Chapter 1704 — A Personal Visit to the Thatched Cottage

Shen Mu wielded the sword as an axe, like a giant who splits apart heaven and earth; the force hidden in each axe stroke seemed able to cleave the Ultimate Void and split the Great Luotian Heaven in two! After a long while the veins upon the tender leaf ceased to change; the leaf quickly withered yellow and became a fallen leaf, fading into nothing.

Shen Mu closed his eyes, holding his breath and gathering his spirit. Lord Shang waited quietly nearby; the sun and moon revolved, and after more than ten cycles Shen Mu finally opened his eyes. The divine light in them was bright as snow, then slowly drew inward and vanished.

He seemed utterly plain and unadorned, his aura and bearing wholly reined in, like an ordinary man, betraying no trace of anything extraordinary.

He came before the hut's door, stood still, gripped the sword in both hands, and the Tribulation Sword slowly began to turn.

In the Ultimate Void there was no wind, nothing at all, yet now the sound of wind arose. As the sword in Shen Mu's hand moved, the wind grew more urgent and louder, yet the sword in his hand grew ever slower—so slow it made the heart burn with impatience.

The Tribulation Sword never ceased to move; only its speed grew slower and slower, and the wind grew louder and louder; soon the sound became that of surging waves, and the waves grew greater and greater, giving forth boom upon boom!

Soon the booming seemed to become bell-tones, the sound of great bronze bells unending, until in Lord Shang's ears there remained only the bells!

At last the Tribulation Sword in Shen Mu's hand came before the hut's door, and the Tribulation Sword made contact with the door!

At that very moment the sun and moon halted their turning; stalk after stalk of the hut's grass danced, bursting with the radiance of the Dao, and the radiance poured like a tide into the door. Bang!

From the door came the sound of something snapping apart, like the shriek of a taut bowstring suddenly breaking! Bang, bang, bang!

One after another they came; Shen Mu's two arms shook violently, the great sinews in them leaping, his muscles ridging and swelling outward, making his arms grow thicker and thicker!

The Tribulation Sword still moved, cutting into the door, yet the speed at which it cleaved the door panel grew slower and slower.

Shen Mu's arms trembled as though the Tribulation Sword grew heavier and heavier, and the snapping sounds came ever more densely.

Flame-light blazed above his head, and behind him there rose unbidden a World Tree and a great Guixu Abyss; the World Tree grew ever more vigorous, and the Abyss devoured all things!

His Divine Treasury domain emerged, the Thirty-Three Heavens' Palaces hanging on high, the five great lodes seated within the Ancestral Court, the lodes ablaze with radiant light, the Great Daos of the Innate Five Tai driven to their utmost!

Within the Heavenly Court his primordial spirit stood before the Chaos Hall, marshaling the power of the whole Heavenly Court!

That was his Primal Chaos primordial spirit! The Primal Chaos primordial spirit empowered his Primal Chaos body, raising his power to its utmost; from within his flesh came the roaring of the Great Dao!

He was clad in Primal Chaos purple qi, vast and boundless, and the Chaos Hall behind him grew ever more distinct!

Suddenly the tiger's mouth of his hand was split open by the shock, and the skin of his arms burst of itself; at the same time his clothes and trousers gave off a ripping whisper, his two thighs becoming incomparably thick, bursting the trouser legs apart, ridged and corded, unable to cover his legs and feet!

The robe on Shen Mu's upper body was split as well; his sinewy frame was ferocious, block after block of muscle bulging high, the torn clothing scattering away as strips of cloth. The Tribulation Sword cleaved on, yet it grew ever less able to bear his power; the Tribulation Sword was covered in cracks!

The cracks grew finer and finer, denser and denser! Crack— The Tribulation Sword suddenly exploded, shattering into countless motes of dust!

Shen Mu gave a muffled grunt; the sword hilt in his hand shattered to dust as well, and mingling with his blood it turned to mist and dispersed!

"My sword cannot bear my power.

Once I have forged a better one, I will come back and open the door!

" Shen Mu turned; his clothing was wholly shredded, scattering like butterflies, and the muscles of his body drew back and returned to their former state, and he strode away from this dainty Great Luotian Heaven.

"Lord Shang, let us go! " Lord Shang entered his shadow, following closely step by step as he departed.