Chapter 439 — Dying in Another's Stead

Their bodies were still very weak, their primordial spirits still somewhat unstable; the Alchemist examined them and said, "The soul-gnawing worms gnaw within the soul on one side and within the mortal body on the other. Only when your bodies are nursed back to health and revive can you be wholly brought back to life.

The herbs I carry are nearly used up; I lack sufficient elixirs. . . " Shen Mu said hurriedly, "On the Sunlight Boat there is a Pool of Pure Yang that can swiftly restore one's vitality. " "Then it will be much easier!

" The Alchemist breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We shall go at once and soak in the Pool of Pure Yang, and nurse these mortal bodies well as quickly as may be.

Those substitute worms cannot fool the underworld courier for long.

" The others hurried to the Sunlight Boat. Shen Mu, knowing the way well, led them to the Pool of Pure Yang; they soaked within it, and the functions of their bodies gradually recovered — though the water in the pool likewise dwindled.

Seeing that their lives were no longer in danger, Shen Mu said hurriedly, "Sirs, where did your primordial spirits go? " The Grey Immortal let out a breath and said, "In the great battle then, the Sun Guardian sailed his boat in to support us.

But the gods of High Heaven were truly formidable — all manner of divine arts and dharma, treasures of the gods, immense in power.

Our Eldest Sister and Second Brother fell one after another in battle, and the Sun Guardian was slain even aboard his own boat; death was upon us all. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping roused the Zhen Cauldron, meaning to drag them down with him and wound the gods — but a strange thing happened. . . " Shen Mu showed bewilderment, then suddenly understood, and cried out, "The Zhen Cauldron blasted a hole through the barrier between another world and Jingping?

" "No. " The Lame Elder shook his head and said, "The power of the Zhen Cauldron was absorbed by the God-Severing Mountains.

" Shen Mu was dumbstruck.

The Lame Elder went on: "When I saw that scoundrel the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping bring out the Zhen Cauldron, I knew things were bad, and I hoisted the Alchemist on my back and fled for my life, so I was farther off.

Deaf Elder, you were closer then — you tell him.

" The Deaf Elder pulled out his two iron ears, washed them in the Pool of Pure Yang, and plugged them back into his ear holes, then said, "When the Zhen Cauldron's might erupted, I too knew it was bad, and I made a painting at once, meaning to hide in the world within the painting and escape that calamity. But the power of the Zhen Cauldron was so terrible that I had no time to flee at all; the worlds within my paintings were annihilated one after another. Just then, an unimaginable force suddenly came from the God-Severing Mountains and absorbed the Zhen Cauldron's power.

Then the sky and the earth were both blasted open into a great hole, and on the other side of that hole appeared another world. " At that time they were in the midst of bitter fighting; the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's desperate strike frightened them all out of their wits — yet the upheaval in the God-Severing Mountains let them all escape that calamity. They had no time to examine the other world before they were plunged into bitter fighting again. Lord Hua and Lord Yanxing were too strong, with none to match them; Lord Hua went to attack the Sunlight Boat, meaning to kill Yan Jingjing, and the situation was desperate. Granny Zhu saw that things were ill, gathered them all, and laid out the Great Luo Heaven Star formation, forcing the Great Luo Heaven Star Grand Formation into motion and pulling all their primordial spirits out of their bodies in one sweep, meaning to do battle as pure spirits. "And then we entered a strange world. " The Deaf Elder stared blankly and said, "Beneath the God-Severing Mountains there is a strange world — it should be, it should be.

. .

" The Kun King, a man of wide experience, said, "The inner world of a divine-and-demonic great artifact! " The Deaf Elder nodded and said, "In that place we were all trapped, yet still we fought on without cease, and in the end several of us were struck down. After we died, we sensed a strange power invading that world, and then we saw a bird-headed deity come flying on beating wings, who led us to Fengdu, saying we were to meet an old acquaintance.

We had only just seen the Village Head when Shen'er pulled us back. " "The Village Head is in Fengdu?

" Shen Mu was astonished; then a pang struck his heart, and he clenched his fists: "Village Head, I will surely go to Fengdu and rescue you!

" What was more astonishing still was that some nameless power beneath the God-Severing Mountains had blocked the Zhen Cauldron's might — and moreover had drawn their primordial spirits into itself. What on earth was this great artifact?

Why was it buried here?

Who had made it, and who had buried it? "By that reckoning, what the demon-god stone statues of the alien realm are searching for must be that great artifact! Granny Zhu and the others, and the primordial spirits of the gods of High Heaven, are still within it! " He had scarce thought this when the earth suddenly quaked, rocks flew up in the distance, and a stone statue, spinning, broke through the earth and rose slowly — the demon-god stone statue of the alien realm had searched its way here from beneath the ground. At the same moment, tremors came from the darkness.

Shen Mu peered intently and saw, in the mist, stone statues walking toward them, one after another.

"They have found that great artifact! " Shen Mu's face changed drastically.