Chapter 1319 — Father and Son of Different Surnames

On the altar, Earth Mother Yuanjun gnashed her teeth in hatred, yet no matter how she urged the altar to summon Long Xiao, she could never call forth that colossal beast!

Long Xiao's strength was far greater than hers today, and even in those years Long Xiao had stood above her.

It was only because she was the Earth Mother and could command the giant beasts that Taichu had set her to deal with Long Xiao.

She had chosen not to kill him, but instead to hide Long Xiao and a number of other powerful giant beasts on the dark side of the Ancestral Court, and that too had been a plan for her own future.

Earth Mother Yuanjun harbored ambitions of her own: Tiangong and Tubo might hold themselves aloof, but she, the Yuanmu who had grown great upon the offerings of the Ancestral Court's Creators, had long since taken on the worldly airs of the Creators, and she meant to contend with Taichu for dominion over the cosmos to come. Yet Taichu was afterward exalted by all the gods, founded the Long Han Heavenly Court and inaugurated the Long Han era, and Earth Mother Yuanjun, seeing that the thing could not be done, abandoned the notion.

Later, in the War of the Shanghuang, she was set upon by Celestial Venerable Yue, Celestial Venerable Ling, Celestial Venerable Huo, Celestial Venerable Xiao and others, and was done away with before she could summon Long Xiao. Only today, with the Ancestral Court unsealed, had she gained the chance to summon Long Xiao — and yet Long Xiao would not deign to cast her a glance!

"Since you will be heartless, then blame no one if I am merciless!

" Earth Mother Yuanjun sneered, "If I cannot summon you, I can summon your sons and your sons' sons, summon every giant beast on the dark side of the Ancestral Court back to the Ancestral Court, to be driven by me, to fight for me!

With the blood of your countless descendants I shall pave this sovereign's road to the throne!

" She went on summoning the giant beasts on the far side of the Ancestral Court; beast after beast of every strange and monstrous shape came welling up out of the sky, each one landing with immense, towering bulk. In the void, Shen Mu stared until his eyes grew fixed: so many giant beasts, bodies of such immensity, hardly inferior even to the Void Mother Beasts.

Of course, the Void Mother Beasts combined the virtues of most giant beasts, had more means of attack, were more mysterious and unfathomable, and were still somewhat stronger than these beasts — otherwise they could never have left only themselves here. "In the Ancestral Court of old, the Creators lived in a world so perilous; had they not mastered the power of the Taichu God Stone, it would truly have been hard to survive in such a world.

" Shen Mu could not help but sigh in reflection: that the Creators obtained the God Stone was chance, yet it drew back the curtain on civilization.

From that time on the Creators grew ever stronger, gradually took command of the giant beasts, contended against heaven and earth and nature, and in the end became the rulers. To the races of later ages, the Creators were simply a pantheon of the most ancient gods.

Just then a sudden sense came over Shen Mu, and he hurriedly fled with the egg of Taishi into the depths of the void. Swoosh — a root tendril of unimaginable thickness shot past before him, and its keen root hairs abruptly swelled, like a great hedgehog; countless root hairs sprouted madly in every direction, piercing layer upon layer of the void and giving chase to Shen Mu!

"Celestial Venerable Mu, do you still think to hide?

" One root tendril abruptly grew, turned to flesh and blood, and soon there grew up not far from Shen Mu a woman in the likeness of Earth Mother Yuanjun; her voice was shrill as she sneered, "Long Xiao's dragon scales have long since mirrored your figure down to the last hair and thread.

And you still imagine you hide cleverly!

" Shen Mu fled with the egg of Taishi from the second layer of the void into the third, into the fourth, but root tendrils danced across the whole sky, weaving and crossing about him and attacking him madly.

Upon the root tendrils, one Earth Mother Yuanjun after another suddenly grew — some sprouting atop the tendrils, some hanging upside down beneath them — striking at Shen Mu from every direction.

Shen Mu moved with a light and unhurried grace, calmly evading the attacks that came from all sides, pursued the whole way by Earth Mother Yuanjun deeper into one layer of the void after another. He entered the void in his own flesh, and his whole being seemed to merge with the void, suffering not the least rejection from it.

Earth Mother Yuanjun had no such skill; she could only pit her matchless dharma power forcibly against the void's rejection.

Shen Mu was therefore wholly confident that he could make Earth Mother Yuanjun withdraw in the face of difficulty. "Earth Mother, you most likely do not know that Yantianfei has already arrived at the Ancestral Court. " Shen Mu laughed, "It seems Long Xiao spoke the truth — the blood malevolence that clings to you has indeed clouded your wisdom.

Summoning Long Xiao and so many giant beasts, raising such a commotion, you can hardly hide it from Yantianfei. If you still do not leave now, are you waiting to die at Yantianfei's hands?

" Earth Mother Yuanjun was startled, and all the root hairs that had pierced into the void swiftly withdrew; her true body too sank at once back toward the altar! Suddenly a great Guixu abyss appeared above the altar, seized the countless root tendrils that were retracting through the void, and dragged them down into the abyss!

This was Yantianfei's Guixu divine art: catching hold of Earth Mother's root tendrils, it pinned the Earth Mother Yuanjun beneath the ground and dragged her forcibly up toward the surface!

Because Earth Mother Yuanjun's hatred for Shen Mu ran so deep, she had this time pursued him with the full strength of her root hairs; now that those roots were swallowed into the Guixu abyss, even she could hardly escape.

Just as Earth Mother Yuanjun was about to be hauled out of the ground, tendril after tendril snapped apart with a crack — Earth Mother Yuanjun, knowing well that she was no match for Yantianfei, had severed her roots to save her life. The Guixu abyss devoured and ground away those severed tendrils, and Yantianfei's figure emerged; she shook out her sleeves, clasped her hands behind her back, and looked down into the earth, watching the direction in which Earth Mother Yuanjun fled.

Her aura was majestic, like an empress ruling the universe, holding all power under heaven, holding the power of life and death.

Suddenly the giant beasts summoned by Earth Mother Yuanjun roared and charged at Yantianfei, hideous and ferocious. Yantianfei gave a cold snort, drew back her gaze, and swept her beautiful eyes over those primeval giant beasts. Wherever her gaze fell, Guixu abysses appeared one after another, drawing those primeval giant beasts into them in turn.

In those abysses, blood plasma gushed like fountains; the beasts that seemed so mighty could not escape her gaze at all, and one after another they were ground to ash.

She suddenly raised her head and looked deep into the void.

Shen Mu's heart lurched, thinking she meant to strike at him, and he at once put away the egg of Taishi — but just then he suddenly saw a big-headed youth appear in the sixteenth layer of the void, observing the goings-on in the Ancestral Court.

The big-headed youth had not expected Yantianfei's gaze to be so terrible; before he could make any move, a Guixu abyss had already appeared in the sixteenth layer of the void, sucking him up and plunging him down into the abyss! He had thought that hiding in the sixteenth layer of the void was quite safe enough, but Yantianfei's gaze could pierce layer upon layer of the void and reach him directly!