Chapter 1426 — Ground That Every Strategist Must Contest

"Xu Shenghua?

That no-account fellow? " Shen Mu was taken aback, and for a moment he could not recover himself; then he laughed. "Xu Shenghua's cultivation may not match mine, but there is no one who has digested the Jingping Reforms more thoroughly than he has. Even I am a little behind him. If I recommend him as your teacher, he will certainly bring you to full understanding in a short time.

What he excels at is taking in everything and making it his own, and he has the gift of breaking new ground. " Divine Emperor Langxuan shook his head. "If his cultivation does not match yours, then he has not digested the Jingping Reforms.

Celestial Venerable Mu, I know you have always been treacherous and cunning.

Between you and me there is no need for such petty scheming. " Shen Mu had no choice but to say, "If you do not disdain my crudeness, then I can teach you myself. " Langxuan's eyes flickered. "You also know that a Celestial Venerable's vision and insight are extraordinary.

If you dare to distort a single thing, our bargain is off! My one finger of divine essence destroys whatever it strikes.

I need only leave a divine ability behind in the Jade Pool of the Ancestral Court. If you dare to trespass there, it will kill you on the spot! " Shen Mu laughed.

"Rest easy.

I may be much misunderstood, but at bottom I am a good man.

" Langxuan gave a hearty laugh and raised his teacup; Shen Mu raised his too, and the two drained them together. Shen Mu rose. "Then let us set out for the Ancestral Court now. Divine Emperor, you and I will exchange what we know bit by bit along the way.

" Divine Emperor Langxuan smiled. "I happen to have a batch of tower ships bound for the Ancestral Court. We may as well travel together. " Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart.

"The Ten Celestial Venerables have already begun shipping gods and demons to the Ancestral Court?

" "The situation in the Ancestral Court is excellent now.

The void beasts that ran wild are gone, and so is the Great Emperor, the one man who could control the void mother-beast.

The far side of the Ancestral Court has no more primordial giant beasts either. All is peace.

Now is precisely the time to move populations into the Ancestral Court.

" Langxuan concealed nothing from him. "As of now, apart from Celestial Venerable Xiao's faction, which has made no move, every other Celestial Venerable has already migrated people to the Ancestral Court.

And sooner or later the Heaven Alliance must migrate there as well.

Does Celestial Venerable Mu have no thoughts on the matter? " Shen Mu was indeed greatly tempted. The Ancestral Court, treasures everywhere, divine mountains and sacred lands everywhere, was ground that every contender for the world must fight for!

Control the Ancestral Court, and one controlled the world! Jingping's strength was lowly now, but in the future it would surely grow stronger and stronger.

Not to enter the Ancestral Court was to cut off one's own future. Yet the Ancestral Court also hid enormous peril, peril even greater than the Ten Celestial Venerables!

Every living being that died there, whatever its race, whatever its cultivation, became an offering to the old monsters of the previous epoch, hastening their invasion! "From the look of things now, the peace of the Ancestral Court will not last long. " His eyes flickered.

"For the moment, peace can be kept.

But in the future, once the Ten Celestial Venerables have wiped out the Heavenly Duke, Tubo, and the other ancient gods, they will surely turn on one another, fighting for the orthodox rule of heaven and earth.

By then, I fear, the Ancestral Court will run with rivers of blood! " That the Ten Celestial Venerables' forces would settle in the Ancestral Court was unavoidable; that the Heaven Alliance would settle there was equally unavoidable! "That being so, Jingping must settle in the Ancestral Court as well!

To lose one opportunity may be to lose everything. Jingping cannot afford to miss any opportunity!

" He pondered a while. The Ten Celestial Venerables were migrating people to the Ancestral Court right now, and the situation there must be one of chaos, each faction seizing precious lands, seizing places where it could dwell and grow.

Jingping had to go, and had to go early.

He mused a moment longer, then wrote a letter in his own hand and ordered it sent to Jingping, to be delivered to Ling Yuxiu. More than a month later, Divine Emperor Langxuan had his tower ships ready, a fleet of several hundred tower ships, each one like a floating continent, with city walls and buildings aboard, able to sustain hundreds of thousands of people!

What was more, each tower ship had a complete ecosystem, capable of farming and husbandry, and even god-made suns and god-made moons, rising and setting, revolving around the ship! A single such ship could support hundreds of thousands of people drifting through the cosmos for several thousand years, could even maintain an ecological balance! Such a fleet, holding a hundred and fifty million people, was enough to sustain the migration of a whole myriad-heaven population!

Shen Mu could not help but marvel at the Celestial Venerable's wealth. To build such a fleet had cost countless divine metals and divine materials; an ordinary myriad heaven could never sustain such a fleet!

Divine Emperor Langxuan saw his expression and smiled. "Celestial Venerable Mu, you are still young, you still have your chances. You need not envy us. By the way, how many people does Jingping intend to send to the Ancestral Court? " Shen Mu considered, then said, "I have sent word to Emperor Yanxiu to prepare people, the more the better. I do not know how many she has readied.

" Langxuan laughed. "Jingping is rich and has wealth enough, but its craft for building such tower ships is still wanting.

In the world today, the finest ships, apart from the Ark of the Other Shore of the rebels in the Land of No Sorrow, are the great ships of the Heaven Alliance.

There are only two Arks of the Other Shore; with the wealth of Kaihuang's Heaven Alliance, two Arks drained its whole reserves. But tower ships like these, the Heaven Alliance has beyond counting!

" Shen Mu knew he was boasting, but he could not refute it; after all, Jingping could not yet build even one such great ship.

Just then, a visitor from Jingping came hurrying in, asking to see Shen Mu.

The divine official who announced him wore a strange look. "The one who has come is a black-faced fellow with many faces and many hands.

" Langxuan glanced at Shen Mu and smiled.

"Bring the envoy of Jingping in. " Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart, and at once he knew who it was.

After a moment, Demon King Dutian, four-faced and eight-armed, came hurrying in, one hand holding up a small jade bottle, his other arms saluting Shen Mu and Divine Emperor Langxuan respectively. One of his faces said, "Dutian, a commoner of Jingping, pays his respects to Divine Emperor Langxuan!

" Another of his faces said to Shen Mu, "Dutian pays his respects to the Sect Master. Sect Master, the Emperor bade me bring the people of Jingping, to accompany you to the Ancestral Court.

" He had four faces in all, looking in all four directions, able to speak with different people at once without the slightest confusion. Shen Mu laughed.

"His Majesty is indeed perceptive, to send you. Divine Emperor, my people have arrived; we can set out. " Divine Emperor Langxuan looked Demon King Dutian over and smiled.

"Jingping means to migrate a single person?

And a demon god at that? " Shen Mu took the jade bottle from Dutian's hand and smiled. "Jingping has no such great ships, so I had no choice but to put the people to be migrated in this bottle. I am no match for the Divine Emperor's wealth.