Chapter 841 — Blood Might Subdues

The Azure Cloud Heavenly Dao Palace was in utter pandemonium. Daoist priests were flying through the air or dashing along the ground, scouring every corner for the thieving Daoist. Once the theft at the Daoist Academy broke out into the open, the other palaces and courts of Azure Cloud Heaven discovered that the Academy had not been the only victim—they too had been visited by the thief.

But the thief was devilishly cunning: the treasuries of every palace had been plundered without anyone taking notice, and it was only when the treasures on the priests' own persons were stolen that alarm was finally raised. Even the Daoist Palace had been hit.

Many elderly Daoists rushed in panic toward its treasury, where a dozen or so Divine Realm cultivators stood guard outside while the rest unsealed the wards and filed in to check whether any treasures were missing. Dao Lord Lin Xuan surveyed the pandemonium of the Azure Cloud Sect and laughed: "Sect Master Shen, when your elder comes running to our Daoist sect, the chaos is just the same.

Every time he visits, my sect uncles comb the mountains and plains for his tracks, and we have even raised a few divine hounds specifically for the purpose of dealing with him. " Shen Mu felt a headache coming on and said helplessly: "In the past, Cripple Grandfather's cultivation was not high, so you could still catch him. Now he has attained the Divine Realm and cultivated the Arts of Creation—even his scent has been concealed.

Catching him now is as hard as ascending to heaven. " The two continued climbing as though nothing were amiss, as if the death in the Daoist Academy of the Lord of the Zhou Tian Stars' disciple had nothing to do with them. Some Daoists were rushing off toward the outer heavens, requesting divine hounds, divine mastiffs, and divine rats from the subordinate divine kingdoms, along with a company of constables, to search everywhere.

Shen Mu and Dao Lord Lin Xuan chatted idly, unhurried, making their way up the mountain, with Daoist Cha, the Dragon Qilin, and the Water Qilin following behind. Some Daoists ordered them to halt, questioned them a while, then let them pass.

"Is Blue Yutian all right? " Dao Lord Lin Xuan asked.

"No great problem. " Though Shen Mu said so, his skull felt about to split apart.

"Yudi has no memories of his former self—he is a blank sheet of paper now, upon which one could paint the most exquisite picture, or scrawl utter nonsense in a chaotic mess.

I am deeply worried he might pick up the habit of petty thieving.

" "Petty thieving, causing a commotion of this scale? " Dao Lord Lin Xuan laughed. "Cripple Grandfather's rule is: a thief never leaves empty-handed.

" Shen Mu said with the utmost seriousness: "Whenever he makes his move, he must steal only the finest things.

Just now he robbed every one of us in turn, and when he came to Blue Yutian and found nothing of value on him, he simply stole Blue Yutian himself.

I am not worried about Yudi's safety—only that he might learn wicked ways. " "The Shadow Thief has surely taken Blue Yutian and fled Azure Cloud Heaven by now? " "Fled?

Impossible.

Cripple Grandfather is the sort who loves a good commotion and fears nothing more than being left out. He is absolutely still in the Daoist Palace at this very moment, wearing a new face, trailing the Daoists in their search for the thief.

" The two at last arrived outside the Daoist Palace at the summit. The palace was on high alert; many Daoists were going in and out, activating all manner of bright-mirror treasures to sweep the surroundings in search of the thieving old Daoist.

A young Daoist priest hurried out from within and came face to face with Shen Mu and Dao Lord Lin Xuan. He started slightly, then lowered his voice: "Why have you come up the mountain? I just informed the Sect Master of your visit, but with a thief causing trouble in the Daoist Palace, the Sect Master has no time to receive you.

" This Daoist was Yuchen.

Shen Mu smiled faintly and called out in a loud, clear voice: "Shen Mu of the Jingping Overlord Physique, and Lin Xuan, Dao Lord of the Jingping Daoist Sect, have come to pay respects to the Azure Cloud Sect Master and the Envoy of the Heavenly Court! Azure Cloud Sect Master, you are but a branch of the Daoist Sect—why do you not hasten out to welcome us? " His voice was resonant and thunderous, surging up from the foot of the mountain and bursting apart over the Azure Cloud Heavenly Dao Palace, echoing through the palace and all twenty-four halls.

The many Daoists searching for the thieving old Daoist involuntarily halted and turned to look this way. The atmosphere in an instant became unbearably oppressive.

Daoist Yuchen's expression shifted slightly. Dao Lord Lin Xuan, meanwhile, gazed at his nose and his navel, utterly unruffled, as though he had long foreseen that Shen Mu would speak thus.

He said serenely: "Sect Master Shen bears the Jingping Overlord Physique, unmatched through all ages.

Having proclaimed your name so boldly, I fear there are more people in the Daoist Palace who wish to kill you than there are hairs on an ox. " Shen Mu laughed: "There are many in this world who wish to kill me, yet I remain alive. Though I bear the title of Overlord Physique, that title was earned through slaughter, not through flattery.

You should not worry about me—you should worry about yourself. I called the Azure Cloud Sect a branch of the Daoist Sect; how could the Azure Cloud Sect possibly tolerate you? " Dao Lord Lin Xuan flicked his whisk and roared with laughter. Daoist Yuchen frowned and said in a low voice: "You two have no sense of propriety at all!

It was out of fellowship as fellow disciples that I allowed you up the mountain.

You could have come up quietly and the Sect Master would have met you quietly, bestowed some benefits upon you, and you could have gone down the mountain. Now that you have proclaimed your names, once the Heavenly Court Envoy learns of it, how could he possibly tolerate you? " As his words fell, an aged voice issued from within the Daoist Palace: "Yuchen, invite the young friends of the Jingping Daoist Sect and Overlord Physique Shen to enter. " Daoist Yuchen had no choice but to bow and assent.

"Follow me. You have stirred up disaster—whether you can leave alive is very much in doubt.

. .

" Shen Mu laughed: "Senior Brother Yuchen, we are not poor relatives come up the mountain to beg, slipping in quietly for a bite to eat only to be sent packing. What is a Heavenly Court Envoy worth? Did I not kill the Heavenly Court's Prince Qiuming? When you were in Lu County, your vision and insight were extraordinary and won my admiration—how is it that now you have returned to the Daoist Sect you have become so utterly diminished?

" Daoist Yuchen frowned deeply and led them into the Daoist Palace, shaking his head: "You do not know the vastness of heaven and earth.

" The two smiled faintly and walked into the Daoist Palace under the gaze of all.

Within, the main hall was exceedingly spacious, a hundred zhang across, yet strangely it had no dome above—the Daoist Palace was open to the sky, with sunlight pouring down. Shen Mu looked carefully and saw that it was precisely because the Daoist Palace lacked a dome that the radiance of the sun, moon, and stars above could all shine down; moreover, the space here seemed peculiar, for after the sun passed, the moonlight would cast its rays here, so that the Daoist Palace stood forever in brightness.