Chapter 1364 — One Arrow Pierces the Heavens

The spiritual power and spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged in madly, converging toward the divine bow Shen Mu had drawn, forming a howling, spinning vortex that floated above everyone's heads. The vortex grew larger and larger, howling as it turned, and as it ground against the air, lightning flashed and thunder roared, crack-crack, bolts striking ceaselessly around it!

The vortex was like a black cloud shrouding a hundred li, its inner ring spinning fast and its outer ring slow, plunging a hundred li around into pitch darkness, lit only now and then by flashes of lightning. And the morning sun rising in the east cast its light over, turning this black cloud of spiritual energy and power gray.

Suddenly, with a thunderous boom, a thick beam of light shone down, illuminating Shen Mu's divine bow, and the arrow of light took form! Shen Mu bent the bow, and the arrow grew brighter and brighter, until the crowd could scarcely look at it directly; then, with a sudden thwip, the arrow of light flew out!

The arrow of light split the vast sky, traveling ten thousand li in an instant, vanishing without a trace.

And in Jingping, countless tens of thousands of li to the east along its path, and in the territories of the other clans, countless people saw the light streaking across the sky. Shen Mu loosed one arrow, and before the vortex of spiritual energy and power in the sky had even dispersed, he bent the bow and drew again, loosing another arrow.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Arrow after arrow of light streaked across the sky like rainbows, leaving trails of radiance in the air. Shen Mu loosed more than ten arrows in succession, and at last, utterly spent, his knees gave way; he hurriedly propped himself up with the divine bow, but still sank to one knee on the ground.

The Alchemist took out a spirit elixir and gave it to him to swallow, praising, "Your cultivation is even stronger than before. " Shen Mu shook his head, hastening the medicine's effects, and said in a hoarse voice, "My wounds have not yet healed, and each of you is wounded as well.

This place is not fit for a long stay.

Let us go to Youdu and take shelter.

" Heavenly Venerable Yue nodded.

"Last night's battle was so fierce that it may well have alerted the other Heavenly Venerables.

Let us go to Youdu first and lie low. " She took out her guqin, and the guqin swelled, transforming into the ruins of a palace complex; several young women emerged from the hidden chambers of the palace and came forward to greet her with respects.

Heavenly Venerable Yue was merciful after all; even in last night's vicious battle, she had done her utmost to keep her maidservants safe.

Heavenly Venerable You, too, had been gravely wounded by Heavenly Venerable Xiao, his injuries unhealed; he gave a light stamp of his foot, and the world spun around them, and the next moment they appeared in Youdu. Heavenly Venerable Xiao's divine artifact, Heavenly Venerable Yu, was brought in as well, covered all over with yellow talisman paper, following close behind them step by step.

Heavenly Venerable You released a paper boat and sailed toward the Earthlord of Youdu; Heavenly Venerable Yue looked around and saw paper boats threading through the various worlds of Youdu. Heavenly Venerable Yue was surprised.

She glanced at Heavenly Venerable You and said in a low voice, "You, why have you not recalled all your clones? " "I manage the order of Youdu on the Earthlord's behalf.

Death is everywhere throughout the heavens and the myriad worlds, and duty demands it; I must leave some clones behind to go to the various worlds and guide the departed.

" Heavenly Venerable You shook his head. "Besides, I did not know the visitor was Heavenly Venerable Xiao, nor that he was so powerful.

" Heavenly Venerable Yue shook her head. "You should converse with others more, not shut yourself away like this.

" Heavenly Venerable You shot her a glance. "And are you any different?

You have lived in seclusion in the peach forest all these years.

With whom have you conversed? " Shen Mu hastened to refine the spirit elixir, and hearing this, laughed.

"The knots in both your hearts have been untied.

From now on, you should visit each other more, for instance, go to Jingping more often to study and exchange ideas.

" Heavenly Venerable You said no more.

Heavenly Venerable Yue said with a worried frown, "I would like to go, but if I go to Jingping, I will only bring disaster upon you. The Ten Heavenly Venerables will not tolerate me now.

" After they left, the bells of the Daoist sect rang out, and many Daoist priests descended the mountain to inspect the surroundings, only to find that the ten-thousand-li peach forest had been utterly destroyed and no longer existed, and that the palaces within the peach forest had vanished without a trace.

Strangely, only the peach forest had been destroyed; outside the peach forest, not the slightest trace of divine-power fluctuations remained. "Last night, I saw barrier after barrier of space rise up like curtains of light, sealing off the peach forest completely on all sides.

" An old Daoist said, "The mistress of the peach forest is merciful after all. Even in such a vicious battle, she did not forget to protect the common folk outside. .

.

" "Do not discuss this matter!

" A Daoist elder said abruptly, "The Heavenly Court will soon send powerful figures to investigate last night's events. If they question us, we need only truthfully report what we saw last night!

Those who come may well be confidants of the Heavenly Court's Ten Heavenly Venerables, and perhaps even a Heavenly Venerable may come in person!

Therefore, when you speak, you must absolutely not mix in your own conjectures! Understood? " The Daoists all voiced their assent. A young Daoist hesitated, then could not help asking, "Elder Yan, those ten streaks of light just now, what exactly were they? " The Daoist elder hesitated, then shook his head.

"Do not make any conjectures.

Be cautious in speech and in action. " Jingping, Shangjing.

Emperor Yanxiu held court.

The civil and military officials ascended the hall, reporting the various events great and small from every region to the emperor one by one.

Ling Yuxiu listened carefully, handling each in turn, and called to account the officials who had failed in their duties, swift and decisive. At this moment, a court official submitted a memorial, saying, "I, Xiao Tianji, have a memorial to present.

" Ling Yuxiu looked at that young deity in the court hall and smiled.

"There is no need for such ceremony, Grand Master of the Palace with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon. What memorial do you have to present?

" The civil and military ministers in the court all showed looks of envy and admiration. This Xiao Tianji was one of the most outstanding figures of the younger generation; at only nineteen, he had already attained the rank of deity.

Moreover, this man was exceptionally talented, transcendent and refined, with keen insight into any matter. Ling Yuxiu had discovered his abilities and gradually come to regard him highly, and had now promoted him to the post of Grand Master of the Palace with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, a rank of the third grade proper; though it was an honorary civil office without real power, his status was already exceedingly high! Xiao Tianji took out his memorial and said in a grave voice, "I wish to memorialize on the case of fraud at the Jiangling Imperial Foundry. Wei Yong of the Jiangling Imperial Foundry, relying on being a descendant of the Duke of Wei, and relying on his connections with Jingping's Imperial Preceptor, Heavenly Venerable Mu, and the former Jingping Imperial Preceptor, Jiang Baigui, has accepted bribes, substituting inferior divine gold and divine materials for superior ones, practicing favoritism and fraud.