Chapter 753 — Expanding the Celestial Palace
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The great hall of the empress's side palace was thronged with adepts from every realm. The hall was truly vast, able to hold ten thousand people with ease. At this moment, everyone within was staring in shock at the man who had "returned from the dead." He had been the leader of the ancient peoples; his sudden death had brought countless multitudes to tears, and his murder had sown suspicion—whispers of whether some ancient god or demigod had done the deed. And now he had "returned from the dead" and appeared before them once more.
The crowd parted of its own accord into a path, silently watching as he made his unhurried way toward the Heavenly Venerable Hao.
Suddenly, a buzzing murmur rose from the throng, swelling louder and louder.
"The Heavenly Venerable Yu!" someone shouted at last.
"The Heavenly Venerable Yu!" more voices cried out.
"The Heavenly Venerable Yu! The Heavenly Venerable Yu!"
...
Wave upon wave of sound climbed higher, each surging past the last. The sudden eruption of shouts set the very air of the empress's side-palace hall churning, and the clamor carried to the sky, brushing the white clouds apart.
More and more adepts joined in, crying only the name of the Heavenly Venerable Yu. In their eyes, the man walking toward the altar was their leader—the man who had led every race in carving a bloody path through the barbaric wilds.
Shen Mu stood stunned. He slowed his steps, gazing at the fervent crowd around him. As a man of a future era, he could not truly comprehend this fanatical display by the adepts.
The adepts in the hall came from the various lower realms and could all be called leaders of those realms in their own right, yet they followed another leader with such burning devotion—this was somewhat difficult for him to understand.
What he did not know was that while the heavenly court of today flourished with civilization, the other heavens and myriad worlds enjoyed no such harmony. On the contrary, serpents and venomous insects overran the land, and divine beasts bearing the blood of ancient gods were everywhere to be seen.
Most humans and the people of other races wore straw sandals and grass skirts, hefting wooden spears, struggling precariously to survive. Should they meet an ordinary beast, that was one thing; but should they meet a divine beast of ancient-god blood, the casualties would be heavy, and they would become food for the bellies of demigods.
Even the weakest demigod was far stronger than any human.
The peril came not only from such creatures but from the heavens themselves: violent winds, torrential rain, lightning, volcanoes, wildfire, earthquakes—natural disasters of every kind shrouded the primordial age.
It was at this time that the Heavenly Venerable Yu opened the Primordial Embryo Divine Treasury, granting the weaker races the power to protect themselves, to stand against the disasters of heaven, to stand against the demigods. He was the leader of all peoples, of every weak race!
On the altar in the side-palace hall, the Heavenly Venerable Hao's eyes betrayed a flicker of panic, but he quickly recovered. He cast a surreptitious sideways glance at the Underworld Lord standing not far away.
The Underworld Lord's face was pale. Staring at the "Heavenly Venerable Yu" approaching the altar, he was utterly at a loss, unsure what to do.
Shen Mu ascended the altar step by step.
The Heavenly Venerable Hao on the dais remained somewhat flustered; he had not stepped down, but gradually regained his composure. Watching Shen Mu climb toward him, he broke into a smile.
"Though I know full well that you are a fake, I cannot expose you."