Chapter 1136 — The Heavenly Venerable's Legacy Manuscripts
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
West Heaven.
At the Yunluo Heavenly Palace, a radiance descended upon the Spirit-Energy Transposition Bridge and transformed into the Celestial Dragon Treasure Carriage. Shen Mu stepped out and surveyed his surroundings.
The Yunluo Heavenly Palace lay in utter ruin, with collapsed halls everywhere. Even the divine metals and sacred materials used in some of the palaces had been stripped away, leaving behind nothing but broken walls and rubble. It looked as though the place had been looted, every item of value scraped clean until not even a single roof tile remained. Now, only a handful of gods and men remained to guard the Yunluo Heavenly Palace.
They were all white-haired, sallow-faced, and clad in rags. Seeing Shen Mu's carriage from afar, they craned their necks and peered at it nervously, afraid to approach.
Yan'er flew over. The few gods and men turned and fled in panic, but in the next instant Yan'er caught them and slammed them onto the ground. "Spare us, High God!
" the gods and men begged, knocking their heads against the floor. Shen Mu frowned slightly.
"How did the Yunluo Heavenly Palace come to this?
" "High God, you may not know this, but after the previous Yunluo Emperor met with disaster, the Heavenly Court never sent another Yunluo Emperor to take charge here.
Bandits from the Three Pillar Heavens and the Nine Provinces ran rampant, storming the Yunluo Heavenly Palace and looting it countless times. " One god, his clothes in tatters, burst into tears as he complained, "There used to be many brothers stationed here, but they were all captured and made slaves. Only the old, weak, sick, and crippled among us were left behind. A few days ago, another gang of thieves came to plunder the place.
When they could find nothing else worth taking, they bled several of us old brothers and drained all our divine blood, claiming they needed it to refine treasures. . . " Shen Mu was stunned. "Why did you not report this to the Heavenly Court? " "We did not dare.
" The old gods broke down sobbing.
"Those demon kings said that if anyone dared report to the Heavenly Court, they would kill us and use our corpses to wash down their wine!
" Shen Mu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Standing above the Yunluo Heavenly Palace, he looked in every direction.
The palace stood between the First, Second, and Third Pillar Heavens of the West and the Nine Provinces, on high ground from which the Nine Provinces and the Three Pillar Heavens could be seen at a glance. The so-called First Pillar Heaven and Second Pillar Heaven referred to the Pillar Heavens. Pillar Heavens were worlds shaped like pillars. From far away, Shen Mu could see three such worlds suspended above the Nine Provinces, clusters of stars gathered within them, celestial pillar worlds formed from the stars themselves.
The Nine Provinces of West Heaven were Southeast Shenzhou, called Morning Earth; South-Central Angzhou, called Deep Earth; Southwest Rongzhou, called Roiling Earth; West-Central Yanzhou, called Open Earth; Central Jizhou, called White Earth; Northwest Zhuzhou, called Fertile Earth; Northern Xuanzhou, called Accomplished Earth; Northeast Xianzhou, called Hidden Earth; and Eastern Yangzhou, called Trusting Earth.
Each of the Nine Provinces was home to an ancient god, and ancient gods also dwelled in each of the Three Pillar Heavens. They were known as the Three Pillar Gods. The Yunluo Heavenly Palace had been built between the Three Pillar Heavens and the Nine Provinces.