Chapter 1608 — The Wheel Turns Without a Sound

Shen Mu's heart lurched. The face beneath the sea was watching him, and it said, softly, eerily, "You look very much like an old friend of mine.

" Shen Mu smiled faintly — then all at once his divine-treasury domain unfurled, the Heavenly Court rose into being, and his primordial spirit stepped out to stand atop the Jade Capital City, where he roused the divine art of reincarnation. "The wheel turns in silence, formless and nameless!

" This was his great divine art of the thirty-first level of the dao realm; his Jade Capital was rebuilt, fifty-eight treasure halls composing an imperfect Jade Capital City.

His Jade Capital realm was not yet perfect. He had meant to enter it only after completing all seventy-two treasure halls, but now this Second Young Master of Miluo Palace had recognized him, forcing him to enter the Jade Capital realm ahead of time.

His cultivation climbed in a straight line, and at once Empress and Yuanmu took alarm. In the same instant that he made his move, the two women reached an accord; they rose into the air and pounced on him. Though the two were forever at each other's throats, each longing to kill the other and take the body for herself alone, if the enemy was Shen Mu, they would still stand as one against him.

But by then Shen Mu had already unleashed his divine art.

"The wheel turns in silence, formless and nameless" — the thirty-first level of the dao realm, which he had comprehended while pondering the great dao of Reincarnation and Guixu.

Behind him appeared a vast halo of light, howling as it spun. In an instant time and space fell into chaos; over the Chaos Sea, beams of dao light, enormous beyond measure, shot wildly in every direction, and dao sounds boomed and quaked.

Then, centered on the halo behind Shen Mu's head, a blinding burst of dao light exploded and swept away everything.

After the glare, all fell still. "Senior, how are we to save you?

" Lady Yuanmu lay at the edge of the lotus leaf, her fragrant haunches raised, and called into the Chaos Sea.

The Empress, meanwhile, looked dazed and bereft, then suddenly grew alert and lifted her head to stare coldly at Shen Mu. Slowly Shen Mu loosened his grip on the hilt of the Tribulation Sword and smiled an amiable smile, though the thick beard covering his face made that smile somewhat fierce and fearsome.

He stood over nine chi tall, heavy-limbed and coarse-featured, and looked a man of brute strength.

The Empress and Lady Yuanmu knew this man well enough: he was Heavenly Venerable Mu, who by dint of his standing did mischief throughout the Heavenly Court, and was also called "Big-Beard Shen the Scourge.

" The beard on his face was highly distinctive; once seen, it could never be forgotten.

The fellow looked honest and simple, yet was in truth a wicked man, one who had wrecked the relations among the Ten Heavenly Venerables and was their implacable, deathless foe.

Just then, beneath the lotus leaf, a huge pale face surfaced from the sea floor, white hair spread across the whole face of the Chaos Sea. The woman said softly, "I am the Second Young Master of Miluo Palace, who commands the Wuji Hall of Miluo Palace, and I am imprisoned here.

All you need do is follow this twin lotus and climb.

. .

" Here this Second Young Master of Miluo Palace abruptly stopped, fixed her gaze coldly upon Shen Mu, and laughed coldly.

"So it is you after all, Old Seven. You have tampered with me, and with them!

" Shen Mu spread his five fingers and stroked the beard on his face, astonished beyond measure, his voice booming like a great bell: "What makes you say that, Senior? Though, come to think of it — are not the young masters of Miluo Palace all men. . .

" "Enough! " The woman beneath the sea laughed coldly. "Old Seven, I know your divine arts as well.

When you were wreaking havoc upon the world, I saw it all with my own eyes. To think that a youth such as you should command such powers, able to hoodwink even those who attained the dao in Guixu, to rewrite their memories — no wonder you can stir up such storms! " The Empress and Lady Yuanmu were bewildered past understanding.

Yuanmu laughed: "Senior, perhaps you do not know him.

He is Heavenly Venerable Mu, a villain of the first rank! " The woman beneath the sea laughed aloud, a bleak and shrill sound: "Look at his face. Is it this face? " Empress and Yuanmu looked at Shen Mu.

He had a commanding, handsome countenance; though he wore a full beard, he was full of manly savor. His skin was a healthy wheat color, every muscle carved as if by knife and axe — this was the very Heavenly Venerable Mu they knew so well.

"That is right, he is Heavenly Venerable Mu.

" Lady Yuanmu laughed. "How many times have I fought this brat?

How could I forget his face? I do so love a man with such flavor!

" The Empress said coolly, "Handsome as Heavenly Venerable Mu may be, I cannot appreciate such beauty.

A stinking man — nauseating. " The woman beneath the sea laughed in fury: "He has used the divine art of reincarnation to rewrite your memories, and you do not even know it.

You too are gods of Guixu, yet you have thrown away the face of our whole Guixu line! " Shen Mu blinked, and quietly took a step back.

This Second Young Master of Miluo Palace was more formidable than he had imagined: she could even remember what had happened before the divine art of reincarnation took hold, which caught him somewhat off guard. "Old Seven, will you break the art yourself, or shall I?

" said the woman beneath the sea coldly.

Shen Mu forced a smile. "Second Sister, what are you saying?

I do not understand.

.

. " The two faces of Empress and Yuanmu, one behind the other, blinked, deeply suspicious, not knowing what had happened.

Boom!

In the Chaos Sea of Guixu, countless beams of light rose slowly from the sea and came crashing over; that light was fearsome beyond measure, twisting time and space, wrenching the surface of the sea violently about, spinning it round! The next moment, all the surging fell still.

Shen Mu stood upon the lotus leaf, no longer Big-Beard Shen the Scourge but restored to his true face, and Lady Yuanmu and the Empress abruptly recalled the earlier scene, and could not but be seized with dread, staring at him in panic! "This one must not be left alive! " Lady Yuanmu cried shrilly.

The Empress said coldly, "I said as much long ago, yet you would set yourself against me and shield him again and again.

" Both of them remembered all that had just happened: from the woman beneath the sea declaring that she knew Shen Mu, to Shen Mu casting the divine art of reincarnation and carrying them through a cycle of rebirth, changing his appearance and rewriting their memories, to the whole scene replaying itself until Shen Mu was exposed by the woman beneath the sea — all of it had been the work of Shen Mu's divine art!

Such an art filled them with terror beyond words. Shen Mu scratched his face sheepishly; only now there was no beard upon it. "Old Seven, enough. I did not mean to fight you.

" The huge woman's face beneath the sea said indifferently, "If I wished to kill you, it would be as easy as turning my hand, but erasing you would profit me nothing.

On the contrary, I need your strength to help me out of this plight.

" Shen Mu relaxed, his eyes shifting, and smiled.

"Second Sister, you mean. . .

" "With only the crippled goddesses of Guixu, to climb up above and cut the red cords, they will surely die; the divine arts of the master of Miluo Palace will strangle them, and they will never return alive.

" Hearing this, Empress and Lady Yuanmu could not help shuddering again and again. They had long suspected that this Second Young Master of Miluo Palace meant them no good, but hearing it from her own mouth still left them shaken.

The woman's face beneath the sea went on: "The seven young masters of Miluo Palace all gained their abilities from comprehending the primordial runes.