Chapter 1396 — Maidens Among the Flowers

Shen Mu and the others watched from afar as this battle of the Celestial Masters drew to its close, each lost in his own thoughts.

"The far side of the Ancestral Court is about to become the private garden of the Three Celestial Masters.

" Crown Prince Youming said, "All three of them have mastered the Reverse Summoning divine art. They can come as they please and leave as they please. Before long, Long Xiao will be unable to hold this ground. And worse — I fear he will not merely lose the ground; he may well be captured and turned into a mount.

" Wei Suifeng's eyes glittered. "All three Celestial Masters have the means to come and go at will. This time they went away wounded, but when they return, whichever one's injuries heal first will be the one to subdue Long Xiao and unify the far side of the Ancestral Court! Given the temperaments of these three Celestial Masters, however, each must surely fear that another will recover before him and tame Long Xiao. So the first thing they will do upon returning home. . .

" His expression turned strange. "Is to spread word of what happened at the far side of the Ancestral Court, and pass the Reverse Summoning divine art on to the other Celestial Masters — so that no one gains the far side of the Ancestral Court, and no one can subdue Long Xiao! " He saw through those three Celestial Masters with complete clarity, and understood how a Celestial Master thinks.

Since one of them might seize the greatest prize and vastly increase his strength and influence — and the odds that this one would be oneself were only one in three, while two in three meant falling from power and being destroyed by whoever gained the most — then the better course was simply to throw the matter open.

Throw it open, and he was certain to gain at least a tenth of the benefit! That was the optimal choice. As for Long Xiao, he had only one road ahead: to be destroyed by the Ten Celestial Masters. The benefit came in only ten shares, and the Ten Celestial Masters would not share it with any outsider.

And since Long Xiao could not be split into ten shares, a dead Long Xiao was the best Long Xiao. The best outcome was that no one should have him at all.

Crown Prince Youming could not follow the twists and turns of the logic, and said in a muffled voice, "Wouldn't their gains be greater if the three Celestial Masters simply split him into three shares?

" "Because their contradictions cannot be reconciled.

But the contradictions among the Ten Celestial Masters can be.

Since the Dragon-Han era, they have compromised with one another; they are rivals, and yet they are also a community of interests. " Wei Suifeng said with feeling, "Your Highness, you should count yourself fortunate that the Northern Emperor suppressed you for six hundred thousand years.

Otherwise, in those six hundred thousand years, you would have died no telling how many times. " Crown Prince Youming laughed. "I know my wits are dull, so I must ask clever men like you for instruction.

In the past, the Nether Emperor and his fellows only schemed against me; they never taught me how to weigh advantage against disadvantage. But you are my friends, and you will teach me these things. " Wei Suifeng looked at Shen Mu and probed, "Then what should Celestial Master Mu — who is not among the Ten — do in this situation?

" "Find Long Xiao before the Ten Celestial Masters destroy him. " Shen Mu smiled slightly. "Then tell him, word for word and letter for letter, everything you have just said, and make him understand that he cannot throw in his lot with any one of the Ten Celestial Masters.

His only choice is an alliance with me. " Wei Suifeng burst out laughing, yet the laughter stopped abruptly as he changed tack: "But Long Xiao is obstinate and headstrong. He is the sovereign of the far side of the Ancestral Court, ruling over every great beast here. He will cling to the illusion that even at the most perilous pass he can still offer himself to some Celestial Master and keep his position!

Go looking for him, and you walk straight into the snare! " Shen Mu smiled.

"Man proposes.

So long as there is even a thread of hope, I will go and act. " Wei Suifeng was stunned for a moment, then sighed. "This is where I fall short of you.

When you see a thread of hope, you strive and strain to turn one thread into two, into three. But I, more often than not, give up. " Shen Mu imparted the Reverse Summoning divine art to them. "The Southern Heavenly Gate is right here. The two of you, bring Granny, Hua Xuanxiu, Lan Yutian, Xu Shenghua and the others over, and study it closely. I am going to find Long Xiao.

" Wei Suifeng hesitated a moment. "Take care on your way.

" Shen Mu laughed aloud, pressed his Glazed Azure Banner into Wei Suifeng's hand, and went drifting away. "Rest easy. Long Xiao is gravely wounded now; he can do nothing against me!

" Wei Suifeng and Crown Prince Youming watched him until he vanished in the distance. Crown Prince Youming said from the bottom of his heart, "Celestial Master Mu is truly an extraordinary man. " "The Nine Celestial Masters of the Dragon-Han era were all extraordinary men.

They had ambition, they had aspirations, they had their own principles — and that is why they could do extraordinary things and become extraordinary men.

" Wei Suifeng worked the Reverse Summoning and said in a low voice, "Let us summon Shu Jun, Lan Yutian, Si Youyou and the others. There is no need to return to the Hundred Thousand Sacred Mountains. " Crown Prince Youming hesitated.

"You call them the Hundred Thousand Sacred Mountains as well, yet to my eyes those hundred thousand great black mountains do not look like sacred peaks. They look more like a place of utter peril, and they give me an ominous feeling.

. . " "If Celestial Master Mu says they are sacred mountains, then they are sacred mountains.

Should the sky fall, Celestial Master Mu will hold it up! " "That is true enough. " .

. . Shen Mu followed the traces Long Xiao had left as he departed, searching as he went.

Long Xiao was wounded and had left blood behind, but Shen Mu had not followed far before the blood trail vanished.

Presumably Long Xiao had suppressed his wound, so that no one could track him.

Shen Mu was still pondering when a great beast in the distance caught sight of him and came charging toward him with a roar.

His divine sense burst out, branding itself into the beast's mind. After a moment, Shen Mu stood on the creature's brow, sifted its memories for Long Xiao's direction, and drove it forward at a run. Before long he reached the spot, but the beast lost Long Xiao's trail. Not far away were other great beasts, so Shen Mu promptly changed mounts, leaving the first beast where it was and riding off without a backward glance.

He searched on, stopping and starting, yet Long Xiao's traces grew ever more elusive.

At last, even after changing beasts several times, Shen Mu found not a trace of Long Xiao. "Long Xiao is careful, I'll give him that. " Shen Mu leaped down from the beast's forehead, gave a soft laugh, raised a finger, and lightly tapped it upon an ancient tree.

"May I ask, sir, have you seen Long Xiao? " The ancient tree, awakened by his spirit-calling, suddenly gained sentience. With a great rumbling, its roots tore out of the earth, and it stood upright like a man; eyes and a mouth grew out of its trunk, and it lifted a branch, pointing into the distance.

"He went that way. " Shen Mu thanked it and took his leave. The spirit tree raised a branch and scratched its crown, somewhat bewildered.

It did not understand why it, which had been basking in the sun quite peacefully, had suddenly gained the power of speech and the power of walking.