Chapter 1625 — Pure Goodness and Evil Thoughts

"But I am not the only one who can do this."

The You Heavenly Venerable gently pushed the Book of Life and Death across to him and said softly, "You can do it too, Mu Heavenly Venerable. You were once the divine son of Youdu; you too can command the power of Youdu's Book of Life and Death. Not only can you command this power, you can also decide the life and death of countless living beings."

"I can do this as well?" Shen Mu's gaze fell upon that golden page.

The Book of Life and Death was nothing more than a single golden page, laid flat upon the table, flawless, without the least grain or pattern.

The You Heavenly Venerable said, "Stir the Youdu Great Dao, and you will command this power."

Shen Mu hesitated. Then he stretched out his palm, roused the Youdu Great Dao, and laid his hand upon the Earth Lord's Book of Life and Death.

Of a sudden he sprang up like a startled rabbit, snatched back his hand, and stared at the Book of Life and Death in dread.

The very instant his palm touched the Earth Lord's Book of Life and Death, he had suddenly seen the countless living beings of all the heavens and all the worlds, the countless gods, every one of them held under the dominion of the Book of Life and Death!

At the moment he stirred the Youdu Great Dao, he sensed it: he could decide the life and death of all beings and all gods throughout the heavens and the worlds, could command their fates!

Shen Mu paced back and forth beside the stone table, his gaze drifting time and again to the Book of Life and Death, a demonic light flickering in his eyes.

This Book of Life and Death seemed to hold an invisible magic, an exceedingly powerful magic, luring him on; it was as though countless voices whispered at his ear, tempting him to pick up that thin golden volume, to command the power that could decide the life and death of countless living beings!

Shen Mu panted hoarsely. The demonic nature in his Dao-heart had been awakened by the Book of Life and Death!

So long as he grasped the Book of Life and Death, he would hold the most terrible power in all the world!

He could directly erase the life-and-death spirit treasury of every person; half-gods and all postnatal living beings alike would be bound by their lifespan, and even if they cultivated to the divine realm, they would still face birth, aging, sickness, and death!

Were he to do so, it would deal a blow beyond measure to the Heavenly Court of today!

The Heavenly Court was the community of shared interests of gods and demons.

These gods and demons enjoyed long lives and enduring vision, living as long as heaven and earth. They upheld the Heavenly Court, let it rule over ever more territory, made certain that latecomers dared not rebel and could not rebel—all of it, in truth, was to protect their own interests.

The Ten Heavenly Venerables were merely the representatives of these gods and demons.

If these gods and demons were stripped of their immortality, then that community of interests would crumble and fall into chaos!

This might pose no threat to existences like the Ten Heavenly Venerables, nor to those mighty ones versed in the Dao of Creation, but the power of the Heavenly Court would assuredly decay on a vast scale.

Once these gods and demons were reduced to mere divine-ability practitioners, he could borrow the power of the Book of Life and Death and make himself the Earth Lord who ruled over all life!

Holding the Book of Life and Death, Shen Mu could freely alter the lifespans of such beings, could even dash off a single stroke and blot them out entirely!

He could even coerce the gods of the Heavenly Court, force them to throw themselves upon him for protection!

Unbidden, all the vital essence in Shen Mu's body turned to dark demonic qi, dyeing his heavenly palace murky black and transforming his spirit-treasury domain into a domain of darkness!

More terrifying still, the World Tree within his spirit treasury likewise became a tree of darkness, and under the contagion of that dreadful might, all of his great Daos blackened!

His aura erupted, plunging the Tianqi Rensheng Prince Manor into darkness. Nor was that all: the darkness swiftly invaded the Earth Lord's twin horns, so that the long rivers of magma coursing along them burned no longer, and the Nether River froze solid!

The Ling Heavenly Venerable frowned slightly and was about to speak, when the You Heavenly Venerable raised a hand and stayed her.

The Ling Heavenly Venerable was astonished. She glanced at him, and the You Heavenly Venerable shook his head.

The demonic nature about Shen Mu grew ever more intense, the darkness spread ever wider, until it swallowed even the Earth Lord's incomparably horrifying long horns.

His face too was devoured by the darkness, only his eyes glittering with demonic light—light so fierce that his face flared bright again and again, making him all the more ferocious!

"Once I have the Book of Life and Death!"

Shen Mu's voice brimmed with dark demonic nature, his Dao-heart warped; the primordial spirit behind him sank into darkness as well, like a demon king standing in the murk of night!

"Once I have the Book of Life and Death, I can shatter the power of the Ten Heavenly Venerables in a single stroke, destroy the Heavenly Court, and all will bow at my feet!"

"Once I have this golden volume, I will hold the most awe-inspiring power of all; I will be bound by nothing; I can become the master of desire, I can become the king of the dark world! No—the king of the entire universe!"

He laughed aloud, his face contorted, his palm trembling, about to seize the Book of Life and Death.

"I will become the most savage tyrant in the world, the mightiest emperor of countless worlds; my station will be firmer than Taichu's, my methods crueler than the Ten Heavenly Venerables'! No one will dare defy me; all will eke out their wretched lives beneath my tyranny! Even the Ten Heavenly Venerables will be powerless against me!"

"My might will pierce through the sixteen primal chaos rivers and drape darkness over sixteen universes; I will rule over the prehistoric age, and the six young masters of the Miluo Palace will bow at my feet as well!"

Just as his palm was about to touch the Book of Life and Death, he suddenly withdrew it swift as lightning. Dismay surfaced on Shen Mu's face; he retreated again and again, shaking his head. "No! I cannot do this! If I did, then I would be the Ten Heavenly Venerables, I would be those ancient gods! I cannot do this..."

The darkness shrouding the Earth Lord's horns slowly receded, and light returned once more to the Tianqi Rensheng Prince Manor.

Shen Mu's face was gradually lit by the radiance he himself gave off; the heavenly palace and Heavenly Court behind his head slowly emerged from the fading darkness, and his primordial spirit surfaced as well.

The World Tree was still a mass of darkness, but little by little the darkness withdrew from that precious tree.

Shen Mu clenched his fists and looked no more upon the Book of Life and Death. His clothes were soaked with sweat, as though he had just been hauled out of water.

"What a heavy demonic nature."

He closed his eyes and struggled with all his might against the Book of Life and Death's temptation, murmuring, "I cannot do this, nor can anyone else. If it were done, the human race would have no hope left at all."