Chapter 1499 — A Mysterious Figure Borrows a Wonder

Shu Jun's great, shaggy head was exceedingly conspicuous. Only when he saw every gaze gathered upon him did he breathe a sigh of relief, and he said in a low voice, "This Pixiang Hall is a structure of Yujing City."

"Which Yujing City?" Everyone was somewhat bewildered.

There were far too many Yujing Cities. The Jingping Kingdom had a Lesser Yujing; the Heavenly Court had a Yujing City; and the heavenly palaces of the other Great Emperors all likewise possessed structures called Yujing Cities.

"The Ancestral Court's Yujing City."

Shu Jun paused, then said, "In those years, when I was still a God King of the Primordial Era, I once journeyed with the Great Emperor, Taichu, and other God Kings to explore a mysterious place. That place was the Ancestral Court's Yujing. We beheld many inconceivable things..."

His expression turned strange; plainly, even now, he still found it inconceivable. After a moment, he continued, "There we suffered grievous casualties. But our discoveries were too terrifying, and so we sealed that place away. I surmise that it was on that expedition that one of us carried the Pixiang Hall out."

Shen Mu studied the Pixiang Hall. This great hall was indeed no treasure that the Creators of old could have fashioned. In the Primordial Era, the Creators fought by means of divine consciousness and visualization; their architecture, too, was overwhelmingly minimalist, devoid of ornament, having developed no art of its own.

Every era possesses its own unique artistic inheritance. The architecture and aesthetics of the Longhan Era were dominated by ancient-god totems and the worship of ancient gods; images of grotesquely featured ancient gods were everywhere. The Chiming Era exalted the beauty of yang vigor; everywhere were mighty god-demons with three heads and six arms, displaying the aesthetic of physical power. In the Shanghuang Era, the Northern and Southern Shanghuang stood opposed: the Northern Shanghuang ruled as demigods, while the Southern Shanghuang was ruled by the human race. The Southern Shanghuang's creed was that human life outweighs heaven itself, and so their art chiefly expressed the notion that man can conquer heaven. By the Kaihuang Era, divine abilities had grown refined and art had reached its zenith; the art of this era was exceedingly intricate, mostly displaying the acquired Great Way and the affairs of daily life. And the art of the Jingping Era had not yet fully developed, being all the more varied in kind—the Blind Elder, for instance, excelled at painting gods, ghosts, demons, and monsters, and was likewise skilled at painting beauties.

But the artistic style of the Pixiang Hall had no inheritance relationship with any of these eras. The Pixiang Hall might indeed have come from the Ancestral Court's Yujing City. Yet this art was plainly not innate—it was art created by people. And that was strange indeed!

"Could it be that the Ancestral Court's Yujing City was not naturally formed, but man-made?"

Shen Mu's expression turned strange. Having witnessed the Ancestral Court's Four Great Heavenly Gates, the Nine Hells Terrace, the God-Slaying Terrace, the Heavenly Sea, the Jade Terrace, and other such places, he had held a preconceived notion: that the Ancestral Court's Yujing City, too, was a wondrous place formed by the Great Way of heaven and earth. But judging by the Pixiang Hall, this Yujing City was likely no natural spectacle shaped by heaven and earth, but a divine city made by human hands!

Before the Creators there had been no civilization. In what era, then, had Yujing City been forged?

Alarm rose in his heart. Recalling the coffin of the previous universe beneath the Jade Pool and Jade Terrace, and that the entire Ancestral Court was a vast sacrificial altar, he formed a conjecture.

"The Ancestral Court's Yujing City is likely a product of the previous cosmic epoch, one that was not destroyed when the universe perished... But this is only my conjecture. Whether it is true or not, one must enter Yujing and see for oneself!"

His gaze fell once more upon the Pixiang Hall. In those years, the Great Emperor, Taichu, and the others had explored Yujing City and carried off the Pixiang Hall, only to seal it away again. The Pixiang Hall's most ancient seal could be traced back to the Primordial Era. That is to say, after the Great Emperor, Taichu, and the others carried off the Pixiang Hall, they discovered something horrifying: that within the Pixiang Hall, something dreadful was trying to break out! Even the Great Emperor and Taichu of that time had felt the threat, and so they gathered the strength of all the mighty ones to seal the Pixiang Hall together!

"Later, the Heavenly Emperor Taichu eradicated the Creators, sealed the Ancestral Court, and unified the cosmos. He then placed the Pixiang Hall in the Heavenly Court, where it became a sharp weapon for suppressing dissidents. Any who disobeyed were put to death, their souls and primal spirits taken into the Pixiang Hall to be suppressed. And later still, when the Ten Heavenly Venerables ruled, they too continued this custom."

As Shen Mu thought to this point, he saw the Lame Elder and Lan Yutian circling the Pixiang Hall round and round, pacing one loop after another. Shen Mu had once used a divine mirror to illuminate every seal upon the Pixiang Hall; they had studied it for many years, and the Silent Artisan had even built several great halls modeled on the Pixiang Hall's specifications. Yet when truly faced with this divine temple, the Lame Elder and Lan Yutian still had no confidence. The seals the Silent Artisan had imitated were not as powerful as the true Pixiang Hall's seals. To enter the hall, one would have to pass through seals of various overwhelming strengths! Moreover, getting in was one matter, and getting out was another! If one had the ability to enter but not to leave, that would be disastrous.

"Do not act rashly!"

Shen Mu gave the order, then summoned Yan'er and said, "Is Tai Yi still in the Sacred Mountain?"

Yan'er said, "He was just now repairing the Sacred Mountain. I do not know whether it is fixed."

Shen Mu said in a low voice, "Take Lan Yutian to see him. You must beg the use of his willow branch."

Yan'er immediately rose into the air, transforming into a dragon-sparrow, and seizing Lan Yutian by the arm, flew off toward Tai Yi. The others, meanwhile, surrounded the divine temple, recording the various seals and compiling them for the Blind Elder, who together with Granny Zhu, Xu Shenghua, and the rest worked out methods to break them. Wei Suifeng attempted to break the outer seals, but Shen Mu stopped him, shaking his head. "The Fire Heavenly Venerable knows the Pixiang Hall has fallen into our hands, but the other Heavenly Venerables do not. If we touch their seals, they will sense it. Only when we have no other choice may we attempt to break their seals."

Wei Suifeng's eyes flickered. He said in a low voice, "What do you mean?"

"If we go to the Ancestral Court's Yujing City and are trapped there, then we can attempt to break the Heavenly Venerables' seals."

Shen Mu blinked and said with a smile, "When the Ten Heavenly Venerables come to the rescue, I imagine it will be quite the spectacle."

Wei Suifeng laughed heartily and troubled those seals no more.

Shen Mu took out his divine bow and slung it across his back. The Lame Elder, eager to try his hand, stood to one side. Shen Mu hesitated a moment, then reached out and grasped: with a thunderous boom, the Glazed Azure Heaven Canopy's twenty-eight heavens folded in one after another, and in a short while it became a canopy more than three zhang tall.

"Grandpa Lame, take this treasure to protect yourself."

Shen Mu handed him the Glazed Azure Heaven Canopy, then suddenly recalled something and said hastily, "I am lending it to you, not giving it to you. Once we leave this divine temple, you must return it to me!"

"Stingy!"