Chapter 683 — Merit Heavier Than Heaven

The face of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping appeared on the Book of Life and Death, and beneath it was a line of characters giving his name: Jiang Ling, courtesy name Baigui.

"So that is the name of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping!

" Fu Yanqi cupped his hand and drew sharp breaths, then suddenly his other hand, trembling, dipped a little of the divine blood and wrote the Imperial Preceptor's name and courtesy name on the Book of Life and Death. Jiang Ling, Jiang Baigui.

Once these words were written, the divine blood gradually seeped into the Book of Life and Death, growing fainter and fainter, until at last it vanished.

"The Book of Life and Death can record a death. Record his name, hook his soul, claim his life!

" Fu Yanqi sneered.

"The blood from these four fingers of mine will not have been shed in vain!

" Lou Yunqu and Kui Qingpei watched Shen Mu and the others continue their journey below, their gazes settling on the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping as they waited quietly. A long time passed, and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping still walked neither hurriedly nor slowly, helping the others resist the wild winds and giant waves surging in from all directions, guarding the divine power practitioners as they pressed on.

"Why has his soul still not been hooked and his life claimed? " Fu Yanqi gnashed his teeth and again dipped a little divine blood from his severed fingers, about to write the Imperial Preceptor's name once more, when Lou Yunqu raised a hand to stop him, shaking his head.

"Junior Brother Fu, this man's divine powers are vast.

The arts of the Nether Capital hold no secrets for him. The more you test him, the more he learns of our Nether Capital's arts. Now that he holds the Book of Life and Death, using it against him will no longer work. " Fu Yanqi said angrily, "Then was my blood shed for nothing? " Kui Qingpei frowned. "In all the world, the arts and divine powers of our Nether Capital are the most mysterious.

How could they possibly be broken?

Even if this Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is the leader of the Jingping Reforms, he cannot possess such heaven-defying talent as to see through our Nether Capital's divine powers at such a young age! " Lou Yunqu sighed. "Perhaps this is the effect of the land of origin of the false Celestial Courts of the Five Dynasties. All five false Celestial Courts originated there, so it must possess certain peculiarities.

I have heard that among all the heavens and myriad worlds, only this ancestral land has the legend of a sage appearing once every five hundred years. No other heaven has such a legend or rumor. Perhaps this Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is the one in whom fortune converges. " Fu Yanqi sealed the wound on his severed fingers with his cultivation, stopping the bleeding, and frowned. "Merely losing four fingers is not enough to make me liberate the corpse and be reborn through reincarnation.

Damn it. If he had killed me, that would have been one thing, but he had to take only four of my fingers! I will go kill them, and take the opportunity to liberate the corpse and return to the Nether Capital! " Lou Yunqu watched Shen Mu and the others recede into the distance and smiled.

"What is your hurry? Let them go. The purpose of our journey is to make a blood sacrifice to Taihuang Heaven, to drive the demon race into Jingping, and force them into battle. When enough divine power practitioners and gods and demons die in Jingping, the stone statues of the gods in Jingping will awaken, and once the gods awaken, they will destroy the world. Are we not close to achieving that goal now? " Kui Qingpei said, "Our second goal is to record the insights of the Jingping Reforms and bring them back to present to our Master.

But the fruits of the Jingping Reforms all reside in the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, so the most convenient path is to capture him. " Lou Yunqu said, "The third goal is that our Master wishes to meet the Divine Child of Youdu. " He smiled.

"I believe all three matters can proceed at once and be completed at once.

Let them keep advancing. Only when they reach Taiming Heaven will they discover that no matter how vast their divine powers, no matter how clever and changeable they are, they have always been within our grasp. Junior Brother Fu, be patient. We need only wait.

" The three divine beings of the Nether Capital stood in the air and did not pursue.

At last, after tens of thousands of people had been roasted until they were skin and bones, and even the most beautiful Grandmother Zhu had been reduced to a gaunt, bony figure by this harsh apocalyptic world, when the people, including the gods, could no longer hold on, the First Ancestor Human Sovereign's injuries finally stabilized. Under the careful care of Shen Mu and the alchemists, his cultivation had also recovered somewhat. The First Ancestor Human Sovereign used his creation divine power to conjure water from the void, creating some clean drinking water, and only then did the people regain their lives. At last the First Ancestor Human Sovereign no longer needed the True God Pang Yu to carry him, and could barely walk on his own. Watching the people drink, this prince of the former dynasty still bore an air of melancholy.

And when he saw the Star Lord of the Seven Killings, Wei Liao, the melancholy grew even stronger. Wei Liao recognized him.

"I once attended court to report on my duties and saw Your Highness. When I was still alive, I met a man who claimed to be the Hierarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult from the lower realm, a man who appeared gentle but was in truth very wild.

From his mouth I heard of Your Highness's deeds, and knew that Your Highness, in a time of crisis, led the peoples of all races to find a way to live from a hellish world.

" The First Ancestor said desolately, "The Kaihuang Era has already fallen. There is no more Highness. I am a deserter, and Kaihuang was a deserter too. General, you are too kind. Do not speak of old matters. " Wei Liao was startled, then suddenly laughed.

"What does Your Highness think of this grand endeavor, the Human Sovereign Shen leading tens of thousands of divine power practitioners in seeking survival? " The melancholy in the First Ancestor Human Sovereign vanished.

He glanced back at Shen Mu and smiled. "He is very good.

He is a good child. I have never seen anyone who could maintain such optimism even under such terrible circumstances, and he also possesses great wisdom and great courage. Facing any setback, he dares to press forward. Though there are many gods and demons around him, the one who can lead the people out of dire straits is not any god or demon, but him. Only him! " Wei Liao laughed.

"But the one he is learning from is you!

" The First Ancestor Human Sovereign was stunned, then shook his head. "Do not talk nonsense.

I am only a deserter.

Heh heh, at the battle of Yuming Palace, I fled. . . " "But the circumstances you faced then were a hundred times more terrible than those of today! " Wei Liao said, "The Human Sovereign Shen leads the people across the destroying Taihuang Heaven in search of a way to live. Though conditions in Taihuang Heaven are harsh, they are far from the terror at the end of the Kaihuang Era.

He is imitating you.