Chapter 1637 — The Dao Heart Shatters

Shen Mu's mind was a murky waste, and the one scene that turned over and over in it was Kaihuang going to his death.

He could scarcely gather his spirit, could scarcely marshal his scattered vital essence; his gaze would not come together, having no point to fix upon. It was as though his Dao heart had been struck by lightning, all his strength sucked dry in an instant.

He raised a hand and grasped forward, and grasped nothing at all.

The Great Luotian of the Sword Dao, the Dao Tree, and Kaihuang with them, all turned to nothing.

That blow from the Fourth Young Master of the Miluo Palace had not been aimed at Kaihuang but at Ling Tianzun, hardest of all to kill; Kaihuang had gone to his death in Ling Tianzun's place, and a strike that could slay Ling Tianzun left Kaihuang no chance of survival.

And yet. . .

A pain like the tearing of his heart came suddenly upon Shen Mu.

And yet — why should it have been Kaihuang?

Kaihuang ought to have been at the Ancestral Court, holding off Hao Tianzun's body of enlightenment; how had he come to appear here in a single instant and take the death blow meant for Ling Tianzun? Shen Ye.

The first page of the Shen clan genealogy bore that name, and Shen Mu could not forget it.

When he was small and opened that genealogy, he had been proud that his own name stood upon it; he had revered Kaihuang Shen Ye and held him for a being of measureless stature and measureless endurance. Later, when he learned what the Land of No Sorrow was, that Kaihuang Shen Ye in his heart collapsed of itself, and Shen Ye became in his eyes a man who saw only gain, a muddled tyrant, a wretch who with his own two hands had buried the Kaihuang age and cast the common folk aside like so much offal. And later still, in the first years of Longhan, he met Shen Ye as a youth, and they fought a match; yet there he also saw a Shen Ye that did not fit his conjectures.

Shen Ye was steady, deep of design, revealing nothing of his feelings, possessed of a striking air, as though no setback and no blow could lay him low. But in Shen Mu's heart prejudice still held, and he judged him answerable for the sufferings of later ages, judged that over the long years he had changed his first resolve and become a muddled ruler who knew only pleasure within the Land of No Sorrow. In the end Shen Mu found the Land of No Sorrow and entered it, and what he saw was the elder generation sunk in despair and the younger given over to wine and song. Only Shen Ye still held his Dao heart, like the sea-calming needle of the Land of No Sorrow; yet even he could not change what the Land had become.

Until Shen Mu came. Shen Mu had long harbored grievances against him, and Shen Ye too wished to use a battle with him to relight the fighting spirit of the Land of No Sorrow.

They fought there, two men of unlike temper, each seeing his own shadow in the other. After that battle Shen Mu was struck from the Shen clan genealogy and became what Kaihuang called Mu Tianzun.

They met many times afterward, and now and then crossed blades again, but the rancor in Shen Mu's heart had long since gone. In truth, in his own heart, Shen Mu still counted himself a man of the Shen clan, still counted himself Shen Ye's own descendant; only, he must shelter Jingping. Jingping Mu Tianzun could not be a descendant of Kaihuang.

Jingping must be cleanly severed from the Land of No Sorrow, or Jingping's future would suffer greatly, for this touched not only the contest for power and the contest over livelihood, but the allegiance of the people's hearts and the attitude of the Heavenly Court as well. If Jingping was to be preserved, he could have no tie to the Land of No Sorrow.

So it was that Kaihuang and Shen Mu kept the relations of fellow Daoists, with no difference of generation between them and no kinship. And yet, in this moment, Shen Mu still felt that clinging tenderness in his Dao heart, that rending pain of a kinsman's passing.

"Why did you appear so suddenly.

. .

" Hao Tianzun's figure suddenly entered his sight. Shen Mu turned, and the five fingers of his hand plucked at space as though plucking strings that left no trace in the air.

The note of the zither sounded, and Xu Tianzun's figure vanished, to appear the next instant before Hao Tianzun.

Hao Tianzun was startled and hurriedly slipped back. Shen Mu turned, his face without expression, and went hurtling with a roar toward the Golden Ship of Salvation.

On the deck of the Golden Ship of Salvation, Xu Tianzun drove the divine artifact Yutianzun, and behind the artifact's head rose thirty-six heavenly palaces, composing a complete Heavenly Court. The power of that Heavenly Court was too great; even this artifact could not hold out long beneath it, but for Xu Tianzun it was long enough.

In that brief span she could kill Shen Fengqing and the reincarnated Tiangong both, and seize mastery of Youdu.

By now Shen Fengqing's magic power was climbing straight upward; she could already be reckoned a lesser Tianzun, her magic power nearly equal to that of a Tianzun of the Imperial Throne realm who had perfected eighteen heavenly palaces. But Shen Fengqing was too green; in both the arts of battle and the experience of battle she fell far short of her. The only one who posed her any threat was Tiangong, and Tiangong's threat came from the might of the fifty Heavenly Dao treasures; against the divine artifact Yutianzun of the perfect Heavenly Court, he was still somewhat the weaker.

Xu Tianzun was on the verge of killing the two of them when the golden ship veered and began little by little to quicken.

She looked up in haste and saw that the ship was steering toward Shen Mu. At the same time, Shen Mu was charging toward the ship.

Without pausing to think, Xu Tianzun leaped up from the deck; light spilled down from the ship, seeking to hold her aboard, and the divine artifact Yutianzun struck out with a punch that broke the golden light; standing on the artifact's shoulder, Xu Tianzun seized the chance and broke free. Shen Mu landed on the golden ship, and his hollow, empty gaze slid off Xu Tianzun's face.

Involuntarily a shiver of dread rose in her heart, and she did not dare press forward.

Suddenly Hao Tianzun appeared at her side, reached out, and drew her away. Ling Tianzun's figure appeared and pointed a finger at the void.

Shen Mu's gaze fell upon Hao Tianzun, then slid away; the golden ship turned and drove toward Huo Tianzun.

There Huo Tianzun was dealing death to Langxuan and Yue Tianzun at once.

The ship came flying, and Huo Tianzun hurriedly dodged and flew toward Hao Tianzun as he came.

The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder and watched Shen Mu take Yue Tianzun and Langxuan aboard the golden ship. Huo Tianzun raised his brows and was about to move to block the ship when Hao Tianzun lifted a hand.

"A cornered beast will still fight. Press him too hard now, and he will stake everything on one last throw.

Our aim is already achieved; let them go.

" Huo Tianzun was briefly taken aback, not grasping his meaning. Hao Tianzun smiled.

"My intent was to rid myself of Ling Tianzun; I never thought the blow would fall upon the wrong man. Shen Ye is dead.

" Huo Tianzun's body shook violently, and he bowed low. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Felicitations, Your Majesty!

" Hao Tianzun laughed aloud and flew toward the Ancestor God King, with Xu Tianzun and Huo Tianzun hurrying after him. The golden ship was still gathering speed and charging at the Ancestor God King; at once Hao Tianzun's consciousness stirred and he warned the Ancestor God King to dodge.

The Ancestor God King was on the point of killing You Tianzun; hearing this, he hastily got clear, and then saw Ling Tianzun's figure appear upon the very spot where he had just been standing, which brought a cold sweat out all over him.

He hurried to Hao Tianzun's side and said in a low voice, "Brother Hao. . .

Your Majesty, what has happened?