Chapter 169 — The Holy Sovereign's Penchant

Many have their eyes on our Heavenly Holy Cult; all think our Heavenly Holy Cult has declined these forty years — who would not wish to take a bite of meat from us while we are weak? The key question is: who is the enemy? " The company fell silent. After a moment, Heavenly King Yu said, "This time the cult master has ordered the Left and Right Protector Envoys to establish the three hundred and sixty-first hall, a hall of learning. It is a great matter.

This cult master's ability surpasses Cult Master Li by a notch.

Such vision and such boldness are not like those of a child of ten-odd years; they are more seasoned than those of an old man who has lived several hundred years. . . " "Most likely the Patriarch is advising him.

" "It is possible.

.

. Eh, the Holy Cult Master has come out! " The three Heavenly Kings gazed into the distance at the Floating Light Hall, and saw Shen Mu walk out of it, the brocade robe he wore on the outside hanging open.

Suddenly this young Holy Cult Master flung the brocade robe over himself — and with a swish vanished from sight.

The three Heavenly Kings were dumbfounded.

Then came a thunderous crash, and the Phoenix-Descending Pavilion nearby collapsed by half. "Not good! " The three Heavenly Kings' hearts lurched, and they hurried to look toward the Phoenix-Descending Pavilion. Beneath the fallen bricks and shattered tiles of that half-collapsed pavilion, a youth stood up, looked east and west, saw that no one had marked him, and hurriedly raised his robe and covered himself again, and vanished once more.

"The Phoenix-Descending Pavilion is where the sixth-generation cult master received the phoenix. The phoenix descended upon our Heavenly Holy Cult's Shenglin Mountain — what glory was that.

. .

" Heavenly King Yu's calves trembled; he murmured, "Now half of it has collapsed.

How shall we answer to the ancestral spirits, to the disciples of the cult?

" "It seems the Holy Cult Master has already refined a teleportation robe — only he is still somewhat unskilled in controlling it.

" Heavenly King Lu said in astonishment, "He could actually refine a teleportation treasure? How is that possible? " Just then came another thunderous crash.

The three Heavenly Kings hurriedly looked toward the sound, their faces turning ashen. The roof of the Hall of the Three Kings had caved in. Their young Holy Cult Master had still failed to control the teleportation robe well; he had teleported himself into the air above the Hall of the Three Kings, had not landed upon the ground, and had punched a great hole through the hall. The Hall of the Three Kings was built to commemorate three Holy Cult Masters. These three had lived in the same era, when the strife among the sects was still exceedingly savage; the Dao Sect, as leader of the orthodox way, gathered the orthodox schools of the world and attacked the Youmo Cult. The old cult master of that time was defeated, and on the verge of death handed the cult to one of the four Cult-Guarding Heavenly Kings of the day, Heavenly King Qing.

Heavenly King Qing passed the Great Nurturing Youmo Scripture to the Holy Maiden of the time, then led the host to meet the foe, and died in battle at Emerald Wave Pool. The Holy Maiden succeeded to the position of cult master and went out to battle again, slaughtering the Dao Sect until it too could not hold and had to retreat.

The Holy Maiden returned to Shenglin Mountain; after transmitting her art, her wounds erupted, and she sat in transformation and passed away.

And so the Holy Cult Masters who came after, in gratitude to these three, built the Hall of the Three Kings in their memory. A moment ago Shen Mu had failed in a teleportation and smashed the Phoenix-Descending Pavilion — that was one thing — but now he had smashed the Hall of the Three Kings; that was going too far.

Suddenly, with another swish, Shen Mu covered himself in his robe and was gone. The three Heavenly Kings were all startled; they hurried in pursuit, crying, "Holy Cult Master, little ancestor!

You must not demolish any more! " The three Heavenly Kings had deep and mighty cultivation, and they had practiced the teleportation method as well. Heavenly King Shi's teleportation treasure was a banner: he unrolled the banner, and his body vanished.

What Heavenly King Lu had refined was a mirror: he shone the mirror into the sky, and man and mirror vanished together. What Heavenly King Yu had refined was a jade pendant, worn at his waist: a light tap upon the pendant, and its radiance burst forth and carried him away.

The three of them had steeped themselves in the teleportation method for untold ages; though they could not refine the Teleportation Divine Art itself, their handling of teleportation treasures was far more convenient and nimble than that of Shen Mu, a novice. The three Heavenly Kings, masters of the craft, saw where Shen Mu meant to teleport, and at once went to that place to intercept him; but they had started a beat too late, and lunged at empty air, and fell all together into the Fish-Viewing Pool.

In the pool were several ferocious fish-dragons. A moment before, when Shen Mu fell into the Fish-Viewing Pool, these fish-dragons had been so greedy that they gaped wide and lunged at him, only to catch empty air; then the three Heavenly Kings teleported in, and were just the thing to whet an appetite.

The three Heavenly Kings' forms vanished again, and the great fish snapped at empty air once more, steel teeth and sharp fangs clashing in a spray of sparks. The great fish shook their heads and swam off in ill humor. The three Heavenly Kings' forms appeared in midair and reached out to seize Shen Mu, who hung in the air raising his brocade robe; but their three hands clutched one another tightly — Shen Mu had left a step ahead of them, and what they caught was only an afterimage.

"Before the Patriarch left, he instructed us: this young cult master has a peculiar habit — he likes to take things apart. If we cannot catch him.

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