Chapter 1185 — Thirty Billion Years Old
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
"Thirty billion years..."
Shen Mu shook his head. Measuring the rings of the Great Black Peak by Dragon Qilin's method would surely yield some margin of error, though not a great one. Yet the figure of thirty billion years still gave Shen Mu a start.
He knew well that the number thirty billion years referred only to the age of the Great Black Peak—and beyond the Great Black Peak, this black tree possessed fifteen other ring-shaped mountain ranges!
If those ring-shaped mountain ranges likewise bore similar growth rings, did that not mean the rings of this black tree amounted to an astronomical figure beyond all imagination?
The entire black tree was unimaginably vast, many times thicker even than the Yuan Wood, and far more ancient besides. The age of the Earth Mother Yuanjun was but a mere fraction of its own!
"The Earth Mother Yuanjun is only a few billion years old, yet this black tree has passed through sixteen different great rings, and within each great ring lie several tens of billions of lesser rings. What manner of ages has this tree endured? No tree could possibly live so long—and yet this tree truly has lived so long."
Shen Mu's expression turned strange. The black tree was now dead, leaving only its stump—a thing to inspire regret.
"Those two ancient gods in the Taiji Vein—this place they recommended to me—what exactly is its origin? Still, it can indeed be called a treasure ground second only to the Five Great Veins."
He was well content. That the two ancient gods in the Taiji Vein had recommended this place to him was a profound act of goodwill, greatly to his advantage in establishing a firm foothold within the Ancestral Court.
So long as the Azure Heaven Canopy unfurled its Twenty-Eight Heavens, this place would be easy to defend and hard to assault!
Moreover, the Black Wood Mountains lacked the eerie strangeness of the Primeval Vein; mining the veins here would surely prove far easier.
Shen Mu flew through the air, patrolling among the great mountains one by one. The mineral veins here were not concentrated within the Black Wood Mountains, but lay at the foot of the outermost ring of black mountains.
There, quantities of ore lay exposed, appearing exceedingly ancient. He collected a few pieces but could not identify what ore they were, and so put them away for the time being, intending to bring them out and inquire of Mojiang.
Shen Mu made a circuit of the place. It too had been devoured clean by the Void Beasts—no vegetation remained, save for some plant life still clinging near the central Great Black Peak.
To survey the entire Black Wood in a short time would take more than ten days; a detailed inspection would require even longer.
Shen Mu came to a halt. The chief problem now was that this place was highly conspicuous, and the Void Beasts might attack at any moment. He must quickly prepare his means of response.
"The one who controls those Void Beasts is the Qiang Heavenly Consort—that is, the Supreme Emperor. By rights, she should long since have grown restless, attempting to mobilize the Void Mother Beast and use it to probe the strengths and weaknesses of the other Heavenly Venerables' territories."
Shen Mu blinked and thought: "But why has she shown no sign of movement to this day? Could it be..."
A sudden chill ran through him, and the smile on his face froze: "The Palace Heavenly Venerable has made a move against the Qiang Heavenly Consort? If the Palace Heavenly Venerable can kill her, then so be it—kill her and all troubles vanish! But if he cannot kill her, she will surely deduce that it was I who informed on her!"
The frozen smile on Shen Mu's face gradually twisted. He immediately flew back to the Great Black Peak, his heart pounding wildly: "After the Palace Heavenly Venerable beats her bloody, she will certainly vent her fury on me!"