Chapter 1315 — The Two Sages' Former Bond

Yantian Fei frowned slightly, yet she only watched him quietly and did not speak.

Shen Mu laughed for a long while; since Yantian Fei said nothing, he could laugh no longer and was forced to stop. "Why does Your Highness the Heavenly Consort not ask me what I am laughing at?"

"If it will save your life, you will tell me yourself. Why should I ask?" Yantian Fei said calmly.

Shen Mu praised her: "Your Highness is a most remarkable woman. Were I Taichu the Heaven Emperor, I too would marry you and raise you up as Empress."

Yantian Fei frowned slightly.

Shen Mu said: "As a divine being born in Guixu, Your Highness is naturally able to destroy all things; even souls can be shattered with ease, and the black sand of the soul would be no more. But would not a living Shen Mu be of greater use to Your Highness?"

Yantian Fei raised her graceful brows.

Shen Mu said: "Your Highness claims to have cast off the identity of an ancient god, yet you have been an ancient god all along. At the very least, in the eyes of Hao Tianzun and Langxuan the God-Emperor, you are forever an ancient god. They will never be of one heart with you. Kill me, and you rid them of an opponent. In truth, Your Highness could place your bets on both sides."

Yantian Fei's gaze flickered. "Bet on both sides?"

Shen Mu nodded: "Among the Ten Tianzuns, only seven seek my death, but three still protect me. That is to say, the seven Tianzuns are one side; the remaining three Tianzuns and the ancient gods are the other. Your Highness has wagered only on the seven. What if the final victor is not the seven Tianzuns, but the ancient gods? How then would Your Highness place yourself?"

Yantian Fei shook her head: "You are wrong. The ancient gods cannot win. The age that belonged to the ancient gods is wholly past. There is only one possible victor: the Ten Tianzuns."

"Can Your Highness truly be certain that the victor must be the seven Tianzuns?"

Shen Mu said: "Tiangong, Tubo, how mighty they are! Add to them three of the Ten Tianzuns, and there are five Tianzun-level beings. Beyond these five, there are Kaihuang and Langwan, also beings of Tianzun level, which makes seven. And it does not end there: there is also Moon Tianzun and Ling Tianzun, which makes nine. Beyond these nine Tianzuns, there are the Four Emperors of the ancient gods! The other side has only seven Tianzuns. To seize victory would be fraught with peril, would it not?"

Yantian Fei frowned lightly.

Shen Mu went on: "If Your Highness the Heavenly Consort bets on only one side, and in the end that side truly loses, will the ancient gods tolerate you? And if you kill me, will these nine Tianzun-level beings tolerate you?"

Yantian Fei laughed: "Moon Tianzun is already crippled, Ling Tianzun is dead, Tiangong and Tubo are imprisoned by their own great Daos, and the strength of Kaihuang and Langwan cannot match that of the Ten Tianzuns. Mu Tianzun, you do not know the true power of the Ten Tianzuns. You have no chance of victory at all."

Shen Mu gave an "oh," and said: "What if Yu Tianzun is added to the reckoning?"

Yantian Fei was shaken to her core; her beautiful eyes blinked, and her gaze settled upon his face as though she would see through every thought in him.

After a moment, Yantian Fei said calmly: "Yu Tianzun is dead. He died a million years ago, and he is buried by the Heavenly River."

"But his coffin is empty, is it not?"

Shen Mu smiled faintly: "It was I who carried his corpse away and hid it in Youdu for a million years. Do not forget, Your Highness, that among the ancient gods my title is the Great Dharma Master of Myriad Kalpas, Immortal and Indestructible."

Yantian Fei's delicate body trembled slightly, and she fell silent.

Shen Mu said no more.

After a long while, Yantian Fei lifted her brows and eyelids and said softly: "In my heart, Taichu was never fit to be Heaven Emperor. He was obstinate and self-willed, his power scorching the heavens; he would not rest easy until all authority lay in his own hands. And at that time, some thousand years and more before Longhan, I returned to my homeland to visit my kin, and on the road I met a youth, a human youth brimming with charm. He sat beneath a tree, comprehending the Dao."

Shen Mu listened quietly.

"How noble is my station? How splendid my phoenix-luan? How magnificent my carriage? Wherever I passed, heavenly flowers rained down, the gods encircled me in praise, and great gods, small gods, and the pettiest gods knelt to pay homage. Yet when I saw him, I could not help but order my carriage to halt."

Recalling the past, her face calm, Yantian Fei said: "He was entering the Dao and noticed my arrival not at all; he simply sat beneath the tree in stillness. From within him came a rhythm of the Dao that brought me peace, and before I knew it I had stood beside him and listened for a long while. I knew how lowly the human race was, and yet the human race was about to rise."

A wistful look came over her. "I seemed to see the future, to see the decline of the ancient gods and the flourishing of the humans, the demigods, and the other races. In that moment, I felt the urge to kill him."

Yantian Fei was silent a moment, then said: "Then he woke from his entering the Dao, opened his clear eyes, and looked at me, and the killing intent vanished. I invited him into my carriage, treated him as an honored guest, and traveled with him across the four seas, and on to Guixu. Later he comprehended the Primordial Embryo Divine Treasury and opened a new age. I witnessed the breadth of his mind and spirit, and I felt that he was more fit to be Heaven Emperor."

Shen Mu heard in her tone admiration, devotion, and love, and his own state of mind grew somewhat strange.

He had not expected Yu Tianzun to have such a past.

Yantian Fei said: "Later he died. I once wished to take out his corpse and bury him forever amid the lotuses of Guixu, so that he would never decay through all the ages. But his coffin was empty."

"I took it," Shen Mu said with a smile.

Yantian Fei fell silent again. She soon recovered the state of mind befitting a Tianzun and was no longer bound by emotion. "Hao'er's blood, in exchange for half the output of the lode?"

Shen Mu nodded.

Yantian Fei said coolly: "This palace also demands the return of my body, and of the body of that little wretch."

Shen Mu refused outright, shaking his head: "Your Highness, you are too insatiably greedy. The bodies of the Empress and of Yuanmu, how noble they are! I treasure them beyond measure. You would trade a mere half for their bodies? You are dreaming! I can add for Your Highness the body of Jue Wuchen!"

Yantian Fei shook her head: "What use have you for my body, or for that little wretch's? Return them to me, and I grant you half the output of this lode, which is already a boundless grace. The Creator gained only the Taichu lode, and was supreme in the cosmos for billions of years. With half a lode you have enough to make your human race supreme in the world and the head of the myriad races!"

Shen Mu laughed heartily. He laughed for a while, but Yantian Fei never took up the thread.

He had no choice but to stop laughing, and said gravely: "Your Highness, if the bodies of the Empress and of Yuanmu were joined, how mighty their power would be, Your Highness must know better than I. These two bodies of ancient gods are the key to obtaining the twin lotuses on a single stem in the great abyss of Guixu!"

Yantian Fei's eyes showed killing intent.

Shen Mu's eye-corner twitched violently, and he regretted his loose tongue.

Yantian Fei reined in her killing intent and said calmly: "I can forgo that little wretch's body, but mine must be returned. The very thought that my body lies in the hands of a man so hideous and ferocious as you gives this palace gooseflesh all over."