Chapter 1624 — No Gods in the World

Shen Mu was taken aback. All along the journey he had turned over countless possibilities in his mind—how to deal with the Void Heavenly Venerable, the Langxuan Divine Emperor, and the Ancestral God-King while simultaneously slaying the Earth Lord; how the Earth Lord might counterattack under the control of the Youdu Great Dao; and how, in the midst of that battle, the You Heavenly Venerable would respond.

He had also thought of another figure of utmost importance: Taichu.

Taichu had returned to his own identity. Would he see through Shen Mu's plan? Would he interfere?

And another key consideration weighed on him: the Third Young Master and the Fourth Young Master had reached an accord—which meant the schemes of these two young masters had already merged into one.

The Third Young Master's Lingxiao Trap and the Fourth Young Master's Ancestral Shrine Blood Sacrifice—two plans unfolding simultaneously, the two young masters no longer tripping each other up. What designs would they lay within this battle to kill the Earth Lord?

How many benefits had they granted Taichu and the Hao Heavenly Venerable?

How great a threat would those benefits pose to him, to Kaihuang, to the Cloud Heavenly Venerable, and the others?

Shen Mu had also pondered the possibility of failure—how he should extricate himself after failing to kill the Earth Lord, how to minimize the losses.

If he succeeded in killing the Earth Lord, how could he then secure Youdu?

And if he could not secure it, he must have a contingency ready.

To kill the Earth Lord, the situation he would face was more complex than any he had ever encountered, and so it taxed his mind to the utmost.

Yet he had overlooked the most crucial point of all: killing the Earth Lord might not be difficult at all. He need only let the Ling Heavenly Venerable walk up to the Earth Lord—one move from the Ling Heavenly Venerable, and the Earth Lord would be finished!

Back then, the Moon Heavenly Venerable had delivered the Ling Heavenly Venerable behind the Great Emperor, and the Great Emperor had been slain in a single move. The Earth Lord was even inferior to the Great Emperor within the Consciousness Great Luotian. So long as the Ling Heavenly Venerable entered the Earth Lord's brow, one move to kill him would be no difficult matter.

"I have worried over too much, and instead forgot the simplest path of all."

Shen Mu followed the You Heavenly Venerable into the Tianqi Rensheng Prince's Estate, thinking to himself: "But while the Ling Heavenly Venerable can kill the Earth Lord easily, both before and after the deed, it will require exceedingly detailed strategy to avoid casualties and to keep Youdu from falling into the Heavenly Court's hands."

Within the prince's estate, Shen Mu did not see the You Heavenly Venerable's mother, and was puzzled. He made inquiry. The You Heavenly Venerable personally poured tea and served them, his tone calm as he said: "My mother has gone to be reborn."

Shen Mu was astonished, and gave him a deep look.

The You Heavenly Venerable said: "In the battle of Youdu, no one can remain unscathed. If my mother stayed here, I would need to divide my attention to care for her. So I sent her to be reborn."

Shen Mu was silent a long while, then sighed: "You could bear to part with her."

"I was too selfish. Because of that one thread of kinship, I bound my mother for a million years, keeping her here in Youdu to accompany me. It was time to let go."

The You Heavenly Venerable's body trembled once, his voice somewhat hoarse, then he recovered his calm: "After her rebirth, she will not awaken the memories of her previous life. She will not remember that she had a son like me. She will become an ordinary human woman, with her own life, her own future. I once went to see her. She is well. She lives well. She does not recognize me..."

Shen Mu's heart was filled with a thousand emotions, yet he did not know what to say. He could only pat him on the shoulder.

After the You Heavenly Venerable had withdrawn all his Yin Envoy Elder clones, he reverted to the body of his youth, as though he had become once more that autistic boy wearing the ghost-faced mask of years past.

His mother had occupied nearly the whole of his sealed inner world. His mother had sustained him, kept him walking forward, kept him alive to this day.

Few could claim a place in his heart. Only three were exceptions.

The first was the Yu Heavenly Venerable, who had died at the Yaochi Grand Gathering. The Yu Heavenly Venerable was his elder brother—he supported him, encouraged him. After his mother's death, it was the Yu Heavenly Venerable who entered his heart and roused him, enabling him to accomplish the great feat of opening the Life-Death Divine Treasury.

The second was Shen Mu.

Shen Mu had avenged the Yu Heavenly Venerable, dared to defy the Heavenly Court in wrath, dared to offend Lady Yuanmu and the Heavenly Emperor Taichu—and so earned his respect. Shen Mu had also stolen the Yu Heavenly Venerable's corpse and promised to resurrect him a million years hence. Because of that promise, the You Heavenly Venerable had remained in Youdu for a million years. A promise weighing a million years as lightly as that—nothing more than that.

The third was the Earth Lord.

On the surface, the Earth Lord and the You Heavenly Venerable were sovereign and subject. The Earth Lord was the master of Youdu; the You Heavenly Venerable was the Tianqi Rensheng King he had enfeoffed, presiding over all affairs of Youdu, and was also the Yin Envoy Elder, responsible for guiding all the dead of the myriad heavens and worlds.

The Earth Lord had only one subordinate—the You Heavenly Venerable. Virtually all the work was done by the You Heavenly Venerable alone. The hardship of it could well be imagined.

But in truth, the You Heavenly Venerable and the Earth Lord were friends.

How alike the two of them were—both bound by kinship. The Earth Lord was trapped by his fatherly bond with his daughter, the Void Heavenly Venerable; the You Heavenly Venerable was trapped by his mother-son bond with his mother.

The two shared many common topics. Though when they conversed they were like gourds with sawed-off mouths, scarcely spilling a few seeds, they understood each other well.

Both were deeply withdrawn, yet each saw his own reflection in the other, found courage in the other.

In the battle of Xuandu, the You Heavenly Venerable, for Shen Mu's sake, had been able to step out from the bond with his mother, willing to follow Shen Mu to Xuandu to fight, risking death without regard for himself.

And in the battle of Youdu, the You Heavenly Venerable was willing, for the Earth Lord's sake, to let his mother reincarnate, to let his mother forget every memory of him!

"We have come to kill the Earth Lord. The one who will find it hardest to accept should be the You Heavenly Venerable."

Shen Mu thought silently: "But the You Heavenly Venerable should understand. He will find release, set down the burden in his heart—because A'Chou the Earth Lord will come back to life."

"I sense from both of you that you bear killing intent toward the Earth Lord."

The You Heavenly Venerable gave Shen Mu and the Ling Heavenly Venerable a deep look, a wary light flashing in his eyes as he warned them: "Do not act rashly. Do not do anything foolish."

Though withdrawn, he was exceedingly clever, and had vaguely guessed Shen Mu's intent.

"It must be because the Youdu Great Dao is hostile to me. I once resurrected a million people, and enraged the Youdu Great Dao."

Shen Mu laughed heartily and activated his Samsara divine ability, saying: "Thus the Youdu Great Dao urged the Earth Lord to kill me. The Ling Heavenly Venerable worried for me, and we grew vigilant in our hearts—so you mistook it for killing intent toward the Earth Lord."