Chapter 1774 — The Heavenly Feather Scroll of a Hundred Weavings

Lan Yutian sized up the Dao-Burying Divine Coffin and could not hold back his admiration: "Brother, this coffin is far better than the one you had before! The timber is choice, the materials are of the finest, and every nail is driven exactly where it belongs!

" Shen Mu was delighted too, and laughed: "This coffin is really quite fine, is it not? A coffin of such quality is not for the ordinary man to enjoy.

Even my own falls a grade or two below it. " Lan Yutian nodded again and again and examined it closely, and he too saw what made it troublesome: "This coffin will be very hard to break open; I fear it would take some time.

. .

" Shen Mu said flatly: "Then there is no need to try.

We go and find Xing'an directly.

My coffin was forged by Xing'an; if he can forge one, he can surely unmake one.

" Lan Yutian hesitated: "Who is the man in this coffin? If we do not do all in our power to save him, will he be angry? " "He will not. The one in the coffin is Tai Yi; his magnanimity is vast. " Lan Yutian recalled Tai Yi's deeds of old -- a vast magnanimity indeed -- and his heart was set at ease.

Shen Mu reckoned: "Only, Xing'an is not easy to find.

In the matter of finding people, none surpasses Tianzun You; Tianzun You can surely find him.

But Tianzun You has gone to the Ancestral Court just now to hunt down Tianzun Hao.

. .

There is no hurry in seeking Xing'an to free Tai Yi; he has been suppressed for more years than anyone can count, and a few days more will not matter. The pressing task is to send back these three Dao Achievers who have come here by blood sacrifice. " At a slight stir of his thought, a beam of sword-light split the void and vanished.

Above the Yuan Realm a sword-light suddenly appeared, spanning a thousand leagues across the heavens -- a magnificent sight. The sword-light was so brilliant that it outshone even the sun, and people raised their heads to stare. Shang Jun, working in the works at Bazhou in Jingping, raised his head and gazed into the distance, when the foreman suddenly shouted: "Little Shang, woolgathering again!

Get on with your work, or mind you get no wages this month!

" Shang Jun hesitated, lifted his towel and wiped the grime from his face, then said to the foreman: "Tianzun Mu has released sword-light to summon me; something great must have happened. Let me go over for a bit -- just give me two days' leave.

" The foreman laughed in exasperation: "Tianzun Mu summoned you? Why not say he wants you to go behead a Dao Achiever?

Honest as you look for a young lad, you are a shirker and a slippery one at that! Skip work again, and your wages for this month will be docked to nothing!

" Shang Jun's face flushed red; stammering, he explained: "It truly is Tianzun Mu summoning me. I have never told a lie. .

.

" The workers all around burst into roars of laughter, and Shang Jun could do nothing about it. Since coming to Jingping he had meant to taste its life; at first it had been pleasant enough, but Jingping kept no idlers.

In the old days, to say nothing of gods and demons, even those of mere Divine Ability were enshrined by mortals as lords, and wherever they went they need not worry for food, clothing, or expenses. But Jingping now advanced only the able and let each earn his bread by his own skill; there was no longer any way to freeload on the strength of being one of Divine Ability, a god, or a demon.

Shang Jun wanted to taste life in Jingping, and without money that was utterly impossible.

He had no other skill, but fortunately he had great strength and a precise blade, and so he came to the Bazhou works, found a job, earned a little money for his needs, and scraped by. "Little Shang, the goods must be delivered in two days; if you go, they cannot be finished. " The foreman waited until his workmates' laughter had died down, then lowered his voice: "You are good at your work.

Later I will have the works superintendent pay you double wages. .

. " Before he had finished, the sky suddenly convulsed, and a huge face appeared in the heavens, blotting out half the sky over eastern Jingping -- it was the face of Tianzun Mu.

"Shang Jun!

Shang Jun!

" The mouth of that face, wrought of vital energy, opened and closed, and Shen Mu's voice came forth: "Dao Achievers from before history have descended; I need your help. If you are still in Jingping, come quickly to the place where the sword-light appeared.

I am waiting for you! " The foreman and the assembled Divine Ability cultivators gaped, all turning to look at Shang Jun, muttering inwardly: "Little Shang could not be that Shang Jun whom Tianzun Mu is seeking, could he? " Suddenly Shang Jun shot into the air; thirty-five peals like thunder rolled across the sky. That 'Little Shang' had started from the works and in a single step crossed thirty-five layers of void!

"I am taking two days' leave -- I will come back and finish the work!

" came Little Shang's voice from beyond the heavens.

In the works, the crowd stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the sky, and for a long while could not collect themselves. In the thirty-fifth layer of void, aboard the World-Ferrying Golden Ship, Shen Mu and Lan Yutian waited in silence, when suddenly a figure flickered and a young man of wholly unremarkable features stood before them. Shen Mu's spirits lifted: "Shang Jun has come. Brother Yutian, in this battle the three of us will each take one of the prehistoric Dao Achievers.

Of the three of us, the weakest link is you. You need not kill with your own hands; you need only hold that Dao Achiever in place. As soon as either Shang Jun or I finishes with his opponent, we will come at once to your aid!

" Lan Yutian hesitated: "Then you must be quick. I could never hold off a Dao Achiever of Miluo Palace.

" Shen Mu said flatly: "Rest assured, Shang Jun and I are more than fast enough. Shang Jun! " His gaze settled on Shang Jun, and his voice deepened: "This time we do not know who has come from Miluo Palace; but the eight years are not yet fully passed, so whoever comes must be no small matter -- most likely a being of Hall Master rank. Your aim in this battle is to kill your opponent. If you cannot kill him. .

. " Shang Jun understood him: "I will send him off crippled. To leave whole from beneath my blade is absolutely impossible. Once I have left a Dao wound on him, you can follow the traces of that wound, and finding him will not be hard! " Shen Mu breathed out in relief and smiled: "With that word from you I am at ease.

Brother Yutian, the locations of these three Dao Achievers of Miluo Palace! " Lan Yutian at once turned vital energy into a map of the Yuan Realm, marking the places where the three Dao Achievers of Miluo Palace had descended, and said: "These three Dao Achievers have almost fully descended. If we disturb them, they will surely take alarm and escape us. If a Dao Achiever slips away, finding him again will be difficult. More terrible still, if they lodge their great Dao in the void, their strength will return to its peak, and then I fear not one of us could deal with any of them.

" Shen Mu studied the three marked positions on the map and said in a low voice: "So we cannot touch these sixteen blood-sacrifice altars; destroying any one of them will rouse their alertness.

We must reach the three positions at the same time. Brother Yutian, you take the World-Ferrying Golden Ship to the farthest one. The golden ship accelerates all the way; when you arrive its speed will be at its utmost.

Drive it straight in and ram him!

Shang Jun!

" His eyes flickered: "You go and kill the nearest one.

The place where this Dao Achiever has descended is very strange -- Dayou City, southwest of Jingping. Dayou City has a great many inhabitants; from where he has come down, he should be in the midst of a busy market.

To kill him without destroying Dayou City and without harming its people will depend on your skill.