Chapter 849 — The Puffed-Up Youth

Yu Hongxiu was deeply wary of him. Compared with an upright gentleman like Dao Master Lin Xuan, Shen Mu seemed somewhat sinister, and she was naturally unwilling to join the Heavenly Saint Cult.

Dao Master Lin Xuan was delighted, stealing glance after glance at Shen Mu, unable to hide his smugness.

Many of his people had been poached by Shen Mu: many Daoists of the Dao Sect had run off to Jingping to take office, others to the Heavenly Saint Cult to study, while most of the younger generation entered the Heavenly Saint Academy, and far fewer went on to the Dao Sect Academy. Even he, a Dao Master, had been unwittingly won over by Shen Mu; for a time he could not steady his dao heart and wanted to join the Heavenly Saint Cult. One could well imagine how hard it was to poach anyone from Shen Mu.

And now, at last, he had achieved something. Qingyun Heaven.

When the Qingyun Hierarch saw them hurry back from outside, he was rather surprised; Lin Xuan told him of their experiences over this time, and only then did his doubts dissolve.

"Yuchenzi has already gone to prepare the matter of framing the Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign, sending the corpses deep into the Earth Mother's heartland, arranging traces of battle over several hundred li along the way and setting the bodies in place, so that even if the Howling Heaven God Clan comes to investigate, they can only conclude that a demigod under the Earth Mother's command ambushed them.

" The Qingyun Hierarch said, "Rest assured. Yuchenzi is meticulous, and his mastery of the calculation arts is exceedingly high.

He handles such matters seamlessly and leaves no loose ends. " Shen Mu nodded. Qingyun Heaven was a branch of the Dao Sect, devoted to the cultivation of the calculation arts; when the Heavenly Court wished to forge a Heavenly Chart, it too had to call upon the Daoists of Qingyun Heaven to take up the task.

As a figure even the Qingyun Hierarch held in esteem, Yuchenzi was surely supremely accomplished in the calculation arts; one who could unravel even the most complex of calculations would naturally do things seamlessly. "Only, how to let Young Friend Xiao and Young Friend Yu feign death and slip away, that is somewhat difficult.

" The Qingyun Hierarch glanced at Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu. "You two have names and surnames in the Heavenly Court.

Should the Heavenly Court wish to investigate your whereabouts, it need only employ the Book of Life and Death to learn whether you live or die. The only way to sever the Book's sensing of you is to use the Book itself to strike out your registry of life, and then you cannot be found out.

Even if the Heavenly Court searches with the Book, it will find only that the two of you are already dead.

Only, a treasure like the Book of Life and Death is rare in this world. . . " "That is simple. " Shen Mu laughed. "A Book of Life and Death?

I have one here as well.

" With that, he brought it out.

The others stared at him in shock, and Xiao Chunfeng blurted, "You have a treasure like that too?

" Shen Mu laughed. "Is the Book of Life and Death so precious?

This was given to me by two of my dao brothers in Jingping, the Great Venerable and Xing An. I have even seen such a treasure at the residence of the Yin Son of Heaven's disciple. " The others were left speechless.

Yu Hongxiu thought to herself, "Was it not said that the lower realm is a poor, out-of-the-way place? How is it that treasures like the Book of Life and Death lie everywhere there, and can even be given away? Which is poor, then, the lower realm or the Heavenly Court?

" "The true Book of Life and Death is a treasure refined by the Earth Lord Tubo from the great dao rules of Youdu. There is only one in all the world, and it rests in the hand of the Heaven-Aligning Benevolent Sage King.

All other Books of Life and Death are imitations created by the Black Emperor, the Yin Son of Heaven, and the Heaven-Aligning Benevolent Sage King. " The Qingyun Hierarch took the Book and said, "Though it is an imitation, the Book refined by the Yin Son of Heaven possesses powers that the Youdu Book of Life and Death lacks, and surpasses the original by a great deal. " He unfolded the Book, shone its light over Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu, struck out the two's registries of life, and said, "Ordinarily this treasure is used to seek out people and verify true identities, but those are only minor uses. Its great use is as a weapon of slaughter to annihilate a whole race; ordinary gods and demons cannot contend against it! This Great Venerable, and Xing An as well, what is their origin?

Might they also give Qingyun Heaven a Book of Life and Death? " Shen Mu put the Book away and shook his head.

"They had only this one.

It pained them greatly to part with it; they hunted me for a long while.

" The Qingyun Hierarch's eyes went wide, and only then did he realize what the word "give" meant in Shen Mu's mouth. So the giving he spoke of meant stealing, or robbing. Qingyun Heaven settled the matter of the Heavenly Court envoy's death properly; Shen Mu and Lin Xuan had no need to trouble themselves further, which saved a great deal of effort.

What followed had little to do with Shen Mu; it was mostly Lin Xuan discussing the matter of Jingping's Dao Sect priests coming to Qingyun Heaven to study. Jingping's Dao Sect had by now become Jingping's Dao Sect Academy, and once the Dao Sect learned Qingyun Heaven's skills, they would surely spread throughout Jingping.

The four great holy lands of old had all become academies by this hour, having shed the jianghu air of the sects they once were.

The Great Thunderclap Temple had built the Thunder Sound Academy, Wang Muran had founded the Yujing Academy, and the Heavenly Saint Cult had established the Heavenly Saint Academy; each academy had its own strengths. Beyond the four great holy lands, the various sects and schools of those years had also changed their faces one after another, founding primary schools and great schools, striving to survive in this era of Jingping's reforms; cling stubbornly to the old ways, and one would soon be cast aside by the times.

Sects that held to the old ways needed no outside hand to wipe them out; they would simply die away on their own as their numbers dwindled. Such was the surging tide of Jingping's reforms: the trend ran like a flood that filled the heavens, and those who resisted were swept flat, while those who rode the current and built boats and rafts might yet keep a thread of hope. Thinking back to the early years of Jingping's reforms, when the sects sought to kill Jingping's Imperial Preceptor and set another emperor on the throne, when rebellion and uprising broke out endlessly across the land, to this day the sects had no choice but to reform and adapt to the times.

Shen Mu, Lin Xuan and the others had lived through it themselves; this passage of history seemed to them only a matter of course, and it had stirred them little, yet looking back on it set their hearts surging.

"Cult Master Shen, though the disciples of the various gods sent by the Heavenly Court this time died at your hands and Dao Master Lin's, the Heavenly Court will still send more, continuing to forge a perfect Heavenly Chart, to strangle every seed of possible rebellion in the Yuan Realm. " The Qingyun Hierarch saw them off.

"Should the Heavenly Court send envoys again, Qingyun Heaven will still do its utmost to help the Heavenly Court forge the Heavenly Chart, and the Heavenly Chart will still be forged. So long as the Dao Ancestor has not spoken, Qingyun Heaven will not betray the Heavenly Court.

For this, I ask Cult Master Shen's forgiveness. " Shen Mu's expression turned solemn, and he said in a low voice, "Rest assured, Hierarch.