Chapter 1004 — The Mottled Sword, the Mottled Heart

Shen Mu was filled with a solemn reverence.

There were scarcely any true Daoists left in the Heavenly Court's Daoist sect; it had become a place where the sons of the Court's magnates and noble houses went to gild their reputations. In Jingping's Daoist sect, by contrast, many were true Daoists, hearts drunk on the Dao and drunk on the divination arts, and it was they who drove the divine abilities and Daoist methods of Jingping ever forward. This middle-aged Daoist, Su Maiqing, cast out by the Heavenly Court's Daoist sect, had gone on to found a sect of his own in the Origin World — a man worthy of respect.

And Shen Mu had heard a tale or two of this outcast besides: he came of the Heavenly Court's Daoist sect, and had descended to the lower realm in the last years of the Shanghuang era.

The advances in Daoist methods and divine abilities during the Kaihuang era were in part his doing. That age's mastery of the casting crafts stood exceedingly high; the forging of divine weapons and keen blades, of tower ships and divine cities, the reformation of formations — all of it demanded the divination arts.

In that age, the Daoist sect's divination arts lent immense force to the Kaihuang era.

One might even say that Di Shitian Li Youran's shaping of the Worry-Free Land owed something to his merits. This middle-aged Daoist was utterly unremarkable, nothing like the dazzling Four Great Heavenly Kings and Four Great Heavenly Masters of the Kaihuang era, and yet his merits and his role had been immense.

The skilled in war win no blazing renown — Su Maiqing was, in all likelihood, just such a man.

"To think I should run into Sect Master Su here — truly a stroke of good fortune," Shen Mu said with a laugh.

"In my time in Jingping I was on good terms with two generations of the Daoist sect's masters, and I never imagined I would meet Sect Master Su here of all places. Sect Master Su, the sect you left behind in the lower realm is the mainstay of Jingping's reforms today.

" Su Maiqing said hurriedly, "Heavenly Venerable, say no such thing.

I am no longer a sect master; I gave up the seat long ago.

I am only an idle Daoist now, teaching a few pupils and muddling through my days here. None of the Jingping Daoist sect's achievements are to my credit — they are their own doing. " Shen Mu could not help feeling a touch of fondness for him.

Su Maiqing was the founder of the Jingping Daoist sect, yet he claimed no credit for himself, unlike certain men who loved to gather every merit under their own name. "Has the Heavenly Venerable Mu come here to prepare for the battle with His Majesty two months hence? " The middle-aged Daoist blinked and smiled. "If you have come searching for His Majesty Kaihuang's divine abilities and Daoist methods, then you have come to the wrong place.

You ought to rise high and observe the lay of the land in Taihuang Heaven. " Shen Mu was startled, and blurted out, "You Daoist — why have you told me Kaihuang's sword Dao?

This is betrayal of Kaihuang!

" "So the Heavenly Venerable Mu has already perceived Kaihuang's thirty-three heavens sword Dao? " Su Maiqing laughed. "The Daoist has spoken out of turn, and underestimated the Heavenly Venerable Mu's wisdom.

I have betrayed the Heavenly Court before; betraying Kaihuang is no great matter. When the Worry-Free Land was first being made, I stood on Wen Tiange's side — I held that it should not be built at all.

I was merely not so resolute as Wen Tiange.

" He sighed, his brows creasing into a deep furrow. "When the Kaihuang Tribulation broke out, I still followed Kaihuang in the end. And so I came here, and for twenty thousand years I have been frustrated and unfulfilled, never able to summon any spirit, until at last I could do nothing but stay here teaching at the very bottom of the Worry-Free Land. Wen Tiange was more resolute than I: he swore he would never enter the Worry-Free Land.

He stayed outside, leading the remnant armies in resistance, and never once came here. I have often thought that if I had been as resolute as he, had held out in resistance, perhaps His Majesty would never have entered the Worry-Free Land. " He stared blankly into space, looking rather dull-witted. Shen Mu's gaze flickered. "You want to use my hand to force Kaihuang out of the Worry-Free Land? " Su Maiqing chuckled.

"How could a Daoist harbor such treasonable thoughts?

Kaihuang's first sword form, the Taihuang Heaven-Pacifying Sword, is hidden in the patterns of Taihuang Heaven's mountains and rivers.

That sword is the first blade Kaihuang took up upon entering the Dao, his first heaven — and it is truly formidable. " He broke off a branch, used the branch as a sword, and performed the Taihuang Heaven-Pacifying Sword. The branch moved through the air, wrought of the most basic sword techniques, yet bearing a vast and luminous grandeur; the sword became sun and moon, mountains and rivers, ranging and closing at will, forming towering ranges and mighty rivers, with the air of one who pacifies the chaos of heaven and earth. Having performed the move, Su Maiqing gripped the branch in his hand, carefully thrust it into the soil, and planted it, saying, "This little sapling will one day become a tree that pierces the sky.

" Shen Mu closed his eyes and savored the Taihuang Heaven-Pacifying Sword he had just witnessed; after a long while he opened them and bowed.

"My thanks for your guidance, Sect Master Su. Master, I have one doubt: why was it that after Kaihuang came to the Worry-Free Land, the reforms of the Kaihuang era came to a halt? " Su Maiqing finished planting his tree, straightened his back, grinned, and said, "How does the Heavenly Venerable read my spirit and vigor now?

" Shen Mu answered frankly, "Gray as dusk, without a spark of fight in it. " Su Maiqing laughed.

"That is the spirit and vigor of the whole Worry-Free Land. " Shen Mu was taken aback. "The Kaihuang Reforms accorded with Heaven and answered to man; their central purpose was set by Wen Tiange, and it was chiefly protection. " Su Maiqing visualized a little clear water and poured it over the branch.

"The gods protect all living beings and are used by all living beings, so that the living may live the better.

From among the living, those with divine abilities are cultivated; those with divine abilities become gods — and so a virtuous cycle is formed.

Those with divine abilities and the gods themselves developed more divine abilities and more useful things, and the Kaihuang era grew ever stronger, ever more prosperous.

But then the Kaihuang Tribulation broke out, and the gods no longer protected the living.

" He stared blankly at the little sapling, and after a moment sighed.

"The gods cast off the living and departed. The spirit and vigor of the whole age drained away in an instant, and the reforms broke off there. Heh — and even now there are men at court who talk it up, saying that the Worry-Free Land has absorbed the visualization methods of the Creator race and that the reforms go on; they trumpet it to the heavens, until they believe it themselves. But a Daoist refuses to believe it! " He gave a cold humph and turned to leave. "A Daoist refuses to believe it!

The soil for the reforms is gone, the very purpose of the reforms is abolished, and all they do all day long is brag. What manner of reform comes of that? Utter nonsense, flattery, fawning — this Daoist will not keep company with such men. This Daoist only hopes you will give Kaihuang a good beating and knock some sense into him! " Shen Mu was startled, and watched him go.

Shujun came over and followed his gaze; he saw only Su Maiqing's retreating back and asked, puzzled, "What is the Holy Infant looking at? " "Nothing. " Shen Mu came back to himself and smiled. "I was merely struck by a sudden feeling.

God King, have you finished?