Chapter 1316 — The Earth Mother's Fall into Evil

Yantian Fei's gaze flickered. "I want my body back first.

Once you have obtained the primordial stone, then you may give me Hao'er's blood!

" Shen Mu promptly brought out the Empress's coffin and set it upright before her.

Yantian Fei swept a sleeve, and the coffin lid opened; she looked her own body up and down. Within, besides the body of the Empress, lay another — the body of Jue Wuchen, the woman for whom Taichu the Heaven Emperor had died.

That Shen Mu had given her Jue Wuchen's body was plainly no kindness; his purpose was to sow discord between her and Xiao Tianzun. Yantian Fei knew this perfectly well, but her feud with Taichu the Heaven Emperor was already irreconcilable, and possessing Jue Wuchen's body was, to her, a flower upon brocade.

"Mu Tianzun, which of your hands touched my body? " Yantian Fei asked suddenly.

Shen Mu's heart lurched.

A flash of light streaked past, and both his hands were severed at the wrist!

"Which hand no longer matters.

" Yantian Fei said indifferently, "Cutting off both together is simplest. I detest foul men touching my body — beautiful men, of course, excepted.

" Shen Mu, face dark, circulated the Mystic Body Three-Cinnabar Art, and two new hands grew out.

"Cutting off your hands gives me no sense of accomplishment at all.

" Yantian Fei admired the two peerless beauties in the coffin and said leisurely, "You may enter the mining district at any time and dig for the primordial stone. After you die, I will enter the district and take Hao'er's blood and your other treasures from your corpse. " Shen Mu said in a low voice, "I need some time to prepare. Every ore vein is incomparably perilous; to enter without ample preparation is to throw one's life away!

" "As you please. " Yantian Fei's consciousness suddenly entered Jue Wuchen's body.

The peerless woman in the imperial coffin stepped out of it, like Langwan in her maiden years; every movement of hers tugged at the soul.

Controlling Jue Wuchen, Yantian Fei spun and danced before Shen Mu, light as a swallow, her figure alluring. "Do I look beautiful? " Her gaze was indescribably bewitching, her voice steeped in a tenderness like water.

Shen Mu stared, transfixed, and blurted out without thinking, "Beautiful! " "Foul man!

" Yantian Fei abruptly withdrew her consciousness and said coldly, "Not one of them is any good!

" Shen Mu was dumbfounded.

Yantian Fei's temper was truly strange; this woman's thoughts were utterly unfathomable.

He was about to leave the side palace hall when a young general in silver armor, bearing a silver spear, came in from outside.

He was strikingly handsome; he cast Shen Mu a wary glance and gave a cold snort. Shen Mu smiled slightly.

"Xiao Qi. " The young general abruptly transformed into a white cat and darted past him, then leaped up; Yantian Fei opened her arms, and the white cat jumped into her embrace, nuzzled against her, and said, "Your Highness, regarding these giant beasts, I have already discovered a few clues. " He did not continue, but glanced warily at Shen Mu.

Yantian Fei shot Shen Mu a look, but Shen Mu showed not the slightest intention of leaving; instead he stopped, and his ears even grew a little larger — plainly he did not mean to miss anything interesting.

"Xiao Qi, Mu Tianzun is no outsider. Speak on," said Yantian Fei. Hearing this, the white cat could not help showing hostility toward Shen Mu; the fur on its tail bristled, and it gave a low, threatening growl. Then it said, "In the Ancestral Court I found scattered altars.

These altars are used for sacrifice, to forcibly drag the giant beasts that live on the reverse side of the various worlds into the Ancestral Court.

Though the altars are well hidden, I still found some of them. On the altars is the aura left by an old acquaintance of Your Highness. Does Your Highness still remember the Xuandu tragedy?

" Yantian Fei's heart stirred slightly, and she nodded gently.

"The Xuandu tragedy? " Shen Mu's interest deepened, and he asked curiously, "What is the Xuandu tragedy? " The white cat gave him a glare and had no intention of telling him. Yantian Fei said, "The Xuandu tragedy happened six years ago. Six years ago, Earth Mother Yuanjun blood-washed Xuandu, killing untold numbers of gods and demons that dwelt upon Tiangong's body, and even destroying countless divine cities great and small. The Great Sun Star Lord was also gravely wounded by Earth Mother Yuanjun and very nearly failed to escape. The Ancestral God King flew into a towering rage, stamping and roaring; he wanted then and there to go kill his own father — though of course that was only talk, and he never truly raised a hand.

" Shen Mu's eyes went wide.

There was such a thing?

Such an interesting affair, and he had missed it!

"The Xuandu tragedy was Earth Mother Yuanjun's doing.

The Ancestral God King had originally meant to spend two hundred years completing the survey of Tiangong's Great Way; there are still a hundred and eighty years to go. He cannot wait that long. " Yantian Fei said, "Xiao Qi, by that account, Earth Mother Yuanjun has slipped in here? She is a corpse that will not lie down. " The white cat said, "It is indeed Earth Mother Yuanjun. I caught her scent upon those altars. Her present strength, though not of the very highest, is still formidable.

I wished to track her, but dared not draw too near, lest she sense me, and so I returned to report the matter to Your Highness.

" "You were right not to keep tracking her.

" Yantian Fei said, "You did not see the scene of the Xuandu tragedy. Had you seen it, you would never dare approach her again. Xuandu is vast, no less than Youdu; countless rays of light compose Tiangong's body, and upon that body are numberless nightless divine cities, inhabited by gods beyond counting.

Those gods died within a single day. " Her face was calm as she said, "I went to look upon the carnage there.

Every god had become a dried corpse, drained of all blood and qi, their primordial spirits withered, without a shred of vitality. Only the Great Sun Star Lord was swift enough to escape. The Earth Mother Yuanjun, turned evil, is a terrible thing. " Shen Mu could not help shuddering.

Yantian Fei said, "The Earth Mother has taken the path of evil.

Her coming to the Ancestral Court bodes no small scheme. In those years, as Mother of the Earth, she was the one who commanded those giant beasts; now that she has summoned them forth, her aim is likely to restore here the glory of those days. Only. . .

" She shook her head. "Times are not what they were. The age that belonged to her is long past. Mu Tianzun, you have heard enough.

Why do you not take your leave and make your preparations?

" Shen Mu took his leave and walked out of the side palace. The white cat spoke up: "That fellow. . .

" Yantian Fei raised a hand and pointed at the ground. "He is still listening.

" The white cat hastily shut its mouth.

On the ground lay a pair of hands — Shen Mu's hands — and from those hands had grown two ears!

At that moment the ears seemed to hear their words; they twitched, and the two hands actually set their fingers flying and fled at speed like great spiders.

Yantian Fei waved her sleeve, and the two hands turned to flying ash. "He has gone far enough.

You may continue. " The white cat said, "I have heard that the Earth Mother was brought to such misery by Mu Tianzun.

Mu Tianzun seized her cultivation and transferred it to Dide Yuanjun, and by strange arts ruined the Earth Mother's heavenly soul and earthly soul. If word were spread that Mu Tianzun is here, then Earth Mother Yuanjun.

. . " Yantian Fei shook her head. "There is no need.

He means to enter the ore veins for the primordial stone; that journey will surely be his death. Why trouble to inform the Earth Mother? That temper of hers wearies even me.

" The white cat had no choice but to fall silent, and lay meekly in her embrace, dozing.