Chapter 1769 — The Blood-Rust Battle

" He glanced at Shu Jun: "Jingping has no need of new Ten Heavenly Venerables. " Shu Jun gave a roguish laugh and sauntered into his army: "Sage King Jiang, you are a sage, but your senior brother is not.

If Langwan moves, she cannot fail.

No man can withstand her lure.

A few hundred Creators stand at any hour upon the brink of extinction, and to breed and survive they must change their blood, not for dominion or authority, but for survival. " Jiang Baigui pondered it, for a few hundred Creators indeed stood near extinction, and with so poor a power to multiply they might already be reckoned among the extinct.

"Do not make too great a stir," Jiang Baigui said.

"If certain folk are roused to wrath, the race of Creators may truly be exterminated. " Shu Jun smiled: "Fear not. Langwan knows her measure. Tell me, is there an alchemist in your army?

I am wounded.

" At Jingping, Shen Mu's wounds had healed by a tenth or two, and at last the Dao-executing god nails had been drawn out so that he could rise from his bed and walk. Through these months Ling Yuxiu had tended him constantly, fearing he would run wild on all sides.

In the sky auroras still surged and drifted to and fro, proof plain that the war of Tai Shi against the two Taiji ancient gods was not yet ended.

Ling Yuxiu lifted her head to gaze and asked in puzzlement: "Can fighting Taiji be so hard for Tai Shi? " Shen Mu's body still swayed and he could not stand steady, and Ling Yuxiu hastened to support him. Shen Mu gasped for breath and smiled: "In fighting Taiji, it is indeed hard, and one can hardly bring force to bear. Let him be.

The two Taiji ancient gods are no longer a great scourge. What matters most now is rather whether the blood-sacrifice altars left by Hao Tianzun have been found.

" "Lan Yutian is already searching on all sides, and there should be news," Ling Yuxiu comforted him.

"Do not fret.

Lan Yutian's powers are vast and his gifts uncommon, and if he finds those blood-sacrifice altars he will surely destroy them.

" Shen Mu shook his head: "What I fear is that the blood sacrifice has been under way so long that those who have attained the Dao in Miluo Palace must soon descend.

With his strength he cannot deal with one attained from Miluo Palace.

Even with the attained Shang Jun added, they could never contend with one attained from Miluo Palace.

" He breathed out a turbid breath and lifted his eyes to the starry sky, and after a moment said: "I must still journey to the Ultimate Void to see the Eldest Young Master, and by whatever means persuade him to release Tai Yi.

As yet Hao Tianzun does not know that the Ancestral Court has fallen, that his Heavenly Court has changed masters and is held by prehistoric stowaways.

" He pushed away Ling Yuxiu's hand and forced himself a few steps, only to nearly fall. Ling Yuxiu came forward to hold him, and Shen Mu panted: "Junior Brother Jiang need only drive Emperor Haotian to the Ancestral Court, and the two sides will slaughter one another until the Court is utterly extinguished.

Perhaps Hao Tianzun and the Empress will survive, but they will be of little account.

Yet what I fear more is that they will join in villainy, and with Hao Tianzun's present temper it is very likely.

Then what we must face will be the prehistoric stowaways and those attained from Miluo Palace. The pressure upon us will only be greater than before. " "Only by going to the Ultimate Void to see the Eldest Young Master of Miluo Palace and freeing Tai Yi will the war for the Ancestral Court find a turn.

" Ling Yuxiu shook her head: "With your wounds unhealed, how can you ascend to the Ultimate Void? Rest quietly and heal, and do not run wild. Besides, for the armies of the Court to return to the Ancestral Court will take a dozen years and more.

" Shen Mu thought it over and nodded, and returned to his chamber to labor in silence.

He dreamed again, dream upon dream spreading outward, and countless tiny Shen Mus delved in dreams into the shifting Dao patterns within his Dao wounds, comprehending their mysteries. Year followed year, and six years later the wounds upon Shen Mu slowly shrank, and though his color was still wanting and his body still frail, there was no longer grave harm. On this day Shen Mu packed his baggage and boarded the Golden Ship of Deliverance and smiled: "Now we may visit the thatched cottage a second time. "