Chapter 1620 — Against the Tide

It seemed that Venerable Ling had set foot upon a path of cultivation different from the system of the divine treasury and the heavenly palaces, different from the system of the Dao Realm, and even different from the system of the Five Primals of the Ancestral Court that Lan Yutian was even now studying! This path of cultivation left even a being like Shen Mu utterly in the dark. "You are as dull as Venerable Cloud.

" Venerable Ling shook her head, and paid him no more heed. Shen Mu stood blankly at the bow, staring wide-eyed into the boundless void, while the wind of cold silence howled past, as if blowing away the shards of his heart's Dao.

"A true fool.

" Venerable Ling's voice seemed to come borne on the wind. Shen Mu slumped.

He sat down and brooded bitterly.

Indeed, Venerable Ling had not spoken wrongly: the Primordial Finger was no Dao Realm divine art, yet its power was extraordinarily great. The Red Rope Knot Seal was the same — it could even suppress a Dao-attainer.

Not of the Dao Realm, and yet possessed of such terrifying power; then from where did that power come?

"Turn back and behold your own heart, turn back and behold your own heart .

.

.

" He chewed over the meaning of these words again and again, and the more he thought, the more bewildered he became. Venerable Ling's cultivation and dharma power were certainly nothing remarkable; her vital qi was even inferior to Shen Mu's, and she had achieved nothing in the Dao Realm. Yet with one finger she could slay at a point a dreadful existence like the Grand Emperor.

From where did her power come?

She borrowed no power from the Heavenly Court, none from the ancient gods, none from heaven and earth; she did not cultivate the Dao Realm. Why, then, was her divine art so mighty?

"She has already surpassed this era by far. Perhaps she and the Miluo Palace Master would find much to talk about.

" The Golden Ship of Salvation arrived at the Great Luo Heaven of Divine Consciousness. When Venerable Cloud saw the ship come, he hurried out to welcome it. Shen Mu descended from the ship, and glancing back, saw that Venerable Ling sat within, unmoving.

Shen Mu was about to call out to her when Venerable Cloud hastily stopped him, shaking his head. "Do not disturb her.

Why does Venerable Mu look so dispirited? " He scrutinized Shen Mu and showed surprise. When Shen Mu had come here to rescue him, and been seized and carried off by Venerable Hao, he had shown no panic at all — on the contrary, he had been quite delighted.

Even in such peril he had kept his optimism; now, though, he had turned dispirited and short of confidence, which truly astonished Venerable Cloud. Shen Mu sighed.

"On the road I was cut down to size by Venerable Ling.

" Venerable Cloud understood, and laughed.

"A small matter. I am used to it, and so will you be.

" Shen Mu gave a sullen hum, and took his physical body out of the vertical eye in his brow.

"I have come this time to return your body to you, and for one other matter besides . . . " "The Earl of Earth?

" Venerable Cloud examined his own body.

Though it was the body of an Imperial Throne powerhouse, its vitality was far inferior to what it had been; after his revival he would have to tend it with care.

He said, "I have been bored to distraction here, and have peered about in all directions; I know of the matter of the Earl of Earth. " Shen Mu asked his counsel: "Brother Cloud, if you were in my place, would you save the Earl of Earth? " "I would! " Venerable Cloud took possession of his own body and quickly mastered every aspect of it. Without a moment's thought he said, "The Earl of Earth and I have no friendship between us, but the Earl of Earth's life and death bear upon the ownership of Youdu! And the ownership of Youdu bears upon the success or failure of the Jingping Reforms, and upon the survival of the human race! Therefore, by whatever means, I would exhaust all my strength — I would not even begrudge my life — to save the Earl of Earth.

Under no circumstances can Youdu be allowed to fall into the hands of the Heavenly Court! " Shen Mu let out a long breath and smiled.

"With that word from you, my friend, I can set one worry to rest. " Venerable Cloud stretched his limbs and roused his qi and blood, and a smile touched his lips as well.

"If I can be of some help to you, I am glad also. " Shen Mu paced around him, imprinting one Creation divine art after another upon him, helping him clear his blood and refining away the impurities in his divine treasury. He mused, "Brother Cloud holds the same thought as I do, yet in the Longhan era he still failed. So to throw one's life into saving the Earl of Earth may not be a good plan. " Venerable Cloud's face darkened.

Shen Mu kept circling him, employing divine arts to strengthen his qi and blood while he pondered aloud: "Venerable Hao is your old rival, your old adversary; he must have studied you most thoroughly.

Your character, your arrangements, the moves you might make in the future — he knows them all like the palm of his hand. That is why you lost in the Longhan era. " Venerable Cloud's face darkened further, but soon the qi and blood Shen Mu had cleared reached his head, and his complexion looked much the better for it, ruddy and glowing. "Victors are apt to have a mind to replicate their own successes; and so Venerable Hao will use the method that defeated you to deal with me. " Shen Mu pointed a finger at the center of his brow, activating his brain, and smiled.

"And so I intend to do the opposite! " Venerable Cloud felt his brain revive at once, all his thoughts and consciousness stirring, and asked in astonishment, "How do you mean to do the opposite? " "I intend to kill the Earl of Earth!

" Shen Mu reached out, drew forth Venerable Cloud's divine bridge and divine treasury, severed his divine bridge with a sword-stroke, and laughed long and loud. "Venerable Hao wants to kill the Earl of Earth, does he not?

Then I will beat him to it, and finish off the Earl of Earth myself! " Venerable Cloud was struck dumb.

Beat Venerable Hao to killing the Earl of Earth? Wait — how had Venerable Mu severed his divine bridge and divine treasury?

The fellow had never once asked him!

He was a Venerable who had opened his divine bridge and divine treasury; with the bridge broken, every realm of the heavenly palace was gone as well! How could this body of his still bear his dharma power? If the dharma power of the heavenly palace realms came pressing down, this body of his would in all likelihood disintegrate in an instant, crushed into primordial chaos!

"Wait!

Venerable Mu, hear me out .

.

.

" With a light flick, Shen Mu's Tribulation Sword pierced into his body, and not only severed his divine bridge and divine treasury, but cut through his divine treasuries of Life and Death, Heaven and Man, the Six Harmonies, the Five Luminaries, and all the rest.