Chapter 741 — The Primordial Divine Palace

Old Ox stood upon the river's waters, staring blankly at the painted barges and tower ships that wove past like shuttles on a loom. The desolate Wasteland—the Wasteland that had always been cloaked in night—had now turned to broad daylight, and the Yong River had grown wider than before by countless times over. One after another, barges and tower ships carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes sailed past them. Green waves rippled and surged; this great river was actually flowing through the sky! Old Ox looked down, but saw no land of the Wasteland—only stars hanging in the starry sky.

Some stars were near, some far; the near ones loomed large, as if within reach, while the distant ones resembled moons, yet upon them one could still make out mountains, rivers, and buildings.

And along both banks of the Yong River, celestial palaces rose one after another, their halls and gates deep and layered. Each palace was more like a continent floating along the shores of the Heavenly River, and together they formed a Heavenly Court of vast and magnificent scale!

Old Ox shook his head, somewhat dazed. He had only been carrying Shen Mu through this place—why had he encountered such a bizarre turn of events? And just now, a woman on that painted barge had said this was the Heavenly River.

The Heavenly River? Was this not the Yong River? Where had the Wasteland gone?

And Jingping?

Not a speck of land remained—where had the world he had come from gone?

Old Ox lashed his tail uneasily, smacking his rump with sharp cracks, watching his surroundings with caution. The source of the Yong River, the region of the cliff, had always been a place seldom trodden by human feet.

It lay in the heart of the Wasteland, but there was a terrifying fault there.

Because of this fault, the Eastern Wasteland lay several thousand zhang lower than the Western Wasteland.

Originally, this barrier had hindered communication between east and west, until Shen Mu requested the Imperial Teacher of Jingping and the power-wielders of the Western Lands to pave roads and build two flying bridges, finally connecting the Eastern and Western Wastelands.

The Yong River originated precisely from this cliff, its waters flowing out from the precipice and rushing eastward.

Shen Mu had once observed it carefully and suspected that five worlds overlapped at the source of the Yong River, and that its waters might come from those other five worlds. Of course, that had only been a guess from his youth.

When he discovered the Tianyin Realm and the countless heavens densely clustered around it, he knew his guess had been utterly wrong.

He had guessed too few; the actual number was far too many. After all, Old Ox had followed the Old Farmer for tens of thousands of years and had lived through the Kaihuang Era. His understanding of the Yong River surpassed even Shen Mu's.

Shen Mu had merely speculated that the Yong River's waters came from other worlds, but Old Ox knew that the Yong River was one of the most bizarre places in the entire Kaihuang Era!

Long ago, when this place was still a relic of the Shanghuang Era, the young Kaihuang had led a group of youths here, enduring great hardships, building from the ruins, establishing a mighty foundation and founding an era that shone for twenty thousand years. But even then, the source of the Yong River had already been a place of notorious strangeness.

Kaihuang, the Woodcutter, and other beings had all explored this place, and many inconceivable things had occurred.

Mist often rose from the river. When it surged forth, it revealed inconceivable people and events, and even other worlds.

Once, someone accidentally wandered into the mist, and when they emerged, they found that a thousand or a hundred years had passed in the world.

Others had encountered lost travelers in the mist, who claimed to be people of the Shanghuang Era who had met the mist and lost their way. When the mist dispersed, the travelers vanished.

The most famous incident Old Ox remembered was that Kaihuang had once mentioned how, in his youth, he had disappeared here for several months, straying into an inconceivable place, and when he returned, he found that months had passed. He tried again to find that inconceivable place, but could never locate it.

Yet when others asked Kaihuang what he had encountered in that inconceivable place, what people he had met, Kaihuang said not a word, keeping it deeply secret. Later, many gods and demons came to the Yong River to search everywhere, but found nothing, and the matter gradually faded. The Yong River mist incident was forgotten by people, but after Kaihuang proclaimed himself emperor, he often came here—no one knew whether he was searching for that inconceivable place. Later, the Sage Woodcutter had led the Heaven Character Division here and conducted a thorough exploration of the Yong River, discovering many of its secrets, as well as many heavens submerged by history.

He also found the source of darkness and sent people in to investigate.

But by then it was already the late Kaihuang Era. Before the Sage Woodcutter could find any results, the Kaihuang Calamity erupted.

"Perhaps the Great Heavenly Master would know many secrets about the Yong River, but he certainly is not here now. " Old Ox's bovine eyes darted about, exceedingly cautious. He saw that each celestial palace was guarded by extremely powerful gods and demons, so he dared not act rashly. He thought to himself: "The problem now is, how can I return to the Wasteland?

" Just then, Shen Mu's voice came, somewhat surprised: "Senior Brother Sanduo, what is this place? How did you bring me here? " Old Ox blinked, opened his mouth to speak, but did not know what to say: "I.

. . " Shen Mu said excitedly: "Is this the Heavenly Court Beyond the Realm? " Old Ox hesitated, then said: "I also.

.

. " Shen Mu stretched his body.

His cultivation was still rising madly—clearly, after fusing the five great divine treasuries, his power had advanced by leaps and bounds. He looked around curiously, unable to contain his excitement: "Senior Brother Sanduo truly lives up to being the strongest under the Martial Heavenly Master—truly full of bullish spirit, daring to bring me to the Heavenly Court Beyond the Realm!

Did the Martial Heavenly Master assign you some secret mission? " Niu Sanduo looked at the water's surface, not knowing how to answer.

Shen Mu asked: "Have you thought of a way out? " "I. . .

" "I can forge a spirit-energy translocation bridge! " Shen Mu said excitedly: "But we must find a secluded place.

Last time I got a lot of divine gold and divine materials from the Indra Heavenly King Buddha—more than enough to build another spirit-energy translocation bridge. The Imperial Teacher of Jingping should still have an altar there; he is preparing for the campaign against the Tianyu World.

. . " "Junior Brother, I think I'm lost.

" Old Ox summoned his courage and said. "What mission did the Martial Heavenly Master give you?

Rescuing the Scholar Heavenly Master, right?

The Scholar Zixi must have been captured and suppressed by the Heavenly Court Beyond the Realm, right?

" Shen Mu said excitedly: "Wait a moment, I'll open the eye on my brow!

" "Junior Brother, I'm lost! " Old Ox could not help saying: "I really am lost! I don't know where this damned place is either! I don't recognize this place at all. Don't go messing around and cause trouble—let me sort out my thoughts first! " Shen Mu looked blank, then suspicious: "Everyone says an old ox knows the way.

How did you get here?

Just go back the way you came.

" Old Ox said in exasperation: "I don't know how I got here either!

I jumped down from the Yong River cliff, had just stepped onto the water's surface when mist rose, and when the mist cleared I somehow ended up here.