Chapter 1837 — Through Fire and Water for a Kindred Spirit

The Ancestral Court.

When the First Ancestor, the Human Sovereign, and the others arrived here, though they had already read the Record of the Dao Heard at the Ancestral Court and knew of the awe-inspiring grandeur of its Hunyuan Cauldron, seeing it with their own eyes still shook them to the core. And the Chaos Sea in the heavens above, with its enormous lotuses and lotus leaves, left them astonished beyond words.

Only, they had not witnessed the scene of the Cosmic Bell crossing the sixteen Chaos Rivers to strike the World Tree directly and contend against the countless prehistoric powerhouses that swarmed up its roots, and this they greatly regretted.

That magnificent spectacle which Zhu Santong had described in the Record of the Dao Heard at the Ancestral Court filled them with yearning. Yet when they arrived, it happened that in the Ancestral Court's Yujing City a Dao-attainer's Dao soldiers were descending from the prehistoric universe, a sight no less stirring.

It was a zither.

As it descended, the zither played itself though no hand touched it, and its notes reverberated, conjuring around the Ancestral Court's Yujing City and across the sky a fantastical scene of a vast otherworldly domain. "I should go to the foot of the World Tree and see Old Man Wuya.

" Shen Mu addressed them all: "I will persuade Old Man Wuya to join me in intercepting the descent of the Fourth Young Master's Dao soldiers! The Third Young Master's Dao spear has already descended; if the Fourth Young Master's zither is added to it, it will be a monstrous threat to Wuya and to us alike.

" The others exchanged glances.

Zhu Santong thought to himself: "Not long ago the Seventh Young Master joined hands with the Ancestral Court's Yujing City to attack Old Man Wuya, and now he wants to join hands with Old Man Wuya to attack Yujing City. Truly, there is no shame in the man. " Kaihuang Shen Ye, Kaihuang Di Yiyue, and the rest hastily spoke up to dissuade him, urging him not to go see Old Man Wuya and invite humiliation.

The First Ancestor, the Human Sovereign, and the others added their voices as well.

They had read the Record of the Dao Heard at the Ancestral Court, and knew of the affair in which Shen Mu joined hands with Yujing City to beat Old Man Wuya soundly; it was recorded in the Chapter of Deceit. Zhu Santong had set the matter down in detail in his book, recording even that Granny Zhu ordered him to delete the Chapter of Deceit.

In that chapter, Old Man Wuya was beaten miserably, nearly torn out root and branch by Shen Mu and Yujing City.

At the most critical juncture of the great battle, Shen Mu led many powerhouses of Jingping in turning coat, stabbing Yujing City in both flanks and cutting down its palace lords and Dao-attainers in droves, and only thus did Old Man Wuya escape with his life.

Therefore neither Old Man Wuya nor the powerhouses of Miluo Palace's Yujing City held Shen Mu in much favor. "Where great righteousness lies, though ten million stand against me, I go.

" Shen Mu, righteous and stern, said: "This journey of mine will surely persuade Old Man Wuya, and make him understand the great cause, so that he will stand with me against the Ancestral Court's Yujing City! " With that, he went alone to the World Tree. The others exchanged glances.

Kaihuang Shen Ye said: "Make ready early, and guard against the unforeseen. " All agreed, saying: "This time Mutianzun will be hard put to come away unscathed. If Old Man Wuya traps him, he will surely order others to attack us and sweep our faction off the board first!

" At sunset, Shen Mu returned, his nose swollen and his face bruised, his body mottled with dark welts.

He told them: "Old Man Wuya has agreed to join hands.

Tomorrow we attack Yujing City. " The others were dumbfounded.

"Shen'er wasn't beaten to death after all?

" The village headman Su Muzhe said in astonishment: "It seems his strength has advanced again. I thought Old Man Wuya would beat him to death. " All nodded, saying: "Mutianzun's strength has advanced again!

" The next day, the First Ancestor, the Human Sovereign, and the others besieged Yujing City, and there too was Old Man Wuya, leading nearly ten thousand prehistoric powerhouses, among them no few who had attained the Dao. Old Man Wuya went to battle in person, standing shoulder to shoulder with Shen Mu.

The corner of his mouth twitched: "Old Seven of Miluo Palace, last time you allied with Yujing City to attack me, and made me see your true face.

You are a man skilled at stabbing his allies in both flanks; it is hard for me to trust you.

This time, you deal with the Fourth Young Master's Dao spear, and I will deal with the Third Young Master's zither. We keep to our own affairs, and neither crosses the line.

" Faint bruises still lingered on Shen Mu's face.

He said: "Daoist brother, last time I stabbed Yujing City in both flanks, was it not to save you? Not only were you ungrateful, you called my face loathsome.

Daoist brother, and what of your own face? " Bruises likewise remained on Old Man Wuya's face. He sneered: "To save me? The one who beat me was you, and the one who saved me was you.

How innocent I am! Chaos, you are true to your name, muddled in all you do, impossible to see clearly! In truth you could be like the Master of Miluo Palace, obedient to my every word, and I would protect you and your Jingping, and make you another Master of Miluo Palace!

" "Another Master of Miluo Palace? " Shen Mu laughed heartily. Old Man Wuya's face slowly turned green. Shen Mu's laughter gradually subsided, and he shook his head: "Daoist brother Wuya, I will not become the Master of Miluo Palace, and the Master of Miluo Palace was never obedient to your every word. You boast that his Dao Tree imitates you, yet even you must call him teacher.

Had he not founded the Dao arts and the Dao realms, you would be nothing but a tree, muddled and benighted.

It was he who made you, not you who made him. " Old Man Wuya's face turned greener still, yet he did not refute it. Shen Mu clasped his hands behind his back and gazed at the zither within the Ancestral Court's Yujing City. Its notes plucked and stirred, defending Yujing, turning that place into an impregnable holy domain. "Still, Daoist brother may set his mind at ease. So long as Miluo Palace is mighty, we are natural allies, and I will not let you die," Shen Mu said mildly.

Old Man Wuya understood, and said: "Once we join hands and crush Yujing, mine will be the greatest power, and at that time you will join hands with Yujing City to deal with me.

I wonder whether I have understood correctly? " Shen Mu nodded, smiling.

Old Man Wuya spat. "Chaos, the Master of Miluo Palace named me Wuya, Boundless, meaning that my life is boundless and my Dao is boundless.

I too will give you a title: Shameless. Your life is shameless, and your Dao is shameless. " "Daoist brother flatters me," Shen Mu said modestly.

Old Man Wuya was choked with stifled wrath and longed to tear him apart on the spot, yet dealing with Yujing City was imperative; otherwise, if the Dao soldiers of both young masters descended upon the Ancestral Court, they would be in dire peril.

"Thankfully, besides you, I have another ally! " Old Man Wuya's eyes flickered. He shot a glance at the sky and suddenly bellowed: "Strike!

" The moment his voice fell, the earth outside the Ancestral Court's Yujing City split with a bang, the ground shook and the mountains swayed, and one after another incomparably thick roots burst up from deep within the earth, piercing through the vast otherworldly domain formed by Young Master Zixiao's zither notes!

The World Tree's roots collided with the Fourth Young Master's divine powers contained within that vast domain, causing spatial disturbances of a most terrifying kind. Those roots were as though countless arms of Old Man Wuya, each wielding its own divine power, contending against the Fourth Young Master's powers!