Chapter 1166 — Splitting the Spoils Evenly

A sense of the absurd, of the uncanny, rose in Shen Mu's heart beyond all measure. He looked around at the several Heavenly Venerables in the carriage, and those familiar faces turned strange to him once more.

"Xiao is the Heavenly Emperor, Qiang is the Grand Emperor—no wonder they keep such close company with Gong Heavenly Venerable. Gong Heavenly Venerable must be Gong Yun. These three are the ones whose true identities are settled."

"But what of Hong Heavenly Venerable and Consort Yan?"

His head swelled like a bushel. Was Consort Yan the Empress, or Lady Yuanmu?

She ought to be one of the Empress's sisters—noble and coldly aloof—most likely the Empress herself. Then who was Hong Heavenly Venerable?

"Back then, the Grand Emperor was trapped and slain in Taixu by Yun Heavenly Venerable. Dahong flew to the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, meaning to destroy it in revenge. I blocked Dahong, and with the supreme consciousness domain that Yun Heavenly Venerable and Ling Heavenly Venerable had devised, I held him at bay."

Shen Mu stilled himself, eyes on his nose, nose on his heart, and thought: "That time I very nearly perished, body and Dao both dissolved, but I forced Dahong to take wounds and withdraw. Later I went back to the era six hundred thousand years ago, when the Longhan Heavenly Court split apart—the very era when Yun Heavenly Venerable plotted against the ancient god Heavenly Emperor, and the Heavenly Emperor met his death. I went to seek healing from Gong Heavenly Venerable, and Gong Heavenly Venerable said that Dahong was dead—that someone had taken advantage of Dahong's wounds to kill him and erase his consciousness."

"It must have been then that someone walked the world in Dahong's corpse. He replaced the Grand Emperor and became Dahong, and in later ages became Hong Heavenly Venerable."

"And the Grand Emperor must have used his consciousness, the Daluo Heaven, to send down another thread of consciousness into the world, which became Consort Qiang, a member of the Heavenly Emperor's inner palace."

Shen Mu opened his eyes: "Then who exactly is Dahong? Why does he want an IOU from me? And where has Lady Yuanmu gone? What has she become? She must be in the Heavenly Court—if she is not among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, then where is she hiding?"

"This time, with the Ancestral Court showing its traces, as one of the most ancient of the ancient gods, Lady Yuanmu ought to go as well, ought she not?"

Suddenly the jeweled carriage halted.

"Heavenly Venerable, that great rift has come!" The Heavenly Dragon's voice came from outside.

Everyone rose and stepped out of the jeweled carriage one after another, and saw that Hao Heavenly Venerable's carriage had arrived as well. It drew to a stop, and Hao Heavenly Venerable, the Langxuan Divine Emperor, and the Ancestral God King gazed toward the great rift.

The rift was nearly as wide as the Heavenly Court itself, dyed crimson with gore—a sight indescribably shocking to the eye!

Looking from here into the Ancestral Court, one could see many enormous strange beasts crouched upon the rift like spiders, striving to tear it wider and break the seal.

Those were void beasts, and their numbers were vast, dense as a swarm.

At the same time, huge beast eggs kept dropping from the void; the oval eggs struck the ground and at once became smaller void beasts.

Though these void beasts had just broken from their shells, they ran swift as the wind the moment they were born, growing as they met the wind, and soon climbed the high mountains. Then they leaped, spreading their six limbs, the membranes between their legs unfurling with a swish, and beating their fleshy wings, they flew toward the rift.

A single adult void beast could slaughter an army of several hundred gods and demons as easily as turning over a palm. If so many void beasts in the Ancestral Court were to pour out all at once, it would be an utter catastrophe for all the heavens and myriad worlds!

Shen Mu glanced at Consort Qiang; she was still chatting and laughing with Gong Heavenly Venerable.

"They are all Creators. The Grand Emperor wants to enter the Ancestral Court and release all the void beasts, while Gong Heavenly Venerable holds deep feelings for the Ancestral Court—this is, after all, the ancestral land of the Creators."

Shen Mu thought: "They all want to break the seal on the Ancestral Court, but each for a different purpose. As for the ancient god line—the Heavenly Emperor, Xiao Heavenly Venerable, and the Empress's sisters—their aim is to reseal the Ancestral Court. Perhaps the Empress's sisters do not think so, but Xiao Heavenly Venerable certainly does. As for Hao Heavenly Venerable, Lang Heavenly Venerable, and the Ancestral God King, they want to enter the Ancestral Court and take the treasures they covet. Or even to monopolize the Ancestral Court!"

He wore a smile, and his gaze fell upon Hong Heavenly Venerable—and the smile froze.

He could not fathom what this old man intended to do.

Thinking it over carefully, Hong Heavenly Venerable seemed to have done everything, and yet seemed to have done nothing at all.

This Heavenly Venerable was like a passerby among the Heavenly Court's Ten Heavenly Venerables. When the Heavenly Emperor's egg was stolen, he appeared, made his brief appearance, and that was that. When the void bridge in the land of Taixu was discovered, the old gentleman came scurrying over to make his brief appearance. When the White Tiger, Western Emperor, sought to seize his divine artifact, the Yutian Venerable, he appeared again, asked Shen Mu for an IOU, made his brief appearance, and then cheerfully withdrew.

Now that the Ancestral Court had appeared, he had come scurrying over too, wearing the look of a man uninvolved, a spectator watching a play.

Shen Mu blinked, and Hong Heavenly Venerable noticed his gaze. Hurriedly he came forward, an IOU pinched between his fingers.

Shen Mu's face darkened, and he muttered: "I know, I remember. Fellow Daoist Hong need not take it out every time he sees me."

Hong Heavenly Venerable put the IOU away and laughed: "Isn't it just that I'm afraid you'll forget?"

Shen Mu's face stayed dark; he would have liked to move farther off from him, but Hong Heavenly Venerable pressed close, studying the Ancestral Court across the great rift, and said cheerfully: "It's truly terrifying in there... When we divide the spoils later, it would be better if our territories were adjacent."

Shen Mu glanced at him, and as if possessed by a ghost, nodded silently.

"This time, now that the Ancestral Court has appeared, it can no longer be sealed."

Hao Heavenly Venerable clearly knew something of the Ancestral Court as well, and said: "This Ancestral Court was sealed in the most ancient age, in the Dark Era, by all the ancient gods joining hands, together with the powerful demigods of that time. Now the Heavenly Court's seal has been broken, and many of the ancient gods of that year are dead, and many of the demigods of that year are gone as well. Therefore it cannot be sealed again."

He looked at the Ancestral God King and the Langxuan Divine Emperor and said: "You two both come from that age and know a great deal. Am I not right?"

The Langxuan Divine Emperor said courteously: "Hao Heavenly Venerable speaks the truth."

The Ancestral God King laughed: "I was born rather late and did not live through the Dark Era, but I have heard my old man speak of it. He said there is great terror within the Ancestral Court, and so the Heavenly Emperor, for the sake of all living things under heaven, led all the gods and demigods of the world to seal the Ancestral Court. The people of that year no longer exist; to keep the seal as it was is impossible."

Consort Yan said: "So Mu Heavenly Venerable's proposal to divide the benefits equally is still workable."

Countless gazes fell upon Shen Mu in unison.

The Ancestral God King snorted coldly: "This whelp wants to share equally with us? What strength have you?"