Chapter 1130 Treasure of Creation

The Hutian World was exceedingly complete—a treasure of the Creator's Zangshan clan, and among the great heavens it ranked as one of the higher heavens. What was more, the Hutian Vase was itself a divine weapon forged by the Creator; should war come, one could even drive the Hutian Vase against the foe. Of course, this demanded an extraordinarily profound attainment in spirit-consciousness. By now, Shen Mu had passed the Creator clan's spirit-consciousness cultivation methods on to Yankang, and the adepts and deities of Yankang had fused arts such as the Three Enclosures' Supreme Consciousness with the cultivation system of the day, giving rise to a host of new spirit-consciousness techniques. All the Dutian Demon King needed to do was learn the spirit-consciousness cultivation methods from Yankang, then lead his clansmen in day-and-night ritual refinement of the Hutian Vase; it would not be long before they could refine it into submission and turn it into a mighty treasure to shield them! The Dutian Demon King was shaken by emotions beyond words; he at once entered the Hutian Heaven and told his people the good news. How many years had passed? The Dutian World had been destroyed, countless clansmen had perished, and they had drifted homeless, crying to heaven when heaven made no answer, calling upon the earth when the earth turned a deaf ear—meeting rebuffs at every turn, waylaid, captured, and made slaves. Now, at last, they had found a place to set down roots! His heart blazed, scorching hot; yet he knew that the merit he had earned by conquering the Tianyu World was not enough to win him a heaven such as the Hutian World. The Hutian World was even more magnificent and vast than the Tianyu World; it was out of regard for their friendship that Shen Mu had gifted him the Hutian Vase. Shen Mu questioned Yu Zhaoqing in detail, and Yu Zhaoqing related how the Dutian Demon King had led the Tianyu clansmen to attack the Tianyu World. The Tianyu World had been occupied by the demon race, whose arts happened to be precisely what countered the Tianyu clan's techniques. Not only that—the Demon Gods of the demon race possessed a divine power to control the Tianyu clan; even Yu Zhaoqing could be manipulated. The Dutian Demon King had not attacked at once; rather, availing himself of his identity as a demon, he had slipped into the Tianyu World and studied the demonic arts. After two years, he had mastered the demons' abilities, discerned the way to counter them, and taught it to Yu Zhaoqing and the others. Yu Zhaoqing spread the teachings among the clan, prepared for another two years, and only then launched the assault. Then, within a single year, they conquered the Tianyu World—truly a case of husbanding strength for a long while, then striking like a thunderbolt, and annihilating the demons there with the ease of snapping rotten wood! Shen Mu listened, utterly absorbed, and praised: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and in a hundred battles you will win a hundred victories. The Dutian Demon King has the makings of a great commander." Yu Zhaoqing laughed: "It is just that at the very beginning, Dutian and those three Dragon-clan Daoist brothers did not get along, and he was strung up and thrashed. Later their relations mended, and in the end they even saved one another's lives." Shen Mu roared with laughter. He summoned the three Heavenly Dragons and the six other Heavenly Dragons and said: "Will you remain in Yankang, or come with me to the Heavenly Court? If you return to the Heavenly Court, I will wash away your memories of these past years and implant new ones in you. If you remain in Yankang, then you can only take on new faces and share Yankang's life and death." The nine Heavenly Dragons transformed into human form, put their heads together to deliberate, and said: "We have followed the Heavenly Venerable and know many secrets. If we return to the Heavenly Court, I fear our days would be few. Even if the Heavenly Venerable washed away our memories, we would die of it all the same. Therefore we choose to remain in Yankang; in days to come, we may also carve out a place for ourselves." Shen Mu took out the Register of Life and Death and said: "In that case, I will do you this one favor—strike your names from the Register of Life and Death, so that the Heavenly Court will never be able to trace your whereabouts." He shone the Register's light upon the nine, worked the divine power of the Nether Capital, and erased the nine names from between heaven and earth. The nine suddenly felt a wonderful sense of relief and bowed in gratitude. "Since I am returning to the Heavenly Court, I should also return the Glazed Azure-Heaven Banner to Crown Prince Youming." With that thought, Shen Mu's spirit-consciousness entered the Qin-character Continent. He was just about to take out the Glazed Azure-Heaven Banner when, all at once, he heard a strange sound, and his heart stirred despite himself. At that moment he saw, within the Qin-character Continent, the ancient god egg atop the Glazed Azure-Heaven Banner giving forth a strange Dao-tone; and not far away, the bizarre runes on the surface of the Grand Beginning Egg shifted endlessly, likewise sending out a wondrous Dao-tone—as if the two ancient god eggs were conversing with one another! Shen Mu's hairs stood on end, yet he betrayed nothing; he raised a treasure from the Qin-character Continent and withdrew. When he had come to fetch the treasure, the sounds from those two great ancient god eggs had instantly died away, restoring an utter stillness. But once Shen Mu had taken the treasure, the strange Dao-tones of the two ancient god eggs sounded out once more! Shen Mu's scalp went numb and his heart thumped wildly: "The Grand Beginning Egg and that other ancient god egg have both already given birth to sentience—the beings inside can communicate with each other! What are they discussing?" A chill of dread crept through his bones. "I cannot hand the Glazed Azure-Heaven Banner to Crown Prince Youming yet!" Shen Mu steadied himself. Two ancient gods not yet born, holding converse within their eggs, could not but arouse dark fancies in his mind. Among oviparous ancient gods, there was as yet only one—the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor. If the ancient gods born of these two eggs should come into the world, would that not make two more Ancient God Heavenly Emperors? A single Ancient God Heavenly Emperor had already been frightful beyond measure—dead, yet never truly gone, he had committed countless evils throughout history. Should these two ancient gods join forces, the calamity they could wreak would surely be even greater and even broader! "I must not disturb them yet." Shen Mu's eyes flickered. He summoned the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er and said: "The Heavenly Dragons are staying in the Yuan Realm, so I must trouble you two to draw the carriage." The Dragon Qilin voluntarily slipped into the traces, and Yan'er ran over and harnessed herself as well, saying: "Young Master, when do we depart?" Shen Mu had only just boarded the jeweled palanquin when an envoy of the Heavenly Court arrived, proclaiming the Heavenly Emperor's decree summoning Gongsun Yan to the Heavenly Court. In recent days, Gongsun Yan had been cultivating with Granny Zhu to consolidate her cultivation and had also studied the Heavenly Court's etiquette under Ling Yuxiu, moving with proper measure in all she did; but now that she was to ascend to the Heavenly Court and await the Heavenly Emperor's summons, her heart was filled with panic. Shen Mu let her board the palanquin and, carrying her along with the divine official bearing the decree, set out for the Heavenly Court. He said with a smile: "You are not flustered when you see me, so there is even less need to be flustered at the prospect of seeing the Ten Heavenly Venerables. In the order of seniority, my position in the Heavenly Court is still above that of the Ten Heavenly Venerables." Cold sweat coa