Chapter 1179 — One Leaf, One Universe
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
Yet here, when his blood fell to the ground, it swiftly congealed, all vitality gone, not even seeping through; instead sand and stone began to grow little by little out of the plasma. Shen Mu drew a fingertip lightly across his brow, and the vertical eye opened: countless runes within the Heavenly Emperor's eggshell were roused, the Primordial Origin Stone stirred to life, and in the Shen-character Continent the Great Dao of the Nether Capital began to turn — and in an instant he had taken the whole process of his blood's transformation into his sight.
The substance of his divine blood had altered, from blood to stone; soon the blood that had fallen to earth became a heap of sand and gravel! "The power here can change the very nature of matter.
" Blinking, Shen Mu swept the vertical eye over his surroundings, and saw a mountain range towering and magnificent, with many primordial beasts dwelling in the hills, and the woodlands thick and lush besides.
It was as if this mysterious, unfathomable power touched only him, and did not touch the plants and beasts of the place.
Shen Mu went no further. Instead he came to the roadside and examined a tender blade of grass closely.
In the sight of his vertical eye the blade's veins and fibers grew ever more distinct, ever coarser, until before him surfaced range after range of mountains, and the water in the grass blade became river after river!
He could even hear the surge of whitecaps in his ears!
Shen Mu's heart gave a start. Suddenly he saw that the substance of the grass was altering by degrees; he hurriedly stepped back, and saw the tender blade swiftly grow into a great tree, its branches drooping as though it had grown for a thousand years.
Shen Mu was about to study the veins and structure of the great tree when it began to change again; before his eyes it became a primordial beast, which roared at him and pounced!
Shen Mu's divine sense erupted. With one move, Great Luo Heaven Converges into Wholeness, and the primordial beast's body thinned at flying speed, stretching away infinitely, rising higher and higher.
Yet before Shen Mu's divine art was even complete, the strange beast became a mass of air that fell away. The mass of air struck the ground and, among the hills, became once more a tender blade of grass.
Shen Mu was blank a moment, his brows knit deep.
"One flower, one grass, one world — and yet so manifold in change, with no constant form, no constant force, no constant state.
.
.
" Gazing at the mountains, the waters, the trees all around, a terrible feeling rose in his heart, and he murmured, "This place is far larger than what I see — larger by countless times!
" He gave a shudder and turned back down the mountain at once. Seeing him return, Long Qilin was about to ask why, when Shen Mu picked up a single grain of sand from the ground, laid it in his palm, and blew upon it.
Whoosh — the black grain of sand flew forward, spinning and growing larger and larger, and swiftly became a mass of divine metal the size of a small hill. Long Qilin and Yan'er were startled half out of their wits, staring dumbly as that mountain of black metal flew into the distance and fell into the sea of sand.
Strange to tell, the moment the black-metal hill dropped into the sea of sand it gave a roll and became a primordial beast, which scrambled up and ran for its life.
Seeing this, the void beast could not help but rejoice, and sprang in pursuit, meaning to bite the strange beast dead and eat it — but when its jaws came down, the great beast had become a tiny, insignificant grain of sand, lost in the sea of sand beyond finding.
Long Qilin and Yan'er were left dumbstruck.
"Just as I thought!