Chapter 759 — Ten Thousand Ages of Time Return to Dust

By Shen Mu's reckoning, crossing back through the mist of the Yongjiang into antiquity allowed only "half a day"—and that "half a day" meant neither six two-hour periods nor any exact span of time, but simply the turning of dark and daylight. In the Heavenly Court there was no night; there light reigned in eternal day. However long they lingered here, it was all daylight; so long as night had not fallen, not half a day had elapsed. But once Tubo made his move, all that changed. The darkness of Youdu shrouded the Heavenly Court and brought night down in a single stroke, and with that the condition for returning to the future was fulfilled. In the dark, Shen Mu waved farewell to Zhu Que'er and Heavenly Venerable Ling; his figure, and those of Kai Huang and Old Ox, adrift in the flowing blackness, were like a sand painting in murky ink, scattered on the wind. Heavenly Venerable Ling's mind roared, and she stared at the sight, dumbstruck. Zhu Que'er, as if she had seen a ghost, rushed to the very spot where Shen Mu, Kai Huang and Old Ox had stood moments before and groped about in every direction—but the three had vanished as though into thin air! "Monstrous strange, monstrous strange!" Zhu Que'er cried in utter astonishment. Yet waves upon waves surged through Heavenly Venerable Ling's heart, and unwittingly she recalled what Shen Mu had once said to her: 'Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, you will meet someone who returns to the past through your divine art, and it will prove that the world's judgment of you is wrong.' Her face was rapt as if with wine, and she stared blankly at Zhu Que'er, who was still hunting for word of where Shen Mu and the others had gone. "So there truly exists in this world a divine art that leaves matter unwithered, unaltered, unchanging, neither increased nor diminished—and it was I who created it?" The towering breakers in her heart turned into matchless confidence, and the conviction that bore her on in her studies: "I will create it. In the future, Heavenly Venerable Mu, Heavenly Venerable Shen and the rest will follow my divine art back to see me, to spur me on! I can surely create it!" She swept away at a stroke the prostration that the death of Heavenly Venerable Yu had brought upon her and roused her spirit afresh, for Shen Mu and Kai Huang had studied alongside her a long while, and with the stores of knowledge they carried from the future they had paved the first step smooth for her. All that remained was for her to lay down step after step, until she entered the inner hall, until she brought forth a peerless discipline to astonish the world. She took her leave of Zhu Que'er, the Southern Emperor, and walked toward Yaochi. On the road she met Heavenly Venerable Yue and Heavenly Venerable Yun, and greeted them. The two were astonished; the Heavenly Venerable Ling in their memory was a girl of odd temper who never greeted anyone, and who, when greeted, would never deign to answer if she did not care for the person. And now she had greeted them of her own accord—the sun had truly risen in the west. "Heavenly Venerable Ling, do not be in such haste to leave." Heavenly Venerable Yue abruptly called her back; she halted and turned, and Yue and Yun exchanged a glance, came up to the girl and said in low voices, "Much has happened at this Yaochi gathering. Heavenly Venerable Yu is dead, Heavenly Venerable Hao was gravely wounded by Heavenly Venerable Mu, and the Heavenly Emperor has ordered the arrest of Heavenly Venerable Mu and Heavenly Venerable Shen. There is too much right and wrong tangled up in it all." Heavenly Venerable Ling listened in silence. Heavenly Venerable Yue mustered his courage and lowered his voice: "We can see plainly that it was Heavenly Venerable Hao who killed Heavenly Venerable Yu, and Heavenly Venerable Mu who avenged him. Nor are the rumors of these past days conjured out of air—the Heavenly Emperor, and the Empress and her sister, all had a hand in it. The conflict between the demigods and our acquired races has begun to raise its head. As leaders of the acquired beings, we cannot fail to make ready in advance." Heavenly Venerable Yun, at his side, said, "Heavenly Venerable Mu has spread the divine path by which Heavenly Venerable Yu attained godhood; the rise of the acquired races is now inevitable. The two of us have talked it over, and we see only perils before us, terrors beyond counting on every side. So we can no longer remain a heap of loose sand—we must organize an alliance, and plan a future for the human race and for the rest of the acquired beings!" Something stirred in Heavenly Venerable Ling's heart: "The Heavenly Alliance?" The two were startled and said hurriedly, "Heavenly Venerable Ling, you have had the same thought? You too mean to found an alliance? Did you choose the name 'Heavenly Alliance'?" Heavenly Venerable Ling shook her head. "It was Heavenly Venerable Mu who chose it, and Heavenly Venerable Shen is in the Heavenly Alliance as well. This time I mean to seek out Heavenly Venerable You and Heavenly Venerable Huo, and draw him in too." Heavenly Venerable Yun said hastily, "Heavenly Venerable You is one thing, but Heavenly Venerable Huo has a violent temper and no gate on his mouth, and he keeps close company with Heavenly Venerable Hao. He is unfit for the Heavenly Alliance." "Where are Heavenly Venerable Shen and Heavenly Venerable Mu?" asked Heavenly Venerable Yue. Heavenly Venerable Ling smiled, and said unhurriedly, "They are waiting for us in the future. When that day comes, we shall meet them, and be reunited. Let us go and find Heavenly Venerable You." The three walked on toward the Yaochi Lodge, and Heavenly Venerable Yun mused, "We must set down a constitution. The Heavenly Alliance must consider the safety of the acquired races; only those of peerless talent may be admitted, and their character must be examined as well, lest disaster rise from within." "The constitution must be well made," said Heavenly Venerable Yue. "We must not be too kind to the wicked, nor too harsh to the good; to the good, kinder still, and to the wicked, harsher. Only thus can the Heavenly Alliance endure." Heavenly Venerable Ling said, "What the Heavenly Alliance takes as its aim must also be settled. But first let us find Heavenly Venerable You. This age is one of flourishing prosperity, yet disorder has already shown itself—we must prepare early." ... The darkness fell, and to Kai Huang's eyes it showed a sight unlike what Heavenly Venerable Ling and the Southern Emperor Zhu Que'er beheld. What he saw was himself still standing where he stood; it was matter that changed. Heavenly Venerable Ling and the Southern Emperor Zhu Que'er dispersed like black sand blown away on the wind, and that vast and magnificent Heavenly Court scattered like a sand painting. The recession of matter was not the advance of time. "Heavenly Venerable Ling was right." Sunlight poured down; all darkness vanished; and the place he stood in was no longer the Heavenly Court of old but a desolate desert, with the Yongjiang rushing unceasing in the distance. This was the Desolate Ruins, relic of the Shanghuang era, and the Ruins were full of strange and unfathomable happenings; many who had survived from the Shanghuang era lived within the Ruins, and others lived in the outer world, clinging to life through great hardship. Kai Huang stared at the scene in a daze, steadied himself, and strode off toward the Yongjiang, thinking, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, we shall meet again, shall we not? Yes—and I too must forge a sword like that one..." In the distance many divine-arts practitioners were searching along the Yongjiang, and someone caught sight of Kai Huang far off and cried out in delight, "Shen Ye is there!" The crowd hurried to meet him. At the front ran an old ox all covered in green scales, and astride its back sat a young farmer, mighty of limb, though not tall; behind them came a girl holding a folding fan