Chapter 1346 — Same Day of Life and Death

Shen Mu paced to and fro, forcibly pressing down the curiosity in his heart, resolving to give no more thought to the matter of the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court. The Grand Emperor smiled; he knew that the more one suppressed it, the heavier it grew, and that sooner or later Shen Mu would be unable to hold back, would surely go scurrying off to the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court to meet his death!

Through all history, those who achieved great things had shared one trait in common: a fierce curiosity, a boundless wonder at the unknown, and by the same token a blindness to whatever perils the unknown might hold for them. Those who lived won fame and fortune; those who died of it were beyond counting! The Grand Emperor chuckled: "Mu Heavenly Venerable, I have told you the geography of the holy city of Jade Capital.

You may go now to my domain and pass the trial of the God-Slaying Platform! " Shen Mu shook his head. "My cultivation is not yet sufficient. I cannot yet ascend the God-Slaying Platform.

" The Grand Emperor was dumbstruck.

"And what realm are you in now? " Shen Mu said, somewhat guiltily: "Spirit Embryo. .

.

" "Bah!

" A mouthful of spiritual consciousness sprayed from the Grand Emperor's head at the center of the seal, and he raged: "Spirit Embryo realm?

Why not say you are a mere martial artist?

Speak plainly! " Shen Mu hesitated, then answered honestly: "The Heavenly Palace realm within the Spirit Embryo realm.

The Heavenly Palace is one small realm within my Spirit Embryo realm, and within the Heavenly Palace are seven smaller realms still: Honored God, True God, Jade Terrace, God-Slaying Platform, Jade Capital, Lingxiao, and Emperor's Throne. At present I stand at the peak of True God, and am about to step into the Jade Terrace realm. . . " The Grand Emperor was silent a while, as though digesting the information contained in his words, and after a long time shook his head and probed: "By the reckoning of the Dao realm, which heaven of the Dao realm are you?

" "The twenty-fourth heaven of the Dao realm," said Shen Mu. "But my Dao realm seems somewhat different from other people's; my Dao realm seems a little stronger. .

.

" The Grand Emperor's eye twitched. The twenty-fourth heaven of the Dao realm should correspond in strength to the Jade Capital realm of the Heavenly Palace.

Yet in this struggle against him, though he had no primordial spirit, his realm had reached the Emperor's Throne realm! Even without a primordial spirit, his true fighting strength was not much inferior to that of an existence at the Emperor's Throne realm, and yet in their battle Shen Mu had beaten him until he flung away his armor, had even shattered his mightiest divine ability! Understand: from the ancient era down to the present, no one had ever broken his Great Luotian of Spiritual Consciousness divine ability!

That ability was one that contained the fruits and flowers of the Dao, and Shen Mu was the first to break it! Even Hao Heavenly Venerable had never broken it! "Your realm is a little strange, strange. .

. " The Grand Emperor thought it over carefully and still could not understand wherein Shen Mu's strength lay, so he could only attribute it to Shen Mu's cultivating the Heavenly Palace and the Heavenly Court and the Dao realm all at once.

"Since you and I have come to terms, then, Mu Heavenly Venerable, you may now undo the seal and let me out. " The Grand Emperor smiled.

"Rest assured, as an emperor of the ancient era I would not break faith over so small a matter.

" Shen Mu hesitated.

The Grand Emperor grew suspicious and sneered: "Do you mean to break faith? Do not forget, Mu Heavenly Venerable, that I have another identity, that of Qiang Heavenly Consort! And I can also summon the imprint of the Great Luotian of spiritual consciousness in the Ultimate Void to blast you to death!

Do not force me into a fight to the death. " Shen Mu said hastily with a smile: "Brother Dao, you worry overmuch!

Have you forgotten, Brother Dao? We are sworn brothers!

We agreed in those years to die on the same year, the same month, the same day!

How could I go back on my word? " The Grand Emperor's face went black as iron; the mere mention of it filled him with smoldering rage. He sneered: "In those years I became sworn brothers with you under the guise of Da Hong. It does not count.

" "By the way, Big Brother, did you know? Third Brother Luo Xiao is already dead, and your little brother has been mulling over how to send Big Brother and Second Brother to keep him company. " Shen Mu wrung his hands and sighed, his face flushed with agitation, and he choked out: "To do in my two elder brothers and send them to accompany Third Brother has always been your little brother's cherished wish!

Third Brother has been gone these eight hundred thousand years. .

. " "Enough of your nonsense!

" The Grand Emperor was furious. "Will you release me or not? " Shen Mu said gravely: "Elder Brother, calm yourself.

You say you will not break faith, and I say I will not break faith, and the Heavenly Emperor Taichu says he will not break faith either, but the three of us are all men who have broken faith.

The four of us swore in those years to die on the same year, the same month, the same day, yet Third Brother has been gone eight hundred thousand years and the three of us are all still hale and whole, not one of us gone to die with him.

Therefore I cannot trust Big Brother. " The Grand Emperor was about to explode when Shen Mu said hastily: "What I mean is, when I have gone to the God-Slaying Platform, then I will release Big Brother. Even true brothers must keep clear accounts. . . " "Do not call me Big Brother!

" the Grand Emperor said viciously. Shen Mu amended himself, smiling: "Elder Brother. .

.

" "Bah!

" Shen Mu, sprayed full in the face with spiritual consciousness, took no offense; letting the spittle dry on his face, he said: "Brother Dao, calm yourself.

Neither you nor I am a man who keeps faith, so how do I know you will not go back on your word? If I release you and you suddenly renege, would I not be drawing water with a bamboo basket and gaining nothing for my pains? " The Grand Emperor's face was gloomy; after a moment he sneered: "I can wait for you to go to the God-Slaying Platform, but in the meantime you must not use me as a treasure and drive me into battle against others. The Grand Emperor's face must never be lost!

" Shen Mu nodded again and again, smiling: "I understand Elder Brother's thinking. . . " "Another matter: do not call me Elder Brother, and you are not permitted to call me Big Brother either!

" Shen Mu laughed: "After all, we were sworn brothers once; we asked not to be born on the same year, the same month, the same day.

.

.

" "That matter is not to be mentioned again either!

" Shen Mu thought for a moment, then moved the various collections kept in the vertical-eyed Shen-Character Continent into the Origin Embryo Divine Treasury, and only then did he take the treasure seal into the space between his brows.