Chapter 1516 — Heavenly Punishment Descends
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Shen Mu laughed, "You lent me a bucket of Dao dew, and spared the world the calamity of prehistoric Dao-attainers crawling over.
I cannot thank you enough; how could I be angry?
I was merely played for a fool by you, and must own that my wisdom is no match for yours, yet my heart is still overjoyed.
"
The girl Tai Yi praised him spontaneously, "Heavenly Lord Mu, though you are not as clever as Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian, nor as high in comprehension, nor necessarily stronger in Dao heart, and not as handsome either.
. . yet you are a true man!
Lan Yutian is a sage, Xu Shenghua is a god among men, and you are a true man. "
Though Shen Mu did not know which of the three, sage, god among men, or true man, was the greater, he supposed she was praising him, and so he accepted the praise with an open mind and went off carrying the little bucket. He returned beneath the World Tree and took the other World Tree he had felled into his God Treasury, planting it as before in the ancestral court. The crowd beneath the tree were stricken with terror, and only when they saw he had not come to cut down trees did they set their hearts at ease.
Shen Mu steadied himself, then unfolded his God Treasury domain. He saw the severed tree standing in the God Treasury's ancestral court, its branches and leaves withered, without the slightest breath of life. He carefully sprinkled water at the foot of its roots.
Not far off, in the Taishi mineral vein, the Taishi egg stood steady upon the vein's altar. The great egg slowly turned half a circle, and Taishi's voice issued forth: "This tree is already dead.
You cannot revive it.
. .
What is that? Give me a taste! "
The great egg hopped down from the altar and bounced over beneath the tree, where Shen Mu was sprinkling water. The Taishi egg tilted itself sidelong, as though it could see his movements, and asked curiously, "With no roots, it cannot absorb nutrients.
You cannot revive this tree. Why not let me taste the water in your bucket. . .
"
Shen Mu said coldly, "A tree without roots cannot absorb water.
And you have no mouth, so you cannot absorb water either.
"
The Taishi egg laughed, "Though I have no mouth, I can absorb the power of the mineral vein.
"
"So it is with this tree as well. "
Shen Mu watered it earnestly, "Had it grown into a great tree, perhaps it could not be revived, but this tree is still a sapling. Having obtained nutrients, it may yet put out roots and tendrils.
"
The Taishi egg pressed close to the bucket. Shen Mu pushed the great egg aside; after a moment it pressed close again, and again Shen Mu pushed it aside.
"Fine, if you will not give it, then do not!
"
The Taishi egg bounced away, returning as before to its mineral vein, settling securely upon the altar: "This tree has no roots and cannot absorb the water. I control the power of the mineral vein, so the water you sprinkle will surely all end up absorbed by me! "
Shen Mu turned a deaf ear.
The Taishi egg, controlling the Taishi mineral vein, strove to steal the Dao dew Shen Mu sprinkled. Just then the great egg grew restless, and with a whoosh it leaped from the altar, bounding into midair, not daring to come down again. It cried, "Something is stealing the power from my mineral vein! Strange, most strange!
"
That mineral vein was one Shen Mu had fashioned in imitation of the ancestral court's Taishi mineral vein. The Taishi god stones and Taishi primal stones he had obtained were all planted in that vein, for the ancient god Taishi within the egg to absorb.
At this moment, shadows beneath the vein writhed slowly, growing without cease, stealing the power of the vein. One by one the Taishi god stones in the vein gradually lost their strength, their light growing dimmer and dimmer. Crack!
A god stone suddenly split apart, then shattered across the ground.
The Taishi egg shrieked again and again, hovering in the air, not daring to descend. Crack, crack, crack!