Chapter 1849 — Storming the Jade Capital Imperial City

Young Master Lingxiao and Young Master Zixiao wore calm expressions, showing no sign of panic or alarm; clearly they had long anticipated this turn in the Ancestral Court, which left Shen Mu somewhat disappointed. "Seventh Brother, no matter how solidly you refine the Ancestral Court, it still cannot pass through the Tribulation of Destruction and the Tribulation of Creation.

But the Jade Capital City can. " Young Master Lingxiao warned, "To think you can refine the Ancestral Court into a supreme treasure to suppress the Jade Capital City is nothing but a fool's dream.

" There was reason in his words.

The Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court had not been built in a single day; this divine city could be said to have been first refined by the master of Miluo Palace in the Second Epoch, only to fail in the Tribulation of Destruction of that epoch. When Shen Mu first visited Miluo Palace, he had even seen the ruins of the Jade Capital City. In every epoch thereafter, Miluo Palace would attempt to refine the Jade Capital City anew upon those ruins, hoping that it might carry all living beings safely through the Tribulation of Destruction and the Tribulation of Creation into the next epoch.

Yet in every epoch that followed, Miluo Palace met with failure, until at last, in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Epochs, the design of the Jade Capital City was settled, and this divine city could finally withstand the Tribulation of Destruction and the Tribulation of Creation. The only regret was that although the divine city could endure the great tribulations of destruction and creation, the people within it could not withstand the Tribulation of Creation; faced with it, they would still suffer grievous casualties.

Thus the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court remained, in the end, a failed creation. Even so, the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court was still the greatest of creations.

Shen Mu had refined the Ancestral Court into the mightiest divine artifact of the Seventeenth Epoch, yet compared with the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, it was still far inferior. Shen Mu smiled. "The Jade Capital City was refined to survive tribulation; its nature is aimed at the two great tribulations of destruction and creation.

This divine city is not made for attack. The Chaos Cauldron of the Ancestral Court, which I refined, was made for attack and sealing.

Each craft has its specialty; the two serve different purposes, so naturally their might differs as well. " Young Master Zixiao said indifferently, "Seventh Brother, do you know why we agreed last time to wait quietly while you disposed of Wuya and Second Sister? Precisely because we know everything about you. That you sealed the Ancestral Court and refined it into a treasure, how could we not know?

Yet once the Jade Capital City descends, all your efforts will be utterly wasted, all of them labor in vain. Your seal, your Chaos Cauldron of the Ancestral Court, the thousands of Dao-attainers under your command, Miluo Palace has never cared about any of them. " He raised his head to the vault of heaven, then looked to the four walls of the Chaos Cauldron of the Ancestral Court, and said leisurely, "Once the Jade Capital City descends, every effort of yours will become utterly laughable. Your seal will be easily pierced by the Jade Capital City; your Chaos Cauldron will be smashed to pieces by it; your Six Paths Heaven Wheel and Cosmic Bell will be just as powerless before it. The Jade Capital City spans sixteen cosmic epochs, spans sixteen long rivers of chaos.

What it carries is not us, but the history and civilization of the past sixteen cosmic epochs, a trillion years in the making. " He withdrew his gaze, his eyelids lowering. "Its weight is beyond your imagining. " Shen Mu gave a dry laugh. "Did my two senior brothers invite me here merely to boast of the grandeur and splendor of the Jade Capital City? " Young Master Lingxiao shook his head.

"Of course not.

After all, we are fellow disciples, taught by the same master, beyond the comparison of ordinary men.

Junior Brother, if you lose this battle, the Fourth and I will not make things difficult for your Jingping. You may set your mind at ease. " Shen Mu said gravely, "My two senior brothers are magnanimous beyond measure.

It is admirable.

" "It is not magnanimity.

" Young Master Lingxiao said calmly, "It is because after this battle, you, Junior Brother, as the loser, will be driven back into the past, and the Dao-attainers Jingping has accumulated over three and a half billion years will all be buried in this battle. Jingping will never recover, and Jingping's reforms will be a bubble of dream and shadow, no longer possessing the strength to threaten the Jade Capital City. To let them be at such a time is not generosity. " Young Master Zixiao took up the thread.

"Junior Brother, by slaying Wuya, disposing of Second Sister, and sweeping away Old Man Wuya's forces, you have ensured that even when the Dao-attainers of our Jade Capital City descend, the burden on this universe will not increase because of it. Thus the descent of the Jade Capital City will not shorten the lifespan of the Seventeenth Epoch, and we shall have time enough to study how to eliminate the Tribulation of Destruction and how to pass through the Tribulation of Creation. And when you, Seventh Brother, return to the past, the Dao-attainers of Jingping will die and their Dao dissipate, returning their energy to heaven and earth, which will likewise prolong the lifespan of this epoch. " Young Master Lingxiao smiled.

"Seventh Brother, by disposing of Second Sister and Wuya, those two formidable enemies who could threaten the Jade Capital City, and enabling the Jade Capital City to descend, your contribution to Miluo Palace even surpasses that of us two senior brothers. Your elder brother is ashamed.

" Shen Mu's brows lifted slightly, and he said with a half-smile, "My two senior brothers have begun to learn my art of attacking the heart. It seems that in three and a half billion years of confrontation, you have come to understand me better and better. " "Merely speaking the truth.

" Young Master Lingxiao said, "The foundations of the Jade Capital City are plain for all to see. Why would we need to attack your heart?

We did not think in such terms, but our plain truth is, to you, Junior Brother, an attack upon the heart.

" Shen Mu laughed heartily, rose to his feet, and said, "Since that is so, then let the true contest begin. " Young Master Lingxiao rose from the Lingxiao Hall and said with a smile, "Very well, then let the true contest begin.

" Young Master Zixiao rose as well.

"We shall see Junior Brother off.

" Shen Mu said hurriedly, "My two senior brothers, please stay your steps.

" The two Young Masters escorted him.

Shen Mu looked back and saw the fifty-six Hall Masters of Miluo Palace and eighteen thousand Dao-attainers in neat ranks, following behind the two Young Masters to see him off. Shen Mu came to the gate of the Jade Capital City, turned, and said with a smile, "All of you, stay your steps.

" "Then we shall escort you no further," said Young Master Zixiao.

Shen Mu waved his hand in farewell.

"No need to see me off.

Please return. " With that, he went back aboard the Golden Ship of Salvation. Aboard the golden ship, the others were about to ask questions when Shen Mu's expression darkened. He spoke words of the Dao, imbued with the mysteries of the great Dao, and the sound of the Dao reverberated back and forth through the Ancestral Court: "Miluo Palace, a place of rot; the host of the Jade Capital City, a pack of decayed wretches, who have brought calamity upon sixteen epochs, manipulated all living beings, and treated their lives as playthings.