Chapter 471 — The Heavenly Grand Banquet

Shen Mu felt a chill of unease. If the True Heaven Mother was still hiding within the True Heaven Palace, then the enemy was concealed and they were exposed. Should she launch a surprise attack on them, who could possibly stop her?

Whether the Imperial Preceptor Jingping could withstand her, he did not know, but he was certain that he himself absolutely could not.

Even if the True Heaven Mother could not kill the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, she could certainly kill him.

"Who is the True Heaven Mother's real target—the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, or me?"

Shen Mu blinked. The Imperial Preceptor Jingping posed the greater threat. He had cultivated the Divine Bridge and destroyed Bagou and her false body. By all reasoning, her target should be the Imperial Preceptor Jingping.

And yet, in the Flame Desert, the True Heaven Mother's divine statues had repeatedly struck at Shen Mu; and in this conquest of the True Heaven Palace, Shen Mu's contributions were paramount. Compared with the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, the True Heaven Mother's hatred for Shen Mu must surely run deeper!

"No matter what, I must stay at the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's side and not leave him for even a step!" he resolved silently.

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping reached out and swept his hand. The many women on the wall slid involuntarily to one side, revealing the fourth mural.

The fourth mural recorded a battle—the battle between the True Heaven Mother and the Xizhou and Pozhou.

This war was one the True Heaven Mother had deliberately provoked. She had stormed into the Desolate Ruins, drawn out the Pozhou and Xizhou dwelling there, and retreated all the way toward the Flame Desert, where she finally destroyed the many Pozhou and Xizhou one after another.

The battle scene in the mural was exceedingly grand and magnificent. Colossal land-ships released the sun or the moon; the Sun Guardian and Moon Guardian stood upon enormous vessels, their physiques imposing, their features base and lewd—at a glance, villains of the most vicious sort.

Yet it was not only the True Heaven Mother who took part in the battle; there were also certain deities of the heavens. In the mural, however, these deities were painted very small, while the True Heaven Mother was heroic and divine, radiant with ten thousand beams, possessed of a bearing that seemed to hold up the very sky. Before her, the other deities were no more than infants!

"Is the True Heaven Mother really that powerful?" Shen Mu could not help but wonder.

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "Let me tell you a story, and you will know whether the True Heaven Mother is strong or not. One day, the emperor took me and his ministers on a hunting expedition. When the catch was gathered, the emperor ordered the palace painter to make a painting. The painter drew the emperor this large."

He spread both hands in an empty gesture, then spread two fingers apart to indicate his own figure in the painting, and said, "And I, this small. The emperor towered to the heavens, while I and the ministers were all tiny—and among them, I was the smallest. Moreover, when he painted me, the painter made me base and vicious, wearing an expression of sinister cunning. The emperor was displeased and ordered the painter to paint again, but when the painter painted again, it was the same. So the emperor stripped him of his post and sent him packing home."

Shen Mu understood his meaning and laughed. "Whoever painted this mural was flattering the True Heaven Mother. She may not be stronger than you—otherwise she would not have used a false body to launch a sneak attack on you."

"The True Heaven Mother's power is probably very great, but her combat strength has a considerable flaw. Her dharma power is exceedingly strong, but her arts follow the same path of all things having spirits and all things having gods. If she does not show herself, I can do nothing against her; if she shows herself, she dies."

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping possessed a fierce self-assurance. Abruptly shifting the subject, as if to remind Shen Mu, he said, "There are such flatterers around the emperor—and are there not such people around others with a measure of power? But having such people is not frightening; what is frightening is when they harbor other intentions. That he painted me and the ministers all very small is not worth reproach, but he should not have painted me sinister and cunning—therein lies his loathing. He wished to use the opportunity of flattery to influence the emperor's perception of me, to make the emperor believe I was sinister and cunning, and by this means to eliminate me and halt the reform. Flattery and hidden arrows placed together—impossible to guard against."

He looked at Shen Mu, half smiling, half not, and said, "The Cult Leader holds high position and heavy authority—your power is so great that at times even the emperor cannot match you. You need to be wary of those around you who conceal arrows in their farts."

Shen Mu was caught between laughter and tears. Arrows concealed in farts—the Imperial Preceptor Jingping was both refined and vulgar.

When refined, he could converse grandly with Kuisou and Zaifu; when vulgar, he could utter even such a phrase as arrows concealed in farts.

Still, in life one easily encountered such people—flattering those above while slandering their rivals, harboring unfathomable designs. The Imperial Preceptor Jingping's reminder was quite right.

"On the mural there is the True Heaven Mother, and there are other deities as well. Where do these deities come from?"

Shen Mu examined the mural, scrutinizing the figures of the other deities and distinguishing their features, and suddenly recognized one. He said, "The Jade Lord is among them! Could they be deities of the Heavens Above? No—not entirely deities of the Heavens Above!"

He recognized another face!

From his Taotie Pouch he took out a scroll, unrolled it gently, and repeatedly compared it with a deity in the painting.

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping leaned in and was slightly startled. "Is this not the Soul-Worship Diagram drawn by the Cult Leader?"

"It is this diagram."

Shen Mu looked up at the mural and said, "Bangongcuo's soul-worship power was exceedingly strange. When he worshipped souls, a phantom of a godfiend appeared behind him, and it was according to that phantom that I drew this diagram. Imperial Preceptor Jingping, please look—is this deity somewhat similar to the godfiend in my painting?"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping studied it for a few moments and nodded.

Shen Mu's face showed perplexity. He pondered, "That godfiend behind Bangongcuo once appeared in this world. Like the True Heaven Mother—one founded the True Heaven Palace, the other founded the Loulan Golden Palace. Then, is he still in this world? If he is still here..."

He felt a chill of horror.

Bangongcuo's power—whoever he worshipped died. If this deity were to employ it, then who could withstand a single worship from him?

"The murals here only record the history of the True Heaven Mother. They do not contain what I seek."

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping shook his head and walked out of the hall, saying, "If the True Heaven Palace truly is a part of the Heavenly Palace, then the murals here should record a more ancient history, not the history of the True Heaven Palace! Here, there must be murals that record the Heavenly Palace!"

Shen Mu followed him out. Only then did the Yu family women on the wall fall down and regain the ability to move.

Outside, the battle continued, utterly chaotic. It was likely that the great families were contending for the Vermilion Bird Pearl, tripping each other up and resorting to underhanded tricks.

The Vermilion Bird Pearl's power was immense, not inferior to the Blue Mystery Water Dragon Pearl. It was one of the four great spirit treasures of the True Heaven Palace, so naturally it would provoke a struggle.