Chapter 1147 — Once, I Was Human
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
If this ancient god were to emerge into the world, able to take the form of any ancient god — even to become the Heaven Lord, the Earth Mother, or the Earth Lord, wielding their powers all at once — that alone would be terrifying enough! But what was more terrifying still was that he — or she — was even more skilled at manipulating the human heart! Shen Mu had always been strange in this regard: whether it was Dragon Qilin or Wei Suifeng, or himself, once they came into contact with the Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Canopy, they would be bewitched by the treasure. Dragon Qilin aside, both Shen Mu and Wei Suifeng had weathered the great storms of Longhan's history, men whose dao hearts were unshakably firm — and yet even they could be seduced by the ancient god egg, falling in love with the treasure without ever realizing it. Just now, a strand of Shen Mu's divine consciousness had entered the ancient god egg, and it had immediately found the weakest point in his dao heart; he had nearly sunk into the egg and been unable to pull himself free! And Shen Mu had not even broken the tender trap that the egg had woven for the flaw in his dao heart — he had merely extinguished that strand of his own consciousness. In other words, the flaw in his dao heart remained. So long as that flaw existed, he would still be bewitched by the being within the ancient god egg. This was what he found most horrifying! Shen Mu put away the Lapis Lazuli Azure Heaven Canopy, his expression shifting between light and dark. "Martial Uncle, this little girl is already dead." Yu Chudu's voice came. Shen Mu steadied himself, set the matter of the ancient god egg aside for the moment, and stepped forward to look. The little girl had had every bone in her body crushed by the First Pillar Ancient God, her organs shattered; her breath had long since ceased. In her hand she still clutched a beast bone she had not finished gnawing clean. Yu Chudu's expression was bleak. "In the heavens and myriad worlds, this sort of thing happens every moment of every day. Martial Uncle, even if you are the Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you cannot change any of it. Heh heh, even the Master never changed any of it..." "She can still be saved." Shen Mu stepped forward and crouched down. At his fingertips creation runes flickered with a wavering light, exceedingly fine, the glow now present, now gone, drilling into the little girl's body. His mastery of the Dao of Creation was profound, already at the summit of this age, and soon the wounds of the little girl's flesh were healed. Shen Mu extended a finger and pressed it lightly to her chest; a heartbeat came, and her small chest rose and fell slowly. Yu Chudu could not help saying, "Martial Uncle, how terrible is the divine might of an ancient god? His soul has scattered to the winds — she cannot be brought back!" Shen Mu rose to his feet. Vital qi surged forth, and the little girl's body floated in the air. In a deep voice he said, "She can be saved. I, the Great Master of Myriad Kalpas Without Extinction, am not a great master who belongs to the ancient gods alone." He roused the Soul-Pulling Guide, drawing in the black sand of shattered souls for the little girl, and the Heaven-and-Earth Mystic Gate appeared behind him. He began to borrow the power of the Heaven Lord and the Earth Lord to remake the little girl's soul. This was the soul-remaking divine art after yet another refinement; what set it apart from before was that he had replaced the Gate of Heaven's Mandate with the Heaven-and-Earth Mystic Gate. In truth he need not have borrowed the power of the Heaven Lord and the Earth Lord at all — with his own strength he could have brought the little girl back to life. Yet he had decided that he would disturb the Heaven Lord and disturb the Earth Lord regardless. Because he wanted to make his stance clear! "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable—" The Heaven Lord's voice came from a place impossibly high and impossibly far, entering his mind, hea