Chapter 651 — Ruthless Means

Chixi, after all, possessed profound cultivation; he at once tried to resist being assimilated by the Wheel of Creation, but his consciousness swiftly grew dim, and he could no longer call upon his vital essence. The three-headed, six-armed body of the Crimson Bright era, renowned as the mightiest battle-flesh, had scarcely any strength to resist this power of creation; soon he had become a great fish with three heads and six fins, flopping and bounding to and fro upon the ground.

At this moment in the garden, apart from Shen Mu at the very center of the Wheel of Creation, only the Primordial Human Emperor remained untwisted by the power of creation, still able to keep his own awareness. The garden was everywhere filled with great fish, sea trees, octopuses, sea anemones, sea beasts, jellyfish, and sea serpents, reducing the whole place to chaos. Fortunately, before testing the Wheel of Creation, Shen Mu had already ordered high walls built all around to block its radiance, and so the Wheel had not affected anyone outside.

"Human Emperor Shen, that is enough! " The Primordial Human Emperor hurriedly called out in a loud voice, "The power of this treasure is no small matter.

There is no need to test it further. Be careful lest you inflict irreparable damage upon their primordial spirits!

" Within the wheel, Shen Mu ceased channeling the Wheel of Creation, and one ring after another stopped turning. The fish scales and gills upon the Primordial Human Emperor gradually vanished, while the others in the garden still bounced about all over the ground, not yet restored to their true forms.

Shen Mu waited a while, but these people still could not revert to their original shapes.

He mused, "This is a kind of seal. Once cast upon them, it seals both body and primordial spirit, and they cannot undo it themselves…

" He took out paper and brush and wrote down his thoughts.

The Primordial Human Emperor could not help but urge, "Hurry and release them. If it drags on too long, their soul and primordial spirit will be assimilated!

" Shen Mu put away the paper and brush and set the Wheel of Creation turning forward. One unsealing rune after another, as the rings revolved, shone out in every direction, undoing the various seals of creation within the bodies of the crowd.

Boom, boom, boom—a series of bursting reports rang out.

The bodies of the crowd shifted, and soon each was restored as before; even Emperor Yanfeng watched this weighty treasure with a face full of dread. Regret filled the god-man Chixi; his heart twisted and bled, and his expression shifted like weather as he gazed at the Wheel of Creation.

He badly wanted to demand it back, but he also knew that Shen Mu's aim from the very start had likely been this Wheel of Creation, and not the hundreds of thousands of other divine weapons on the list! Shen Mu would absolutely never return the Wheel of Creation to him—not even if he brought out the Crimson Bright Heaven-Suppressing Tower in trade!

The value of this Wheel of Creation far exceeded that of the Crimson Bright Heaven-Suppressing Tower! "A veteran old thief, truly a veteran old thief…

" A veteran old thief has a pair of incomparably ruthless eyes, able to tell what is a treasure; even if you yourself do not know what treasures lie in your house, he can dig them out and then buy them at an absurdly low price, or simply steal them outright. Such an old thief often possesses a reverse turn of mind that others lack, keenly perceiving what others fail to notice. A pearl lies under dust, and the old thief can make it shine with pearl luster once more.

In Chixi's eyes, Shen Mu was plainly just such a veteran old thief!

He himself had failed to see the Wheel of Creation's greatest function, treating it merely as a key for unsealing, but Shen Mu had thought in reverse and treated the Wheel of Creation as a lock!

In truth, Shen Mu was not much different from any ordinary youth: fond of play, prone to mischief.

The greatest difference perhaps was that his village had an old thief who never came away empty-handed. The Lame Old Man had seen every sort of treasure, and his thinking was unlike others'; he could often conceive what no one else could. Shen Mu had been taught by him since childhood, so naturally he seemed like a veteran old thief.

After the earlier testing of the treasure, everyone was covered in filth and went off to change their clothes. Before long, Emperor Yanfeng returned and said with a smile, "Is Master Chixi planning to return to the Hovering Realm? It would be proper for Us to send envoys to accompany you.

Master, please wait a moment.

" Chixi nodded, his gaze flickering. "Your Majesty, this outer subject wishes to exchange the Crimson Bright Heaven-Suppressing Tower for the Wheel of Creation.

May I ask whether that is permissible? " Emperor Yanfeng laughed heartily.

"The weather today is fine indeed… Dear Subject Shen, you have turned Our imperial garden into a shambles.

We shall have your head! " Ban Gongcuo looked expectant, but Emperor Yanfeng was smiling; clearly he was only joking, and in high spirits. Ban Gongcuo was disappointed.

Chixi glanced at Shen Mu and said, "This outer subject believes young friend Shen to be clever and quick, and that he might accompany us to the Hovering Realm.

" Something stirred in Emperor Yanfeng's heart, and he looked toward Shen Mu. Shen Mu hastily shook his head.

"Beat me to death and I still won't go; if I go, I'll be beaten to death.

" Emperor Yanfeng said with a smile, "To go to the Hovering Realm, one does indeed need an envoy who can hold the situation steady. If the Jingping Imperial Preceptor were here, We might send him.

Unfortunately, he must preside over the war in Taihuang Heaven and cannot easily free himself. Apart from the Imperial Preceptor, the only one who can keep Jingping's character unblemished is Dear Subject Shen—even We fall short of him.

" A wave of pleasure swept through Shen Mu's heart. He said with a smile, "Not going. " A young eunuch beside them held paper and brush and presented a small booklet. Emperor Yanfeng took up the brush, moistened the ink, made a stroke in the booklet, and said, "Even when We flatter you, you still won't go? " "What is Your Majesty writing?

" Shen Mu leaned in and saw that the booklet was filled with many names, most of them court ministers, among them his own.

After the names came six or seven tally marks, with one tally only four strokes complete. On this page, his name bore the most tally marks of all.

Emperor Yanfeng hastily covered the booklet, but Shen Mu, with his deft empty hands, stole it away and flipped through it.

The booklet had more than a dozen pages, and the one with the most tally marks was not him but Her Majesty the Empress, whose name bore several dozen. Emperor Yanfeng hurriedly snatched it back and said in anger, "Stealing Our property—We shall have your head! " So saying, he added another stroke after Shen Mu's name.

Shen Mu suddenly understood.

He stole a glance at the Empress beside them and thought, "They must quarrel often, so His Majesty has already beheaded the Empress several hundred times. She probably does not know of this; if she did, the Emperor's inner palace would know no peace. " Emperor Yanfeng carefully put the booklet away and said to Chixi, "Dear Subject Shen is Our right arm; he cannot lightly leave the court.

May I ask how long this journey to the Hovering Realm will take, Master? If it takes too long, We cannot bear to let Dear Subject Shen go.

" Chixi said with a smile, "Rest assured, Your Majesty. This outer subject originally led his clansmen, steering a star as we drifted through the cosmos, not knowing where our ancestral land lay, and so it took several thousand years to find it. This time, if I bring only young friend Shen, a round trip will take a year at most.