Shen Mu said with a smile, "It suddenly occurs to me that Gong Heavenly Venerable and I address each other as brothers, and he calls me a fellow Daoist, so it is only reasonable that I call you worthy nephew."

The Ancestral God King was furious beyond measure. The other Heavenly Venerables hurriedly urged, "You had best address each other as fellow Daoists. We are all Heavenly Venerables here; there is no need to make things so tense. Calm down, curb your anger."

Hong Heavenly Venerable also advised, "Mu Heavenly Venerable, say a little less and take a little less advantage. He has a violent temper. If this really blows up and he decides to kill you, none of us will be able to hold him back."

Shen Mu said angrily, "That day in the Jade Pool, he was the first to jump out and try to kill me! What is wrong with me taking a little advantage of him and making him call me uncle?"

The Ancestral God King had just calmed down, but on hearing this he flew into a rage again and shouted, "Do not hold me back! I am going to hack this wretch to death!"

Shen Mu leapt up in a fury and jabbed a finger at him, cursing, "If you have the guts, come on then, aim for my head! If I so much as blink, I will take your surname!"

The others rushed to intervene. Hong Heavenly Venerable held Shen Mu back, and Langxuan God Emperor wrapped his arms around the Ancestral God King, saying again and again, "Calm down, calm down!"

The two of them kept cursing and grumbling, each turning his face away and refusing to look at the other.

Shen Mu took the chance to look around, filled with misgivings. Apart from them, no one else had arrived, not even Gong Heavenly Venerable or Tubo.

"Where is Lady Yuanmu? This is not right!"

Shen Mu frowned and thought, "By all rights, Lady Yuanmu would never let this chance slip by; she would surely come. Why has she not shown herself?"

He looked this way and that. Qiang Heavenly Venerable was the Grand Emperor, that was beyond doubt, so then who was Lady Yuanmu?

Could it be Hong Heavenly Venerable?

Shen Mu looked at Dahong and grew suspicious. Lady Yuanmu was a brazen little flirt, hardly the image of an eminent Daoist like Hong Heavenly Venerable.

"Aside from us, the only ones here are those heavenly dragons pulling the treasure carriage. Lady Yuanmu cannot have turned into a heavenly dragon."

Suddenly Shen Mu's gaze fell on the white cat in Consort Yan's arms. Long Qilin coughed once. Shen Mu knew what he meant and pretended not to hear, thinking, "Lady Yuanmu could not have turned into the white cat in Consort Yan's arms, could she? That white cat is male, and Consort Yan is suspected to be the Empress herself, a most proper sort. The white cat looks like her paramour, not like Lady Yuanmu..."

His head began to ache. Compared with the white cat, he was more inclined to believe that Hong Heavenly Venerable was Lady Yuanmu.

The other Heavenly Venerables gathered to confer, and at last reached a decision: "Splitting the spoils evenly is still workable. But Huo Heavenly Venerable and Xu Heavenly Venerable must be included as well. The Ancestral Court will be divided into eleven shares. Counting Mu Heavenly Venerable, each of us takes one share."

"As for the ancient gods like Gong and Tubo, their aspirations are lofty, so let them be."

"Once we reach the Ancestral Court, each of you may seek out your own treasure grounds and first secure a foothold. The Ancestral Court is crawling with void beasts; it will need a thorough clearing."

When the discussion was finished, they said to Shen Mu, "What does Mu Heavenly Venerable think?"

Shen Mu said with a half-smile, "Can we not simply divide the Ancestral Court into eleven shares, one for each of us?"

Hao Heavenly Venerable said, "With so many ferociously savage void beasts in the Ancestral Court, if we simply divide it into eleven shares, who will guard them? Let each rely on his own ability and take his own territory. Then clear the void beasts on one's own land and leave it to the disciples to manage and explore."

Langxuan God Emperor said with a laugh, "If Mu Heavenly Venerable lacks the ability, then hand it to me and I will manage it for you."

Consort Qiang said, "This is a good plan. After all, we are Heavenly Venerables and cannot remain long in the Ancestral Court; the Heavenly Court is, in the end, the real business. We will first clear out a portion of territory and ask Mu Heavenly Venerable to send them in. As for mining treasure lodes, gathering treasures, and slaying the remaining void beasts, the disciples can handle that."

Shen Mu was thoroughly displeased. These Heavenly Venerables were plainly bullying him for having no faction of his own. Even if he could carve out a territory, he would have no way to hold it.

Another advantage of not dividing the territory directly was that it would keep Shen Mu tethered in the Ancestral Court, a disguised exile.

If Shen Mu stayed in the Ancestral Court and did not leave, it would amount to suppressing the brat, sparing them the worry that he would keep causing trouble and leaving them in a sorry state.

And if Shen Mu left the Ancestral Court, then he would be abandoning his own territory, and these Heavenly Venerables would be only too happy to swallow up his share.

If the territory were divided evenly into eleven shares and they seized Shen Mu's portion, the brat would likely make a fuss and leave them reeking of trouble.

Shen Mu gave a cold snort. He knew these old fellows were taking advantage of his youth and weakness, scheming against him. He said flatly, "Then let it be so."

Seeing him stymied, the Heavenly Venerables all felt a rush of satisfaction.

Shen Mu then set about preparing the altar. The eight Heavenly Venerables stood around watching, committing it to memory. Shen Mu sneered inwardly. In full view of everyone, he built the altar, and even inscribed the runes the altar required with perfect neatness, without the slightest deviation.

It did not matter that Hao Heavenly Venerable, Xiao Heavenly Venerable, and the others saw this reverse-summoning altar, because reverse summoning had two steps. The first step was to design the altar perfectly, with no room for error.

This step was extremely important.

But the second step was equally important: activating the reverse-summoning divine ability!

Shen Mu's reverse-summoning divine ability came from the Creator Luoxiao. Luoxiao, however, used a consciousness divine ability, one unique to the Creator race.

But Shen Mu's improved reverse-summoning divine ability incorporated the rune system of later ages. Because he had done so to save his life back then, Shen Mu had not taught it to Luoxiao, and neither Dahong nor Gu Xiao knew it.

Even if the eight Heavenly Venerables mastered the runes on the reverse-summoning altar, they would find it very difficult to deduce the reverse-summoning divine ability from those runes.

This was Shen Mu's capital.

"Everyone, please come onto the altar."

Shen Mu had built two altars, keeping one in reserve for the return trip. He ascended one and stood at its center, saying with a smile, "During reverse summoning, one must establish a consciousness link with the void beasts of the Ancestral Court. So if you fellow Daoists see eyes suddenly appear overhead, do not panic, those are void beasts. I will use them to fix the spatial coordinates of the Ancestral Court and draw us over."

"To think there is such a divine ability?" The Heavenly Venerables exclaimed in admiration.

Shen Mu said with a smile, "This is the power of the Reform. It is precisely because of the Reform that there is the spirit-energy translocation bridge, making travel convenient, and also because of the Reform that there is the reverse-summoning divine ability."

Xiao Heavenly Venerable coughed and warned, "Mu Heavenly Venerable, do not speak such treasonous words. Hurry and activate the divine ability."

Shen Mu laughed heartily and activated the divine ability.