Chapter 781 — The Strange Guest Lurking in the Shadows

Shen Mu said in surprise, "Brother Yutian, do you recognize these characters?

" Yutian Tianzun was still dazed. "When I see these characters, they feel familiar," he said.

"I feel this is how they should be read. " The others were astonished. Everyone knew that Shen Mu was erudite and talented, proficient in many languages: the divine tongue, the demonic tongue, the Youdu tongue; he had even dabbled in the scripts and languages of the ancient and primordial eras.

Yet no one had expected that a script even Shen Mu could not recognize would be recognized by the young man beside him. The others did not dwell on it, however; their gazes were drawn to the scene before them.

The Desolate Ruins were still expanding.

Many of the original mountains had been pushed to extremely distant places, yet no mountain-building movement had occurred within the Ruins. Had it been mountain-building, there would surely have been earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and magma everywhere. But though the Desolate Ruins were expanding, they were relatively calm; the land, mountains, and hills seemed to emerge from space itself.

Thus the expansion had not greatly affected the living beings who dwelt there. Yet the land that surged forth was too vast, far exceeding the original Ruins.

Shen Mu searched for the nearest mountain; the mountain closest to them had already receded to forty times its former distance. In other words, the Ruins had now increased in length and width by at least forty times.

Their area had likely grown sixteen hundred times.

Taihuang Heaven was inserted into the Desolate Ruins, spanning north and south, but now it seemed like a wall erected within the Ruins, no longer as awe-inspiring as before. When Taihuang Heaven had been thrust into the center of the Ruins, it had been profoundly shocking; now that the Ruins had expanded, that shock was much diminished. Shen Mu looked around.

The road that the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had once laid down was now fragmented, broken into segments.

Even more alarming, the newly added mountains and terrain were wreathed in multicolored auroras; in some places, radiance gushed forth.

They even saw ancient city ruins and broken colossal statues of giants standing between heaven and earth. "This upheaval is like sealed land being released," True God Pang Yu murmured.

Venerable God Sang Ye asked, "Was the Desolate Ruins like this before? " True God Pang Yu was rather ancient.

He shook his head and said, "No. The Desolate Ruins of the Kaihuang era were different from those of today, but on the whole they were still similar.

The Kaihuang Heavenly Court smashed down and broke through the heavens, falling here, and many relics of the Heavenly Court appeared within the Ruins. At that time the Kaihuang era had not yet fully ended, and many gods still remained here. " Granny Zhu asked, "What about before the Shanghuang era? What were the Desolate Ruins like in the Shanghuang era?

" True God Pang Yu smiled bitterly. "How would I know about the Shanghuang era?

" Granny Zhu mused, "The land that has emerged this time should be the Earth Mother Prime Realm, which was suppressed beneath the Desolate Ruins.

Just now I used my primordial magnetic divine ability and disturbed the sealed Earth Mother Prime Realm, causing it to be released. But why was this Earth Mother Prime Realm suppressed beneath the Desolate Ruins? " Everyone turned to True God Pang Yu, waiting for his answer. True God Pang Yu glared, his eyes already large and now even larger. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he said, "How would I know such things? Do not look at me; even if you look, I still do not know!

The Woodcutter Celestial Master knows much. Go ask him.

" "The Woodcutter Sage is over in Jingping, working with the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping to promote reforms in various places.

If they want to rush here, I fear it will take them as much as forty times longer than usual. " Shen Mu was still staring at the distant mountains. That peak was continuing to recede. "It will not be long before it is fifty times," he said. "The Earth Mother Prime Realm.

. . is it the world where Earth Mother Yuanjun was born? " No one could answer him. Suddenly, the sound of waves came.

A massive fissure appeared before them, filled with azure water. Then the fissure split to both sides, and more and more water poured out, quickly forming a hundred-li lake. Yet the lake kept growing, gradually turning into an ocean.

The ocean grew wider and vaster, stretching without end. Shen Mu was greatly shaken. He hurried through the Taihuang Heaven tunnel and came to the Eastern Desolate Ruins.

Xu Shenghua's heart stirred; she brought Yutian Tianzun and followed him, and the others ran after them as well.

Shen Mu looked east. The mountains stretched vast and boundless. He flew upward along the surface of Taihuang Heaven, rising higher and higher, his vision reaching farther and farther. At last, Shen Mu saw a vast sea hundreds of thousands of li away.

True God Pang Yu blurted out, "That is the Eastern Sea of the Kaihuang era!

That Eastern Sea vanished long ago.

How has it appeared again today? " The Eastern Sea was azure, its waves surging.

Such a vast amount of seawater had suddenly emerged from nowhere, its surface spanning tens of thousands of li.

That place had originally been a basin, not a large one; to the north was Mount Sumeru of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, to the east the Shenduan Mountains, and to the south Mishui Pass, where the Yong River flowed through. Now, in the direction of Mount Sumeru, clouds and mist coiled, and faintly visible was a heavenly pillar thrusting beyond the sky, its top unseen. Shen Mu looked toward the Shenduan Mountains, but the towering, unbroken range was no longer visible.

As for the Yong River, he did not recognize it at all now; he could only see a great river eight hundred li wide, surging eastward, its length even more inconceivable. "Lord Huanlong has profited greatly.

" Shen Mu murmured, "I regret making him Dragon Emperor of the Yong River. Yet the covenant I made with him was the Earth Lord's Covenant, so it is not easy to go back on it.

. . " He peeled the willow leaf from between his brows and sent his spiritual consciousness into the Shen-character continent within the seal, asking, "Heavenly Lord, Earth Lord, can you sense the changes in the Desolate Ruins?

" Heavenly Lord and Earth Lord looked out through his third eye. Both bodies trembled.

The two ancient beings exchanged a glance, their expressions grave. Great Sun Star Lord also looked out and blurted, "The Primordial Prime Capital!

The birthplace of Earth Mother Yuanjun! " Shen Mu asked curiously, "Is it not the Earth Mother Prime Realm? Why does the Star Lord call it the Primordial Prime Capital?

" "The name Earth Mother Prime Realm came after the Heavenly Court was established.

It was formerly called the Prime Capital, and it was Earth Mother Yuanjun's domain. Later, when the Heavenly Court was established, it was built above the Primordial Prime Capital.

" Great Sun Star Lord continued, "The gods mined the divine gold of the Prime Capital to forge the Heavenly Court. Earth Mother Yuanjun was somewhat displeased, feeling that many treasures had been taken and that the Heavenly Court had stolen the Prime Capital's fortune. Later still, when the Heavenly Court built its thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two treasure halls, they came again to mine divine gold.

Earth Mother Yuanjun was even more unhappy, so she changed the name to Earth Mother Prime Realm and declared this place her territory. Among the Nine Tianzuns, Cloud Tianzun later rebelled and founded the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, which was built here.

Back then, when I was attacking the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, I took an arrow in the back. .

. " The Heavenly Lord's clone said, "You coordinated all the star gods of the heavens.