Chapter 1606 — The Wonders of Guixu

Shen Mu went plummeting into the darkness with a howl.

Gradually a light appeared before his eyes, growing brighter and brighter, until he could not help but wonder.

Seen from the outside, the great abyss of Guixu was an indescribable darkness, without a glimmer of light to be found; yet the deeper one went, the more brilliantly it shone.

These two extremes could not possibly exist in the same place, and yet exist together they did. At the same time, the primal magnetic divine power here was stronger still; all mass and energy were bound dead fast together, and from this arose a supreme heat.

As the heat gathered, he felt the dao runes within his body pulsing ever more violently, and the dao he had forged seemed about to burst into flame. "The wind of heat death!

" A chill of terror ran through his heart.

While he was in the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court, he had seen the wind of heat death.

The wind of cold death came from the ultimate void; wherever it blew, all things turned to the ultimate void, the matter composing the human body drawing infinitely far apart, infinitely thin, until no heat and no energy remained. When the cold wind blew, all things turned to flying ash and were utterly obliterated; matter ceased to be, energy ceased to be, and however heaven-reaching one's cultivation, if one had not achieved the dao, one could only perish with hands bound.

The wind of heat death was the other extreme. Where it passed, even the most fundamental runes composing the dao melted away; the dao dispersed utterly, matter dissolved utterly, reduced to a state of pure energy, a state of chaos.

The wind of heat death and the wind of cold death could both be encountered in the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court; they were the great terrors that appeared during the great calamity of destruction.

Though he had comprehended the life and death of Guixu, the birth and extinction of reincarnation, in the face of such a situation he was still in the gravest peril. "Strange.

The wind of cold death appears in the ultimate void, the place where those who have achieved the dao imprint their dao and transform into Daluo Heaven.

Yet the wind of heat death appears in Guixu.

Does that not mean Guixu can stand on equal footing with the ultimate void? " Terrifying beyond measure though the wind of heat death was, he had already comprehended the dao of Guixu's birth and extinction, fusing the two daos and supplementing them with the dao of reincarnation, so that birth and extinction cycled without cease.

The dao within him shattered and perished unceasingly, yet unceasingly was reborn and reassembled; the gravity of the great abyss of Guixu sent him spinning madly, plunging headlong, and though he strove with all his might to steady himself, steady himself he could not. In the ever-brighter light, the massive stalk of the twin lotus flashed past him, covered in jagged thorns.

"If I keep falling like this, when will it end? " The thought had scarcely crossed his mind when he suddenly sensed the incomparably intense aura of the great calamity of destruction; his divine powers and dao arts rotted and decayed swiftly, and his mortal body withered and aged.

Shen Mu was startled, and somewhat regretted that he had leapt into the great abyss of Guixu.

But matters had come to this, and regret came too late.

He tried to seize the stalk of the twin lotus, and its thorns pierced his hands until they were a mangled blur of flesh and blood, yet still the gravity of Guixu dragged him plummeting ever deeper. Not even the Empress Consort and her sister had come to such a place in their lifetimes; he was the first to enter here.

A thrill of dread rose in Shen Mu's heart: "If Guixu has no bottom at all, does that not mean I will fall forever?

" How long he fell thus he did not know; the aura of the great calamity of destruction grew ever thicker, and the light ever more brilliant.

Suddenly the light gradually ceased to be dazzling, and the speed of his fall gradually slowed. Shen Mu's heart stirred: "The Guixu tide is about to erupt!

" The gravity in the great abyss grew steadily weaker, the speed of his fall steadily slower.

Knowing the chance was rare, Shen Mu immediately howled and charged downward.

He did not choose to ride the tide upward and leave the great abyss; instead he seized this moment to race toward its deepest reaches.

His speed increased and increased, and he saw the light ahead gradually soften, yet within that softness lurked a blade-keen edge, like the gleam of a knife.

Shen Mu opened the vertical eye between his brows, and within the keen light there seemed to hide a strange place, like a spinning pool of light, only of immense proportions.

And it was in that pool that the twin lotus had taken root.

Then the tide began.

The light that had settled within Guixu began to gush outward, faster and faster. Shen Mu forced his way against the tide, flying toward it, but the impact of the light stream was like countless blades, spinning and slicing him open, leaving him a blur of flesh and blood, his speed ever slower.

Shen Mu clung tight to the stalk of the twin lotus and climbed down inch by inch; his body was torn and shattered again and again, yet reassembled again and again under his divine powers. He climbed for untold ages, until at last he could hold on no longer, and was about to release his grip and let the tide sweep him away, when suddenly a vast power enveloped him, resisting the stream of light.

Shen Mu turned to look, and saw the Empress Consort behind him; the woman had grown four arms and four legs, and she too clutched the stalk of the twin lotus, climbing down behind him.

In comparison, Shen Mu's magic power was far inferior to hers, and though he had comprehended his own dao of reincarnation and dao of Guixu, in sheer strength he was no match for this Goddess of Guixu who was two fused into one.

The Goddess of Guixu was one who had achieved the dao, far stronger than he.

At this moment, two faces had grown upon the Empress Consort's single head, and the four eyes of those two faces were fixed intently upon that pool. "Heavenly Venerable Mu, to think you could find such a place.

Even I, the mistress of this domain, did not know there was such a treasure beneath Guixu. You are truly remarkable.

" The Empress Consort's voice came to him. "My sweet, this servant will protect you, so you scout the way ahead.

" Lady Yuanmu giggled. Shen Mu snorted.

He knew that whether it was the Empress Consort or Yuanmu, both believed whatever lay at the bottom of Guixu was exceedingly dangerous, and so wished him to scout ahead; if the danger proved too great, it would be Shen Mu who died. "I had intended to explore this place myself anyway.

With the help of the Goddess of Guixu, I can save myself some effort.

" He continued climbing down.

The Guixu tide grew ever more violent; even the Goddess of Guixu could hardly bear it, and had to summon all her magic power and strength to resist the tide. The two of them struggled onward.

They climbed an immeasurable distance, yet were still far from that pool.

The Goddess of Guixu could hold on no longer; her body crumbled without cease, her cultivation draining away swiftly. Lady Yuanmu cried, "Stop!

Wait until the tide passes, and then we will enter that place!

" Shen Mu stopped. The tide gushed with growing urgency; the two of them clung tight to the lotus stalk, resisting the tide's might.

Shen Mu silently counted in his heart, calculating when the tide would ebb.

This tide had to be a great tide; it lasted longer than any he had experienced before, and its power was greater too. He did not know what had caused such a great tide.

At last, the force of the surging tide gradually diminished.

Shen Mu's eyes flickered; he immediately scrambled with hands and feet down toward the pool at the bottom of the great abyss.