Chapter 492 — A Page in the Annals of History

Shen Mu carried the chest and followed Bai Qingfu, Bai Qü'er, and the others to the manor in Bailong City. He kept turning Ban Gongcuo's words over in his mind, his heart uneasy.

Though Ban Gongcuo was his sworn enemy, he was, after all, an old monster who had lived for ten thousand years, broad in experience and knowledge, and there was some truth to his words. The era they found themselves in was at least thirty or forty thousand years in the past, the late Shanghuang Era.

The Shanghuang Era was already tottering, a great edifice on the verge of collapse. For some unknown reason they had ridden Xing'an's chest to this place. If they changed something that had happened in history in this era, would that not mean history would be rewritten? If history were rewritten, would the Kaihuang Era still exist? Would Jingping still exist?

Most crucially, would they still exist?

Any change as slight as a single hair could bring earth-shaking transformations to the "later ages"!

"Brother Shen, Brother Ban, you need not worry. Beiluo Shimen guards the Heavenly Court, and its strength is exceedingly great.

The Heavenly Court's power is also terrifying beyond measure, and the Shanghuang himself presides over it. Nothing will go wrong. " Bai Qingfu invited them to take their seats.

The surroundings were brightly lit, with Xuan-water dragon pearls suspended in the air, illuminating the place as if it were broad daylight. Seeing that his complexion was somewhat poor, Bai Qingfu guessed he was worried about the safety of the front lines and consoled him: "Beiluo Shimen has fought this kind of war many times; it will not reach us here.

The outer-realm demons may have formidable origins, but our Bailong City is not to be trifled with either, and Beiluo Shimen is even stronger—one of the Heavenly Court's four great garrison strongholds. " Shen Mu recalled the corpses of the Beiluo Shimen gods and demons he had encountered in the golden desert, and his unease deepened. Those Beiluo Shimen gods and demons had been defeated and slain while protecting the ancestral land. Who was to say that battle was not this very great war of Beiluo Shimen now unfolding? "Perhaps we are within history itself, and whatever we do is the inevitability of history.

" Shen Mu suddenly thought: "Or perhaps I am now within the strangeness of the Wilderness Ruins. I have experienced the afterglow of history before—so could all that lies before my eyes be the afterglow of time and space? The Venerable One's teleportation divine ability could not possibly be so powerful as to send us back tens of thousands of years.

Perhaps this is merely the afterglow of time and space formed by the Wilderness Ruins' strangeness, time and space reflecting the future back upon us.

When dawn comes, all of this will vanish.

Whatever we have done will not change the established history. " At this thought, he felt somewhat at ease, set down the burden in his heart, and chatted and laughed freely with Bai Qingfu and his sister, exchanging insights on swordsmanship. The brother and sister were astonished beyond measure. Bai Qingfu blurted out: "After the fourteen basic sword forms, there are actually four more basic sword forms? Who created this swordsmanship? To possess such talent? " Shen Mu pondered for a moment, then told the truth: "The one who created Sword Form Fifteen, Sword Form Sixteen, and Sword Form Seventeen was a sage who appears once in five hundred years.

His talent is so transcendent that even I cannot help but admire him. " "A sage who appears once in five hundred years?

" Bai Qü'er asked doubtfully: "Brother Mu, is there some allusion behind the phrase 'a sage who appears once in five hundred years'? " Shen Mu did not know much about it either, and said with a smile: "I have heard that in this world, every five hundred years a prodigy of overflowing natural talent emerges, establishing a teaching, establishing words, and establishing merit—the three establishments making one a sage. Hence they are called a sage who appears once in five hundred years.

As for where this saying originated, I do not know. " "I see. " The brother and sister understood.

Bai Qingfu's wife said with a smile: "Our Bailong City is a small city, without rank among the divine cities, so we did not know there was such a saying.

Brother Shen must be from some great place, knowing so very much. " Bai Qü'er was uneasy at heart and said in a low voice: "Sister-in-law, might he disdain me for being from a small place?

" Bai Qingfu's wife laughed softly: "Bailong City may be a small place, but you are the little princess of the Bai family, and your status is high enough. Do not worry. Besides, mutual affection matters more than any matching of family status. " Only then did Bai Qü'er feel reassured.

Bai Qingfu asked curiously: "Brother Shen just said the previous three sword forms were created by a sage.

Then who created this Sword Form Eighteen? " Shen Mu's face reddened slightly: "Sword Form Eighteen—I created it by accident. " Everyone was greatly shaken.

Even Ban Gongcuo, whose face was ashen, was astonished beyond measure, feeling both envy and admiration in his heart: "This Shen fellow is truly formidable, able to create basic sword forms and alter the dao and laws of heaven and earth.

. . We are dead, dead for certain.

This brash boy, passing the swordsmanship of later ages to those of earlier times, changing history—we will all vanish.

. .

" Shen Mu chatted and laughed freely with everyone, then brought out the True Dragon's Nest and invited Bai Qingfu and Bai Qü'er to enter it, asking the brother and sister to help him decipher the writing and diagrams upon it.

Though he had already deciphered much of the dragon-clan writing on the True Dragon's Nest, there were still many dragon characters he could not solve. Bai Qingfu and his sister were of the dragon clan, and Bai Qingfu had used true-dragon divine abilities when crossing blows with him—clearly the bloodline of these two siblings was exceedingly high. "This is the dragon vein of the True Dragon Lord? " The brother and sister entered the True Dragon's Nest, greatly shocked at heart. Bai Qingfu said: "What a pity.

This True Dragon Lord has already been refined into a treasure by someone. Otherwise, by drawing upon the power of other dragon veins, it would have become a True Dragon King!

The True Dragon Lord has also been refined into a jade pendant—truly a pity. " Bai Qü'er also lamented it repeatedly: "The Dragon Ancestor of the Heavenly Court was born from the dragon vein of a True Dragon Lord. His strength is exceedingly formidable; he is one of the few giants of the Heavenly Court, his power so great that few in the world can match him. Even the Shanghuang treats him with a measure of respect.

.

. " This was not a treasure Shen Mu could have refined, and Bai Qingfu and Bai Qü'er did not think much of it. The brother and sister helped him sort through the writing in the dragon vein. Bai Qingfu was inexplicably elated: "Brother Shen, we siblings have also gained benefits from you.

In fact, it is our Bai family that has taken great advantage of you! We learned your swordsmanship, and from your True Dragon's Nest we learned the dragon tongue of the True Dragon Lord. For you, learning the dragon tongue brings little improvement, but for us, the gains are extraordinary!

" He spoke the truth.

Shen Mu was not of the dragon clan, after all, and cultivating the True Dragon Lord's techniques could not be as fast or as refined for him as for the dragon clan. By inviting them into the True Dragon's Nest to decipher the dragon tongue upon it, the benefits they gained even exceeded Shen Mu's. Bai Qü'er was also elated, thinking excitedly: "If he offered the dragon tongue of the True Dragon's Nest as a betrothal gift, Father would surely be overjoyed and betroth me to him. I just do not know whether he is already married. . .