Chapter 1264 — The Hair on His Calf

Bai Yuqiong walked the road through the Ruined Void with Lan Yutian, chatting and laughing as they went. "Little Brother Lan," she said, "the divine artifacts of the Four Emperors hold this place in check. The ruined consciousness of the Ruined Void cannot seep in here, so there is no need to fear that your inner demons will take on flesh. The one thing you must guard against are inner demons that have already taken form.

" Lan Yutian looked this way and that, curiosity written all over his face.

"Inner demons that have taken form? " Rather exasperated, Bai Yuqiong pulled him back onto the road before the boy, brimming with boundless curiosity, could go wandering off into the void. "Those inner demons were deliberately manufactured by the rebels of Wuyou Township. There is a ruthless character in Wuyou Township named Yan Yunxi; I have crossed blades with her before. Cruel and merciless she is, yet utterly loyal to the rebel Shen Ye.

She selected several thousand spoiled young lords and sent them into the Ruined Void.

" Lan Yutian was rather baffled. Bai Yuqiong pulled him back again. "Those spoiled young lords had rotten Dao hearts. When they came into the Ruined Void it was like tipping a basin of ink into a clear pool and then boiling the water—in an instant, heaven knows how many inner demons came surging out.

We were forging a void passage at the time, and those inner demons set upon us.

Heaven knows how many soldiers died before we could gain a firm foothold in the Ruined Void. " Lan Yutian blinked. "Did you never think of calming the ruined consciousness here? " Bai Yuqiong smiled.

"Calming the ruined consciousness—we did think of it. But this void was created by countless Creators out of their own consciousness, and it was shattered by the Great Emperor.

As for consciousness, few in the Heavenly Court have any mastery of it.

The strongest in consciousness cultivation was the Left Shaobi, Yan Shaoqing, but he was banished to the Yuan Realm to guard the great prison. .

. " She had barely spoken these words when something stirred in her heart.

She turned and saw a Heavenly Venerable's treasure chariot racing down the void passage, its divine radiance illuminating the void. "That treasure chariot belongs to a Heavenly Venerable—has one of the Heavenly Venerables descended upon the Great Void.

. .

? " Before Bai Yuqiong could ponder further, an incomparably powerful consciousness came surging in, resolving into Shen Mu's voice in her mind and Lan Yutian's: "Get out of here at once—" Hearing this, Bai Yuqiong twisted and folded the void ahead without a moment's thought, and their speed reached its utmost as they sped forward.

Doubt rose in her heart: "That was Mu Heavenly Venerable's voice!

He is the leader of the rebels, a man of monstrous crimes—so why did I believe him the instant I heard him, without a thought?

" They were about to reach Stone City, which guarded this place. Bai Yuqiong meant to take Lan Yutian into the city to hide, lest Hao Heavenly Venerable see them.

Though she could twist space to evade the scrutiny of other gods, Hao Heavenly Venerable was the first among the ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court, and he would surely see through her traces.

The Great Void was still in a state of war; as the third Celestial Master of the Heavenly Court, abandoning her post was a grave crime. "Hao Heavenly Venerable is in such haste that he surely will not stop at Stone City; perhaps I can avoid him. .

.

" She was just about to rush into Stone City with Lan Yutian when light suddenly burst from the far side of the city, dazzling divine radiance spreading in every direction like the patterns on a butterfly's wings! A terrifying wave of power rolled out from behind Stone City, shattering the already ruined void to pieces! At the same time, an enormous lotus swelled violently, growing larger and larger, crushing the Stone City before Bai Yuqiong and Lan Yutian until it warped and collapsed; the tens of thousands of divine and demon soldiers within warped with it, their bodies caving in, all but breaking into pools of rotten flesh in the blink of an eye!

Bai Yuqiong was aghast, seized by a terror such as she had never known.

She saw a towering figure rise slowly before her, and then she could see only the legs and feet of that towering figure—it grew at such a frightful rate that it soon rose beyond measure, and still it grew madly on!

She saw the man's leg hair, like a forest of steel; the dark hairs swept across the void, and the void split open! The hairs were thick, thicker than towering trees, yet smooth, their tips sharp as keen lances. She even saw the skin beneath the hairs, like parched land, its texture carved into a thousand ravines and gullies, with rivers flowing across it; and the giant's pores were like great volcanoes, spewing heat and steam!

Fear clutched at her heart: out of the muscles of that towering giant, enormous roots pierced through, tearing his skin to shreds, rotting the flesh around the wounds and exposing raw, bloody meat. These thick roots wound like giant dragons, taking root in the lotus continent.

The lotus continent was growing rapidly too, larger and larger, covered in magnificent runes of incomparable splendor, as though they were restraining the giant's movements.

Each rune was as large as a bushel, some spanning dozens or even hundreds of acres, yet with every movement of the giant's body, countless runes shattered. What was more, a huge metal sphere the size of a planet howled as it spun around the giant, its countless runes shifting and casting reflections that shone upon the giant and the lotus continent!

"Hao Heavenly Venerable—" The giant spoke, and the sound waves turned solid; though they swept overhead, Bai Yuqiong and Lan Yutian, at his feet, were shaken into dry heaves. Whoosh— The lotus continent bore the giant up into the air and hurtled along the void passage straight for the Heavenly Venerable's treasure chariot at tremendous speed; in the instant the giant and the continent leapt over Bai Yuqiong and Lan Yutian's heads, their minds went utterly blank.

Their consciousness seemed to freeze; every thought congealed, and not a single notion remained in their minds. Only after the lotus continent had flown past them could their thoughts begin to move again, and all that remained was the chill of belated dread.

Just then, a beam of lamplight fell from above and shone upon the two of them.

Bai Yuqiong had meant to resist, but something stirred in her heart: "Master Yue's divine ability. .

.

" She resisted no more; the beam of light swept the two of them up and, with a whoosh, drew them into the lantern. Inside the lantern was a blazing sun, folded by a spatial divine ability until it seemed very small; standing within the lantern, they felt as though they were in a chamber a hundred zhang across, wonderfully warm. The round little room had a door as well.

Lan Yutian pushed it open and stood in the doorway peering out, and there he saw Shen Mu's enormous face. "Brother!

" Overjoyed, Lan Yutian turned hurriedly to Bai Yuqiong. "Sister Celestial Master, you really are something—you truly found my brother!

" Bai Yuqiong's heart gave a jolt.

She followed him to the doorway and looked up at the giant holding the lantern—it was indeed Shen Mu—and her expression shifted. "So Lan Yutian is Mu Heavenly Venerable's younger brother.

There is something in their bearing that is very much alike, and yet very different as well. Little Brother Lan is far more innocent than Mu Heavenly Venerable, not so wicked as he.

.

. Strange—why is it that of these two brothers, one is surnamed Shen and the other Lan?