Chapter 776 — A Hidden Oriole Seizes the Mandate of Heaven

Shen Mu had watched the whole of that battle in the heavens through Tubo's eyes — from the moment Tubo cut his way to the Southern Gate of Heaven, to his slaughter at the Jade Pool, to his shattering of the God-Slaying Terrace and the toppling of one heavenly palace after another. He had come to the Jade Capital City, the seat of the Heavenly Emperor, but by then the chains upon his body had grown so many that they bound him fast and tight; those chains were the laws of the Great Way of Youdu, and though he was trussed beyond all struggling, he still slaughtered his way madly onward.

The tighter he was wrapped, the plainer it became that those chains came not only from Youdu but from his own self as well. For one who is the incarnation of the Dao, every movement and every deed must accord with the Great Way; the mightier the ancient god, the more he is constrained by his own laws. So it was with Tubo.

Reincarnated though he was, he remained the incarnation of the Dao; reborn into the human race though he was, still he wore ox horns and a tiger's head.

The laws of Youdu would curb his strength in the world of the living, and even after he awakened the power of Youdu, his own strength would curb him too. The harder he fought and the more he killed, the deeper his own suffering grew.

Chaos reigned throughout the heavens; the gods of the Heavenly Court were cut down until their hearts went cold with dread, and to those gods, Tubo's fury was beyond all understanding.

Ancient gods share the lifespan of heaven and endure as long as the world endures; they can never comprehend the life and death, the love and hatred, the grudges and passions of mortals.

A mortal's life and death span no more than a hundred years, and a hundred years is but a fleeting instant to an ancient god — before they had even noticed these lowly little insects, the insects had already died of old age. That Tubo, reincarnated, should open the slaughter because of the deaths of the wife and children of his reincarnated body, and storm the heavens — that was truly going too far.

Worse still, he had massacred the gods of the Heavenly Court, striking them until some died and the rest fled for their lives.

Mortals were merely insects breeding and thriving in world after world; that an ancient god should reincarnate to taste the life of an insect, and then, for the death of insects, turn his slaughter loose upon the gods of the Heavenly Court — this baffled them. To make great ancient gods and demigods of ancient divine blood lie down in death alongside a mere handful of mortals — that showed Tubo had gone mad.

And yet even the Jade Capital City, most heavily guarded of all, could not hold back Tubo in his wrath: its gates were smashed through, and the gods wailed to the heavens and scattered in flight.

Tubo paid the fleeing gods no mind and walked on into the Jade Capital City, and behind him half the heavens had already been swallowed in the dark demonic qi of Youdu. And amid that demonic qi, chain after chain pierced through his mortal flesh.

The chains were pulled dead taut, and blood streamed ceaselessly from his body, becoming, where it fell, the demonic fire of Youdu. And still he pressed stubbornly onward, toward Chonghua Palace and the Hidden Dragon Hall within the Jade Capital City.

Chonghua Palace and its Hidden Dragon Hall were one of the thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two treasure halls, the dwelling place of the imperial princes.

There lived the sons and daughters of the Heavenly Emperor. Tubo's goal was plain: to reach that place and destroy it.

The power of the Life-Slaying Cauldron was too terrible.

That cauldron had been born of the Heavenly Court's God-Slaying Dark Blade, and the God-Slaying Dark Blade had been the Heavenly Court's foremost weapon of slaughter; now Tubo had reforged it into the Life-Slaying Cauldron, and the great cauldron mowed down all it met — no god who encountered it, whether a demigod at the height of his powers or an ancient god, could escape death. The great cauldron devoured the power of the gods, and its might grew ever greater.

Ahead lay Chonghua Palace and the Hidden Dragon Hall, and yet Tubo's strength had reached its limit. He roared in fury and strained to advance, but he could never break through the bonds of the Great Way of Youdu.

Tubo bellowed in grief and hurled the Life-Slaying Cauldron at the Hidden Dragon Hall of Chonghua Palace; the great cauldron, reeking with a might that could nearly crush the heavens themselves, spun as it bore down upon that place.

It was a blow of gathered fury, carrying Achou's lust for vengeance, resolved to destroy every life in that place — never mind that they were the sons and daughters of the Heavenly Emperor, never mind their mountains of sin.

And yet a single palm caught the world-crushing Life-Slaying Cauldron, holding it steady, so that the power of the foremost weapon of slaughter could not erupt.

"Fellow Daoist, you have slaughtered your way here — surely your anger is spent by now?

" The Heavenly Emperor stood before the soaring Lingxiao Treasure Hall, one hand gripping the Life-Slaying Cauldron, his gaze falling upon Tubo, his voice carrying from afar: "I did not bar your way just now because I knew they had done wrong, and so I let you fight your way here.

Now that your anger is spent, why must you wipe out my descendants?

" Behind him appeared a host of ancient gods of unimaginable age, every one of them a being of immense power. Tubo panted harshly, his blood running down along each chain upon his body, demonic fire blazing. The Heavenly Emperor sighed: "Those gods deserved their deaths.

But you are now in the grip of rage, and in a reincarnated body besides; you have lost your reason and your heart of the Dao.

You believe yourself in the right, yet once you return to Youdu and your heart of the Dao is restored, you will see how monstrously wrong your deeds today have been.

You and I are fellow Daoists; I will not make things hard for you.

Go back. " Tubo struggled with all his strength against the chains, panting, wrath pouring from his nostrils like dragons, his three eyes weeping both blood and fire.

The Heavenly Emperor sighed and said softly: "To be reincarnated as a human is only a trial of the spirit. You have sunk too deep into it.

Let me lend you a hand and send you back to Youdu. " He swept his sleeve, and Tubo could no longer keep his footing in the heavens; the chains dragged him into the darkness, and the continent of Youdu behind him bore him plunging down in a frenzy, falling into the dark Youdu.

In Youdu, Tubo's vast and immeasurable true body finally woke, his three eyes opening one after another, gazing up through the darkness at the heavens.

And the reincarnated body of Tubo that had once been Achou, wrapped in countless chains, was borne down and down by the continent of Youdu, plunging to the deepest place of the darkness, settling at the feet of Tubo's true body and becoming a dark continent. The chains coiled about him, locking him fast there. Before long, upon that continent would be built a great black city, forged of black jade, named the Jade Lock Pass, to hold down those whose sins reached the heavens.

And Tubo's reincarnated body would be its first prisoner.

"Fellow Daoist.

" In the heavens, the Heavenly Emperor's gaze turned toward Youdu and met the eyes of the awakened Tubo; his voice came from beyond the nine heavens, saying: "You are awake, then? Do you not think my words just now were right? You have now returned to Youdu, awakened your heart of the Dao, and come back to your true self; you must know how absurd your actions were. " Tubo, immeasurably majestic, lowered his gaze, and it fell upon Achou's shoulder.

Achou's shoulder was empty. He raised his gaze again to the heavens.