Chapter 438 — Like Returning Swallows

Shen Mu pressed down the unease in his heart and drew his gaze away from Granny Zhu — and there he saw Zai Fu, blades held across, standing upon a star of heaven. Zai Fu was of burly build, his two blades laid one against the other, and he too was utterly motionless.

Then he saw the Hermit of Qingyou, his whisk hooked over his elbow, sitting cross-legged in the lotus posture — and the place where he sat was likewise a star.

Next Shen Mu saw the Silent Artisan, who stood upon a star of flame among the Great Luo Heaven Stars. Shen Mu's heart convulsed violently, so that he nearly coughed up blood; with difficulty he shifted his gaze, and saw the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping.

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping sat upon the Zhen Cauldron, and beneath the Zhen Cauldron there was likewise a star of the Great Luo Heaven Stars.

Shen Mu moved his gaze from him and saw the Grey Immortal and the Fox Immortal; then he saw the others among the Great Luo Heaven Stars — the Lame Elder seated with the Alchemist upon one of the stars, the wounds on the Alchemist's body still bleeding.

The Blind Elder leaned on his bamboo staff, head bowed, a star beneath his feet as well.

And there too was Lord Huo, whose countenance was like a Buddha's; the Deaf Elder, a painter's brush dangling from his hand; the Winged King, gripping his Winged Saber; the Kun King, horns sprouting from the crown of his head. They also were within the Great Luo Heaven Stars that had burst forth from the palm of Granny Zhu, each of them standing upon a star. "Where is Sister Jing?

Why is she not here? " Shen Mu hurriedly looked all around, seeking some trace of Yan Jingjing. "Even the Sunlight Boat could not hold back the gods of High Heaven?

" Suddenly a brilliant light swept past, and Shen Mu saw a sun — a sun half blackened; as it revolved, its light shone toward them, but soon swung away in another direction.

The Sunlight Boat in the darkness was immeasurably vast; a mountain peak blocked its hull from view, though its radiance still faintly spilled from beyond the mountain.

Yet within the Sunlight Boat there was no movement at all, no aura to be sensed.

Shen Mu's heart sank with a jolt. Xue Hu'er said, "Young Master, I do not see the Yellow Immortal or Tu Xingfeng.

. .

" Shen Mu steadied himself and poured out his vision once more; two beams of divine light shot from his eyes, sweeping all around, and he saw behind Granny Zhu a deity of High Heaven standing in the air, fingers joined in a sword gesture, pointing at the back of Granny Zhu's skull.

But this deity too was fixed in the air, utterly motionless.

Then he saw another deity: the Lord of Flowers of High Heaven, a woman, beneath whose feet a riot of blossoms bloomed and spread across the sky, as though the flowers had grown out of heaven itself. She stood within one of the blossoms, upside down, as if walking upon the sky, attacking the force field of the Great Luo Heaven Stars.

Yet she too seemed stilled in the air, not stirring in the least.

Shen Mu then saw a third deity, above the Sunlight Boat: wings beating, talons outstretched, as though attacking someone aboard the vessel — yet he also was fixed in the air. Shen Mu looked farther off and saw other gods of High Heaven, each in a different posture, frozen all at once in the midst of battle; not one of them could still move. "Are they dead?

" Shen Mu tried to steady his mind, but could never steady it.

The scene was too eerie — everyone motionless where they stood, as if time itself had stopped. Yet if time here had truly stopped, why were Shen Mu and the others unaffected?

"My Lord, they should all still be alive. " The Flood Dragon King Deity said suddenly, "I can still sense their auras; their breathing remains long and deep.

Only a few have no breath left.

The strange thing is that none of their primordial spirits are within their bodies — it is as though, in the midst of battle, their primordial spirits were suddenly dragged out of them. . .

" Shen Mu was slightly startled.

"Dragged out of their bodies? " The Flood Dragon King Deity nodded and said, "There is no primordial spirit in any of these bodies. From the formation that Granny Zhu and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping have set up, I judge it to be a primordial-spirit formation: a divine ability that burst forth all at once, dragging the primordial spirits of everyone nearby out of their bodies by force.

My guess is that their losses were too heavy, and so they mean to fight with their primordial spirits.

" Shen Mu let out a breath, somewhat reassured. "So they are not dead, but fighting by means of their primordial spirits. . .

Flood Dragon King Deity, you have seen much and know much — do you know where their primordial spirits have gone? " The Flood Dragon King Deity said, "A primordial spirit travels with great speed — tens of thousands of li in an instant, ranging through the vastness of the void.

Their primordial spirits are surely not here; as for where they are, that is beyond my knowing. " Shen Mu was stunned; then his voice came out rough: "Which ones have no breath left?

" The Flood Dragon King Deity pointed to the Alchemist among the Great Luo Heaven Stars, then to the Lame Elder, then to the Deaf Elder, the Kun King, the Grey Immortal.

Shen Mu's heart sank lower and lower.

The Flood Dragon King Deity said softly, "A few of High Heaven's gods have lost their breath as well — their primordial spirits must have been defeated in battle. .

. " Shen Mu's face darkened. He rose and came aboard the Sunlight Boat, where he found everyone rigid in place, motionless.

Clearly, when Granny Zhu and the others unleashed their primordial-spirit formation, they had swept away the primordial spirits of everyone around — man and god alike — in a single wave!

"Young Master.

.

. " Xue Hu'er looked at Shen Mu's face, uneasy at heart, and said, "Young Master, they. .

. " "They will not die. " Shen Mu closed his eyes; suddenly he opened them again and said in a low, heavy voice, "Flood Dragon King Deity, you too take possession of me and lend me your power. With the power of god and demon alike I will cast the Soul-Pulling Invocation!

So long as their souls are not extinguished, I can summon them back!

" The Flood Dragon King Deity hesitated, then said, "Young Master, your mortal body may not be able to bear my power. I am not like these flood dragons — I am a deity, and they are not. When you borrow their power, your Divine Bridge Divine Treasury can still withstand it. But if you borrow mine — because the Divine Bridge is broken, the Divine Bridge Divine Treasury can never advance to the next realm; it will only be burst apart.

.

. " Shen Mu said decisively, "When I tell you to possess me, you possess me! " Helpless, the Flood Dragon King Deity set down the bodies of the Old Daoist Master, the Old Tathagata and the rest, and said, "My Lord, I will transform into a great dragon and lie along your spine to support your fleshly body, so that it is not burst apart.

But the Divine Treasury I cannot protect. If you cannot bear it, My Lord, only say the word and I will withdraw my power.

" "Possess me! " The Flood Dragon King Deity's form shrank rapidly, becoming a slender sapphire-blue flood dragon some dozen feet long; with a whisk it clung to Shen Mu's back, and the dragon god gradually faded, turning upon Shen Mu's back into a sapphire-blue flood-dragon mark, like a tattoo.

Shen Mu activated the Dragon-Riding Formula, and at once the power of all the flood dragons was lent to him.