Chapter 652 — The Celestial Palace of Xuandu

Ling Yuxiu ran out from the cabin of the tower ship. She too had noticed that something was amiss with the vessel, and said in a low voice, "Oxherd, this ship's keel—it is a true dragon's keel!"

Shen Mu was taken aback. He followed her into the cabin, and saw that the keel was the enormous skeleton of a divine dragon; when the ship took flight, that keel swayed from side to side like a serpent.

Nor was that all: great ribs, one after another, made up the main body of the ship.

He touched the hull lightly, and it felt warm and smooth against his fingers. The ship's sheathing, too, was the hide of gods and demons!

"To forge a ship from the flesh and blood of gods and demons, to forge treasures from their skulls—the Crimson Bright era was savage indeed."

Shen Mu and Ling Yuxiu shivered again and again. The tower ship had already set out, flying toward the Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridge. Shen Mu came up onto the deck, where Ban Gongcuo was studying the planking. Shen Mu examined it closely in turn, then raised his head to look at Ban Gongcuo, who was looking back at him; the two were of one mind, and said in unison, "Bone plating and hide!"

The deck of the entire tower ship was forged from bone plating and hide. How many gods and demons must have been slain to forge a vessel such as this?

"Master Chixi, the gods and demons of your Crimson Bright era conducted themselves with far too much tyranny and terror."

The Primordial Human Emperor was studying the ship's towers and halls. He shook his head. "To forge a ship like this, I fear several thousand gods and demons had to be killed."

Chixi laughed. "Your Kaihuang era lasted only twenty thousand years, did it not?"

The Primordial Human Emperor was briefly startled, then nodded. "Less than twenty thousand years."

Chixi said, "Less than twenty thousand years, and you have no notion of what the Crimson Bright era endured. Gods and demons have no limit to their lifespan; twenty thousand years is time enough to birth millions of them. These gods and demons neither age nor die, so the older a dynasty, the more gods and demons it holds. Yet the Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty had a history of a hundred thousand years, and its gods and demons grew so numerous that even heaven and earth could scarcely bear them. The cosmic territory your Kaihuang era ruled never came close to the Crimson Bright era's; your domain was two or three times smaller than the Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty's. But even so vast a domain could not nourish so many gods and demons. Some latecomers had no room to rise, and so they rebelled; they stirred up chaos. And chaos..."

His face was calm, but his voice carried boundless killing intent: "Naturally, we killed them! Heh heh. Kill a few thousand gods and demons to forge a treasure—and so precious a treasure at that—of course it was worth the price."

The Primordial Human Emperor frowned. "That wounds the harmony of Heaven."

"Wounds the harmony of Heaven? Your Kaihuang era was annihilated; who knows how many died. Did that not wound the harmony of Heaven?"

Chixi sneered. "Take the Taotie Pouch you carry, for instance—was it not a treasure forged by killing Taotie beasts?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "Both of my Taotie Pouches were forged by the Great Venerable and given to me by him."

Ban Gongcuo's face turned ashen.

Chixi said, "Killing gods and demons to forge treasures has happened in every age. Our Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty was destroyed three hundred and fifty thousand years ago; after that came the Shanghuang era. The Shanghuang era lasted three hundred thousand years—the longest era in all history, and the most flourishing. The reason we remnants of the Crimson Bright Divine Dynasty hid away in the Suspended Realm so long without ever coming to seek the ancestral land was chiefly that we feared being seized by the Shanghuang Heavenly Court and forged into treasures!"

Shen Mu thought back to his inexplicable crossing between worlds. Bai Qu'er and her brother did not seem like people who would kill and forge treasures; yet from what he had encountered in the Qushan Shrine, the Qushan God must also have slain a Taotie divine beast to forge treasures and a palace.

Something stirred in his heart. He took the Taiyin Jade Eye and the Taiyang Jade Eye from his Taotie Pouch and said, "Senior Chixi, these two treasures must surely be relics of the Shanghuang era?"

Chixi glanced at them. "They should be. If they truly are treasures of the Shanghuang era, then these two eyes are not made of jade at all, but are the eyes of true gods and demons—the eyeballs of a Taotie, most likely."

Shen Mu was startled; yet when he touched the jade eyes, they felt unmistakably like jade, and showed no trace of flesh and blood. "Could the Shanghuang era have been as ferocious as the Crimson Bright era? But judging by how Bai Qu'er and the others conduct themselves, there was nothing ferocious about them at all. Then how did the Shanghuang era solve the problem of too many gods and demons?"

The tower ship passed through the Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridge and came to Taihuang Heaven. At Licheng, Shen Mu left the ship to make inquiries: the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had not returned.

"Then the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping must have followed the Woodcutter Sage to cultivate in the demon race's Luofu Heaven."

They came again to Luofu Heaven. This world in the midst of destruction was empty of human smoke; altar after altar rose tall, and god after demon stood guard there without sleep or rest, leaning upon divine weapons.

Shen Mu came to the altar where the Woodcutter Sage was. The Primordial Human Emperor could not help but be stirred; yet the Woodcutter Sage, catching sight of him from afar, turned on the instant and would not look at him.

The Primordial Human Emperor was downcast.

Chixi looked toward the Woodcutter and sneered without cease.

Shen Mu climbed the altar and explained his purpose. The Woodcutter Sage said, "Your junior brother is still in secluded cultivation; he will not leave seclusion for the time being. If you wait a year or half a year, then he will come out."

Shen Mu shook his head. "There is no time for that. Since my junior brother is in seclusion, might I ask you, Master, to speak of what I must guard against on this journey?"

The Woodcutter Sage gave him a deep look, then smiled. "When you enter a village, follow its customs. Watch what they say and how they act, and do as others do. When you cannot win a fight, peel off that willow leaf upon your forehead."

Shen Mu said, "The people of the Crimson Bright era are fierce and wild by custom; if I follow local custom, I fear I shall have to kill."

The Woodcutter laughed. "That is why I tell you to peel off the willow leaf when you cannot win. Even if you poke a hole through the sky, is there not still Tubo?"

Shen Mu's face went black as charcoal.

With his back to the Primordial Human Emperor, the Woodcutter said calmly, "And besides, you must not trust a deserter. A deserter who runs once will run a second time."

Shen Mu turned his head, and saw the Primordial Human Emperor standing silently at the prow, not saying a word.

The Woodcutter Sage called Ling Yuxiu over and said with a smile, "Lass, you have far more promise than your father. In the future, when you ascend to the supreme throne, you must treat all living beings well, and treat my disciple well, and obey his every word."

Ling Yuxiu shot Shen Mu a glance and said, beside herself with joy, "I will."

"Good child. Your cultivation is the weakest of you all; before you set out, I shall give you a little something."

The Woodcutter smiled, then suddenly swung up his wood-chopping axe and brought it down into Ling Yuxiu's forehead.

Ling Yuxiu was startled, yet felt no pain. The Woodcutter struck more than ten times in a row, every blow landing upon Ling Yuxiu's brow, then put away the great axe and said, "Child of the Ling family, remember today's words. Now go."