Chapter 1480 — You Shall Die Where You Stand
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Shen Mu's eye twitched.
He drew his gaze back from Heavenly Venerable Hong and said in a low voice, "We press on! " By now the Heavenly Duke's attacks were raining down on them from every side; each Heavenly Dao art was so flawless, its power so surging, and the collapsing void lay all around them, making the five's advance a bitter struggle. Shen Mu led them in a hard climb upward.
The five spread out their blade arts and cut apart the shards of void that pressed in on them; even so, they were soon covered in wounds. And ahead, the Heavenly Duke's shoulder seemed an endless road, with no telling when it would end.
Just then a violent tremor swept through.
Bracing himself against the collapsing void, Shen Mu looked back; the glare was blinding, and he could not make out what was happening. The vertical eye at his brow opened, and he saw Heavenly Venerable Hong breaking through the Heavenly Duke's attacks one after another, his magic power towering to the heavens, his divine arts exquisite; unraveling the Heavenly Dao's arts was for him as easy as walking a familiar road, simple beyond measure!
He rescued the Divine Emperor Langxuan and the others; however fierce and overbearing the Heavenly Duke's attacks, they could not wound him in the slightest. It was as though this scene had been rehearsed many times over: every Heavenly Dao art of the Heavenly Duke was utterly familiar to him, and he had even devised every means of unraveling the Heavenly Dao's attacks!
"Of course you can unravel your own arts, Heavenly Venerable Hong.
Do you long for the Heavenly Duke's power that much. .
.
" Shen Mu's face darkened.
He turned back and said in a hoarse voice, "Press on!
" "Where are we going? " Zhe Huali, drenched in blood, flared up in fury: "Cult Master Shen, even if we reach the Heavenly Duke's shoulder, against an assault like this we are powerless to intervene! Even the Heavenly Duke himself cannot hold out—how can we?
" Luo Wushuang nodded in silence. He glanced at the Imperial Gate Divine Blade flashing past before him; in the blade his own reflection was battered and bruised.
"Heavenly Venerable Mu, we have done all that honor and duty require.
" "We can hold!
" Shen Mu kept striding forward and said in a low voice, "Once we reach the Heavenly Duke's Spirit Terrace, we can hold! " Suddenly the sound of a zither came drifting over, wavering above and below, left and right, now east, now west; the chaotic currents of void around Shen Mu and the others were stirred by the zither notes and vanished without a trace.
"Now, while we can—charge!
" Shen Mu shouted. The five quickened their pace and rushed forward.
Gradually the Heavenly Duke's shoulder came into view, and dimly they could make out the Heavenly Duke's face hidden within the radiance.
The zither music broke off abruptly; Dao fire howled, and the sound of snapping strings carried over.
Shen Mu's heart sank. Heedless of Heavenly Venerable Yue's safety, he charged madly forward.
At last they came onto the Heavenly Duke's shoulder. Here all was calm, without those dreadful void storms and chaotic currents, and without shards of void.
Upon the Heavenly Duke's shoulder stood magnificent divine cities, and within them were many gods and demons of Xuandu, guarding each city in strict array.
Covered in blood, the five burst into the nearest divine city. In the city, countless people of Xuandu knelt prostrate, worshipping and making sacrifice to the statue of the Heavenly Duke at the city's center, praying for his protection.
Their prayers and their rites of sacrifice merged into one, becoming a torrent that shook the heart.
To shatter the god within one's heart is hard because of people's worship of power, their dread of the unknown, their yearning for a fair future—and their unwillingness to strive and struggle toward it. Especially in a place like Xuandu, shattering the god within the heart is harder still.