable of giving birth to the Mother Earth Primordial Lady was naturally rich beyond measure in treasures.

"That wretch Shen Mu has brought out the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner in broad daylight, so it is awkward to simply snatch it - and worse, the fellow puts on the air of one who cannot die, and confound it all, he truly cannot die. How maddening!"

Divine Emperor Langxuan laid down formations of every kind to draw upon the spiritual power of heaven and earth, using the ancient Jade Pool to gather that power and make the primordial liquid form swiftly.

The Creators of the primeval age had lacked the knowledge of later ages and believed that the primordial liquid dwindled with every use, whereas he was a Heavenly Venerable of a later age: by gathering the spiritual power of the Ancestral Court he could refine the liquid himself, and though it was not the equal of the naturally formed liquid, it came close enough.

To work the treasures of the Ancestral Court, one need not rely on natural treasure alone; one could also turn the Ancestral Court's own peculiarities to account and create treasure oneself.

"If I seize the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner, those old relics will be only too delighted to beat me to death."

He shook his head. "That fellow the Ancestor God King is cunning indeed, tossing out a problem like this."

Heavenly Consort Qiang had also taken a precious ground. Compared with the others, she understood the Ancestral Court far better; while the other Heavenly Venerables each chose places of the most conspicuous importance, she chose a spot that seemed a remote backwater.

This ore vein had been the one held by God King Shujun; it looked a backwater, yet in truth it hid a world within.

She had not gone to contend with Heavenly Venerable Xiao for the Taichu ore vein. To contend for it she would have had to reveal the Void Mother Beast and risk the exposure of her identity - too steep a price.

"The Lapis Azure Heaven Banner is a fine thing, but that treasure is far too perilous."

Heavenly Consort Qiang had already raised her palace. She tossed up an umbrella, and it floated in the air and became a canopy of heaven that covered her domain.

Within the palace, Heavenly Consort Qiang lay aslant upon a scented couch, alluring and seductive, and said with a low laugh, "The treasure inside the Lapis Azure Heaven Banner is an Ancient God Egg. It excels at temptation and grants every request - in truth it feeds on the requests of its user to swell itself and grow stronger. That egg was originally part of Gong Jun's dowry. Even then I saw that something was amiss, and fearing that another Taichu might leap out of it, I sealed it away."

"Later that egg and other treasures were taken by the Northern Emperor Xuanwu. The Northern Emperor Xuanwu was one my clan offered sacrifice to; the couple were shallow of understanding, and they actually refined the egg into a treasure. Fools, plainly."

She rose with grace and said with a charming smile, "Why not go sit with Heavenly Venerable Gong, and chat of household trifles and sisterly affection?"