Chapter 379 Punishment on Behalf of Heaven

They stood in the air, gazing all around, when suddenly Shen Mu looked to the north. There, a colossal thing floated in the sky, sailing toward them.

That was the platform of the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon—and now it was actually afloat in the air, hastening toward them!

Emperor Yanfeng and State Preceptor Xuan Kang stood upon the floating platform, their robes snapping in the wind, and upon the platform stood a great many officials of Yan Kang as well. Shen Mu had already taught Emperor Yanfeng how to operate the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon; it must have been the Emperor who fired that shot.

On the platform, the firelight of the elixir furnace gave off a white radiance, and at its center the divine cannon, shaped like a Sacred Eye, turned slowly, suffused with a dreadful power.

Emperor Yanfeng's face glowed red, his spirits soaring.

"The cannon you built with your own hands has shot down a god."

Long Yu said to Shen Mu, "The times have changed. Mortals can now slay the gods who sit on high. Human Emperor, is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I do not know. I only know that the gods can no longer do as they please!"

Shen Mu's heart surged. The Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon he had built with his own hands had blasted down a god who sat on high—this was the highest of honors!

Long Yu looked at him, then said with sudden profundity, "Human Emperor, Little Jade Capital holds a great many books. If you have the time, I suggest you read the histories of the ages before."

Shen Mu was briefly taken aback, then went to meet the approaching platform, smiling. "I still have to return to the capital, to study with Sister Yuxiu the matter of cultivating the primordial spirit at the Six Harmonies realm, and to push forward the reforms. When I have time, I will go to Little Jade Capital again. The old immortals there even promised me that I might enter the Hall of Five Qi once more."

Long Yu sighed and said no more.

Wang Muran was wholly absorbed in cultivation, and Mu Qingdai could hardly sit still either; among the three disciples of Little Jade Capital, only he was the steadiest, and he had read many of Little Jade Capital's books.

That the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon had slain a god was indeed staggering—but the consequences it might bring stirred anxiety in him.

Wang Muran and Mu Qingdai also went to meet the platform, and Long Yu had no choice but to follow.

"Your Majesty. State Preceptor!"

Shen Mu and the others landed on the platform. Shen Mu made his salute. Emperor Yanfeng, unable to hide his elation, waved a hand and said with a laugh, "Minister Qin, there is no need for such ceremony! This cannon..."

Shen Mu smiled. "Does Your Majesty feel good?"

Emperor Yanfeng, in high spirits, laughed heartily. "Feel good? With this one shot I blasted that calamity-bringing deity to death—feel good is not the half of it! It is executing Heaven's justice! A pity those other deities fled too fast; otherwise the State Preceptor could have had his fun, and Minister Qin his!"

The court historian behind him cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, mind your words..."

Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand and said with a laugh, "So long as you don't write it down, it's fine. I have long been itching to fire the damned thing, but the medicine and stone it consumes are simply too much. Had I not heard this time that Minister Qin was in peril, carried off by a strange-looking god, and that gods were doing battle here, I would never have had the chance to use this great cannon! By the way, Minister Qin, come and meet this aggrieved party—the sect master of the Tai Bai Sword Sect. He has come to lodge a complaint before the throne, saying you took a strange and frightful being and a host of flood dragons and seized his Tai Bai Sword Sect."

Shen Mu looked behind Emperor Yanfeng and saw a white-haired elder step forward, a smile on his face.

"This sect master says that you and that strange being swallowed up his Tai Bai Sword Sect's treasures."

Emperor Yanfeng said with a laugh, "I felt something was off at once, so I summoned the State Preceptor. He said your Heavenly Sage Sect had no such host of flood dragons, and that most likely something had happened to you."

Shen Mu thanked State Preceptor Xuan Kang.

State Preceptor Xuan Kang shook his head. "No need to thank me. Thank the Tai Bai Sect Master. Had he not come to lodge his complaint before the throne, no one would have known you were in peril."

The Tai Bai Sect Master said hastily, "Ignorance is no crime. I had thought Sect Master Qin meant to seize my Tai Bai Sword Sect and swallow its treasures, and so I hurried to the capital to lodge my complaint—never expecting that I would instead render a service. Sect Master Qin, was there some treasure in my Tai Bai Mountain? If you truly obtained it, might you return it to my Tai Bai Sword Sect?"

"This..."

Shen Mu's face showed difficulty; inwardly he was truly torn, unsure whether he ought to tell this Tai Bai Sect Master the truth.

Suddenly an officer came flying over and reported, "Your Majesty, the god's corpse has been found!"

Emperor Yanfeng's spirits soared. He waved his hand. "Bring it up!"