Chapter 1380 — The New Wave Pushes the Old

"The corpse demon is my own body!" Yun Chuxiu could not help but panic.

Crown Prince Mingya paid her no heed at all. He rose into the air with the corpse demon and vanished from sight.

"After him!" Yun Chuxiu cried, furious and frantic.

The three of them hurried in pursuit. When they came to the domain under Heavenly Venerable You's sway, Yun Chuxiu at once flew into a rage. "Heavenly Venerable You," she said angrily, "what right have you to seize my body for your own? You are a lone man with no family about you — do you mean to take liberties with the Heavenly Emperor's woman?"

Heavenly Venerable You could not abide such shrewishness from her — and more than that, Yun Chuxiu wore the face of Jue Wuchen. In the years when Jue Wuchen first appeared, he too had coveted her beauty.

Now, facing Yun Chuxiu, Heavenly Venerable You found himself speechless. He beckoned to Yun Jianli.

Yun Jianli hurried over. Heavenly Venerable You whispered a few words in his ear; Yun Jianli nodded, then ran back and told Yun Chuxiu, "King Rensheng says that if you want this body, you may have it — but you must offer something in exchange."

The anger vanished from Yun Chuxiu's face. She smiled. "And what does Heavenly Venerable You wish in exchange? I can't spend a night with you, you know — I belong to the Heavenly Emperor."

Yun Jianli ran over again. Heavenly Venerable You gave a few more low instructions; Yun Jianli ran back and said, "He wishes to borrow your hand, my lady, to repair Heavenly Venerable Xiao's divine artifact, Heavenly Venerable Yu."

Yun Chuxiu had been all smiles; at these words her expression changed drastically. She sneered, "Repair the divine artifact, Heavenly Venerable Yu? The one you carried off into Youdu? Dream on! With that artifact in hand, how is anyone to kill Tubo?"

Heavenly Venerable You said not a word. He waved his hand as though to hand the Yuanmu corpse demon over to Xie Wuqi. Xie Wuqi roared again and again, reaching out to seize Yuanmu's body, drool at the corners of his mouth, as though he meant to tear Lady Yuanmu to pieces.

Yun Chuxiu gave a mournful sigh. "You — You! Stop this at once! I'll yield to you, all right!"

Heavenly Venerable You drew the Yuanmu corpse demon back.

Yun Chuxiu looked at her own body, then at Heavenly Venerable You, and sneered, "You're an honest man, Heavenly Venerable You. This sort of scheme is not like you at all! Who gave you such a rotten idea? Heavenly Venerable Mu, wasn't it?"

Heavenly Venerable You silently put the ghost-faced mask back over his face, so that she could not see his expression.

Yun Chuxiu sneered, "I know it was him! Only he is that venomous. Bringing out Xie Wuqi and Crown Prince Mingya — that was his idea too, I suppose? You are offending Heavenly Venerable Hao past all forgiveness!"

She turned to leave. "I will make a trip to Youdu and repair that divine artifact, Heavenly Venerable Yu. And when that is done, if you still will not return my body, or dare to make any further demands, I will come down in person and slaughter you!"

Heavenly Venerable You lifted his mask and sighed, his old face all wrinkles.

Yun Jianli asked curiously, "Was it truly Heavenly Venerable Mu's idea?"

Heavenly Venerable You nodded helplessly. "Heavenly Venerable Mu knows that Lady Yuanmu is the one who holds the Zaofu Heavenly Palace and the Creation divine artifact in her grasp. So when he left Youdu, he gave me an idea: use the Yuanmu corpse demon to threaten her, and force her to repair Youdu's divine artifact, Heavenly Venerable Yu. The idea worked, as you saw."

Yun Jianli hesitated, glanced at Crown Prince Mingya and Xie Wuqi, and lowered his voice. "And what of them?"

"Crown Prince Mingya entered Youdu of his own accord, begging my permission to see Xie Wuqi."

Heavenly Venerable You said, "He discovered that the Heavenly Emperor in the Heavenly Court is a counterfeit — that the Ten Heavenly Venerables fashioned a false body of the Heavenly Emperor. It terrified him beyond measure. And his elder brother, Heavenly Venerable Hao, is himself one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, which made him dare not linger in the Heavenly Court for even a moment. All these years he has hidden in Youdu, together with Xie Wuqi. The Evil Emperor Xie Wuqi is his eldest brother."

Yun Jianli looked at Xie Wuqi and Crown Prince Mingya. The crown prince was tending to Xie Wuqi, and only in his presence did Xie Wuqi refrain from raving.

Now these "two brothers" depended upon each other for their very lives.

Yun Jianli thought to himself, "Had Xie Wuqi not died, one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables' seats would likely have been his. A pity history has no 'if'."

Elsewhere, Shen Mu's tower ship sailed into the Ancestral Court. This vessel represented the highest achievement of Jingping's casting arts: the alchemical furnaces could now be forged very large, and the ship's speed had increased greatly.

Yet though Jingping now had craftsmen beyond counting, it still could not, like the Heavenly Court or the Kaihuang Era, forge warships that were like floating continents.

In the Kaihuang Era, the highest attainments of the casting Way were embodied in Wuyou Township and the Other Shore Ark!

To forge warships of that kind, what was needed was not the Way of casting alone, but a mighty nation possessed of immense national power!

The Heavenly Court's warships were of that caliber as well. Though the Heavenly Court could not match the Kaihuang Era in the Way of casting, nor match Jingping, its foundations were far too deep and vast.

The Kaihuang Era's wealth could forge only two such leviathans as the Other Shore Ark, whereas the Heavenly Court had dozens of warships of that kind!

The tower ship passed over the Ancestral Court. Shen Mu gazed down, surveying the lay of the land.

Wei Suifeng, Granny Zhu, Hua Xuanxiu, Crown Prince Youming and the rest, meanwhile, marveled at the Ancestral Court's splendor and grandeur. The scenery here left them gasping in awe, and the primordial behemoths that flew past the ship's flank were even more astonishing.

The ship flew between sacred mountains and holy lands of every kind, and their eyes went wide and fixed; cries of amazement rose from the deck again and again.

Shen Mu frowned. The Ancestral Court's territory was immeasurably vast; finding the whereabouts of the Four Great Heavenly Gates would be no easy matter.

"I ought to go back and fetch Shu Jun. He most likely knows where the Ancestral Court's Four Great Heavenly Gates lie. Otherwise, searching like this, who knows when we will find them."

He hung up Heavenly Venerable Yue's lantern. Before many days had passed, the tower ship came to the Hundred Thousand Black Mountains.

Long Qilin and Yan'er hurried out to welcome them. Suddenly Long Qilin caught sight of the youth Wenyuan and froze for a moment; abandoning Shen Mu, he made straight for the boy.

A sour ache rose in Shen Mu's heart. "Each new generation surpasses the old. I suppose I truly am old and faded now..."

Long Qilin nuzzled and fawned over the youth Wenyuan for a while, then ran back, cautious. "Sect Master..."

"Call me Old Sect Master."

Shen Mu said listlessly, "Where are the First Ancestor and the other Human Emperors?"

"Lost," Long Qilin said, even more cautiously.

"Lost?"

Shen Mu was taken aback, then laughed. "Off taming behemoths, I suppose? And Shu Jun?"

Long Qilin said in a low voice, "Lost too..."

Shen Mu paused, studied him for a moment, and raised the tip of his left eyebrow. "And Jiang Yunjian and the others?"

Long Qilin's face crumpled. "Lost along with Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian and the rest."

Shen Mu steadied himself and looked into the depths of the Hundred Thousand Black Mountains. There were still no few gods and men about — some mining, some refining treasures — but the Ancestral Court's few pillars of strength were nowhere to be seen!

"How were they lost?"

Shen Mu's voice was hoarse. "Did they slip out under cover of night?"