Chapter 415 — The World Is Shocked

"By my estimation, it will not be long before the gods of the Heavens Above receive word and come to Jingping to unleash disaster."

The Imperial Preceptor said gravely, "This calamity will surely be no less than the snow disaster of last time. It could be an earthquake, a volcano, a tornado, a great flood, or it could be snow, or drought. So long as it can kill tens of millions, hundreds of millions of common people, any of them is possible!"

Emperor Yanfeng's voice was hoarse as he rasped, "You mean..."

"Annihilate the Heavens Above."

The Imperial Preceptor said calmly, "We must annihilate the gods of the Heavens Above and prevent them from unleashing disaster. If my guess is right, the god-demons responsible for unleashing disaster upon this world are the Heavens Above. Remove the Heavens Above, and the stone statues across the land cannot become god-demons, and the common people will be spared death. We must strike first and eradicate every god in the Heavens Above at once!"

Emperor Yanfeng felt his head splitting with pain. He pressed his forehead and said through clenched teeth, "The Heavens Above are in the Western Lands. Who knows how many god-demons reside there. How could we possibly have the strength to annihilate them? If we could wait a few more years, until many experts fill in the Divine Bridge and attain the divine realm..."

The Imperial Preceptor's face was calm. "Your Majesty, they will not give you that time. If I am not mistaken, the treasures mentioned in these memorials are celestial phenomenon weapons!"

Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu shuddered.

Celestial phenomenon weapons were a concept proposed by Shen Mu: using celestial phenomena as weapons, such as rain, snow, wind, hail, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes. These phenomena were collected into gourds. In ordinary times, celestial phenomenon weapons were used to bring favorable weather.

If attacking an enemy nation, celestial phenomenon weapons could even be deployed to annihilate enemy armies.

Last time the Imperial Preceptor attacked the steppe, Banggong Cuo ordered the great shamans to spread poison everywhere, saturating the steppe with shamanic venom. The Imperial Preceptor, both to eliminate the venom and to save the steppe's herdsmen, deployed celestial phenomenon weapons and made it rain for ten days, diluting, washing away, and flushing out the venom.

But at the time, many steppe herdsmen had also drowned in the rainwater and mountain floods. Many had died. For this, the Imperial Preceptor had been impeached and attacked by the purists, landing himself in no small trouble.

If the Imperial Preceptor's guess was right, and the god-demon treasures unearthed this time were all celestial phenomenon weapons, then once the gods of the Heavens Above arrived, they need only activate the power of these treasures to unleash all manner of celestial phenomena and kill countless common people of Jingping!

With so many dead, those stone statues would receive abundant blood sacrifice, allowing the power of the god-demons to pour in like a long river, the statues transforming into god-demons, slaughtering without restraint, annihilating this world!

"I shall issue orders at once, commanding that these stone statues and treasures be heavily guarded. They must not fall into the hands of the Heavens Above!"

Cold sweat broke out on Emperor Yanfeng's forehead. He paced back and forth, his voice hoarse: "They absolutely must not find them... Why do they do this? Can they not allow the countless living beings of the world to live a little better, a little more peacefully? I do not understand!"

"The reformation of the Dharma touches the interests of the god-demons. To reform the Dharma is to change the Dao. When the Dao changes, if the god-demons cannot adapt, they will not be tolerated by the Dao."

The Imperial Preceptor said, "There must be deeper reasons still, but we have too little information to analyze the truth. Your Majesty, I need the Human Emperor to step forward in person."

Emperor Yanfeng looked at him.

The Imperial Preceptor gazed into the distance and murmured, "Only if the Human Emperor steps forward in person can all the holy lands and all the powerful experts obey the call and annihilate the Heavens Above! Only the Human Emperor, revered by all sects and schools, can make them follow with utter devotion!"

Ling Yuxiu's mind went blank. The Human Emperor of this generation—was that not Shen Mu?

The Human Emperor's Seal—was that not in Shen Mu's hands?

If so, did that not mean Shen Mu must also go to attack the Heavens Above?

"I will go see the Human Emperor!" The Imperial Preceptor rose and departed.

And at that very moment, in the mountain villa, Shen Mu was accompanying Si Yunxiang in cultivating her primordial spirit. The two of them roamed the world in spirit form, and when they arrived at a certain place, they suddenly saw mountains crumble and the earth split. A graceful peak, somewhere unknown, was suddenly rent apart from within, and a massive stone statue rose slowly from the mountain.

"What is happening? Is this the Desolate Ruins?"

The two were astonished. Then they caught the scent of incense, and their hearts jolted: "We just lit the Soul-Guiding Incense and came out to play. It cannot possibly have burned out so quickly. Someone must have blown the Soul-Guiding Incense all the way down in one breath!"

Their primordial spirits were swiftly recalled by the Soul-Guiding Incense, returning to their bodies. Shen Mu opened his eyes and saw the village head, the butcher, the silent craftsman, and the others all present—even Old Master Huo had come!