Chapter 1450 — The Heavenly Palace Descends

Shen Mu's face was grave. If the Heavenly Court moved to the Ancestral Court, then the next thing the Heavenly Court would throw its full strength against was the Heaven Lord!

The Heaven Lord sought death not for death's sake, but for release. Yet from all Shen Mu knew of Heavenly Venerate Hong, though Hong was the Heaven Lord's reincarnated body, he was the Heaven Lord no longer.

He was filled with a hunger for power, a craving for strength. Once he had shaken off the bonds of the heavenly dao, Heavenly Venerate Hong would become a Ten Heavenly Venerate possessed of boundless might!

If Shen Mu wished to take part in this, to save the Heaven Lord, then he must first possess a greater power.

And the swiftest road before him was to endure the tempering of the Ancestral Court's God-Slaying Platform, and master the great Dao of that platform!

By then Shen Mu would stand firm in the realm of the Nine Hells Platform, and only then, facing the Ten Heavenly Venerates, would he have some small measure of strength to resist!

The Heavenly River rose higher and higher, which meant the Heavenly Court was on the move. The situation was critical; there was not a moment to lose.

Zaifu, Tian Shu, and the others rose to their feet, their eyes upon him. Zaifu said, "You mean to go to the Ancestral Court now, and face that most ferocious blade under heaven?"

Shen Mu nodded.

For two years and six months, the five of them had raised the Dao of the blade to its utmost limit. First they had dueled with the blade Dao, deepening Shen Mu's understanding and comprehension of it; then each of them had unleashed his own spirit.

The blade nourishes the spirit. With their own spirits they contended against Shen Mu, tempering spirit with spirit, tempering Shen Mu's will with the will of the blade, elevating his blade Dao and letting his spirit turn to blade light.

In that time Shen Mu's insight into the blade Dao had been raised to its very peak, their spirits serving as the whetstone on which he sharpened himself.

One might say he had spent every last scrap of his wit and talent, melting all he had once learned and comprehended into the blade Dao.

In two and a half years his blade Dao had reached straight to the sixteenth heaven, surpassing Zaifu, and soon after he caught up with Luo Wushuang, arriving at the eighteenth heaven, where the blade itself becomes the Dao.

He had entered the Dao through divine powers and, by analogy, blazed his own blade Dao, heaven by heaven; and afterward Zaifu, Tian Shu, Zhe Huali, and Luo Wushuang too were raised without cease under the tempering of his spirit.

In the end their essence, energy, and spirit tempered one another, branding layer upon layer of the void, deducing together, until they had deduced the blade Dao to the twenty-fifth layer of the void!

In two and a half years, five grandmasters of the blade Dao had not merely raised their blade Dao to the twenty-fifth heaven, but to the point of branding the twenty-fifth layer of the void. This was beyond doubt a tremendous breakthrough in the Dao of the blade, a feat that would shape the blade arts and divine powers of ages to come!

Yet at this point their accumulated reserves were all but spent; even to advance one more heaven would take far longer than before.

Zaifu said in a low voice, "We will go with you to the Ancestral Court, and see this most ferocious blade under heaven!"

Shen Mu hesitated, and looked at Tian Shu, Zhe Huali, and Luo Wushuang. The Ancestral Court's God-Slaying Platform, the most ferocious blade under heaven — slaying Emperor Throne experts there would be no harder than slicing melons and vegetables. He did not want to watch these dear friends risk their lives for his sake.

Yet with his present understanding of the blade Dao, he would still find it hard to force his way onto the God-Slaying Platform and live.

He had no confidence in passing that platform — not the least confidence.

If his blade Dao could be raised to the twenty-eighth heaven, the twenty-ninth, or even the thirtieth, then perhaps he might pass the God-Slaying Platform.

But as things stood, he could not.

Luo Wushuang said calmly, "I once went to the Heavenly Court's God-Slaying Platform and came away alive. The Heavenly Court's platform is exquisite in blade Dao and stern in its laws. If I go and look upon the Ancestral Court's platform, it may be of great help to you."

Zhe Huali stretched his limbs and laughed. "I have never been to the Ancestral Court. It would be good to see a bit of the world. I am not like you, bold as the heavens; I will only look, I will not go in."

Tian Shu chuckled. "The most ferocious blade under heaven — is it fiercer than my Imperial Gate? This blade of mine can cut through Tubo's horn! I do not believe a thing born of nature can be better than the blade Dao we have toiled and comprehended ourselves!"

Through this enlightenment on the Yong River each of them had gained greatly, nourishing their essence, energy, and spirit until they were indestructible, forging their will like their blades.

"Four cobblers together can at least match one Heavenly Venerate Mu."

Zaifu said mildly, "The five of us have all set foot on the very summit of the blade Dao. Above us there is no higher peak to climb. The most ferocious blade under heaven — one way or another, the five of us must go and meet it. Since you feel you cannot keep yourself safe, why not let the five of us ascend this God-Slaying Platform together and see?"

Tian Shu licked his lips. "Our arts are already branded in the twenty-fifth void. Even if we die, our great Dao will not be erased by our deaths. With such an achievement, this life is enough. Even Kaihuang surpasses us by only ten heavens."

"The sword Dao's thirty-fifth layer of the void!"

Luo Wushuang's spirit yearned afar, and he murmured, "If the blade Dao cannot reach the thirty-fifth layer of the void and contend with the sword Dao, what a desolate thing that would be. Perhaps the Ancestral Court's God-Slaying Platform is the chance for our blade Dao to advance another step."

Shen Mu looked at them and felt their earnest hearts, their deep feeling, and only gratitude remained in his heart.

Their so-called seeking of the Dao was in truth only worry for his safety.

"Good!"

Shen Mu laughed aloud. "We five cobblers will go together!"

They all laughed. "Five cobblers — can they not match one Kaihuang of the sword Dao? Let us go and try!"

In the Ancestral Court, the light of eleven great spirit-energy translocation bridges joined into one, forming an immense translocation bridge. The sites of the eleven bridges had been fixed only after precise calculation by the masters of the Daoist sect.

The positions of these translocation bridges were such that they could be joined into one, and the light of this bridge was such that it could take the whole of the Heavenly Court into itself.

On this day, countless gods and men of the Heavenly Court came forth. Numberless warships sailed out of the Heavenly Court, and great chains, each thicker than a man, were fastened at one end to the tower ships and at the other to the Heavenly Court, straining to drag that colossal thing.

And within the Heavenly Court, upon each heavenly palace and divine hall, mighty beings beyond measure urged on the power of the palace buildings and of the seventy-two divine halls, so that the Heavenly Court slowly gathered speed.

At this moment the Heavenly River twisted, and moved along with the Heavenly Court.

Above the Ancestral Court, the vast and boundless Heavenly Court had already shown a corner of itself through the spirit-energy translocation bridges. One giant tower ship after another went at full power, hauling on the chains, striving to draw the Heavenly Court into the Ancestral Court.