Chapter 693 — The Supreme Sovereign of the Netherworld

And strangely, the demon gods in the darkness came with the darkness and departed with it; once day broke, no trace of them could be found anywhere in the Wasteland.

These were things the aged god had not explained for him.

Shen Mu sat upon the throne. The aged god must hold no low station in the Tianyin Realm; that he could recount its history so clearly showed he had taken part in the war between the Yin Son of Heaven and Lady Tianyin.

Moreover, from that time on he had never been shattered apart, and so he had kept his memories from that time onward.

Now that Shen Mu had shone the Book of Life and Death upon his body: he was composed of countless motes of soul, yet the skin he wore had a name of its own. Shone upon by the Book of Life and Death, those soul-motes, not belonging to that skin, were naturally expelled.

In effect, Shen Mu had killed them once.

Even if the black sand of their souls returned to the skins, they would no longer be the same as before.

"The Book of Life and Death is indeed a terrifying thing. The Black Emperor of the Nether Capital, that is, the Yin Son of Heaven of the Nether Capital, to have refined such a treasure, he must have been a man of peerless talent."

He had barely thought this when a sudden rustling sound reached him. Shen Mu's heart stirred; he raised his head and saw that the Kaihuang god who had drawn him here had appeared once more, standing upon a long bridge that lay across the waves, beckoning to him.

Shen Mu's heart stirred again. He thought back carefully: among the gods who had clamored to eat him just now, this Kaihuang god had not been present.

"Could he still possess the memories of his life? Surely not."

Shen Mu rose in haste and in a few strides flew up onto the long bridge. Beneath it lay a stretch of water, its ripples jagged and ridged, stretching out from the town and leaping across the lake, while the far end of the bridge vanished into a vast gray haze.

Seeing him follow, the Kaihuang god walked on, and Shen Mu sped along the bridge after him.

After they had gone, black sand gathered once more in the town, racing low along the ground and darting into the features of the skins upon it; and soon all the gods rose to their feet again, lifelike as could be, walking to and fro through the town, wholly unmindful of what had just happened.

The length of the bridge startled Shen Mu all the same. It rose and fell, and even as it entered the gray murk it did not break off, but stretched on across the lake.

The lake below could hardly be called a lake; it should be called a sea, and it too was of a murky, uncertain color.

Shen Mu ran after him a long while and still did not reach the end. He stopped abruptly and said calmly, "Senior, you have been leading me onward all this time, to what end? Why can you not speak plainly? That aged god could speak just now; surely you can speak as well?"

In the gray murk the Kaihuang god halted and turned, his hollow eyes upon him. After a moment, he took off the garment from his upper body.

Shen Mu was slightly taken aback. He stepped forward and examined his chest closely, and saw that upon this god's skin were branded strange patterns.

These patterns were composed of exceedingly fine and intricate runes, and the patterns formed characters.

The character "Seal."

His chest and his back were covered with the character "Seal."

"The Heaven-Demon Art of Creation, that is Master Woodcutter's work."

Shen Mu was stunned; tears suddenly fell, and a faint smile appeared. "Senior, it is enough. Let us go on."

The Kaihuang god closed his garment and walked on.

The "Seal" upon his body was the trace left by the Heaven-Demon Art of Creation from the Great Nurturing Dark-Demon Scripture. The Woodcutter Sage had used the Heaven-Demon Art of Creation to seal his soul within the skin; and since corpse-ghosts do not eat skins, he could preserve his own soul and memories.

But his mortal body could never be preserved; the corpse-ghosts would eat it.

The reason Shen Mu wept was reverence, and being moved, and more than either, gratitude.

This Kaihuang god had known that entering the Tianyin Realm meant certain death, and yet he had come in without a backward glance, to seek the truth of the darkness.