Chapter 420 — A Great Terror

A fearsome light kindled in his eyes. He walked out of the hall, raised his head to the sky, and murmured: "These formation structures are very likely the pathways by which the vital essence of those gods and demons circulates. The formation within every star in the heavens may well be a complete god-and-demon cultivation art! A treasure house beyond measure lies hidden in the sky — a pity we cannot go up and see it for ourselves..."

Shen Mu's heart pounded. One star, standing for a cultivation art of the god-and-demon level?

How many suns and moons, stars and constellations, lodges and dippers are there in the heavens?

Did that not mean the Heavenly Chart held tens of thousands of god-and-demon cultivation arts?

The three great holy lands — the Dao Sect, the Great Thunderclap Temple, and the Tiansheng Cult — had supreme arts hailed as the means to become gods, Buddhas, and demons. That they stood unshaken to this day showed that these three supreme arts were no small thing.

And yet in the heavens there were tens of thousands of arts no lesser than those three supreme arts. The very thought set the blood racing!

Yet after the thrill came dread and horror.

Great dread, great horror.

"I hope this sky will never be dyed red with blood. Otherwise..."

A shudder ran through his very bones. When the sky over the kingdom of Jingping was dyed red with blood, the sun, moon, and stars above would become terrible gods and demons descending from the heavens!

It was a scene out of the end of days!

Suddenly Shen Mu felt something and looked east. There, a vast turtle-shell ship was striding swiftly through mountains and rivers, a giant turtle like a ship, Tengshe serpents beating their wings, a great banner streaming.

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping sensed it too, and came to stand beside him, looking east. A great flood rose like a monstrous wave, and upon the crest stood a bare-chested giant of a man holding a golden horned spear.

In the air, a woman with a pair of wings sprouting from her back flew on beating pinions, and with each beat of her wings wind and thunder rolled, lightning crackling.

"They have come. They have truly come..."

The Village Head floated up, his face alight with emotion. "I have grown old, but they have not — they are still alive..."

The turtle-shell ship came to a halt outside the estate, and one after another the Xuanwu clansmen, turtle-backed and serpent-coiled, leaped down from it.

Tengshe serpents danced about the vast turtle-shell ship, and then the prow shuddered and a huge dragon head thrust forth, fire and thick smoke billowing from its nostrils and mouth, its eyes rolling this way and that. It cried aloud: "Xuan Shengwu of the Xuanwu clan, come to see the Human Emperor!"

The wave beneath the burly man who rode the flood fell swiftly away, and with a great splash he landed before the estate gate, the waters vanishing behind him: "The Kun King of the Kun clan, come to see the Human Emperor!"

The woman in the air folded her wings, wind and thunder all hidden beneath her pinions, and alighted on the ground: "The Wing King of the Wing clan, come at your invitation!"

Shen Mu hastily brought out the Human Emperor's Seal and held it up in his palm as he stepped forward to greet them. "Lords, you have come from far away, and my gratitude is beyond words. Please, enter the estate and let us talk."

The Kun King, the Wing King, and Xuan Shengwu were astonished. The Xuanwu turtle-shell ship suddenly trembled and shrank smaller and smaller, becoming a stalwart man with a turtle's back and serpents coiled about him, who said in a low voice: "The Human Emperor grows younger the longer he lives. He used to be a middle-aged man..."

The Kun King said: "Brother Shengwu, that Human Emperor you speak of has most likely died. The human race is not like us; they cannot live so long."

Xuan Shengwu breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. "Good that he died, good that he died. That fellow was always making trouble over nothing, forever railing at the world, dragging us off to do this and that — a thorough nuisance."

The Village Head had meant to float out and greet old acquaintances, but at these words he froze and said nothing, sulking.

Suddenly a voice came from underground, crying: "Tuxing, chief of the Earthwalking God-clan... Ow!"

The earth shook, and a tousled head popped up before the estate gate, a great bloody lump swelling on it, the face furious: "Which heartless wretch refined even the stones so hard?"