Chapter 823 — The Flawless Maiden

" His hands flew, and his vital essence turned into all manner of runes, which he pressed onto the coffin one after another — truly exquisite divine arts. Watching, everyone felt a chill of awe: "The Heavenly Court's divine arts and methods are indeed unfathomable!

" Shen Mu's heart sank as well; Prince Qiuming's attainments were exceedingly high, his strength very great. "The Heavenly Court has gathered all manner of throne-level cultivation methods over the years, and the elites it has cultivated are indeed no small matter!

" After a while, fine beads of sweat appeared on Prince Qiuming's brow, his eyebrows gradually knitted, and he suddenly stepped back, shaking his head: "Strange, strange. The seals here are not merely the Yulin Army's seals; there are others I have never learned.

. .

" Feng Qiuyun sneered, "A bumpkin prince of the upper realm, good for nothing but blowing his own horn and making a fool of himself.

Let me do it! " She set down the Emperor's coffin, drew the Earth Mother's Kunyuan Sword, and the wooden sword flashed as she thrust at the Empress's coffin, meaning to break the seals by force.

Though she was the Earth Mother's maidservant, she was also the chieftain of the Feng clan, a great master of the Lingxiao realm, formidable in strength; with the Earth Mother's Kunyuan Sword besides, breaking the seals should not have been difficult. But as Feng Qiuyun thrust out several dozen sword strokes in succession, halos of light swirled around the hanging coffin, all manner of seals surfaced, and they actually blocked the power of both her and the Earth Mother's Kunyuan Sword.

The seals around the hanging coffin were formed of countless divine arts into circular star systems great and small, which absorbed the power of her and the Earth Mother's Kunyuan Sword.

Feng Qiuyun frowned, sheathed her sword, flicked her sleeve, and returned to the Emperor's coffin. Prince Qiuming laughed: "The Earth Mother may be mighty, but her foundations are far inferior to the Heavenly Court's.

Who else would like to try? " Shen Mu's expression turned odd.

The other seals were one thing — he recognized few of them — but the seal that bound all these seals together was the Founding Patriarch's seal. The Founding Patriarch's Star River Seal Art he had seen more than once, and broken more than once.

He had encountered it beside the Other Shore Ark, in the canyon where the old dragon was suppressed; and upon the God-Slaying Platform of the Chiming alien star he had broken it as well.

Suddenly he felt a pair of eyes upon him; following their gaze, he found it was Zhe Huali.

Shen Mu smiled faintly.

When he had broken the Star River divine art upon the alien star's God-Slaying Platform, Zhe Huali and Qi Jiuyi had been right there — and had been taken in by him. Clearly Zhe Huali still remembered it. "The only one who can break these seals is Sect Master Shen.

" Zhe Huali suddenly spoke up: "Why not let Sect Master Shen try? " Pairs of eyes fell upon Shen Mu.

He laughed heartily and tossed aside Lord Dragonkeeper's dragon horn; Lord Dragonkeeper's great head struck the ground with a thud, thud, bouncing several times, yet his sinews were still too weak and sore for him to rise.

Shen Mu stepped forward to the Empress's coffin and studied the seals closely, then suddenly laughed: "These seals have been broken before. Opening them is not so hard after all. " "Broken before? " Everyone was startled, and before they could recover, Shen Mu's sleeves fluttered as he circled the Empress's coffin, up and down, unleashing all manner of seal arts; at once star rivers and star systems around the coffin began to wheel and shift, star vortices unravelling one after another, and the stars formed of various divine arts retreated.

Before long all the stars had retreated, and the host of stars turned into individual marks that clung to the coffin wood, forming a brilliant star river pattern. Crack.

The Empress's coffin gave out a soft sound.

Shen Mu stepped back to Li Zheng's side: "I am glad to have fulfilled the charge!

" The coffin lid slowly rose and hung above the coffin.

Within, rosy light soared, the sound of the Dao coiled and lingered, as though a graceful woman were singing a song, all manner of melodies echoing round the beams without cease. That sound of the Dao came from the very pulse of the Great Dao, intoxicating all who heard it, so that they could not tear themselves away.

The others, with no time to wonder why Shen Mu could open the seals, hurried forward and looked into the coffin; the Chiming Divine Son blurted out, "What a beautiful woman!

" The others too felt their mouths go dry, and gazing at the woman in the coffin, their faces flushed red and they could not speak. One demigod roared, tore off his clothes, and was about to leap into the coffin, crying, "To be buried in the same coffin as such a beauty — this life would not have been lived in vain!

" Shhk— Luo Wushuang cut down with a single blade and slew that demigod, saying coldly, "Whoever dares insult the Empress's remains shall end like this brute!

Patriarch Dragon King, keep your men in order! " The hand that gripped his blade trembled somewhat; clearly he too had been stunned by the woman's beauty in the coffin, and his heart of the Dao was somewhat unsteady.

"The Empress?

" The Patriarch Dragon King's Adam's apple bobbed; his gaze fell into the coffin, and his voice was hoarse: "There are two women in this coffin. Which one is the Empress?

" Shen Mu and Li Zheng were taken aback: "Two women in the coffin?

" Li Zheng said in a low voice, "Shen'er, when you opened the coffin, did you not look inside?

" Shen Mu shook his head and said quietly, "You told me to keep a low profile, so as soon as I opened the coffin I withdrew at once, lest I become the target of every eye. So what was inside the coffin, I am not too clear on either.

How could there be two bodies in the coffin?

" The two looked at each other.

Li Zheng hesitated, then said, "How about we go up and take a look too? " Shen Mu nodded again and again, unable to suppress his curiosity. Li Zheng could not suppress his either; he reached out, seized Lord Dragonkeeper by the dragon horn, and dragged him along with Shen Mu as they went forward.

They came to the Empress's coffin.

Li Zheng rose on tiptoe and peered in; the rosy light lit up everyone's faces, and within the coffin the rosy light hung thick, and two women lay quietly inside.

"Truly beautiful — a little bit more beautiful even than Old Granny Si," Li Zheng praised.

Shen Mu gripped the coffin's rim with both hands and leaned in to look.

There were indeed two women of peerless beauty in the coffin, only one of them was flawless, far more beautiful than the other; even though he was used to Granny Zhu's beauty, he could not help feeling his heart stir and his spirit waver. The woman had her hands placed upon her breast, as though asleep. "Truly beautiful.

" Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly; he lifted the willow leaf at the center of his brow so that Lord Heaven, Lord Earth, and the others could see the scene within the coffin: "Lord Heaven, come look at this woman!

" Lord Heaven's astonished voice came into his mind: "Jue Wuchen! How did she die? "