Chapter 1380 — The New Wave Pushes the Old
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
Heavenly Venerable You said, "He discovered that the Heavenly Emperor in the Heavenly Court is a counterfeit — that the Ten Heavenly Venerables fashioned a false body of the Heavenly Emperor. It terrified him beyond measure. And his elder brother, Heavenly Venerable Hao, is himself one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, which made him dare not linger in the Heavenly Court for even a moment. All these years he has hidden in Youdu, together with Xie Wuqi. The Evil Emperor Xie Wuqi is his eldest brother."
Yun Jianli looked at Xie Wuqi and Crown Prince Mingya. The crown prince was tending to Xie Wuqi, and only in his presence did Xie Wuqi refrain from raving.
Now these "two brothers" depended upon each other for their very lives.
Yun Jianli thought to himself, "Had Xie Wuqi not died, one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables' seats would likely have been his. A pity history has no 'if'."
Elsewhere, Shen Mu's tower ship sailed into the Ancestral Court. This vessel represented the highest achievement of Jingping's casting arts: the alchemical furnaces could now be forged very large, and the ship's speed had increased greatly.
Yet though Jingping now had craftsmen beyond counting, it still could not, like the Heavenly Court or the Kaihuang Era, forge warships that were like floating continents.
In the Kaihuang Era, the highest attainments of the casting Way were embodied in Wuyou Township and the Other Shore Ark!
To forge warships of that kind, what was needed was not the Way of casting alone, but a mighty nation possessed of immense national power!
The Heavenly Court's warships were of that caliber as well. Though the Heavenly Court could not match the Kaihuang Era in the Way of casting, nor match Jingping, its foundations were far too deep and vast.
The Kaihuang Era's wealth could forge only two such leviathans as the Other Shore Ark, whereas the Heavenly Court had dozens of warships of that kind!
The tower ship passed over the Ancestral Court. Shen Mu gazed down, surveying the lay of the land.
Wei Suifeng, Granny Zhu, Hua Xuanxiu, Crown Prince Youming and the rest, meanwhile, marveled at the Ancestral Court's splendor and grandeur. The scenery here left them gasping in awe, and the primordial behemoths that flew past the ship's flank were even more astonishing.
The ship flew between sacred mountains and holy lands of every kind, and their eyes went wide and fixed; cries of amazement rose from the deck again and again.
Shen Mu frowned. The Ancestral Court's territory was immeasurably vast; finding the whereabouts of the Four Great Heavenly Gates would be no easy matter.
"I ought to go back and fetch Shu Jun. He most likely knows where the Ancestral Court's Four Great Heavenly Gates lie. Otherwise, searching like this, who knows when we will find them."
He hung up Heavenly Venerable Yue's lantern. Before many days had passed, the tower ship came to the Hundred Thousand Black Mountains.
Long Qilin and Yan'er hurried out to welcome them. Suddenly Long Qilin caught sight of the youth Wenyuan and froze for a moment; abandoning Shen Mu, he made straight for the boy.
A sour ache rose in Shen Mu's heart. "Each new generation surpasses the old. I suppose I truly am old and faded now..."
Long Qilin nuzzled and fawned over the youth Wenyuan for a while, then ran back, cautious. "Sect Master..."
"Call me Old Sect Master."
Shen Mu said listlessly, "Where are the First Ancestor and the other Human Emperors?"
"Lost," Long Qilin said, even more cautiously.
"Lost?"
Shen Mu was taken aback, then laughed. "Off taming behemoths, I suppose? And Shu Jun?"
Long Qilin said in a low voice, "Lost too..."
Shen Mu paused, studied him for a moment, and raised the tip of his left eyebrow. "And Jiang Yunjian and the others?"
Long Qilin's face crumpled. "Lost along with Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian and the rest."