Chapter 782 — Forty Thousand Years of Fleeting Time

"Tubo, you think you are fit to speak of righteousness and honor!

" Shen Mu was deeply indignant, though he dared not say it aloud.

In the war of Youdu, it was plain that Tubo meant to use his hand to purge the Heavenly Court's forces from Youdu; and because his parents were in Youdu, and Tubo had treated them decently enough, he had no choice but to do Tubo this favor. But now it seemed that, besides the Heavenly Court's black pot, there was another great black pot waiting for him here, courtesy of the Earth Mother Yuanjun. At the battle of the Youdu Jade Lock Pass, the son of the Earth Mother who had died by his hand must have been Yan Jiuxi.

In the fighting, Yan Jiuxi had seemed to mention that he was of the Earth Mother Yuanjun's bloodline, a son of the Earth Mother. And the divine art Yan Jiuxi commanded was none other than the Primordial Magnetism divine art.

Though his primordial magnetism was not as exquisite as Granny Zhu's, it was no small matter either; it had forced Shen Mu to break it with the Great Way of Heavenly Fire. Yan Jiuxi's fate had been to be eaten by Shen Fengqing. Still, since the Earth Mother Yuanjun was already dead, there was nothing to fear.

"The number of primordial spirits my brother has eaten is vast.

Who knows how many black pots are waiting for me. " Shen Mu thought, "Granny Zhu unleashed the great Primordial Magnetism divine art, and the Yuan Realm reappeared in the world.

Is the Earth Mother Yuanjun truly dead?

Why would primordial magnetism trigger this upheaval here?

" The Desolate Ruins were like a folding fan. And now the fan was being opened.

Folded, it was the Desolate Ruins; opened, it was the Earth Mother's Yuan Realm. Why had the Earth Mother's Yuan Realm been folded up to form the Desolate Ruins, and why was it now being opened? Who had folded a world as vast and boundless as the Earth Mother's Yuan Realm into the Desolate Ruins?

Why, after the Earth Mother Yuanjun's death, had primordial magnetism all but vanished from the world?

Could someone have wiped out those who cultivated primordial magnetism?

"The only surviving records of primordial magnetism in the world today are in the Great Nurturing Youdu Demon Sutra, and only a few kinds at that, with no system to them.

That is precisely why I conceived the notion of creating primordial magnetism runes.

" Shen Mu thought, "Just who erased primordial magnetism?

Are those who erased it the same ones who killed the Earth Mother Yuanjun?

Granny used primordial magnetism, and the Yuan Realm was opened.

Could this be a move the Earth Mother Yuanjun left behind to resurrect herself? " He withdrew his divine sense and looked around. The Yuan Realm was now even more vast and magnificent; Jingping was no longer visible in the distance, nor was the Southern Sea of old.

The expansion of the Desolate Ruins gradually slowed. Far off, amid wreathing clouds and mist, splendid peaks rose in graceful array. "The Desolate Ruins have undergone such a terrifying change. Has Jingping changed in the same way?

" Granny Zhu asked. Everyone's hearts went cold.

If Jingping too had grown larger, the cities and lands would surely be impossibly far apart, and the Jingping court's grip on its realm would at once be weakened to the lowest degree.

A weakened hold on the various regions was the omen of a dynasty's disintegration. The state of Jingping had once ruled the Western Plains and the northern ice fields; now, who could say.

Their hearts grew heavy. "The most crucial thing is still the safety of the common people. " Shen Mu said gravely, "The Desolate Ruins have changed drastically, becoming the Yuan Realm.

In many places radiance gushes forth.

That is likely not radiance but the residue of divine arts.

If anyone wanders into those places by mistake, the casualties will be grievous.

The Desolate Ruins are now perilous everywhere.

We must warn the people within them! " Everyone nodded. Now was not the time to worry about Jingping; the safety of the Desolate Ruins' people mattered more. "True God Pang Yu, I must trouble you to ask the divine arts practitioners and gods of Taihuang Heaven to go to the various regions and warn the people there. " Shen Mu said, "The rest of you, go to the various regions as well, and make sure every city and every village is notified.

" True God Pang Yu said, "Rest assured, I will go at once! " He was about to head for the divine city of Taihuang Heaven when suddenly a dull, terrifying roar came from the mountains and wilds of the Yuan Realm.

True God Pang Yu halted and looked that way. There, amid the vast grey mountains, a colossal beast could be glimpsed moving among the ridges, its huge blue-green back showing.

Everyone was startled. Venerable God Sang Ye murmured, "What is that thing?

So enormous.

. . " Shen Mu was shaken to the core.

He let out a breath of turbid air: "A demigod.

" Puzzled by his meaning, the others all looked at him: "What is a demigod? A false god?

" Shen Mu said gravely, "These demigods are exceedingly dangerous.

They are the offspring of the ancient gods, bearing the bloodline of the ancient gods.

You must act with the greatest caution! Be on your guard. With the Desolate Ruins' seal opened and the realm become the Yuan Realm, many demigods have likely survived. " Sang Ye asked, puzzled, "What are the ancient gods?

" Shen Mu explained, "They are the innate divinities, like the Lord of Heaven, Tubo, and the Earth Mother.

Demigods are the descendants of those innate divinities. Long Qilin, for instance, is also a demigod; he grows stronger as he ages. These demigods rely on the power of their bloodline, but they can also cultivate as we do, and once they cultivate, they become even more formidable. You must be careful! " True God Pang Yu shouted in a loud voice, "Soldiers of Taihuang Heaven, follow me! " He led the others away.

Xu Shenghua said, "I must return to the Western Earth and see whether it is stable there.

" Shen Mu nodded, "It may take you a year or two, perhaps longer, to reach the Western Earth. Be careful on the road.

" "Rest assured. I did not die at your hands, and I will not die at a demigod's.

" Xu Shenghua hurried off. Granny Zhu, with the many scholars of the Heavenly Sage Academy, packed their baggage.

"Shen'er, I will go with these scholars to warn the villagers in the western Desolate Ruins. Take care of yourself. " Shen Mu said, "Rest easy, Granny.

You go west, I will go east. And one more thing: do not send out your primordial spirit to contact Jingping. The Yuan Realm has too many battlefields, peril lurks everywhere, and demigods roam abroad. Beware of harm to your primordial spirit.

" "You little rascal, now you are lecturing me.

" Granny Zhu led the group away, laughing, "I was the one who raised you. Every one of those schemes and tricks of yours, was it not Granny who taught you?

" Shen Mu watched them go into the distance and thought, "Now I should go find the Douniu Realm, find the Martial Combat Heavenly Master, and ask the martial artists of the Douniu Realm for help. That way the people of the Desolate Ruins can be warned all the faster. " He got his bearings, then led Yutian Tianzun down from Taihuang Heaven, heading straight for the small mountain village where the Douniu Realm lay: "I wonder whether the Douniu Realm has been flung out of the Yuan Realm by now.

. . " When the great upheaval of the Desolate Ruins occurred, world-realm after world-realm flew out from the cliffs.

These world-realms had been hurled beyond the heavens by the power of primordial magnetism when the Yuan Realm's seal was broken. The Douniu Realm was one such world-realm, forged by the Douniu Heavenly Palace.

The Martial Combat Heavenly Master had hidden this world-realm within the Desolate Ruins, and it too might have been flung beyond the heavens. "Brother Mu, slow down.

" Yutian Tianzun followed behind him, panting.