Chapter 773 — This Flavor Really Is Not Bad

Shen Mu looked up and saw a blaze of stars, a river of stars coiled above their heads.

He looked down and saw darkness beyond measure, and in that darkness floated face after face, some the faces of men, some the faces of gods and demons. They seemed made of the thinnest paper, with no thickness at all, floating thus in the dark, appearing and vanishing.

These were the powerhouses who had died in this cauldron; refined by the Life-Slaying Cauldron, they had become brands one by one within it, adding to the great cauldron's power.

"The Heaven-Blending Net! " One of the primal spirits showed despair and cried in a shrill, desolate voice: "The Heaven-Blending Net we forged with our own hands, that little beast Lu Li has turned it against us!

" "And the Life-Slaying Cauldron!

" The other two ancient beings' primal spirits showed deep dread and said in hoarse voices: "The Life-Slaying Cauldron forged from Tubo's reincarnated body, Youdu's foremost treasure, its foremost weapon of slaughter!

" "In the Longhan Era, Tubo went on a great slaughter, and with this cauldron refined the souls and scattered the spirits of ancient gods and demigods beyond counting!

" "We are finished! " "Let us out!

" The three primal spirits shot up and flew toward the river of stars above.

Shen Mu looked up, and suddenly saw the river of stars and the host of stars begin to turn; the three primal spirits of the Lingxiao realm rushed into the star river, were struck down at once, fell into the darkness, and there burst apart, their radiance slowly dying. "A pity, I did not get to eat them.

.

. " said Big-Head Baby regretfully.

Shen Mu looked about him, his face grave.

He saw the faces of those three ancient beings appear in the darkness and become three more brands. Those refined to death here were exceedingly mighty, yet under the power of the Life-Slaying Cauldron they had been annihilated outright, with scarcely any strength to resist!

In those years Tubo, bearing hatred for the death of his wife and daughter, had killed living things and been mastered by his demonic nature, and only thus did he forge Youdu's foremost weapon of slaughter!

At that moment his rancor and demonic nature reached their utmost, to the point of breaking free of the rule of Youdu; the Life-Slaying Cauldron forged then carried his strongest demonic nature and his hatred.

One may well imagine how dreadful this cauldron is!

"For now this cauldron has not attacked us. " Shen Mu looked at the faces drifting to and fro on every side, and a chill ran through him: "Is Tubo himself controlling this cauldron? No. After his great slaughter in the Longhan Era, Tubo felt the weight of his sins, and so confined his own reincarnated body in Yusuo Pass to suffer the torment of the karma fire.

This cauldron must have been cast aside by him, or else taken up by the Heavenly Court and given into the keeping of Lu Li and the other Jiedushi.

Which is to say, the reason this cauldron has not yet loosed its deadliest power of slaughter is likely that no one outside is rousing it.

" He steadied himself.

The three primal spirits just now had been struck down by the Heaven-Blending Net and had stirred the power of the Life-Slaying Cauldron, and had been annihilated on the spot, which showed that the cauldron's power could be triggered, but that so long as it was not triggered there was no great harm. Unless, that is, Lu Li and the others roused the cauldron's might directly.

"Tubo forged the Life-Slaying Cauldron in the Longhan Era; that being so, his attainments in the arts of calculation cannot have been high.

" Shen Mu kept his calm, opened the eye at the center of his brow, and looked around him, thinking: "At that time the Dao Ancestor had likely only created the Su Nü Calculation Canon and the Taixuan Calculation Canon, and Tubo probably had not yet mastered them. In that case this Life-Slaying Cauldron must show flaws in its killing formations. " He looked about him, his brow knitting tighter and tighter, beads of cold sweat starting on his forehead.

He saw no flaw.

And then he thought of the one thing that mattered most! The arts of calculation of the Daoist school were meant to expound the great Dao of heaven and earth, but Tubo was himself an ancient god begotten of heaven and nurtured by earth, the very incarnation of the Dao of Youdu! He had no need whatever for the arts of calculation! To him, the arts of calculation were a low attainment! To forsake one's own achievement in the Dao arts and delve into calculation would be to buy the casket and return the pearl! "This time we are in trouble.

. . " He had just thought this when suddenly Shen Fengqing, at his right, began drawing in deep breaths and exclaimed in praise: "This really is a fine place, fragrance everywhere, truly fragrant. .

.

" Shen Mu blinked: "Fragrant? " Shen Fengqing nodded: "Fragrant! Do you not smell the sweetness in the air?

That is the taste of souls, full of pain, terror, despair, hatred, remorse, and all sorts of vicious little stray thoughts.

The flavor is excellent!

" Shen Mu was dumbstruck for a moment, then suddenly hurled a divine ability into the darkness.

With a great boom the darkness surged, yet there was no counterattack from the Life-Slaying Cauldron, as he had expected! The Life-Slaying Cauldron was utterly unmoved by his attack; only one face surfacing in the darkness showed a look of agony, opening its mouth in a soundless wail.

Shen Mu stared, then suddenly understood, and laughed despite himself: "I have it!

We two brothers are Tubo.

To this cauldron, we are the same as it is.

It will not attack Tubo, it will not attack itself!

" His interest was at once roused; he moved his feet, and still the Life-Slaying Cauldron did not attack him. Shen Mu flew to one of the faces in the darkness.

The huge face rolled its eyeballs and looked at him with a look of alarm.

Shen Mu circled around behind the face, and found it was still the same face; from whatever angle he looked he saw the full front, and could never see the profile or the back! He could not help clicking his tongue in wonder and said: "Brother, can you tell what Dao arts and divine abilities this cauldron uses? How did Tubo make such a face?

" "Hold on! " Shen Fengqing raised a hand and thrust that arm into the eye at the center of his own brow, groping and grabbing about inside.

In the Shen-Character Continent, Tiangong, the Scarlet Emperor and the Great Sun Star Lord hastily dodged out of the way. After a moment Shen Fengqing seized a head from the Shen-Character Continent, blew a breath, and the head flew up and drifted into the darkness.

He said: "Like this. " Shen Mu was startled; he circled the head several times, and indeed its front faced every direction, no profile and no back of the head to be seen. "What Dao art or divine ability is at work in this?

" Shen Mu was at a loss.

"I do not know. " Shen Fengqing said: "Since there is no danger, I will digest a little first.

Find your own way out. "