Chapter 401 — Angling for the Blazing Sun

Shen Mu had seen more than his share of Divine Pupils, and he was thoroughly practiced in dismantling them. He had studied the Blind Elder's Nine Heavens Gaze Art, had forged the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, and had come into possession of both the Sun Jade Eye and the Moon Jade Eye. The sun forged by Ziqing was intricate in its internal structure, but all things, however varied, shared the same fundamental principles. Where others, confronted with such a labyrinth of array patterns within the sun, would be utterly at a loss, he could swiftly locate the crucial junctures of each formation.

Ziqing had forged the sun not as a weapon but for illumination; hence these arrays held no lethal power and posed no danger, and he could experiment boldly and without fear. Moreover, Ziqing had left mechanisms behind, allowing the sun to be retracted.

Once retracted, the sun became a wall of metal. And since this particular sun had been smashed in two by Shen Mu, it was now two walls.

The many Sun Herders suppressed their astonishment and drew back their chains.

"Without a hook, how can we fish another sun out of the Xiquan? " Everyone turned to look at Shen Mu, hope written across their faces.

The old clan chief shook his head in alarm.

"The prince's cultivation is insufficient.

He cannot go deep into the Xiquan to open the sun.

" The temperature within the Xiquan was unimaginably high; any treasure forged by the Sun Herders would melt upon entering it, let alone a cultivator of merely the Six Harmonies realm like Shen Mu. Shen Mu laughed.

"Chief, have you forgotten? As the Sun Guardian, commanding the energy of the Xizhou, do I not possess power akin to that of a god?

Once I fish out the sun, I can extricate myself. There is no need to fear being devoured by the Xizhou. " The old clan chief hesitated.

"But what if you cannot fish it out.

.

. " "There is no 'what if'! I smashed your sun, so it is only right that I repay you one!

" Shen Mu decided on the spot, reached out and seized a pillar, and his body began to swell rapidly, joint by joint. Suddenly he remembered something and hastily transmitted his voice: "Chief, prepare a set of clothes. My spare clothes have all been used up.

" The old clan chief did not know whether to laugh or cry. Every time Shen Mu became the Sun Guardian, he invariably burst out of a set of clothes, and they would fetch a spare for him to change into. His spare clothes were few, and the set he wore was his last.

After this sun-fishing venture, without new clothes he would surely be left bare-arsed — for in his complete form as the Sun Guardian, a third leg would sprout behind him, bursting his trousers apart.

"Fetch the Tianyang Blue-Gold Silk of our clan, weave it into cloth, and make the prince a set of clothes! " The old clan chief had barely spoken when he remembered something else and hastily added, "And go summon Chief Yu Zhaoqing of the Tianyu clan. Have the Tianyu clan tailor and forge it for the prince.

See to it that the garments fit him properly and look dignified.

" Several Sun Herders hurried off.

Shen Mu steered the Xizhou. The Xizhou stretched out its twelve legs and, with a rumbling boom, boom, strode toward the Xiquan.

Now that the Xizhou had no sun, it began to devour his life force, causing his body to slowly sink into the vessel, gradually merging with its hull.

The rate of this consumption was many times faster than when the sun had been extinguished!

He had to fish out the sun as quickly as possible; the longer he delayed, the more perilous it became. At the edge of the Xiquan, Shen Mu's magic power raged, and one chain after another shot whistling into the Xiquan, each chain like a great black dragon, writhing and transforming, hurtling straight for the galactic core of another space. That place was the Xiquan itself — a circular abyss, where countless suns crowded like orbs of light within a deep well beyond imagination, and beyond the well, stars blazed in splendor, stars of every color forming a silver river that coiled around two great wells, revolving without cease.

Though the Xizhou's chains were thick and massive, compared to the Xiquan they were like a few thin threads. The scene truly resembled fishing, and Shen Mu atop the well was the fisherman. At last the chains reached into the Xiquan. Shen Mu's palm trembled, and he frowned slightly.

The Xizhou's chains had reached their limit and still had not touched the suns within the well. "Chief, give the order at once for everyone to leave the ship!

" Shen Mu shouted.

The Sun Herder chief hastily relayed the command.

Everyone aboard flew up in alarm and left the Xizhou.

They had barely taken flight when they saw the Xizhou stretch out its twelve legs and walk into the pillar of light from the Xiquan. The giant ship tilted, entering the mouth of the well, and at the center of the four pillars, the god-like giant that Shen Mu had become swayed and lurched, steering this colossal vessel into the sea of stars. "Prince, the Xizhou has already swallowed your calves!

" The old clan chief cried out in alarm. "Do not linger on the ship too long, or you will be devoured by the Xizhou! " In the Sea of Constellations, a giant vessel sailed vertically down along the pillar of light, a giant standing at its prow, controlling the chains as they approached the abyss below the pillar of light, surrounded by revolving stars of every hue.

Within the abyss, enormous suns radiated blinding light, making it impossible to open one's eyes.

Shen Mu's face was scorched red, as though it might melt.

The array patterns of the Nine Heavens had already surfaced in his eyes; he used the Divine Pupil bequeathed by the Blind Elder to see all within the well and to resist the blinding glare. The Xizhou was still approaching the abyss that hid the suns. The rocks and earth on this giant vessel had been burned red, but fortunately it had been forged by the gods of antiquity and had not yet melted.

At last, Shen Mu saw the chains touch one of the suns, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

At that moment, he noticed that the Xizhou had already swallowed his waist. "Damn! Without a sun as a source of energy, the devouring is too fast!

" Shen Mu steadied himself, gritted his teeth, and used the four chains as his hands, gently touching the sun's surface, searching for the mechanism. His body was sinking into the ship inch by inch, past his waist.

Without a sun, using the Xizhou's power would inevitably bring backlash from the vessel — but the speed of that backlash exceeded Shen Mu's expectations!

"Not this array pattern.

.

. nor this one.

.

. " Even with the Nine Heavens activated in both eyes, he could not clearly see the array patterns on the sun's surface; he could only rely on the touch of the four chains to distinguish them.

The four chains, like four great dragons, moved slowly across the sun's surface.

His magic power overflowed from the chains, transforming into threads of vital energy that probed the sun's surface, discerning its textual structure. "Not this one either.

. . " His body had already been swallowed up to his neck, and Shen Mu still had not found the location of this sun's mechanism.

Cold sweat poured frantically from his forehead, but before the sweat could seep from his pores it was vaporized, turning into puffs of flame that drifted across his skin.

The Xizhou swallowed his neck. Shen Mu tilted his head back, keeping his mouth above the surface, and strained to command the Xizhou. The massive Xizhou moved slowly, its deck facing directly toward the Xiquan. Shen Mu stared fixedly at the Xiquan.

His body was still slowly sinking into the ship, submerging his mouth. His nostrils were about to be submerged as well!

At last, his eyes too sank into the Xizhou, and the bridge of his nose was slowly sinking. In the very instant his eyes were submerged by the Xizhou, he saw an eye among the many suns.