Chapter 1608 — The Wheel Turns Without a Sound
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu's heart lurched. The face beneath the sea was watching him, and it said, softly, eerily, "You look very much like an old friend of mine.
" Shen Mu smiled faintly — then all at once his divine-treasury domain unfurled, the Heavenly Court rose into being, and his primordial spirit stepped out to stand atop the Jade Capital City, where he roused the divine art of reincarnation. "The wheel turns in silence, formless and nameless!
" This was his great divine art of the thirty-first level of the dao realm; his Jade Capital was rebuilt, fifty-eight treasure halls composing an imperfect Jade Capital City.
His Jade Capital realm was not yet perfect. He had meant to enter it only after completing all seventy-two treasure halls, but now this Second Young Master of Miluo Palace had recognized him, forcing him to enter the Jade Capital realm ahead of time.
His cultivation climbed in a straight line, and at once Empress and Yuanmu took alarm. In the same instant that he made his move, the two women reached an accord; they rose into the air and pounced on him. Though the two were forever at each other's throats, each longing to kill the other and take the body for herself alone, if the enemy was Shen Mu, they would still stand as one against him.
But by then Shen Mu had already unleashed his divine art.
"The wheel turns in silence, formless and nameless" — the thirty-first level of the dao realm, which he had comprehended while pondering the great dao of Reincarnation and Guixu.
Behind him appeared a vast halo of light, howling as it spun. In an instant time and space fell into chaos; over the Chaos Sea, beams of dao light, enormous beyond measure, shot wildly in every direction, and dao sounds boomed and quaked.
Then, centered on the halo behind Shen Mu's head, a blinding burst of dao light exploded and swept away everything.
After the glare, all fell still. "Senior, how are we to save you?
" Lady Yuanmu lay at the edge of the lotus leaf, her fragrant haunches raised, and called into the Chaos Sea.
The Empress, meanwhile, looked dazed and bereft, then suddenly grew alert and lifted her head to stare coldly at Shen Mu. Slowly Shen Mu loosened his grip on the hilt of the Tribulation Sword and smiled an amiable smile, though the thick beard covering his face made that smile somewhat fierce and fearsome.
He stood over nine chi tall, heavy-limbed and coarse-featured, and looked a man of brute strength.
The Empress and Lady Yuanmu knew this man well enough: he was Heavenly Venerable Mu, who by dint of his standing did mischief throughout the Heavenly Court, and was also called "Big-Beard Shen the Scourge.
" The beard on his face was highly distinctive; once seen, it could never be forgotten.
The fellow looked honest and simple, yet was in truth a wicked man, one who had wrecked the relations among the Ten Heavenly Venerables and was their implacable, deathless foe.
Just then, beneath the lotus leaf, a huge pale face surfaced from the sea floor, white hair spread across the whole face of the Chaos Sea. The woman said softly, "I am the Second Young Master of Miluo Palace, who commands the Wuji Hall of Miluo Palace, and I am imprisoned here.
All you need do is follow this twin lotus and climb.
. .
" Here this Second Young Master of Miluo Palace abruptly stopped, fixed her gaze coldly upon Shen Mu, and laughed coldly.
"So it is you after all, Old Seven. You have tampered with me, and with them!
" Shen Mu spread his five fingers and stroked the beard on his face, astonished beyond measure, his voice booming like a great bell: "What makes you say that, Senior? Though, come to think of it — are not the young masters of Miluo Palace all men. . .
" "Enough! " The woman beneath the sea laughed coldly. "Old Seven, I know your divine arts as well.