Chapter 755 — Waves and Sword-Shadows Like a Coiling Dragon
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Jade Pool was like a sea.
To the ancient gods, whose bodies were vast, it was no more than a pond, but to humans it stretched wide as an ocean. In truth the Jade Pool had another name: the Jade Sea. Within that sea, divine turtles bore divine and sacred mountains on their backs, swimming at their ease, and great lotuses bloomed, their petals like mountain peaks, a riot of color, brilliant purples and vivid reds.
Coming into the Jade Pool, a divine-power practitioner did not feel that the pool was too vast, but that he himself had shrunk countless times over. Ahead, Heavenly Lord Hao had already halted. This place lay far from the Jade Pool Cottage and the Jade Pool Treasure Isle; all around, demigods came walking, others flew through the sky, hiding within the clouds.
Still others lurked beneath the sea. Shen Mu walked upon the water's surface and saw below him the bodies of colossal beasts gliding briskly, their scales the same hue as the green waves.
"Heavenly Lord Yu, is it truly you? " Heavenly Lord Hao watched him draw near, then suddenly sighed, his manner bleak: "Strange as it is to say, I actually hope you are him. But I also know you cannot be him.
You died; there is no way you could have come back to life. Under those circumstances, how could you possibly have survived?
Yet here you stand before me, alive and breathing, and that leaves me utterly bewildered.
" A look of confusion came over him: "I clearly killed you. I clearly scattered your soul to the winds. Yet you have come back to life. How did you manage it? " In the sky, an ancient god with great ears was listening to every stir in the Jade Pool.
Hearing Heavenly Lord Hao's words, he suddenly shuddered and turned on his heel. At the same moment, beneath the Jade Pool, another ancient god, one with a single eye in the center of his brow, changed countenance, burrowed up out of the earth, and soared into the air. The two ancient gods met, exchanged a glance, and their faces turned strange.
They were precisely the two generals Heaven's Hearing and Earth's Sight, sent down by the Heavenly Emperor to investigate this case. "Should this be reported to His Majesty?
" Heaven's Hearing said. Earth's Sight shook his head and said in a muffled voice: "Are you not afraid to die?
If we tell His Majesty, both of us are dead men.
" Heaven's Hearing frowned, his two great ears curling up, and said in a low voice: "His Majesty commanded us to investigate this case.
The assassination of Heavenly Lord Yu is no small matter—he is a Heavenly Lord, after all, the first Heavenly Lord, and the one for whom all the ancient gods offered prayers and blessings.
His death will likely breed great chaos in days to come! " Earth's Sight had only the one eye in his brow; he closed it now and shook his head: "Even if we told His Majesty, what then?
His Majesty would let it drop. Heavenly Lord Hao's connections run too deep, and his mother's power is vast as well! If His Majesty moved against Heavenly Lord Hao, the chaos would only be greater. And then His Majesty would simply silence us—seal our mouths by killing us.
" Heaven's Hearing was at a loss: "Then what are we to do? " "See nothing, hear nothing. " The ancient god Earth's Sight said: "I am the blind old man, you are the deaf old man; thus we may keep our lives. " The ancient god Heaven's Hearing nodded: "That is the only way. Only, Heavenly Lord Yu will have died for nothing.
Heavenly Lord Mu has transformed into Heavenly Lord Yu, passed on the dharma in his stead, and avenged him in his stead—and he too will likely die for nothing.
Lamentable, lamentable, two Heavenly Lords on the road.
.
. " The ancient god Earth's Sight sighed: "When he took out Heavenly Lord Yu's corpse and bones, I was startled. When he transformed into Heavenly Lord Yu's likeness, I was startled again. I do not know what he intends, but hearing him pass on the dharma in Heavenly Lord Yu's stead, I felt a certain admiration for him.