Chapter 1738 — The Hunter of the Seventeenth Epoch
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
Xu Shenghua was briefly startled, and saw the tears falling from Shen Mu's eyes like rain.
Xu Shenghua said hurriedly, "Sect Master Shen, what has come over you?
I am still alive and well. .
.
" Shen Mu suddenly wept aloud, swayed to his feet, and struggled outward. "I cannot save Heavenly Venerable Yun.
I will not make it back in time. . . I must get back, get back as fast as I can.
. .
" Xu Shenghua raised a hand and tried to grip his ankle, saying in a hoarse voice, "Calm yourself!
You are in no better state than I am.
Even if you force yourself on toward the Yuan Realm, you will be too late, and it will only cost you more time. Calm yourself. Night is nearly here.
Rest a while.
When Tai Yi's Dao Tree appears, drink some of the Dao Dew and recover a portion of your cultivation; then you will reach the Yuan Realm all the sooner!
" Shen Mu halted, was silent a moment, then bent to help him up — but staggered, and both nearly fell to the ground.
Supporting each other, they strove onward toward the World Tree. The two finest masters of Jingping now walked like two old men, tottering forward. The sun sank in the west.
It was at sunset that they finally reached the foot of the World Tree. Shen Mu had recovered a thread of cultivation; he worked his mana and carried Xu Shenghua to the top of the World Tree. The two sat upon the highest leaves and looked up. The starry sky of the Ancestral Court was brilliant, the stars shifting and changing like a revolving lantern, moving without cease; the cause of this uncanny phenomenon lay in Xuandu. The Ancestral God King led Xuandu's star gods and commanded the armies of Xuandu's Sun Watchers and Moon Watchers in an assault on Wuyou Township and Jingping.
The star gods and the Sun Watchers and Moon Watchers were all star deities, and so naturally threw the heavens into disorder. That the heavens were in such chaos showed that Xuandu's armies had all but entirely set forth!
Tai Yi's Dao Tree emerged from the Ultimate Void, and Shen Mu and Xu Shenghua rose unsteadily to their feet and caught the falling Dao Dew.
"Can Jingping be held?
" Xu Shenghua asked suddenly.
"Jingping can be held, but Wuyou Township cannot. " Shen Mu swallowed the Dao Dew and strove to work his art and refine it, saying, "But to take Wuyou Township, the Heavenly Court will surely pay an enormous price.
Wuyou Township is a weapon, forged in the Kaihuang era, a weapon made by expending all the wealth of that age. " Xu Shenghua was somewhat puzzled.
"I have been to Wuyou Township and examined the inner structure of its layer upon layer of heavens. Outwardly those heavens are ordinary land, mountains and rivers, but within they are forged of divine gold and divine iron, like machinery of incomparable intricacy. " (See Chapter 982, The Truth of Wuyou Township.
) Shen Mu went on catching the Dao Dew.
"The Wuyou Sword of Kaihuang Shen Ye is hollow, and the thirty-three heavens of Wuyou Township are the sword's heart. A complete Wuyou Sword should have Wuyou Township hidden within it.
The Wuyou Sword's power has never been very great, and it shatters easily; the chief reason lies with its sword heart.
Without the sword heart that is Wuyou Township, the Wuyou Sword cannot exert its utmost power.
" Xu Shenghua was silent a moment, then said, "Kaihuang was that forbearing a man. " Shen Mu nodded. "That is the kind of man he is.
Wuyou Township is his last means of wounding his enemies.
When the Heavenly Court's armies take the thirty-three heavens of Wuyou Township, the secret of Wuyou Township will be detonated. " He had recovered a measure of cultivation, and at once treated Xu Shenghua's Dao wounds, saying, "This night I cannot fight. I must gather strength to race back to the Yuan Realm at dawn.