Chapter 1780 — A Thread from Olden Times

After a long while, the Ancestral Court came into view ahead; far off, the allied armies of Jingping and the heavens and myriad realms could be seen, and only one golden hall remained aboard the ship. Lan Yutian carefully pushed open the hall's door and poked his head out to look around.

Seeing that the World-Crossing Golden Ship had shrunk to a length of only about a hundred zhang, he breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out of the golden hall. "Sworn Brother, do you see it?

" Shen Mu stood at the ship's bow, raising a hand toward the distant Ancestral Court, Tai Yi's coffin standing upright behind him. Lan Yutian came forward and glanced at Tai Yi's coffin.

Seeing that Tai Yi had once again been laid aboard head-down and feet-up, he hastily strained to lift the coffin and turn it the right way up. He stepped forward and looked in the direction Shen Mu was pointing.

The Ancestral Court seethed with wind and cloud, vast and magnificent, while the Heavenly Court floated in the sky at its center, its divine majesty surging, its divine radiance gathered into clouds, its golden light blazing forth - far more spectacular than the Heavenly Court of old! The crown of the World Tree had grown until its canopy blotted out the sky; the Great Dao poured from it like rosy clouds, making the heaven and earth of the Ancestral Court ever broader. Beneath the World Tree's canopy floated one magnificent divine city after another, and chains descended from the heavens, piercing the earth and linking mountains and rivers, as though to bind those divine cities and keep them from flying beyond the sky.

In the space of a few decades, the Ancestral Court had changed enormously. Prehistoric powerhouses and Dao-attainers had smuggled themselves across and remade heaven and earth, lending the Ancestral Court an otherworldly beauty, a beauty that seized the heart.

"Brother, what do you see? " Lan Yutian gazed for a long while, unable to tell what Shen Mu meant.

The Ancestral Court was too vast, and there were far too many places worthy of notice - the World Tree, the Holy Land of the Ancestral Court, and the five Dao trees above the Heavenly Court all drew the eye. "A string.

" The direction Shen Mu pointed was precisely that of the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court.

He said in a low voice, "A string that has crossed through space and time from the Sixteenth Era. It came from the Chaos River of the Sixteenth Era, and Venerable Hao, leading it, has drawn this string out of the Jade Capital City.

" The vertical eye at his brow possessed terrifying vision, able even to pierce space and time, to see into chaos and behold the past.

What he saw was this string extending from a past universe, growing ever longer as Emperor Hao walked out of the Jade Capital City, crossing vast ages - the six-billion-year history of this universe - until it reached the present, following Venerable Hao toward the Heavenly Court. The string was nearly imperceptible; only Shen Mu's eyes could see it, while others could not notice its existence at all. "Emperor Hao no longer exists; only a running dog of the Jade Capital City remains.

" Shen Mu exhaled a breath of stale air and said in a low voice, "What Venerable Hao intends to do is lead this string to the Heavenly Court, subdue the five who have attained the Dao there, and take that power for his own use!

" Ahead of the golden ship, Venerable Yue, Venerable You, and the others had already steadied the great army and made no move to attack the Ancestral Court, arraying themselves instead outside it. In recent days they had been building spirit-energy translocation bridges, forging large-scale translocation bridges to ease travel to and from Jingping. The situation in the Ancestral Court was not yet clear, and to attack it now would only be to ask for trouble.

As the golden ship drew near, Jiang Baigui, Venerable Yue, Venerable You, Xu Shenghua, Lang Wo, the Dragon Qilin, the two Xuanwu Emperors, and others all came forward to greet them. Shen Mu put away Tai Yi's coffin and stepped down from the ship, and at once men came up to moor the vessel.

"Venerable Mu, the Ancestral Court has fallen and come into the hands of the prehistoric powerhouses.

Emperor Hao's remnant army has fled into the Ancestral Court, and with our strength we are no match for either side. " Lang Wo's lovely eyes glanced about as she asked, "Does the Venerable have some plan?

" Shen Mu's gaze fell upon her, and his heart wavered somewhat. He felt that Lang Wo seemed different today, no longer as cold and aloof as before - yet he could not be sure just where the change lay. "Of course I have a plan.

" Shen Mu laughed heartily and said, "I'll go to the Heavenly Court to pay a visit to the five who have attained the Dao there, and along the way meet Venerable Hao, Palace Lord Huanxi, and that string at his back!

" Lang Wo smiled and said, "I'll go with you. " Not far off, Emperor Yanfeng looked rather surprised.

He stroked his beard and turned to Jiang Baigui. "Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, there's something fishy here.

I think this Creator means to poach from my Ling family.

" Jiang Baigui looked at his nose and his nose at his heart and said, "Your Majesty reads too much into it. " Emperor Yanfeng was half convinced, half doubtful.