Chapter 437 — A Cosmic Spectacle

He skirted the black line, and as his gaze shifted the line seemed to widen by degrees: it was a blade-light frozen in the air, one that had only cut space open, and space had caught it fast; yet the power of the divine art within the blade was held in reserve, so that space could not knit itself closed! "What a terrifying blade art! " The Flood Dragon King Deity could not help but shudder; such a blade could well be called a divine blade, a blade art that had reached the level of the Dao realm — nothing it did not shatter, terrifying beyond measure.

"Grandpa Tu's heavenly blade — the Butcher's Blade Art!

" Shen Mu could not help but marvel. He had learned the Butcher's Blade Art himself, yet had never been able to bring it to the Butcher's level.

The Butcher's blade was too wild; even one who learned it could hardly draw out its full power — only a madness like the Butcher's own could unleash it.

Next they came upon a sea of fire, so fiercely hot that it melted the mountain; even the darkness could not swallow that sea of flame.

"Grandpa Silent Craftsman's forge has been smashed!

" Shen Mu was startled. The sea of fire had come from the Silent Craftsman's furnace: the furnace had been shattered, and its fire had formed this burning sea. "Could Grandpa Silent Craftsman have met with disaster?

" They crossed the sea of fire, and suddenly Shen Mu saw the Old Tathagata. The Old Tathagata sat cross-legged, the twenty tiers of heaven about him, all Buddhas encircling him, and the gods of the twenty heavens, great and small, seated scattered in the air around him.

Beside him stood a deity of High Heaven. The two faced each other.

Shen Mu was dazed a moment, sighed, made a salute to the Old Tathagata, lifted him up, laid him upon the Flood Dragon King Deity, and walked on.

"Young Master, why does that white-browed monk not move at all, so that you must carry him?

" Xue Hu'er asked curiously, looking back. Shen Mu shook his head. "He perished together with that deity.

" Xue Hu'er was stunned.

Before long, Shen Mu saw the Old Daoist Lord.

This old Daoist held a sword sign with one hand and carried his sword on his back with the other, a figure of Daoist bone and immortal bearing; his head was raised toward the deity that leaned half its body out from the cliff ahead, and a smile hung upon his face.

Divine light shot from Shen Mu's eyes, and he saw that the deity's brow had been pierced by a sword — the wound was very fine, hard to notice.

He looked at the Old Daoist Lord: his body was in tatters, wounded everywhere, and the wounds no longer bled. Xue Hu'er asked, "Is the old Daoist still alive?

" Shen Mu shook his head, went up, and lifted the Old Daoist Lord in his arms, saying softly, "His blood has run dry.

That last sword of his must have been his primordial spirit turned into a blade, thrust into the deity's brow.

He made his primordial spirit the sword, and his primordial spirit became the Dao; when that sword was thrust, the power of the move burst forth, and his primordial spirit burst with it, and as the power of the move was spent, the primordial spirit scattered away.

" Those whose ways differ take no counsel together; though the way of the Nether Demon Sect differed from that of the Daoist gate, Shen Mu still held this Old Daoist Lord in deep respect.

Xue Hu'er grew solemn, straightened her clothes, and made a reverent salute to the Old Daoist Lord.

"A hero in his twilight years, his bold heart still fierce.

My respects!

" Seeing this, the flood dragons all rose on their hind legs and saluted the Old Daoist Lord with clasped claws.

"Maha!

" They went on, and saw a great serpent lying upon the ground: it was Liu Xian.

The stone statues from the other world grew fewer, yet the air of slaughter thickened, and Shen Mu's eye twitched, dreading to see the corpses of the Lame Old Man and Grandmother Zhu.

With effort he dragged up Liu Xian and laid her body too upon the Flood Dragon King Deity's back, and said bleakly, "The village head said someone must always come to gather the dead.

Senior Sister Liu Xian, I have come. Come home with me.

.

.

" They saw Bai Xian as well: his back was covered with silver quills, and upon the quills lay a ball of thread; in his hands he held up a tray, and on the tray were silver needles.

A great hole was torn in his chest, and a huge hand protruded from it — he must have just slain his foe, never expecting that the enemy's deathblow would take his life. All around was silent and still, rocks floating one after another in darkness and mist. As Shen Mu and the others walked here, the geomagnetic force beneath their feet seemed to vanish; this place had a strange field of force. Shen Mu raised his head and saw stars, one after another.

The Great Luotian Stars!

"Grandmother.

.

.

" His heart clenched despite himself. It was a starry sky formed by the Great Luotian Star palm force.

He saw Grandmother Zhu sitting motionless amid the stars; the incomparably beautiful woman had one palm extended, the Great Luotian Star palm force bursting from it, and she was as peerless as ever.