Chapter 1405 — The Origins of Summoning Arts

Long Xiao's heart jolted. "To the Great Void?

The world made by those Creators who fled the Ancestral Court?

" "Indeed," Shen Mu said. "That is the place. The Creators built the Other Shore Void there; you may take your behemoths there and breed and thrive.

Of course, the Heavenly Court is attacking it even now, and you will be expected to do your part.

" His consciousness rippled, pouring the present state of the Other Shore Void into Long Xiao's mind. Long Xiao hesitated. If the Heavenly Court was assaulting the Other Shore Void, then once they went there, he and the primeval behemoths would have no choice but to enter the war. From the situation Shen Mu had shown him, if the Heavenly Court was resolved to wipe the Other Shore Void from existence, then the Great Void, the Void Bridge, and even the Other Shore Void itself could never hold! Even if he and the primeval behemoths of the back of the Ancestral Court could flee there, it would only put off the hour of their death.

Studying his face, Shen Mu said, unhurried, "If you choose not to go to the Great Void, then there is still one chance: an alliance with the Eleventh Heavenly Venerable. " Long Xiao blinked, at a loss as to his meaning.

Shen Mu said, "The Heavenly Court's Eleventh Heavenly Venerable stands outside the Ten. She has one gift, and that is the forging of artifacts capable of commanding a Heavenly Venerable. What is more, every such artifact comes from her hand, and she knows the weakness of every one of them.

But because she stands outside the Ten, an alliance with her carries great peril; both you and she may well be destroyed by them.

" Long Xiao's face flickered, now dark, now bright. The second road Shen Mu pointed out to him was likewise fraught with enormous risk. The Ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court would never suffer him to fall into the hands of any single one of their number; joining hands with the Eleventh would bring the Ten down to strangle them both. And this road, too, concealed a malicious design. So long as he did as Shen Mu directed, then when the Ten went to war with him and the Eleventh, the killing would shake the heavens and shatter the earth, and the back of the Ancestral Court would become a second battlefield! "Is there a third road?

" Long Xiao asked.

Shen Mu smiled faintly. "The third road is the most vicious of all. When the Ten departed just now, they invited me to a council of the Heavenly Alliance, whose business is precisely how to carve up the back of the Ancestral Court, along with other great matters.

I will be granted a stretch of territory in the back of the Ancestral Court, and you may openly pledge yourself to me and become a great general under my banner.

" Long Xiao's expression changed drastically, and he shook his head. "You cannot even preserve yourself, so how will you preserve me? " "It is precisely because I cannot preserve myself that there is a thread of life.

" Shen Mu laughed.

"The Ten are not of one body; each contends with the others. Yet they share a single aim: to keep the peace among themselves until all other enemies are rooted out. They will not tear off the mask with the Heavenly Court's Eleventh, and so they will allot her a share of the interests in the back of the Ancestral Court. They can allot it to the Eleventh, and they can allot it to me as well, for I have someone among the Ten. " Long Xiao frowned.

"You can preserve yourself, but I have no one among the Heavenly Venerables.

If I pledge myself to you, will they tolerate me?

" "Pledge yourself to any one of the Eleven and you break the balance; pledge yourself to me, and the balance holds. We two are the weakest of the Twelve Heavenly Venerables, and therefore we have a chance to survive whole. " Shen Mu spoke without haste. "The chance is small, but it can be fought for. " Long Xiao paced to and fro, unable to decide, then suddenly raised his head. "Then is there a fourth road?

" Shen Mu was silent. At this Long Xiao laughed in alarm.

"Heavenly Venerable Mu, fourth road or no, I am deeply grateful to you and still count you my ally! Rest assured, I will never betray you! " Shen Mu made up his mind and abruptly lifted his head.

"There is a fourth road.

Difficult though it is, it is also the best road, the easiest to bring to pass; it will even preserve your rule, free you from the grasp of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, and set you beyond the strife of the world! But this road will cut into my own interests.

Therefore I ask you to promise me three things.

Promise, and I will strive for this road on your behalf. " Long Xiao hesitated a moment, then said in a low voice, "Good! I promise you three requests!

" "The fourth road is this: the Twelve Heavenly Venerables carve up the back of the Ancestral Court, and the behemoths migrate to the backs of the Yuan Realm and the other heavens and myriad worlds, there to establish a Great World of Behemoths. " Shen Mu's eyes flickered. "The Beast Realm shall stand apart from all other realms, with Long Xiao as its ruler, its one and only ancient god. The behemoths of the Beast Realm may enter summoning contracts with gods or with divine arts practitioners, answering the summons, descending from the Beast Realm to fight alongside them. When the fighting ends, the behemoths return to the Beast Realm. In this way every Heavenly Venerable may share in the power of the behemoths, and through you hold the Beast Realm in hand; and so they will all nod in assent. " Long Xiao's eyes lit up.

This road was indeed the best: he would have no clash of interests with the Twelve, nor would he be subdued by them and made into a mount, and his life would not be in peril!

Only, would this road be easy to bring about? "The Twelve each have their own interests; this road harms none of them, and they may likewise borrow the strength of the behemoths in war.

So long as you hold to the middle and lean neither way, it is in fact the easiest of all to bring about. " Shen Mu sighed. "Only, this road injures my interests. Without your aid I will become the weakest party in the back of the Ancestral Court. Yet for that very reason, the other eleven Heavenly Venerables will all agree to the proposal. " Long Xiao laughed. "This road is best!

" Shen Mu shot him a glance. "I can help you bring it about. " Long Xiao said hastily, "I promise your three requests, and I will not break my word!

" Shen Mu's face eased.

"It is not that I do not trust you, but even a basic contract must be had. You and I will sign a Little Earth Duke's Pact; should you break it hereafter, the Little Earth Duke will take away your soul. " Long Xiao laughed.

"That is only right. " The two concluded the Little Earth Duke's Pact, yet Long Xiao could sense no trace of where this Little Earth Duke might be. He thought, "Never mind a Little Earth Duke's Pact; even a pact with the Earth Duke himself could not bind me. The Earth Duke may take my soul, but there are places even he cannot reach.

So long as I remain in my Beast Realm, where the Earth Duke cannot enter, he can do nothing to me.

Could a Little Earth Duke be greater than the Earth Duke?

" Shen Mu said, weighty and earnest, "Long Xiao, I do not wish to scheme against you, but I must warn you beforehand: the Little Earth Duke is not the Earth Duke.

He is not bound by the Great Dao of Youdu, and there is no place under heaven he cannot reach. If you break the contract, the day he comes to the Beast Realm will be your death. " Long Xiao's face changed greatly.

Warily he asked, "Then this Little Earth Duke is.

. . " Shen Mu did not conceal it. "He is my brother, born of the same parents, savage by nature and exceedingly formidable. Even I fear him a little. " Long Xiao was instantly reassured.