Chapter 1280 — The Inner Demon Becomes a Venerable
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
The Woodcutter Sage coughed once and warned them, "This must on no account be told to my rebellious disciple. He has always looked down on all creation, proud and arrogant of heart; if he learned of it he would only grow prouder still. It would be bad for the cultivation of his Dao-heart."
The others recalled how Shen Mu always wore the look of a man who was merely second in all the world, and a sense of shared grievance rose in them; they nodded one after another and said, "The Sage speaks truly. For the young to be too proud is bad for body and mind alike. We will not tell him."
Meanwhile, Bai Yuqiong and Shen Mu had walked out of the canyon. Shen Mu gazed exultantly at the inner demon Lord Mu emerging from the dark valley, unable to hide his complacency, and looked at Bai Yuqiong, wanting to speak yet holding back.
Bai Yuqiong understood, and flattered him: "Lord Mu is first under Heaven; even Lord Hao feels dread of you."
Shen Mu said modestly, "I only beat him once when he was weak, and left him abed for a thousand years. I never thought it would leave him such a shadow. It is nothing worth mentioning."
Bai Yuqiong was reassured: "Once his little tail has been up and given a shake, he will settle down again."
The two came forward. The Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu sent a man ahead to test the inner demon Lord Mu's abilities. That god-devil was of the Lingxiao realm, of vast divine powers, and charged straight at the inner demon Lord Mu!
This Southern Heaven expert cultivated the Great Way of Heavenly Fire; flame filled the air and became a sea of fire floating in the sky, within which ten thousand dragons writhed and plunged down as one!
Boom —
A great pit appeared in the ground. That inner demon Lord Mu was torn apart by the dragons and burned to ash.
The Southern Heaven expert was delighted; he turned his head and said, "His strength is nothing much. You may come in without fear!"
Everyone breathed a little easier. If the inner demon Lord Mu born in the Taixu Demon Realm were as troublesome as Shen Mu himself, it would be a truly agonizing matter for them.
Word of Shen Mu's battle against Yin Tianzi's Reincarnation Bell had long since spread through the Heavenly Court's camp; as high-ranking members of the Heavenly Court they naturally knew of it, and had even pondered means of dealing with Shen Mu — yet none could devise a way to kill him outright.
Plainly, Lord Hao did not know what powers the Shen Mu of today possessed; his inner demon Shen Mu was not the monstrous thing the true Shen Mu was.
That Southern Heaven expert walked first into the dark valley, his palm lifting lightly, and a great sun rose slowly from his hand — only that this place was exceedingly strange, and its light could not shine far.
The darkness seemed able to devour light, and one had to be on guard.
Just then, the Southern Heaven expert halted. Another inner demon Lord Mu had walked out of the darkness and come into the illumination of his great sun.
"Lord Hao's inner demon has birthed yet another Lord Mu?"
The Southern Heaven expert could not help laughing. "So be it, then — I will see you on your way!"
He repeated his trick, unleashing his divine power once more; and in the very instant the sea of fire rose and ten thousand dragons writhed, suddenly, behind that inner demon Lord Mu, figure after figure swayed — and in a flash hundreds of inner demon Lord Mus came charging out!
Each of the hundreds of inner demon Lord Mus drew his sword; sword-light split the sea of fire, split the ten thousand dragons, and came straight for the Southern Heaven expert's face!
The Southern Heaven expert hurriedly covered his face and roared; behind him a heavenly palace appeared, his primordial spirit standing before the Lingxiao Hall!
His divine power erupted, becoming heavenly-fire crystals that grew in every direction to guard his flesh. Should anyone so much as touch those crystals, the heavenly fire would explode and blast them to powder!
Shh —